Historical Novels Review, Issue 58 (November 2011)

A PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW ISSUE 58, NOVEMBER 2011

T heW riter’SL Ife Kate Morton’s Gothic Fiction

you’ve come here once too often writing sword fights fireship press the legacy of tom grundner inner voices eileen clymer schwab on her antebellum fiction the secret of the roman coin a serendipitous interview with tom harper the year of louisa may alcott the novels of anna maclean & kelly o’connor mcnees louis xiv & certain women

IN EVERY ISSUE historical fiction market news | history & film | new voices | how not to write...

Historical Novels R eview

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Jessica Brockmole 14413 Worthington Drive Granger, IN 46530 USA <jabrockmole@hotmail.com>

ISSN: 1471-7492 | © 2011 The Historical Novel Society

pub lis h er

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Richard Lee Marine Cottage, The Strand Starcross, Devon EX6 8NY United Kingdom <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org>

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edit o r ial boa r d

Andrea Connell 10011 Beacon Pond Lane Burke, VA 22015 USA <hnsonline@verizon.net>

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Publisher Coverage: all self-published, subsidy, and electronically published novels

Publisher Coverage: Bethany House; HarperCollins; Penguin Putnam; Random House (all imprints); university presses; and any North American presses not mentioned below

UK Review Coordinator: Richard Lee Marine Cottage, The Strand Starcross, Devon EX6 8NY United Kingdom <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org>

Ilysa Magnus 5430 Netherland Avenue #C41 Bronx, NY 10471 USA <goodlaw2@optonline.net>

Publisher Coverage: Dorchester; Grove/Atlantic; Minotaur Books; Picador USA; Poisoned Pen Press; Soho Press; St Martin’s Press; Tor/Forge; and Tyndale

Tamela McCann 5265 Village Terrace Nashville, TN 37211 USA <jjmmccann@aol.com>

Publisher coverage: UK children’s publishers

Features Editors: Myfanwy Cook 47 Old Exeter Road Tavistock, Devon PL19 OJE UK <myfanwyc@btinternet.com>

Jane Kessler University Library 119, University at Albany, SUNY 1400 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12222 USA <jkessler@uamail.albany.edu>

Publisher Coverage: Algonquin; FSG; Five Star; IPG; Kensington; and Trafalgar Square

Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson 6868 Knollcrest Drive Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu>

review s edit o r s , u k

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Publisher Coverage: Hachette Book Group, Hyperion, W.W. Norton

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

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re v i e ws e d i tors , u s a

Ken Kreckel 3670 Placid Drive Casper, WY 82604 USA <kreckel1@yahoo.com>

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Kate Atherton 92 Wilsdon Way Kidlington, Oxfordshire OX5 1TX UK <kate.atherton@googlemail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Birlinn/Polygon; Bloomsbury; Constable & Robinson; Faber & Faber; The History Press; Macmillan (inc. Pan, Picador, Sidgwick & Jackson); Penguin (inc. Allen Lane, Hamish Hamilton, Michael Joseph, Viking); Short Books; Snowbooks; and Transworld (inc. Bantam Press, Black Swan, Corgi, Doubleday)

Alan Fisk Flat 25, Lancaster Court, Lancaster Avenue London SE27 9HU UK <alanfisk@yahoo.com>

Publisher Coverage: Creme de la Crime; Duckworth; HarperCollins UK (inc. Flamingo, Fourth Estate, Voyager); Orion Group (inc. Cassell, Gollancz, Phoenix, Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Piatkus; Picnic Publishing; Quaestor2000; Quercus; Severn House; and all small independent UK publishers not handled by other editors

Edward James 2 Hayman Close Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 9FD UK <edward654@btinternet.com>

Publisher Coverage: Arcadia; Atlantic Books; Canongate; Hodder Headline (inc. Coronet, Hodder & Stoughton, NEL, Sceptre); John Murray; and Robert Hale

Doug Kemp Tulip Lodge, Harrowden Road Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN8 5BD UK <doug.kemp@lineone.net>

Publisher Coverage: Allison & Busby; Little, Brown & Co (inc. Abacus, Virago, Warner); Random House UK (inc. Arrow, Cape, Century, Chatto & Windus, Harvill, Heinemann, Hutchinson, Pimlico, Secker & Warburg, Vintage), Simon & Schuster (inc. Scribner)

Publisher Coverage: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Simon & Schuster, including children’s divisions of both

Ann Pedtke 38-13 52nd Street Sunnyside, NY 11104 USA

Publisher coverage: US/Canadian children’s publishers (except S&S, HMH)

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confe re nce s

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The Society organizes annual conferences in the UK and biennial conferences in the US. Contact Richard Lee (UK) or Sarah Johnson (USA).

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m e m be rs h i p d e ta i l s

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Membership in the Historical Novel Society is by calendar year (January to December) and entitles members to all the year’s publications: two issues of Solander, and four issues of Historical Novels Review. Back issues of society magazines are also available. For current rates, contact: Sue Hyams 56 Ackroyd Road Honor Oak Park, London SE23 1DL UK <sue.hyams@virgin.net>

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e d i tori a l pol i cy

Georgine Olson 400 Dark Star Court Fairbanks, AK 99709 USA <georgine@mosquitonet.com>

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

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copy ri g h t

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

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY was formed in 1997 to help promote historical fiction. All staff and contributors are volunteers and work unpaid. We are an open society — if you want to get involved, get in touch.

HNS WEBSITE: www.historicalnovelsociety.org EMAIL NEWSLETTER. Read news and reviews: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HNSNewsletter

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Historical Novels R eview

I ssue 5 8 , N o ve mbe r 2011 | I SSN 1471-7492

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ed itor ia l r ich a rd le e

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histor ic a l fic tion market n ews s ar a h joh nson

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n ew voic e s p r of ile s of debut his torical f iction authors k i mb e r ly c utte r , ma r ia dahvan a headley, s amu el pa rk & gr e gor y mur ph y | my f anw y cook

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6 THE WR I TER ’ S LI FE k a t e mor ton’s g othic f iction | by elizabeth ja ne 8 you’ve com e here on ce to o o f ten wr iting s word f ig hts | by dun can no bl e 10

f ires hi p press t he le ga c y of tom g run dn er | b y marin a nea r y

11 in n er vo ices e i l ee n cly me r sc hwa b’s antebellum f iction | b y su sa n za bo l otny 13 the s ecret of the rom a n co i n a s e r e nd ipitious inter view with tom har per | by s an dra g ars ide -nevi l l e 15 the year of louis a m a y a l cott t he nove ls of an n a m aclean an d kelly o ’ co nno r m cn ees | by michaela ma cco l l 17 louis xiv & certain wo men the sun kin g ’s m iles ton e relation s hi ps | by karleen ko en | reviews |

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book r e v ie ws e d ito rs’ c h oic e & m ore

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

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recently took over as children’s/YA editor, UK, for the HNR, and have become quickly aware of some major differences between adult and young adult books. Firstly, few young adult books that are published in the UK are also published in the US. These markets would appear to be much more distinct than for adult books. Secondly, UK children’s historicals rely heavily on “linkage” between the past and now. Time-travel, timeslip, ghosts, and the paranormal are widespread. Another way of putting this is that the past is very frequently brought into the present, and children appear to relish this. The third major difference is magic — and it’s magic I’d like to think about here.

Magic is a really tricky issue for historical novelists. Historians have it easy, because even if their main subject is magic (eg, Keith Thomas’s Religion and the Decline of Magic) they can assume a rationalist distance from it. Novelists, required to be empathic with their characters, cannot allow themselves that luxury.

Magic existed within and outside religion. People believed in it both actively and passively. It informed their literature, belief systems and passions. And it wasn’t just weird people, or extremists: it was everyone, king down to peasant.

By rights, therefore, there should be a lot more magic in adult historical fiction. I think children’s fiction frequently oversteps the mark. Wizards’ spells too often have efficacy, and supernatural beings (demons, angels, vampires, etc) are often too simplistically or fantastically presented. But books intended for adults too often fail to present their characters with any meaningful superstition, and very rarely dare to use magic in any plot device. It is a very difficult trick to pull off, but I, for one, would like more authors to attempt it. In the past people believed in the seen and the unseen. They fought as many of their battles in this latter, spirit world, as they ever fought with sword or cannon.

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HNR The

RICHARD LEE subverted a promising academic career by choosing to write a thesis about John Buchan when given a research bursary at Merton College, Oxford. Since then, he has spent many years as a bookseller, founded the HNS, and has established a successful property business near his home in Devon.

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Columns | 1

H I STO R I C AL FICTION MAR K ET NE W S

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ould you like your latest publishing deal to appear here? Email me at sljohnson2@eiu.edu.

HNS updates The HNS is recruiting for a UK-based membership secretary to record payments and maintain a database for new and renewing UK members. Email Richard Lee at richard@ historicalnovelsociety.org if interested.

Thanks to reviews editors Trudi Jacobson and Gordon O’Sullivan, both of whom recently stepped down to make time for other projects. Newly joining the editorial team are Tamela McCann and Jessica Brockmole from the US and Kate Atherton from the UK. Welcome also to Helen Hollick, UK reviews editor for HNR Online, and new HNS Newsletter editors Heather Laskey and Meenoo Mishra.

Special thanks to Kim Rendfeld for copy editing this issue and to Troy Reed for magazine distribution.

New contest!

Penguin UK is offering a contest for HNS members. To win one of six copies of A.L. Berridge’s In the Name of the King, a swashbuckling historical of 17th-century France (and an Editors’ Choice selection this issue), email Helen Holman of Penguin at helen.holman@uk.penguingroup.com with a note of interest.

Offer open worldwide.

New publishing deals Sources include author and publisher submissions, Publishers Marketplace, Booktrade.info, Publishers Weekly, The Bookseller, and more.

Judith Merkle Riley’s The Oracle Glass and The Master of All Desires, which combine well-researched French history with magic and humor, sold to Shana Drehs at Sourcebooks, for reissue, by Jennifer Weltz of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

Doubleday UK editorial director Jane Lawson and Beverley Cousins of Random House Australia jointly won a nine-way auction for UK and Commonwealth rights to M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans, in which an Australian lighthouse keeper and his wife in the 1920s come upon a boat carrying a dead man and a live baby. Nan Graham at Scribner acquired for the US, for 2012 publication.

The Plum Tree by Ellen Wiseman, in which a Christian girl and her Jewish boyfriend face poverty, bombs, and the Gestapo during WWII, sold to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2013, by Katherine Boyle and Michael Carr at Veritas.

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Stephanie Dray’s Daughter of the Nile, book three in a trilogy about Cleopatra Selene – daughter of Cleopatra, princess of Egypt, Queen of Mauretania, and disciple of Isis – sold to Cindy Hwang at Berkley by Jennifer Schober at Spencerhill Associates.

James McGee’s Matthew Hawkwood adventure series set in Regency-era London sold to Claiborne Hancock at Pegasus, in a four-book deal, by Jennifer Weltz of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, on behalf of Antony Topping at Greene & Heaton. All are out currently from Harper UK. Sara Sheridan’s (Secret of the Sands) Brighton Belle, first in a crime series set in 1950s Brighton, sold to Neville Moir at Polygon, for publication in Summer 2012, by Jenny Brown of Jenny Brown Associates.

The Blood of Flowers author Anita Amirrezvani’s Equal of the Sun, a tale of power, loyalty, and love in the royal court of 16th-century Iran, sold to Alexis Gargagliano at Scribner, for publication in August 2012, by Emma Sweeney at Emma Sweeney Agency.

Architecture and design writer Elizabeth Wilhide’s Ashenden, the story of a Georgian house through the lives of those who are connected to it, from the original designer through the 1950s, sold to Juliet Annan at Fig Tree, for June 2012 publication, by Anthony Goff at David Higham Associates.

Maggie Anton’s Rav Hisda’s Daughter, Book 1: Apprentice and Book 2: Enchantress, set in the 3rd-century Persian Empire and inspired by one of the few women of that time mentioned in the Talmud, sold Denise Roy at Plume, in a 2-book deal for publication beginning in August 2012, by Susanna Einstein at LJK Literary Management.

Trifolium Books UK has acquired the rights to republish Kathleen Herbert’s Dark Ages trilogy: Bride of the Spear, Queen of the Lightning and Ghost in the Sunlight. They will appear in their correct chronological order, with expanded maps, notes, and a new design, before the end of 2011.

The Afrika Reich by Guy Saville, alternate history set in a 1950s Africa divided between Britain and Nazi Germany, sold to Aaron Schlechter at Holt, in a two-book deal, by Farley Chase at Waxman Literary Agency on behalf of Jonathan Pegg in the UK. Tanis Rideout’s Above All Things, pitched as Into Thin Air meets The Paris Wife, in which George Mallory’s doomed attempt to be the first man to conquer Mt. Everest is set against a day in the life of Mallory’s wife, Ruth, back home in war-scarred England, sold to Anita Chong at McClelland & Stewart, for publication in Spring 2012.

Juliet author Anne Fortier’s second novel The Sisterhood, intertwining an Oxford grad student’s contemporary search for the mystical Amazon warriors with the story of two Trojan War-era sisters, sold to Susanna Porter at Ballantine by Daniel Lazar at Writers House. Canadian rights to Iris Tupholme at Harper Canada.

Lauren Willig’s first stand-alone novel, Ashford Park, about a

Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine Books purchased Kay Honeyman’s debut The Fire Horse Girl, pitched as “a YA Lisa See or Amy Tan,” in which a girl born (and thus cursed) under the sign of the Fire Horse, travels in 1923 from rural China to Angel Island, to the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown, via Rosemary Stimola.

Carlene Bauer’s Frances & Bernard, an epistolary novel imagining the friendship, discussions of faith and art, and bittersweet romance between two writers in late 1950s New York, inspired by Flannery O’Connor and Robert Lowell, sold to Jenna Johnson at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for publication in Fall 2012, by PJ Mark at Janklow & Nesbit.

New and soon-to-be-available titles Ciji Ware’s A Light on the Veranda, set in Natchez, Mississippi in 1830-40 and in contemporary times, will be reissued by Sourcebooks Landmark in March 2012.

Three novels from Helen Hollick’s backlist will be reissued by SilverWood Books in November: The Kingmaking, Pendragon’s Banner, and Shadow of the King. The titles make up Hollick’s Pendragon’s Banner trilogy set in Arthurian times.

Ann Chamberlin’s The Woman at the Well, a novel set during the early years of Islam in 7th-c Arabia, was published in September by Epigraph Books.

UK journalist Tessa Harris’ debut, The Anatomist’s Apprentice, first in the Dr. Thomas Silkstone mystery series set in 18th-c Oxfordshire, appears from Kensington in January.

Simone St. James’ The Haunting of Maddy Clare, a ghost story set in 1920s England, is out from NAL in March.

New transatlantic edition Seth Hunter’s The Price of Glory, 3rd in the Nathan Peake Napoleonic-era naval series, was published in Sept 2011 by McBooks ($24.95, hb, 375pp). In Nov 2010’s HNR, Edward James wrote “If you like ‘maritimes’ this will not disappoint.”

A brutal and gripping account of the attempt to destroy Rome from the very edges of empire,” said reviewer Gwen Sly (HNR, Nov ‘10) about Harry Sidebottom’s Lion of the Sun: Warrior of Rome, newly out in the US from Overlook ($24.95, hb, Nov).

For forthcoming titles through early 2012, please visit www.historicalnovelsociety.org/forthcoming.htm.

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woman who stumbles upon a family secret that stretches back in time to Edwardian England and the plains of Kenya, sold in a two-book, six-figure deal to Jennifer Weis at St. Martin’s Press via agent Joseph Veltre.

Ayana Mathis’s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, spanning eight decades and following Hattie Shepherd, who in 1923 flees Georgia for Philadelphia, marrying a man she comes to call her ruin, as well as Hattie’s eleven children, sold to Jordan Pavlin at Knopf, at auction, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.

Canadian rights to Iris Tupholme at Harper Canada.

Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers, about the Filles du Roi, orphaned girls sent from Parisian poorhouses to marry French soldiers in the New World, sold to Amy Cherry at Norton for Spring 2012 publication by Samantha Haywood of the Transatlantic Literary Agency. Penguin published it in Canada.

