BLACK ROMANS IN BRITAIN
Jason Young
'In the year of our Lord I 89, Severus, an Aji·ican born at Leptis in the province of Tripolitania, became seventeenth Emperor from Augustus and ruled seventeen years.' 1
The study of our national heritage usually starts from the end of the second century with Emperor Septimus Severus and his division of Aurelian Moors some two hundred and sixty years before the arrival of the Saxons. 1 The Romans had landed on British soil in 55BC under the leadership of Julius Caesar. In 43BC, 40,000 troops landed at Kent and advanced westwards into Dorset. The ethnic make-up of the invading army was a multicultural cocktail of various nationalities, particularly those recruited from North Africa and the Middle East. The Aurelian Moors based in the north west of England (Luguvallum - present day Carlisle) were a pioneering community, establishing the African Diaspora in Britain.
'Africa i11 particular sent praefecli from its many flourishing tow11s 10 a/mos/ evet)' frontier during the lcllter half of the second centwy. and the accessio11 of the A_/i·ican Septimus Se1 •erus at its close, possibly gave his fellow count,ymen a specially favoured position i11 the succeeding period. ' 3
One source states that Emperor Severus 'was returning to his nearest quarters from an inspection of the wall at Luguvallum (Carlisle) in Britain just as he was wondering what omen would present itself, an Ethiopian soldier met him with a garland of cypress boughs. And when on reaching the town he wished to perform a sacrifice the
1 Bede, Ecclesiastical His101:i· c!l 1/,e English People, Book One, Clrnptcr Five, p.50 ' Bede, Book One, Chapter Fi ftccn, p.62
3 G.L. Cheesman, Tl,e A11.rilio of the Romon Imperial Army, Clarendon Press, 1914, p.96
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
victims provided were black (furvae). And then, when he abandoned the sacrifice the black (nigrae) victims followed him to the very door. ,-1
On the 4 1 1, February 21 I, Emperor Severus died at York, but the Aurelian Moors remained in Britain. A Latin inscription on a wall at Burgh-by-Sands reads:
loui Optima Maximo el Numinibus Augustusorumduorum Genio numeri Maurorum Aure/ianorum (To Jupiter, Best and Greatest and to the Deities of the two Emperors and the Genius of the unit of Aurelian Moors.)5
Professor Eric Birtey6, David J. Breeze and Brian Dobson 7 and a Latin source 8 dates this around 253SAD.
Roger Warwick, professor of Anatomy at Guy's Hospital Medical School, has written an article based on skeletal remains showing evidence of occasional recruits from North Africa. He states that 'several of the Trentholme men show limb proportions close to those of Negroid people. These findings raise a most interesting question; were there Negroid people amongst those buried at Trentholme?' 9 The study made a comparison between the limbs of a Ugandan, an AngloSaxon and the skeletal remains at Trentholme. The Humero-femoral (bicep / thigh) bones of the Trentholme remains were close to Ugandan limbs, whereas the arm-leg bones were closer to that of the Anglo-Saxon Only one skull had pronouncedly Negroid features, but that was inconsistent with the rest of
0 Scrip/Ores Hislorioe Augus/ae, edited by Ernest Hohl, 1965. p.154-5
5 R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright, The Romon lnscriplions o_/Britoin, 1965, p.626, Inscription 2042
6 Professor Eric Birley, Transac1io11s af //,e Cumberland and IVeslmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, Volume 3, p.193 / 4
7 David J. Breeze and Brian Dobson, Hadrian's IVa/1, p.257 / 8
' Nolilio Dig11i1a111111, edited by Olio Seeck, 1876, p.212
9 Roger Warwick, The Racial A/fini1ies o_/ the Tre11thol111e People in Leslie P. Wenharn's The Ro111ano-Bri1ish Ce111ete1)' at Tremholme D1-il>e, York, 1968, p.157
the skeleton. The only consistent characteristic of all the skeletal remains was that they displayed signs of syphilis, common among recruits from North Africa. By the time the Romans were forced to withdraw from Britain to resist the barbarian invasions on mainland Europe, a black presence was estab li shed on these islands.
THE ALLURE OF IMMORALITY
Philippa Stockley in conversation with Val Whitmarsh
On a freezing April morning in 1784, two veiled women step ashore from a Dutch boat onto the London docks. They are on the run -a scheming French aristocrat, who calls herself Mrs Fox, and her loyal maid, Victoire. Mrs Fox, short of cash but full of confidence, and with just a few addresses she can contact, trusts to her wits to keep ahead of the hangman and infiltrate London society.
The book is written in the form of a journal and letters, many of which are addressed to her friend in Holland, Hubert von Essel. The plot is complex and moves at speed through the highs and lows of the metropolis. It would spoil the story to give more away; enough to say that Mrs Fox is a thoroughly immoral woman with her own agenda.
I really enjoyed your book. Can I assume that the bookplate at the end of it is ad1•ertising a folloll'up, which 11·ill also be featuring Mrs Fox?
The bookplate, Human Nature, at the end of A Facto,y of Cunning is a bit of metafiction and a touch of 18th century drolle1y, too. Quite early in the story, Mrs Fox remarks that Hubert van Essel had been working for ages on an account of human nature - which she meanly says she has never been able to read beyond the first chapter. At the very end, in the final letter, Hubert writes
ISSUE 31 FEBRUARY 2005
that he is about to publish a treatise, that will take the form of an account in letters. Of course he intends publishing the letters that the reader has just finished reading! So, Hubert hastily adds that the treatise will only be available in Dutch. I leave it to the reader to conjecture whether Mrs Fox has persuaded Hubert that his first, academic attempt was so dry and dusty that no one could learn a thing from it; and that instead , the study of true lives and unrehearsed observations explains a great deal more. In real life this is, l believe, a truth - but not a universal one. There is a place for both academic study (the 'contemplatyf life'), set against 'the actyf life' as famously described in Langland ' s Piers Plowman. Hubert refers to this when he writes: 'It is an undoubted truth that more knowledge can be gained from examining the motives and actions that belong to real lives, than from shutting oneself up in perpetual study. ' These two seemingly irreconcilable and opposing possibilities were serious concerns of the medieval scholar , in which tradition Hubert sees himself. Nevertheless , his yearning for real life and love becomes increasingly transparent. During the course of the novel, his growing involvement with Mrs Fox makes him first commit murder, and then at last throw in the academic towel , and choose to live a passionate life.
You are an arlist, designer, j oumalist and a deputy editor for the London £, ening Standard. Why did you begin to H-rite _{tctio11, or hm e you always been a s/01) 'H'l"i/er , too?
I wrote my first novel at seven , and sent it to Faber & Faber. It was about some children who found a magic balloon (not a particularly taxing theme); but it was illustrated for good measure' When the weatherbeaten envelope came back, with a grave rejection letter, it was mortifying. Then I saw that they had not noticed my age , and wrote to ·Mrs Stockley'. That was really funny. I felt better at once. I wrote a couple of novels in my twenties,
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
after leaving Oxford, to see if I could go the distance, but never showed them to anyone. My upbringing had been quite sheltered, and I didn't feel I had enough to say. My first published novel, The Edge of Pleasure, is modern, set in London, about a painter with no morality - and what havoc that can wreak on other people.
Whal in parlicular made you choose 10 wrile historical Jiclion and ,l"!,y i11 !his journal-and-letters format?
I wanted to try out the epistolary form. Artistic discipline and constraints are interesting and so is variety. I get easily bored. I paint and draw in different styles, to suit the job in hand, and like to learn new techniques. Difficulty is definitely inspiring. For an 18th century novel this letter-format was appropriate, although very challenging to do.
I thi11k the style suits !he slo1y - f 'm ve,y fond of Fanny Burney, ,vho did the same in Evelina. Despite my fondness, !hough, !he sheer improbable lenglh of her letters and entries irritates me, because I keep Jhinking: you cannot possibly have wrillen all this in one afternoon, or before bed, ii ,vould have taken you all night. 1 noticed that Mrs Fox's journal entries are short enough that !hat though! doesn't arise. Did you deliberalely do !his?
In Richardson's Pamela too , Pamela goes on and on and on, frequently repeating herself, and surely wearing her fingers out writing. Today, when we even flip channels during commercials , not many readers would keep faith with such length. Life goes at a faster pace and we tend to impatience. It may not be commendable but it is true. I was extremely conscious of that from the sta11. As a rule, I rewrite several times, and cut and cut. Working in newspapers is helpful. It encourages the eradication of at least some selfindulgences of too-lengthy expression , or of using big words when short ones do as well or better. It is no compliment to a reader to bore them - and I did my best to avoid that.
Fanny Burney 's heroines gel themselves into pickles, and the cads and rollers who are after them are quite obviously out lo seduce, many for money, and disgrace um1 •a1y girls but !hey are still ladies. Fanny's nearest approach to the horrors of the period are bankruptcy and the social sligma of being related lo the lower classes. She never, any more than Jane A us/en or the Bron/es , stepped over the line into real poverty, real degradation or real debauchery. !'vfrs Fox appears no/ lo care about this - she has her original upper class chul:::pah lo carry things off and her ll'ickedness to suslain her.(J do like Mrs Fox 1 ) Did she jump ready-made into your mind, or gradually e, ·olve info a charac/er, or is she based on one of the adventuresses of the time?
Fanny Burney and Jane Austen were both women of good class. Burney, lived for some time at the palace and was quite friendly with Queen Charlotte and King George Ill. Had either of those women published declasse material they would have being stigmatised and cast out of society. So their heroines have to have a certain inbuilt gentility. We will never know if they felt hamstrung by that. To study contemporary style, I preferred male writers, who were not bound by any such considerations: Fielding, Sterne, and Defoe in particular. Defoe's Moll Flanders is a splendid and exuberant account of a lower class woman who is a shameless whore (in the understanding of the times) and a bigamist. Her very name, Moll, expresses her nature. But Moll, who is still cavorting at 60, is a fabulous testament from Defoe to his admiration for women. Moll ends up well and happy and prosperous - and in America' A huge achievement .In an age of censure and hypocrisy, when women had very little control over their destiny, Moll is triumphant. I love the idea of an 18th century woman who creates her own fate, and devil take the hindmost. There's a similar mentality in Madame de Merteuil in Les Liason.1· Da11gereuses, which of course was also written by a man.
ISSUE 31 FEBRUARY 2005
fl was a good //,ing, for !his reader, Iha/ one of !he baddies go! !heir comeuppance, Im! (11•i1hou1 giving 1he plol all'ay!) you also did a /errible 1/,ing 10 an i1111ocenl person - wl,y? Was ii 10 pain! up 1/,e casual acceplcmce of cruelty of 1/,e lime?
One of the themes of this novel is that 'immorality' rarely hurts the possessor or it. That is an absorbing subject. Those characteristics conventionally considered immoral' (a broad term we all instinctively understand) can belong to people who are dazzlingly attractive, successful and rich. We can probably all think of some, either historical, or even in our own acquaintance. The worst or people may well be punished in hell, but it is a truth that many of them get off scot-free while living.
When you decided on !his period, how did you go ah0111 your researcl,? Did you keep all your no/es 011 index carcl~. or in your l,eacf? The London of 1he period 1rns exci1i11g and jla111hoya111, bu/ also grim and perilous - would you hm•e liked lo hm·e li1·ed 1/,en?
I like the 18th century. It is quite similar to now, in its quite brutal acquisitiveness - whether that is for knowledge, or things. My MA thesis at the Courtauld Institute was on dress in the novels of Fielding and Defoe. Clothes interested contemporary writers. They understood their sociological implications very well and commented on that at length. I have been paying attention to this century, out or love rather than obligation, for a very long time, and am impressed by its vigour and variety. As far as dedicated research went for the novel, I only read I 8'h century texts for a whole year, and made notes in a casebound book, before starting to write, both to amass facts, and find a style that felt right: that rose and fell right, and used a contemporary vocabulary. There is no one 18th century style, not a bit of it. Since we do not live then (nor would I want to), nothing we do can be genuinely 18th century. I made my best \'ersion of it. You can only try.
The s/01J' has a cracking endingdid you plan !he plol, which is enormously complicaled. or did ii evo!Fe? You are doing so many olher lhings, how do you fl! your 11riling info your life?
I write as I go. The plot, it is fair to say, evolved from a sentence. I suspect it is a mystery to most writers, how characters just appear and take control. There is no point getting romantic or clever about it, they just do. Sometimes it is a real pain when a character goes and does something you do not expect. I would say (since I paint too) that in the heat of painting, one does not always anticipate where brush strokes will go, or how exactly a colour will work against another, and that sets you thinking. Even in a painting with a planned subject (such as a still life), the doing can be quite impromptu, on a step-bystep basis. Things happen. I cannot of course speak for anyone else. But I am excited to find out the end of a story as I write it, and interested to meet the characters who literally step into it. Because of that, there is endless time to write, exhilaration keeps you going. I will write all night if I feel like it, or get up at five or six.
The Edge of Pleasure, Little, Brown 2002
A Fac/01:i• of Cw111i11g, Little, Brown 2005, £14.99, 377pp, 0316729280 (to be pub. in US in April 05, by Harcourt, $25.95, 0151011729)
Phillipa will be giving a talk, A Fac/01y of Cunning: Hones/ and Oishonesl Women, at the Dulwich Gallery on March 24. These regular lunchtime lectures are from I 2.30l .30pm, free, first come, first served. For more details contact Kate Knowles on 020 8299 8710.
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
This year the Historical Novel Society is introducing an international short-fiction competition open to all writers in the Historical genre.
The competition is intended to encourage the development of the Short History genre and to enable the publication of new writers of historical fiction in the short-story format.
The Historical Short-Fiction Prize competition is very straightforward:
Entries are invited for original short stories on an historical theme. Each one will be read and assessed by a panel of judges, and the top I 0 stories will appear in the Short Histories Anthology to be published by Fish Publishing in September 2005.
The author of the story adjudged to be the best from all the entries received will be awarded a prize of £1,000 and their entry will appear as the title piece to the Anthology. All other authors whose stories feature in the 2005 Anthology will receive an award of £250.
Competition Summary
Opening date 5 November 2004
Closing date: 30 March 2005 Judges: To be appointed
First Prize
£ I ,000 to the winner plus publication as the title piece of the 2005 Short Histories Anthology.
At least nine runners up will also be selected to appear in the Anthology and each will receive an award of £250 plus five free copies of the Anthology.
All winning authors will be invited to the launch of the 2005 Short Histories Anthology. This will take place during the Cambridge History Festival 2005 at Queens College, Cambridge.
The Rules
- No entry form is needed
ISSUE 3 I FEBRUARY 2005
The Historical Novel Society
- The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English.
- There is no restriction on period or style but the theme must be historical.
- Maximum 6,000 words
- The winning stories must be available for the anthology and, therefore, must not have been published previously.
- Copyright remains with the author.
- Notification of receipt of ent1y will normally be by email.
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- No correspondence will be entered into once work has been submitted.
- Stories cannot be altered or changed after they have been entered.
The llistorical Short Fiction Prize 2005 - Entry Fees
The cost of an On-line entry is fixed in Euro and the translation into your local currency will be done automatically by your credit card company according to the current exchange rate. The cost of Postal entry will be at a fixed rate in Euro, Pounds Sterling and US Dollars. THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
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2005 Anthology (Inc. P&P
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Stories entered by post must be submitted with a min. I 2pt font, 1.5 spacing and printed on one side of the paper only.
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Include e-mail address where possible. Stories will not be returned unless they are being critiqued. Include a cheque, made payable to 'HNS Competitions', in your local currency to cover the cost of all your requirements.
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If receipt of entry, notification of results, or response to any other enquiry is required other than by email, then send a Stamped SelfAcld1·essed Envelope if posting from within the UK, or Intern ational Reply Coupons if writing from any other count ry. ISSUE 31 FEBRUARY 2005
PREHISTORY
SONG OF THE EA RTII
John R. Dann, Forge, 2005, S26.95, hb, 384pp, 0765311933
Set in the Ice Age of 30,000 B.C. in then Eurasia, Song of rhe Earth presents John Dann 's five centra l ideas in novel form: the Out of Africa, Multiregional Evolution, Creationism, Darwinian survival of the fittest, and "mutational survival of the fittest" hypotheses.
We see th e world of Cro -M agnon man through Grae, so named because of his bluegrey eyes Grae has several wives, all with very different persona li ties; they sa\·e him from a prehistoric flood, and he leads them ever northward into Europe, always seeking better huntin g and feeding grounds.
Most fascinating is how Grae and his ancestors develop an understanding of the concepts of evil and of spiritual truth. When tribal warfare breaks out after certain indi v idu als either separate, or are exiled, from Grae's tribe, Dann describes this warfare in intense language that conveys the potent force of the enemies' malevolence. Grae and other leaders grapple with understanding natural disasters and try to puzzle out whether tribal separation and exile have caused th e Sp irits to curse them. They struggle to comprehend why people kill each other.
Ultimately, though , the ties that bind people into one tribe arc presented in the daily , noble and loving deeds that overcome the toughest chal lenges. Adventure, romance, and the fascinating evolution of human thought fill these pages. While many have suggested that this novel is similar to Jean Auel's Earth's Children series, I found that Dann 's Song of the Earth offers a more sc ho larly yet highly readable version of prehistoric human evolution.
Viviane Crystal
ANCIENT EGYPT
YEAR OF THE 11\'E'.'IAS
Brad Geagley, Simon & Schuster, 2005, S23.00, hb, 291 pp, 074325080X In 11 53 BCE, the body of a murdered priestess washes up in the Nile. The local authorities send for Semerket, a talented young man consumed by past regrets, to solve the case. As his in vestigation progresses, he encounters severa l people-from the ve ry lowest to the highest in Egypt-who encourage, threaten, or warn him to drop the case. Semerket concludes that the murder is only a single thread woven in a larger tapestry of intrigue, sacrilege and treason-but will he be able to save the next victim (not to mention himself)?
The sights, sounds, smells, textures and tastes of twelfth-century B.C.E. Egypt are rendered vividly, though some of the more
THE HISTORI CAL NOVELS REVIEW
fantastic and/or magical scenes are difficult to picture. The world of ancient Thebes offered here is full of small daily dramas as well as the grandiose ones we expect in such a work, and these deserve the same artistic attention that Geagley brings to many of the stronger personal moments. Some of the characters (including the hero) occasionally seem inconsistent, displaying almost modern reactions to situations involving nudity, sex and/or violence that probably would not have caused inhabitants of the ancient world much discomfiture. The male characters seem drawn with far more sympathy and depth than the female ones, who seem to comprise the familiar stereotypes of vamp, good girl and shrew. Such issues may occasionally slow down the story, but they do not stop it. Year of rhe Hyenas is an enjoyable read overall. Although some clues to the conspiracy are rather easy to figure out, the grander conspiracy surrounding it all unfolds at a steady pace at just the right time. Geagley has a great story and good characters that would benefit from a bit more excavation of the treasures within the book itself.
Val Perry
CLASSICAL
PRIDE OF CARTHAGE (x-ref for UK review)
Pub. in the US by Doubleday, 2005, S26.95, hb,576p~038550603I
SPQR VIII: TIIE RIVER GOD'S VE GEANCE
John Maddox Roberts, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2004, S23.95/CS33.95, hb, 290pp, 0312323 190 Decius Metullus is at it again. H e is swiftly climbing the political ladder in Rome, thanks much to his family's name and probably equally to his own talent in solving mysteries that seem to fall, one after another, in his lap.
Now an aedile, Decius 's responsibility to the Senate and People of Rome is to keep their buildings in one piece , their sewers flowing without refuse and their gladiatorial games exciting. He is called to the collapse of a fairly new tenement where many have perished. Not content to wr ite off the collapse as "one of those things" and return to the planning of the games which may mark his aedileship more than his good citizenry, Decius finds hi111self at the center of an inquiry focusing on greedy landlords using shoddy building 111aterials.
Maddox Roberts has taken the lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek Decius and turned hi111 into a more 111ature, concerned, thoughtful Roman citizen. He takes his political power and his job seriously. There are lots of things wrong in Ro111e in the year 70 I of the Republic, and Decius wants to address those things during his tenure. He is sickened by the greed he sees around him, even in his own family. He is no longer quite as smart-alecky
as he was in previous instalments, but is more perspicacious and persevering. I li ke this guy and I enjoyed this book.
llysa Magnus
BIBLICAL
WISDOM'S DAUGHTER
In dia Edghill, St. Martin's Press, 2004, S24 95. CS34.95, hb, 432pp, 0312289375
Past the age to bear children, Bilqis, the beautiful queen of Sheba, consu lt s the Goddess and decides to travel north, where she believes she wi ll find an heir to the crown. She does. The trouble is that it's King Solomon's beloved daughter, Baalit. Jerusalem is in those days "so new a kingdom that th e oldest men and women \\ ho dwelt within it had seen its first king crowned Quarrels between the old ways and the new arose constantly and King Solomon's far-famed court squabbled like a pen of fighting quai ls." Bilqis' stay in Jerusalem sti rs up trouble for Solomon. I lis many other wives beeo111e jealous. The fiery prophet Ahijah rails against the foreign queen. But to young princess Baalit, the queen of Sheba is a revelation: women can rule. Will Baalit beco111e queen? Will her father ever let her go to "a land half a year away"?
In the words of her author, Wisdom's Doughier is "a tale spun from a biblical story." It's not biblical history and doesn't pretend to be. As in her previous novel, Quee11111aker, Edghill cuts legendary c haracters down to hu111an s ize. Her Solomon is a loving but protective father, not very wise when it comes to his numerous wives. The dreams, despair, and the loneliness of his past and present queens surround the story of Baalit's coming of age. Readers will find themselves cheering for the young gir l.
Adelaida Lower
THE PRIEST
Francine Rivers, Tyndale House, 2004, $14.99, hb,225pp,0842382658
Torn with jealousy fro111 an early age, Aaron is transformed by God's Yoice in this freshly written version about Moses and Aaron, the servants of Yahweh who lead the Jews out of Egyptian slavery toward the Pro111ised Land. Aaron hates Moses, saved fro111 death by Pharaoh's edict, because of his 111other's obvious preference. Moses is a weak man without a country, hated by the Egyptians for his Jewish origi n and by his own people for his preferential upbringing. Riddled by that insecurity, Moses needs Aaron to be the mouthpiece of God and advisor to deal with the constantly "complaining" Jews. The highlight of this story is the compassionate and wise person Aaron, throughout "h is duties, dile111111as, and disappointments." Francine Rivers offers the reader a fine characterization of Aaron, truly a man of God speaking for His
ISS UE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
people. A study guide is added at the end of the novel.
Viviane Crystal
THIRD WATCH
Bodie & Brock Thoene, Tyndale House, 2004, $ I 9.99, hb, 437 pp, 08423 75120 Yeshua of Nazareth continues, in this third novel of the A. D. Chronicles series, to shake the world of first century Jerusalem and surrounding towns. Zahav, famous for her holy birth, yearns for a lover she knows she will never have until she meets Alexander, an apostate tortured by his son's silence. Manaen is unable to let go of the grief binding him to perpetual darkness, a wound even his loving wife Susanna cannot heal. Peniel suffers from doubt even after receiving his sight. Now high-ranking and wealthy men are beginning to believe and follow Yeshua, the one who heals and transforms these and thousands of other people. Antipas and Caiaphas are determined Yeshua must die as the public begins to proclaim him as Messiah. This inspirational novel speaks volumes about how Yeshua, known as Jesus today, meets human longing. A study guide follows for individual or group use.
Viviane C1ystal
6TH CENTURY
THE LANCE THROWER
Jack Whyte , Forge, 2004, $27 .95, hb, 528pp, 0312869290
Published in Canada as C!othar the Frank, Jack Whyte's latest epic, The Lance Thrower, further fleshes out his body of work A Dream of Eagles (The Camulod Chronicles in the US). This authentically rendered novel centers about Lancelot - traditionally Arthur's friend and Guinevere's lover - and only dovetails with the previous seven novels toward its end. Known as Clothar the Frank to his British contemporaries, Lancelot spends his early life in Gaul, where Roman influence is sti ll strong Here the reader follows his fortunes: as the foster son of King Ban of Benwick and his beautiful wife Vivienne (the Lady of the Lake), as a dispossessed heir longing to take vengeance on the man who usurped his father's throne, "as the star pupil of Bishop Germanus of Auxerre, who eventually sends Clothar to Camulod to urge Merlyn to crown Arthur Riotharnus - King of all Britain. In this novel, we meet Perceval, Tristan and Bors , Lancelot's companions in adventure, and we are brought to the point in time where The Meta11101phosis concluded. Most of the characters from the other novels barely feature in this one, so it could be read without previous knowledge of the series. However, certain happenings remind returning readers that The Lance Thrower is linked to the earlier novels, and its ending makes it clear that there will be a sequel. Jack Whyte's research is, as
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
usual, impeccably presented, and he expertly balances action with description. In The Lance Thrower, he once again demonstrates his ability to transport readers into a world so real, they question whether events could have unfolded in any other way.
Claire Morris
13 TH ·cENTUR Y
THE FOOL'S TALE
Nicole Galland, William Morrow, 2005, $25.95 / C$36.95, hb, 523pp, 0060721502
To be pub. in the UK by HarperCollins, 2005, £10.99,pb,544pp,0060787236
It is l l 79, in the minor Welsh kingdom of Maelienydd. Its king, Cadwallon, is killed in an ambush by English border lord Roger Mortimer. Gwirion, a foundling of unknown background, saves the life of young Prince Maelgwyn, earning him the new king's lifelong gratitude and friendship.
Twenty years later, Maelgwyn, nicknamed "Noble," marries Mortimer's niece Isabel in a political alliance. Gwi1·ion, now the king's loya l confidant and "fool," makes Isabe l the butt of his bawdy jokes. Though Noble behaves dutifully towards Isabel , he shows her no affection, flaunting his mistresses and encouraging Gwirion 's naughty behavior. But Isabel isn't as fragile as she appears. Over time, as war threatens with the English, she gains the people's trust and admiration. And in a dramatic reversal, loathing becomes wa1y acceptance and finally passionate romance, as Isabe l and Gwirion discover their powerlessness at court-a nd their mutual attraction. Their love story is beautiful, poignant, and suspenseful: will the king find them out?
This emotional rollercoaster of a novel began with high optimism, as publicity blurbs promised a captivating epic of love, politics, and betrayal, based partly on history. I found this to be true-in parts. The author's theatrical background comes through clear ly, as I could easily picture the action taking place onstage. On the other hand, readers expecting a large-scale epic may be disappointed, as sometimes the setting feels too confining for the plot. l enjoyed reading of medieval Welsh politics and law, though Maelgwyn's sil ly nickname annoyed me, and some of Gwirion 's antics were ridiculous. And although l was continually drawn into the story, the melodramatic ending - while fitting, I suppose - nearly ruined it for me. Was it worth it ?
Probably, but I can picture the characters asking themselves the same thing
Sarah Johnson
BRIDE OF LOCHBARR
Margaret Moore , HQN , 2004, $6.50/C$7.99, pb,379pp,0373770030
l 235: Lady Marianne leaves her convent education to join her brother in Scotland,
where the king has been granting land to Normans. She is unhappy that Sir Nicholas has betrothed her to a hateful old man. The Scots resent the foreigners being forced upon them. Adair MacTaran , son of the local clan chief, is nevertheless smitten with the beautiful foreigner. He helps her escape her brother's castle, and marries her to save her honor. But other members of the Mac Taran clan object to his alliance with the enemy, and challenge Adair for clan leadersh ip after the death of his father. Can Marianne prevent clan warfare and save her husband's life?
As is the 1101111 in many historical romances, the plot is merely an excuse on which to hang the romance. Histo1y and characterization are sketchier than they would be in a mainstream novel. Some of the couple's conflicts seem to be there because of the genre's meet-fight-make up rules, rather than for logical plot purposes. It is refreshing, however, to have the hero and heroine many early in the book, which leads to several enthusiastic bedroom scenes And Marianne is a proactive heroine who doesn't passively wait to be rescued. Romance fans will like this book.
B.J. Sedlock
14 th CENTURY
CONSOLATION FOR AN EXILE
Caroline Roe, Berkley Prime Crime, 2004 , $23.95 / C$35.00, hb, 303pp, 0425198375 In l 355 Spain, Yusuf, student of Isaac the physician, learns that he is not a mere wanderer taken in by Isaac's family, but cousin to the Emir of Granada. As Yusuf leaves the city of Girona and heads for Moorish Granada, two newcomers arrive in Girona: Sibilla Lavaur, who has come to live with her relatives, the Manets, and Guillem de Belvianes, who claims to be a relative of the well-liked and well-off Raimon Foraster. As Yusuf learns the intrigues of the Emir's court, Isaac copes with equally deadly intrigues in Girona - and with secrets that could weave a deadly net around his family and friends if he cannot uncover long-buried truths.
This is the eighth installment of the "Chronicles of Isaac of Girona," and the first of the series I've read. While the book starts slowly, and the multitude of characters is a bit confusing at first, both sto1y and characters are compelling, and the setting is fascinating and well-realized.
India Edghill
15 th CENTURY
A PLAY OF ISAAC
Margaret Frazer, Berkley Prime Crime, 2004 , $6.50/C$9.99, pb, 312pp, 0425197514
This is a spin-off from the author's Dame Frevisse mystery novels, set in 15 th century England. You may be inspired, as [ was, to ISSUE 31 , FEBRUARY 2005
read The Servant's Tale, which introduces the players who are the subject of A Play of Isaac. Dame Frevisse befriended the players because they reminded her of her youth as a traveler, and it causes the nun some heartache to wrench her wandering mind back to her existence at the abbey. We the readers , however , can now follow the players as they prepare for the Corpus Christi Festival in Oxford. Part of medieval celebrations was a series of plays with religious themes; the title refers to the depiction of Abraham's sacrifice, complete with ram bursting from the thicket. Drama in the medieval period was moving from inside the church to a public form of entertainment, and the productions , although fo ll owing a sacred form (mystery , morality or miracle), did not miss the opportunity to entertain the crowd with some humor and special effects. It is this showman's urge that caused the church authorities to frown on the players, plus a distrust of any persons who traveled around, unattached to an estate lik e normal people. In the medieval version of "round up the usual suspects," the players are always going to be included. Since a troupe's survival depended upon patronage by those wealthy enough to support the arts, if your host has a murder or two in the household, it adds up to real problems for Thomas, Rose, Piers, Ellis and Joliffe. A great start to a promising series.
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
A FEAST OF POISONS
C.L. Grace, St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95/C$33.95, hb , 240pp, 0312310145
The prolific Paul Doherty does it again - here as the author of the compelling Kathryn Swinbrooke series, featuring the marvelously clever Canterbury physician/investigator. In this sixth installment, Kathryn and her new husband , Colum Murtagh, are in the village of Walmer for Michaelmas. In this claustrophic setting - where everyone knows everyone else and everything that everyone does - a husband and wife die. They are both poisoned, but by different poisons. Over a brief course of time, there are many more deaths by poison. lnterwoven into this local mystery is the conflict between Yorkists and Lancastrians. Naturally, it is all tied together. Kathryn's job is daunting: unraveling the methods and the motives for these deaths using not merely her knowledge of medicine, but her knowledge of the human condition and history, as well as a bit of psychological inquiry.
C.L. Grace books are such a joy because Kathryn ts a well-developed, delightful character. Sexy, insightful, knowledgeable , Kathryn is much a modem woman in 15th century clothing. What becomes clear after reading this series is that Kathryn is perhaps not such an anomaly after all. Our perspective on this period is broadened by Grace 's daring efforts to educate us about what the 15th
century was really like and to destroy our preconceived notions.
Ilysa Magnus
THE BORGIA BRIDE
Jeanne Kalogridis, HarperCollins, February 2005, hb , £ I 7.99/, 525pp, 0007148828 (to be published in the US May 2005)
In 1492,Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia is elected Pope Alexander VI, and marries his son, Jofre, to Sancha, a princess of Aragon, thus joining her to one of the most notorious Renaissance dynasties.
Choosing Sancha to narrate the Borgia story is an inspired idea; for a brief period, she was as deeply implicated in their sensational and controversial activities as anybody. As well as being Jofre 's wife, she was the mistress of both his brothers , and her own brother became Lucrezia's second husband. She was a terrific character in her own right, sexy, independent minded and passionate and, from con-espondence recently published in Sarah Bradford's new biography of Lucrezia (also reviewed in this issue), an acute and entertaining observer of Vatican life under Alexander.
Alas, however, this novel doesn't work. Kalogridis has made a number of factual errors. The famous letter chastising the then Cardinal Borgia for his licentious behaviour at a christening party in Siena, for example, was written, not by his uncle , Pope Calixtus Ill, but by Calixtus' successor, Pius II. Caterina Sforza, though she certainly attempted to poison Alexander in 1499, was, by the time of his actual death, living in retirement in Florence.
The real problem, however, seems to me to be a failure to imagine her way into the sensibility of the period. Her characters do not speak and act like true people of their time. We are asked to believe Sancha's father would tum a blind eye to her sleeping with her fiance before marriage , in a society which prized virginity so highly Lucrezia Borgia was later obliged to lie about the consummation of her first marriage in order to make her acceptable to a second husband. At the deathbed of Sancha's grandfather, family and doctors are in attendance, but no priest. In the aftennath of a rowdy party, Sancha throws her husband's cousin out of the house for having his way with a servant boy; she might as well bar her door to him for breaking a glass. None of this is helped by careless anachronisms such as referring to a bed cover as a "throw"
For anyone who wants a good read about the Borgias, Jean Plaidy's Madonna of the Seven Hills and Light on Lucre::.ia have yet to be beaten.
Sarah Bower 15
16 th CENTURY
THE FOOD TASTER
Peter Elbling, Atlantic Books 2004, £9.99, hb, 276pp, I 843543699/US Plume 2003, $13.00, pb,256pp,0452284341
(Revie111 32 111ill feature an interview 111ith Peter Elbling)
When Ugo DiFonte, and his beautiful daughter, Miranda, are snatched from their farm by Duke Federico, it seems life can't get any worse. That is, until Ugo finds he is to replace the duke's recently executed food taster. This is the stariing point for a fabulous romp through the High Renaissance, full of poisonings, seductions, political intrigues and - of course - sumptuous banquets.
Elbling is true to his roots as a successful screen writer in his assured handling of plot and pace. His one-horse city state feels completely authentic, with its mix of religion and superstition, enlightened humanism and mediaeval barbarity. Duke Federico's dining hall is a glorious melange of stabbings, flatulence and readings from Dante. A colourful cast of astrologers, cunning cardinals , whores with hearts of gold and scheming palace servants stalk the mouldy cmTidors of the crumbling castle, and every spectacle from the plague to a five day wedding party is presented with gusto. Though Elbling leaves himself little time for characterisation as he propels his story forward at breakneck speed, Duke Federico, the capricious petty tyrant who employs Ugo, is drawn with relish, his monstrous physical presence matched only by the imaginative range of his cruelties
Elbling's occasional forays into Italian are distracting, as is his decision to use the Italian names of cities known better to his English speaking readers in their anglicised versionsRoma, Napoli and Firenze instead of Rome, Naples and Florence. His descriptions of food, however, are almost poetic, and the recipes included at the end of the book are an enjoyable -novelty- though I could have done without the calorie count!
Sarah Bower
THE SECRET LION
C.W. Gortner, Heliographica, 2004, $16.95, pb, 239pp , 1933037350
In this, the first installment of Gortner's Spymaster Chronicles, we are introduced to a wonderful new character, Brendan Prescott. Is he really a foundling with no pedigree, raised in the Dudley household - or is there more to Brendan than meets the eye?
It is the summer of 1553. Brendan is summoned to Court to serve as squire to the arrogant Lord Robert Dudley. One of Brendan's first duties is to deliver an illicit message from Dudley to the elusive Princess Elizabeth. Soon, Brendan realizes that nothing is what it seems, for there are plots , counterplots, and conspiracies swirling around him. Brendan's survival skills are
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
considerable, but even then, he quickly concedes that he is in over his head. Smartly, he enlists the aid of one of Elizabeth's ladiesin-waiting and an astute stable boy.
There are many series featuring Elizabeth and Dudley. There are numerous mysteries where Elizabeth is the heroine, investigator, crafty politician. But in no other series has such a clever and engaging personality as Brendan Prescott pulled all the elements together - Tudor intrigues, Tudor pageantry, the treachery and ingenuity of Court politics - and delivered it to us in such a delightful package. The characters are beautifully drawn (Elizabeth and Dudley are wonderful, and Cecil is, well, Cecil!) and Gortner's interweaving of plotlines is skilful. I haven't been this excited about a new series and a new author in a long time, but I take my figurative hat off to C.W. Gortner. He has captured the very essence of Tudor glitz and glamour, and the depravity of it all as well. The book ended much too quickly for me, and I can't wait for the second instalment to aiTive.
Oh, and no, Brendan is not a poor foundling. or course. But then again, nothing is what it seems!
Ilysa Magnus
IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROWN
Jean Plaidy, Three Rivers Press, 2004 (cl988), $13.95, pb,386pp,0609810197
It's nice to have books by the late lamented queen of women in history (she covered everyone who was anyone from William the Conqueror to Lucrezia Borgia) available anew with discussion group guides for book clubs. /11 the Sl,ac/011· of tl,e CrolVn gives the wellknown saga of Henry VII I and his many wives new perspective by telling it from the point of view of his first child to live, Princess Mary, who later gained the epithet "Bloody." As the daughter of his first wife, she sees the others come and go, sometimes as heir, sometimes awaiting the axe at any moment. So often Mary is seen only as the unfortunately Catholic bridge to her more glorious and longer-lived half sister, Elizabeth. It's nice to get the perspective of Mary's deep calling to return England to Rome. Clearly no deep religious feeling led her father, but debauchery and self-delusion, pure and simple. There is little time taken for Hollywood effects of setting and romance with so much ground to cover, but one certainly gets the feeling, and is grateful for it, that in this master's hands, not a line of dialogue could not truly have happened. And yet the smoke of Protestant martyrs wafting to the queenly nostrils from Smithfield has a modern warning: resist me, make me strong and cause your own undoing.
Ann Chamberlin
QUEEN OF THIS REALM
Jean Plaidy, Three Rivers Press, 2004 (c1984), $14.95,pb,469pp,0609810200
This is a fictionalized account of King Henry Vil I's daughter, Elizabeth I. Jean Plaidy, the
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REV[EW
queen of royalty novels in her own right, provides a voice for this intriguing woman. In a time when there were few female rulers, Elizabeth I reigned as one of the strongest monarchs in history. In this story she is rightfully portrayed as strong, intelligent, and aptly capable. By letting Elizabeth speak to the reader, we are also given insight into her domineering, forceful, and self-indulgent nature. Additionally, we get a glimpse of how extremely kind, generous, and loyal she was. In particular, we witness Elizabeth's devotion and love for the subjects of her England. In this narrative, the author outlines the perils of her life and politics, and provides insight into the nirtations of this celebrated monarch.
While a short bibliography and discussion questions appear at the end of the text, by no means is this a heavy read. Certain ly, this is a good fictional introduction to one the most famous female rulers of western civilization.
Carol
Anne Germain
BRAZIL RED
Jean-Christophe Rufin, (trans. Willard Wood), Picador 2004, £ 16.99, hb, 429pp, 033043392X. First pub. in French as Rouge Bresil by Editions Gallimard, Paris 200 I. Pub.in US by W.W. Norton & Co., $24.95, hb, 448pp,0393052079
In this Renaissance adventure, orphaned brother and sister, Just and Colombe are tricked out of their inheritance by a scheming aunt. Believing that they are being sent to Italy to find their father the children are in fact being taken, along with others, to establish a French colony in Brazil; ignoring the fact that the Portuguese have already claimed it. In a world far removed from their own the children grow up surrounded by connict, a milieu of Catholic, Protestant, Huguenot and Anabaptists, not to mention the cannibal infested jungle. When their leader, Chevalier Durand de Villegagnon's bigotry verges on mania matters come to a head and Just and Colombe are faced with difficult decisions.
The author based his story on actual events relying on the memoirs of Villegagnon. It is a tale that has everything: conflict, passion, espionage, romance and that old standby, the battle between good and evil, but none of these elements is shown with any real impact because the writing is dull and matter of fact. There are no heart stopping moments of excitement and I was not moved to care about any of the characters. This novel, from the author of The Abyssinian and Tl,e Siege of Isfahan, won the Prix Goncourt 200 I. Ann Oughton
DARK FIRE
C.J. Sansome, Macmillan 2004, £16.99, pb, 500pp, 1405005440. Pub. in US by Viking Books 2005, $24.95, hb, 400pp, 0670033723 Dark fire, or Greek fire as it was previously known was a primitive name-thrower, thought to be a mixture of petroleum and wood resins.
It was discovered in 7 th century Constantinople and used by the Byzantines against the Arab navies. [ts method of manufacture was passed down from one Byzantine Emperor to the next until it was eventually lost.
Dark Fire takes place in 16 th century England in the reign of Henry VIII. Thomas Cromwell is in deep trouble with the King having arranged the disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleaves and the tide of favour is turning against him. To save his skin he tells Herny about the dark fire and promises that he will arrange a demonstration of it on a given day.
The story is told through the eyes of Matthew Shardlake, a London lawyer who is employed by Cromwell to track down the fire. This proves to be no easy task. Others know about it and are willing to kill for it, and do. Matthew is also defending a young girl accused of murder. A lthough she is incarcerated in Newgate prison and in grave danger of being 'pressed', a particularly nasty method of execution, steadfastly refuses to say anything in her own defence.
The extremely hot summer of 1540, the hottest of the 16th century, is the backdrop for this tale and the reader is made keenly aware of life in London under those very trying conditions. The two plots weave in and out of each other to make a fascinating story of the myste1y and intrigue that I found difficult to put down. It is the second ofC.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series. I look forward to the third.
Marilyn Sherlock
PHILIPPA
Bertrice Small, New American Libra1y, 2004, $ I 4.00/C$20.00, pb, 3 78pp, 045121299 I The women of Friarsgate again feature in this third offering from Bertrice Small's bestselling series, The Friarsgate Inheritance. Philippa, e ld est child of Rosamund Bolton and heir to Friarsgate Manor, finds herself rebuffed by the man she had hoped to marry. Devastated, she throws herself into life at the court of King Henry VIII and is swept into courtly antics. She soon finds herself in the arms of Crispin St. Clair, the Earl of Witton, and discovers the thrill of newfound love. Courtly intrigue soon finds them racing to untangle a deadly plot to assassinate the King.
This book is lovely. The characters are well-fleshed out and the setting captivating. Sprinkled with several memorably humorous moments, the sto1y nows nicely, although the murder plot seems to take up precious little of it, especially so late in the plot. Overall, it's a good read, but having reviewed the first two in the series, this one doesn't grab the reader and take her on a roller-coaster ride through Merry Olde England as did the previous offerings. For lovers of romance, it's recommended; for those looking for something meaty with a bit of romance thrown in, look elsewhere.
Dana Cohlmeyer
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
TIME'S FOOL: A Mystery of Shakespeare
Leonard Tourney, Forge, 2004, $24.95, hb , 320pp,0765303043
The Dark Lady of Shakespeare's sonnets has been the subject of conjecture for centuries, and in this offering, Tourney presents his take on the life of the bard and his muse.
Shakespeare receives a summons from his old mistress- the Dark Lady who stirred in him a passion so heated that his most famous sonnets sprang from its flames. She soon dies in a mysterious fire , and Shakespeare uncovers a deadly conspiracy.
Though the beginning of the novel creates its fair share of tension and foreboding, the malefactors' uncanny ability to see through Shakespeare's disguises and anticipate his every move inspires incredulity. The novel's ambience is convincing, but Shakespeare himself doesn't feel quite right. The fault perhaps springs from an attempt to sound like Shakespeare without rendering the dialogue archaic and therefore unpalatable to a modern audience. This defect pales in comparison to the novel's major flaw , namely the revelation at its ending. Points throughout the novel feel contrived, but the exposure of the villain and the motive of the conspiracy are absurdly farfetched at best. Overall, the atmosphere Tourney creates will make this novel appealing to readers of Jacobean mysteries-as long as they value ambience over believability.
Bethany Skaggs
17 TH CENTURY
SERAFINA'S STORIES
Rudolfo Anaya, Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2004,$22.95, hb,202pp,082633569I Award-winning Chicano author Rudolfo Anaya sets the legend of Scheherezade against the background of Spanish- settled Santa Fe, just before the successful Pueblo insurgency of 1680. The Spanish governor is a recently widowed and lonely man who misses the warmth and comfort of the life he has left behind. The native Pueblo people are restive under Spanish government, whose strict religious authoritarianism is detem1ined to exterminate their native religious beliefs. The Governor, hearing of plans for an uprising and knowing that action must be taken immediately, lest the small Spanish population be overwhelmed, quickly arrests and prepares to try twelve conspirators. He is surprised to discover, however, that one of the conspirators is a fifteen-year-old girl named Serafina who speaks excellent Spanish and was brought up in a mission church. He discovers that she is a storyteller who knows many of the cuentos, or traditional tales, and makes with her a bargain - she will tell him a sto,y each evening, and if he likes her stories he will release one prisoner the next morning. In this way, eleven of Serafina's fellow prisoners are released, until the Governor is faced with the decision of
what to do about Serafina herself, whom he has come to regard as a daughter. The stories are traditional European tales, reset in the surroundings of the Southwest with native characters. They managed to educate the reader (and listener) of the problems facing the Pueblo people under Spanish rule while staying true to their origins and original meanings, and by the end of the twelve days and the twelve stories, both are changed. Well written and lyrically told, this novel is suitable for all readers.
Tracey Callison
THE MASK OF NIGHT
Philip Gooden, Constable 2004, £ 16.99, hb, 281 pp, 1841 196932. Pub. in US by Constable & Robinson 2004, $31.95, hb, 320pp, 1841196932
This is a te1Tific Shakespearean murder mystery, the fifth in a series of novels featuring Nick Revill, a member of the Chamberlain's Men of players who finds himself embroiled in an intriguing mix of murder and mayhem.
Set in the last days of Queen Elizabeth's reign when the plague was taking hold in London and featuring no less a personage than William Shakespeare. The plot involves a series of baffling murders in Oxford, the city to which the players have gone after the theatres in the capital have been closed. With both private and public performances of Romeo and Juliet as the backdrop, Gooden weaves an intricate plot of murder, greed and betrayal with an assured grasp of all the various threads and details.
The narrative is witty, the characters are well drawn , the pace is just right, the historical setting is accurate and the literary allusions are delightful. The reader gets a good sense of what it must have been like to live in Elizabethan England at the time of the plague. And we also find out what exactly are 'naughty man 's chen-ies' which cannot be a bad thing.
The Mask of Night is a quotation from Romeo and Juli et and the four previous novels have also taken from the particular play that is that novel's theme. Gooden would appear to have found a winning formula and long may it continue. He is currently working on his sixth Nick Revill adventure.
Ray Taylor
THE PERFUMED SLEEVE
Laura Joh Rowland , St. Martin's Press, 2004, $24.95/C$34.95, 326pp, hb , 0312318898
This is the ninth outing for the medieval Japanese detective and his intrepid wife, sort of a Macmillan and Wife or Hart to Hart for the historical mystery set. Seventeenth centu1y Japan is already an old, rather decadent society that rivals our own in complexity.
Sano is carefully neutral among the factions around the weak Shogun, while wife
Regan has her own problems, a backstabbing , and an envious pretend-friend. The confines of Bashido , the code of the Samurai, as well as the rigid rules for each group of society and the sexes, create additional conflict for this devoted couple. A retainer of one faction is murdered, with hints that he had been lured to another faction The lurid details of the crime remind the reader that there really is nothing new under the sun. Sano can't even examine the body without breaking the law, and his wife comes in more than handy because the households are closed to outsiders, so Regan volunteers to pose as a servant.
This is truly a whodunit on the order of Agatha Christie with red herrings, twists and a last surprise at the end, but I most like the detailed descriptions of this fascinating society and the tender, realistic relationships between these spouses. There is continuity between the books, and references are made to ear licr occurrences, but it is not necessary to read them in order.
Mary K. Bird-Guillams
18 th CENTURY
SPARROWHAWK BOOK lV: EMPIRE
Edward Cline, 200-l, MacAdam/Cagc, $24.00/C$29.50, hb, 290pp, 1931561877
Book IV of this series revolves around the Stamp Tax debates in the Virginia House of Burgesses between 1764 and 1765. Hugh Kenrick reluctantly runs for an open seat and is easily elected. Upon joining the House, he meets a young Thomas Jefferson and an already controversial firebrand, Patrick HeJ1ry. Hugh joins forces with Mr. Henry, and together they push the reluctant House to pass resolutions protesting the Stamp Act; resolutions seen as near treason by some and as useless whimpers by others. The eloquence and logical thinking of the players on this stage are in stark contrast to the simian-simple sound bites that pass as political speechmaking these days.
While not as action-packed and swift moving as the earlier books in this series, Empire is just as wonderfully written. I was barely into the first chapter when I found one of many exquisite passages I've come to expect from this author. This story is the framework, built upon the foundation of the previous books, which will no doubt rise to become an epic telling of the saga of the American Revolutionary War as it has never been told before. I eagerly await Book V. Mark F. Johnson
THE SERPENT IN THE GARDEN
Janet Gleeson, Simon & Schuster, 2005, $14, pb,338pp,0743260058
Pub. in the UK by Bantam, 2004, £6.99, pb, 4l5pp,05538l5245
In l 766, portrait painter Joshua Pope is spending some months at Astley, Herbert
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
Bcntnick's estate in Richmond. Pope has been commissioned to paint the maniage portrait of the widower Bentnick and his fiancee Sabine Mercier. Sabine, a widow herself from Barbados, is attempting to grow pineapples at Astley and discovers a dead man one morning in the pinery. She beseeches Pope to learn what he can about the dead man, but shortly after embarking upon his amateur sleuthing, he finds himself accused of the theft of Sabine's beautiful and unusual necklace. In order to save his reputation, he must find the necklace himself, but his efforts meet with resistance from Bentnick's grown children, Caroline and Francis. Only Francis's intended, Lizzie Manning, shows any interest in aiding Pope. While Gleeson is as adept at painting the period details as Pope is at painting his portraits, the mystery itself falters with one red herring after another. There are so many, in fact, that it appears as though the author kept changing her mind midstream and tacking off in different directions, with the end result being that I ultimately cared littl e about whodunit. Plotlines that have all the hallmarks of foreshadowing go nowhere. The supposition that Bentnick's first wife may have been murdered by Sabine is abandoned along w ith a number of other threads. However, Gleeson does maintain a level of interest through the framing device of Pope looking back on this story twenty years later when he is visited by a mysterious woman with a connection to the case. In the end, though, even the revelation of her identity failed to be worth my time.
Ellen Keith
THE BLOODING OF JACK ABSOLUTE
C C Humphreys, Orion, Jan 2005, hb, £9 99, 31 lpp,0752857053
This novel is a prequel to Jack Absolute, published to great acclaim in 2004. Here, Humphreys shows the raw, rash and immature Jack becomes a raw, rash and mature individual. We read how Jack escapes a less than happy childhood in Cornwall and finds himself in London where he receives a wellrounded English education in the whorehouses and drinking-dens of Georgian Soho and from time to time at Westminster School. When a brush with the authorities becomes one too many, he is forced to join the 16th Light Dragoons which so happens to be on active service in Canada under General Wolfe. Soon he is in the thick of the action of the 1759 Battle of Quebec and then captured into slavery by a tribe of Abenakis. Forming a prickly friendship with Ate, a Mohawk wanior, they escape their captors, only to find themselves in an even worse predicament. How Jack gets out of that and wins his spurs and return lo London triumphant forms the second part of this most satisfying novel. Humphreys makes writing historical fiction seem easy. l le brilliantly combines meticulous research with a breakneck pace and a terrific sense of humour. Georgian London
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
with its theatres and Mayfair mansions spreading out over cow-pastures and orchards becomes another character with it s part to play in Jack's education. We visit Vauxhall Gardens and meet a young Gainsborough and other historical luminaries have cameo roles. But it is Ca nada that clearly holds a specia l place in the author's heart and his knowledge and understanding of that count1y and its original inhabitants cannot be faulted And apart from a cricket match and a game of billiards, the minutiae of which escaped me entirely - it's a girl thing -I turned the pages with delight.
If I read a more enjoyable historical novel this year, you can stick me in a snowed up cave with only bear-meat to chew on and a copy of Hamlet to keep me sane.
Sally Zigmond
DEATH IN Tl-IE SETTING SUN
De1yn Lake, Allison & Busby 2004, £ I 8.99, hb, 288 pp, 00749083654 (Pub.US by Allison & Busby, S25.95, 0749083654)
John Rawlings is feeling particularly content with his lot in this 10th ent1y in the series. He has a wife he loves, a beautiful daughter, a job he enjoys and a good lifestyle. His troubles begin when his wife introdu ces him to an old schoo l friend, Priscilla Fleming. This lady is companion to one of Princess Amelia's ladiesin-waiting, and is putting on a play for the festive season as pati of her duties. Emilia ends up taking part, and thus the Rawlings are invited to Gunnersbu1y House, one of the Princess's residences, just before Christmas. But events take a terrible tum, and John ends up on the run. Back in the wi Ids of Daiimoor he comes face to face with an old flame, and the two of them go back to Gunnersbury House undercover to find out whodunit.
These John Rawlings novels are end lessly inventive, and show no signs of flagging as the series hits double figures. Sir John Fielding is offside in this one (see, already different and creative) and surprises are in store that show Ms Lake is not planning on getting stuck in a domestic rut. Cosy fans might well enjoy these tales but they have an added edge that gives them wide r appeal. A heady mix of myste1y and history, with a hint of ro111ance and some well-placed humour (as wel l as various changes of scene and plenty of new characters) make these books 111emorable and just the right length for enjoy111ent. I read a lot of historical crime novels, and Ms Lake is up there in my personal top ten. Just enough of all the ingredients and I a111 left wanting more ought to be required reading for wannabe writers of this type of thing.
Rachel A Hyde
FLEUR-DE-LIS
Isolde Martyn, Pan MacMillan Australia, 2004, AU$30, pb, 477pp, 1405035692
The aftermath of the French Revolution leaves orphaned aristocrat Fleur de Montbulliou starving and destitute. At one stroke, through
her ma1Tiage to a dying 111an, she gains a new name, an inheritance, and the chance to build a new future for herself in Paris. Once there, she's unable to avoid the attention of a National Assembly Deputy, or allay his suspicions. Raoul de Villaret, an artist turned politician, is investigating whether the lovely widow murdered her husband.
Fleur's inheritance includes debts, an old house, and a disreputable restaurant with a stage. Determined to support herself and others, she becomes a businesswo111an. Raoul and his fellow politicians flock to her estab li shment for the perfor111ances of the saucy and mysterious La Coquette. With success co111es visibi lit y, a nd as Fleur grows more politically astute, she inadvertently incites the wrath of the citizenry.
The worlds of a11 and revolution, theatre and co111111erce collide with increasing violence, and Raoul 111ust protect Fleur fro111 har111, even as he probes her supposed cri111es. As his muse, she re-awakens his desire to paint. Their risky love affair seems doomed by her brother's return, the discove1y of how intimately and dangerously their past lives have been entwined, and by murder and imprisonment.
In addition to her compe llin g, wel l-d rawn protagonists, Martyn vividly depicts a supporting cast of fictional and historical figures, famous and obscure. This outstanding novel ceme nt s her reputation for exceptional romantic historical fiction.
Margaret BaiT
CONVERSATIONS lN BOLZANO
Sandor Marni, Viking 2004, (trans. George Szirtes) £ 14.99, pb, 304pp, 067095343? Pub. in US by Albin Michel 2000, $40.63, pb, 2226058885
Midnight on 31 October I 758 and Giaco1110 Casanova, in a daring bid for freedom, walks out of the front door of the prison where he has spent the past sixteen months. No longer the suave seducer but a desperate fugitive, he seeks refuge from the Venetian authorities with his fellow escapee, the unfrocked friar, Balbi in the Stag lnn in Balzano.
It is a place of haunting memories where he fought a duel with the Duke of Parma for the favours of the beguiling Francesca. Wounded in body and spirit Casanova was forced to flee. Now, on his return h e confronts his old adversa1y once 111ore and the proposition that Parma puts to Casanova is at once delightful and frightening.
First published in 1--lungary in 1940 this is Sandor Marai's second book to be translated into English This fictional and highly romanticised account was written because, 'it was not so much the romantic episode's in 111y hero's life that int erested me as his romantic character.' In this, Marai has given an understanding and sympathetic view of a character whom history has not always treated honestly or kindly.
Ann Oughton
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
LORDS OF Tl-IE OCEAN
James Nelson, Corgi 2004, £6.99, pb, 4 l 6pp, 0552149632
Tn 1776 Captain Isaac Biddlecomb of the fledgling United States Navy is sent on a mission to deliver Benjamin Franklin to France where he will be negotiating with the French. It proves no easy task to cross the Atlantic and once in France there are other problems that send Biddlecomb and his crew adventuring around the English coast.
Though the details of historical events are lightly sketched, interest is maintained by the sheer number and variety of the battles, escapades, captures and escapes that the crew of the Charlemagne undergo. For sailing fans the technicalities of these ships and how they were controlled is awe-inspiring in scope. Thi s fourth book in the series Iives up to the others in action and ingenuity Marina Oliver
THE ONLY LIFE THAT MATTERED
James L. Nelson, Mc Books, 2004, SI 6. 95 /$21. 95, pb, 4 I 4pp, 1590 I 3060X
The Only Life That Mattered is a faithful retelling of the lives of three eighteenth century Caribbean pirates, and Mr. Nelson couldn't have chosen better characters: Anne Bonny, the lo vely bastard daughter of a comfortable Charleston planter, with an adventurous streak so wide that she takes to the "sweet trade" willingly; Mary Read , an Englishwoman forced to dre ss as a boy from birth, who makes her way in the world as a soldier, sai lor, tavern-keeper and wife, until she is taken off a Dutch s hip by pirates; and Calico Jack Rackam , a debonair dandy who in one bold move wrests control of a s hip from his mentor pirate , comes to dislike the responsibility and takes the governor's pardononly to slip back into the trade again, and from there into dissolution , cowardice, and a justified hanging . James Nelson writes with clarity and flair and a sharp sense of the dramatic. He sticks to the documented facts - this truth is stranger than any fiction! - and he lets the reade r speculate on what may have happened to the surviving pirate , long after she'd given up the trade. Altogether, Th e Only Life That Mattered is a rousing, entertaining, and honest chronicle of the last years of the golden age of piracy. (Ed. note: This is a rewritten version of The Siveet Trade, written as Elizabeth GarTett, and published by Forge in 2001.)
Lisa Ann Verge
19 th CENTURY
SANTA FE PASSAGE
Jon R. Bauman , Forge, 2004, S24.95, hb, 323 pp,03123334 8X
In the 1820s, storekeeper's apprentice Matt Collins sees hi s chance to rise in the world by joining the Missouri trade, fenying goods overland to Santa Fe. He learns Mexican busines s ways and marries into a local family,
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
eventually becoming a Mexican citizen. When war threatens between the U.S. and Mexico in 1846 , Matt is called to the White House to consult with President Polk on ways to prevent bloodshed in New Mexico. He must then decide where his loyalties lie.
I learned a lot from this book about the history of the American Southwest and what life was like on the Santa Fe Trail. Bauman obviously did his historical research , and thoroughly. But he fell into the trap which trips up many a first-time historical novelist: too much history with too little characterization. I didn't identify with Matt or the other wooden characters. One character's fate is telegraphed far in advance, and another's long backstoty has little to do with the plot and is awkwardly stuck in , mid- sto ry. It 's too bad Bauman didn ' t spend longer polishing his characterizations-this could have been a first-rate novel about an interesting period in Nor1h American history that gets little play in the hi stor ical fiction genre.
B.J Sedlock
THE APOTHECARY'S GlFT
Bradley Bernarde, Whydown Books , 2003, price not marked, hb , 238pp, I 874262047
Anne Reed , junior partner in a firm of solicitors, is obsessed with Jane Austen. She reads when she should be working and constantly hankers after the Regency. She goes into an old-fashioned apothecary's shop in search of a cold remedy which she takes at bed time. She wakes up next morning in I 819, in the body of Lady Arabella Clyde, who has also been ill. She is visited by the apothecary in the guise of Lady Arabella's physician. He tells her her wish has been granted and she will remain in the Regency for exactly one year. He suggests she feign amnesia to cover for her lack of knowledge of the Clyde family and the customs of the age then leaves her , saying she must sort out the family's problems. Her 'husband', Sir Andrew, is courteous but distant, and she foresees many difficulties ahead. The book tells the story of Anne's year and her developing relationship with Sir Andrew.
The main difficulty with timeslip novels is the device used to shift characters from now to then , and I was not wholly convinced by this one. I also found the dialogue uneven; though Anne's was mainly modern , Sir Andrew's speech was not in keeping with the heroine's lo ve of Austen. I also found the ending a little llllS atisfactory.
A light, pleasant read if you can swallow these objections.
Pamela Cleaver
MOONTRAP
Don Beny , Oregon State Univ. Press , 2004, Sl8.95,pb,315pp,0870710397
Winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for best historical novel when first published over forty years ago, Moontrap is set in the Oregon Ten·itory of 1850. In this
handsome new trade paperback edition, it remains the haunting tale of conflicting interests-those of a dying breed , the mountain men , personified by cantankerous Web Webster, and the new settlers, personified by the English entrepreneur Thurston. Caught in the middle is Johnson Monday, who's got a cabin on the outskiris of the settlement he shares with his Shoshone wife Maty. He 's been making a seven year, half-hearted attempt at fam1ing. Web comes visiting, and a series of raucous, humorous and dangerous adventures lead to both a decision between the two worlds , and inevitable tragedy.
Don Berry's portrayal of pioneer life remains rich , powerful , nuanced , and harrowing in its beauty. Web is a scene stealer, a twilight person "in love with the wonder at the variety of the world." The jargon, humor and mountain-men-will-be-mountain-men hijinks are still amusing, if given too much space-space perhaps better filled with a more complete portrayal of Mary, a woman who reads the tension in her husband's shoulders and knows he needs to hunt , but who exists mainly in this novel as an object of de s ire offering unconditional love and acceptance to a very flawed man.
Eileen Charbonneau
TO BUIL D A SH IP
Don Be1ry , Oregon State Univ. Press, 2004 (cl963), $17.95, pb , 203pp , 0870710400 Ben Thaler arrives at Tillamook Bay on the Oregon coast in the spring of 1851. He is looking for a place to plant roots. As he assimilates into the community, he realizes it is the place of his dreams. Over the next few years, the isolated settlement thrives becau se of an annual trading visit from Captain Means and his sloop. One spring, news arrives that he has died, and no other traders will chance the bay's dangerous breakers. The settlers decide to build their own schooner under the guidance of Sam , a former shipbuilder, who is a semirecluse Following Sam's insistence on perfection, the community becomes obsessed with the ship's construction. Then trouble appears. Their good relations with the natives are strained when Sam becomes madly infatuated with a young Indian woman Next, there is a murder, and the idyllic community begins to unravel.
BerTy's simple, straightforward tale is about complex emotions. It shows how obsession, fantasy, betrayal , and brutality poison human dreams. First published forty years ago, this story is still a powerful indictment of enduring human folly.
Gerald T. Burke
TRASK
Don Berry, Oregon State Univ. Press, 2004 (cl960), $18.95, pb , 368pp, 0870710230
In I 848, Elbridge Trask , a trapper and mountain man who has married and settled in the Clatsop Plains of Oregon , begins to feel the
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
call of the unknown. Trask is quiet, inarticulate, and has learned to trust his instincts. He is a restless man who had gone to sea in his youth. He seems to appreciate the order of civilization, whether it is the encroaching civilization of the western world or that of his nearest neighbors, the Clatsop Indians, but he'd rather live without its restrictions. Bridge, as he is called, is pulled from his home by an inner craving to settle on the edge of the ocean in Killamook Indian land where he meets their chief, Kilchis. It is Kilchis whom Trask must impress for permission to settle within the boundary of his land. The successful quest for his dream leads Trask through a series of challenges and losses. At the conclusion of the book, Trask has achieved his goal and is left in private celebration.
The late Don Berry wrote with charn1ing eloquence. II is style is clean and imbued with empathy for wanderlust. His descriptions are so vivid the reader can smell the evergreen, feel the rain, and see the fog. Trask is the first in a trilogy about the Oregon Territory. We should note that, although Elbridge Trask really existed, this is a fictionalized account. Audrey Braver
SKYLARK
Jo Beverley, Signet, 2004, $6.99, pb, 374pp, 0451211839
Fans of Jo Beverley's Company of Rogues will thoroughly enjoy this latest addition to the series, featuring Sir Stephen Ball and his widowed childhood friend Laura Gardeyne. Six years before the story opens, Stephen had asked Laura to ma1Ty him, but a misunderstanding resulted in her rejecting him. Now her husband is dead, her son is in danger and Stephen is as much in love with her as ever. He offers to help her and together they search for a blackmailer threatening to expose a family secret. Laura soon learns Stephen is a man of principle, one who is more worthy of her love than the man she married.
As always, Ms. Beverley spins an exciting tale, effortlessly transporting her reader to Regency England. The mystery adds to the romance rather than dominating it, while Stephen and Laura are appealing protagonists whose rekindled relationship develops naturally. Peopled with a delightfully quirky cast of secondary characters, Sl,-)'lark zips along at a good pace that kept me turning the pages.
If you are searching for a book in which history and romance blend seamlessly, look no further than this enjoyable and engrossing novel oflove and redemption.
Teresa Basinski Eckford
MY PLEASURE
Connie Brockway, Pocket, 2004, US$6.99/ C$10.50,pb,368pp,0743463234
In My Pleasure, the second in a trilogy about the Nash sisters, Ramsay Munro, bastard,
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
adventurer, and swordsman par excellent, fulfills his vow to protect Colonel Nash's daughters. The colonel died while rescuing Ram from Napoleon's guillotine. Keeping his promise is almost an impossible feat when beautiful Helena Nash persists in masquerading as a man and frequenting questionable parts of London al night. When Helena began her nocturnal forays as a gobetween for separated lovers, she had no idea how exciting it would be. However, Helena has a stalker. She goes to Ram to learn fencing to defend herself. He is concerned because she refuses to confide in him, which she can't do without breaking a promise to her dearest friend. Ram has the obvious vi ll ain, Helena's unwanted, thwarted suitor, watched, unaware that the real enemy is one of his own.
Ms. Brockway tells a compelling story of romantic intrigue. The hero and heroine are an exciting, intelligent couple. Even though the author takes poetic license with the geography of London and the order of precedence of the British aristocracy, /1,~1· Pleasure is a delightful book.
Audrey Braver
THE INNOCENT LIBERTINE
T. Davis Bunn and Isabella Bunn, Bethany Hous~2004,$12.99,pb,318pp,0764228587 Abigail Aldridge, a young woman whose past is clouded by secrets, takes it upon herself to assist residents in the Soho slums of I 814 London. Reverend Derrick Ames encounters Abigail, dese11ed by her frightened cousin, and protectively escorts her to the Soho Square Church. A raid results in Abigail's arrest and imprisonment at Newgate. Upon being released, she is guided by a relentless determination. In returning to the slums, Abigail is accompanied by Lillian Houghton, a countess and social activist.
The text is primarily dialogue, supplemented by social commentary explaining how an American expatriate family would be shamed into permitting Abigail's return to the States. Back in her home country, Abigail embarks upon a new life, and she meets new family and friends who live by their faith. Both she and Lillian are greeted warmly, and their lives are heavily impacted by the caring expressed by virtual strangers. In revealing their secrets, Abigail and Lillian gain peace of mind and freedom from scandal.
This book in the Heirs of Acadia series is highly recommended, especially for women interested in social injustice.
Jetta Carol Culpepper
WINTERSET
Candace Camp, Mira, 2004, $6.99/ $8.50, pb, 0778320855
Anna Holcomb and her brother Kit are the last of the de Winters, their mother having come from that illustrious Gloucestershire family. Three years earlier, the Holcombs had sold Winterset, a mansion on their estate, to
bachelor Reed Moreland. It was then that Anna and Reed first fell in love, but Anna inexplicably refused his marriage proposal. Now Reed finds himself dreaming of Anna in danger, and returns to Winterset to protect her. When one of the Holcombs' young serving gir ls is killed in a bizarre fashion, echoing murders committed decades earlier, Reed knows that Anna needs his help more than ever. Unfortunately, Anna is rather cold, which makes the reader question what, besides her beauty, attracted Reed to her in the first place. In all, the characters feel Oat, the time period is vague, and the protagonists speak Iike Americans trying to sound British. I love an o ld-fa shioned Victorian gothic, but while I found the mystery suspenseful, I expected more from a bestselling author.
Sarah Johnson
THE PEACEl\lAKER
Lori Copeland, Tyndale House, 2004, S 11.99, pb,312pp,0842369309
In July 1865, Wynne Elliot is bent on revenge-lo shoot that varmint, Cass Claxton, who stood her up at the altar and stole her money. But her plans to follow him to his Missouri home go awry when the stage is robbed and she is stranded without a penny. The two strangers who rescue her tum out to be Cass's brothers, and the family takes her in. But Cole Claxton vows to prevent Wynne from carrying out her revenge on his brother. I'm usually ready to like a Christian romance that has a sense of humor. But this plot is just a bit too contrived, and the historical gaffes jarring. Copeland has J character refer to a talkative person having been "vaccinated with a phonograph needle" over a decade before the phonograph was invented. And she uses 21 st century expressions, such as "grungy" and "hissy fit." This volume one in the "Men of the Saddle" series succeeds as a modern romance in fancy dress. But if you prefer true period flavor to your historical fiction, look elsewhere.