Linda Holeman’s as-yet-untitled book, pitched as “Anna Karenina meets Downton Abbey,” set in 1861 Imperialist Russia in the aftermath of the Emancipation of the Serfs, sold to Anne Collins at Random House Canada in a two-book deal

by Sarah Heller at the Helen Heller Agency.

Varley O’Connor’s The Master’s Muse, based on the life of George Balanchine’s fifth wife, star ballerina Tanaquil LeClercq, whose career was cut short after she contracted polio at the age of 26, sold to Whitney Frick at Scribner for publication in May 2012, by Joy Harris at Joy Harris Agency.

I’ll Be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan, a story of unexpected friendship told through letters between two American women on the World War II home front, to Erika Imranyi at Mira, in a two-book deal, by Anne Bohner at Pen & Ink Literary and Joanna Volpe at Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation.

Katherine Scott Crawford’s Keowee Valley, about a young woman who leaves the stifling society of Charlestown, South Carolina in 1769 and travels into the rugged Carolina back country, determined to build a community of her own and rescue her beloved cousin, sold to Debra Dixon at BelleBooks.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler, in which an 89-year-old recounts the story of her forbidden relationship with the black son of her family’s housekeeper and its tragic consequences in 1930s Kentucky, sold to Hilary Rubin Teeman at St. Martin’s, at auction, for publication in 2013, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary. UK rights to Jenny Geras at Pan Macmillan.

Julianne Lee writing as Anne Rutherford’s three historical mysteries set in Restoration London sold to Ginjer Buchanan at Berkley, in a three-book deal, by Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown.

Giles Kristian’s Raven trilogy of historical Viking thrillers, about a young boy who is carried away from his home by Norse raiders, taking him across a savage 9th-century Europe into the heart of a Christian empire, sold to Tracy Devine at Ballantine Bantam Dell, for publication beginning in Fall 2012, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House on behalf of Bill Hamilton at A.M. Heath.

SARAH JOHNSON, Book Review Editor of HNR, is a librarian, readers’ advisor, and author of reference books.

She reviews for Booklist and CHOICE and writes about fiction for EBSCO’s NoveList database. Her latest book is Historical Fiction II: A Guide to the Genre.

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Columns | 3

NEW VOICES Kimberly Cutter, Maria Dahvana Headley, Samuel Park and Gregory Murphy provide glimpses into the themes embedded in their debut novels.

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n their debut works, these four authors evince an underlying fascination with the impact and powerful consequences of duty.

Kimberly Cutter’s The Maid (Bloomsbury, 2011), whose central character is Joan of Arc, demonstrates very clearly the power of the duty imposed by faith on the individual, as well as on entire countries. Cutter explains, “A few years ago, I found myself hungry for a book about a bold, brilliant, adventurous woman — someone who’d lived a big, thrilling, fascinating life. The kind of life we all dream of living. I went on the Internet and started looking at books about different women throughout history. Joan of Arc was one of them — as were Cleopatra and Isabel Burton, the wife of the great explorer Sir Richard Burton. But as soon as I started reading about Joan, I was hooked. Completely and utterly hooked.

I simply could not believe that a 17-year-old illiterate peasant girl had done the things that Joan of Arc did: convinced the exiled Dauphin of France to put her in charge of his army of 10,000 men, led that army to astonishing victories in Orleans and Patay, turned the tide of the Hundred Years War, crowned the King in Reims Cathedral, and then — after her capture by the English — brilliantly defended herself in the most horrific witch trial the world has ever seen. As I was reading, I kept thinking: This is the most amazing story I’ve ever heard. What conviction this girl must have had. What incredible faith.

I went and read every book about Joan of Arc that I could find. In the process, I discovered that while there are several wonderful biographies about Joan’s life, most of the novels were fairly dry and lifeless. In them, I met Joan the Saint, and Joan the Witch, but I never met Joan the human, the real flesh-andblood teenager, with desires and fears and flaws, like the rest of us. I realized that the book I wanted was one that would make me feel what it was like to actually be Joan of Arc — that young, naïve, all-too-real peasant, fighting in those battles, defending herself in that witch trial, and most of all, kneeling in the woods, where she believed God spoke to her. I wanted a book that 4 | Columns | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

would take me on the full, pulse-pounding journey of Joan of Arc’s life.

Eventually, of course, it dawned on me that the only way I was going to get to read this book was if I wrote it myself.”

Intriguingly, in Maria Dahvana Headley’s Queen of Kings (Dutton, 2001), the central character is another strong woman, Cleopatra, and in this case the duty is to her family. She becomes a pawn of the goddess Sekhmet in order to protect her children and husband. Headley describes the idea for Queen of Kings as coming “in part, out of a scrap of archeological awesome — the temple of Dendera, which was commissioned by Cleopatra, but completed by the Romans after their invasion of Egypt. The temple has a famous bas relief portrait of Cleopatra VII with her son, Caesarion, making an offering to Horus. Caesarion’s depicted with a miniature version of himself, his ka, or soul, walking behind him. Cleopatra is without her ka. It’s clearly an elegant insult from Augustus, the depiction of Egypt’s queen as soulless, but for my Faustian narrative, in which Cleopatra sells her soul to the warlike goddess Sekhmet in an attempt to save Egypt, her children, and her husband, this archeological item was a beautiful coincidence. My book fills in other similar gaps and inexplicabilities in the historic narrative with a variety of ‘what ifs’ — and I sourced the more fantastical elements of the story as carefully as I did the history. After all, the documents depicting classical history also frequently depict monsters, gods, and supernatural events alongside real events.

I had an excellent time with Ovid and Virgil, even as I also used Plutarch and Suetonius for the basic chronology and details of the Antony and Cleopatra story. I also used the pseudo-Sibylline Prophecies as a source — some of the oldest sections depict the Queen of Egypt as despoina, or Mistress of the End of the World. The historical sources are rich, and a gorgeous jumping off point for creating a fantasy rooted in the life and death of a complicated and conflicted woman.”

A different type of duty emerges as a theme in Samuel Park’s This Burns My Heart (Simon & Schuster, 2011) in the relationship between Soo-Ja and her father. Park writes that, “The Korean War has been painstakingly documented; less well known, however, is the period of reconstruction after American troops left. How did South Korea — a poor, agrarian society — rebuild itself from the ruins of war, transforming into the modern, industrialized ‘Asian tiger’ unveiled in the 1988 Olympics?

I’m interested in such interstitial, in-between moments, when

© Eric Payson

political regimes topple and fall, and cultural norms suddenly shift. This Burns My Heart is about transformation — not just that of a traditional country hurtling itself into modernity, but of a young woman learning her own powers. Neither a politician nor a leader, Soo-Ja is a simple woman unaware of the gigantic shifts whirling around her. But as her country changes, so will she: from an obedient daughter afraid to challenge her beloved father, into an ambitious businesswoman quietly observing the rise of the cities.

“As I wrote This Burns My Heart, I was inspired not just by South Korea’s evolution, but two other countries with similar histories: Germany, with its ‘economic miracle’ after World War II, also experienced unexpected growth and shifts in gender roles; and Brazil, my country of birth, which survived years of military dictatorship and finally became a democracy with

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MYFANWY COOK is fascinated by the skill with which writers of historical fiction bring the past to life in all its gore and glory, which, in part, inspired her to publish How to Write Historical Fiction Guide and Tool Kit.

— A Practical

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Photo credit: Ranierstudio.com Photo credit: Ryan Bakerink Photo credit: Kyle Cassidy

Left to right from top: Samuel Park, Gregory Murphy, Maria Dahvana Headley, and Kimberly Cutter

direct elections in 1984. This Burns My Heart opens with the main characters in the midst of the April Revolution of 1960, when student protests led to the demise of Syngman Rhee’s government. That scene, one reviewer noted, evoked the recent insurrections in Syria; another reviewer pointed out the scene’s similarities to the description of the Bolshevik Revolution in Dr. Zhivago. I see This Burns My Heart as a universal story, one of struggle and turmoil, but also change and freedom. It could happen in any country, and in many ways, it does.”

In Gregory Murphy’s Incognito (Berkley Books, 2011), one of the central characters, William Dysart, is bound into a loveless marriage by the sense of duty which the societal conventions of his time period impose upon him. Murphy’s novel was inspired by an idea: “Incognito ... was a story I had read about someone forgiving another for something truly reprehensible. I began to imagine such an act of forgiveness as the circumstance around which to build a novel — a transformative moment that would affect the main character. That character would become William Dysart, an aristocratic young lawyer — wealthy, privileged and locked in a loveless marriage.

“Around the time the idea for Incognito began taking shape, I happened to read Robert Caro’s magisterial biography of New York’s master builder Robert Moses, The Powerbroker. An incident from the book stayed with me. In the 1930s, Robert Moses made a backroom deal with the powerful owners of vast estates on Long Island not to encroach on their property when building a parkway there. Instead, Moses changed the route of the parkway, condemning the property of poor farmers and destroying their lives. In Incognito this would become the battle by Lydia Billings, the owner of a two thousand acre estate, Bagatelle, to seize the property of Sybil Curtis, a young woman about whom very little is known. William Dysart would be brought in by Mrs. Billings to give a sheen of legal respectability to the Billings land grab, with far-reaching consequences for all involved. As I developed the motivation for Lydia Billings’s obsession with the Curtis property, I realized the novel could not be set in the 1930s, as I had planned, but would need to be moved to an earlier part of the 20th century — the Gilded Age, when robber barons like Lydia’s husband, the financier Henry Billings, had the power to control and crush lives with impunity. A time when someone like Sybil Curtis might be lost — a mere ‘whisper in the deafening roar’ of trade and commerce. With these plot points clearly established, I began the journey into the world of Incognito.”

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Columns | 5

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Kate Morton’s gothic fiction

ate Morton is one of Australia’s most successful authors.

K Her novels are richly drawn tales of crumbling castles, ancient families and compelling inter-generational secrets. Aside from their clear gothic influence, her books also have another element in common. Whether it be a screenwriter trying to understand the death of a war-affected poet, a cameo appearance by Frances Hodgson Burnett, or a young writer finding the courage to write on the crisp new pages of a notebook, her books all provide insight into the writing life. Kate Morton’s most recent novel, The Distant Hours, does not depart from this pattern. It is a tale of readers, writers, editors and families, all influenced by the work of one a dead man and his signature tale: The True History of the Mud Man. When I asked Morton whether we might explore the “writerly” themes in The Distant Hours, she was happy to oblige.

Whether in a muniment room reading the twisted notes of a dead author, perusing a sister’s secret journal, or sitting quietly with writing materials and a strong cup of tea — the notebook is a dominant feature of Morton’s characters’ lives.

“I am absolutely a notebook person,” she told me. “To imagine being without one fills me with dread … by the time I finish writing a novel, I’ve usually gathered around ten notebooks of story ideas, random images, plot schematics, scene details, graphs, snatches of overheard conversation … you name it, it’s in there. Scribbled, crossed-out, connected with arrows, stapled in on top of other bits and pieces. Quite a mess, but a somehow lovely one … Even at a scene level.” She added, “If I’m stuck for what to write, I take my notebook to a coffee shop and try to envisage what’s going to happen, writing it down as I see it in my head: smells, snippets of dialogue, sounds within the setting, emotions the characters might be feeling … It can be incredibly liberating to remove oneself from the keyboard and the need to pick the right words.”

Having described her note-taking process, Morton went on to

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recount the experience of losing a notebook, while quarter of the way through the writing of The Shifting Fog (published as The House at Riverton in USA/UK). “It was an awful experience,” she said, “but it taught me that no matter how essential the notebook seems at the time, no matter how tightly I cling to it when I’m dreaming up a story, a novel is a living, breathing organism and will continue to grow — perhaps in even more propitious ways than those sketched out — without it.”

In The Distant Hours Kate Morton contrasts two very different types of writers. One, methodically setting aside time for reading, writing, and re-drafting, the other, like someone trying to “write themselves free of entanglement.” I wondered where Morton sat on this creative spectrum. “My experience sits somewhere between,” she told me. “I love to plot and plan in the beginning, and the process gives me enormous pleasure.

But once the story is underway, even though I continue to fill my notebook with ideas and scene breakdowns, there’s a momentum that arrives … and I’m ‘inside’ a book, I relate completely to the idea of having to write myself free of entanglement.’”

The Distant Hours contrasts a prolific writer, whose manuscripts were never published, with another who dreamt of becoming a writer and, through a series of misfortunes, gave up on the dream. I knew that Kate Morton’s success had not come easily — her first two manuscripts were rejected by every major publisher in Australia. I asked her whether she had ever been tempted to give up. “It was never a choice for me,” she said. “When I started writing, it was a revelation. There was nothing I’d done up to that point that absorbed me the way building and peopling my fictional world did. It was the same joy I’d experienced as a child, of disappearing inside stories when I read, but magnified now because I was inventing the story myself.’”

Morton went on to describe the peculiar tension of being

by Elizabeth Jane being stuck within a maze, which makes it sound trapping, which it isn’t — rather, it’s allencompassing”

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Kate Morton

story and is unhappy about it, feels wrong to me; to draw on observations of the ways real people behave under pressure and apply them to characters is fine. Funnily enough,” she added, “whenever I warn people that I’m a writer and my stories are about family secrets, they seem to become even more determined to tell me their own.”

So what is next for Kate Morton? Having recently returned from an international publicity tour, she is now locked away in her writing room working on a new project. A completely new story, perhaps? Or return to the characters silenced by the whispers of The Distant Hours? I didn’t like to enquire. Neither did I ask whether it would be set in a castle, around which a tight web of family secrets had been drawn. To do so would have been to “breach the contract between reader and writer,” something Morton’s character, Edie, calls “narrative greed.” But if The Distant Hours is anything to go by, we know Morton’s next novel will be tightly plotted, with finely wrought characters, and a secret that is utterly compelling, And, having glimpsed her writing methods, we may also envisage her surrounded by notebooks and lost in the shadows of another world.

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caught up in her fictional world. “It’s like being stuck within a maze, which makes it sound trapping, which it isn’t — rather, it’s all-encompassing … and for as long as it takes me to reach the exit, no matter what else is happening in my Real Life, the characters, their plot, their settings, are in my mind. It can be rather frazzling at times,” she admits, “but I can’t imagine them not being there. In fact, when I’m not working on a book I feel restless and, I’ve been told, become rather tetchy.”

In The Distant Hours, Morton draws links between writing and insanity, thereby raising questions of “artistic temperament” and the cost of walking a writer’s path. “All creative work has a cost,” she told me. “In a sense, the expression in concrete terms of an abstract idea is compromised from the start. It’s like Shelley says in ‘A Defence of Poetry’, once composition begins, inspiration is already on the decline. It sometimes feels as if the actual scene or chapter or characterization is a shadow of the original conception.”

The Distant Hours provided some of the toughest moments Morton has experienced as a writer, not least because the idea came to her when she was mid-way into writing another book.

“I was having a terrible time with the first manuscript,” she said.

“I couldn’t feel the story as real in the way I need to when I’m writing — and suddenly these three sisters with a deep, dark secret and a crumbling castle arrived and began to obsess me.

I decided to give them a week, to write them out of my system … I wrote the first chapter in a single night and I just knew that I wasn’t going back to the other book, that this was the story I had to tell. And so I did, with a looming deadline and without a notebook full of copious planning. It was the scariest novelwriting experience I’ve had, but also the most exhilarating.”

The Distant Hours not only gives us glimpses of the writing life, it also characterizes the role of the editor. At one point in the narrative, Edie (the protagonist) says: “I’m an editor, it’s my job to examine narratives for plausibility and this one was lacking in some way.” I asked Morton how the editing process worked for her. “I edit as I go,” she admits, “copiously. I’ve come to realize that my creative process demands that at least some part of the project is polished up early on. I become dispirited if the whole thing reads like a first draft.”

Although Morton generally works alone, too filled with selfdoubt to expose her work to any but a select few, she relishes the external editing process when the time eventually arrives. “I like being edited … there’s an enormous satisfaction in feeling the threads of a story draw tightly together. For a writer of mysteries, in particular, it’s essential to close the gaps that a reader might peek through to discern the answers too soon.”

Finally, The Distant Hours explores the fine line between the appropriation and misappropriation of stories. “There are stories I can’t and won’t tell for all sorts of reasons,” Morton admits.