B.J. Sedlock
THE GREEN AGE OF ASHER WITHEROW
M. Allen Cunningham, Unbridled Books, 2004, S24.95, hb, 275pp, 1932961003
Early on, narrator of this novel claims "the price of memory is a certain profound impotence." This statement propels Asher Witherow, born into a mining family in late nineteenth century California, as he comes of age. An only child of caring parents, he also forms three bonds outside his family. A brother bond develops with fellow breaker boy Thomas Motion, whom Asher teaches his enduring calm manner for Thomas's ability to see in the dark. Anna Flood is his sister confidante/first lover. A mentorship develops between Asher and the town's young minister, who reads transcendentalists and has lived in India.
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
When Asher is the sole witness of Thomas's horrific death , a series of rumors begin about the minister 's possible involvement. It catches even Asher's vigilant mother in its thrall. Later, Anna's pregnancy is the catalyst for further disaster in a town intolerant of outside ideas or actions.
Written in a literary style, images dominate plot, character, and history in The Green Age of Asher Witherow. Perhaps a function of this style and despite its grit, the novel seems set more in the author's mind than in an historical time or place. It' s a fertile and compelling place, this consciousness, but its product this time around is also enough to depress a hyena.
Eileen Charbonneau
BROTHERSOFTHEBLADE
Garry Douglas Kilworth, Constable 2004, £ 16.99 , hb, 369pp, 1841198218
In a packed market square in India a shot rings out and a British officer falls from his horse , shot by one of the Indian soldiers lined up behind him. Fancy Jack Crossman, newly commissioned , is in Indi a and the mutiny is bubbling up around him. Crossman's mission is to penetrate Afghanistan to determine whether certain hill tribes will remain loyal during these ten·ifying times.
Unfortunately , his cover story is provided by Sergeant King. King is a mapmaker , so obsessed with surveying that he forgets that intelligence gathering is the primary purpose of the mission. Corpora l Gwilliam 's, Crossman's American companion, is irritated by King's arrival in his previously cosy world. If there are not enough personality clashes already, further conflict arises after an unwilling personal bodyguard, Ishtar Raktambar is foisted on Jack. The further north they go the less confident Crossman feels about both his team and some of the 'friendly forces' they meet on the way.
Kilworth gives an insight into the varying attitudes of the East India Company Army Officers, one of whom states that with India , ' you either love it or despise it'. For some there is a real attachment to the sub-continent and one of the strengths of this novel is that the author shows us through both his major and minor characters some of the peoples, faiths and cultures of that remarkable land.
There are fascinating glimpses into the world of Victorian map making and a g limp se into the achievements oflndian astronomy.
The description of the siege of Delhi is a piece of fine battle writing that successfully combines historical accuracy and the novel's plot. The author concentrates on showing us the hatred and confusion that occurs when human beings fight without rules. Thought provoking and a good read.
Paul F. Brunyee
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
AND
NOT TO YIELD: A Novel of the Life and Times of Wild Bill Hickok
Randy Lee Eickhoff, Forge, 2004, $27.95/C$38.95, hb , 430pp, 0312869258 Wild Bill Hickok kills only those who deserve to be killed in Randy Lee Eickhoffs latest, an awkward reworking of the gunfighter's life. Wild Bill narrates the tale himself, in a tangy, down-to-earth voice. As a young man he works on the family fann, helping his parents ferry slaves north on the Underground Railroad. His abolitionist father teaches him that not all Christians were born to tum the other cheek. Some must walk on the dark side - shadowy, protective, and, if necessary, violent, like Charlemagne's knights or Sir Lancelot of the King Arthur tales. When young Hickok leaves home for Kansas , he ca1Ties these dicta in his heart.
Because Hickok has the uncanny ability to hit whatever he shoots at-and hit it quick - he earns a reputation in the Old West, one he comes to regret. The greater part of this book is a gripping account told in honest language, but swirling around in the pot are strange diversions: a thirteen-page Hc11per 's Wee kly report of Hickok's exploits, embroidered; a fevered dream sequence of Hickok as Sir Lancelot getting sweaty with Guinevere; the Archangel Gabriel descending upon the young gunfighter in his parent's living room. In such a homespun nan·ative, these bits of magic realism bob about like gristle in a stew. Randy Lee Eickhoff is an exceptional writer (particularly his interpretation of the tales of The Ulster Cycle), but this lumpy novel needed more time to simmer over the campfire.
Lisa Ann Verge
A HINT OF SEDUCTION
Amelia Grey, Berkley Sensation, 2004, S5.99/C$8.99, pb, 293pp, 0425198022
Headstrong Catherine Reynolds is experiencing her first season in London , guided by her widowed sister-in-law Victoria. If Victoria marries Catherine to a titled man, she will collect a bonus promised by Catherine's presumed father before he died. But Catherine has other motives, due to her recent discovery that her real father is one of three men who abandoned her mother twentyone years ago. Her plan of escaping the season unattached is hampered when she meets John Wickenham-Thickenham-Fines, Earl of Chatwin, under potentially scandalous circumstances. The Earl, a renowned rogue, is equally smitten and helps her with her quest to identify her father as well as to explore her awakening sexuality.
Gracefully alternating between the hero's and heroine's viewpoints, Grey keeps the tension wound as John and Catherine seek the answers to Catherine's heritage and ways to indulge their physical attraction while appearing to adhere to the rules of the Regency-era courtship. Lord Truefitt's gossip column in the local paper provides the fodder
for conflict as the two lovers misinterpret each other's intentions.
The mystery component and Catherine's willing seduction makes this novel enjoyable for those who prefer a steamy romance. Suzanne J. Sprague
DEAD WATER
Barbara Hambly, Bantam, 2004, $25.00 /C$ 3 7.00, hb, 297pp, 0553109642
Ben January has a personal stake in finding the embezzler. He stands to lo se his own money and hi s house if the banker escapes on the riverboat Silver Moon.
We're back in New Orleans, this time in the summer of 1836. Jackson is President, and the nation's banking system is tottering. A voodoo mambo has put a curse on January, and its effects are swift. She seems to have sneaked onboard the steamboat, peopled with an ensemble of colorful characters: a slavedealer, an abolitionist, a young planter and an Irish pilot. January is a free man of color who masquerades as the slave of his musician friend Hannibal Sefton. Unless he solves the mystery, his life is dead water: water with no current that traps a vessel behind a sand bar.
Author Hambly lulls the reader with lyrical description, then lures us onward with a taut narrative to build suspense. Several of the people are shifty, motivated by greed and capable of violence.
A realism you can smell, a fear you can feel. In her 8 th offering of the January series, Hambly proves herself once again a master of the historical mystery.
Marcia K. Matthews
THE EMANCIPATOR'S WIFE
Barbara Hambly, Bantam, 2005, £25.00/CS35.00, hb , 624pp, 0553803018
As an avid reader of historical fiction, l like to think I've learned the difference between a good story and a great one. Barbara Hambly's The Emancipator's Wife is historical fiction at its finest.
The story opens in 1862 with a chance meeting between First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and John Wilamet, a runaway slave, who has come not1h in search of the Promised Land. He has arrived in Washington with his three younger siblings and a mentally deranged mother. Before long he will witness a similar trait in Mrs. Lincoln, as she moves from loving kindness to uncontrollable rage within a matter of moments. John will figure prominently in Mrs. Lincoln's lat er life, too, when her only surviving son takes legal steps to have her declared insane and committed to Bellevue Place, an asylum for disturbed women of financial means. John is an assistant there and takes a special interest in her case. His quest for an understanding of mental illness has been his life's work.
As the daughter of a state legislator, Mary Todd has a love and understanding of politics not found in women of her day and she secs a
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promising future for Abraham Lincoln, an awkward backwoods lawyer. We witness their tumultuous love affair and eventual marriage. In later years, her blinding migraines and overwhelming grief result in addiction to the nostrums and opium-laced cures so available at the time. The story nows well from Mary's pampered youth in Lexington, through her adult life as wife, mother and controversial First Lady, to her final years as widow and grieving mother.
Was she insane or a victim of profound tragedy? Just when you think the story of Maiy Todd Lincoln may be waning, Barbara Hambly picks up her pen and sparks our interest once more.
Susan Zabolotny
I\IORTAL LOVE
Elizabeth Hand, H:lll)erCollins, 2004, $24.95 / S38.95, hb, 36-lpp. 0061051705
In Mortal LoFe, Elizabeth Hand has penned a narrative so fractured and complex, so full of absinthe and artists and literary allusions, that only the sharpest of readers will deduce the truth: Mortal Lm·e is-at its heart-a fai1y tale, complete with a happy ending.
A dozen point-of-view characters, divided between modern times and the late nineteenth century, form the threads of the narrative. A single female character serves as the link among them. This fiery individual tears a swathe through the artistic and literary worlds of both eras, inspiring painters and poets to produce great art, but leaving them physically and mentally scarred; in some cases, to the point of madness. The exact nature of this muse is a mystery that the author takes too long to reveal, and the final explanation can't help but sound saccharine: She is the queenof-the-fairies, who'd quarreled with her king and got lost in the mortal world. She's a creature who lives a long life but leaves no mark. and envies our mortal ability to produce immortal art. All who she inspires are just "brushed by the feathers of her wingtips as she passes" because she will belong to no man but her lost king.
Though Ms. Hand links the plot threads with repeating imagery, and later reveals blood relationships among the characters, Mortal Lm·e is still a novel of incredible difficulty-a novel that can only be appreciated upon a second or third reading.
Lisa Ann Verge
SLEEP PALE SISTER
Joanne Harris, Black Swan 200-l, £6.99, pb, 388pp, 0552771783. (First published in UK by Arrow 199-l)
Before she found international fame with her novel, Clwcolat, Joanne Harris wrote this Victorian gothic story. Although it has long been out of print, demand grew for Sleep Pale Sister to be resurrected.
TIIE IIISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
This is the complex sto1y of Henry Chester, a mediocre artist with definite hang-ups about sex and love. His muse is Effie, a child of elfin beauty, who grows into a lovely and seemingly innocent young woman. Herny marries her hoping to preserve her innocence and is hon·ified by the sexual attraction between them. He doses his fragile wife with laudanum to keep her docile and chaste but cannot prevent her becoming the lover of Mose Ha1ver.
Mose introduces Effie to the brothel keeper, Fanny Miller and her daughter Marta. Through them she discovers the secret Herny has been hiding for years. So begins Eflie's descent into a nightmare world of revenge and danger.
Alternately told by the main characters, Sleep Pale Sister has all the qualities of a druginduced dream. Characters noat in and out of a story that contains strong magical and otherworldly elements. This mysticism is underlined by the use of Tarot cards to delineate and describe the chapters.
It is a dark and chilling tale containing all the staples of the genre - death, sex, religion, ghosts, art and laudanum. This is an intelligent read and well deserving of its second chance.
Sara Wilson
ARABELLA
Georgette Heyer, Arrow 2004, £6.99, pb, 284pp, 0099465620 (Pub. in US by Harlequin 2003, $25.95, 0373835558)
First published in 1949, this was the first Georgette Heyer romance I read, and it has remained my favourite. Arabella is the eldest daughter of an impoverished country parson and, having been invited to London for the season, loses her enchanting temper with the most eligible bachelor in Town, and lets it be thought that she is an heiress. Society immediately buzzes with excitement as Arabella is, of course, also extremely fetching, and she is caught up in one deceit after another, unti I rescued on the last page by the hero. Val Whitmarsh
CHARITY GIRL
Georgette Heyer, Arrow 200-l, £6.99, pb, 247pp,0099-l68050
Viscount Desford ought to be his father's pride: son and heir to Wroxton, a favourite of the 'ton', handsome, resolute, a Nonesuch either in the saddle or behind one of his own teams of superior horsenesh. The boy has a kind heart, too. But his father has never quite forgiven the young man for refusing the perfect match arranged by the dogmatic Earl: Miss Henrietta Silverdale has been the Viscount's best friend since childhood but ·Des' and 'Hetta' decided long ago that a marriage between them would not suit.
When Des rescues 'charity girl' Cherry Steane from the unkind clutches of Aunt Bugle and a pack of spiteful cousins, he cannot possibly abandon her to the disgusting hands
of her skinflint grandfather and his granitehearted middle-aged bride. Leaving the na ·(ve teenager in Hetta's capable hands is the obvious solution, while Des crisscrosses England in search of a permanent home for Cherry. When he finally returns scandal has already begun. What motive (but one!) could the sophisticated Viscount have for spending weeks traveling in circumstances varying from boring to sordid? What an affront to I-Jetta, his lifelong friend, and how will his father react now the Earl really has cause for complaint?
This is a lively, delightful romance but the experienced Heyer-reader may find Hetta a passive character; she and Des spend little time together and the relationship lacks the usual Heyer fire.
Nancy Henshaw
THE CORINTHIAN
Georgette Heyer, Arrow 200-l, £6.99, pb, 236pp, 0099-l68085 (Pub. in US by Harlequin 2000, $25.95, 0373834-189)
This book was first published in 1940, and already the classic characters of a Heyer Regency romance are in place: the hero, Beau Wyndham (handsome, notable whip, hugely wealthy) who meets the heroine (young, beautiful, slightly silly) just as she is climbing out of a window by means of knotted sheets. As always, the story is convoluted, this time encompassing stolen diamonds, Bow Street Runners and a rather dinky thief, the ending is predictable, but the whole is a delight.
Val Whitmarsh
THE FOUNDLING
Georgette Heyer, Arrow Books 2004, £6.99, pb, 394pp, 0099468069 (Pub. in US, Harlequin 2003, S25.95, 0373835493)
Adolphus Gillespie Vernon Ware, 7th Duke of Sale, has everything but freedom. Orphaned at birth, he yearns secretly to escape from the domination of the uncle and servants who brought him up and to be plain Mr Dash of Nowhere in Particular, living in a modest terrace house with a cook, parlourmaid and perhaps a groom to look after his horses, occupying himself with a little shooting and the odd game of French hazard. When a cousin is threatened with a breach of promise suit, our hero makes a break for independence. As he unravels a conspiracy directed at himself, comes to the rescue of the foundling of the title, and a young lad who has escaped from a tutor even more severe than his own, the Duke overcomes his natural diffidence and shows the dash proper to the hero of a Regency romance.
Unfortunately, there is a regrettable incidence of typos; in particular, Lord Gayford becomes Lord Gaywood after the first couple of chapters. Otherwise, The Foundling is the perfect book for curling up with on dank
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winter evenings; not to be taken seriously, but great fun.
Ann Lyon
(Our US editor points out that the incidence of typographical errors in this series does no/ apply lo the US publishers of these books, Harlequin.)
THE RELUCTANT WIDOW
Georgette Heyer, Arrow Books 200-1, £6.99, pb,278 pp,0099468077
Violent death, treason and intrigue. In the beautiful but dilapidated house called Highnoons an unknown villain searches for the vital memorandum that will mean success or failure for the imminent campaign of Wellington's Army. That is the plot. What stays in the memory are the gloriously hilarious set-pieces as virtuous Miss Elinor Rochdale struggles to maintain her principles and desire for a quiet life against the manipulations of Lord Carlyon - surely the most benevolent and good tempered of autocrats - and his adventure-loving young brother Nick. Elinor is infuriated by the mysterious absences of Carlyon when he is needed, and his interfering presence when he is not. Everyone, even her beloved chaperone, Miss Beccles, treats his orders and even his mildest request as law. Another deathcold-blooded murder - and an attack on Elinor herself, and her suspicions fasten on his lordship's Cousin Francis who is apparently nothing but a preposterous dandy. But will she convince Carlyon? More importantly, what in the world did his giddy young sister Georgie mean by saying that Carlyon and Elinor "will deal extremely together!" Georgette Heyer is at her most high-spirited and stylish in this accomplished novel. The reader may even enjoy "spot the misprint" which seems to be a feature of this otherwise well presented imprint. Nancy Henshaw
SPRIG MUSLIN
Georgette Heyer, Harlequin, 2004, $6.50/ CS7.99, pb, 408pp, 0373836244 While not my favorite Georgette Heyer, it is still very good, and it's a distinct pleasure to read Sprig Muslin again in its new Harlequin reprint. Many thanks to the company for reprinting this series that launched the whole world of Regency romances. In this romantic adventure, a young man, Gareth, has gotten over his tragic first love enough to seek marriage, but nobody can believe his second choice. She's completely different from the beautiful, nirtatious, dramatic girl who died accidentally in a senseless carriage race. In fact, she's a true Heyer heroine and because she thinks she is an object of pity, she says no. That's the background plotline, but the action is largely taken up with the secondary but mesmerizing antics of our lady of the title, who appears in sprig muslin when first spotted by Sir Gary on his way to be rejected by
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Hester, his intended bride. Amanda is young, very pretty, in love with a military man and determined to force her grandfather to allow her to marry right now. Sir Gareth can't quite leave her to ruin herself and so begins trying to save the situation, which goes on about 300 pleasant pages. It hurts nothing to say that all ends well, because the joy in these books is in the details of just how it all comes about. A nice forward appears in this edition by Linda Lael Miller.
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
THE ROl\1ANTIC
Madeline Hunter, Bantam, 2004, $5.99 / C$7.99, pb, 385pp, 0553587293
Penelope, Duchess of Glastonbury, has been living separately from her abusive husband, but now he is demanding her return. She runs for help to her childhood friend and confidante, Julian Hampton. Julian is the darkly handsome and clever lawyer to Penelope's brothers. He has always managed to protect Penelope in the past. He has also secretly loved her since their youth. Julian must fight to conceal his own desires as he struggles to protect Penelope from a clever and evil man.
This book, set in the mid- l 9' h century, is the fifth in a series about various members of the London Dueling 5ociety. Ms. Hunter skillfully portrays a man whose strong passion is at war with his masterful self-control. He is willing to sacrifice all, even his life, for the woman he loves, yet he will not reveal his love for her. Although the plot seems a bit elongated at times, the love and self-sacrifice of the two major characters is compelling. It's, well romantic.
Nan Curnutt
LET THERE BE BLOOD
Jane Jakeman, Berkley Prime Crime, S 12.00, pb, 196pp, 0-425-19812-X
Originally published by Headline in 1997, this Berkley reissue is the third in the Lord Ambrose series set in the early part of the 19th century. In this installment, Lord Ambrose Maltine returns to England from the battlefields of Greece, recuperating from his wounds - both physical and emotional - in his West Country mansion. He wants nothing to do with anyone.
As lord of the manor, though, Ambrose is asked to step in when a farmer and his son are inexplicably shot dead in the village. What initially seems an obvious solution to this double homicide crumbles under Lord Ambrose's scrutiny. In seeking out alternative explanations for these crimes, Ambrose intuits that all is not what it seems . He is fearless in tracking down the real killer and the real motive.
Lord Ambrose is a dark, Byronic character. It's clear that Jakeman loves twisting and turning the plot in unexpected directions to suit the complexity of Ambrose's personality and
the convoluted resolution she has planned for us. Also, the pain and terror of the fight for Greek independence - much the cause of Ambrose's darkness is beautifully interwoven into both plot and character. Although I haven't read the two previous novels in this series, I didn't at all feel at a loss. This is a wonderful read!
Ilysa Magnus
IN THE PRINCE'S BED
Sabrina Jeffries, Pocket Star, 2004, S6.99 / C$ l 0.99, pb, 355pp, 0743477707
In 1813, three unacknowledged sons of the Prince of Wales form an alliance for their mutual benefit. Alec, the impoverished Earl of l versley, needs to marry a wealthy heiress before his affairs collapse. Katherine Merivale has kept secret the fact that she will inherit a fortune upon her marriage to weed out fortune hunters. Her father died in debt to Alec's bro/her, who has been told about her inheritance and promised that he will be paid when she marries. His brother suggests Alec court her, which will solve both their problems. Although Katherine prefers to marry a childhood friend, Alec succeeds in capturing her heart. When he discovers that she has captured his, he is unable to continue deceiving the woman he loves, and confesses his situation. Betrayed, Katherine breaks with Alec. Will he win her back?
With In the Prince's Bed, Sabrina Jeffries has done what she does best. It is light, and fun, with a wonderfully pulled together heroine and a desperate hero. They will captivate every reader's heart. This is the first in the Royal Brotherhood series.
Audrey Braver
JUST BEFORE DAWN
Jeannie Johnson, Orion, 2005, £ 17.99 ($34.38), hb, 282pp, 0752853430
This is the second in Jeannie Johnson's nineteenth-centuiy trilogy centred on the Strong family, the Barbados sugar trade and Bristol (a sequel to Like an Evening Gone). However, it stands alone as a vivid, compelling read. Just before dawn is the time people die - first Anne, Blanche's daughter, and then Gertrude, the young daughter of the wretched Molly McBean. Although they come from completely different social backgrounds both children die of cholera. Wrongly thought to emerge from the miasma caused by heat and the stench of the slums, the real cause of this disease was only just being understood by a few forward-looking doctors of the time.
Apart from a few scenes, the novel is set in Bristol, home to the Strong family whose wealth and social position depends on their sugar plantations in Barbados. This is a time of great social and industrial turmoil: the abolition of s lavery and the transition from sail to steam compel the younger family members to diversify if they wish to maintain their
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position. It is against this wider picture that the personal dramas are played out.
Johnson weaves a dense plot involving a large cast of brilliantly depicted minor characters: Septimus Monk, the calculating lawyer whose flamboyant dress revealed his sexual predilections, and Emanuel Strong, the doyen of the falllily, whose passion for Egyptian archaeology prompts hilll to build an Egyptian roolll colllplete with a sarcophagus, inside which he takes his afternoon nap - a habit that proves too telllpting for one lllcmber of the falllily. The main characters - Blanche herself, Horatia Strong and Tolll Strong - are wholly engaging. Their triangular involvelllent is never trite but a convincing rolllance with a wonderful twist at the end of the story. An absorbing read
Lucinda Byatt
GI-IOSTWALK
Alanna Knight, Allison & Busby 200-1, £ 18.99, hb,253p~07490830l8
Rose McQuinn, daughter of one of Scotland's lllost successful detectives, Chief Inspector Jcrellly Faro, returned to Scotland to start a new life following the disappearance of her husband and childhood sweetheart, Danny McQuinn, whose detective work exposed hilll to lllany dangers.
Three years later in I 897, Rose has become a 'Lady Investigator, Discretion Guaranteed' and is due to embark on marriage to Detective Inspector Jack Macmc1Ty of the Edinburgh Police , her long-terlll lover. But when a nun from the local convent claims to have had a letter from Danny, her pre wedding nerves are the least of her worries. Was the elderly nun just confused or was Danny still alive? She is determined to investigate the situation and find out the truth before she lllarries. But, after two suspicious deaths , it would appear that a ghost is about to walk back into her life.
Alanna Knight has written over 40 novels and Ghost Walk is the fourth in the Rose McQuinn series. The story is full of lllystery and intrigue, and totally unpredictable. The reader is kept guessing throughout as to the identity of the murderer, which is finally revealed in the unexpected and exciting ending. Unfortunately, the numerous typos and bad punctuation detracted from the natural flow of the narrative but, despite these, I found it difficult to put the book down and would thoroughly reCOllllllend it as a very enjoyable read.
Vivienne Bass
THE DUKE'S SCANDALOUS SECRET
Connie Lane, Pocket, 2004, $6.99, pb, 355pp, 0743462874
Social butterfly Lynette Overton, an avid reader of Gothic fiction, is detern1ined to prove that her late lllother did not steal the valuable Wonderlee Diamond. Her favorite authoress is Mrs. Mordefi, who writes of distressed
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damsels in blood-chilling circumstances. In order to win a wager, she abruptly travels to Berkshire to discover why Thomas Flander, Duke of Ravensfield, has suddenly withdrawn to the seclusion of his country estate. She ends up all alone in the countryside during a thunderstorm, and is rescued by none other than the duke-who could have stepped from the pages of Mrs. Mordeft's latest tale.
Lynette's arrival comes at an inopportune lllOlllent for the secretive nobleman, who reluctantly shelters her while her sprained ankle heals. Before long, he is caught up in a conflict of his gentlemanly honor and his manly desires. The outcome is predictable , and eventually he seduces the willing Lynette. After a misunderstanding that parts the lovers , Lynette resumes her quest to clear her lllOther's nallle , which involves her with the unsavory and vengeful Lady Christina, Ravensfield's former 111 is tress.
Lane exhibits a lively writing style. But throughout this disappointing Regency historical, the reader encounters trite dialogue, anachronisms, and the lack of suspense or surprise.
Margaret Barr
UNTAMED
Merline Lovelace, Mira , 2004, S6.50 / C$7.99, pb,377pp,077832075
What could possibly bring refined Englishwoman Lady Barbara Chamberlain to the untamed Oklahollla territory in 1832? Well , the lady is no lady, and she has a scheme to enlist the mother of Lieutenant Zachariah Morgan to aid her in securing the release of her feckless con man brother Harry frolll a Berllluda prison. To get to Zach's mother, a half-Osage Indian, she must go through Zach, and naturally sparks fly and these two opposites attract. Will Louise Morgan agree to help Barbara, or will she have to resort to blackmail, and what will Zach do when he discovers her intentions? If you hear music swelling in the background , then you've correctly guessed that this is a romantic suspense novel.
The opposites-attract motif is the main theme of the novel, but Lovelace has a genuine interest in the plight of the Indians in the Oklahoma Territory and earnestly grafts on to this romance a history lesson in President Jackson and his Indian "reforms." Though well-llleaning, the narrative drags when she lllakes these attelllpts. However , the romance, though formulaic and predictable, does propel the sto1y along, and Zach and Barbara elllerge as likeable people, although those around them are painted only in black and white. A flawed but enjoyable read.
Ellen Keith
Tl-IE TEMPLE OF MUSIC
Jonathan Lowy, Crown, 2004, S23.95/C$34.95, hb, 352pp, 0609608193
The first two pages of Jonathan Lowy's novel describe the birth and death of Leon Czolgosz, anarchist son of Polish illlllligrants and assassin of Willialll McKinley , twenty-fifth President of the United States. The rest of the novel reveals a fascinating look at the twentyeight years in between these two events. There is a wide range of incidents leading up to that fateful September day at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York.
For the wealthy of that time , it is the Gilded Age, the Gay Nineties; for the lllasses of working poor, it is a time of hardship and despair. The Robber Barons, lucky enough to live before income tax, amassed large fortunes on the backs of the unfortunate men, women and children working without the benefit of labor laws to protect them.
So many interesting figures are brought to this story. Wealthy businessman Mark Hanna uses money and influence to secure McKinley's election. He lllasterminds the first organized presidential campaign Ill American history. The president is a quiet man of decent character and devotion to his wife, Ida. Lowy's portrayal of Ida's tragic life and debilitating illness is engrossing. We also meet anarchist Emllla Goldlllan, ruthless in her campaign for reform. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst paints an un!lattering portrait of the President and later experiences a sense of guilt while the President is dying. Morris Steinglitz , a condom manufacturer, clashes with Anthony Comstock, a crusader for decency.
Early on I had some problellls with the flow of this novel: the author's excessive use of dates made the beginning disjointed and scattered. I'm glad I persevered, because the book is well worth the rocky start.
Susan Zabolotny
HONORABLE MENTION
Robert N. Macomber , Pineapple Press, 2004, $19.95, hb, 327pp, 1561643114
Lieutenant Peter Wake, comlllanding officer of the armed steam tug Hunt, sails a treacherous Caribbean from Key West to Havana in 1864. In this third volume in the Honor series of naval fiction, readers experience the final days of war, moving from the re-election of Lincoln through the relocation of former Confederates to Latin America in 1866. The sailor's second enemy, yellow fever, besieges crews previously spared during enemy attacks. Few hardy men escape the wrenching agonizing death of sickness. Wake's assignment as a message courier places him in dubious circumstances , often juxtaposed between firearms held by the anxious enemy and his own crew. His brave leadership style brings an element of diplomacy that saves numerous lives. In reporting the war, the Navy Gazetteer tells his story as that of a military hero. The
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happiest moment for Lt. Wake comes in reading his wife Linda's report of the birth of their daughter Useppa. In the same mail delivery, a communication copied to the commanding officer of the Hunt notifies him that the ship has been reassigned to Pensacola as a fourth-rate gunboat.
The writer brings readers into the turbulence of battle through ski 11 ful descriptions of Florida's coast, seafaring action, and dramatic naval rescues. The unjustifiable deaths caused by the war prompt sailors to question whether there will be a victor. Their answer comes in announcing freedom to slaves who, like rescued sailors, respond in tearful praise and thanks.
This novel is recommended primarily for fans of naval history , but those curious about happenings off-shore during the Civil War will treasure the tale in this action-packed plot.
Jetta Carol Culpepper
STEVENSON UNDER THE PALl\l TREES
Alberto Manguel , Canongate US, 2004 , $ I 8.00, hb, I 05 pp , I 84 I 955584 Pub. in the UK by Canongate, 2004, £7.99, pb, 79pp, 184 I 954497
"He stopped for a moment , partly because of the pain and partly because of the ho1Tor that the story produced in him, but then he carried on, driven by a stronger need He covered twenty pages without a single erasure." Thus , bestselling author Alberto Manguel (A / listo,y of Reading) describes how Robert Louis Stevenson, his protagonist, writes a story that horrifies Fanny, his wife. Docs that story echo the subsequent rape and murder of a young Samoan girl? Is Stevenson guilty of the crime?
Manguel draws from the letters and novels of R. L. Stevenson and concocts a perfectlypaced fictional tale exploring the connections between an author and his work. Stevenson 's own whimsical woodcuts illustrate the text. There are echoes of Conrad and Stevenson's own work (Dr. Je/..y/1 and Mr. Hyde, in particular). Madness, exorcism, colonialism, questions about reality and fiction pop up in the nan·ative. The setting is a troubled paradise, a place with a "scorching mountainside, female shapes swaying flame trees ," where the ailing author battles a "shadow with a life of its own." Seldom does a tale so slim say so much. Wonderful. Adelaida Lower
TO FIND YOU AGAIN
Maureen McKade, Berkley Sensation , 2004, $6.50/C$9.99, pb , 328pp, 0425197093
The Army returns Emma Hartwell to her parents after she lived seven years with the Lakota, just at the time when Native Americans were being forced onto reservations. With the prevailing white prejudice against anything Indian, she dare not reveal that she had married a Lakota and had a child by him. She slips away into the night to find her son. Her father hires ex-soldier Ridge
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Madoc to bring her back, before she brings further disgrace to the family. But Ridge is sympathetic to the Indians' plight, and agrees to help Emma in her quest. While thrown together constantly, romance begins to develop. But how can there be a future for them in the white world, which would reject an Indi an's widow and her half-breed child? McKade made a sma11 plot choice-one which enables her to depict historical accuracy (white society's prejudice towards Native Americans), while acknowledging modern-day sensitivities (the protagonists' rejection of that attitude), in an uncontrived , believable way Emma and Ridge are well-drawn, still having doubts even after they think they are in love.
The last third of the book , with its bad-soldier villain causing complications , isn't as successful as the rest, yet I would still rank this western romance well above average.
B.J. Sedlock
'TIL MORNING LIGHT
Ann Moore, New American Library, 2005, SI 3.95 / CS20.00, pb, 394pp, 0451214048
In this final installment of the Gracelin O'Malley trilogy, Ann Moore draws a vibrant picture of American history in the mid-19th century, entirely through the eyes of a circ le of characters so warmly familiar that you put the book down feeling as if you'd just been told the tale by a distant aunt. Here, Gracelin is newly a1Tived in San Francisco, looking for Captain Reinders, whose marriage proposal she has decided to accept. The good captain is nowhere to be found, however, leaving Gracelin destitute with two children. As is her usual good fortune, she falls in with fine upstanding people. In this case, a Dr. Wakefield, who hires her as a cook. In the good doctor's house, Gracelin sets out to put everyone's life to rights while making inquiries about her lost brother, Sean, whose travels with the Mormons, and subsequent loss of faith, have led him to the sordid side of San Francisco. The arrival of Captain Reinders brings hope that her own tumultuous life will soon be settled. But in Canada, among the Mi'kmaq Indians, there travels a ghost of her past, desperate to catch up with her again. In the end, many lost souls are gathered together , and many a match is settled - perhaps too handily, for all the loose ends are quite neatly tied. What 'Ti/ Morning Light lacks in plotdriven excitement it makes up in warmth of character: Gracelin is a model of strength and wisdom, a light unto herself, and I'm entirely smitten.
Lisa Ann Verge
THE DISCOVERY OF SLOWNESS
Sten Nadolny, Canongate, 2004, £7.99, pb, 31 !pp, 1841954942
John Franklin was one of the great explorers of the early 19 th century, primarily known for his
adventures whilst trying to discover the NorthWest passage. This novel follows his life and career, from humble beginnings in Lincolnshire to respected Royal Navy officer. Nadolny's Franklin is a thoughtful, very deliberate man, who takes his time to consider the problem in hand. This is somewhat at odds with the fast thinking world around him, but it means he has innovative solutions. Gradually, the people around him come to appreciate his 'slowness.'
The sto,y is concise and clear, but ultimately rather detached. Although Franklin's inner world is well shown, this is sometimes at the expense of other characters and the setting. In all, an interesting book which could well encourage the reader to find out more about its subject.
S Garside-Neville
THE ADVENTURESS
Carole Nelson Douglas, Forge, 2004, S6.99 / CS9.99, pb, 402 pp, 0-765-34 715-6
Originally published as Good Morning, lrene in 199 l, The Adventuress is the second in a series of mysteries featuring lrene Adler, the only woman to ever have bested Sherlock Holmes.
In I 888, Irene Norton (nee Adler) and her husband, presumed dead in a train accident, find themselves drawn into a mystery involving drowned sailors, strange tattoos, royalty in Monaco , and ancient treasures With the help of her companion Penelope (Nell) Huxleigh, Irene's own "Dr. Watson," lr ene decides to sort out these seemingly unrelated events. Along the way, she avoids discove1y by Sherlock Holmes (on his own trail of these deaths), convinces Sarah Bernhardt to play Hamlet, and worries Nell to no end.
Douglas has Irene employ several of 1-lolmes's techniques , particularly the donning of disguises, and there are several subtle nods to fans of Conan Doyle's detective. Occasionally, Nell Huxleigh lauds Ir ene too much, and the narrator could never be accused of being reticent. Still, a relaxing read for a weekend.
L. K. Mason
SPIDER DANCE
Carole Nelson Douglas, Forge , 2004, S24.95/C$34.95, hb, 462pp, 0765306832
This, the eighth novel in Douglas's series featuring the 19th century opera singer/detective Irene Adler, picks up where the previous volume, Femme Fatale, left off: in New York City, where Irene is searching for the mother who abandoned her at birth. Her only clue is a grave marked "Eliza Gilbert, " which her rival in crime-solving, Sherlock Holmes, believes might be her mother's. As it turns out, "Eliza Gilbert" is none other than the notorious adventuress Lola Montez, Spanish dancer and mistress of King Ludwig of Bavaria.
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At first, lrene is horrified by the thought of such a woman being her mother, but as she reads of Lola's adventures in Gold Rush California and elsewhere (which are interspersed with the main narrative), she comes to admire her. Meanwhile, Holmes investigates a murder in the Vanderbilt mansion; his case proves to have a surprising connection to Lola Montez, and Irene's investigation.
Spider Dance is an excellent entry in this series , of which I have been a fan for a long time. The relationships between the main characters, which also include Irene's companion Nell, her husband Godfrey, and Nell's suitor Quentin Stanhope, are further developed here. But readers who are new to the series should not begin with this volume; it is best to read the books in order, but if that is not possible, read at least Femme Fatale first.
Vicki Kondelik
MERIWETHER
David Niven, Forge, 2004, $25.95 / CS35.95, hb,343pp,0312863071
Anyone who has read one of David Niven's novels knows that he has a facility for turning seminal American history into fascinating historical fiction. This is especially true of Aferill'ether. The life of Meriwether Lewis, famed commander, who along with his friend, William Clark, lead a brave group of men to the Pacific Ocean, across uncharted frontier, is certainly intriguing material.
From his early childhood, Lewis was a devoted naturalist. He spent much of his youth traipsing around the wilderness, studying the plants, animals and people he encountered. When he was befriended by Thomas Jefferson as a young teen, the course of his life took on new focus, and the seeds of a dream were planted. The problem with realizing dreams is that , afterward, there is often nothing left for the dreamer to aspire to.
Niven succeeds in making this novel more than just a rehash of the journals of Lewis and Clark. He incorporates the social and political issues of the era into the story as well, which adds immeasurably to the reader's appreciation of events.
Alice Logsdon
DIAMONDS -THE RUSH OF '72
Sam North, Lulu Press USA (Lulu.com), 2004, $19.95, pb, 289pp, 1411610881
New edition; originally reviewed in Feb 2002 issue.
THE COMING STORM
Tracie Peterson, Bethany House, 2004, $12.99, pb , 398pp , 076422770X
The Coming Storm is the second volume in Tracie Peterson ' s Heirs of Montana series. It is a love story and a saga of survival in a place that even today demands resilience and capability of those who live there: the vast sweeps of land laid amidst the daunting snow-
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
capped mountain ranges of the northern Rockies.
At this point in the series, Dianne Chadwick has left Kansas with her family to join her uncle at his ranch, the Diamond V, set in the Montana wilderness. She waits for the return of her fiance, Cole Selby. But the wait is not a matter of simple trust and patience. When Uncle Bram loses his life to a grizzly bear, Dianne must take charge. The Coming Storm is the story of her strength, her ability to win the love and respect of the Diamond V family, and finally, her success.
However, this is not the real story of The Coming Storm. For one thing, the Diamond V is no ordinary ranch. It is a multiracial Christian community made up predominantly of white European Americans but also including Blackfoot Indians and freed African Americans. The story chronicles their conversations and inner reflections as they struggle through the intense hardships of this period in American history. The Coming Storm is set in 19 th centu,y Montana, but the dialogues are timeless. These Christian men and women struggle with death, illness, loneliness, prejudice, and fear, as do all humans, but they support each other in an unflinching trust in God's love and wisdom. Tracie Peterson has given the reader a rich picture of life as it could be under God's loving rule.
Lucille Cormier
TO DREAM ANEW
Tracie Peterson, Bethany House, 2004, $12.99, pb,398pp,0764227718
To Dream AnelV is the third volume in Tracie Peterson's Heirs of Montana series. The pace is quick and the action focused, as Dianne and Cole Selby tackle daunting challenges to their dream of establishing a home in the Montana wilderness. Under the storm clouds of the Battle of Little Big Horn, they prepare for Indian raids. Treachery also swirls through the valley as an unscrupulous empire builder takes over one ranch at a time, his sights now set on the Diamond V.
However, To Dream Anew is not about how Montanans survived terrible hardships. The book's theme is trust in God. The threats and tragedies that befall the Diamond V ranchers are opportunities for them to voice their belief in a loving God. Their greatest challenge is to trust that all will be well in God's own time, which isn't necessarily as soon as they would like it to be.
The author maintains a website at http://www.traciepeterson.com. In it she writes, "Above all things, r long for the reader to fall in love with God." Perhaps the reader will find God here. But if not, I hope Ms. Peterson won't mind terribly if they simply enjoy her wonderful gift of storytelling.
Lucille Corn1ier
MY Jll\l
Nancy Rawles, Crown, 2005, $19.95, hb, I 76pp, 140005400 I "Only folks really own theyselves the ones know what they worth." Here Marianne's Nana sadly but wisely begins to share her history with Marianne, a history of slavery that shaped the African-American experience. The novel is ostensibly a retelling of Jim, the character who transforms Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. But this version speaks more about the desperation of slaves desperately yearning for freedom, hoping against hope, and determined to accomplish his goal or die in the process. The story is addressed to Marianne, who is trying to decide whether or not to marry Chas Freeman, a freeman who wants to fight with the Ninth Cavalry at Fo1t Robinson in Nebraska and forge his own free destiny.
In reality the story's main focus is about Nana, whose goal is to survive the horrendous experiences of slavery, and who is frightened almost to paralysis about Jim's unfolding plans to escape his slavery. Possessing the gift of healing, she is unable to prevent earthquakes, beatings, hangings, separation from one's children, starvation, and unspeakable cruelties riddling the slave communities of southern America in pre-Civil war time.
She marries Jim, who maintains his ambitions and manages to become a plantation overseer. Yet this novel fills the gap missing in Twain's Jim, the thorny scenes that shape such a wise and strong individual. Indeed the early simplicity of Jim in many scenes of Huckleberry Finn is never seen in My Jim.
This is a painfully wrenching but wonderful novel, adding an immense presentation to previous historical novels about this period of American histo,y, one in which African-Americans begin to move from the darkest time of history to one of envisioned light and liberty. Highly recommended!
Viviane Crystal
PARADISE FALLS
Ruth Ryan Langan, Berkley Sensation, 2004, $5.99,pb,298pp,0425194841
Paradise Falls takes us to 1890s Michigan for the story of a single girl embarking on a new life. Fiona Downey is the only child of Irish immigrants who work hard to give her a fine life in America. Her father is an instructor at Bennett College in Massachusetts. She is accepted as a student there, only to have her dream shattered by his sudden death.
Determined to make the most of her situation, Fiona accepts a job as schoolteacher in Paradise Falls, Michigan, thinking the town's name is a good omen. She will live with the Haydn family. The train conductor had described them as "fine people," but their behavior puzzles Fiona. The overbearing and angry Mrs. Haydn constantly berates her disabled husband and their oldest son, Grayson. The younger son, Fleming, is very
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handsome and playful, but obviously pampered and favored by his mother. Grayson soon falls in love with Fiona, but thinks she loves the charming and irresistible Flem, who does not hide his feelings either. When Fiona is lost in a snowstorm, Grayson rescues her and takes her to his home. The two are isolated by the storm for three days. In the course of their time together, Fiona undergoes a Ii fechanging experience, and Grayson finally reveals the cause of his mother's unending anger toward him.
Although Ms. Langan's story is all that it's supposed to be-light reading for a quiet afternoon-I would have enjoyed more depth in her characters and an ending where every loose end was not tied up so quickly. It is an interesting look at standards of behavior in Victorian America, and her description of a Michigan snowstorm will have you reaching for more hot tea.
Susan Zabolotny
ALICE FLAGG : The Ghost of the Hermitage
Nancy Rhyne, Pelican, 2004 (c I 990), 255pp, $14.95, pb, 1589802691
South Carolina writer Rhyne has taken the Low Country ghostly legend of the unhappy Alice Flagg (1833-1849) and woven a fictional story around it. The lovely, headstrong Alice, fifteen, only surv1v111g daughter of a prosperous rice planter, Lill fortunately forms an unlikely attachment to Whit Buck, a handsome, strapping, working class lumberman. Much to her wealthy family's di smay and ho1Tor, Alice and Whit become determined to marry. Subterfuge, intrigue, and betrayal follow, as Alice is forcibly removed from Wachesaw Plantation and her lover and placed in an exclusive Charleston boarding school. Although the actual legend is in itself an interesting tale and the author's research into the region's history and customs is evident, Rhyne's story is poorly formed and developed, her characters are cardboard, the alleged romance feels forced, and often dialogue seems to exist just to impart factual information. Because the reader already knows the outcome, Alice's eventual death of a fever seems anti-climactic. Ultimately, of regional interest only.
Michael I. Shoop
PETTY TREASON
Madeleine E. Robins, Forge, 2004, $24.95/C$34.95, hb, 3 I 6pp, 0765304007
After a youthful indiscretion, Miss Sarah Tolerance is a fallen woman in 1810 London. To suppo1i herself she works as the only female Agent of Inquiry. Adept at swordplay and disguises, she privately solves minor crimes, until the mysterious murder of the Chevalier d' Aubigny. Hired by the brother-inlaw of the brutally murdered Frenchman, Miss Tolerance meets the childlike widow and discovers that d' Aubigny had numerous people
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anxious to kill him. As she works her way through seedier London, Sarah comes up against crooked constables, whores, French spies and a devious member of the royal family.
Robins' heroine is believable, the plot interesting, if not always plausible. The flavor of London, and writing style, is reminiscent of Dickens, the characters often having names that reflect their personalities. I look forward to the next installment in this series.
Diane Scott Lewis
THE MI STRESS OF TREVELYAN
Jennifer St. Giles, Pocket, 2004, S6.99 / CS I 0.50, pb, 3 75pp, 0743486250
Twenty-year-old Ann Lovell has always dreamed about Trevelyan Manor, an intriguing San Francisco mansion. But in 1873, her status as a washerwoman's daughter means endless manual labor, even though her mother had encouraged Ann to read, providing her with an impressive education. After her mother dies, Ann impulsively applies as governess to widower Benedict Trevelyan's two boys. Intrigued by her tall, solid appearance, her courage, and possibly her ability to peeve his butler, Benedict hires her. Ann is attracted to the widower, but knows it is rumored that he murdered his wife. Still , she finds her expectation of spinsterhood thwarted by her need for Benedict's intimate touch. Several compromising situations prove that the attraction is mutual.
Writing from Ann's perspective, St. Giles elegantly creates tension that affects all the sensibilities in true gothic fashion. The plight of the motherless children, recently orphaned Ann, and resolute Benedict prompt tears while the interaction of the household keeps one wondering who really killed Benedict's wife and whether or not Ann will succumb to the same fate.
A deserving winner of the Daphne Du Maurier Award, this novel's suspense, sentimentality, romance, and breathtaking intimacy is perfect for anyone seeking an American gothic.
Suzanne J. Sprague
TIIE PAINTING
Nina Schuyler, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2004, $23.95, hb, 320pp, 1565124413
The Painting successfully twines together two very disparate worlds: Japan during the Meiji Restoration and Paris during the FrancoPrussian war. In 1869, just outside Tokyo, the talented painter, Ayoshi, commits memories of her lover to watercolors as she battles the unhappiness of an arranged marriage to Hayashi, a ceramic artist who barely survived a childhood fire. In Paris, Jorgen, a Danish soldier who lost a leg fighting for France, finds employment unpacking imports. One day, he opens a box of Hayashi's ceramics to discover one of Ayoshi's paintings wrapped around a pot. Uncertain as to why the painting is in the box or who might have painted it, Jorgen plans
to sell it for a profit. But the painting mesmerizes him in a way he can't explain. Numbed by his experiences, he had spurned the friendship of Natalia, his employer's sister, and now she has left for the battlefront. Meanwhile in Japan, Ayoshi's world is irreversibly changed by an outlawed Buddhist monk, an old family friend, and the crumbling of tradition beneath an onslaught of Western influence.
This unusual novel succeeds because its characters come across as authentic and human. The worlds they live in are grim - starvation and the threat of defeat in France, government oppression and religious persecution in Japanso obviously they cannot remain unaffected by outside events. But the author shows change deftly, plausibly, with the power of love as a backdrop. Despite its setting of war and destruction, The Painting provides hope for a future where life will go on.
Claire Morris
GARDEN OF VENUS
Eva Stachniak, HarperCollins, 2005, £ 14.99, hb,450p~0007180446
This novel is a fictionalised account of the life of the courtesan Countess Sophie Potocka, known as la Belle Phanariote. The story is told in two strands; the first being Sophie's Greek childhood and her subsequent amorous adventures which lead her via such exotic places as the sultan's harem in Istanbul to Russia and Poland and to embrace the cause of Polish independence; the second is concerned with her journey to Berlin in 1822 when she is dying.
I wanted to enjoy this novel, I really did. After all it has everything I like in a novel: a strong female heroine; a wide-sweeping scenario; episodes in history that are unknown to me. And yet somehow, I wasn't enchanted. Despite the richness of the subject matter and the monumental events described, there was, for me, a coldness at its heart which was that the central character did not engage me enough to sweep me along.
Sally Zigmond
QUARTERDECK
Julian Stockwin, Hodder & Stoughton, 2004, £16.99,hb,329pp,0340832172
This is the fifth outing for Thomas Kydd. Pressed into the navy in the first novel of the 5eries, titled Kydd, the hero has now toiled and sweated his way through bloody adversity to the lofty position of a Lieutenant on the quaiierdeck. His posting is to IIMS Tenacious, on service off the coast of Nova Scotia and his friend and fellow officer Nicholas Renzi is aboard the same vessel.
Of common birth, Kydd struggles with the manners, education and nuances expected of the officer class he has joined. While he strives to bring himself up to scratch, and get to grips with the art of signalling, he finds that his new rank and responsibilities have separated him
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
from the ordinary sailors with whom he had previously shared companionship. However, he finds kindred spirits in the fledgling American navy and plenty of opportunity to exercise his quick wits and natural sea-faring talent in tussles with the French enemy. A stint ashore in America also sees him in search of a long lost uncle.
This is a fast paced, thoroughly enjoyable novel with never a dull moment. Note to publisher: As a complete though willing novice to the genre, and one who doesn't know a bow from a stern, a diagram of a sailing ship on the inside cover of the book would have been useful. There were a couple of occasions where l was adrift of the tenninology for several pages. What on earth is a buntline cringle? The author's love of the sea and all things nautical is joyously evident throughout Quarterdeck and he succeeds admirably in bringing the reader with him. If you have an am1ehair seadog in the family, he or she will greatly appreciate this splash of high-seas adventure.
Susan Hicks
THE FIRES OF PRIDE
William R. Trotter, Carroll & Graf, 2003, $26.00/ C$38.95, hb, 551 pp, 786712236
This is the second novel in a powerful duo (the first being Sands of Pride) set during the American Civil War. The story begins shortly before the Battle of Gettysburg and culminates with the Battle of Fort Fisher, the Confederacy's last major stronghold. Fort Fisher, a massive earthen fort located along the southern coast of North Carolina, kept one of the major supply lines open for Robert E. Lee's army by protecting blockade runners smuggling goods via the Cape Fear River into and out of the port of Wilmington. One would think, considering its vital importance in this regard, that the Confederacy would have kept it well armed, stocked, and defended. Ironically, this couldn't have been further from the truth and the author's reasoned and articulate insights as to why, I'll leave to the reader's enjoyment.
The finely drawn characterizations on both sides of the conflict vividly portray the anguish of civil war. Steeped in atmosphere of the times, this novel (as well as its forerunner) often kept me on the edge of my seat as events unfolded that would change the course of American history forever. My only criticism is the editing, which overlooked numerous typos throughout. However, the problems are well worth overlooking, because the author is a virtual fount of knowledge when it comes to North Carolina during the Civil War.
Pat Maynard
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE
HAPSBURG TIARA
Alan Vanneman, Carroll & Graf, 2004, $24/ C$35.95, hb, 3 I 8pp, 7867 I 297X Companion and I sat down for a long cozy read of a new Sherlock Holmes detective
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story. It started in the traditional, exciting fashion of a Conan Doyle escapade: a late night rendezvous to an undisclosed country setting. It proceeded with mystery and excitement for several chapters, taking the reader through a cross-Continental adventure and revolved around a diamond, Austrian nobles, a few murders, and fictional characters based on Winston Churchill and Cecil Rhodes. It was great!
And then it digressed.
Instead of the continuation of suspense and intrigue, the author brings us into Dr. Watson's personal life, which included the adoption of a Holmes street urchin, Jennie, and several affairs, one with the stimulating Madame la Comtesse D'Espinau. While I'm always up for a good love story and family life, it just doesn't fit we! I 111 Sherlock's world. Surprisingly though, by the last hundred pages the author brings us back to our master sleuth, the initial mystery, and finishes off quite well. Carol Anne Germain
FANNY: A Memo ir Edmund White, Vintage 2004, £7.99, 326pp, pb, 009928572
This is a fictionalised autobiography of the author Fanny Trollope, mother to the now more famous Anthony and written towards the end of her life. It is Mrs Trollope's initial intention to write a biography of Fanny Wright, the radical reformer with whom she travelled to the USA in the late 1820s. But it soon becomes apparent that Mrs Trollope's interests are mainly herself and her family. Edmund White attempts to replicate Fanny Trollope's direct homely style and her critical observances, particularly about the manners and basic culture of the USA that was the subject of her first and highly successful published book. The author cheerfully admits that he has handled the accepted historical facts in cavalier fashion. Mrs Trollope uses some suspiciously modern words and phrases, while her candid admission of a sexual relationship with a fom,er slave is the stuff of sheer and somewhat prurient fantasy. He also invents the homosexuality of Mrs Trollope's youngest son. It is nevertheless an ente11aining read, generally imbued in the language and mores of early I 9 th century life. But the reader can never forget that this is a work of fiction and the historical errors and inventions provide just too much surface noise for a truly comfortable read.
Doug Kemp
WATCHERS ON THE HILL
Stephanie Grace Whitson, Bethany House, 2004,$12.99,pb,286pp,0764227866
In 1889, recently-widowed Charlotte Bishop flees Detroit to rejoin her father, an Army surgeon stationed in Nebraska. She is escaping pressure from her late husband's family to marry a man she dislikes, and from her memories of an abusive marriage. Once back
at Fort Robinson, she must re-establish relationships with people who only knew her as the spoiled belle of the post. Charlotte's old suitor, Lt. Nathan Boone, may be the good influence her unruly son Will needs in his life. But a romance between them would be complicated-before Charlotte arrived, Nathan had been courting Rachel Greyfoot, a Cheyenne Indian.
This is the second in the Christian romance series Pine Ridge Portraits. Readers who start with volume two will be able to tell there is a backstory, but won't be greatly handicapped by not reading volume one first. The religious elements make logical plot sense (e.g., praying for an injured character), without preachiness. Multiple wel l-rounded characters kept me interested, as did a more unpredictable plot than is usual in many genre novels. An excellent inspirational romance.
B.J. Sedlock
THE KITCHEN I\ IAID
Valerie Wood, Bantam 2004, £17.99, hb, 396pp,0593053788
This is Jenny's story. A heroine who is admirable for her desire to make her own choices within the boundaries that are set for her as a working class woman.
As a teenager she leaves her overcrowded home in Hull to work as a kitchen maid in a house in Beverley: a label that will always remain with her, even as her life progresses and class boundaries become blurred. Her journey hinges around three men, the gentleman Christy, the rich man turned farmer, Stephen and the butcher, Billy.
The novel is saved from blandness because of the sensitivity with which Jenny's inner turmoil is portrayed. As readers, we are made aware that despite the outward happiness of her situation at various times throughout the book she always carries with her the burden of her class and her history. It is only when she returns to her roots that we feel the tens ion ease.
Emily Retter
2 0 th CENTURY
THE BLOOD-D IMMED TIDE
Rennie Airth, Macmillan 2004, £ I 7 .99, hb, 340pp,0333904095
This is the second John Madden Mystery. A retired detective, he finds a child's brutally murdered body and is drawn into the investigation. He believes there must have been other crimes, a belief that is proved right, first with the discovery of another body in England, then with the news of a series of similar crimes which have never been solved in Germany. This is 1932 and Germany is about to be ruled by the Nazis. How can they prevent another crime and catch the killer?
The writing is taut and the plot moves on with increasing pace and some tense final
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
scenes. It is a book that becomes increasingly difficult to put down. The historical background is lightly drawn, concentrating mainly on the methods and organisation of the police forces and Scotland Yard in the 1930s.
Marina Oliver
MURDER ON TIIE i\lARI\IORA
Conrad Allen, St.Martin's Minotaur, $23.95/C$33.95, hb, 295pp, 0312307918
The classy pleasures of first-class cruises on the luxurious liners of the pre-WWI era are at the hear1 of this delightful series. Each entry explores a new ship and Allen (pseudonym of Keith Miles, who also writes as Edward Marston) knows those vessels well and transports the reader aboard convincingly
We follow the attempts of the two ship detectives, George P. Dillman and Genevieve Masefield , as they try to solve a series of thefts and the murder of a passenger on his way to Egypt, allowing us to sec some of the sites en route. Allen spices up the story by adding some real-life people to the list of passengers, this time the Duke and Duchess of Fife and their daughters. The other characters are described much in the manner of Agatha ~hristic, making them easy to depict and enhancing the puzzle. In short, this is a very pleasant book, "ith a decent straightforward plot, a little romance, loveable protagonists and nostalgia for good manners and gentilitywhich should assure every reader of a pleasant reading and sailing experience.
Nicole Leclerc
A MOTIi ER'S LOVE
Lyn Andrews, Headline, 2004, £17.99, hb , 281pp,0755308379
Running a working class pub in Liverpool during the Depression might not be glamorous or profitable, but Eve Dobson does it with good cheer. Sadly her husband, Eddie, is not so happy with his lot and when he gets the chance to leave he doesn't think twice. Left alone, Eve and her three daughters arc determined to survive. Maggie marries well , Sarah works steadily at her job and Lily dreams of life on the stage. Sadly, their troubles arc not over and tragedy forces them to reassess their lives. Yet all along Eve's love will support the family through the worst times and the future is not all black.
Once again Lyn Andrews has produced the goods. A Mother's love is another strong! ywritten saga that captures and holds the reader's attention from start to finish. A gritty realism underlies the plot and the author docs not shy away from the seamier side of life amongst the working classes of the 1930s. An enjoyable, well-rounded novel.
Sara Wilson
KING'S RANSOM
Jan Beazely and Thom Lemmons, WaterBrook, SI 3.99/C$20.99, pb, 37 I pp, 1578567785
Based on the true story of Bulgaria's Tsar Boris Ill and set during the threatening times of World War II, King 's Ransom brilliantly puts into words the intense and overwhelming struggle, the laudable fight both within himself and against the Third Reich, to save his country's Jews.
Tip-toeing on a silk thread of diplomacy , King Boris was forced to deal with I l itler while managing to keep the Russians from invading his small country. The fact that he managed to create an ally of Hitler and still keep the Russians at bay is the stuff of fiction, made more incredible because of the attention to detail and historical accuracy that Beazcly and Lemmons so masterfully interweave in this superb book.
The inspired love story of Daria , a Jewish member of the royal household , and Dobri , a sergeant in the king's guard, illustrates the strength of the individual. This unexpected subplot draws the reader intensely into the personal cffm1s of everything the Tsar labors so hard for.
The Tsar was a man who looked Hitler in the face and diplomatically danced circles around him. He held off the threat of Communist Russia overtaking his small country. I-le dealt with overzealous Bulgarian officials who passionately wanted to force "his" Jews , his people, out of their own cou1111y by thwarting their every move where possible. In the end, he did what can only be deemed the impossible He held off the Third Reich, the Russians and saved almost 50,000 Bulgarian Jews.
This is a book not to be missed, for it both infuriates and inspires. As historical fiction, it is a moving and rich account of a real event. As truth, it is bursting with anecdotes and lifelessons we all need to be reminded of.
Wendy A. Zollo
THE SNOW PIT
Reuben Bercovitch, The Lyons Press, $22.95, hb, 330pp, 1592283756
Set during World War II, The Snow Pi1 follows the lives of a graduating class of I in rural Nebraska, while concentrating on the troubled romance between Ethan and Evelyn. The war touches each of the characters in di ffcrent ways as they struggle to come to terms with the unexpected changes the world conflict brings. Themes such as racism, poverty and guilt are explored through the course of the story.
Although I recognized a skillfully plotted narrative and well-drawn characters, the manner in which the story was told did not appeal to me. Not only was there at least one scene of, in my opinion, completely unnecessary violence, but the author included
very detailed accounts of various battles that had me skipping pages at a time.
Nor did I find the main characters particularly sympathetic. Evelyn especially made some questionable choices in her relationship with Ethan that seemed selfish and went against the character development illustrated throughout the story. What really hurt the book for me, however, was the ending, but that is a matter of personal taste.
This being said, there is no doubt that Mr. Berkovitch is a skilled writer, one who creates interesting secondary characters who move in a completely believable and tangible world. Never did I doubt any of the period details or settings. Indeed there are times his prose is breathtakingly beautiful, such as when he describes a new location or shows the impact of the war on those left behind.
My feeling is that men will find this book far more to their taste than most women, focusing as it docs on the nilly-gritty details of military life and strategy. Recommended only for those \\ ho enjoy novels about the grim realities of war.
Teresa Basinski Eckford
THE YEAR IS '42
Nella Bielski , (trans. John Berger & Lisa Appignanesi) Bloomsbury £ 12 .99, hb , 207pp, 074757 I 03 I. Pub. in US by Pantheon, $1895, hb ,22 4pp,0375422862
A snapshot view of occupied Europe during WWII where the main character, Karl Bazinger realises that his role as a German officer in the Wehrmacht places him in the privileged position of being a member of the occupying forces in Paris. He has also found the company of a variety of French citizens a satisfactory diversion from the realities of war.
An impromptu visit from his old friend and neighbour, Hans Bielenbcrg causes Karl to make a decision to become more involved farther East and he requests a transfer which takes him to Kiev. En route to his new posting, Karl stops with his wife and son for a short while and discovers that his neighbours, I Ians and his wife have gone from their home. There is talk of them having sheltered a Jewish woman.
Near the banks of the Dneiper in Kiev , Katia Zvesdny practises illegally as a doctor. Much of the Jewish population have either been deported to concentration camps or massacred at Baby Yar. Katia's husband was sent to a labour camp in 1939 and she has received little word of him since.
One wonders whether there has been some loss of depth in the translation. The lack of inverted commas to denote speech detracts from the flow since the reader has to pause to decipher whether it is a thought process or spoken word that is being expressed.
Cathy Kemp. ISSUE 3 I, FEBRUARY 2005
THOSE WHO SA VE US
Jenna Blum, Canongate, 2005, £ I 0.99, pb, 482pp, l 84195584 l
US edition reviewed in HNR August 2004
THE INNER CIRCLE
T.C. Boyle, Viking, 2004, $25.95, hb, 418pp, 0670033448
Nothing is forbidden in Professor Kinsey's human sexuality research, except failing to document one's experiments for the edification of the group. As close to a practicing nudist as it was possible to be in 1940s Indiana, Professor Kinsey considered discretion and privacy as mere defenses for those unfortunates he termed "the sex-shy." His life work is a battle against sexual inhibitions; he has none and won't accept them in the people who help him in his research.
One member of the research team that would eventually become the Kinsey Institute is John Milk, who serves as narrator in T.C. Boyle's novel. John is also married, but his wife is less trusting of Professor Kinsey's motives , and John must resolve his career with the controversial, magnetic Professor Kinsey within the context of intimacy and family life. This becomes more challenging as Professor Kinsey's requirements from his staff grow more personal and more demanding, and as the work of the Kinsey Institute gains significant cultural prominence. Professor Kinsey's work explodes in the 1940s and 1950s, radically altering our understanding of human sexuality.
A fascinating study of group dynamics in thrall to a charismatic figure, The Inner Circle explores the differences between sexuality and intimacy in the crucible of society's changing expectations. Although our attitudes toward sex may change, in T.C. Boyle's novel, human nature is always the same.
Colleen Quinn
DEATH IN DANZIG
Stefan Chwin, Harcourt, 2004, S24.00, hb , 248pp,0151008051
Pub. in the UK by Secker & Warburg, 2005, £ I 6.99, hb, 224 pp, 0436205653
The original Polish title, Hanemann, is also the name of the main character of this complex, literary novel. Although there is a death - that of his lover in a ferry accident - the English title is deceiving. Hanemann is the vc1y heart of the story: a German who remains in Poland after it is reclaimed by the Soviets, a man who represents the transfo1mation of Danzig (Gern1any) to Gdansk (Poland), a passive spectator of Ii fe, domestic and dramatic, through those confused, to1tured times around WWII. Difficult to get into, the story opens up when the reader ceases to struggle to make sense of it and abandons himself to the various settings, voices, time frames that each new chapter brings. Eventually, a pattern emerges and sticks to you long after the reading is done. The num erous listings of things, people, streets, somehow manage to give substance to
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everyday domestic life as well as the political and violent background it is set in. The writing is very slow, precise and sensual. Fabrics, odors, sights, and textures contribute to make the reader feel the setting, even to the point of transforming them into characters: "White tureens, shaped like swans and pelicans, tender silver sugar bowls fashioned like wild ducks with turquoise eyes, and dainty little boats for pear preserves were frightened by their own fanciful, impractical forms; they envied the ordinary flatness of baking trays, so easily slid under floors or stashed among the rafters of barns and abandoned mills." The numerous characters, especially the maid with a mysterious past and the abandoned savage boy making a living as a street performer, are all strikingly vivid. The story , which is not told in a linear way, emerges through their eyes and their actions, whether a simple task like a meal or leaving town with one's meager belongings as a refugee fleeing the Russians. Death is subtly present in Danzig/ Gdansk. Chwin is considered one of Poland's principal writers and has been awarded numerous awards. All are well deserved.
Nicole Leclerc
THE PALACE TIGER
Barbara Cleverly, Constable 2004, £16.99 , hb, 304pp, 1841198129
A senior Scotland Yard detective has been seconded to assist with the training of detectives in the Indian Police Force. Then, the heir to the throne of a semi-independent princely state dies in unusual circumstances. The British Governor of the adjoining province asks our hero to investigate unofficially, as the state in question has its own police force. No sooner than Joe Sandilands a1Tives he witnesses the violent death of the second in line to the throne. Coincidence? Now read on. The ensuing whodunnit is a relaxing read which will appeal to those who find the effort of unravelling the complexities of the litera1y thriller disproportionate to the satisfaction gained. I revelled in the setting in 1920s India: sumptuous palaces furnished with rich silks and carpets, scented gardens with exotic flowers and cool fountains and much more. All over the top, of course but this is pure entertainment. The clear firm writing made this book acceptable as a piece of sheer escapism and T can recommend it as just that.
Ruth Nash
SINNERS & SHADOWS
Catrin Collier, Orion, 2004, £9.99 ($17.99), pb, 418pp, ISBN 0752866990 This novel ends the romantic family saga trilogy, which began with Beggars & Choosers and was followed by Winners and Losers. The story is set principally in the Welsh mining town of Tonypandy. It starts on the eve of the First World War and continues during the first years of the conflict.
The central character is Rhian a parlour maid who falls in love with Joey Evans the handsome manager of Gwilyn James, a department store. The plot is woven around their relationship and a chain of mistakes that result in Rhian becoming the mistress of her employer Edward Larch while Joey finds solace with Edward's daughter Julia. The story ends satisfactorily for Rhian and Joey, but with disastrous consequences for those whose lives they have been involved with. It was Edward and his daughter Julia that I found were the most appealing and believable characters.
Catrin Collier neatly intertwines real events in lives of her fictional characters, such as an explosion at the munitions factory in Pembrey and Broncho Bill 's - Wild West Exhibition in April 1914 in Pontypridd. I am sure that the fans of this saga will not be disappointed by this final episode.
Myfanwy Cook
ROAD TO PURGATORY
Max Allen Collins, William Morrow, 2004, $24.95 / CS34.95, hb, 288pp, 0066540273
It is 19-12, and the horrors of the Bataan jungle are permanently scarring soldiers. Michael Santariano, a childlike individual at twenty, fights confidently and with unexplainable skill. Captain Arthur Wennuth is puzzled by this soldier's shooting accuracy, but remains unaware of Michael's experience in mob violence opposing Capone in Chicago. Loss of an eye during fierce gunfighting earns Michael the first Congressional Medal of Honor awarded in the Second World War-plus dismissal from military service. Back in the States, Michael wrestles between loyalty to dying soldiers in the jungle and being thrust into public appearances as a war hero stumping for war bonds. The heart-broken Patsy Ann O'Hara, from his hometown of DeKalb, Illinois, is pushed aside once more when Michael returns to the mob world as Michael O'Sullivan.
The plot thickens by intertwining stories of Michael O'Sullivan, Sr.'s service for Irish godfather John Looney in the I 920s. In this gangster saga, military, governmental, and criminal figures of the time appear alongside the fictitious Michael O'Sullivan. Mystery and intense suspense enrich the plot. This novel, told by an award-winning author, has created an Olympic-level challenge for his fellow writers. The first paragraph pulls readers into the story, and the novel remains gripping all the way through its romantic ending. A recommended sequel to Road to Perdition Jetta Carol Culpepper
AFTER HAVANA
Charles Fleming, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2004, S24.95 /C$3 4.95, hb, 340pp, 0312307489
After being involved in a killing in Las Vegas and winding up in Havana, Sloan is happy to bury himself in booze and music. Playing at jazz clubs at night and staying half drunk
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
during the day is the only way he can cope with the loss of the woman he loved.
Being in Cuba in 1958 is like being on an out-of-control merry-go-round. Castro and his rebels are in the hills, and wealthy American gangsters and movie stars are drinking, whoring and gambling in Havana. Sloan manages to remain unnoticed until he sees his ex-lover, Anita, in a nightclub, on the arm of a wealthy American player.
Anita becomes a pawn between the rich American and a dedicated policeman. Cardoso works for the Security Force (secret police for Batista) and seemingly is the only moral man in a force of bigoted, drunken, violence-prone murderers. His nemesis, Delgato, one of the revolutionaries, has eluded him too often and when Cardoso learns that Anita is being held captive by Delgato and the rebels, he is determined to bring him down.
While on opposing sides, Delgato and Cardoso are good men caught in impossible situations. They stand out in a book with many fascinating characters. The author has depicted the events of the times realistically. The human drama of the lives of the Cuban people, their suffering and misery is all too real. Reading this book brings uncomfortable truths home to Americans. There is good and bad on both sides of the issues and this book will keep the reader spell-bound reading about the crumbling of this small country that has had such a major impact on the U.S.
Lo1Taine Gelly
THE WATER ROOM
Christopher Fowler, Doubleday 200-1-, hb, £12.99,400pp,0385605544
This is the second book in the Bryant & May series, the eponymous detective team in the aptly named Peculiar Crimes Unit of the Metropolitan Police Force. Although the tale is set in modern day London there is a clear historical background to the story which qualifies the book as historical mystery fiction.
The ageing detectives investigate a suspicious death in Kentish Town and quickly become immersed in a plot involving London's generally forgotten underground rivers and long held desire for revenge and avarice. There are more deaths and an exciting denouement but this is much more than the standard murder story given the quality of the na1wtive, the creepy gothic atmosphere and the light humour. It is a delight to read.
Doug Kemp
HOMELAND
Clare Francis, Macmillan 2004, £ I 6.99, hb, 39Ipp,03339081 I 147
Clare Francis is incapable of writing a bad book and Homeland is her best. It is a departure from her thrillers, instead this book deals with the plight of Polish ex-servicemen stranded in post-war England unwilling to return home to what is now USSR occupied Poland. British attitudes are at best
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
unsympathetic and ungrateful for their heroic efforts and at worst hostile as the country is in the grip of a terrible winter and all face fuel and food shortages.