“Everything that enters a writer’s mind is grist to the creative mill and it’s as well for people close to writers to know that up front.” In the end, “it’s a question of degree, and everybody draws the line in a different place. To replicate a confidence so that the person to whom it belongs recognizes themselves in your

WHEN ELIZABETH JANE isn’t writing, she works as a librarian, learns Welsh and blogs at http://hannercymraes. blogspot.com. She also freelances for a corporate magazine.

In 2007, an early draft of her historical novel, Chrysalis, was short-listed for a HarperCollins Varuna manuscript development award. In 2009, her short story, “Beyond the Blackout Curtain,” won the Bristol Short Story Prize. Her novel is currently being re-drafted in response to a structural edit.

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Features | 7

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Duncan Noble advises on writing sword fights

historical novel that includes the upper class, or those A who aspire to be taken for upper class, is always enlivened by a rousing sword fight — be it in a battle, a murderous attack, or a formal duel. It may sound like a simple way to add action to one’s story, were it not for one undeniable fact: sword fights are difficult to write. A balance between drama and accuracy is not easily achieved.

Regrettably, or perhaps fortunately, most of us have acquired our knowledge of sword fighting from what we’ve seen in films — the various Three Musketeer films, The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche, Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk and the like. These cinematic costume dramas have informed how we think about sword fighting. They are, however, nothing like the real thing.

Why? A realistically staged sword fight is far too dangerous to be entrusted to actors who possess only the basics of sport fencing (if that), which they learned as an aid to deportment at drama school. So, despite the knowledge you may have garnered from filmed versions, there are a few things to keep in mind if you intend to write realistically about sword fighting in your historical novel.

First of all, the swords your characters use must be in period. (No rapiers in the Regency, please.) Errol Flynn and Stewart Granger did things with a 12-ounce sport epée or a carbon fibre or rubber blade that are impossible to accomplish with a real sword. Another fact of which most viewers are unaware is that the camera was also under cranked. A real sword fight is slow, quite tedious to watch — the fighters’ brains are often working flat-out, rather than their bodies. Most of all, one important aspect that is almost always lost in the filmed sword fight is that the main object is to avoid being killed, not to make that lunge 1/100 of a second before receiving one in return.

Substance, ladies and gentlemen, not style. This is problematic

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You’ve Come Here Once Too Often for the novelist in that very few are inclined to voluntarily read half an hour of cautious prodding. There must be action. And the real action is going on inside the fighters’ heads. But this is also the author’s boon: there’s enough drama going on in there to make a riveting fight. While the playwright or screenwriter might be denied access to it — precluded, as it is, by his medium — it’s readily available to the author.

Most of these film versions were based upon novelistic antecedents, and it is instructive to look at the fight passages in these books. Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers (1844), for instance, abounds in rapier fights, although it must be noted that the rapier was a civilian weapon, not a military one.

Musketeers would have carried a broadbladed cut and thrust sword, a weapon that only superficially resembles a rapier. Dumas exemplifies the internal versus external drama — there can be a minute examination of d’Artagnan’s feelings before an encounter, but the fight itself is over in a line. The fight in Anthony Hope’s Rupert of Hentzau (1896) between Rudolf Rassendyll and the psychopathic Count Rupert, however, leans more towards the realm of film. There is a case of blades that just happens to be in the room, thus they could use epées de combat, and I can award full marks for sword authenticity to Mr. Hope. Then, however, come the sound effects — “one [of the blades] would run up the other with a sharp grating slither” and “there was no sound, save of the hard breathing and deep-drawn pants of men who rest an instant in the midst of intense exertion.” Believable enough, but there are also the spoken threats, “Say your prayers, King Rudolf.” This is paralleled by several of the clichés that are beloved of Hollywood’s worst but do not feature in real sword fights. Film and sometimes novelistic sword fights abound in corps à corps where the fighters press up against each other and

by Duncan Noble

Most of us... have acquired our knowledge of sword fighting from what we’ve seen in films —

the various Three Musketeer films, The Prisoner of Zenda, Saramouche, Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk.”

8 | Features | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

Mercutio’s twenty-line death speech in Romeo and Juliet.

Obviously one’s opponent is dangerous, but there are other, ample sources of peril for those engaging in battle with swords. Two dangers for the mounted swordsman are that he may inadvertently cut off his horse’s ears or amputate his own right leg. Both have been done in the excitement of a cavalry engagement. I have experienced the danger myself. While giving a public demonstration of mounted sword fighting, I had successfully engaged a target in a straight run. Then I swung my horse round in a sharp turn to the left to select a target out of a forest of figures with cardboard heads and arms. I picked one out and started a vertical cut. My Cossack sabre blade was nearly half way to the horizontal when I realised I was too close — the blade would land on my own thigh after removing the target’s arm. I quickly twisted my wrist and turned the blade, already past the target’s arm, upwards and completed the cut in safety.

But this incident illustrates how dangerous a swordsman could be to himself, enemies notwithstanding.

If you’re all about the accoutrement, fighting with a shield to accessorize your sword could appear in your book if it’s set in the 18th-century Scottish Highlands or the Middle Ages. In the average TV drama or re-enactment, the fighters bang away on each other’s shields — a safer way to swordfight, but devoid of potential drama. However, if you cut onto the edge of a shield, your sword may stick in it and be impossible to withdraw for a second or two. The fighter with the stuck sword is disarmed for that brief period. Though only a swordsman would notice it, I’ve seen this done in a BBCTV drama, and most effective it is. Put it in your novel, along with the fear it would engender, and it becomes a major incident.

So, what have we learned about sword fighting scenes for our historical novels? A minimum of technical detail is desirable. Then concentrate on the fighters’ feelings. The author can provide in a written story what the visual media cannot.

To wit, an eavesdropping into the continually churning fear, doubt, and desperation of the fighters as each tries to guess what his opponent’s plans for the next few seconds are. I would suggest that all too often this opportunity is missed in favour of descriptions of the sights and sounds of combat, a method which a play or film would show more immediately and to better advantage. As with other human emotional activities, what goes on in the head is often more exciting than what happens to the body.

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hiss insults — “You have come here once too often!” They’re amusing, they make for pithy dialogue, but they don’t happen in real life. You save your breath for ... well, breathing, and you keep at sword’s length from the man who’s trying to kill you.

As has been established, the scriptwriters use this trope because they cannot enter the fighters’ heads like the novelist can. Lucky novelist! Real sword fights are silent affairs. Concentrate the action on the fears and hatreds churning inside the fighters’ heads. It’s more than enough, so reduce the sound effects. There are only so many pants, gasps, and sobs for breath that can be included before the reader begins to wish that the fighters would just give over, go ahead and have their heart attacks now.

Another factor the novelist should keep in mind is to go easy on the technicalities. The reader need not ponder over the fact that a St George’s parry is defeated by a thrust in pronation.

Rafael Sabatini’s novel, Scaramouche (1921), which was later made into an excellent film starring Stewart Granger, is a mass of undigested research, though it is useful as a source of background. The description of the duel between André-Louis Moreau and the Marquis de la Tour d’Azyr is well over the top: “The slender, wickedly delicate blades clashed together, and after a momentary glissade were whirling, swift and bright as lightning, and almost as impossible to follow with the eye.” Sabatini’s fight scenes certainly contain enough description, but fail to showcase the feeling — what the fight means to its participants.

But what about a more modern example of sword fighting in the historical novel? Edward Bewley’s The Italian Potion (reviewed in HNR August 2010), is a crime novel set in 1663, during the Restoration, when the rapier was giving way to the smallsword. Francis Wyld, the investigator, carries a rapier.

When he meets a suspect, he has a swordsman’s dagger in his boot, and when he is assaulted, one thrust drops the assailant dead, with no emotional output. This scene illustrates another precept often ignored in sword fighting: except for decapitation, very few sword wounds are immediately disabling, much less fatal. Modern medical experience is that a puncture of the heart can take up to a minute to become effective, ample time for a retaliatory fatal wound to be inflicted on the attacker. Before modern medicine, twenty minutes was a rapid death from a puncture of any other major organ. It could take days, or even weeks. In the films or in the theatre a sword fight usually ends with a straight thrust which drops the recipient stone dead.

But our theatrical forbearers were more conversant about such things. Shakespeare, for instance, knew about sword fighting. He also knew that his audiences were knowledgeable swordsmen who had to be lured away from the rival attraction of a bloody prize fight before they would see a simulated sword fight in, say, Hamlet at the Globe Theatre. These fights must then, necessarily, be realistic; their authenticity had to satisfy the violent men in the audience. Thus, in Shakespeare’s plays, the loser takes twenty minutes or so to die of internal bleeding — conveniently allowing time for dying pronouncements, such as

DUNCAN NOBLE is a swordsman and a writer.

He has had six historical novels published in which sword fights advance the plot. Currently, he writes on rapier fighting and Scottish Highland claymores and practices with those weapons. As an officer in a Highland regiment, he once carried a claymore with official permission to use it if necessary. The necessity did not arise. But that’s another story.

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Features | 9

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the legacy of Tom Grundner

called him Herr Kapitan in recognition of his German Iheritage and his authoritative, chivalrous demeanor. In my

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Fireship Press

was the old-style editor who encouraged writers, gave them feedback and helped them build careers.”

A savvy businessman, Tom understood the need to diversify his selection. Accordingly, Fireship Press also has an imprint known as Cortero Publishing, dedicated to contemporary mainstream fiction and special-interest nonfiction.

In addition to being the Senior Editor at Fireship Press, Tom Grundner was the author of the Sir Sidney Smith series, historic naval fiction that takes place during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, inspired by real people and events. Acre (2011), Tom’s last novel, takes place after Nelson’s victory at the Nile and describes the siege of Acre. Tom also authored The Ramage Companion, the companion book to Dudley Pope’s 18-volume Ramage nautical adventure series.

In spite of his accomplishments, Tom was more comfortable giving compliments than receiving them. When Julian Padowicz, the author of Writer’s Block and Best Sunset in Venice, commented on Tom’s generosity in the acknowledgements to his last book, Tom “forgot” to include the comment.

Fireship Press is a fine fixture in the world of historical fiction, and Tom’s staff and family are determined to do everything in their power to preserve it. Currently, Mary Lou Monahan, Tom’s spirited and determined wife, is at the helm of the ship. She had witnessed the genesis of the press and will be making decisions regarding the future of its leadership. Under her supervision, Tom’s small but dedicated and highly efficient crew will keep Fireship Press afloat and continue his noble legacy.

memory, Tom Grundner will always remain a romantic giant with a magnificent white beard and a warm, slightly hoarse baritone.

Two years ago he invited me aboard an enchanted literary vessel known as Fireship Press. At the time, I was a nameless 30-yearold work-at-home mom with a dusty English diploma and a long manuscript of a Victorian thriller. Undeterred by my novice status, Tom offered me a contract, and soon my protagonist found himself in the welcoming company of naval officers, knights, and assassins. Today it is my sad privilege to write Tom’s obituary.

He died suddenly in his Arizona home on September 11, 2011, of a massive heart attack. He left behind a literary landmark.

Fireship Press came into existence in 2008. Tom used the profits from his best-selling series of golf books to pursue a dream and form a small publishing house dedicated to historical and nautical fiction. He started off by resurrecting and bringing back into the light out-of-print masterpieces of the past; he later added new authors to the list. “It’s more responsibility dealing with living authors than with dead ones,” he told me jokingly.

In addition to first-timers like me, he also attracted authors who had been previously published by big houses. Linda Collison is one such author. Fireship Press published her novel, Surgeon’s Mate, a sequel to Star-Crossed (Knopf, 2006). “Tom understood what I was writing and he understood the dedicated readers of historical fiction,” Collison reminisces. “He rose to the rank of lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and served in Vietnam, besides holding a doctorate in educational philosophy and psychology and writing books of his own. He was always Marina Julia Neary is the author of Wynfield’s Kingdom and approachable and answered emails promptly and personally. He Wynfield’s War.

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by Marina Julia Neary

He was... always approachable and answered emails promptly and personally. He was the old-style editor who encouraged writers, gave them feedback and helped them build careers.”

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Eileen Clymer Schwab discusses her antebellum fiction

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Inner Voices

ileen Clymer Schwab is the author of two novels of historical Efiction: Promise Bridge, published last year, and Shadow of a

ECS: The years preceding the Civil War were so pivotal in American history, yet there is not a lot of adult fiction set in Quarter Moon, released this July. Both publications have been this period. I suppose this is because it is not a time our nation favorably reviewed by the HNR. Eileen is married with three is proud of or wishes to reminisce over. Instead we hide it from grown children and lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and sight like an ugly scar. So the fact that I’ve written two novels extended family. She is hard at work on her third novel, which against the backdrop of slavery in the 1800s may seem like a takes place in Post-Civil War America. highly unusual choice. In keeping the door closed on this period, we miss the chance to celebrate and marvel at the incredible acts SZ: How long have you been writing of courage and daring deeds that were historical fiction professionally? the genesis of social change in the United ECS: I have always loved writing, States. The Underground Railroad is the though I primarily thought of myself as a perfect example of the best of America in nonfiction writer, in part because smaller the worst of America, and it serves as a freelance magazine and newspaper vehicle of transformation for Shadow of articles were more easily managed in my a Quarter Moon’s main character, Jacy busy schedule. When my children were Lane. younger, I would occasionally sign up for a writing course or seminar at my local SZ: Talk a little bit about your research community college as a way of improving style. Your primary sources? my craft and being around others who ECS: My research begins immediately loved to write. Several years ago, I had and continues throughout the writing the good fortune of taking a course of the book. It is an on-going process of taught by a wonderful author, Juilene discovery – not just of historical facts, Osborne-McKnight, whose novels are but of tendencies, beliefs, and nuances rich in Celtic history and folklore. I found of the time. Through research, I become myself mesmerized by the elements of better acquainted with my characters and good fiction. While doing a class exercise the world around them. I am a lover of on developing character and plot, Juilene libraries so I begin there and then strive took me aside and told me with a grin, to touch and see as much as I can beyond “Eileen, you’re a fiction writer... you just don’t know it yet.” Her books and documents. While writing Shadow of a Quarter Moon words really stuck with me and I eventually realized that the and Promise Bridge, I visited the Underground Railroad Freedom inner voices that called for me to follow were actually characters, Center in Cincinnati and other historic sites found within our and they led me back into the pre-Civil War years that so National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. So often intrigued me. My writing made sense to me in a way it never the surprises discovered in research shift plotlines or shape had before. I was morphed into a fiction writer and I’ve never characters in unexpected ways. For example, while doing some looked back. research in North Carolina, I came across Dismal Swamp. As a writer, I could not overlook a name so vivid and descriptive, and SZ: What made you decide on this particular time period for your I knew it would be mentioned in my story. At the time, I had novels? no idea that the bleak sounding region was so rich and storied

by Susan Zabolotny

My writing... made sense to me in a way it never had before. I was morphed into a fiction writer and I’ve never looked back.”

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Features | 11

in Underground Railroad history, or that it would play such a significant role in my novel.

SZ: Where do you get your best ideas?

ECS: My best ideas are a mix of imagination and reality, and usually the result of me being moved emotionally in some way.

Inspiration and ideas can come from a pain endured, a kindness witnessed, a song or poem, or the awe stirred by a heroic act.

The possibilities are endless and are often unexpected when they arrive. In my first novel, the spirit of the song, “Love Can Build a Bridge,” sung by the country duo The Judds, inspired the physical gesture of the “promise bridge”.

SZ: Do you have a favorite character in your novels? If so, why?

ECS: Trying to choose a favorite character is like trying to choose a favorite child... impossible! They are all so special in their own way. In Shadow of a Quarter Moon, Jacy’s journey is so intimate for the reader, you can’t help but feel deeply attached and invested in her. Her slave mother, Jerlinda, is easy to love with her unfailing devotion, and the runaway, Violet, is so integral in Jacy’s transformation. Much like Hannah and Livie in Promise Bridge, the strength and character of these women resonate in me long after completing the novel. Even secondary characters have a mighty impact on me. The freedman, Marcus, in Promise Bridge and Shadow’s Sylvan Firth are good examples of characters who became extraordinary because they were composites of true heroes of the time.

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SZ: How do you plot your novels?