The main character, Wladyslaw Malinowski obtains work on a run down willow farm and helps Billy Green who has himself just returned from the army, to restore the farm to a profitable business. Both men also pursue complicated love affairs, only one of which is destined for success.
The suffering of the Poles is movingly described and the landscape of waterlogged Somerset makes a bleak backdrop. An excellent literary read.
Ruth Ginarlis
A PLACE TO CALL HOl\1E
June Francis. Allison & Busby 2004. £ 18.99. Hb. 284pp. 0749083 751 (Pub. in US March 05 by Allison & Busby, S25.95)
Greta returns home one dark foggy evening to find an intruder in the house - this is Alex, an orphan looking for the dark secrets of his lost family, which somehow involve Greta and her grandfather. This is a warm family story set in Liverpool during WW2.
Linda Sole
STORM FORCE TO NARVIK
Alexander Fullerton, Mc Books, 2004 (c I 979), $13.95, pb, 268pp, 1590130928
The Royal Navy's record in the I 939-1942 period of the Second World War was one of admirable heroism and sacrifice in the face of hopeless odds and debilitating shortages. The Norwegian Campaign of 1940 saw Britain's warships operating at the end of long supply lines in the face of German air superiority. One bright spot in this sorry affair was the Royal Navy's victory over German naval forces at the port of Narvik. Captain Nick Everard, commander of the destroyer Intent, and his son Paul, on board the destroyer Hoste, lead us through this dramatic saga. Intent is damaged and must hide in a fjord while working with Norwegian sailors and civilians on necessary repairs. Young Paul, a gunner, is in the middle of the action further north. Nick manages to bring Intent back into the fighting through a series of well-planned actions and daring escapades. Paul faces the horrors of war for the first time and discovers hidden reservoirs of courage and strength to carry on in the face of certain disaster. Fullerton, a submarine officer in World War II, does a fine job in portraying the tension on board small ships sailing in harm's way. Book I in the "Nicholas Everard World War II Saga" was first published in 1979. There will be five others.
John R. Vallely
INAMORATA
Joseph Gangemi, Viking, 2004, $24.95/ C37.50,hb,319pp,0670032794
"Never fall in love with the medium." So Dr. William McLaughlin, Harvard psychology
professor, counsels Martin Finch., his promising graduate student. It is 1922, and spiritualism is in fashion. Dr. McLaughlin, lead investigator for a Scientific American contest for demonstrated proof of psychic phenomena, sends Martin to Philadelphia to investigate the claims of a society couple, Dr. Arthur and Mrs. Mina Crawley. Mina's gifts come highly praised by none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and her initial unwillingness to accept visitors intrigues the investigative committee. Although Martin's job is to prove that Mina is a fake, he has a hard time believing anything dishonest about Crawley's beautiful, charming, much younger wife. When an evening seance reveals the presence of a dry-humored ghost that bears antipathy towards Crawley, the committee takes note. The press jumps on the story, and Martin is left with a real dilemma: continue his fraud investigation as planned, or accept the unlikely role of protector to the woman he's come to admire.
This elegant, humorous thriller is none the less effective for its subtlety. Throughout the novel, I had no idea where the narrative would go next, and I honestly didn't care, so absorbed was I in the story. There's plenty of local Prohibition-era color to satisfy history buffs, and the characters are well-depicted and interesting. If you don't think a novel can be suspenseful, spooky, and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time, you 're in for a treat with this one.
Sarah Johnson
HESTER'S STORY
Adele Geras, Orion, 2005, £9.99, pb, 384pp, 0752865048
This engrossing story opens in Paris in 1939. It follows the career, loves and losses of Estelle Prevert who changes her name to Hester Fielding on joining the Charleroi Ballet Company. Hester's father sends her to live with her relations in Yorkshire before the outbreak of the Second World War.
A Russian ballet teacher Madame Olga buys Wychwood house in the Yorkshire village that Hester lives in. Madame Olga befriends Hester and transforms her life. Hester becomes the leading ballerina of the fifties and sixties. An accident in her thirties leads her to turn her talent for dancing into teaching and directing the annual Wychwood Ballet Festival.
Hester's past history and secrets are gradually revealed as Hugo Carradine, a prizewinning choreography and his ballet troupe rehearse his ballet 'Sarabande' to be performed on Twelfth Night in 1987.
This for me was one of those exceptional novels that make you want to find a quiet corner and remain there undisturbed until you have finished reading it. The plot was intriguing, but in addition Adele Geras was able to capture in a few words a range of moods and settings from Paris in the late 1930s
ISSUE 3 I, FEBRUARY 2005
lo l980sYorkshire on a cold January day. The amount of detail she has included about ballet and ballet-dancers is like good seasoning it brings out the flavour without being overpowering. She has also been able to create a sense of the different historical periods she's described using tiny, but accurate details for instance by using the appropriate vocabulary for the period: ' lozenges' instead of cough sweets. What can you write about a novel is not only full of memorable and captivating characters from the teenage Alison to the veteran composer, Edmund, but also has an enthralling story line and is exquisitely written? This novel is like a successful souffle. It is light , easily digested , tasty , satisfying and it deserves to be a bestseller. Myfanwy Cook
THE DIVINE HUSBAND
Francisco Goldman, Atlantic, 2005, £ 15.99, hb, 5 I 2pp, 18435--14040
US edition reviewed in HNR November 2004
CITY OF MAN'S DESIRE
Cornelia Golna, Go-Bos Press, 2004, €19.90, pb,423pp,9080411442
Set in Constantinople in 1908, City of Man's Desire charts the political and sexual awakening of Theodora Vlachos against the background of the Young Turk Revolution. Theodora's adventures begin when she is engaged to teach Greek to the flamboyant Russian exile, Natalya Petrovna, who has fled to Turkey with her brother, Vlad, a revolutionary wanted by the authorities in St. Petersburg. Vlad is working on an archaeological dig in Anatolia whose excavations uncover a past which seems to contain warnings for the present. This immaculately researched story is further enlivened by a cast of eccentrics including the American academic and dreamer, John Townshend, Theodora's ancient cousin Cleopatra who believes she is descended from Egyptian royalty, and snobbish Aunt Phrosso with her liking for classically themed wall paintings.
An intelligent, wide ranging novel in a fascinating setting unfamiliar to me, nevertheless found pa11s of City of Man's Desire hard going. At times, Golna's story seems to be submerged beneath several strata of undigested research, making it read like a guide book or an academic treatise on the politics of the time. It would have benefited from more stringent editing prior to publication. A largely enjoyable read, however, by an author who obviously has a deep understanding of her material.
Sarah Bower
NlGHTSONG
Tricia Goyer, Moody Press, 2004, $ 12.99, pb, 515pp,08024l5555
This Holocaust story of sacrifice and survival pays artful tribute to its message "that without
THE HlSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
remembrance, there can be no future." Christian novelist Goyer follows three storylines-that of a wealthy Austrian ambassador's daughter abruptly parted from her American boyfriend on the night he plans to propose marriage, a family of gifted musicians caught in the grip of the Nazis, and a failed mystical-bent musician turned SS confiscator of instruments. Uniting them all is an amber-toned violin, which goes from object of desire to become almost another character as their lives converge around it.
From its lyrical modern-set opening concert, to its tight pacing and exciting conclusion, Night Song stands out. Its characters grow and deepen through their trials. Although some details clink (lots of Nancy Drew-like spying from hiding places, being "unconscious" for two days and, note to Christian editors: please outlaw the use of "relationship" and "scoot" 1), many resonate. When Jakub pushes the funeral ca11 al his concentration camp at Terezin, he finds it a good job in that the crematorium is the "wam1est spot in the frozen city " Evie observes, while working as a secretary at Mauthausen, that " Death could be perfectly typed."
That two heroic Jewish characters convert to Christianity seemed both tacked on and perfunctory. The lovers ' reunification elicits the twin thoughts of "she's beautiful" and "s he's mine" from our hero. This may disappoint. But for the most part Night Song, in its dark beauty and testimony, enchants. Eileen Charbonneau
TROUBLE IN PARADfSE
Pip Granger, Poisoned Pen Press, 2004, S24.95, hb, 328pp, 15905813 18
Pub. in the UK in 2004 by Bantam (£ I 7 .99 hb , 059305 I 36X) and Corgi (£5.99 pb, 0552150665)
World War II is over, celebrations abound in London , and Zelda Fluck has mixed emotions. Violent husband Charlie's return to Paradise Gardens will resume their domestic war. Also Zelda's nephew Tony is in cahoots with "oneboy crime wave" Brian Hole to shrug off jokes about his beautiful singing voice. Village midwife Zinnia Makepeace brings her intuitive healing to Zelda by nursing bumps and bruises left after Charlie's furloughs. Zinnia kindly surprises Zelda with voice lessons for Tony with a Soho teacher as a diversion from his edge towards a life of crime. Zelda also makes the acquaintance of Soho cafe owners, Buri and Maggie Featherby, jovial godsends who will alter Zelda's life forever.
Although this novel is filled with mysterious goings-on, Pip Granger's eccentric, wonderful characters are the main attraction. Rugged working class values help them balance ho1Tor with humor and hope. Although young Rosie who narrates the first two books (Not All Tarts Are Apple and The Widow Ginger) hasn't been born yet in this outing,
never fear. This backward glance at her caretakers' early lives adds richness to this unique series about original "extended families," very tough love, and often menacing denizens of post-war, working-class London. Tess Allegra
A WAY WITH THE FAIRIES
Kerry Greenwood, Poisoned Pen Press, 2005, $24.95, hb, 240pp, 1590580222
First published in Australia in 200 I, this is the latest of the Phryne Fisher mysteries to be printed in the United States, and it will be quickly snapped up by eager fans.
Phryne Fisher, a wealthy and independent spirit, has a knack for flouting convention and for solving mysteries, all of which make her a standout in the Melbourne of the 1920s. Her current task is to investigate the mysterious death of an author and illustrator of fairy stories, some of which appear in Women's Choice, a forward-looking magazine with a staff full of suspects. The staff not only work together, many of them live in the same apartment building, thus increasing the complexity of the case. Miss Lavender 's death isn't the only mystery , however; Phryne's Chinese lover, Lin Chung, hasn't returned from a silk-buying trip to China, and it's beginning to look like he 's run into trouble on the high seas.
Intrigue abounds as Phryne gets to the bottom of things, providing a fast-paced romp through the streets and docks of early twentieth-century Melbourne. Greenwood's prose and plot twists will keep everyone entertained in this delightful read.
Helene Williams
THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM
Adam Hall , Forge, 2004, $24.95/CS34 95, pb, 220pp,076530967X
Originally published in 1966 under the title The Berlin Memorandum, this is the first in the famous Quiller series, which eventually went on to number nineteen books.
Quiller is a secret agent, or in these cases a shadow executive for an extremely covert British intelligence bureau that doesn't officially exist. Quiller, worn out and almost beaten-in by his years as a clandestine agent in a German concentration camp (where he meets his vile adversary Zossen), is now in Berlin a few years after the war and awaiting his return home. He is persuaded to stay when the "Bureau" informs him of Zossen's plans to bring the Nazis back to power.
What follows is pure espionage written in top and classic form. The writing, though dated at times, is crisp, deadly and evocative. Quiller is a complex character written for intelligent readers who want to reflect and reason while they ponder the plot. Nothing is handed over, and the reader works for each climatic moment. This is espionage fiction at its most untainted, and Hall fills it with action and tense moments of suspense.
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
The Quiller Memorandum proves a winner for any decade.
Wendy Zollo
THE RESTLE SS SEA
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Little, Brown 2004, £17.99,hb,500pp,0316861049
The Morland Dynasty has reached the early 20'h century and the family face the new challenges of the modem age. Ashley Morland takes his wife, Lizzie, and their children to America, choosing to travel on the maiden voyage of the most luxurious ship ever builtthe Titanic. They are leaving behind a country crippled by strikes that threaten the economic security of the family. Anne, however, is more concerned with creating her own brand of social disturbance. She has become a prominent member of the militant Suffragettes and consequently lives under the shadow of the Cat and Mouse Act. It cannot be long before somebody gives their life to the cause.
The younger generation are growing up rapidly. Jessie finds that settling into married life and forgetting her past love are not as straightforward as she anticipated. Violet has married a wealthy aristocrat, dutifully provided him with an heir and a spare and must now ignore his philandering ways. Jack is still pursuing a career in aviation and, as the shadow of war looms, becomes involves with the newly established flying corps.
Cynthia Ha1Tod-Eagles has produced 27 books in this series and no signs of nagging yet. There is a surprising freshness to her writing and a sense of authenticity that can come only from a thorough knowledge of history. Even though there is a large cast of characters, the plotting nows smoothly and never feels disjointed and awkward. The Restless Sea can read as a stand-alone novel and certainly would not confuse a reader new to the series. There is even a family tree, which helps clarify relationships between the characters.
Sara Wilson
CHICKEN DREAi\llNG CORt
Roy l loffman, Univ. of Georgia Press, 2004, hb,$24.95,244p~0820326682
The title comes from an expression the author's "Romanian Jewish grandmother used to refer to the yearnings of ordinary folks for something special or extraordinary." The protagonist, Morris Kleinman, dreams of a special life for his wife and four children. Morris's father's distillery in a Romanian town was seized by soldiers, who were enforcing a law barring Jews from this type of business. While still young, Morris makes his way to America, where he works at whatever jobs he can find. I le and his wife make their way to Mobile, Alabama, where he becomes the owner of a clothing shop. He and his family arc an integral part of the community, but still face anti-Semitism in a number of guises.
Morris is a very good man, and this tale is warn1-hearted and nostalgic, in the best of ways. The author has made vivid a slice of American life that is not often thought of. The story follows Morris's family from 1916 to 1945. The initial scene of Morris and his neighbors in the business district preparing for a parade by veterans of the War Between the States is highly evocative. Throughout the book, readers get a sense of the era, most strongly through the characters' relationships. Racism, illness, greed, despair, and mere survirnl join anti-Semitism as the reality to be set against chicken dreaming com, but Morris always remains hopeful and a dreamer of big dreams. I highly recommend this understated but compelling novel.
Trudi E. Jacobson
UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD
A.B. Hollingsworth, W.W. Norton, 2004, S l 4.95 / C$22.00, pb, 389pp, 0393324214
When the novel begins in 1967 in Oklahoma, the university boys are not concerned with world issues. Their goal is to pledge a fraternity. How Chipper and Peach accomplish this allows the author, whose light wit evokes P.G. Wodehouse, to caricature the personalities who suppo11 and oppose them. Drywall is the Native American with a fine tenor. Smokey Ray is the cool guy who proves there is intelligent life in the frat universe. The female characters are extraordinary. Amy, an entrepreneur who sells jukeboxes, proved in high school that "her compass was stronger than Chipper's " Cassie is a self-taught ballerina, and Aurora is a rich rebel.
The action picks up when Smokey Ray hatches a revenge plot against the resident bully, Blackjack. Issues creep in as the war begins to take a personal toll. l lollingsworth achieves emotional subtlety describing Chipper's reaction to a group of inductees awaiting their tour of Vietnam. They choke up hearing ''I'll Be Home for Christmas." Chipper pictures every third man dead, and realizes he'll never be able to tell the story. "One more word," cautions the invisible hand squeezing his throat.
The author shows profound psychological insight, such as Smokey Ray's description of a narcissist as a shell. Smokey could have turned evil too, like Blackjack, but he "learned to make the dark the sculptor of the light."
Marcia K. Matthews
FIRESONG: A Novel of Russia
Joseph Hone, Pan 2004, £6.99, pb, 69Jpp, 033032150 I. First published 1997 by SinclairStevenson
Princess Yelina Rumovsky, a cousin of the Romanovs, and her twin brother, Sasha are talented musicians and, as they grow up, entertain pre revolutionary St. Petersburg society. Yelena has strange gifts -for good and evil - which make her more than usually volatile. When her grandfather leaves his semi
autonomous northern lands to her she becomes, like him, barbaric in her attitudes, thinking to take whatever she wants, including marrying Sasha.
Sasha, attempting to escape, has an affair with their former governess, l larriet and she bears a child, Holly, but refuses to many him. Yelina, retaliating takes up with three men: the English diplomat, Sandy, the American railway magnate, Johnny and the aristocratic clown, Miki. Then comes the revolution.
Fleeing St. Petersburg Yelina's parents are killed. She, Holly and Harriet are separated from Sasha and Miki and face a long, cold trek following Sasha to Omsk and beyond facing dangers from both men and the icy wastes they must travel.
Here we have closely detailed descriptions of pre revolutionary Russia, the horrors of war and the vastness of Siberia. At times the sheer amount of detail, almost like shopping lists, palled. Some judicious cutting would have helped. The frequent coincidental meetings with just the people they needed to help them were rather too contrived and the abrupt changes of pai1ners not quite believable.
Marina Oliver
ALLTHATIHAVE
Lau rant Joffrin, Heinemann 2004, £ I 0.99, pb, 345pp,04340l634
Having reviewed and enjoyed Sebastian Faulks's Charlolle Gray and Allan Massie's A Question of Loyalties, I was looking forward to reading this novel, a new angle on a muchfictionalised period of French history. The book is based on the true sto,y of SOE agent Noor lnayat Khan, an Indian princess and daughter of a Sufi mystic, who was parachuted into occupied France in 1943 to join the Resistance as a radio operator. Translated from French, much of the book is narrated in the first person by John Sutherland, a British commando with whom she becomes involved both professionally and personally. The style is journalistic, a setting out of the facts. Where this falls down is when we arc told, in alternate chapters, what Noor is doing. ls this still Sutherland narrating, in which case, how can he know? During the short spells of time they do have together, Noor would hardly have been likely to furnish him with such a detailed account; they spend much of their time talking about their earlier lives, a convenient device for filling in backstory. Or is it some omniscient third person narrating? The translation is stilted in many places, especially the dialogue. As a French speaker, I often found myself translating back. For me, it didn't work as a novel. I never really engaged with the characters and it became a factual account of the Resistance and the Germans trying to outwit each other.
Janet Hancock
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE JI, FEBRUARY 2005
NOW YOU SEE IT
Stuart M. Kaminsky, Carroll & Graf, 2004, $25.00/ C$35, hb, 227pp, 0786714239
"Even magicians need magic in their lives."
For famed magician Harry Blackstone, magic is embodied in P.1. Toby Peters if he is to meet the challenge and foil the threats to his life that he has received. Peters, his brother and now business partner Phil, and a slew of highly colorful characters (an ex-wrestler poet, a onehand car salesman, a multilinguist dwarf, a mad dentist inventor, and a quirky landlady, among others) will all try to clear his name when his less-talented rival and source of the threats is found murdered beside him at a banquet. This light-toned, well-drafted romp set in 1944 Los Angeles is a fun and breezy read that cleverly blends real and imaginary characters and recaptures the mood of WWII with solid background research, teaching some magical illusions in the process. There are a few needless repetitions, and the women are somewhat stereotyped. However, followers of Toby's Hollywood celebrity series will enjoy revisiting him and new readers, mystery fans or not, will take pleasure in meeting him.
Nicole Leclerc
KATIE'S DREAM
Leisha Kelly, Revell, 2004, $12.99, pb, 330pp, 0800759109
This sequel is set in Depression-era Illinois, just after Emma's Gifi. Samuel and Julia Wortham find it difficult enough to provide for their own two children, not to mention the ten motherless Hammonds from a neighboring farm, who visit often. Then Samuel's exconvict brother Edward arrives with a young child in tow, insisting that Katie is Samuel's illegitimate daughter. Sam denies the accusation, and Julia wants to believe him, but the problems of Katie's identity and family loyalty toward Edward test their ma1Tiage and their faith.
The daily struggle to feed a family in presupennarket days during bad economic times is portrayed vividly. Making a meal out of a mess of greens, a few potatoes, and a halfburned cake. Having to think long and hard over whether to kill a chicken for dinner guests. Samuel, Julia, and Edward's characters are well-developed, and 1 liked the way the ending was true to real life, without resorting to neatly-tied-up plot resolutions or "all is forgiven" relationships. The minor quibble I had was that all the children were a bit too well-behaved and obedient for believability. An excellent example of Christian fiction. For maximum enjoyment, read the other two books in the series first.
B.J. Sedlock
EMPIRE RISING
Thomas Kelly, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005, $25 / C$37.50, hb, 39l pp, 0374925917
The Empire State Building is a character in itself in Empire Rising, Thomas Kelly's
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
homage to New York City on the cusp of the Depression.
Michael Briody is an Irish immigrant on the run from his homeland's civil war; an IRA man who through political connections gets a job as an ironworker on the Empire State Building. Grace Masterson is a painter with a grief-filled past, living a bohemian life on a houseboat with a view of the skyscraper. Her casual boyfriend is the powerful Johnny FaiTell, the dirty right-hand-man to Mayor Jimmy Walker, who pays her to hide wads of cash in safe deposit boxes all over town. A dangerous attraction develops when Michael and Grace meet, a love strong enough to give birth to dreams of a normal life together. But disentangling themselves from old loyalties is not a simple thing when those loyalties involve the IRA, Tammany Hall, the growing Sicilian mob, and a widening investigation into political corruption to which Grace is a key witness.
With a score of hot-blooded, multifaceted characters, Thomas Kelly has vividly reconstructed the messy mix of class, race, religion and politics that was New York City in 1930.
Lisa Ann Verge
A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
John Kidd, The Book Guild, 2004, £ 17.95, hb, 384pp, 1857768426
This story of conscientious objector and stretcher-bearer George Bowman, who ironically ends up becoming one of the most decorated soldiers of the First World War, is told in a conversational, easy-going style that makes it a pleasure to read.
George's diaries form the basis of the novel, and the colloquial tone of the narrative draws the reader into this story of an ordinary East End lad who (like so many of his class and age) was called on to bear intolerable burdens. But while he's on leave in London, George meets up with a nurse he first knew in France. He falls in love and marries her, leaving her pregnant as he goes back to face the well-documented horrors of the Third Battle of Ypres.
Discharged in late 1917, George is now severely disabled. He finds coping with the aftern1ath of war very hard, and more tragedies for his family are soon on their way.
But the novel is not a depressing read. In fact, it's uplifting and somewhat humbling to read about what many of our own grandfathers and great grandfathers must have done and suffered almost as a matter of course. George, his wife and sister are cham,ing, engaging people, and when the war is over they pick up the tattered remnants of their lives with a courage that should inspire us all.
Although this novel is somewhat rambling in parts, it is written with a sincerity that ensures the characters will stay with me for a long time. I'd recommend it to the general reader and also to any historian interested in
the details of day-to-day life in the early twentieth century, for as I read it I could see, hear and smell the long-gone neighbourhoods of working class London.
Margaret James
HUNGER AND THIRST
Daniela Kuper, St. Martin's Press, 2004, $23.95, hb,288pp,03l2208855
"Dresses. Shoes. Feathers in hats. Pearls on necks. Silk stockings that demanded white gloves Perfume. Real perfume, not toilet stuff. Perfume from Paris. Men from Paris ... " This is the dream world of Winnie (lrwina), a young girl growing up in the Jewish culture of Chicago in the 1950s.
Despite the warnings of her dreaming but fearful family, Winnie marries Buddy Trout, who also shares her visions of stunning dress, jewelry and accessories. Detennined to ascend in the fashion world, Winnie opens her own store and is so good at what she does that fashion moguls send their assistants to copy her current designs. But all that glitters is, indeed, not gold. For the shop is located in Winnie's Ashkenazi community, and they neither want nor can afford fashionable clothing.
As the shop begins to fail, Buddy's unfulfilled dreams and needs are insatiable, leading him to a world of drink, magic and the seduction of believing some new gimmick or design will alter their unlucky fortune. Unfortunately, their daughter, Joan, suffers from her parents' frustrations and tensions. Joan cannot shed her identity but learns to use the positive skills she has learned from her parents and her Jewish culture. Kuper superbly portrays the humorous and haunting quality of 1950s Jewish culture where one is the captain of one's ship-if you're lucky enough to figure out which ship it is you're steering.
Viviane Crystal
WATCH FOR THE TALLEYl\IAN
Freda Lightfoot, Coronet, 2004, £6.99, pb, 440pp,0340830018
Dolly Tomkins lives in poverty in 1920s Salford. The money she earns from working at the cotton mill goes straight to the Nifty Jack, the talleyman, to repay her mother's debts. The situation becomes worse when her father dies in an accident and Dolly loses her job. Forced to work as housekeeper for Nifty Jack, Dolly soon discovers that his black reputation is well-deserved.
It seems that happiness is always just out of reach and even marriage to her childhood hero does not bring her the security she longs for. But Dolly is a survivor, willing to fight her way back to happiness, and is eventually rewarded with success in work and love.
Freda Lightfoot has a reputation for creating strong, character-driven sagas and Watch/or the Talleyman is no exception. It is a fast paced story, packed with action and
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
sentiment. An ideal way to while away a few hours.
Sara Wilson
RETURN TO JARROW
Janet Macleod Trotter, Headline, £ 19.99, 374pp,hb,0755308484
Return to Jarro11 • is the compelling story of Catherine Cookson's life, from the time when she began working in the laundry, through the turbulent years of her growing up to the beginning of her success as a writer. Many fans will know of her early life, the unhappy home she shared with her sister who was actually her mother , but not everyone will know about the way she worked herself up to a position of authority at the laundry. Nor will they know about the boarding house she bought and ran with the help of Bridie, the Irish woman who was a friend to her but became too possessive. Although most will know about her husband Tom, reading about their early life together is informative and interesting, and sometimes sad.
This book works excellently as an easy to read biography and is enjoyable as such. I am not sure it works quite as well as fiction , because the early pace is a little slow and the heroine comes over as nervous. sometimes tormented and even morose. We are used to something different from saga heroines and bits of this did not work as fiction for me, though l am sure it was faithful to its subject and must have been very difficult to write. The earlier books in this series were gripping, compelling books, but this one made me slightly uncomfortable. l suspect that perhaps the author was hampered by respect for her subject, but which of us would not have been? My admiration for this excellent author is undiminished but this particular book wasn't for me in this format.
Linda Sole
A CHANGE OF FORTUNE
Beryl Matthews, Penguin 2004, £5.99, pb, 440pp,01410l4725
A Change of Fortune seems an inadequate title for a fast-moving novel that involves two major changes of fortune not to mention several other less traumatic ones. The story is set in the Depression years of the 1930s and moves from riches to rags and eventually back to riches with plenty of incidents along the way. The reader who enjoys an exciting, romantic read will find this very satisfying. The characterisation is wholly romantic. The heroine's upper-class family who force her to run away from her comfortable life-style are heartless, calculating and greedy without any redeeming feature that would make them believable. On the other hand, the people of a London slum are, without exception, warmhearted and generous despite their poverty. They readily befriend a well-spoken stranger who is obviously not one of them. Then another upper-class family takes a benevolent
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
interest in the slum area transforming the people's lives by providing a centre which gives them food and warmth as well as finding jobs for some of them.
I was impressed by the realistic picture of the terrible poverty of the 1930s. I liked too the comparison between the lot of the domestic servant and that of the slum poor. Those in service worked ve1y hard for cruelly long hours and little money. In most cases they had sufficient food and a warm bed, luxuries beyond the dreams of the poor.
This writer has been compared with Catherine Cookson in combining romance and realism. Bearing in mind Cookson's amazing popularity this novel cannot fail to be successful.
Ruth Nash
A FOREIGN FIELD
Margaret Mayhew, Severn House £ 18.99 (S28.95), hb, 320pp, 0727861913
Against a skillfully detailed backdrop of rural England with its "desiccated spinsters" and village fetes Margaret Mayhew spins a gentle mystery about a WW2 plane crash and an unlikely romance. Although majority of the action takes place forty years after the event, memories are long, and the village appears little touched by time.
Expertly plotted, the story unravels with some surprising twists and turns, and unexpected humour and pathos in the face of personal tragedy. With the large cast of well drawn characters, each with their own stories, and the ongoing mystery, the pages kept turning. An enjoyable read with a slightly old fashioned feel, this sto1y might appeal to fans of early Joanna Trollope, Rosamunde Pilcher and even Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.
Kate Allan
APRIL FOOL'S DAY
Josip Novakovich, HarperCollins, 2004, S23.95 / C$33.95, hb, 226pp, 0060583975
Essayist and short story writer Josip Novakovich's first novel is the life (and afterlife) story of Balkan-born and bred Ivan Dolinar, who stumbles by fits and starts through the second half of the twentieth centu1y. Growing up in Croatia, Ivan has runins with Tito and Indira Gandhi, his own brother and friends, medical school teachers, prison camp guards, and the brutal armies of both sides of the Serbo-Croatian conflict. After the harrowing war, he tries to go home to many and raise a family, only to be tempted by the fleeting pleasures of the flesh, bottle, and hypochondria.
Told with verve, deadpan style and occasionally heart-stopping lyricism, this misfit's journey through a crazy time and place is a worthwhile ride.
Eileen Charbonneau 35
TRUST
Cynthia Ozick, Mariner, 2004, $14/ C$l9.95, pb,652pp,0618470514
Trust - how this comforting word beguiles Allegra Vand - author and socialite wants only the best for her daughter. This includes European travel, for what well-to-do New York daughter doesn't know Europe? But Mrs. Vand's careful planning evaporates upon receipt of an ill-timed and unwelcome demand. Set initially in the post-WWI! period, Trust follows its nameless heroine back and forth across a span of more than thirty years in this reissue of Cynthia Ozick's first novel. Guided to a degree by two stepfathers, the protagonist is sheltered from her true father, the mysterious Gustave Nicholas Tilbeck, who turned away from his role early in her life; Nick, who, like " the li e of omission the silent hollow within the flute's faci le cylinder cannot be put away, and will continue to plague the universe forever " A description worthy of Allegra Vand, the omission's main author; it's no wonder Nick's re-emergence proves unsettling for her and for her daughter. Ozick's rich narrative is compelling and beautiful but sometimes confusing; the deliberate lack of first names and surname for two main characters leads to some remarkable modes of attribution. Trust is a captivating novel.
Janette King
MY ANASTASIA
Michael Page, Robert Hale, 2004, £ 17 .99, hb, 206pp, 0709077 I 4 (UK); Robert Hale, 2004, $29.99, hb, 240pp, 0709077114
Lieutenant Benjamin Knyve is sent on a secret mission to rescue the Imperial Russian family in 1918. Officially, King George V refuses to give them asylum, but wishes to help them escape the revolution.
Knyve and Stefan Carter, a shipmate from the Navy, travel as diplomats across Russia, but aiTive in Siberia on the very night that the Romanovs are murdered. Anastasia, the Tsar's youngest daughter, although almost dead from terrible injuries, survives and is smuggled back to England. Knyve has married her to obtain identity papers for her, but the couple fall in love, and the story then concerns the deception surrounding the bi1ih of their son and the question of the Tsm's fortune deposited in England. Knyve has to go beyond the law to protect his wife.
My Anastasia is a well-written, enjoyable novel, and at times very tense and exciting. The ending, however, leaves the reader wondering if there could be a sequel. Ruth Ginarlis
STRIKE THE HARP!
Owen Parry, William Morrow, 2004, £ I 4.9 / CS,20.95, I 92pp, hb, 0060572361
These five stories, all set on Christmas Eve, portray random acts of kindness, charity, and humanity. Whatever prompted these good
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
deeds, they were more significant to the receiver than the giver. Almost everyone, at some time or another, finds himself in a situation in which his actions may save a life or allc\ iate suffering. As with the Good Samaritan, the only conscious thought is, "something must be done," and one just does it. In 1887, a coal company's policeman anonymously gifts the starving strikers with coal he's purchased with his savings. At the end of World War I, an army colonel buys a Christmas Eve dinner for German orphans. In an homage to John O'Hara, an Irish nc'er-dowcll's fortunes change for the better when he rescues a baby from a burning building on Christmas Eve, 1928. A Depression-era waitress who has lost a child is gifted with a found Img on. The last. "The Lie of The Land," 1s a childhood memoir of a family tragedy that took place in 1960.
Owen Parry's \\ riting is eloquent. He accurately depicts the coal-mining region of Pennsylvania with co111passion and intelligent observation. This collection truly embodies the spint of Christmas.
Audrey Braver
THE WATCIIER IN TIIE PINE
Rebecca Pawel. Soho Press, 2005, S24.00, hb, 320 pp. I 56947379X
Lt. Carlos Tejada and his bride, Elena, are expecting their first child, in this, the third book in Pawcl's series set in post-Civil \Var Spam. Tejada has requested a transfer from Salamanca m the hopes that by starting over in a new location, the couple can put their political differences behind them in a place \\hen: no one knows them. Of course that is not to be; his nosy sergeant lets Carlos know that he has "read Elena's file" and implies much with a sneer.
Nor do the locals welcome them with open arms. There is heavy guerilla activity in and around the village of Potes. and many of the villagers have family living in the hills with the rebels. Carlos is a decent and honorable man; 111 spite of the tenor of the times and the government's position with regard to dealing with those operating outside of Franco's law, he docs what he can to keep the peace. The Guardia Civil in this area arc constantly having run-ms with the bandits, and Carlos's predecessor has been killed while on patrol. Carlos begins to believe that his job has put Elena and their child in danger.
The author deftly interweaves places and incidents from this time period with her fictitious characters, bringing to life a period of history about which 111any Americans are not knowledgeable. The corning of spring in the mountains, the people, their attitudes, and the history: it is all here. Pa\\·el's fans will not be disappointed.
Lorrame Gelly
A DEAD MAN IN TRIESTE
Michael Pearce, Constable 2004, £ I 6.99, hb, I 92pp, I 841196673. Pub. in US by Carroll & Graf, S25.00, hb, I 90pp, 0786714654 Trieste in 1910 is the tinderbox of Europe and it would only take one spark to ignite the powder keg. When the British Consul, Lomax goes missing the situation needs to be handled carefully. Enter Seymour of the Special Branch, a natural linguist, used to working in the multicultural London dock lands, and a good officer - but descended from an immigrant family so not quite 'one ofus'.
At the outset it looks as though Lomax has been involved in some dodgy business dealings and has simply gone walkabout. Then Seymour is introduced to the secret police and discovers that Lomax was actually a loyal subject, so loyal that he may have been willing to give his life to prevent a war. The trouble is that Seymour would prefer to avoid a similar fate and that is beginning to seem distinctly unlikely.
Michael Pearce is well known for his Mamur Zapt books set in Egypt and now turns his pen to a new character who looks set to star in his own series.
A Dead Man in Trieste strikes a good balance between mystery and histo1y, never allowing one to out-weigh the other. Seymour is a well-conceived character who carries the plot along with humour and co111plexity in equal measure. There are just enough puzzles to keep the reader guessing and the conclusion is both satisfying and poignant.
Sara Wilson
OUT OF THE BLUE
Daniel Peltz, The Book Guild, 2004, £ 11.95, hb,200pp, 1857768140
Touched by Jewish oppression over the millennia, I am pleased to review this delightful little book reminiscent, in its physical charn,. of Fourth Estate's longitude.
This story has a very satisfactory shape. It begins and ends with the same subsidiary, yet essential, character and finishes in what proves to be a continuance of the first scene. A clever touch. Between these two events we see the life of Marianna Bromberg, an only child born in 1928 to Daniel and Esther, Orthodox Jews and art dealers in the Paris of the twenties and thirties. In gratitude, a wealthy client leaves them a valuable small painting. Soon after the Nazi occupation of Paris, wrapped in brown paper, this impassive object is passed from hand to hand, becoming an essential element of continuity; the book's raison d'etre.