ECS: I am not one for detailed outlines, plot charts, or character cards. Initially, I like to jot down a loose chain of events that will act as my road map. I generally foresee my ending when I begin, though the route can twist and change course depending on what I discover along the way. My first draft is written quickly so I can get the bones of the story down on paper. After that, the real work begins. Revision is where the magic happens. I revise my novels, beginning to end, anywhere from five to ten times.

Revision is where the texture and color is added to the story.

Details discovered in research are sewn in as well as plot twists and foreshadowing. It’s a grueling process, but I love it.

SZ: Why do you think historical fiction has always been so popular with readers?

ECS: I think we have a natural curiosity about the past and the paths that were forged to get us to where we are today. Even the most turbulent periods in history inspired great books and memorable characters. The heroes are more heroic and the villains more villainous because they are woven from truths.

Historical fiction is an avenue of remembering and discussing the trials and triumphs of America’s Underground Railroad and in some small way, pays respect to its role in our social evolution.

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SZ: Did your research and writing about slavery, the Underground Railroad, and that time period in general change any preconceived notions or perceptions you may have had about that era?

ECS: The most cherished compliments I receive are from readers who say, “I was so swept up in the story, I didn’t realize how much I learned until it was over.” I feel the same way while I am writing and researching. I was awed by the extent to which freedmen and women risked their lives to help those still in bondage. This sense of commitment and responsibility felt by former slaves for their counterparts is a lesson in humanity.

SUSAN ZABOLOTNY is a member of the Historical Novel Society and a frequent reviewer for HNR.

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a serendipitous interview with Tom Harper

A series of coincidences brought about this interview with

historical thriller author Tom Harper …

Sandy is an enthusiastic amateur archaeologist who lives in Malton, UK, and often goes fieldwalking in the area near the Roman fort of Derventio. Mostly, she picks up pieces of Roman pottery, but one day she happened upon a bronze coin. It was badly corroded and she wasn’t sure what it was dated. She brought it into work to show me, as she knew I was an archaeologist.

At first, I wasn’t even sure it was Roman, and then I saw what looked like an altar on the reverse of the coin and was convinced.

My partner is also an archaeologist and specialises in Roman coins, so I took it home to him for proper identification.

After careful examination, he came to the conclusion it was a coin of Crispus, a son of Constantine the Great, the 4th century Roman emperor who made Christianity the official state religion.

Though not rare, the coin is not particularly common either.

Cut to the Festival of Writing in York a few weeks later. I was attending on the Sunday only, and one of the workshops I went to was presented by Tom Harper, who talked about how he does his research. We were then introduced to one another at lunchtime by conference organiser Kate Allan. We talked things historical, and I mentioned that someone had brought in a Roman coin for me to look at. When I mentioned that it

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THE SECRET OF THE ROMAN COIN was a coin of Crispus, Tom was surprised, particularly as his last novel, The Secrets of the Dead (Arrow, September 2011), includes Crispus.

Tom was eager to handle the coin, and we all met up for a coffee a couple of months later. This is how he was able to see and touch a coin from the 4th century, one that is specifically tied to the person he has written about.

Tom was born in Germany in 1977, partly brought up there, and also in Belgium and America. He went to Oxford University to study Modern History, but at Oxford, “modern” is defined as being from the reign of Diocletian (AD 285) onward!

Tom was thus able to pick and choose from a wide range of history for his studies.

Rather than specialising in the Late Roman era or the medieval, he attended a mixture of courses — anything that took his fancy. And this has proved to be Tom Harper examines a Roman coin a theme running through his writing. His tutors noted that rather than his essays focusing on detail, he liked to investigate the big picture and tell a story.

After graduating, Tom took a job in insurance and eventually realised that it wasn’t for him, after the small company rapidly developed into a very large business. Rather than starting with writing short stories, he tried his hand at writing a novel, preferring the larger canvas a book provides. That novel was very much an apprentice piece and won’t see the light of day, as Tom

by Sandra Garside-Neville

We talked... things historical, and I mentioned that someone had brought in a Roman coin for me to look at.”

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Features | 13

What really set Tom’s writing career off was the Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger competition in 2001. The award required 3,000 words and a synopsis. Tom saw this as a good exercise rather than something that might actively further his writing career, and set about entering his idea for a novel about Martin Jerrold, a reluctant hero in Nelson’s navy. Tom was surprised to get a call from the CWA asking if they could show his entry to some agents. Of course he said yes! His entry was a runner-up in the competition, and he was subsequently signed by an agent.

It all snowballed from there. There was a bidding war between publishers, and eventually Tom got a three-book deal. He was able to give up his job to concentrate on writing. Since the first deadline for the series was quite long, he thought he could also write other books, so suggested a Byzantine-set crime series. This was picked up by another publisher, which led to the creation of a pen name.

To keep the two series separate, he wrote the Byzantine series with the pen name (Tom Harper), rather than his own name (Edwin Thomas), under which the Jerrold series was written. He chose the surname Harper as he liked the connection that it has with medieval harpers, who would also be storytellers.

Tom, of course, was part of his real surname. Writing two books a year proved hard going. The first book was relatively easy, but as time went on, the deadlines got tougher to meet. He’s now quite happy with long deadlines.

Unfortunately, apart from the first novel, the Jerrold books did not sell particularly well, and the publisher decided not to continue after the third book. The Byzantine stories, however, sold healthily. These are set in the late 11th century, at the time of the First Crusade, so Tom was able to get his crime-solving character to follow the progress of war. The first book is set in Byzantium and the following two at the siege of Antioch and the capture of Jerusalem. These works are something of a hybrid in that the crime-solving element is somewhat overtaken by the events of the Crusade.

The last of the novels was finished late and came in very long.

It had to be edited down and then extra bits written to ensure the story worked properly. When Tom finally finished, he was pretty much burnt out and ready to move on.

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Because Tom’s publisher unexpectedly had a vacant slot for the thriller of the month title, he decided to have a go at writing one. Having greatly enjoyed watching an Indiana Jones film, he was inspired to write an archaeological-based thriller set in 1947. He had a deadline of six months, but in contrast to the last Byzantine book, writing the thriller was easy, disciplined and great fun.

Tom is sanguine about the rise of electronic publishing, as long as the price is similar to that of the hard copy. All of his books, written as Tom Harper, are available for Kindle. He’s recently moved to different publisher and has another threebook deal which will run from 2013 to 2015. Tom lives in York, and thanks to his wife, who is a lecturer at the University, it looks like he’ll be living in this richly historical city for some time to come.

Tom has moved into writing what could be called time-slip novels, in that they have a modern story and also an historical story, so it’s half and half.

Tom reckons he’s having his cake and eating it, as it allows him to research historical themes whilst also having a modern element which can help put the history into context. He doesn’t have a particular historical period of interest, which means he can pick and choose where he goes next. The end result: when you read his thrillers, you may be surprised where he takes you.

Tom’s experience with the Crispus coin came too late to be worked into Secrets of the Dead, but it played a vivid role in bringing the author closer to the subject of his research. You’ll have to read the book to find out what role Crispus has!

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Tom Harper’s website: http://www.tom-harper.co.uk The Crime Writers’ Association website: http://www.thecwa. co.uk Details of the Festival of Writing: http://www.writersworkshop. co.uk/festivals/index.shtml Edwin Thomas’ website is at: http://www.edwin-thomas.com

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reckons it’s “very silly” (though he wryly notes that a few years ago a film was made which covered similar territory to his first attempt at writing).

SANDRA GARSIDE-NEVILLE lives in York and is interested in Roman and Anglo-Saxon history. She is a freelance archaeologist, and also has a proper job in a science library.

an interview with Anna Maclean and Kelly O’Connor McNees

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THE YEAR OF Louisa May Alcott

It’s the year of Louisa May Alcott. Kelly O’Connor McNees’s

In your novel Louisa and the Missing Heiress, Alcott conceals her The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott and Anna Maclean’s detecting for propriety’s sake — it was inappropriate for a young historical mystery, Louisa and the Missing Heiress, are have both lady to know about criminals and dastardly deeds. What was your recently been released in trade paperback by Penguin. inspiration to cast Louisa as a detective?

AM: Louisa May Alcott, at the age at which I begin her fictional The Lost Summer is an imagining of a summer that Alcott career as a sleuth, already knows quite a bit about life and deliberately purged from her letters human nature. She was well-raised but and journals: a summer that would not sheltered from the realities of the influence the 22-year-old’s writing career world. She was a young woman filled and provide the inspiration for the with curiosity and intelligence, daughter relationship between Jo and Laurie in of a philosopher, her father, and of Little Women. her mother, Abba, a woman of great Louisa and the Missing Heiress, by compassion and practicality. So it seemed contrast, features Alcott as an amateur to me that Louisa had the innate skills sleuth, long before she becomes a famous and background a good detective would author. Alcott is suspicious of a dear need: curiosity, intelligence, common friend’s death and uncovers deep secrets sense and that deep urge to have life make surrounding the murder. The story sense, to see justice done. weaves together 19th-century Boston, famous personages, Alcott’s home life Anna and Kelly, at any point, did you feel and a varied cast of suspects. as though it was a sacrilege to be taking on Both novels offer readers intriguing Louisa’s voice? insights into Alcott’s life and times AM: Never. I really think Louisa would and her strength of character. I had the have enjoyed this endeavor. In fact, I opportunity to ask both authors about sometimes imagined conversations with their process and Alcott. her, and she was quite pleased. The problem was being true to Louisa’s very Kelly, you cast The Lost Summer as a lost distinctive mid-19th century American chapter of Louisa May Alcott’s life. What convinced you that there voice, without letting the voice feel archaic to the reader. That was a possible romance in Louisa’s lost summer? was a tightrope, walking between fidelity and contemporary KOM: The gap in the historical record, along with the readability. knowledge that Louisa purposely destroyed some journals, and KOM: I felt conscious of the fact that Louisa May Alcott the ambiguous nature of a real-life inspiration for the character belongs to everyone, as an iconic figure in American literature, of “Laurie” in Little Women, caused me to speculate about the and because of that I felt a sense of responsibility to stay as true possibility of a forgotten romance. That speculation led to fiction. as I could to her voice and accurately depict what I imagined to be Once a writer breaks from the historical record to imagine a her interior life at age 22. But, again, The Lost Summer of Louisa story, she’s no longer dealing with what actually happened or May Alcott is a novel. It is not a history book or a biography. I didn’t happen. It’s about the story, staying true to the story and invented a version of this famous writer, and I invented a story the characters the writer has created. Because even Louisa May around her.

Alcott, in my novel, is a fictional character. She is the Louisa of my imagination. Based in fact, but in many ways invented.

In Lost Summer, Louisa laments that her many fans confuse

by Michaela MacColl

Louisa May Alcott... belongs to everyone, as an iconic figure in American literature, and because of that, I felt a sense of responsibility to stay as true as I could to her voice.”

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Features | 15

It’s well-known that Little Women was based on Alcott’s childhood, so I assume the novel was an inspiration for you, too. What other sources gave you insight into her voice and character?

AM: I read so many of Louisa’s blood and thunder stories! I read her friends, Emerson and Thoreau, and biographies of people somehow involved in her life — the wonderful Margaret Fuller, for instance.

I tried to immerse myself in the culture and literature she would have known. But mostly I just kept going back to her work, listening to her voice from the page and giving myself permission to sometimes read between the lines.

KOM: Reading Louisa’s collected letters and journals (those that remain, since some were destroyed before her death) was a crucial step in the process of creating her voice. I also read the many lesser-known stories Louisa wrote under the pen name A. M. Barnard. Her real passion was for the sensational.

In Louisa and the Missing Heiress, Louisa says she is “the only person able to reach a satisfactory conclusion to the mysterious events.” What makes her uniquely qualified to solve these crimes?

AM: In addition to her innate abilities, she cared about the truth. Many of the people in the mystery have motives that are not really relevant to the truth: they want to hide things or make a point rather than find the actual murderer. The family wants to protect its name, of course. The young constable, one of Boston’s first paid policemen, has to prove his worth to the city. Louisa needs the truth and will settle for nothing less. Also, Louisa was kind of outside of the class structure — she came from a good old family with a wonderful name and reputation, yet they were poor and to some extent outlaws in their own right because of their involvement with the abolitionist movement. So Louisa moved freely back and forth between the Bostonian blue bloods and the immigrants and laboring class. That mobility is really necessary for the solving of this murder.

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Louisa’s relationship with her father and his philosophy is central to the novel. Did Louisa write about this? How did you create this complicated relationship that intertwines filial affection, philosophy, economics, self-sacrifice and discipline?

KOM: Louisa did write about her father and his philosophy and, reading between the lines, one can decipher her ambivalence toward him. On the one hand, she admired him deeply. He was extremely intelligent, as well as intensely principled and selfdisciplined. He moved in a circle of men (and a few women) who really were the great thinkers of their time. But Bronson also was astonishingly blind to the practical needs of his family. His philosophy rejected involvement in the base act of commerce, which may seem noble until money must change hands in order to put a roof over his family’s head. Everything he refused to do on the grounds of his principles fell to Abba, his wife. So Louisa worshipped her father but also was, at times, furious with him for what he put them through. This ambivalence stayed with her throughout her life. She cared for him until his death though she, in her fifties at that time, was gravely ill herself. In fact, she died just two days after he did. Their lives were intertwined in a profound way, so the relationship had to play a major role in my novel.

How do you feel about being part of a trend of Louisa May Alcott books this year?

KOM: I wasn’t aware that there would be a trend when I started work on the novel.

It was only later on, after it was sold and on its way through the editorial process, that I learned of other books about her coming out around the same time. I think it’s confirmation of what I have long felt, that Louisa May Alcott and her work will continue to fascinate the imagination for a long time to come.

AM: Fortunate, and happy for Louisa, that her work still receives such recognition. She didn’t always get the honor or respect her work received, even though she achieved fame and a certain amount of prosperity. Her novels and stories still resonate with readers, perhaps more than ever. I think of mysteries as a kind of homage to her.

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Louisa the writer with Jo, her fictional creation in Little Women.

Did you have the same problem?

KOM: I purposely did not read Little Women again until I finished the first draft of the novel (though I had read it many times in the past). I was careful to use only Louisa’s own letters and journals to create her voice, along with a few biographies to understand the context of place and time. When I finally did read Little Women again, I saw Jo with new eyes. And I understood what Louisa had done in creating her and creating the entire March family. Jo is Louisa, but she is an edited version: more content, more sure of herself, and free of the bitterness and disappointment Louisa sometimes felt about her experiences.

MICHAELA MACCOLL writes historical fiction for young adults. Her first novel was Prisoners in the Palace, a novel of Victorian intrigue. Her second book, Promise the Night (Chronicle, 2011), about Beryl Markham’s childhood, comes out this month.

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Karleen Koen on the Sun King’s milestone relationships

XIV was an extraordinary man, the supernova of his L ouis century. In his youth, he was shy, handsome, intelligent, and

determined, a set of characteristics most historical royals did not possess. What intrigued me about this king was not the politics or the wars or even the building of Versailles, but rather his complex relationships with the women in his life. Louis’s love life was difficult, but not the jump-into-any-bed, sexual randomness that was exhibited by his first cousin, Charles II, and by so many kings before and after them both.

Louis XIV could be faithful and often was, and this when he was the rock star of the European world, with sets of stays continually flung in his direction. He did succumb (there’s a saying: something about it being easy to be virtuous when one is not tempted), but not as often as he might have. That restraint, and his choices when unrestrained, were interesting to me.

Over time, the idea that there were certain women who were critical to his inner and outer journeys as man and king began to develop.

My latest book, Before Versailles, is an exploration of that — but only those of his youth. I’ll name the others I consider important here, beginning with his mother, Queen Anne, with whom he shared a truly loving relationship. With the help of her wily adviser and very likely lover, Cardinal Mazarin, Anne held the kingdom together for her son (Louis became king at age four) in spite of frequent civil war and constant war with Spain.

Anne taught Louis his famed manners, the foundation of his documented courtesy to all women. Anne’s influence set the inner shading of the very beautiful young man that he became.

When he took the step of acquiring a mistress, he made an emotional break with his mother because of her disapproval, but there was still respect and feeling between them. He slept in her bedchamber as she lay dying. What mother wouldn’t want that from a beloved son?