Though harrowing in parts, for it moves through the Nazi occupation of Paris, and the camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, this is the fascinating story of the French Jewess from the age of thirteen. Paralleling her sto1y is that of the other main character, albeit inanimate in itself - a subsequently priceless Blue Period Picasso of a beggar with a bowl.
I suspect this is a fictionalised biography of the author's mother, Elizabeth Peltz, embroidered and enhanced with pertinent details from his imagination. In the final twenty pages Mr Peltz, a London businessman, might have been better advised to let the reader decide on his coincidences. The effect would have been the more startling.
The style is easy to read though perhaps lacking in variety with short sentences of too similar a length for me. The characters are well drawn. If anything were lacking it is perhaps the sensual detail of smell, texture and noise during such a time of terror. A little more of Marianna's introspection relating her experiences to her career as a doctor and to her happy, yet childless, marriage, would have interested me. An excellent, easy read.
Geoffrey I larfield
THE MORE DECEIVED
David Roberts, Constable 2004, £ I 6.99, hb, 246pp, I 841 I 9753X. Pub. in US by Carroll & Graf, $25.00, hb, 304pp, 0786714182
In I 937 with the possibility of war imminent, Lord Edward Corinth is recruited by the Foreign Office to i11\'cstigate who is leaking information to Winston Churchill. The murder of a Foreign Office Official, suspected as one of Churchill's sources shifts the focus of Lord Edward's investigation. A second murder soon follows taking Lord Edward to Spain where he can also assure himself of the safety of his friend, Verity Bro\\ 11 who is reporting on the Civil War for the Neu· Gtcelle.
Politics feature prominently with heated discussions between Edward and Verity as well as her Communist friends. The bombing of civilians in the undefended Spanish town of Guernica is described in terms of human horror. Edward is disgusted almost as much by attempts to use it for political capital as by the act itself.
The contrast of settings proves effective, from the traditional format of the Foreign Office to the difficulties of Civil War in Spain and the excitement of motor racing at Brookwood. There is an interesting mix of characters, clues to personalities are subtle and relationships are portrayed effectively.
With an engaging plot and the likeable and effective team of Lord Edward and Verity this is an interesting and enjoyable book.
Mary Andrea Clarke
O'BRIE
'S DESK
Ona Russell, Sunstone, 2004, $28.95, hb, 294pp,0865344l67
This is an engaging exa111ple of that popular cross-genre, the history/mystery. Set in Toledo, Ohio, in 1923, Ona Russell tells a st01y that has grown like coral upon the skeleton of a suddenly revealed piece of her own family history. The daily details, smoothly integrated into narrative, give her tale a pleasing, authentic ring. The mystery
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
revolves around the nervous collapse of a wellregarded reform Judge , who, although long a bachelor, has recently acquired a much younger wife. His most trusted assistant, a chief probation officer of women, is the sleuth. Sarah pushes the career edges of the possible, for in 1923 she is both a Jew and a "Progressive." Fortunately for Judge O'Brien , his trusted right hand woman is also a devotee of Sherlock Holmes. Sarah's crusade to save her beloved bosses' sanity (and his job) in the middle of an election year draws her down some enjoyably puzzling paths.
Juliet Waldron
THE REAL MINERVA
Mary Sharratt, Houghton Mifnin , 259pp, hb, 0618462325
Minerva , Minnesota , in 1923 appears to be a growing modern town. In small-town fashion, shadows are actively cast on family secrets. Three women in this evocative story struggle with reinventing their lives. Readers meet Barbara Niebeck, a single mother at age fifteen , raising her daughter Penny while employed as a housekeeper. When Penny reaches the rebellious teens , she answers an ad for a hired girl. She takes a job working for a Chicago woman, Cora Egan, who in moving to Minerva has escaped an abusive husband. Cora is busily tending crops on her grandfather's farm while creating a life for herself and daughter Penelope.
Readers are drawn into a very rich plot through well-placed descriptions of daily life. The heartaches and backaches of these women, who continuously struggle with social judgments, become riveting. Their secret pasts are pushed aside. Mysteries from then and now entice readers , as each woman finds strength to create a life with good qualities. This wellwritten narrative shows women rising above adversity in a manner generally suppressed by societal norms. The author opens unpredictable doors for women, who are positively presented as pillars of strength. Finishing this compelling story, which concludes in Mexico in I 936, leaves the reader reflecting upon an amazing window into fictitious lives. The author's storytelling skills are filled with imagination I highly recommended this novel.
Jetta Carol Culpepper
THE TJGER CLAW
Shauna Singh Baldwin , Knopf Canada, 2004, C$34.95/US$24.95, hb, 570pp, 0676976294 Set in World War 11 Europe, this novel is "inspired by" the life of Noor lnayat Khancode name "Madeleine" in the Resistance. The descendant of Tipu Sultan (the "Tiger of Mysore") , daughter of a Sufi mystic and an American mother, brilliant, sensitive, creative, brave, and beautiful, Noor was an SOE operative who, when her network was betrayed to the Gestapo, remained in Paris because she was the only Resistance radio operator left in northern France. Knowing the information she
sent was vital, she transmitted until the last possible moment; until the Gestapo a1Tested her. Noor lnayat Khan died in Dachau. She was thirty years old.
The Tig er Claw tells Noor's sto1y. According to the author, it " begins from fact but departs quickly into imagination , bending time rearranging or inventing some events" to "feel what may have been in her [Noor's) heai1." She's given Noor a secret lover, who is, of course, Jewish, and a sexual past that I found unconvincing. This illicit love drives Noor's return to France and her actions there. While the book is beautifully written, I didn't like its portrayal of Noor. I recommend it for its subject, however, with the hope that readers will go on to learn more about the women of the SOE who helped "set Europe ablaze." (http: // www.64-baker-street.org/ is a good place to start.)
India Edghill
A BLACK ENGLISHMAN
Carolyn Slaughter, Faber & Faber 2004, £ I 0.99, pb, 335pp, 057 I 220266. Pub. in US by Farrar Straus and Giroux, $24.00, hb, 352pp, 0374113998
Set in India in 1920-21, the plot is essentially the love affair between Isabel , a newly married white Englishwoman just arrived in the country and Samresh Singh , an English educated Hindu doctor. The historical content is sound and capably realised with rising political tensions between the British, Hindu and Muslim elements, as a backdrop to the passionate and forbidden romance. The description of India as a country of contraststhe spectacular, lush scenery and the obscene poverty - is impeccable. But this is ruined by two main faults. First, there is not a gram of originality in the plot. The white Englishmen are brutal and racist. The females are intelligent and splendid while the native Indians are generally rather decent chaps given the imperialist yolk they have to struggle under. Although the author was born in New Delhi, her description of the cruel English rule m India is ideological and ludicrously inaccurate.
My second major misgiving concerns the lack of any appropriate punctuation to delineate direct speech. The reader has to spend too long in working out who is saying what. Despite the novel being published in the UK by a British woman, US spelling is used throughout - another source of 1rntat1011. These areas mar what would have otherwise been a very good novel.
Doug Kemp
ECHOES
Danielle Steel, Bantam Press 2004, £ 17.99, hb , 324pp, 0593050193. Pub. in US by Delacorte Press , $27.00, hb , 336pp, 0385336349
Beata Wittgenstein defies her wealthy German Jewish family by marrying a French catholic and living with him in Switzerland until the
end of WWI. Even after the birth of two daughters and a return to her hometown, Beata is shunned by her father and siblings. Soon she has even more to worry about. Her husband dies, her eldest daughter, Amadea has entered a Carmelite convent, her mother is ill and her Jewish connections are dangerous in Hitler's Ge1111any.
As war breaks out, Amadea is forced to leave her vocation and hide from the Nazi's in occupied France. There she is recruited by the Resistance and finds a new purpose, taking part in dangerous missions in enemy territory. Although the war deprives her of friends and family and leaves her seriously injured it also leads her to love and happiness.
Echoes is principally a story about relationships and how they can be affected by war and religion - for good or evil. It does this by throwing its main characters into the heart of war-tom Europe and then following their attempts to survive. The message that love can conquer all might be an old one but it is nonetheless treated in a refreshing way and , just as in real life , not all the ends are tied up neatly. The ending did feel rushed but otherwise it is a nicely paced plot and an enjoyable read.
Sara Wilson
THE CONFESSION
Olen Steinhauer, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2004, S24.95 / C$34.95, hb, 326pp, 0312303289 Pub. in the UK by William Heinemann , 2004, £12 99, pb , 320pp, 0434011371
Thirty-six year old Ferenc Kolyeszar, an Inspector for the People's Militia, is struggling with the apathy felt by many in the socialist system. Also a novelist and family man, Ferenc must deal with the reality of 1956 Soviet rule, the faltering of his marriage, and the betrayal of coworkers. His artistic and literary friends give him refuge, but eventually become involved in his cases and in his quest for self understanding.
Steinhauer 's raw, minimalistic style complements his character's reflections on sex, love, politics , and how fear relates to it all. The plot is complicated with several seemingly unrelated cases eventually converging on the same catalyst. The mystery aspect is at times overshadowed by the interpersonal relationships of the characters and the suspense of whether forgiveness is possible. Steinhauer shows how revenge, justice, and fear can push a man to the brink of despair , but yet not topple over due to an innate sense of survival and hope.
Although reading Steinhauer's first Eastern European novel Bridge of Sighs is not required, it will help give insight into a bleak world that few who have not lived through such difficult times can comprehend. While not a particularly happy book, readers will find it satisfying, well written, and engaging.
Suzanne J. Sprague
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS
REVIEW
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
LEAGUE OF SHADOWS
Ron Terpening, Stuyvesant & Hoa gland, 2005, $25.95 / C$37.95, hb, 400pp, 0975576100
Thomas Gage was an OSS spy in Rome in 1943. Betrayed by an Allied traitor he, Beppe Aprico, and Theunis Kloos escaped, but many Italian partisans did not. Among those caught and tortured were Gage's eighteen year old contact and lover. Gage has never stopped seeking the traitor's identity. Now , fifty years later, the traitor must erase his past. He pays assassins to eliminate the former agents who would reveal his treachery. When Gage disappears, believed dead, his grandson, Nick Ferron, sees the traitor's hand at work and takes on the hunt. With Aprico now just shot to death, Nick follows the trail of the only remaining agent to the jungles of Suriname.
You can race through this suspense thri lier riding the whirlwind of drug busts, jungle guerrilla attacks, gun fights, assassinations, and love affairs right into th e breathtaking climax. Or, if you are disciplined enough, you can tum each page slow ly and savor the extraordinary visual and historical detail Ron Terpening has painted into his complex story Either way, you are in for a treat. This is a book to add to every collection of historical fiction.
Lucille Cormier
TOMORROW IS FOREVER
E.V. Thompson, Time Warner Books 2004, £ I 7.99, hb, 359 pp.03 I 6857246
When World War Two ends Alan Carter, a boy from London's East End, is a wounded, much decorated naval hero who is already making a name for himself as a poet. For his wife, Dora, the War has been an opportunity to have fun and she has no intention of settling down for life with a dull, soon to be demobilised husband. As Alan begs her to join him in trying to make a success of their ma1Tiage, Dora, faithless and ignorant, is incapable of understanding that he, too, longs for a different life with a very different woman: in London, Vicky Hazelton is a spirited young suffragette; in Cornwall she is an admired member of the Newlyn artists' colony. It is amongst these free-living artists and poets that Alan knows he has found his true home and true love. However, he and Vicky must first overcome the hostility of snobbish neighbours, his wife's vindictive greed and the sly opportunism of Dora's shiftless family.
The press release compares this novel to the work of Daphne Du Maurier but this is unfair to both writers. Mr. Thompson has not attempted Du Maurier's atmospheric intensity. Tomorrow is For Ever is a straightforward story which will surely be enjoyed by saga lovers; Alan's wartime adventures are exciting and told with conviction.
Nancy Henshaw
A COLD TREACHERY
Charles Todd, Bantam, 2005, S25 / CS35, hb, 373pp,0553803492
A Cold Treache1y is Todd's seventh in his Inspe ctor Ian Rutledge series. Rutledge is a Scotland Yard inspector, shell-shocked from the Great War and forced to live with the voice of Hamish, a Scottish soldier whose execution for desertion he ordered. Disliked by his superior, he is constantly being sent out of London to investigate difficult cases and provide a scapegoat should they not be solved. In this case, Rutledge is sent to Urskdale in the north of England, where a family of five has been brutally murdered with the young son of the family missing. Urskdale is a small, insular community that closes ranks when Rutledge suggests that the murderer may be someone living among them. Suspects range from the missing boy to the brother of the dead man to the dead woman's sister.
This novel is set in December of 1919, and the north of England's cold permeates everything-the wintry reception Rutledge gets in the village, the weather obscuring young Josh's trail, and the chill that settles over this tale. Todd continues to expertly explore the lasting effects of the Great War, not just on the men who served in it but on their families as well, and Hamish ably fills his role as Rutledge's disturbed conscience. However, even given how disturbing these murders are, this installment failed to fully involve me as other Rutledge mysteries have done. There is less personal engagement on Rutledge's part as in his previous cases. I still look forward to the eighth in the series.
Ellen Keith
SOMETHING DANGEROUS
Penny Vincenzi, The Overlook Press, 2004, $26.95/CS37.95, hb, 71 Opp, 158674826 Pub. in the UK by Orion, 200 I, £6.99, pb, 893pp,0752847910
Something Dangerous is the second novel in Vincenzi's Spoils of Time trilogy featuring the Lytton family and their London publishing house, now pre-and post-World War ll. Although the ostensible focus of this installment is the Lytton twins, Adele and Venetia, Vincenzi once more pays equal attention to all of her characters, allowing no one to fade into the background. Adele and Venetia, who had appeared as rather spoilt and shallow in the first novel, No Angel, reveal unexpected strength as Adele flees Nazioccupied France with her two children by her French lover. Venetia copes with her husband's infidelity by finding the brains underneath her beauty through a job at the family publishing house. Celia Lytton, the matriarch and protagonist of No Angel, continues to inspire both admiration and bemusement as she flirts with Fascism, tries to conceal family secrets to no avail, and fights to bring the publishing house in line with the times. Barty, the young girl whom Celia had
taken from her poverty-stricken East End family to raise, has grown up and becomes a force to be reckoned with in the publishing world. She moves to New York to work in Lytton's American branch and falls in love with the mercurial Laurence Elliot.
Vincenzi vividly recreates England before, during, and after the war. The hazards of war are felt by all family members, male and female, as Barty joins the A TS and Adele tries to get word of her French Jewish lo ver. The author is also skilled at making references to occurrences in the first book without being heavy-handed, and although the novel has too many characters to name here, she does not stint on fleshing out every one. I wait with much anticipation for the third novel in the trilogy and hope Vincenzi gains the popularity in the US that she so deservedly has in the UK.
Ellen Keith
THE ARCANUM
Thomas Wheeler, Bantam, 2004, S22.00 / C$32.00, hb, 325pp, 055380314
In 1919, the Arcanum, a secret society composed of Konstantine Duvall, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft, and Marie Laveau, is mostly defunct until founder Duvall is mysteriously killed on a London street. Doyle notices that one of Duvall's artifacts, the Book of Enoch, is missing and travels to New York to convince the rest of the Arcanum to help catch the murderer. Doyle finds Lovecraft in prison, accused of gruesome murders, and soon Doyle is suspected as an accomplice. Reluctantly, Houdini agrees to assist with freeing Lovecraft and solving the horrific crimes. What was once revenge becomes an effort to save humanity.
Wheeler's depiction of the legend ary characters is true to their reputations, and the appearance of additional famous characters and literary references is enjoyab le , despite some disturbing imagery. The short chapters jump from scene to scene, but instead of being distracting, they build the momentum as the members of the Arcanum perform their specific tasks necessary to solve the mystery.
This is a riveting book filled with occultism that begs to be read at one sitting with all the lights on.
Suzanne J. Sprague
THE TALE OF HILL TOP FARM
Susan Wittig Albert, Berkley Prime Crime, 2004, $22.95/C$34, hb, 286pp, 0425196348
Children's book author Beatrix Potter joins the likes of Jane Austen and Arthur Conan Doyle, re-imagined as an amateur sleuth. Albert, who writes a Victorian mystery series as Robin Paige with her husband Bill, intends this to be the first in a series. It is 1905, and Beatrix Potter has purchased Hill Top Farm in the Lake District, intending it as a sanctuary from her domineering parents and their unsympathetic reaction to the death of her fiance. She arrives in Near Sawrey shortly
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
after the unexpected death of Abigail Tolliver. The school roof fund goes missing along with the parish register, and the schoolmistress begins to behave irrationally. Beatrix investigates, unknowingly with the assistance of village cats Tabitha Twitchet, Crumpet, Max the Manx, and terrier Rascal. Beatrix's own animals and stars of her stories, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Josey and Mopsy Rabbit, and Tom Thumb Mouse, accompany her.
This is the coziest of cozies, in no small part because the animals talk to each other and take an active part in solving the many mysteries. The reader can either take this as homage to Potter or see it as too twee for words. I saw it as the latter. Albert ably evokes English village life, with neighbors knowing each other's business, and paints an interesting portrait of .Beatrix as a quiet yet spirited woman. However, only a certain type of reader can appreciate the preciosity of talking animals, and I am not that reader.
Ellen Keith
SONGB IRD
Walter Zacharius, Atria, 2004, $24.00/ C$35.00,hb,291pp,07434821 IS
This three-part novel , which tells the story of Mia Levy, is set mostly during the mid-part of the century, but with framing elements from 1975. The young Mia, a budding pianist and the daughter of a doctor, is first met at in Krzemieniec, "an ugly, provincial little artists ' colony" where her family spends their summers. Mia, now a music student in Paris, feels trapped in the dreary town. However, it is the summer of 1939, and far worse is to come. Before she and her family return to their home in Lodz, the Gem1ans have invaded Poland , and their lives are turned upside down. The first pa1i of the novel follows the family's fall in Nazi-occupied Lodz, the second finds Mia in Brooklyn at the home of her aunt and uncle at the time when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and in the third, she is in Occupied Paris, working to defeat the Nazis.
This is the author's first book, and despite glowing comments on the dust jacket and in periodicals, his lack of writing experience shows. The characterizations are shaky and terribly inconsistent. The heroine and members of the supporting cast show little coherence in their actions-it almost seems as if they are behaving as they do only to create drama. Some actions, particularly in the third section of the book, are simply preposterous. While many of the situations are horrific, at times the characters' reactions seem oddly muted and detached. Although the plot was able to propel me past some of these stumbling blocks in the first two sections , the whole creation fell apart in the last , which is filled with gratuitous sex and erratic behavior. The author had a wonderful idea for a novel; it is unfortunate its execution is so flawed.
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
MULTI-PERIOD
THE NINEFOLD KEY
Rebecca Brandewyne, Mira, 2004, $6.50/C$7.99, pb, 456pp , 0778320030
In the year 1669, Lord James Ramsay and his companions journey to Egypt during their Grand Tour. They have learned from an obscure text that great wealth and unimaginable treasures lie buried below the sands. When they do, in fact, stumble upon the tomb of an ancient High Priest, and attempt to take the mummy 's heart scarab, their troubles begin.
In 175--1 , at the infamous Hellfire Club, Lord lain Ramsay has run out of luck. He is about to lose his family estate in a game of piquet. His Italian opponent, Lord Bruno, Count Foscarelli, is undoubtedly cheating. But lo accuse without proof would assuredly lead to a challenge, one that Ramsay is not sure he could survive.
In I 848, Malcolm Blackfriars , saves the life of Ariana Levesque, a recent emigre from France. Their meeting is just another in a series of coincidences that brings together the descendants of the Ramsay and Foscarelli families. Hoping to unravel the mystery surrounding both his heritage and the Heart of Kheperi, Malcolm and Ariana rush to find and decipher clues before the Foscarellis do.
I have to give the author credit for incorporating a wealth of historical details into an intricate, twisting plot. l thought the pacing was slow, however, and the language was often pompous and overblown. My favorite characters, Malcolm's employer Seplimus Quimby, and his friends Jakob Rosenkranz and Boniface Cavendish, were underutilized. This trio would be the basis for a great series.
Alice Logsdon
THE RED QUEEN
Margaret Drabble , Harcourt, 2004, $24.00, hb, 334pp,0151011060
Pub. in the UK by Viking, 2004, £!6.99, hb, 368pp,06709!5238
What a daring strategy for a novelist! In Margaret Drabble's new novel , the first half is told in the voice of Crown Princess Hyegyong. She gives us her memoirs, and has quite a tale to tell. In 1749 , at the age of ten, she maiTied the troubled Crown Prince of Korea , and although her time predated the tenn "paranoid schizophrenic," Lady Hyegyong paints a picture of a court paralyzed by its own etiquette, existing at the mercy of its ruler's strange and violent urges. The Crown Prince's life and terrible death can be recounted with such clear intelligence and cool irony only at a distance of two hundred years.
With such a dramatic, compelling story, it may come as a surprise that the second half of the novel concerns Barbara Halliwell, a contemporary British woman attending an academic conference in modem Seoul. Having
established a plot and narrator of some quality, Margaret Drabble appears to start over with someone else, doing something entirely different. It's a bold endeavor, for it would be very easy to disappoint readers drawn into Lady Hyegyong's world. The Crown Princess has reached out to Barbara Halliwell , attracted by certain tragedies they have in common. The revelation of their burdens, whose weight and suffering are unaltered by time or culture, binds together the novel's two halves. This is a novel of impressive emotional complexity, requiring the illumination of both the past and the present.
Colleen Quinn
AUTUl\1N BRIDGE
Takashi Matsuoka, Delacorte, 2004, $25.00 / C$3 7.00, hb, 41 Spp, 0385336411 Pub. in the UK by Hutchinson, 2004, £10.99, hb , 432pp,009l794986
Takashi Matsuoka's second novel takes us back to Japan , returning to the characters of his first novel, Cloud of Sparroll's. Here is Emily Gibson, the American missionary, Lord Gengi of the Okumichi clan , an advocate for the opening of Japan, and many of the other characters of Matsuoka's first novel.
But Autumn Bridge goes further. The novel opens in 131 I, as the princess witch, Shizuka , Gengi's ancestress, is surrounded by enemies. Matsuoka, a brave writer, jumps back and forth in time from Shiwka's life to Gengi 's, throwing storylines left and right. In Autumn Bridge, characters are "passengers in their own bodies ," memories are reshaped, there is sorcery, mysteries, ghosts, various states of consciousness, and, above all, prophecy , a gift and curse to generations of the Okumichi clan. Everyone has secrets, everyone pretends. At the same time, Matsuoka again sets out to explore the meaning of modernization disparaging the samurai, as "adherents of a vicious, mindless cult of death worship."
He has a knack for writing about magic and the supernatural: "the old , secret truths known by witches whose spirits rode the sto1111, the wild herds above." He is entirely convincing when describing Lady Shizuka 's struggles to figure out what is real and unreal. Other characters however, escape him. Readers may wonder what kind of nineteenth century missiona1y would accept living under the roof of a man to whom she is attracted, and then spend her days translating a witch's spells and incantations.
Adelaida Lower
I'LL BE SEEING YOU
Margaret Mayhew, Corgi 2004, £6.99, pb, 383pp,055215086X
Though much of this book takes place in the 1990s it is based on events during WWII. Juliet's mother, Daisy, dying, leaves a letter to tell her that her real father was an American pilot, reported missing before knowing of her
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existence. With nothing but a photograph to help her , Juliet sets out to trace this man It is difficult so metimes to switch attention from the protagonist to another person but the author manages to involve us as much with Daisy's wartime experiences as Juliet's quest. This is a warm story that will please both read e rs who like WWII stories and those wanting something more contemporary. The characters are ordinary people in exceptional times , facing hardship or disappointment with courage and dete rmination.
Marina Oliver
CLOUD ATLAS
David Mitchell , Sceptre, hb 2004, pb Feb 2005, £7.99, 544pp, 0340822783 / US, Random House 2004, $14.95, pb , 528pp, 0375507256 This tour de force by two-time Booker no min ee, David Mit c hell , mi sse d out on a re v iew when it was first published , an oversight I am d e li g ht ed to correct now it is being iss ued in paperback.
Cloud Atlas is made up of six loosely connected na rrative s ammged in a kind of pyramid . At its base is the late 18 th century journal of an American tra ve ller to the Pacific, a nd at its apex a tale of tribal genocide narrated by Zach1y, who li ves in some un specified future in a post- indu stria l society which exactly mi1TOrs its pre-industiial forerunners, its inhabitants scratc hin g a scarce ly adequate existence from an emth impoveri s hed by the excesses of consume1ism, whose average lifes pan is around fo1ty because their air and water is so contaminated with pollutants. Each sto1y leading up to Zacluy's tale is cut off abruptly, in one case in mid-sentence, th en resumed and resolved in the seco nd halfofthe book.
I started Cloud Atlas with some misgivings, afraid that , although it would undoubtedly s howca se a g reat writing talent, it would be difficult lo read. Not a bit of it. Mitchell raises profoundly se riou s is s ues , about colonialism, corporate responsibility, genetic manipulation, th e so urc es of faith and th e powerlessness of the individual. H is refe rence points, however , are decidedly popular. He bo1Tows from movies suc h as Soy/en! Green and Th e China Syndrome. He pokes hilarious fun at the publishing industry and there are more than a few reminders of Waiting for God in The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish. I raced through the book in days rather than weeks.
Although it occasiona ll y feels contrived, it is the work of a consummate sty list and storyteller, thought-provoking in both its content and its 'genre-bending' structure. Thoroughly recommended.
Sarah Bower
THE GENIZAH AT THE HOUSE OF SHEPHER
Tamar Yellin , The Toby Press, 2005, $19.95/£14.99, hb, 358pp, 159264 1156
Shulamit Shepher, a middle-aged Biblical scholar living in England, learns the hou se in
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Jerusalem that has been part of her family for years is about to be torn down. She decides to return for one last look at her past. Once there , she becomes aware of the existence of the Shepher Codex, an old and valuable translation of scriptures brought into the family by her great-grandfather, Shalom Shep her of Skidel.
Interspersed with the sto1y of Shulamit are the stories of the three generations that come before her , beginning with Shalom Shepher in 1853. Shulamit finds she has more in common with her ancestors than just indigestion. The longin gs and desires that she long ago buried under her skeptica l intellectualism begin to emerge.
Ms. Yell in weaves the fabric of her story together with the voice of her main character, Shulamit , who at first appears to be an inquisitive outsider. As she becomes caught up in the sto1y of her family, so also does the reader become caught up in Shulamit 's revelations. This is Ms. Yellin's first novel. Hopefully it wi ll be the first of many.
Nan Curnutt
TIMESLIP
WHITE ROSE
R Garcia y Robertson , Forge , 2004, S25.95 / C$35.95 , hb , 384pp , 0312869940
This is the third entry in the time travel ser ies featuring Robyn Stafford, Miss Rodeo Montana in the present day, but Lady Robyn of Pontefract in I 5 th century England. The book begins with Robyn struggling to return to medieval England, and to Edward Plantagenet in particular. She manages to do so, but this time is accompanied by her Los Angeles assistant, Heidi, an engaging and endearing travel companion. Her adventures in the past aren't quite as te1Tifying as in the previous volumes, though she still contends with wouldbe rapists, a sadistic executioner, and the scheming Wydville family. Witchcraft plays a major role in the book, explaining such things as the time travel , being able to travel in spirit, and her enemies' knowledge of her whereabouts at critical times. But the historical aspects are also strong: we are with Robyn at the battles of Mortimer 's Cross and Saint Albans, we learn about the convoluted politics of the time and meet Queen Margaret and Owen Tudor, and revisit Mad King Herny. We also get a sense of the living conditions of the time (once we discount the disposable lighters , trail mix, and mania for bathing that Robyn introduces).
This book refers frequently to Robyn ' s experiences on previous visits to Edward and his time from the previous two volumes. While this book can be read on its own, the experience will be enhanced by reading Knight Errant and Lady Robyn first. Those two no vels engaged me more than did this installment, but I was happy to spend time finding out how Robyn and Edward are getting along. Since
they weren ' t able to marry as planned (a battle intervened) , I believe another adventure will be forthcoming.
Trudi E. Jacobson
GENE
Stel Pavlou , Simon & Schuster 2005, £12 .99, hb, 377 pp , 0743208595
Detective James North is summoned to a hostage situat ion 111 New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the course of events he is injected , and as a re s ult has hallucinations and memories of a past that he does not recognise.
It turns out that both the terrorist and North are reincarnations of ancient Greek wai,-iors, one good, one evil, doomed to pass through several reincarnations until one defeats the other. All this sounds ve1y exciting but it is actually more like reading a comic strip story - many words in capita ls, and mostly consisting of "THUMP" and "AAAAAAARGH". There are scenes of extreme v iolence, and rather unpleasant sexual encounters, all in colourful, graphic deta il. This book might appea l to fans of low-budget horror films , looking for a "guns blazing" (or in this case swords flashing) read. Unfortunately I can find littl e to recommend this novel. However, if you like a bloodthirs ty , fast moving , improb ably story, this may be the one for you.
Ruth
HISTORICAL FANTASY
CAVES OF BUDA
Leah H. Cutter, Roe, 2004, $6.50 / C$9.99, pb , 301pp,045l459725
Hunga1y is an atypical setting for novels in the English language market , thus here the author has opened a whole new cultural avenue for what could be called the extreme end of the magic realism spectrum - part of the novel takes place in the real world, and part of it in a magic-overlaid reality. The author's first book, Pap er Mage, does much the same with Chinese mythology. Ca ves of Buda is backed with research; several pages at the end give sources and websites for following the various aspects of the novel, which is always a sign that the author cares about accuracy and credibility , even if magical elements are an integral part of the plot. The novel opens in the last days of World War ll , and although most of the action takes place in present times , the critica l events of the ' 40s play a big part in the plot. Centering on the caves of the title , these are conveyed to the reader by a series of character flashbacks, or "transportations." If it sounds a little awkward, it is, and it's the only criticism I have regarding the author's style. There are more than enough wonderful Hungarian customs and folk sayings, character development , thoughtful insights and plot action to make up for the effort of following these shifts. The grandfather, hi s
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granddaughter Zita, and the magician Ephraim are the main characters, battling demons as well as those more ordinary beings that keep us from reaching our potential. A thoughtful , rewarding book for those that like something a bit unusual.
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
I\IIRROR, MIRROR
Gregory Maguire , HarperCollins, 2003, $24.95, hb , 279pp, 006039384X
In this impressionistic version of the classic Snow White story, Maguire continues his unique retelling of well-known fairy tales that began with Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. The setting is Renaissance Italy, and Bianca de Nevada's tormentor is no mere witch-she's the redoubtable Lucrezia Borgia herself, daughter of a debauched pope and scion of a powerful family of infamous poisoners and murderers. When Lucrezia's brother Cesare sends Bianca 's devoted father on a dangerous errand to bring back a holy relic, motherless Bianca is left in Lucrezia 's care. Jealous of the lascivious attentions her brother pays to the girl and consumed by her own vanity, Lucrezia decides to murder Bianca.
Most of the elements of the original tale remain - the mirror, the dwarves , the hunter, the poisoned apple-but this is no cutesy movie version. Maguire's tale weaves a magical web, and though at times the story becomes beau ti fully surreal, darker elements always lurk. The dwarves are sometimes more rock-like than human , growing in individuality only as Bianca 's imagination imbues them with personalities. Supporting characters, such as Bianca 's querulous housekeeper and the village priest, provide brief bouts of comic relief. Bianca is so blandly wholesome that she provides the perfect foil to the characters that truly drive this story-the villains. While Cesare is menacing , it is Lucrezia who is the very personification of egocentric evil. Her casual attitude towards the atrocities she commits only highlights the contrast between herself and the pure , na"ive Bianca. Maguire has a gift for breathing new life into an old story by using different points of view, and in this novel it allows him to add backstory, detail , and dimension to the characters and events. Maguire 's new twist on this classic fairy tale makes for an interesting and appealing read.
Bethany Skaggs
THE LADY OF THE SEA
Rosalind Miles , Crown, 2004, $23.95, hb , 356pp,0609609629
To be pub. in the UK as Isolde : The Lady of the Sea by Pocket in August 2005 at £6.99 Twenty years into his political union with Isolde of Ireland, King Mark of Cornwall remains childless. Though he has no desire to consummate his marriage, he will do so, if only to beget an heir. Isolde, en route back to
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Cornwall with Tristan, her gallant knight and lover , hears the voice of her mother 's spirit. The late Queen urges her to abandon her useless marriag e and return home , to reign triumphant in Ireland as her foremothers had for centuries. In leaving Tristan, who stands by his oath to King Mark, Isolde turns her back on her lifelong lov e, and her hope of a child of their union. Back in Ireland , Isolde faces more danger , in the fom1 of a Pictish invasion and its handsome leader , who would rather many Isolde than wage war. Eventually Tristan comes to realize his future is with his lady , but it may be too late. The Tristan and Isolde trilogy (of which this is the third volume) is a successful attempt at retelling the classic legend. This entry is a complete departure from the usua l sto1y, but it 's a welcome change: it omits the tragic ending and is none the less romantic for it. Miles imbues her tale with a mystical , fairy tale-like quality, and in her hands, Arthurian England becomes a truly magical place. Readers of Arthurian romances and Goddess-centered historical fantasy will find much to enjoy.
Sarah Johnson
RITE OF CONQUEST
Judith Tarr , ROC, 2004, SI 6.00/ C$23.50, pb , 375pp,0451460022
Part historical fiction, part historical fantasy, Judith Tarr once again focuses her considerable talents on a seminal moment in history: the Norman Conquest.
It is foretold by the ancients that a Nom1an will return the old magic to Saxon EnglandSaxons who have crushed the old power with cold iron and the weight of Christianity. The man who will bring that magic with him is a bastard son of a duke and a Druid priestess.
But the young William is ill-equipped to be the Conqueror when we first meet him. It is only when he is trained by, and ultimately falls in love with, and marries, Mathilda of Flanders - herself a very powerful conduit of the old magic - that William develops his own magic and the strength to overcome those he considers the destroyers.
Tarr is ingenious in her ability to move seamlessly between history and fantasy, between love and war, between the new religion and the old magic, between Saxon and Norman. The pages are littered with historical figures who also have otherworldly traits. Mathilda and William are beautiful together: their very human , palpable love and potent attraction, their adoration of their children, their plans as a couple. It just happens that their power is not merely political, but magical as well. So a disclaimer: if you cannot suspend disbelief long enough to tolerate supernatural, magical elements interwoven into history, this book just isn't for you.
But for me what a fun read!
1lysa Magnus
NON-FICTION
OPAL: A Life of Enchantment, Mystery, and Madness
Kathrine Beck, Penguin Books , 2003, S 16.00/C $23.50, pb, 274pp, 0 I 43034294
In I 920, The Atlantic Monthly published installments of the diary of one Opal Whiteley, a diary of nature purportedly written whilst Opal was a young child. Once released , the dia1y captivated audiences across America: some found it an enchanting tale of childhood, while others believed Opal to be a fraud. Was the editor at Atlantic Monthly misled, or did he knowingly perpetuate this hoax? This question is only one of many revolving around Opal Whiteley; here Beck sets out to examine the strange and often tragic life of this woman. Among other things, Opal Whiteley professed to be connected to French royalty, lived in India on her own in the late I 920s, briefly pursued the Prince of Wales, and eventually, at the age of fifty, was committed to a ho spita l, under the Lunacy Act of I 890. Diagno sed as mentally ill, Opal lived at this hospital until her death 44 years later. Beck doesn't answer the questions of authenticity su1Tounding the diary or Opal's origins. [nstead , she provides an even-handed portrait of a writer whose works on nature, whatever their origin, have now been used in school cu1Ticulum, and have inspired "Opalites" for decades. Fascinating and deeply moving.
L.K. Mason
CAPTURED BY MAORI
Trevor Bentley , Penguin 2004, £ 16.35, hb , 282pp,0143019236
Captivity has always been a feature of life on frontiers, where newcomers and indigenou s peoples clash. Until now, little has been published about the Maori and their white captives, and their experiences in New Zealand in the 19th century. Captured by Maori focuses on several women and two girls abducted by Maori.
Although some te1Tible abuses did occur, with prisoners undergoing ritual humiliation when they were stripped and beaten to get rid of their whiteness before they were allowed to be integrated into Maori society. But one of the best known stories is that of Elizabeth Guard, captured after being shipwrecked off the coast of Taranaki , who eventually became the mistress of her rescuer/abducto r who showered her with gifts. She spent several months with him before being reclaimed by her husband. Bentley points out that Maori culture could offer freedoms 19 th century European women were unlikely to experience otherwise.
Although some of Bentley 's assertions read more like speculation than fact, this is a fascinating and accessible book on a little known aspect of New Zealand's colonial histo1y.
Loren Teague
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LUCREZIA BORGIA: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy
Sarah Bradford, Viking, 2004, £25.00, hb , 421pp,0670913456
A well written and accessible biography of Lucrezia Borgia, and an interesting companion piece to Bradford 's biography of Cesare Borgia, published nearly thirty years ago. While the sinister and glamorous Cesare is a young woman's fancy, his sister, shrewd, courageous, funny and compassionate, is an altogether more complex figure , and well overdue for this kind of se rious and careful consideration. Bradford quotes more extensively than any previous biographer from Lucrezia's own correspondence, thus allowing her subject to spea k with her own voice rather than being forced into the preconceived moulds of previous writers. Bradford's Lucrezia is neither the hapless pawn of her father and brother, nor the vicious femme fatale of Victor Hugo 's imagination. As Duchess of Ferrara, in the years after the deaths of her father, Pope Alexander VI , and her brother, she emerges as a skilled administrator, a devout patron of the Church, a devoted mother and a woman of s uch charm that she kept the affections of two lovers , as well as her hu sba nd , over many years. She was, above all, a survivor.
The book suffers in parts from the author's scrupulous adherence to the known facts and her avoidance of conjecture, which can make the nan-ative rather thin in period s when there was little correspondence, or little that has survived. It is, however , a fascinating and absorbing read , thoroughly recommended.
Sarah Bower
HELL RIDERS: The Truth About the Charge of the Light Brigade Teny Brighton , Viking 2004, £20.00, hb , 328pp, 0670915289. Pub in US by Henry Holt & Co 2004, $27.50, hb, 400pp, 0805077227 On 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, the Light Brigade made the most daring charge in military history.
First hand accounts from the survivors vividly portray the conditions endured by horse and man. After twenty years of researching the subject the author concludes that the charge was anything but a failure.
Ann Oughton
PHIZ: The Man Who Drew Dickens Valerie Browne Lester, Chatto & Windus 2004, £20.00, hb, 269pp, 070 I I 7742X
I thoroughl y enjoyed this lively biography about Hablot Knight Browne, 'Phiz' ( 181518 82), who was Dickens' main illustrator for 22 years. Supposedly the fourteenth child of William and Katherine Browne, Hablot was, in fact, the illegitimate son of their eldest daughter Kate and a French POW, Nicholas Hablot, a soldier in Napoleon's Imperial Guard. After some tinkering with the birth records of both Hablot and Decimus , William
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and Katherine's last son, Hablot officially became the Browne's penultimate child. Phiz was a prolific and versatile illustrator, working for many other Victorian writers as well as Dickens. The book is both an account of the creative co-operation between Phiz and Dickens and a glimpse into the mid-Victorian artistic and literary scene. The author, a direct descendent, has unearthed a fascinating bit of family history.
Elizabeth Hawksley
PALMERSTON: The People's Darling
James Chambers, John Mu1Tay, 2005, £ I 0.99, pb , 564pp , 07l9565340
Henry Temple, 3 rd Viscount Palmerston, was one of the 19 th century's most flamboyant statesmen and in this illuminating biography , James Chambers gives us the man as much as the politician, in all his glorious contradictions. He also offers us outstandingly vivid social and political portraits of the eras in which Palmerston's long career was played out: from the elegant , racy Regency milieu in which the reserved youth became the handsome dandy ' Lord Cupid', then the abrasive ' Lord Pumicestone ', to the morally rigid but supremely self-confident Victorian age when Palmerston could exercise his bullying gunboat diplomacy and bring the House down by challenging it to decide 'w hether , as the Roman in days of old, held himself free from indignity , when he could say "civis Romanus sum"; so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shal l feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him from injustice and wrong.' Queen Victoria thought him frivolous and overbearing; his Cabinet was frequently horrified by his brinkmanship; but Chambers gives the last , and shrewdest, words on Palmerston to Lord John Russell: 'His heart beat ever for the honour of England', and to Florence Nightingale: 'He was so much more earnest than he appeared: he did not do himself justice.' And in this age of political con-ectness, neither , probably, do we.
Sarah Cuthbertson
LIBERTY'S CHILDREN: Stories of Eleven Revolutionary War Children
Scotti Cohen, Globe Pequot, 2004 , $ I 0. 95, pb, l76pp , 0762727349
Lib e rty's Children contains eleven different stories woven into a literary tapestry of the American Revolution. She writes about children of diverse backgrounds , changed forever by their experience with the war. Frances Slocum is the daughter of devout Quakers who leave Rhode Island and move to the wilderness in a quest to avoid the conflict. At age five she is captured by Delaware Indians and does not see her family again for nearly sixty years. Thirteen-year-old James Durham is a slave who is medically trained by a notorious Tory physician. In later life he corresponds with Dr. Benjamin Rush , signer of
the Declaration of Independence. These are just a sampling of the fascinating young people in this book. Although the stor ies have a commonality of the period, they are as varied as the individuals who are featured. This book would be interesting for all age groups.
Susan Zabolotny
WHAT IFS? OF AMERICAN HISTORY
Robert Cowley, editor, Berkley, 2004, $ I 4.95, pb,298pp ,0425l98189
The What Ifs? essay collections address questions of alternate history, how things would be different if other paths had been taken at crucial moments. This third volume in the series concerns American history and includes essays from noted historians on events ranging from the sailing of the Mayflower (what if it hadn't sailed, or if it reached its original destination in Virginia?) to the Nixon administration (what if we had never had him to kick around?). The Civil War , with its plethora of vivid personalities and dramatic battles, comes in for special emphasis, with four essays out of a total of seventeen.
Two of the pariicular pleasures of this collection are the essays on presidents Tyler and Hayes , unfashionable presidents 111 American studies. Their stories remind us that no matter how obscure some hi storica l figures come to seem, their decisions and conflicts were important in their time and the results stil l have the power to affect us. Tyler's "accidental" presidency- begun after William Henry Harrison's surpris in g demise after only a few weeks in office-established the rules of succession st ill in effect today and Rutherford Hayes's management of the riots that accompanied the birth of the railroad unions was an important v ictory for the working class. Counterfactua l history can be seen as an amusement for history buffs, but it's more than that. Whal Ifs? provide a different perspective on history, and seeing things from a different angle deepens our knowledge and understanding.
Colleen Quinn
THE MEDIEVAL HERO ON SCREEN, Representations from Beowulf to Buffy Martha W. Driver and Sid Ray, editors, McFarland,2004,$35 , pb,276pp , 078641926I Scholars from a variety of disciplines contribute to this collection of essays. Five sections explore the topics of historic authenticity, heroic children and the lessons they impart, female heroes, the hero's weapon, and teaching the medieval movie. Essay titles range from the thoughtful (Michael Torregrossa's "The Way of the Wizard: Reflections of Merlin on Film") to the scholarly (David Salo's "Heroism and Alienation through Language in The Lord of the Rings") to the whimsical (Caroline Jewers's "Hard Day's Knights: First Knight, A Knight's Tale, and Black Knight").The reader
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looking for a serious study of the book's topic may be disappointed by the diffuse nature of the subjects covered, an odd off-putting preface, and in the female half of the children's section, one might learn more about the career of moppet Shirley Temple than one's ever cared to know. But there a re gems to reward the diligent about the elements that contribute to the illusion of medieval realism by way of William F Woods, wonderfu l suggestions for teaching the medieval movie from Ma1iha W. Driver, and an expanded view of the medieval hero th at in c lud es spag hetti westerns, space operas, and Arnold Schwa rzenegger. Thirty two black and white photos illuminate the text.
Eileen Charbonneau
BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND:
Harriet Tubman , Portrait of an American Hero
Kate Clifford Larson , Ballantine, 200-1, $26.95 / CS39.95, hb, 295pp, 0345456270 Th is is the definitive biography of American folk hero Ha rri et Tubman, the " Moses of her people" who rescued at least fifty souls from slavery Author Larso n has sifted through heaps of original documents to glean the facts of a complicated life. She refrains from speculation: w hen a con nection might be drawn, she makes it c lear that the facts tend to this as only as a possib ili ty.
She inc lu des source material, such as the lyrics of hymns Harriet wou ld sing in her clear, car ryi ng vo ice to warn fug iti ves of danger or to let them know it was safe to come out. Tubman's fractiou s personality expresses itself. She carried a pistol to threaten those who would turn back.
The Underground Railroad began for her whe n s he escaped from Ma,yland to Philadelphia in 1849. She returned severa l times to rescue members of her family and others, and extended guidance to yet others. Her motivation was to rescue her family from being sold south when their owner needed cash, and to reunite her loved ones. Vignettes stand out from the chronicle of fact: Tubman and her party wading through water on sharp sweetgum burrs , freezing and starving in their determination to be free.
This book wi ll be a valuab le resource for anyone interested in the facts behind the Tubman legend.
Marcia K. Matthews
ALEXANDER THE GREAT: The Death of a God
Paul Doherty, Constable 2004, £ 17.99, hb, 236pp, 1841 198773
The best selling novelist, Paul Doherty, occasionally produces works or non-fiction and thi s is hi s latest
When Alexander of Macedonia died at the age of 33 he had used his military genius to conquer an empire. This is a v ivid analysis of how Alexander achieved so much in so short a
time and goes on to examine in detail the circumstances of his death.
Sara Wilson
THE SERPENT AND THE l\IOON
HRH Princess Michael of Kent , Simon & Schuster, 2004, $29.95/C$42.50, hb , 3 76pp , 0743251040
Pub. in the UK by Simon & Schuster, 2004, £20, hb ,432p p,0743251040
The lives of the three individuals depicted in this book a re a prime example of rea lit y being stra nger than fiction. An arranged marriage in 1533 between Prince Henri II of France and Catherine de Medici was considered little more than an "ac t of duty" on Henri's part. Unfortunately, this wasn't true for Catherine, w ho was immediately smitte n by he r handsome young husband. A couple of years following their marriage, Henri began a love affair with the beautiful Diane de Poitiers , a woman eighteen years his senior, an affair that would last for the rest of his li fe. As a result of this strange mix , Catherine's secret motto became "Odiate et Aspetate," i.e. "hate and wait" - and she would ultimately have her revenge on both Henri and his beloved mistress in spades
Int eresting ly, the aut ho r herse l f is a distant descendant of both Catherine and Diane. In addition to much well- researched history , there are many fascinating pictures throughout the book of art works, portraits, monograms and hi storical sites relative to all of their li ves.
The author's sympathies obviously lean toward Diane , who remained the power behind the throne during Henri's lifetime , and to support this premise are numerous legal documents preserved from this period signed by both Henri and Diane. Numerous entwi ned monograms of Henri and Diane on plates , vesse ls, and buildings, also leave a testament of their grand passion. Highly recommended. Pat Maynard
NELSON: Brittania 's God of War
Andrew Lambert, Faber & Faber 2004, £20.00, hb,372p~057 12l2220
Nelson's intellect enabled him to produce simple solutions to complex naval problems. Suc h was his personal magnetism th at w he re the shock of battle rendered these plans inadequate his captains knew that if they intelligently 'engaged the enemy more closely' he would approve. Echoing his great mentor , Admiral Jervis , Nelson would say that no man 'cou ld command success' but aggressive action that had been overwhe lm ed by the enemy would always meet with his wholehearted s uppo1i.
Nelson's planning was driven by intelligence and once concluded he stuck by hi s deductions. It was his moral courage that marked him as a great man who was to succeed so brilliantly at Copenhagen, the Nile and, tragically, at Trafalgar.
He was equa ll y passionate about fleet administration knowing that it was 'easier for a captain to prevent disease than for a surgeon to cure one' With few friendly ports in the Eastern Mediterranean he had to husband both men and ships. His political and diplomatic work in Naples is reassessed by Lambert. H e exonerates Nelson and detects a smear campaign generated by mean spir ited minor diplomats.
This is a superb story full of fascinating primary source material - though a few more m aps would have been useful.
Paul F. Brunyee
INIGO: The Life of Inigo Jones, Architect of the English Renaissance
Michael Leap man . Head lin e. 2004, £8.99, pb , 414 pp, 0755310039
Ini go Jones was one of the great English architects. His elegant, classical buildings include the Banqueting House in Whitehall and the Queen's House at Greenwich. A comment is made on the back cover of the book stating that this is the first major biography of Inigo Jones for 75 years. Well researched and written though it undoubtedly I , I found this book a disappointment. There is a great deal of information about the lavis h masques at the royal court which In igo designed, and of course the magnificent buildings which we admire today. However , Ini go the man remains a vague and insubstantial figure throughout the book. As the book progressed I found myself tempted to commit the cardinal sin of a reviewer and skip through large passages. Inigo Jones spent a substantia l amount of time designing royal masques, but did we need to be in formed in detail of eve ry one of them? A sympathetic portrayal; however, although I learnt a great deal about his work, the man himself remains a mystery.
Mike Ashworth
SEDUCTRESS: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love
Betsy Prioleau, Penguin , 2004, $15.00, 384pp, pb,0143034227
Today's woman needs to revive the art of seduct ion if she is to expe ri ence a fulfilled life. This is the premise on which Prioleau's book is based. Most women, she writes, either allow men to dominate them or they try so hard not to be dominated, they are shutting themselves off from love. They should learn from hi story's examp les - Cleopatra, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Wallis Simpson, Nell Gwyn and Catherine the Great, to name just a fewwomen who managed to attract the best men, without compromising their ambitions, talents, intelligence or adventuro us spi rit.
Controversial, possibly offensive to some, Prioleau challenges women to think critically about domesticity, staunch feminism and apathy about relationships with men.
C laire Morris
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 3 l , FEBRUARY 2005
JOHN JA1\1ES AUDUBON: The Making of an American
Richard Rhodes, Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, $30/ C$42, hb, 516pp, 0375414126
Richard Rhodes' new biography begins with the artist's emigration at eighteen from Napoleon's France in 1803 to a 0edolino America barely older than himself. Armed ~vith innocent fearlessness and an inborn talent for drawing, Audubon pursues his passion to draw every species of bird which "moved through the human world at will." Danger and nearstarvation compelled him to devise clever methods of mounting his still-life modelswhich often doubled as his daily sustenance! With pioneer optimism matching that of his new country, he survives the perilous wilderness, befriending Indians and businessmen to become a true, contributing American. Rhodes' work paints a vivid picture of Audubon's tribulations but illustrates his indomitable devotion to recording his precious birds even as he longed for his intrepid wife, Lucy. This book is not only biography; it is history with colour reproductions and delicate etchings throughout: a most satisfying reading experience.
Tess Allegra
THE COMI\IAND OF THE OCEAN: A Naval History of Britain 1649-1815
N.A.M. Rodger, Allen Lane 2004, £30.00, hb, 582pp,07l3994118
Based on over a decade of research this book details the battles of a centu1y and a half as well as the means by which the Navy was manned, supplied and how it was financed and directed. The importance of money, supplies and management was instrumental in ensuring the mutual dependency of Britain and the Navy. This book will appeal to all who are interested in this dramatic period in history.
Ann Oughton
THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-1918
David Stevenson, Allen Lane 2004, £25.00, h~600pp,0713992085
In the summer of 1914 Europe exploded into a frenzy of mass violence. The war that followed had global repercussions, destroying four empires and costing millions of lives. Even the victorious nations were scarred for a generation. Repercussions remain to this day. David Stevenson re-examines the causes, course and impact of this war to end all wars where its victims owed their fate to deliberate state policy. This excellent book will prove to be a first class research tool for anyone interested in this era.
Ann Oughton
HA WKWOOD: Diabolical Englishman
Frances Stonor Saunders, Faber & Faber 2004 £17.99, hb, 256pp, 057121908X , The second son of an Essex landowner, John Hawkwood headed south in 1360 after serving as a captain in the Black Prince's wars against
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
France. The Italian states of Florence Milan Sienna and Pisa offered the richest pickings fo; a clever, opportunistic mercenary. Holding Europe's richest country to ransom Hawkwood inspired the aphorism, 'an ltalianized Englishman is the devil incarnate'. And yet Florence gave him a state funeral and Ucello's fresco of Hawkwood 'on a pale horse' can be seen in the Duomo.
As well as a brilliant portrayal of an almost forgotten figure of English and European history this book offers a vivid picture of life in the second half of the 14 th century.
Ann Oughton
Stonor's biography of Hawkwood is well overdue since the last book about him was published in 1889. As well as following Hawkwood's career, it is a valuable research resource for life in 14 th century Italy, and contains excellent reference notes and a comprehensive bibliography.
Though 19 th centu1y commentators, including Gregorovius and Lord Byron, dismissed f-lawkwood as a "robber", Stonor also shows him to have been a devoted father loyal to his employers and loved by his men. '
The book is maiTed by one or two inaccuracies but these are minor and do not spoil a very good read for both specialist and generalist.
Frank Payton
EMPIRE ADRIFT: The Portuguese Court in Rio de Janeiro 1808-1821
Patrick Wilcken, Bloomsbury 2004, £ 16.99, hb, 262pp, 0747556725. Pub. in US by Colombia University Press, $32.50, hb, 409pp, 0231131321
This is a compelling account of the removal of the entire Portuguese royal court from Lisbon to Brazil ahead of Napoleon's invasion. lntrigue, betrayal and plots abound in the New World and while the city of Rio flourishes Po11ugal risks becoming the colony of a colony.
This is a marvellous book. Patrick Wicken gives a clear, lucid and utterly fascinating insight into a little known subject. It will leave you wanting to learn a great deal more about the histmy of England's oldest ally.
Ruth Ginarlis
ESSENTIAL BEETON: Recipes and tips from the original domestic goddess.
Edited by Alastair Williams Summersdale 2004, £9.99, hb, 320pp, l 840244 I 6X , Pocket-sized and concise, this book allows modem cooks to try some of the great lady's recipes and a get a feel for kitchen and home life of two centuries ago. I have already found it invaluable as a handy research tool with its tips that range from how to apply leeches to the duties of a butler. And as for the recipes, I thoroughly recommend the Tipsy Cake.
Sally Zigmond
CHILDREN'S & YOUNG ADULTS'
DREAM MASTER: GLADIATOR
Theresa Breslin, Corgi Yearlino Books 2004 £10.99, pb, 168pp. ISBN 0-440~86501-8 , Audio Books, America, 2004, $16.95, pb, ISBN 0754078841
This is the third in Theresa Breslin's 'Dream Master' series Every dream has a Dream Master to control it, but Cy has such a vivid imagination that he can travel with his Dream Master and really live his dream.
lt is the end of the summer holidays, and Cy is frantically trying to catch up on his project on volcanoes His computer is out of action, and at the local libra1y the two school bullies arc making his life a misery. Cy can't remember a thing about volcanoes and the Dream Master is being unhelpful - he is having trouble with his Dream Cloak after Cy's previous adventure.
Cy is precipitated into Pompeii sho11ly before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, where he finds himself slave to a young Roman called Linus. The Dream Master is captured and due to die in the arena in the forthcoming gladiatorial games. Cy has just enough power to return to the 2 1st centu1y, but can he rescue the Dream Master in time? And can he rea I ly lea ve Linus and his sister Rhea Silvia to their fate? Vesuvius begins to erupt and Cy has some difficult moral choices to make.
This book is pacy, exciting and intelligent. We learn a lot about the eruption of Vesuvius as well as somet hin g of life in Pompeii at the time -though I doubt whether Rhea Silvia would wear a skirt of Tyrian purple. Garments entirely in that colour were reserved for the Imperial family. But Cy's journey is a lso an moral one. He must learn self-control, how to stand up to bullies and to protect the vulnerable. This dimension gives the book an added depth.
I enjoyed it. Recommended.
Elizabeth Hawksley
At first I thought this book was boring because I couldn't really get into the style of it. The front cover looks very boyish because of the battles and lions, but really it's for both boys and girls. The blurb makes the story sound interesting and doesn't give the plot away.
After Chapter I, the story got better and it was a lot more interesting but still not the best book in the world. Then it began to get very exciting and everything started to piece together. I really started to enjoy it - it was fun and interesting, with very strong characters, so you could have a good picture in your mind. It taught me a bit about Ancient Rome, Pompeii and the volcanic eruption. At the end I looked back and thought it was a very good book and I'd definitely recommend it- don't give up on Chapter I. 9 out of I 0. For age 9 up.
Rachel Beggs ) aged 9
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
ATTICUS
OF ROME, 30 B.C.
Barry Denenberg, Scholastic, 2004, $10.95 / C$ I 4.99, hb, I 66pp, 0439524539
This would be a wonderful tale to read 111 conjunction with a middle school history section on the ancient European world. There is an impressive amount of historical detail in this story of Atticus, a boy who is enslaved during a Roman raid. Sold away from his family, he is bought by a prominent Roman gentleman who treats him more like a son than a servant. Atticus witnesses gladiatorial matches 111 the coliseum, and, more importantly, some skullduggery at a gluttonous (but by contemporary standards, not unusually so) dinner party attended by citizens of high rank. The story , which might have been powerful , comes close to escape from the didactic purpose for which this work was ultimately intended.
Juliet Waldron
PANDORA
OF ATHENS: 399 B.C.
Barry Denenberg, Scholastic, 2004, $ I 0.95 / C$14.99, hb, I 25pp, 043964982X
The title character of Pandora of Athens: 399 B.C., Barry Denenberg's latest contribution to Scholastic 's Life and Times series, is a thirteen-year-old girl who yearns to know the world beyond the walls of her family's home. At the height of her desire for independence and knowledge, she meets Socrates at the public well. His stories and teachings open her eyes to the possibilities of the world around her, and encourage her to take her destiny into her own hands.
Denenberg offers an engaging snapshotview of Athens in 399 B.C.E. Pandora's relationships with each of her family members, as well as Socrates, are fairly complex; some elements of Greek culture (such as mythology) are surprisingly unfamiliar to Pandora, allowing the reader to learn them through exposition. The rhetorical and philosophical elements of Socrates' teachings are succinct and largely accurate, though his treatment of Pandora , the mixing of men and women at his intellectual gatherings, and some of his dialog might give the reader a somewhat sanitized idea of the great philosopher's views on the roles and abilities of women. Details of Athenian medicine, cooking, marriage, bi11h and funerary customs are smoothly incorporated and help create a vivid world for young readers.
Valerie Perry
THE DROVING LAD
Kathleen Fidler, Floris Books, 2003 , £4.99, pb, 236 pp, ISBN 0863154255
This book was first published in 1955 and has now been reissued by Floris Books. It is 1825. Twelve-year-old Colin Cameron can handle the prize bull Black Torvil so he is allowed to go to the Falkirk Market with his elder brother Angus and the herdsman Donald.
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS
REVIEW
At Falkirk Black Torvil is sold for a good price, together with the rest of the cattle, to a Cumberland cattle dealer who then asks for the cattle to be driven direct to his farm outside Penrith. This results in an adventurous journey for the two brothers as they are being pursued by thieves. They are also hiding Simon, an escaped prisoner-of-war. All this as well as problems with the cattle. They ford the Solway and are caught by the tide in the mist. Then once on land the cattle are frightened by the stage coach and stampede.
But as well as all the thrills and spills this is also a story with a very interesting and authentic background. The details of the cattle droving are fascinating and the journey can be followed on any map. The settings of the various parts of the book are well described and contrasted. For example , there is the Cameron farm in the wilds of the Highlands while later we are shown the town of Carlisle through Colin's eyes. He is amazed to see so many shops and he finds it incredible that women actually buy their dresses in shops. (His mother spins and weaves the material for her own dresses and then has them made up for her). It is also the first time Colin has seen a cathedral.
This is a thrilling story. The pace and excitement is maintained right up to the very last chapter. And yet the author still manages to include a detailed background.
Well worth reading.
I!+
Mary Moffat
ASSASSIN: THE LADY GRACE MYSTERIES
Patricia Finney, (UK) Doubleday , 2004 , £6.99, hb, 202pp, ISBN 0385 606443, (US) Delacorte, 2004 , $6.95 , hb , 208 pp, ISBN 0385731515
Patricia Finney writes as Lady Grace Cavendish, Queen Elizabeth's maid of honour. 'Assassin' is the first book in the 'Lady Grace Mysteries' series. The stories are written in a diary format. When Lady Grace's mother dies from poison, when Grace was young, she said that her daughter should find a suitor and be matTied by the time she reached adulthood. Queen Elizabeth finds three suitable meneach gives Lady Grace a present anonymously. She must choose the present that she likes the most , and then marry the man who gave that gift. She chooses a string of pearls (given by Lord Robert).
The next morning, one of the rejected suitors, Sir Gerald is found dead - seemingly stabbed with a dagger , though there is no blood around the wound on his back. Lord Robert is accused of committing the crime, because a piece of lace bearing his crest has been found next to Sir Gerald. Lady Grace, Masou (the court jester) and a young servant set about to prove that Lord Robert is not a murderer, and to solve the mystery of who killed Sir Gerald. Along the way, Grace
discovers many things, and finds out that her Uncle is not all he seems. The third suitor, Sir Charles has a dark secret as well. But it was not the real Sir Charles who killed Sir Gerald, it was his evil brother who he had thought was dead. His brother has taken Sir Charles hostage, and poisoned Sir Gerald with the same poison that killed Lady Grace's mother. I enjoyed 'Assassin ' and would recommend it to people who like mystery stories, or have an interest in the Tudors. I would recommend it to 11 - 15 year olds.
Charlotte Kemp (14)
THE TOUGHEST COWBOY:
OR 11O\V THE WILD WEST WAS TAl\1ED
John Frank, illus. by Zachary Pullen, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004, hb , 48 pp, 06898346 I 6
This is such a fun picture book. It's a tall tale with lively and humorous text and characteroriented illustrations that are larger than life The Toughest Coll'boy exaggerates a bit of the Big Sky Country of the 1860s to tell the story of Grizz Brickbottom, the toughest cowboy ever to live in the Wild West. Readers will find that this here cowboy needs taming and taming he gets - from a poodle named Foofy! Kids will love the gross jokes Frank uses to embellish the tale ("fetched a spur to scrape the gnats out of his nostrils" ), and even adults will laugh at the metaphors and similes that pepper the story. Like any terrific picture book , the illustrations and the text dovetail perfectly. The Tough est Cowboy is a great addition to any tall tale collection and a great read aloud. Ages 4-8
Nancy Castaldo
GRAPE THIEF
Kristine L. Franklin , Candlewick Press, 2003, SI 6.99 / C$23.99, hb, 304pp, 0763613258
It is 1925 in the small town of Roslyn, Washington, and the Grape Train has come to town for its annual visit. We meet protagonist Slava "Cuss" (because he can swear in fourteen languages) Petrovich and his friends Skinny and Perks as they plan their daring midnight heist of grapes. We soon become acquainted with Slava's family, become immersed in the changing times of the town , and cheer Cuss's desire for schooling while understanding his need to earn money for his family. lt is Prohibition, and many of the arriving grapes are destined for wine for local consumption. However, things soon take on a darker hue with the arrival of organized crime , hoping to take control of the sale of bootleg alcohol. After an accident , Cuss's older brothers have to flee town, leaving the family in a precarious financial situation When the coal mines start laying off workers, the situation becomes dire.
Franklin has written an engaging book with realistic characters that the reader comes to care for deeply. There is enough action to
ISSUE 31 , FEBRUARY 2005
keep young adult (and adult) readers on the edge of their seats, yet the historical details are vivid. I rarely read young adult books, but I now know I am missing out on some very special books, if this one is something to judge by. For ages I 0-13, but I highly recommend it for older readers, too.
Trudi E. Jacobson
I WALK IN DREAD: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials
Lisa Rowe Fraustino, Scholastic, 2004, $10.95 / C$16.99, hb, 202pp, 0439249732
This young adult novel joins the many others in the Dear America series of fictional diaries set at pivotal points in US history. Deliverance Trembley, a made-up character, is a girl of twelve in Salem, Massachusetts, during the fateful winter of 1691-92. "Liv," along with her older, consumptive sister Remembrance, "Mem," are orphaned and left to fend for themselves while an uncle goes whaling and a brother to the Indian wars.
The descriptions of what it takes to live through a Massachusetts winter when their male protectors are gone are good, and the budding romance moves things along as well. But was it an editorial decision that the real horrors of the witch hunt would be too much for young people? New to the area from Maine, Deliverance remains an outsider, never close enough to the girls her own age at the centre of the maelstrom to see what's going on except by hearsay. Goody Goode, one of the first accused, comes to beg at their door and may have caused Mem's coughing fits. Liv comes to know of the innocence of one of the other women who was kind to her~passively, through a dream. Neither discovery is acted on. Of course we rejoice at our heroine's escape from such unpleasant neighbours, but perhaps this leads to the reader's narrow escape from having learned any valuable insights as well. Ann Chamberlin
HEAR MY SORROW: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist \Yorker Deborah Hopkinson, Scholastic, 2004, $l0.95 / C$16.95, hb, I74pp, 0439221617 Written in dia1y form, this young adult novel has the immediacy of first person, present tense. Its day-to-day focus doesn't anticipate events such as the fire at the Triangle Waist Company, so we experience them as they unfold.
At age fourteen, Angela quits school to help her family. Her father, a hod carrier, was injured carrying a load of bricks. Her mother makes artificial flowers for hats. Her sister suffers from asthma attacks. Set in 1909 in New York City, the novel quickly enlists sympathy for the plucky heroine.
Angela works in a dusty sweatshop for less than a dollar a day, long hours with no overtime, six days a week. She sees a girl injured by a sewing machine needle and
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
nothing is done until brave Sarah stands up to the boss. Sarah tells Angela about the garment workers' union and their fight for eight-hour work days and paid holidays.
Symbolism emerges as Angela feeds crumbs to a sparrow on her fire escape. She is like the little sparrow, fragile but surviving. "If only people could be like birds," she muses. "If only we had wings."
The author does a good job of explaining the Sicilian culture with its insular extended family of neighbors. She builds pathos with everyday details.
Marcia K. Matthews
VOICES OF THE TROJAN WAR
Kate Hovey, illus. Leonid Gore, Margaret K. McEldcrry Books, 2004, $17.95 / C$25.95, hb, l06pp,0689857683
As in previous books (Ancient Voices and Arachne Speaks), mask-maker and poet Kate Hovey draws from the myths of classical antiquity, this time the Trojan War, retelling the story of the conflict. Voices of the Trojan War, a slim volume of fifty-three poems (plus an invocation and an epilogue), introduces the readers to a cast of characters including gods, heroes, and even a lowly sentine l on the wall of the doomed city. An appendix explains these characters (a map would also have been helpful). The illustrations are discreet, although commonplace. The poems, however, breathe life: "A netted fish / my water gone/ must suck what littl e air's/ remaining drenched/ in sweat and darkness " The sorrows and horror of war are not romanticized. Kate Hovey does not underestimate the intelligence of her young audience, which is refreshing. She quotes fragments from the ancient poets and dramatists before every poem, identifying the wellspring of her inspiration, an elegant acknowledgment that enthusiasts of the timeless stories will appreciate. Ages 9-12 Adelaida Lower
MABLE RILEY: A Reliable Record of Humdrum Peril and Romance
Marthe Jocelyn, Candlewick Press, 2004, hb, 288pp,076362120X
Mable Riley and her sister Viofo have travelled from home so that Viola can help support the family with her first teaching job in early 20th century Ontario. Eager for excitement and inspiration for her writing, Mable keenly anticipates the adventure and starts a journal to record all that happens. And plenty does. Not eve1yone is thrilled with the young female teacher, questioning her methods of instruction, while Mable herself makes friends with a scanda lous young widow, who cycles and wears split skirts.
Marthe Jocelyn has written a charming story, replete with details of everyday life woven into a well-paced narrative. Her appealing heroine pulls the reader in with her mix of romantic notions and rebellious spirit as
she learn s about life, love and loyalty. Further strengthening the tale is a cast of well-rounded secondary characters involved in historically relevant subplots. What appealed most was the use of the diary format. When done well, as it is here, it gives the reader a real sense of immediacy and verisimilitude.
Those who have preteen girls to buy books for should add this lovely volume to their list. I know I'm keeping mine for my nieces. Very highly recommended.
Teresa Basinski Eckford
NO GIRLS ALLOWED
Alan N. Kay, White Mane Kids, 2004, $6.95, pb, 148pp, 15724 93240
In the fifth book of the Young Heroes of History Series, set during the American Civil War, two strong-willed Northern girls find a way to help with th e war effo,1. Sixteen-yearold Lynn Rhodes, rough-and-tumble and always good in a scrape, disguises herself as a boy and fights alongside her twin brother. Fourteen-year-old Mary Adams joins an aid society and earns a place nursing the wounded. Their paths cross when Lynn is injured in battle and sent to the hospital where Mary works. Can Mary help her keep her secret?
This series is targeted to middle readers, ages 11- I 5, and is intended to teach history as well as entertain. In this particular volume, the war is used primarily as context for the social history so rather than bloody battlefields the reader sees women packing boxes of supplies and soldiers playing the new game of baseball. The author briefly introduces historical figures such as Clara Barton and Cornelius Welles. The book is lightly footnoted and has a bibliography. The author's website contains free lesson plans for educators.
This is an interesting book that places its focus squarely on the issue of women's roles in the Civil War. While the plot is fairly predictable and some of the dialogues tend toward the preachy, it is a great book for its intended purpose: showing that girls have always found ways to do their part when boys have insisted "no girls allowed."