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Louis XIV and Certain Women

Now to his wife, María Teresa of Spain. María Teresa was sheltered, shy, stubborn, and insular. She never became the queen she might have been, but Louis was faithful to her for the first year of their marriage, and I find that extraordinary conduct on his part, a combination of shyness and courtesy. At the beginning of his first serious love affair, he tried to shelter his wife from the fact that he had a mistress. María Teresa didn’t impact or influence him in a deep emotional way, but she brought him honor as a prince. She was the foremost princess of her age because Spain was still the foremost kingdom. Her marriage to Louis added hugely to his prestige and place in the European world: he used marriage contract details to justify war against the Spanish Netherlands as the 1660s ended and he grew into full manhood.

María Teresa was his queen, and for a time, he gave her the full respect of that, until swelling pride made him demand that she accept and countenance his mistresses.

Another early influence was his sister-in-law, Henriette, the second crush of his youth. The youngest sister of Charles II, she had been at the French court since she was an infant and her mother fled the English civil war. Even though her mother was a princess of France, Henriette lived in poverty and relative obscurity until Louis XIV’s brother married her. She then bursts into historians’ and memoirists’ records like a skyrocket.

And Louis fell in love with her. How seriously is not detailed anywhere. And I must add, as a fiction writer, I love when detail is obscure — more fun for me to have. Whether they were actual lovers or not, their attraction to each other was intense enough to frighten and upset both his mother and his brother; add to that the unfortunate fact that adultery between in-laws was considered incest by the Catholic Church.

To end the talk, he began to flirt (at Henriette’s suggestion,

by Karleen Koen

Louis could be faithful... and often was, and this when he was the rock star of the European world, with sets of stays continually flung in his direction.”

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Features | 17

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time, Louis insisted both always be publicly present at his court and in his household. Some of the historical vagueness as to who was on first was due to the fact that Athénaïs’s husband did not take kindly to her new role, and Louise was used as a shield.

Poor shield.

Athénaïs and Louis were an item until the late 1670s. She was a glittering cultural icon, and the attraction between them was powerful. However, Athénaïs was involved in dealings with witches and wizards and the poisonings that were the underside of 17th-century court life. Whether it was this or other reasons, their physical relationship ended, but with many children to prove it has once been flaming and potent. Unlike Louise, Athénaïs resembled a fashionable pirate raiding a gold ship, and she was enormously wealthy. As a writer, an observer of life, I find the difference in the two women’s move from official lover interesting and telling.

Louis had become more than interested in another woman, Françoise d’Aubigné Scarron, who was a widow and nanny to his and Athénaïs’s large family of children. This Françoise had been a long-time and often indigent friend of Athénaïs’s, and she was delighted to take the lucrative task of overseeing the king’s bastard children and rearing them in secret. She — who became the famous Madame de Maintenon — was both intelligent and quite lovely. What must Athénaïs have felt as she saw this needy friend move into prominence?

What did she think when Louis most likely married the widow morganatically when his queen died? I find that marriage amazing, as did his rank-conscious court. He was in his 40s. To settle down with a woman of his own age when he might have continued leaping from bed to youthful bed is quite a decision to make.

In all this detail, from Louise onward, other names occasionally float up from the history books: Marie Mancini, the Princess de Monaco, the Countess de Soissons, the Princess de Soubise, Madame de Ludres, Mademoiselle de Fontanges. He loved them, too. However, it’s the women I’ve highlighted here who I think defined the boy, the young man, the man, and the elder who was Louis XIV, the moon and sun and star of his age. My latest novel, Before Versailles, is about four months in 1661, when Louis, at 22, made decisions that impacted the rest of his life. I liked what I saw under historians’ and memoirists’ words about him at that age. I found myself envisioning a tender, ardent, gallant boy on the cusp of manhood. The man he became was ruthless, selfish, and filled with pride, but flashes of that beautiful boy remained, and they sparked out now and again in his personal life with the women he deeply loved.

He was the sun around which they all revolved.

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most historians say) with other young ladies, one of whom was her maid of honor, one Françoise Louise de la Baume le Blanc.

Within weeks, Louis and Louise were lovers, and she became his first official mistress. I consider her to have been hugely important to his development into a man and king. Her shyness, her kindness, her uncritical love gave him the poise to stride into destiny as king of France, and he was beautifully tender with her, obviously very much in love. He tried to hide the fact of her existence from both his wife and mother. I find his gesture touching, one speaking of a boy’s heart rather than a man’s.

And Henriette? She must have suffered agonies of jealousy.

She must have hated Louise, who went from being her underling to one of the most important women at court. Somehow, Henriette and Louis managed to navigate from the heat that had been their almost or actual love affair into a deep friendship (never mind that Henriette spent years attempting to let Louis’s naïve queen in on the secret of her husband’s first serious affair).

I’m not certain how much Louis knew of Henriette’s scheming to disgrace his dear mistress, but Henriette became an aid and asset in diplomatic relations with England, as well as a friend he relied upon. She was the glue in a secret treaty between Louis and her brother, Charles II, and from the moment of her marriage, she was a sparkling cultural force at court and in France.

By the time Henriette died in 1670, Louis was no longer a tenderhearted boy. He was the most powerful king in Europe and had instigated a successful war for more territory, building in the process the most powerful army of any kingdom in Europe. He was an extremely successful man, a kind of CEO, and the women in his life began to reflect this. By this time, he was head over heels in love with Françoise Athénaïs, Madame de Montespan.

Athénaïs was from a proud, noble, politically important family. She was sophisticated, worldly, sexy, witty, and full of herself, exactly the kind of juicy mistress a powerful man would desire. Louise could not compete with her and ended, not with an important marriage, which Louis would have arranged, but by becoming a Carmelite nun. For Louise, it was Louis XIV or God. This illustrates the complex relationships between the important women in Louis’s life. Athénaïs had been the queen’s maid of honor before marriage and became Louise’s dear friend.

She helped — at Louise’s suggestion — entertain the king when he called, for Louise never set up a huge, official household within the king’s, which she could have done as maîtresse en titre.

And what happened? Louis fell in love again.

But it was not with the innocence of his boyhood. This was an experienced, important man falling in love. As for Louise and Athénaïs … well, the friendship changed, of course. Their relationship with Louis — for a time he was with both of them, though the gritty details are obscure, and isn’t that both irritating and fun? — was filled with intrigue and heartache. What must Louise have felt as he turned to Athénaïs? What must Athénaïs have felt while Louise remained? And what about the queen, who knew them both, whose lady-in-waiting Athénaïs was?

The pair was called “The Ladies” by the court because, for a

KARLEEN KOEN is an HNS member and the author of Through a Glass Darkly, Now Face to Face, and Dark Angels.

Her latest novel, Before Versailles, examines the impact of Louis XIV’s romantic relationships during a four-month period in 1661.

Reviews |

biblical

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MARTHA Diana Wallis Taylor, Revell, $14.99, pb, 247pp, 9780800734657 During the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius, a Jewish family lives a simple life near Jerusalem. The youngest, Mary, is a dreamer; the only son, Lazarus, is a good man; and the eldest, Martha, sets her own wishes and happiness aside to ensure theirs. But when a new rabbi called Jesus and his dedicated followers arrive, Martha finds new faith, new strength – and new happiness.

Martha is a great book for all of us (religious or not) who’ve often thought rather grimly that while Mary may have “chosen the better part,” there wouldn’t have been as much “aw, sweet, pious Mary-ing” if someone – someone named Martha, as a matter of fact – hadn’t cleaned the house, cooked the food, served the meal, and made sure everyone was fed and comfortable. I liked this Martha and understood her, and I was sad when her first chances at happiness did not come to pass. Excellent historical detail and a respectful yet not cloying retelling of this story make Martha an outstanding choice for readers looking for

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EGYPT: THE BOOK OF CHAOS

inspirational Biblical fiction. (My only complaint: the meals Martha prepares are so lovingly described I kept wanting to go out for Middle Eastern food!)

India Edghill THE TWELFTH PROPHECY Bodie & Brock Thoene, Tyndale, 2011, $22.99, hb, 289pp, 9780842375405 Pregnant out of wedlock to her aged fifth husband, Samaritan Abigail is cast out and threatened with stoning. Years pass, she raises her child against all odds but with the help of a Roman centurion (is he the one whose servant gets healed in the Gospels? I longed for that story to be included, too) and finally accepts Jesus at the well to which she went so often and was sometimes forbidden. All this is bracketed by what must be an ongoing tale of manuscript translation and intrigue, promises of imminent rapture in modernday London.

What prophecy has to do with this book is difficult to see for one not up on the latest Revelations, except that this is the twelfth in the Thoenes’ series of inspirational novels set in the time of Christ. Lots of passive victimhood for our heroine, and the actual ritual and traditional differences between Jews and Samaritans are frustratingly skimpy – that would be a sidetrack

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Nick Drake, Bantam Press, 2011, £12.99, hb, 339pp, 9780593054031 / Harper, 2011, $24.99, hb, 352pp, 9780060765941 Tutankhamun is dead and his queen, Ankhesenamun, has married Ay, who is now old and ailing and not likely to live much longer. There are no heirs to the throne of Egypt (The Two Lands), and in the wings, General Horemheb waits to mount a military coup and take over the empire. Chaos is likely to follow, and the queen embarks on a desperate plan to marry one of the sons of the Hittite king, Suppiluliuma I, and so endeavour to continue the dynasty. So much is known fact. Running alongside this political issue is Rahotep, Seeker of Mysteries, a detective in the Thebes Medjay (police force) who discovers, through his great friend Khety, the existence of a cartel running opium led by one who calls himself Obsidian. When Khety is found, brutally murdered, Rahotep is determined to track the gang down and revenge his friend’s death.

This is a book I couldn’t put down. I am familiar with the stories of ancient Egypt up to the death of Tutankhamun and again from Ramses II, but these few years between the dynasties I knew very little about.

The story is told by Rahotep himself, and he tells it well. The characters all come across as threedimensional people, the various twists and turns in the plots are well defined and the story moves effortlessly from one page to the next until, eventually, all is revealed. This is the third book by Nick Drake, and I will certainly be looking out for the other two. Highly recommended.

Marilyn Sherlock Ancient Egypt — Classical

in a Christian tract. The authors provide a lot of material to dig “Deeper into the Twelfth Prophecy” – 60 of the 289 pages, leaving a minimal story, even with its thin plotline. The pious questions at the end might be useful for a Bible study group or even individual study, since they leave plenty of space for an individual reader to fill in her own answers.

Ann Chamberlin A RELUCTANT QUEEN: The Love Story of Esther Joan Wolf, Thomas Nelson, 2011, $15.99, pb, 400pp, 9781595548764 Fifteen-year-old Esther, raised by her uncle Mordecai, would like to marry her best friend’s brother someday but is no real hurry to leave her happy home. Then Mordecai shocks the halfJewish, half-Persian Esther with a request: for her to join the multitude of girls competing for the hand of Ahasuerus, King of Persia. If the beautiful Esther can become the new queen, Mordecai tells her, she may be able to influence him on behalf of the Jewish people, who need an advocate at the king’s palace. Esther finally agrees and departs for the king’s harem, comforted by the thought that she cannot possibly outshine her well-bred competitors and will soon be back at home.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Wolf, a well-known novelist who has recently turned to writing biblical fiction. Esther and the king make an appealing couple, and the supporting characters, even the one who comes to play the role of the villain, are three-dimensional and sympathetic.

With a fast-paced plot and details that bring color to the story but don’t weigh it down, this is an excellent start to Wolf ’s projected series of biblical romances.

Susan Higginbotham

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classical

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MARATHON: Freedom or Death Christian Cameron, Orion, 2011, £12.99, hb, 375pp, 9781409114086 Sequel to the well-received Killer of Men, Marathon’s publication commemorates the 2500th anniversary of this landmark Greek victory over the Persians. The story of the battle and the months preceding it are told to us by Arimnestos of Plataea.

We learn, although not from him, that Arimnestos is famed for his military prowess across the eastern Mediterranean and both sides seek him out to lead their men. As a result, good and bad are blurred, a matter not helped by Briseis, Arimnestos’s love and a source of more pain than pleasure to him, being aligned to the side of the Persians through her marriage. Inevitably, events reach their climax HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 19

in a bloody pitched battle at the end of which all the Persians are dead.

The battle sequences are vividly described and are both exciting and horrifying. This is largely achieved by how close we have grown to the narrator and main protagonist, Arimnestos.

Arimnestos places the reader in the thick of it, sharing his pain and grief as friends fall. However, there is much more to the novel than battle. The complicated political, legal and social rituals of Greece are also brought to life. Over the novel, we have come to know Arimnestos well. His humour and affection for his friends, his ruthlessness when necessary and his acceptance that the gods demand he pay a price for being a killer of men. This is a male world, but we see glimpses of the lot of women, through powerful Briseis and the helpless slave that Arimnestos loses and seeks. You do not need to have read Killer of Men before this but, if you haven’t, you may well want to after Marathon.

Recommended.

Kate Atherton THE IONIA SANCTION Gary Corby, Minotaur, 2011, $24.99/C$28.99, hb, 335pp, 9780312599010 Athens, 5th century B.C.: Nicolaos is an investigator for hire, which is not so strange considering this is the city that invented the professional philosopher. Fresh off his last case in The Pericles Commission, Nico (if I may be familiar) has another politically charged murder to solve.

This time the investigation takes him to Ephesus, where he uncovers a Persian plot to conquer Athens.

The action is solidly paced and engaging throughout, while Nico’s noir-ish patter makes the history highly accessible. And there is a lot of history; every major figure gets a mention, including an irritating little brat named Socrates who happens to be Nico’s kid brother.

Corby weaves in most of these historical nuggets skillfully, and a few that at first appear to be oneoff mentions end up being quite relevant to the plot. There are also some very amusing, if slightly anachronistic, jabs at modern times when Nico struggles with concepts such as trousers (a Persian innovation), and mercantilism (“You mean I could come here with a bit of money…buy something I didn’t make myself… and I’d make a profit?”)

But Corby succeeds best when he shows us the subtle little nuances of the era. Moments such as Nico’s impromptu – and very touching – sacrifice to Artemis show us that he’s a lot more than Sam Spade in a chitoniskos. He’s a man of a different and very intriguing era, and he’s worth reading.

Richard Bourgeois SONG OF THE NILE: A Novel of Cleopatra’s Daughter Stephanie Dray, Berkley, 2011, $15.00, pb, 416pp, 9780425243046 As daughter of the legendary Queen Cleopatra, Cleopatra Selene has an impressive legacy behind her. In the second novel in Dray’s projected trilogy 20 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

about the young royal, Selene leaves the life she has fought for in Rome to marry her former tutor Juba and to corule the Roman kingdom of Mauretania with him. While Selene cares for Juba, she is afraid to love him, knowing how love destroyed her mother. Following the wedding, the Roman emperor Augustus, in conjunction with his wife Livia, rapes Selene, and is shocked that she is still a virgin. Selene refuses to let Augustus’s assault ruin her, calling on her patron goddess Isis for strength.

It is Isis’s guidance that helps Selene win over the people of Mauretania, who begin to see her as the living embodiment of the goddess – just as the people of Egypt saw her mother.

Selene’s struggle to emerge from her mother’s shadow and her continued quest to rule her homeland of Egypt are central to this novel. While Cleopatra was known as a seductress as well as a priestess of Isis, Selene has little interest in seducing her way into power. Despite her young age, her weapon of choice is her political savvy – honed through years of living in Rome, where everyone she encounters could be a threat. As in the previous novel, Lily of the Nile, Dray has a masterful command of social customs and history of the era, balancing a large number of characters, each with his or her own motivation, carefully.

Despite everything that happens, Song of the Nile never seems unfocused or overstuffed.

As queen of Mauretania, Cleopatra Selene finally begins to reconcile her legacy with her future. I look forward to seeing where the third volume of the trilogy takes her.

Nanette Donohue THE END OF SPARTA Victor Davis Hanson, Bloomsbury USA, 2011, $28.00/C$32.50, hb, 464pp, 9781608191642 In 371 B.C.E., the Theban general Epaminondas and his army of farmers defeated the Spartans against staggering odds at the Battle of Leuktra.

Fueled by this victory, the Boiotian army marched on into the Peloponnesos, with the goal to crush Sparta once and for all and free the 100,000 helot serfs living under the city-state’s iron fist. Victor Davis Hanson’s rich novel The End of Sparta tells the story of that campaign, with an unlikely cast of ancient heroes: not the familiar Spartans or Athenians, but the underdog Thebans.

In the midst of the Theban army is Melon, a farmer reluctant to leave his vineyards on Mount Helikon to fight for an elusive ideal of democracy.

With him is Neto, his slave girl, a beautiful prophetess whose blood ties her to Sparta and whose passionate vision drives the army on.

While each makes different choices, they gradually discover how much they need one another to survive.

Victor Davis Hanson is an acclaimed classical scholar, more accustomed to writing history than fiction, and it shows in this, his first novel. His dense descriptions and lengthy philosophical interludes slow the pace of the narrative, and may deter a reader without an abiding interest in all things Greek. For me, however (and for the more devoted

classics enthusiasts out there), this level of detail makes the book all the more rewarding. This is no Gladiator-style thriller, but the work of an author who possesses a consummate understanding of the history and culture he portrays. Davis’s characters are no modern-day personalities wearing hoplite armor but true Greeks. His language echoes the voice of Homeric epic, bringing to life the love of the land, the furor of battle, and the devotion to honor that defined the ancient Greek existence.

Prepare to be immersed.

Ann Pedtke HANNIBAL: Enemy of Rome Ben Kane, Preface, 2011, £11.99, pb, 453pp, 9781848092280 Don’t let the title fool you: this is not a book about Hannibal. It is, however, about the beginning of the Second Punic War – from just before Saguntum to the Trebia. Hannibal and his feats are told through the eyes of two teenaged boys: Quintus, the son of the Roman equivalent to a gentleman farmer, and Carthaginian aristocrat Hanno, who becomes Quintus’s slave – and then friend – through recklessness and a few quirks of fate. It won’t be long before they are forced to become enemies.

Ben Kane has chosen a most exciting period and done his research. A pity that the execution doesn’t live up to the premise. After an intriguing start, the plot meanders from extraordinary coincidence to unlikely incident; too many characters are prone to knee-jerk choices and floods of clumsy expository dialogue, and the writing in general would have benefited from some tight editing. A couple of glaring anachronisms (such as quills, prodigal sons and ordeals in the hands and mouths of people from the 3rd century B.C.), and the lack of anything even remotely close to an ending, further spoil what could have been a great read. A missed chance.

Chiara Prezzavento

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1st century

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THE LEGION Simon Scarrow, Headline, 2011, £7.99, pb, 490pp, 9780755353767 This is the latest account in the doings of Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro, soldiers in the Roman army in the 1st century A.D. A slave rebellion having broken out in Crete, they were sent to sort it out and arrest the main instigator, Ajax the gladiator, who was himself taken as a slave in boyhood after his father was crucified for piracy. Ajax escaped and began to harrow the coast of Egypt, now a Roman province, carefully laying the blame on Cato and Macro. In their efforts to hunt him down and arrest him, Cato and Macro find themselves involved with the new Roman navy both along the coast and eventually up the Nile to Diospolis Magna (Luxor), where there is also trouble with a Nubian invasion across the frontier, Classical — 1st Century

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E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

DEFENDER OF ROME

Douglas Jackson, Bantam Press, 2011, £12.99, hb, 330pp, 9780593065143 Gaius Valerius Verrens returns to Rome from the campaigns against the Britons a changed man. He is a Hero of Rome but remains disfigured mentally and physically by the bloodshed he has seen on the | 6 t hSeeking c e nrefuge t u riny his family, instead battlefield. he finds his disgraced sister is mortally ill and his father disappeared into exile. And worse, Rome is in turmoil, with the Emperor Nero seeing enemies in every shadow and fixated on a new religious sect that he seeks to obliterate. Nero nominates Valerius as a Defender of Rome, and orders him to capture the leader of these followers of Christus, a man known as Petrus. Failure will mean not only his death and that of his family but the deaths of the 20,000 Judeans living in Rome. As Valerius begins his search, a task that will take into the subterranean world of the city and bring him into terrible danger, can he rekindle his faith, his faith in himself, to save these innocents from the evils of his emperor?

Defender of Rome is a book that handles its action and political intrigue in an equally impressive manner. Its combat scenes are pacy and gripping while remaining technically accurate, and the political landscape is subtly but clearly drawn, enabling Douglas Jackson to ramp up the tension when Nero in particular appears. The decision to use multiple viewpoints is especially useful in gaining a panoramic view of events. The characterisation is also very strong with almost all the minor characters clamouring for your attention when they cross your path. | 1st century | This was an excellent read and warmly recommended.

Gordon O’Sullivan south of modern day Aswan, led by Prince Talmis.

I have read and enjoyed one or two of the other books in this series, and this one did not disappoint.

The characters live and breathe, and the action is fast paced, but at the same time Simon Scarrow manages to seamlessly impart a lot of information about the Roman army and empire of the time.

The pages turn themselves, sadly to the detriment of other jobs that need to be done!

In the end-notes Bernard Cornwell is quoted as saying, ‘I really don’t need this kind of competition’ – a discerning comment.

Marilyn Sherlock

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2nd century

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THE VESTAL VANISHES Rosemary Rowe, Severn House, 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 227pp, 9781845713489 Libertus, the ex-slave mosaic designer, returns for the 12th entry of this series set in Roman Britain during the reign of Commodus, the emperor whose birthday celebrations open the story. Marcus Severus, Libertus’s patron, asks him to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a Vestal who has completed her thirty years of service and was about to be married. In the tradition of amateur Roman sleuths, the ex-slave has acquired a reputation for cleverness, so it is assumed that he will be able to discover what has happened. Reasonably provided 2nd Century — 5th Century

clues give the reader a fair chance to solve the puzzle along with Libertus.

What is most striking is the novel’s careful delineation of social class. Libertus is relatively humble in status in comparison to the Vestal’s family and her prospective groom, but he is a citizen, and most of the residents of Britain defer to citizenship status. As Libertus travels, he employs the services of drivers, slaves and other representatives of the lower orders, some of whom must depend on their daily wage to buy their daily bread, an ancient version of living paycheck to paycheck. The characters are less individuals than representatives of their respective classes: wealthy patron, greedy pater familias, ex-soldier bodyguard, honest farmer, self-important slave, etc. Details of Roman religion and life are scattered over the text, particularly the attitude toward Druids and other possible sources of rebellion.

James Hawking

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3rd century

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THE CASPIAN GATES Harry Sidebottom, Michael Joseph, 2011, £14.99, hb, 365pp, 9780718155919 In 262 AD, the mighty city of Ephesus lies in ruins after a devastating earthquake, and mob rule has taken over. The barbaric Goths, seizing the change for unchallenged pillage, have set sail to

create further destruction. This emerging threat exacerbates the turmoil within the Roman Empire which is struggling to recover from civil war.

Ballista, now Praetorian Prefect and 40 years old, seeing the chaos around him, makes plans to defend the near cities of Miletus and Priene. Having lately become an object of suspicion since briefly taking over the Purple, he awaits the clemency of the Emperor Gallienus. Instead of exile, Ballista is sent on a mission to retain the Imperium at the far edge of the empire. He is to repair the Caspian Gates, the pass through the Caucasian Mountains.

Against overwhelming odds his task, if completed, will contain the barbarians, pacify the local tribes of Alani and Suania, and build a diplomatic relationship with Persia.

This fourth novel in Harry Sidebottom’s Warrior of Rome series does stand alone, but the list of characters will be a necessary reference.

The glossary and maps are essential. The period detail reveals the author’s command of his subject.

Sidebottom specialises in the classical and cultural history of ancient Rome but is at his best when describing siege warfare. The battle scenes are brutal and bloody; the Persian boat torture tangibly ghastly; the Black Sea episode a master class in Roman seafaring. His characters are more realistic, humour is creeping in, and the women are staying on the scene for longer.

Skilfully bringing an ancient world to life, The Caspian Gates is immensely readable. Fiction can overlap nonfiction, and it is useful to remember it is a novel, events moveable sometimes invented. The story is not yet ended.

Gwen Sly

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5th century

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THE KILLING WAY Anthony Hays, Corvus, 2011, £12.99, hb, 272pp, 9780857890054 / Tony Hays, Forge, 2010, $14.99, pb, 272pp, 9780765325914 In this Arthurian mystery, the central character is Malgwyn ap Cuneglas. Once a feared warrior, he lost his sword arm in a battle with the Saxons and is now employed by Arthur as a scribe. The Britons have gathered to elect a new leader, but there are many who would not wish Arthur to succeed.

A woman is found brutally murdered, and the evidence points to Arthur’s old friend and advisor, Merlin. If his guilt is proved, it will irrevocably damage Arthur’s chances of becoming leader.

Malgwyn finds that he must face his own demons and survive the lethal jostling for power in court while trying to uncover the truth regardless of the consequences.

The novel starts slowly but builds to an exciting and satisfying climax. It is well researched, and all the characters are clearly defined and realistic, while the plot once it takes off is fast paced and gripping. I found the central character, Malgwyn, a little difficult to relate to at first, but as the book progressed, his character developed and became HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 21

more sympathetic and understandable. This is an absorbing blend of mystery and history which will appeal to a wide range of readers. Recommended.

Mike Ashworth

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6th century

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SUNRISE OF AVALON Anna Elliott, Touchstone, 2011, $16.00/£7.99, pb, 422pp, 9781416589914 This concludes the trilogy, begun in Twilight of Avalon (2009) and Dark Moon of Avalon (2010), which sets the story of Trystan and Isolde in 6th-century Britain amidst the turmoil following Arthur’s death. Britain’s survival is threatened by mistrust and treachery among the British rulers and their Saxon ally Cerdic of Wessex as they confront the forces of Octa of Kent and Marche of Cornwall. The lovers continue to risk their lives in a desperate effort to protect the land and its people, and their sacrifice is beginning to bear fruit as friends increasingly rally to their support.

Yet as new warriors flood in from the continent to swell Octa’s ranks, the odds against success remain long. Will the shaky alliance survive the renewed assault? Will the lovers? And will they ever find happiness together? From what we know of history and legend, prospects seem bleak.

Since she presents a credible Dark Age Britain, Elliott, of necessity, reinterprets the traditional material that she draws on. Stripped of courtly romance, the love affair becomes a struggle for survival in a violent and dangerous world. No magical love potion here, but a devotion with its roots in close childhood friendship; Trystan’s sense of unworthiness comes not from courtly convention, but from guilt over past misdeeds; and the external threat is posed not by jealous husbands and scheming courtiers, but by ruthless rulers and savage warbands. Nor does it help Isolde that she is an empathetic healer who feels the anguish of her sorely wounded patients, and in love with a man who seems determined to kill himself. And, oh yes, pregnant. Elliott’s resolution of all these problems is satisfying. Strongly recommended, but read the earlier novels first.

Ray Thompson

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7th century

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THE SWORD OF DAMASCUS Richard Blake, Hodder & Stoughton, 2011, £19.99, hb, 424pp, 9781444709667 Jarrow in the Dark Ages. Also the cold and wet ages, a particularly wearing combination for Brother Aelric, aged 94. Even worse, a pack of Vikings is threatening dire consequences unless the door of his monastery is opened. Surprisingly, they want him rather than plunder. It turns out they have been paid to bring him to their (unspecified) employer, who Brother Aelric suspects may be the Emperor 22 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

of Byzantium. This is because he was once the Lord Alaric, legate extraordinary of the emperor, and his last departure from Constantinople was not a happy one. However, things are not as they seem, and the journey into the Mediterranean soon takes a very different course.

This is not an uplifting story. It’s good to see an elderly main character, and to see resolutions via intelligence rather than brute force, but aside from that, Alaric is a typical trendy modern anti-hero.

He is cynical, worldly, profane and manipulative.

As the story is told through his eyes, and people like that typically ascribe the same attributes and motivations to everyone else, it’s hardly surprising you feel like washing your brain after every chapter.

All religious folk are selfish, cowardly hypocrites with sexual hang-ups; the Vikings are greedy, dangerous savages; those in positions of power always have ulterior motives connected to personal gain, and are probably involved in a conspiracy. The few genuinely sincere characters are seen as naïve dupes ripe for exploitation, although inevitably the perennial medieval underdogs, the Jews, come over quite well.

If you like your Dark Age stories to be, well – particularly dark – then you’ll love this.

Martin Bourne THE CHALICE OF BLOOD Peter Tremayne, Minotaur, 2011, $25.99, hb, 384pp, 9780312551216 / Headline, 2011, £7.99, pb, 433pp, 9780755357765 It is 670 A.D., and Sister Fidelma is contemplating leaving the world of the religious and committing herself solely to her life as a dalaigh, an advocate of the courts of the Five Kingdoms of Celtic Ireland, hoping someday to become Chief Brehon. Perhaps her life with her companion, Brother Eadulf, the father of her son, her partner in so many previous investigations and in life – but a man who is committed to a religious community – is doomed to failure?

Not so fast. In what is probably the best and most intriguing of the series in a long while, Fidelma and Eadulf are called upon to discover who has murdered an eminent religious scholar, killed in a monastic cell locked from the inside. Who wanted the manuscripts taken from the monk enough to kill for them and to prevent Fidelma and Eadulf from uncovering the truth by attempting to murder them as well?

In the process of their investigation, Fidelma and Eadulf must weave their way through the competing religious doctrines of the time, through tribal politics and through everyday Celtic life experience in order to find the murderer. It is this attention to historical fact which makes Tremayne’s Fidelma books so valuable – we really do get a fine-tuned sense of the Celtic religious, legal and social world from the author, a well-known expert in Celtic history. It is certainly better read after others in the series, but I can also envision it being a stand-alone read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly.

Ilysa Magnus

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10th century

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DEATH OF KINGS Bernard Cornwell, HarperCollins UK, 2011, £18.99, hb, 335pp, 9780007331789 / Harper, Jan. 2012, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9780061969652 King Alfred is dying, and Uhtred, his illrewarded war captain, is faced again with the choice of his life: will he fight for the Christ-loving, church-bound Saxons, or will he join the Vikings at last, with whom his sympathies and perhaps his interests lie?

The Making of England series is Cornwell’s joyful rendition of Dark Ages Britain. It depicts an heroic age when the courage of one or two can turn a battle and all can be won or lost. In a sense it’s like Sharpe stripped of the disciplined ranks of rifles, but the real difference is that it is told in the first person. This means that the narrative is unreliable, opinionated, and humorous, and it also means that the reader never quite knows how close the author’s sympathies are to his narrator.

When Uhtred is brutish (he tortures and then hangs his captives) are we supposed to love him for that? When he goes out of his way to taunt an unfortunate enemy, do we empathise or draw back? It is a very successful device, bringing us the ‘shock’ of the alien mindset, but also making us feel it. It allows Cornwell a bit of fun at his readers’ expense too: when characters destroy manuscripts or artefacts, or dig up archaeological sites, we know that we’re being manipulated for the shudder!

I like Uhtred best of all Cornwell’s characters, but is this his best outing? Perhaps not. The tale has bite, twists, and a good shape, but I was more engaged with Uhtred’s wyrd in the earlier books.

That said, I’ll still be reading the next one.

Richard Lee

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11th century

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HEREWARD James Wilde, Bantam Press, 2011, £12.99, hb, 376pp, 9780593064887 Hereward was born to Leofric of Bourne and Eadgyth, who was great-niece to Duke Oslac and, from scraps of information from old records, we know that as a youth he was a troublemaker. His father finally threw him out and had Edward the Confessor name him outlaw. He fled abroad, but in 1069 or 1070, Danish King Swein Esstrithson sent a small army to try to establish a camp on the Isle of Ely. They were joined by many, including Hereward. William was frustrated in his attempts to capture Hereward for over a year until he was finally betrayed by the monks of Ely in 1071.

Hereward escaped with a handful of men and soon started another resistance but eventually submitted to William. The 15th-century chronicle, the Gesta Herewardii, says he was eventually pardoned by 6th Century — 11th Century

William and allowed to return to his Lincolnshire lands.

In this version of the story, the author makes much of Hereward’s early life and exile and gives a very imaginative account over 278 pages, including the singing of ‘a stirring rendition of Zadok the Priest’ by the monks at Westminster Abbey at Harold’s coronation in 1065. (This would have been Gregorian chant at best, as the anthem was not written until 1727!) In the remaining 98 pages he tells the story of Hereward’s resistance to William over the three or four years he was in the Fens, with the result that it is glossed over and only half told.