Sue Asher
THE ALCHEI\IIST'S DAUGHTER
Eileen Kemaghan, Thistledown Press, 2004, $13.95/C$15.95, pb, 187pp, 189345797 Sidonie Quince, a teenager in 15 87 England, lives with her father, alchemist Simon Quince, in Charing Cross. She has inherited from her late mother the ability to scry into the future, but considers her gifts a curse, for she foresees only disaster for her country. When Sidonie's father receives an invitation from Lord Burleigh to attend upon Her Majesty at Hampton Cou1i, Sidonie accompanies him, and dares to tell Queen Elizabeth the truth about the forthcoming Armada. But to prepare for war, England needs money, and Simon's foolish promise to tum base metal into gold leads only to trouble. While he travels to
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
London for supplies, Sidonie and her friendly neighbor, apothecary's son Kit Aubrey, head to Glastonbury Abbey to find a mysterious red powder that may be their only hope. Their adventure leads them into the company of Dr. Dee, Lady Mary Herbert, William Shakespeare, and other Elizabethan notablesplus more danger than they ever expected.
I was enchanted by this lighthearted historical fantasy. The scenes describing Simon Quince's failed experiments (which give off foul odors that cause his servants to flee) are hilarious, and the author's precise language and brilliant depictions of the Elizabethan world are a pleasure. Young adults will delight in the romance and the magical setting, and adults will appreciate this wonderfully written novel as well.
Sarah Johnson
CLARA BARTON: Spirit of the American Red Cross
Patricia Lakin, Aladdin Paperbacks, 2004 , $3.99 / C$5.50, pb, 48pp, 0689865139
This "Ready-to-Read Level 3" book is not a novel but a biography of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. It tells of her progress from a shy, insecure child to battlefield nurse to international organizer and administrator. Although the book is geared toward six-to-nine year olds, the vocabulary is challenging (with a glossary in the back) and the straightforward narrative style may fail to grab the attention of readers at the younger end of the age spectrum. My eight-year-old daughter found it a fast read and a good source of information about Clara Barton, but not a very interesting "story." My six-year-old son found it difficult to read both because of the vocabulary and narrative style. Ages 6-9
Sue Asher
THE ENEMIES OF JUPITER
Caroline Lawrence, (UK) Dolphin, 2004, pb, 2l5pp, £4.99 ISBN 18425516-+7 (US) Roaring Brook Press, 2005, $15.95,hb, 192 pp, 1596430486
This is the seventh in Caroline Lawrence's Roman Mysteries series aimed at 9-12 year olds and with the National Curriculum in mind.
AD 80. The four children, Flavia and her friend Nubia, an ex-slave from Africa, Jonathan, son of the Jewish doctor Mordecai, and Lupus, the mute beggar boy, are summoned to Rome by the Emperor Titus, together with Mordecai, to help solve the mystery of the deadly fever which is gripping Rome. Titus believes that someone has deliberately started the plague and means Rome's destruction.
While Flavia, Nubia and Lupus learn more about Roman medicine, Jonathan manipulates events to get his estranged parents back together. His mother Susannah works at the palace, but her life is in danger because Titus's ex-mistress is jealous of her. Then Jonathan
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
inadvertently becomes involved in a plot to bum Rome
On the plus side, Caroline Lawrence is an excellent guide to first century Rome and, together with the maps and glossary, she makes Roman life clear and accessible. The bits about Roman medicine were particularly good.
The books are supposed to stand alone, but I found it difficult to catch up on the back story, particularly about the estrangement of Jonathan's parents (an important strand). The plot - based on the Emperor Titus asking the four children to help him - was, frankly, unbelievable. I found the various strands an unsatisfactory muddle; too much was going on in too many directions and none of it seemed to add up.
Maybe it would have helped if I'd read the previous books. I enjoyed 'The Thieves of Ostia,' the first book in the series, but I was disappointed in this one.
Elizabeth Hawksley
I really enjoyed this book. I've read the first two book in the series, so I'd met the characters, but I couldn't remember much about the background. The book doesn't assume too much, but does refer back to the previous books in the series.
One of the few negative points is that lots of the Roman and Greek names begin with the same letter or look similar. This confused me and I sometimes got characters muddled up.
Overall, the book's writing style is very good. The plot was clever and original and was strung out well, so I didn't have difficulty understanding most things and I didn't miss any major points. I liked the way it had a Roman word bank at the encl, although you could tell what most of the words meant from the context in which they were used.
I would clefmitely recommend this book to anyone within the age range 9 -12, as it entertains, but also subtly educates the reader about Roman life.
Lucy Beggs, aged 12.
SHADOW OF HlS HAND
Wendy Lawton, Moody Publishers, 2004, $6.99, pb, 148 pp, 0-8024-4074-6
Anita Dittman dreams of becoming a ballerina. She is talented and her family is financially comfortable. But she is a little girl, half-Jewish and half-Christian, in a Germany that is seething with hatred for her mother's people. There is no future in dancing for Anita.
Anita, her Jewish mother and sister are abandoned by their Aryan father who wishes nothing further to do with them - how can he afford to be allied to his own family and by so doing, destroy his own future? Little by little, everyone and everything that Anita, her sister and mother know are chipped away until they have barely enough to survive. Their salvation comes in the form of a priest who tries to help them to leave Germany. While they wait for
their papers, and as the inevitability of the concentration camps looms before them, they tum more and more to Christianity and find their strength in their spiritual lives, in prayer and in faith.
This is the true story of Anita Dittman who, together with her mother and sister, remarkably survived the Holocaust by the sheer presence of their will, and Anita clearly believes, divine intervention. The book is appropriate for mature children ages 8-12 and is inspirational in theme. A sophisticated child will learn a great deal about guts and survival from Anita Dittman, regardless of the child's religious upbringing. A caveat however: A Jewish family may well feel uncomfortable with the message that this book appears to deliver-that Anita survived because she became a Christian.
Ilysa Magnus
THE SECRET SHELTER
Sandi LeFaucheur, Brown Barn Books, 2004, S8.95, pb, 143pp, 0974648140
This time travel adventure story sees three children and their teacher journey from present day to World War II Britain, September 1940 to be precise. There they must cope with the terTor of nightly bombing raids and the danger that lurks in the form of suspicion of anyone different.
Sophie Pinkerton tells the tale. Young and impressionable, she finds life in 1940 both tetTifying and exhilarating as she and her friends live history rather than just read about it. Taken in by a young mother whose husband flies with the RAF, the four time travellers must adapt to their new circumstances while trying to find a way home. The hardest part is knowing what the future holds for their hostess. Dare they try to change the past?
The author does a good job of recreating war-time England taking her readers back to an era of terror and privation. Unfortunately, the prose is awkward at times, especially the dialogue which features long speeches that don't ring true. However, the fast pace and the well-plotted story do much to make up for this deficiency. Youngsters with an interest rn history will likely enjoy this intriguing read.
Teresa Basinski Eckford
TELL THE MOON TO COME OUT
Joan Lingard, Puffin .2003. pb. I 96pp. £4.99. 0141316896
The year is 1939 and the country is Spain in the aftermath of the Civil War. Nick has left his home and his mother in Scotland and travelled to Spain to look for his Spanish father who went to fight on the Republican side in the Civil War but did not return. It is a dangerous mission. The Civil Guard are everywhere and detennined to put down any opposition to the Nationalist rule. Anyone without correct identification papers is suspect. Nick injures his hand, and is suffering from sunstroke when he is befriended by Isabel,
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
daughter of a member of the Civil Guard. Betrayed by Isabel's brother he is captured and thrown into the local cell. She helps him to escape and realising that she can never go home again travels with him through Spain in the search for his father. The sto,y follws Nick and Isabel's journey from the north of Spain to the Mediterranean.
I found this an interesting stmy. The characters were believable and I have no doubt that the kind of problems they faced were authentic to the time. It was nicely paced and a happy ending was never guaranteed. Marilyn Sherlock
FLESHl\lARKET
Nicola Morgan, (UK) Hodder Children's Books, 2003, £5.99, pb, ISBN 0340855576 (US) Delacorte, 2004, SI 5.95, hb, 224 pp, ISBN 038573 l 54X
Set in Edinburgh in 1828 this really meaty tale is of interest to anyone over the age of I 0-12 providing that they are not especially queasystomached! Dealing as it does with the primitive surgery in the early 19th century before the discove,y of even the crudest anaesthetic or antiseptic methods.
The hero and heroine are Robbie and his young sister Essie who , at the start of the story , live in great comfort but quickly find themselves in dire poverty after the painful death of their mother following agonising surge,y on her by Dr. Robert Knox. Catastrophe follows catastrophe when fire destroys their father's business and they are left penniless. Soon their father succumbs to drink and deserts them leaving the children to struggle earning pennies for enough food to sustain life.
Robbie becomes obsessed by Dr. Knox and tries his best to discover anything that will destroy him and his good name among the citizens of Edinburgh, even when it leads to spending a night in the prison. Eventually he discovers that Knox and his students are buying cadavers in order to learn about anatomy. Robbie is shocked at this until he makes friends with one of the students and learns that the few that they are allowed to use legally is totally inadequate if advances in surgery are to be possible.
Robbie sees a body being delivered and manages to ingratiate himself with two of the men. Gradually he realises that these men are not simply lucky in finding bodies before they have begun to decompose but are actively killing poor dropouts from society who will not be missed. Robbie is instrumental in bringing these murderers to justice and the scandal brings about a change in the law to allow sufficient cadavers for anatomical research.
Gradually life improves and the sto1y ends on a more upbeat note Jan Shaw. THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
UNDER A HOSTILE SKY
Margaret Nash, (Illustrated Robin Lawrie), Anglia Young Books, 2004, paperback, 64 pages. ISBN 1-871173-98-1
This interesting story is set unmistakably in the early years of World War 11 when the German bombing raids brought about loss of life and property damage to Britain.
The tale concerns Sheila and her brother Victor who are bombed out of their home in Birkenhead. After weeks in a Rest Centre they are moved to an empty house in another part of Birkenhead where they know no one. Sheila and her mother soon makes friends but Victor takes longer to settle.
This book is rather short but is absolutely co1Tect in the details of wartime life and shortages. It paints a picture of life in wartime England that revives memories for those of us who lived through it all. There is a useful Glossa,y at the encl of the book which explains all the terms that may be unfamiliar to anyone not familiar with the period in histo,y
Jan Shaw
TRAITOR
Gudrun Pausewang (translated Rachel Ward), Andersen Press, pb, 1995 (transl 2004), £5.99, ISBN 1842703137
Traitor is about a young Gern,an girl, Anna, who lives in a secluded village in Gem,any during the Second World War. One weekend when Anna is on her way home from a week at school in the nearby town of Schonburg, she finds some unusual tracks in the snow. She follows the tracks only to find that they lead to her family's Fam,, where she discovers an escaped Russian prisoner of war, Maxi um, who had escaped from a nearby camp. Instead of turning the man into the authorities she decides to hide him in a near by disused bunker. For six months the reader follows Anna and learns of the risks that she had to take to protect Maxium. As the sto,y comes to a close, so does the War and for Anna and Maxium there is a suqJrise ending which leaves the reader with a lot of unanswered questions.
This is a fantastic read for those who are not only interested in history - there is a lot of information given about Gennany in the war as well as names of German products that we have never heard of. The only thing to be aware of before you read the book is that although the book doesn't seem to be that long, there is a lot of information to take in at once, and it does take a long time to read. To get a better understanding of the story I suggest that you read the book twice. A thoroughly enjoyable read'
Annemarie Simmons
(15)
THE ORANGE TREES OF VERSAILLES
Annie Pietri, Delaco11e Books for Young Readers, 2004, $15.95 / C$23.95, hb, 13lpp, 0385731035
A very different picture of the court of the Sun King. This novel, written for young adults, is
another one with an intriguing and original enough premise to be appropriate for adults. Marion is a "nose," which is explained in historical and sociological context in a neat note following the book, along with a genial explanation of how perfumes were used then, slightly differently than we use them today. Noses have senses of smell so acute that they can recognize any smell they have encountered before-not always a blessing! They make outstanding creators of perfumes. Young Marion, whose favorite scent is of oranges from her father's orange groves, gets taken into the palace to serve Madame du Montespan, who soon finds Marion really useful in her never-ending quest to keep the king dangling. Since the Marquisa is a conniving golddigger (the scene where she pigs oul because the king has snubbed her is great), the young perfumist comes to change her mind about her patronesses' good intentions and manages to thwart a plot to feed the royal couple poison candy. The glittering surface and the greedy undertow of the French court are certainly present, but in this novel, it's a bit gentler and a tad kinder for this one simple French girl. Ve,y pleasant reading. Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
IN THE SHADOW OF THE ARK
Anne Provoost, trans. John Nieuwenhuien, Arthur A. Levine Books, 2004, $16.95, hb, 368pp,0439442346
Pub. in the UK by Simon & Schuster, 2004, £ 12.99, hb, 368pp, 0689872690
Flemish author Anne Provoost's In The Shadow of the Ark grips the reader with vivid scenes, well-developed characters, and beautiful language. She tells the story of Noah and his ark through the eyes of a young woman named Re Jana. Re Jana's family have ned the marshes, where they lived for years among skilled shipbuilders and fishermen to find work in the dese,1 among the Rrattika people who are "wanderers." Re Jana's father, a shipbuilder, finds work with Noah, a wanderer, who is constructing a massive ship, the ark. Re Jana offers her skills to find "good water" and ultimately wins the love of Ham, the Builder's son. Unfortunately, Ham has selected another girl. to be his wife, but he cannot give up Re Jana. When Re Jana learns from Ham the true purpose of the ark, she not only fears for her life and that of her family, but also questions this god that Ham and his family are obeying.
The apocalyptic scenes that ensue are gripping, and they present very powerful emotions as Re Jana and the reader are confronted with the philosophical questions of who lives and who dies in this biblical tale.
Readers who enjoyed Anita Diamant's The Red Tent will surely wan! to pick up this book. In a bold departure, Scholastic has decided to sell the paperback rights of this book to an adult publisher, Berkley Books. The book is intended for mature young adult readers and,
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
therefore, crosses well into the adult arena. Provoost does imply some sexually implicit scenes , one of which involves an intimate relationship between two women None of these, however, are very direct or crude. !11 the Shadow of the Ark is an excellent choice for book club discussions.
Nancy Castaldo
MILL GIRL, THE DIARY OF ELIZA HELSTED, MANCHESTER, 1842-1843
Sue Reid, (UK) Scholastic Children 's Books, 2002, £4.99, 220pp, pb, 0-439-981 18-2 (US) Scholastic , 2004, $11 .45 , 217 pp , ISBN 0439981182
Eliza's diaiy describes the awful conditions of mill workers in Manchester between 1842 and 1843 when many of the workers decided to strike because they were not being paid enough money to buy food. Eliza Heisted lives with her father and mother and little sister. However, she once had an older brother named William who died in the mill and throughout her dia1y she refers to William 's opinion and past actions. As the Heisted family becomes poorer and poorer, Eliza, who was a studious and hard-working pupil, is forced to leave school and go to work at the mill. Eliza's father supports Cha11ists who want to enforce the People's Charter to ensure fairer working conditions. This is dangerous for the family because if the mill owner discovers her father will lose his job. Eliza herself soon becomes entangled in this political web and she is frightened because her friend Jack Brigham takes pa11 in the riots. At the end of the book Eliza and her family move away from Manchester, but many families emigrate to America. Eliza starts work in another cotton mill, but she hopes her chance will come to go further. Although I did not know much about this period, I enjoyed this story Emi ly Granozio, 14
FRIDAY THE ARAPAHO BOY: A Story from History
Marc Simmons (illus. Ronald Kil), Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2004, S 18.95 hb, 56pp, 0826336094
Simmons, New Mexico's Historian Laureate, does a fine job with writing this children's fictional history book. Ronald Kil provides colorfully detailed illustrations that highlight historical elements that add to this true story. This tale is about Warshinun , a young Arapaho Indian. The Arapaho was a nomad tribe that called its home the plains of Kansas as well as eastern Colorado. In the early nineteenth century, drought became an issue in this area, which required the tribe to travel into enemy te1Titory for food and water. When these Native Americans had to leave abruptly, Warshinun was inadvertently left behind.
The author describes how the young boy spends over a week with no nourishment. Luckily, he is rescued by " Tall Man," Torn Fit z patrick. This trapper and trader befriended Warshinun and called him Friday (after the day of the week he found him). Fitzpatrick takes the lad on his work adventures while seeking Warshinun 's family. Eventually, he brings him to St. Louis for schooling and ventures out on his own to locate the tribe. ln the end, he is successful and returns the boy. Historically, Friday was an important member of his tribe who strived to keep peace with the white man.
Carol Anne Germain
THESHADOWSOFGHADAMES
Joelle Stolz, Delacorte, 2004, $ I 5.95 / C$23.95, hb, I I 8pp, 0385731043
This is a young adult coming-of-age sto1y set at the encl of the nineteenth century in the City of Ghaclames, Libia. After eleven year 0·1c1 Melika 's merchant father leaves on one of his trading caravans, his second wife, Bilkisu , rescues a young man injured near their home. Although it 's considered taboo to have an unrelated male in the house while the husband is away, Bilkisu, Melika and her mother smuggle him into a small room on their rooftop in order to treat his wounds. As Melika interrelates with the stranger, she begins pondering the vast differences between the lives of men and women in their isolated, closely knit Muslim community. Among numerous other engrained traditions, women are mainly restricted to their homes and rooftops and expected to keep their faces covered in the presence of any unrelated males. Education of women is also discouraged but Melika 's mother, sensing that the times are changing, allows the stranger to teach her daughter the alphabet before he's eventually secreted away by the women to safety.
Although Melika and her family are fictional , the City of Ghadames is not- nor are the accounts of its customs at the end of the nineteenth centu1y. Today many of those old customs have changed radically. Its residents live in modern homes built by the government, while the women lead must less restrictive lives and are educated just like the males.
Pat Maynard
TRUI\IPETS IN THE WEST
Geoffrey Trease, Piper, first published 1947, revised edition 1994 , £3.50, I 35pp, pb, 0-33033180-9
Trumpets in the West is a small book with a big story! The adventure is set in London I 688, featuring a musician named John Norwood. Having left his family to go to London and further his career in music, Jack finds him se lf venturing into the fight between Protestants and Catholics. At this time , James
Stuart was the King and therefore Jack helped the opposing Prince (William of Orange) to gain the throne in England, and in doing so comes close to death.
The plot also includes many famous musicians such as Purcell. I particularly enjoyed learning about this composer and this book gave me a chance to examine his private life as well as his music. When reading 'Trumpets in the West' it would definitely help if you knew most of the historical background at the time Understanding the story without this knowledge would be difficult and that is why I do not think this book should be classified for children but perhaps for young teenagers.
Jack Norwood is brave and intelligent. The fact that he risks his career to serve his country and fellow citizens shows true bravery. After the Glorious Revolution James Stua11 escaped to France and Jack ends up owning a Stradivarius , one of the best violins ever made, and marrying his best friend, Lady Jane Goodrich. This small book really captured my attention and I 'm glad it has been re-issued.
Emily Granozio (14)
Re-issued to coincide with Purcell's tercentenary in 1994, this edition is a 'much revised version' of the original story which Trease wrote - to the sound of monkeys chattering by day and buffaloes moaning at night - in 1945 while he was waiting to be sent home from India. In the revision process, undertaken by Trease himself at the age or 84, this charming sto1y has lost none of its freshness. The main characters, Jack Norwood and Jane Goodrich, steadfastly pursue their musical dreams against a background of intense political and religious upheaval. lt is a tribute to Trease's skill that he can conjure up such a strong sense of the events between Monmouth's defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685 and the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the depth of popular emotions in this short book. The plot moves swiftly to an exciting climax, but we are left with an enduring picture of the value of integrity and creativity.
Lucinda Byatt
NORTH WITH DE ANZA
Dorothy Ward Erskine (illus. Hubert Buel), Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2004 (cl 958), Sl5.95,pb,207pp,0826336310
This is a treasure! Even though it was written over four decades ago, the story holds well and will engage readers of all ages. Erskine selected a wonderful adventure about a Spanish expedition that receives little or no mention in children's history books. Certainly, this tale provides a much needed multicultural aspect to ethnic explorations of the United States. In the eighteenth century, most of California was only accessible via its waters. During the late I 770s, thirty families traveled thousands of miles overland from Mexico , under the guidance of Don Juan Bautista de
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
Anza, to blaze a new trail and settle in northern California. This remarkable group trekked through some of the most difficult western territories, to build missions and a new life in the San Francisco area. On their expedition, they encountered rough terrain, Apache attacks, and other troublesome conditions, yet persevered because of their courage and bravery.
The story is about a young member of this expedition, twelve-year-old Pedro Peralta, a kind and brave boy who learns new lessons daily during this adventure. Erskine successfully brought reality to this tale by using resources produced by the late Dr. Herbert E. Bolton. This historian devoted his life to translating thirteen diaries written by the members of this treacherous journey.
Carol Anne Germain
I\IY GUARDIAN ANGEL
Sylvie Weil (trans. Gillian Rosner), Arthur A. Levine Books, 2004 (first published in French in 200 I), $16.95, hb, 202pp, 0439576814
A refreshing change from the many middle grade novels featuring Jewish protagonists set during World War II, lvfy Guardia11 Angel offers readers a view into a world rarely portrayed at this reading level. Sylvie Weil has painted us a portrait of the year I 096 through the eyes of a spunky, twelve-year-old, Jewish girl named Elvina.
It is based on the story of Solomon ben Isaac and his granddaughter, Elvina, and takes place in the town of Troyes, France at the time of the Crusades. The pope, Urban II, has called on Christians in 1096 to march into the Holy Land and take the Christian Holy Places back from the Muslims. The Jewish community of Troyes is terrified of Peter the He1mit and his men, the Crusaders, who are moving through the town on their way to the Holy Land.
One afternoon, while Elvina is left alone, three Crusaders pound on her door. One, a young boy, not much older than Elvina, is wounded. Elvina must decide if she should she put her family and community at risk to help him. The decision she makes changes the course of her life and her community.
Weil weaves the historical details of Elvina's life flawlessly through the text. We feel the parchment in her hands, her frustration over the cracked eggs in her bed, and the sweet taste of the honey cakes she carries with her to Gautheir. Somewhat haphazardly, though, the text alternates between Elvina's first person communications with her guardian angel, Maza I, and chapters of third person narrative. lvfy Guardia11 Angel is the winner of the Prix Sorcieres, France's most prestigious award for children's literature.
Nancy Castaldo
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
NEW FOUND LAND: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery
Allan Wolf, Candlewick, 2004, $18.99, hb, 512pp,0763621137
This fictional account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is told in multiple voices in a straightforward and entertaining lyrical form. Fourteen characters move the story along; as the exploring party traverses the continent to the Pacific Ocean, we hear not only from the Corps of Discovery's famous participants, but also from those who are lesser known--a fiddler, a drunkard, a slave, and even Meriwether Lewis's Newfoundland dog, Seaman.
Fiction blends well with fact in this first novel (the author smartly intersperses actua l letters throughout, written from Thomas Jefferson to his former secretary, Meriwether Lewis, from Lewis to his mother, and to his friend and co-captain, William Clark, for example). A true accomplishment, this book, and I recommend it highly. One note. At a whopping 512 pages, this sizable work might give pause to the middle grade readers who are its intended audience.
Because it is presented from multiple points of view in a pleasing and accessible style, however, it seems perfect for a classroom setting (or even for home), with people taking parts. The book is divided into seven sections, each with an accompanying map. The author's notes are included, as well as information on what became of the Corps of Discovery after the expedition, an explanation of American Indian names and terms, and more.
Ages 10+
Alana White
THE DIARY OF SAI\IUEL PEPYS'S CLERK
Philip Wooderson, (UK) Franklin Watts, 2003, £4.99, pb, 96pp, ISBN 07496516 IX (US) Franklin Watts, 2004, S9.54, hb, 96 pp, ISBN 074965161X
In 1665, the fictional sixteen-year-old Roger Scratch starts a diary when he goes to London to serve his real-life relative, Samuel Pepys. We follow him for eighteen months as he struggles to make his mark on the world and to win the love of the beautiful, and wealthy, Henrietta. Mr Pepys, whose time is much taken up with the chronic debt of the Royal Navy and the threat of war with the Dutch, is not as helpful as he might be. Then comes the terror of the Great Plague of 1665 in which 68,000 Londoners died, followed by the catastrophic Great Fire of 1666, which destroyed over 13,000 houses.
The problem with fictional diaries which are closely entwined with well-known events and the lives of famous people, is that there is little room for manoeuvre. Moreover, in a book plainly aimed at school libraries, the National
Curriculum and young readers, the author has to pull his punches about the priapic Mr Pepys. My general impression was that, unless the readers were already well acquainted with mid-seventeenth century history, and knew something about Pepys's life and work, they would find it difficult to understand what was going on. Roger's diaries meander along with no real plot, only a series of events.
Roger himself is not an engaging character. His main concerns seem to be money and himself. Whilst this is prob ably par for the course for the adolescent male, it doesn't make for an absorbing read. It' s true that there's a lot about the Great Plague and the Great Fire, but, even here, there is no real sense of involvement. I think that even young readers would get more out of reading extracts from Pepys's own diaries.
I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this book.
Elizabeth Hawksley
I found this book disappointing. It seemed to have a mix of old and modem language but it should have stuck to just one. The blurb said it would be about the Great Fire of London, but only one chapter was on that, the rest was about the Dutch war. I couldn't understand loads of the words like 'rendezvoused', 'coxcomb', 'bladder', 'imposing' and 'inanimate.' It also had a few swear words. It was a bit hard to read because each page of the diary is in tiny little chunks so that each chapter is more than fifteen pages. I didn't finish the book because it was too hard and too boring.
The front cover looks as if it should be for SI O year olds, but the words are for 12-15 year olds. Of course, they would find it boring because it looks too young for them, so I can't tell you what age it is for. So I'm not going to keep this book and I can't recommend it because you would be bored out of your mind and there are much better books to spend your money on.
Rachel Beggs aged 9
Lucy, aged 12, also read it and was not impressed. Her comments are as follows:
I. This book is in the same series as a book about a 19-year-old in the 60s, which I've read and is for teenagers.
2. The cover is off-putting because it's set out like a much younger child's book.
3. The words would be very hard for a 9 or I 0 year old.
4. The blurb talks about the Great Fire, but it' s only mentioned at the end, which is very disappointing.
5. I'd only read it for a school project.
GIRL
IN A CAGE
Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, Philomel, 2002,Sl8.99,hb,234p~0399236279
Set in the early 14th century, Girl in a Cage gives readers a glimpse of Scotland's struggle
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
for independence from England and her implacable king, Edward I. Narrated by young Marjorie Bruce, the captured daughter of Scotland's new King Robert the Bruce, the story flashes back to events leading up to her horrendously inhumane imprisonment in an outdoors cage. Well researched, the cruelties and horrors perpetrated by the ambitious and power grasping selfish are clearly expressed. But even as Marjorie suffers exposure, pelting and starvation by her captors, her strength and resolve eventually evoke some mercy and goodness of the townspeople who defy Kin_g Edward and lesson her torture. Jane Yolen 1s renowned for her numerous collections of worldwide myths and talcs, as well as novels, for young adults and Robert Harris, too, has many no\'cls to his credit. Although aimed at the young reader, adults will easily enjoy this quick read and seeing the past through the eyes of a young princess largely overlooked by historians is very refreshing.
Suzanne Crane
PRINCE ACROSS THE WATER
Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, Philomcl, 2004, SI 8.99/ CS28, hb, 290pp, 0399238972
In August 17-15 , Bonnie Prince Charlie lands in Scotland to regain the British throne for his father. Parliament had ousted his grandfather, James II, in favor of the Protestant branch of the Stuarts. When the call to arms comes, Duncan MacDonald is eager to go, having listened to his grandfather's war stories his entire life llis father, however , refuses Duncan 's request. He must stay behind to tend the cows and care for his mother and younger si blings. So does his cousin Ewan, a year older than Duncan, but neither lad intends to stay behind forever. Daily they practice with their swords, and when they learn of Ewan's father's death, they set out to join the Prince's army at Culloden. As they line up on the field of battle , neither imagines the horrors and tragedies to come.
The outcome of the Rising of 1745 had a profound impact on Scottish Highlanders and their way of life. This is a vivid and brutal, but realistic, retelling of the rising, the tragedy of Culloden, and its aftermath. Seeing it unfold throuoh a fourteen-year-old's eyes makes the 0 telling all the more poignant. Duncan s immaturity, loyalty, fear, and courage make him a teenager with whom readers will identify , for his struggles mirror our own as we grow to adulthood. In spite of two minor e1Tors-the length of time it takes to traverse the Highlands and the MacDonalds of Keppoch arriving at Glenfinnan before the Camerons-this is an excellent and captiviating introduction to a period in history few people know about but should.
Cindy Vallar
Tl IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
SOUND
There are no reviews for this issue but the next update will feature reviews of Andrew Taylor's Call the Dying and Michael de Larrabeiti's Foxes' Oven.
The following arc latest titles from Isis Publishing.
It is always worth visiting the Isis website for special offers. Check the website: \\ ww.isis-publishin!!.co.uk for details.
New Titles released Winter 2004 (nf denotes non-fiction)
Boris Akunin
Fred Archer The Winter Queen Golden Sheaves, Black Horses (nf)
11.E. Bates The Fallow Land
Harry Bingham The Sons of Adam
Irene Carr Liza
Elizabeth Chadwick Shadows and Strongholds
Catrine Collier Swansea Girls
Maggie Craig The Dancing Days
Joanna Dessau Cock Robin
Michael Dobbs Winston's War
Anne Douglas A Highland Engagement
Elizabeth Elgin The Linden Walk
Patricia Finney Firedrake's Eye
Katie Flynn Poor Little Rich Girl
Alexander Fullerton Love for an Enemy
Alan Furst The Polish Officer
Anna Gilbert The Leavetaking
Philippa Gregory Fallen Skies
Lilian Harry Dance Little Lady
Anna Jacobs A Penny worth of Sunshine
Morag Joss Half Broken Things
Rosalind Laker To Dream of Snow
Michael de Larrabeiti Foxes' Oven
Kate McCafferty Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl
Anne & Todd McCaffrey Dragon 's Kin
Philip McCutchan l lonour and Empire
Edward Beauclerk Maurice The Last of the Gentlemen Adventurers
Cole Moreton My Father was a Hero (nf)
James Nelson Lords of the Ocean
Iain Pears The Dream of Scipio
Claire Rayner Shaftesbury Avenue
Alexandra Raife The Way Home
Nicholas Rhea Constable Around the Park
Wendy Robertson A Woman Scorned
Mary Jane Staples A Girl Next Door
Andrew Taylor Call the Dying
Nicola Thorne The House by the Sea
E.V. Thompson The Lost Years
I
Mary Williams The Secret Tower
Laura Wilson The Lover
Richard Woodman A Private Revenge
Janet Woods A Dorset Girl
It is always worth visiting the Isis website for special offers Check the website: www.isis-publishing.co.uk for details
Nell' Titles released JamWI)' to March 2004:
If you would like to receive the regular Update brochure from Isis with the full list of new titles , please call (0 I 865) 250 333. This is also available in Large Print.
To contact Isis/So undings, or to obtain a full catalogue contact the pub! ishers at:
Isis Publishing Limited
7 Centremead
Osney Mead
Oxford
OX2 OES
Tel: 01865 250 333; E-mail: audiobooks@isis-publishing.co.uk
Website: www.isis-publishing.co.uk
Geraldine Perriam
... AND VISION ~J
nnn
THE A VIA TOR (Certificate PG 12) Dir: Martin Scorsese, screenplay: John Logan, starring: Leonardo DiCaprio , Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsalc, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, John C. Reilly , Ian Holm
The Aviator is big budget Hollywood at its very best, a film by a great director at the peak of his powers about a man whose story_ embodies everything that makes America what 11 1s. The film concentrates on the twenty years of Howard Hughes' life between I 928 and I 948. Within this time frame we see him make the most extravagant and expensive film of the time, design three new aircraft, bag more than his fair share of highly sought after llollywood belles, among them Katherine l lepbum (a wonderful performance from Cate Blanchettand look out for Jude Law's show-stopping Errol Flynn) and Ava Gardner. I le battles a corrupt , greedy senator, and germophobia and obsessive compulsive disorder with varying
ISSUE 31, FEBRUARY 2005
degrees of success. Oh, and he b reaks the record for round the wor ld travel , and founds TWA. Hughes' story could easily fall prey to the current trend for America-bashing cynicism. The trouble is, the film is so good that despite being packed with all-American values of individualism , liberty and the desire to re-shape the world in its own image, even the most die-hard cynics might find themselves lost for witticisms.
The film's success is largely due to the pa11nership between director and star. There are displays of directorial brilliance (one air crash in particular will have you ducking for cover and shielding yourself from the flames) but Leonardo DiCaprio's perforn,ance as Hughes is gripping throughout. Even as he struggles to recover from an accident which leaves him close to death, he never loses the boyish charisma, wit and bloody-mindedness that we see in the few minutes of the film. However, he never overdoes the eccentricity. One scene in particular, where he wrestles with his gern,ophobia just in order to be able to put his hand on a washroom door handle and let himself out is film acting at its best. There are no fancy camera angles or explicato1y dialogue, yet DiCaprio powerfully conveys Hu g hes ' fear and desperation in a time before hi s condition was considered a treatab le illness.
The Aviator is an American success story that shows us the price of success. It's not because Hughes was a good man that he was able to fu l fil his dream s, but because he was relentless The same inexhaustible energy and perfectioni s m has informed Martin Scorsese's achievement in making one of the best historical movies of recent times.
Guy Char les
And if you still have room for any turkey after Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's always Oliver Stone's Alexander, whose only highlights are the ones in Colin Farrell's hair.
SB
VIRAGO PRESS , the women's literature imprint, is to make 250 out-ofprint titles available on a print-on-demand basis. These will be publicised on the Virago w e bsite and cost approximately £11. www.virago.co.uk
HNS BOOK ORDER ING SERVICE
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The HNS Book Ordering Service can supply any book reviewed in Historical Nove ls Reviews , inclu ding books published abroad. Please contact Sarah Cuthbertson at sarah 76cuthberi(maol.corn or O1293 884898 with the title(s) you want and she will give you a quote from the cheapest Internet source, to include postage and packing. Customers can benefit from discounts on many titles, and will usually pay only UK postage on overseas books. Books will be delivered directly to the customer whenever possible.
Alternatively, the US Reviews Editors wi ll buy books for you in the US to trade for UK tit les: please contact Sarah Johnson (cfsln(c,:eiu.edu), Trudi Jacobson rcadbks(ii":localnet.com or Il ysa Magnus (goodiaw7(ro,aol.com). Sarah Cuthbertson can contact them on your behalf if you don't have emai l.
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The following UK members are interested in trading books w ith overseas members , including wish li sts and secondhand books: Rachel A. Hyde, Meadow Close, Budleigh Salte11on, Devon EX9 6JN, Tel: +44 1395 446238, Email: rachelahvdetil:ntlworld.com (Rachel wil l also trade Fantasy & SF). Sarah Cuthbertson (contact details above). Please let Sarah know if you would like to join this l ist.