A debut novel, and it shows.

Marilyn Sherlock

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12th century

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KING’S MAN Angus Donald, Sphere, 2011, £12.99, hb, 423pp, 9781847444912 Alan Dale, musician and would-be expert sword and dagger man, awaits – as does his master Earl Robert of Locksley – the return from the Crusade of Christendom’s most charismatic monarch, King Richard the Lionheart. The news that the king has been captured and imprisoned in Germany initiates a falling apart of the Plantagenet empire.

The nobility of England must take sides: the imprisoned anointed king or his power-hungry brother, Prince John.

Earl Robert, condemned for witchcraft by the Inquisition, escapes into Sherwood to resume his life as Robin Hood. Nineteen-year-old Alan Dale’s dangerous mission into Germany succeeds in establishing the Lionheart’s whereabouts; intense negotiations begin to raise the exorbitant ransom.

Meanwhile, vicious conflict rages through England, stopping short of outright civil war. All the bloody encounters throughout this lively tale are given to readers in vivid and convincing detail, culminating in the attack on Nottingham Castle, where Alan’s loathsome bugbear, Ralph Murdac, is in charge as constable.

The women have a meagre share in this exciting story. Aged Queen Eleanor obtains the Lionheart’s release “off stage.” Earl Robert’s Marie-Anne simply is who she is. Alan’s beloved Godifa – “Goody,” aged 15 – registers outstanding mood swings, and Nur, the mutilated Saracen, with good reason, is noisy and grotesque.

A great book for men and boys who would enjoy novels about Earl Robert, aka Robin Hood. Alan must take care of his musician’s hands, though: so many of his terrible fights are hand-to-hand.

Nancy Henshaw FIRES OF WINTER Roberta Gellis, Sourcebooks, 2011, $9.99, pb, 496pp, 9781402255014 Fires of Winter is a journey through 12thcentury England as seen from the perspective of 12th Century — 13th Century

Bruno, the son of the Lord of Jernaeve and a castle whore, who clawed his way up from nothing to become a Knight of the Body to King Stephen; and Melusine, the coddled daughter of a Scottish nobleman loyal to Stephen’s rival, the Empress Matilda.

The chapters alternate between Bruno’s and Melusine’s first-person, past-tense points of view .The first few chapters are mainly character development, and there is sometimes the feeling of backtracking. But soon after, the story rolls in waves of action from their first brief encounter, when Bruno storms Melusine’s keep at Ulle in the name of King Stephen. Stephen’s Queen Maude orders Bruno to wed Melusine in order to watch her as the daughter of a rebel, and Bruno and Melusine form an alliance to regain Melusine’s lost land of Ulle.

We meet King Stephen, the Empress Matilda, and even Eleanor of Aquitaine through the eyes of two people trying to survive in the court of a weak and changeable king, all the while relying more and more upon each other’s strength and consistency in this uncertain landscape.

Fires of Winter is the story of a love-match made despite the dangerous times and doubtful circumstances. The author obviously knows the time period well, and her teasing, alternating chapters kept me interested until the end. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a

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LIONHEART

good historical romance that happens to lend a view on the historical politics as well.

Cynthia McArthur

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13th century

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SILK ROAD Colin Falconer, Corvus, 2011, £14.99, hb, 484pp, 9780857891082 The Knights Templar and the Mongol Empire have both been popular topics among historical novelists in recent years; this novel has them both and much more.

The story follows a journey along the Silk Road from the Holy Land to Cathay in the year 1260.

The Mongol conquests have briefly brought the route under a single authority, and a mismatched pair of ambassadors is sent from Christendom to make contact with the Great Khan. One is a Knight Templar with a guilty past and the other is a Dominican monk hungry for martyrdom. They face the usual perils – snowy mountains, burning deserts and hostile nomads – but their biggest problem is that both have taken vows of chastity and are constantly beset by nubile females. Both eventually succumb, each to a princess, one to a fiery Tartar and the other to a gentle Chinese.

This is a tale of unfulfilled sexual tension ending

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Sharon Kay Penman, Putnam, 2011, $28.95/C$33.50, hb, 608pp, 9780399157851 The title of Sharon Kay Penman’s highly anticipated new novel, Lionheart, says it all. This is the story of Richard Plantagenet: king, soldier, count, mother’s favorite, crusader. Yet it hardly comes close to actually describing the depth and breadth of this chronicle and the lyrical way Penman brings this legend vividly to life.

Lionheart encompasses the time immediately after Richard and his fellow king, Philippe of France, embark on a crusade to free Jerusalem from Saladin’s rule through Richard’s ultimate decision to return to rescue his kingdom from the machinations of his younger brother, John. Richard is portrayed as headstrong and arrogant, yet justifiably so since his military prowess was ferocious. Penman writes Richard with all his faults yet also his strengths, but the story is at its best when Richard’s sister Joanna takes the stage. Joanna is truly her mother’s daughter, and her scenes ripple with conviction and personality. She, along with other secondary characters, both real and fictional, serves to give us the most intimate look at the Lion, who is equal parts myth and truth.

Lionheart is not an easy book to read, as it is filled with an author’s nightmare of similarly named people and a good deal of information-building necessary to illuminate the story. The beautifully described settings and the characters’ interactions are simply outstanding, however, and I was enthralled by Penman’s gift of placing you directly inside the story to experience all of the grittiness of war. Richard was a complex man who often polarized those who knew him into two camps: you either loved him or you hated him, and there was no middle ground. After reading Lionheart, I predict that there will be many more who will feel the enigmatic pull of Richard’s personality. Penman has written a tour de force that has me ready for the sequel right this minute. Highly recommended.

Tamela McCann HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 23

in dramatic and tragic release. I found it rather too lurid for my taste, but the reader certainly gets the ‘blazing adventure, passionate romance and exotic big canvas story’ promised on the cover.

Edward James A DEADLY INJUSTICE Ian Morson, Severn House, 2011, £19.95/$28.95, hb, 224pp, 9780727880628 Nick Zuliani from Venice is now serving as the official Investigator of Crimes for the Mongol Emperor in the year 1268. The novel opens with an old man thinking about the beating he has just given his wife because she does not know her duties. They are obedience to father, husband, and then the son after the father’s death. Minutes later, the old man dies a painful, quick death. Who did it is the subject of Nick or Niccolo’s investigation, requested by the Clerk to the Minister of Justice, Lin Chu-Tsai. The latter is the preoccupation of a conniving Ko Tsu-Chung, the head of the Censorate, the one who seeks out and prosecutes those guilty of fraud or any other injustice in the government or population. He is determined to destroy Lin. So he sends Lin and the “foreign devil” to investigate the murder of an old man. The two unlikely friends, Nick’s Mongol girlfriend Gurbesu, a priest, and a silversmith from Europe travel to a remote village where the accused young woman is awaiting execution for murder. On entering the village, they soon observe a play that seems especially written with their quest in mind and offers possibilities of investigation and clues to the real murderer. As they talk to all the involved characters, the plot thickens and several may be guilty if one bases evidence on motivation such as exorbitant loans, greed for family wealth, jealousy over unrequited love, and so much more. The story is fascinating because of the lavish presentation of Mongol and Chinese culture and mores interwoven into the tale, as well as a criminal inquiry that will shock every reader and cannot possibly be figured out beforehand. A Deadly Injustice presents a quaint, exotic, and multilayered plot – all in all, a superb read!

Viviane Crystal BRETHREN Robyn Young, Hodder & Stoughton, 2011, £9.99, flipback, 1071pp, 9781444730418 Brethren is a new edition of Robyn Young’s best-seller first published in 2006, the first of her Brethren trilogy. The novelty of this edition is that it is a flipback.

So far Hodder has published 18 flipbacks.

These are tiny books (4 ½ inches x 3 inches), about the size of a pocket diary, printed on thin paper. The special feature is that they are read horizontally, flipping each page up and over the spine like a flipchart. This allows for longer lines and slightly larger type. The publicity promises that it is the printed book’s answer to the Kindle.

Flipbacks are undoubtedly very handy, especially for reading on public transport: handier than a Kindle. However, there is only one book 24 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

per flipback, not a whole library as with a Kindle.

Of course flipbacks are far cheaper, so until Kindles come down in price I’ll be taking a flipback to the airport.

What of the novel? Robyn Young is a woman who writes what is generally regarded as ‘men’s fiction’. Her heroes are just that, heroic males, usually warriors. She does not shrink from describing pre-firearms battles in all their brutal butchery (but I wish her heroes would not order their mangonels to ‘fire’). Nonetheless she knows that even Crusaders do not spend all their time, or even most of it, fighting. The strongest feature of her book is the feel it gives for the everyday life of a Knight Templar or sergeant.

Do not worry about the far-fetched plot, about a lost book with a dangerous secret – Da Vinci Code without the codes. It is an excuse for a colourful and perilous journey from Scotland to the Holy Land that will leave you wanting to read her next book.

Edward James

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14th century

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THE KILLER OF PILGRIMS Susanna Gregory, Sphere/IPG, £8.99/$13.95, pb, 440pp, 9780751542585 This sixteenth chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew takes place at Cambridge University in the winter of 1358. The traditional rivalry between the colleges and the hostels, in the form of the most ridiculous and hilarious practical jokes, has recently escalated and is turning violent. To complicate matters, there is a rash of inexplicable thefts of pilgrims’ badges, several murders, and suspects galore. Matthew Bartholomew is a physician and teacher of the medical arts. His close friend is Brother Michael, the university’s senior proctor. Together they must sort out these crimes and bring the culprits to justice before the reputation of the university is damaged beyond repair.

Gregory draws on her former careers as a police officer and an as academic who taught anatomy and biological anthropology to create this intricate novel of suspense. Full of period details, this is a delightful read even for someone who has no previous experience of chronicles one through fifteen.

Audrey Braver THE CRUSADE OF DARKNESS Giulio Leoni, Vintage, 2011, £7.99, pb, 546pp, 9780099549048 This novel I found confusing, the plot a bit of a muddle. The cover states that The Crusade of Darkness is a mediaeval murder mystery starring the poet Dante Alighieri. Well, there were several eviscerated bodies, but no active attempt to track down the murderer. There was lots of rain, some floods, a pagan sect, a plot to overthrow Pope Boniface, various battles Dante found himself

fighting in, and, as seems the trend in historicals these days, a female who ran around in men’s clothes, or fancy dress, and behaved like a modern miss. Dante seemed to be pulled along by events, not taking control of them. And for a prior, he was a grumpy, priggish, and randy man. Perhaps the book was meant to mirror Dante’s Inferno; I found it hellish difficult to read.

The series has had good reviews, and usually I enjoy novels in translation. There’s a taste of a different culture and a new way of looking at things. A lot depends on the translator, though.

This novel suffered a little from odd translations: ‘refresh your hands’ rather than “wash your hands’, and some clumsy sentences which jerked me out of the story. Possibly the term ‘murder mystery’ confused me into expecting a different type of novel. If you enjoy a touch of the occult, battles and mediaeval confusion, then you will enjoy The Crusade of Darkness. pdr lindsay-salmon THE FAERIE HILLS Susan McDuffie, Five Star, 2011, $25.95, hb, 236pp, 9781594149610 Set in autumn 1373 on windswept Colonsay Isle in the Scottish Hebrides, The Faerie Hills picks up where A Mass for the Dead, the first book in this engaging mystery series, ended. Once again, amateur sleuth Muirteach MacPhee investigates, this time searching for eight-year-old Niall, the missing grandson of the Lord of the Isles. In a setting drenched in faerie lore, the author nicely intertwines the beliefs of the locals (who are sure faeries stole the boy while he was hunting faerie gold) with all-too-human greed and trickery. Once again, young Muirteach’s love interest, Mariota Beaton, the daughter of a physician from Islay, is back to provide romance and secret challenges of her own. Written with a lilting cadence that nicely captures the feel of the 14th-century Scottish Isles, the book offers readers a map, a cast of characters, and a glossary to illuminate this most welcome, atypical setting.

Alana White OF FAITH AND FIDELITY: Geoffrey Hotspur and the War for St. Peter’s Throne Evan Ostryzniuk, Knox Robinson, 2011, £19.99, hb, 380pp, 9780956790156 I have to admit that I found this novel very difficult to read. This had nothing to do with the quality of the writing, or the subject matter, but the size of the font. This hardback novel has a size c.10 font, but what is worse is that there is so much blank page space that could have been used to increase the size of the font. What were the publishers/printers thinking about? It is hard enough for anyone to get a novel in print these days, and I found it heartbreaking that any author’s debut work should be blighted in this way. I suspect that I am not alone in having to wear glasses to read even size 12 font, and that unfortunately a lot of potential readers might be put off by the font size used for this novel.

13th Century — 14th Century

The novel is set in 1394 during the schism of the Western Church and the battle over the control of the Patrimony. It is the first book of the English Free Company series. The central character is Geoffrey Hotspur, a young squire, an orphan, a gambler and bonded to the court of Sir John of Gaunt. This is an adventure story brimming over with corsairs, mysterious Frenchmen, Catalonian crossbowmen and the duel between honour and power. It has all the ingredients that will appeal to those who enjoy the genre and has clearly been very carefully researched from pudding servers to the Battle of Orte.

Myfanwy Cook TROUBLED BONES Jeri Westerson, Minotaur, 2011, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 288pp, 9780312621636 In 1385, disgraced knight Crispin Guest, known as the Tracker, an investigator of crimes, travels to Canterbury at the request of the archbishop to investigate a plot to steal or destroy the bones of Saint Thomas à Becket. When he arrives, he finds his old friend Geoffrey Chaucer and a group of pilgrims – the Wife of Bath, the Franklin, the Pardoner, the Summoner, and others – who are the models for Chaucer’s characters in the Canterbury Tales.

When Crispin falls asleep while guarding the tomb of Saint Thomas, the bones are stolen and one of the pilgrims, the Prioress, is murdered.

Another murder, of a monk, soon follows. All the evidence points to Chaucer, who is arrested for the crime. Crispin believes his friend is innocent, and must use his investigative skills to find the murderer – and the bones of the saint – before Chaucer is sent to the gallows.

This is the fourth book in Westerson’s mystery series, but only the first I have read. It will definitely not be the last. Westerson has created an attractive, intelligent protagonist in Crispin Guest and a delightful sidekick in Crispin’s apprentice Jack Tucker, a boy Crispin had rescued from the streets and taught to read and write. Her knowledge of medieval England is extensive, but it never feels as if she is lecturing the reader. Instead, she draws you into the world of her characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys medieval mysteries, and I look forward to meeting Crispin and Jack again.

Vicki Kondelik

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THE LADY OF THE RIVERS Philippa Gregory, Touchstone, 2011, $27.99, hb, 464pp, 9781416563709 / Simon & Schuster, 2011, £18.99, hb, 512pp, 9781847374592 Philippa Gregory’s third entry in her Cousins’ War series features an unusual character: Jacquetta Woodville, mother of Elizabeth, who in turn gave birth to the princes who disappeared mysteriously in the Tower. In The Lady of the Rivers, Gregory 15th Century — 16th Century

travels further back in time, bringing us a glimpse of the seeds of the epic conflict that will be known as the War of the Roses.

French-born Jacquetta first weds an older duke more interested in her supernatural gifts than her physical ones; upon his death, she defies convention to find love with his squire, whose loyalty to the crown brings them heavy responsibilities. Through Jacquetta’s eyes, we’re given a wide-angle view of the lethal intrigues that plague the English court, where a young, weakling king is manipulated by his nobles, and accusations of witchcraft are wielded to destroy opponents. The end of the Hundred Years’ War, when England lost its territories in France, offers a compelling backdrop to Jacquetta’s personal trials as she endures repeated separations from her husband and witnesses the depredations of powerhungry courtiers. When her fortunes increase with the arrival of Margaret of Anjou, a princess brought to wed the king, the novel becomes more intimate, as well.

Margaret is a compelling character who steals the show – not yet the Lancastrian virago of legend, Gregory depicts her as a brash, beautiful girl tethered to a man better suited to prayer than bed play; Margaret’s vulnerability and fallible relationship with Jacquetta bring humanity to the crowded historical events. Jacquetta’s magical gifts are underplayed except for one crucial episode; and her astounding fertility and perennial passion for her husband, as well as her keen insight, center her as a voice of reason in a complex, treacherous era.

C.W. Gortner

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THREE MAIDS FOR A CROWN Ella March Chase, Broadway, 2011, $15.00/ C$17.00, pb, 419pp, 9780307588982.

Set during the turbulent era of Tudor England, the dramatic story of Lady Jane Grey and her sisters, Katherine and Mary, is vibrantly told in their own voices. With Edward VI’s health failing, he decrees his cousin Jane as his heir, displacing his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Shy and studious, the extremely Protestant Jane is browbeaten by her ambitious parents and her father-in-law, the power-obsessed Duke of Northumberland, into accepting the crown upon the king’s death. She unwillingly becomes queen, rebellion ensues in England, and within nine days, Jane’s reign is history. Catholic Mary Tudor takes the throne, with Jane imprisoned in the Tower to await her tragic fate. Queen Mary keeps Jane’s sisters close to her as ladies-in-waiting, but their romantic entanglements and other political schemes make trouble for their lives as well.

During Elizabeth I’s reign, both girls suffer mightily at the monarch’s orders. Lovely Katherine is harshly punished for her secret marriage with young Edward Seymour, which produced children and enraged Elizabeth, while malformed Mary finds brief happiness with a palace sergeant porter

before they are forced apart.

Chase, with her smooth narrative and elegant descriptions, keeps the story moving and makes these unfortunate women into real human beings facing terrible odds. A couple of bothersome errors, though: Jane and her sisters discuss Catherine de Medici’s alleged poisoning of Jeanne of Navarre even though it wouldn’t occur until 20 years later, and it was the Countess of Salisbury (not Shrewsbury) who was hacked to death at her execution during Henry VIII’s reign. Nevertheless, this is an absorbing and entertaining chronicle of three privileged but cursed young women who were not only forced into difficult situations but who also made unwise choices when given the chance.

Michael I. Shoop REVENGER Rory Clements, John Murray, 2011, £6.99, pb, 414pp, 9781848540859 / Bantam, 2011, $25.00, hb, 448pp, 9780385342841 This is the second novel by Clements featuring the Elizabethan ‘intelligencer’, John Shakespeare.

His more famous younger brother pops up from time to time when he has a moment free from playwriting, but this is really just a cameo.

The previous novel, Martyr, focused on the possible invasion of England by the Spanish Armada. This new addition centres on another famous event, the disappearance of the Roanoke colony in Virginia. Although retired from detecting and running a school for poor boys, Shakespeare is forced into working for the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth`s ambitious young courtier. His mission is to find Eleanor Dare, who apparently managed to escape from Roanoke and who holds the secret to its fate.

Interwoven with all this is the uncovering of a plot to kill the ageing Queen and the marital troubles between John and his Catholic wife. The novel is well-researched, exciting, and tense with characters you really care about. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, and the sense of menace is maintained throughout. Many of the characters meet a suitably gory end, and the pages turn quickly. I enjoyed Revenger as much as I had previously enjoyed Martyr and am already looking forward to the third in this stimulating series. Very much recommended.

Ann Northfield REIGN OF MADNESS Lynn Cullen, Putnam, 2011, $25.95/C$30/£18.99, hb, 448pp, 9780399157097 Veteran author Lynn Cullen, author of The Creation of Eve, chose Juana la Loca, middle child of Spain’s Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon, to bring to life in this tragic cautionary tale. C.W. Gortner also wrote about Juana the Mad in his recent novel, The Last Queen. Interestingly, both Gortner and Cullen, after doing the research, decided that Juana’s diagnosis and 50-year confinement (at the hands of her husband, father, and son, all of whom preferred ruling without HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 25

her) was specious. Cullen’s Juana wasn’t mad, as in psychotic or schizophrenic, at all. She was rather a victim of the manipulating and grasping men in her life. (It could, however, be argued that Cullen’s Juana exhibits symptoms of depression.)

Cullen presents her as a woman without a voice.

As a child Juana is in awe of her mother and in love with her father; as a young woman, sent to a foreign land to marry a handsome stranger, she is consumed by her desire for him; and as a widow, now understanding how her husband betrayed her and how her father was not the man she had imagined, she agrees to sign away her rights to the throne – back to her father. Cullen shows Juana as kindhearted, passive, and childlike. She is a woman watching, not acting, not speaking out. Juana’s two sources of joy come from her secret love for Diego Colon, Christopher Columbus’s son, and her love for her children.

Not everyone can be Eleanor or Elizabeth, it’s true, even if she is born to the throne. Readers of this well-told tale risk feeling depressed for Juana – ironically the very mental ailment that so many historians ascribe to her.

Kristen Hannum IN A TREACHEROUS COURT Michelle Diener, Gallery, 2011, $15.00, pb, 320pp, 9781439197080 John Parker has risen from the London slums to become one of Henry VIII’s most trusted courtiers – a man whose strength, loyalty, and service are unquestionable. Parker has no family and few friends, so he lives for his work. Then he meets the Dutch artist Susanna Horenbout, who has been unwittingly swept up in a plot against the king.

Their attraction is immediate, and Parker is both impressed with and inspired by her strength and resolve. The duo begin a quest to uncover which member of Henry’s inner circle is responsible for the ongoing plot against their ruler, requiring them to battle their way through both upper- and lowerclass London. As they come closer to finding the traitor, Parker and Susanna fall more deeply in love, further raising the stakes.

Diener’s debut novel is a fast-paced adventure story with strong romantic elements, full of short sentences, quick bursts of dialogue, and intense fight sequences. The action is nonstop, and the story doesn’t get bogged down in minute details or lavish descriptions. Both Parker and Susanna are well-rounded characters, and the slow revelation of Parker’s troubled past makes for some of the most poignant scenes in the novel. Fans of Tudor-era intrigue will enjoy Diener’s tale of these two long-forgotten historical figures.

Nanette Donohue THE FAVORED QUEEN Carolly Erickson, St. Martin’s Press, 2011, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 304pp, 9780312596903 In this novel, the latest of her self-described “historical entertainments,” Erickson tells the story of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII. Unfortunately, this novel, albeit written well 26 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

enough, isn’t very historical or very entertaining.

Though Erickson invents a French lover for Jane and inserts a less than compelling subplot involving the nunnery where Jane’s sister-in-law is immured, much of the novel consists of a six-fingered Anne Boleyn doing various unsavory things while Jane, the narrator, looks on in disgust and dismay. Only a small portion of it deals with Jane’s life as Henry’s queen, and I never got a sense of what drew Henry to Jane as opposed to any other lady at court.

Since Erickson freely admits to altering personalities, it may sound churlish to complain that Erickson turns Lavinia Terling, a “paintrix” who served Henry and his children, into a dimwitted lady-in-waiting whose only purpose here is to die of the sweating sickness. Yet this sort of wasted opportunity – vapid ladies-in-waiting are, after all, a dime a dozen, while it would have been interesting to see what a female artist thought of the Tudor court – is all too typical of this novel.

Larger-than-life personalities like Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn are stripped of most of their color. As for Jane herself, while she admittedly presents more of a challenge for novelists than do Henry’s other wives, it’s still possible to make her more interesting than Erickson does here.

If it is a story about Henry and his wives that’s not tightly tied to fact you’re after, you’re better off skipping this book and watching The Tudors. At least it has good eye candy.

Susan Higginbotham

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DEED OF MURDER Cora Harrison, Severn House, 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 224pp, 9780727880710 The O’Halloran clan has grown flax and produced linen for years. It is their principal means of support, and Mara, Brehon of the Burren, doesn’t expect any change to the status quo. At the annual auction for the lease, however, a late arrival outbids Cathal O’Halloran. Later, at her infant son’s christening party, she discovers three of her students have disappeared. Eamon, charged with taking the lease to O’Brien of Arra, owner of the flax garden, for his signature, is found dead in the flax garden. Why he departs in the middle of the night is a mystery, as is the location of his body.

Why did he take the long way back from O’Brien’s? What happened to the lease he carried and was it signed? Was he killed to necessitate another auction, or was his death an accident? Did Fachnan, another of the missing students, confront Eamon in a jealous rage? If not, where is he? Mara wants to solve these conundrums, but her regal duties as wife of Irish King Turlough prevent her from unraveling the mysteries confronting her.

Then another body turns up. When she finally realizes what happened, will she be in time, or will someone dear to her also die?

This latest in the Brehon of the Burren series set in early 16th-century Ireland unravels at a slower pace than usual but punctuates Mara’s distractedness as she ponders her young son’s future while entertaining her guests. The author’s

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Barbara Kyle, Kensington, 2011, $15.00, pb, 448pp, 9780758238566 Isabel Valverde, her husband, Carlos, and her son Nicolas travel to England from Peru in the New World in the mid-1500s. Isabel’s mother has been accused of murder and is to be hanged. However, Isabel arrives to find that not only has her mother, Honor Thornleigh, been forgiven this crime because of her role in opposing the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt, but she is now a confidante and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. This is a time that will break or make the young queen, as she faces the plots of John Knox’s followers in Scotland, the French who are connected to the Scots via the Guise family, and the Spanish who under King Philip feign neutrality but would help the French in order to eventually conquer England. Isabel’s husband and brother are on opposite sides in a war carried out on land and sea. A secret cabal is moving forward to depose Elizabeth I and restore a Catholic queen to the English throne.

Heroic and cowardly characters do battle in many brave and cruel ways. Isabel at several points has to decide what is more important in her life, her family or her country. This hard choice offers little reward to this feisty character, who risks life and limb to carry out plans that could mean the destruction of her queen and the loss of her son and husband. The Queen’s Gamble offers the reader a comprehensive picture of the conflict among England, Scotland, France, and Spain in the early days of Elizabeth’s reign, as well as that of England’s pivotal leaders. This is riveting, adventurous fiction based on historical personages and events. Reading this superb historical novel will make you want to devour everything else this very talented author has written!

Viviane Crystal 16th Century

tendency to repeat information may annoy some readers, and the slow pace may dissuade others from reading the entire book, but those who persevere will be rewarded with an electrifying climax and a surprising solution to the crimes.

Cindy Vallar POISON, YOUR GRACE Peg Herring, Five Star, 2011, $25.95, hb, 294pp, 9781432825362 In the second book of her Simon and Elizabeth series, Peg Herring pits Lady Elizabeth Tudor, sister of King Edward VI, and her devoted friend, Simon, against those who would harm both king and sister. In apothecary Simon Maldon, Herring has created a likeable sleuth who leads the reader through the labyrinthine facts surrounding a series of mysterious murders within the very walls of the castle. As the young king’s poor health continues to worry his sister, the mounting pile of bodies points to Elizabeth herself as the possible murderess.

Introducing Simon’s feisty fiancée, Hannah, as detective, Herring injects humor and fun into the process.

Herring’s Tudor England is rich in description and filled with the intrigue and ambition rife at the court. She leads a merry chase as the reader follows Lady Elizabeth and Simon through the royal halls of intrigue.

Anne Clinard Barnhill THE COURTESAN’S LOVER Gabrielle Kimm, Sphere, 2011, £6.99, pb, 501pp, 9780751544558 Naples, 1564: beautiful and smart Francesca Felizzi strives to acquire wealthy patrons in her quest to become a cortigiana honesta, the top of the social ladder where prostitutes are concerned. And she is doing very well, too, until a meeting with a naive young man – and his family – shatters her confidence. Suddenly, all Francesca wants is love and a respectable life, not an easy goal for a woman with her past.

The back-cover blurb promises “an emphasis on passion over politics”, which proves to be quite true: the whole story revolves around Francesca and her feelings, with little attention not only to politics, but to period and setting as well, in spite of the profusion of generic “costume” detail. Sprinkled with inaccuracies, such as calico and tomatoes well before their time, and social improbabilities, The Courtesan’s Lover is a heart-warming story of love and redemption, but not terribly historical.

Chiara Prezzavento LADY ON THE LOCH Betty McInnes, Severn House, 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 240pp, 978072786976 / also pb, 2011, $15.95, 9781847513199 In the year 1567, the castle in the middle of Loch Leven receives a mysterious prisoner, who turns out to be Mary Stewart, Queen of Scotland.

Drawn into the whirl of intrigues around the captive queen are the Gilmores, a local family of complicated loyalties and private ambitions.

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Mary herself hardly appears in this novel, which centers on how her arrival on the Loch disrupts and endangers the Gilmores. Their days and acts are vividly drawn, and the characters themselves are warmly realized, from the hard-working and sentimental young man Lachlan and his headstrong sister Christina to the peripheral players, like Maggie the washer-lassie. Details of everyday life give each scene a grounding authenticity. McInnes captures the music of lowland Scots – the novel is awash with “dinna fash” and “wee laddie,” sheets, semits, sarks and breeks – and she keeps her story moving with a will.

This is the kind of book where you know going in that nothing really bad is going to happen to the characters you like, but it’s sharply observed and infused with empathy, which gives it a keen excitement nonetheless. McInnes loves these people, and she has given them, and the reader, a wonderful book.

Cecelia Holland TIME AND TIDE Shirley McKay, Polygon, 2011, £12.99, pb, 298pp, 9781846971945 In Scotland in October of 1582, a ship is wrecked on the coast of St. Andrews. There is one survivor plus a windmill which is lashed to the deck. Both are rescued but the survivor, of whom only his name, Jacob, is known, dies, and the windmill becomes an object of intense interest to the local residents.

I have to admit that I did not open this book, subtitled as ‘A Hew Cullan Mystery’, with any great enthusiasm. Regardless of the plot, the dialogue in this sub-genre of Scottish detective stories is often interspersed to one degree or another with Scots dialect, and, unless the author has

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IN THE NAME OF THE KING

thoughtfully provided a glossary, can be difficult to follow. I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, to find that this was not so this time. There was dialect, but it was skilfully done, and the meaning of the unfamiliar words made clear within the text.

The characterisation was good, and the more I read the more I became involved in the story and wanted to know the outcome, but it was very slow to start, and I found myself skipping paragraphs in the beginning in order to catch up with the story again. Eventually, of course, like the windmill itself, the tale turned full circle, the events taking us from Scotland to the Low Countries and back to Scotland again and the final identity of the lone survivor.

Marilyn Sherlock MARY AND ELIZABETH (UK) / THE TUDOR THRONE (US) Emily Purdy, Avon, 2011, £7.99, pb, 384pp, 9781847562371 / Brandy Purdy, Kensington, 2011, $15/C$17.95, pb, 384pp, 9780758255747 When Henry VIII finally does the country a favour and burbles his way to a premature death, surrounded by the great and good of his court, he leaves behind a trio of wan‑faced children, the fruit, whether he liked it or not, of his first three marriages. The story of what happened next is a familiar one as Mary and Elizabeth spent their brother’s short-lived reign, and beyond, locking horns over religion and the fate of the country.

Interestingly, Emily Purdy decided to write her novel from the alternate point of view of both sisters, which mostly works pretty well and lends itself to a fast-paced and entertaining read.

However, I found some of the historical licence baffling and also had my attention span challenged by superfluous details and what may well be one of

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

A.L. Berridge, Penguin, 2011, £6.99, pb, 492pp, 9780141043746 France, 1640. Following directly on from the excellent Honour and the Sword, Andre de Roland travels to Paris to stay with his grandmother to address his future. When Andre stumbles on a conspiracy with Spain, which goes to the heart of the king’s household, to overthrow the king he finds himself accused of treason and is forced into hiding. It is up to Andre to risk his life and his honour to uncover the evidence which will allow Cardinal Richelieu to take action.

The story is written from the point of view of several different characters, but, interestingly, not from that of de Roland. This allows the story to be told from a multifaceted viewpoint, bringing an immediacy and intimacy to the story. Well researched and written, the plot is fast paced and exciting. The action is virtually nonstop, while the battle scenes are realistic and compelling. You can read and enjoy this novel without having read Honour, but it will help if you have. This is one to keep and enjoy over and over again. Highly

recommended.

Mike Ashworth HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 27

the longest sentences ever. I also found this book curiously old-fashioned in its construction and the rather outmoded way it depicted the central characters, such as Catherine Parr, Tom Seymour and Lady Jane Grey – it read a bit like Jean Plaidy except with additional (very) dirty bits.

Thanks to a certain glitzy television series, there’s been an upsurge in novels about the Tudor dynasty lately, with mixed results. Emily Purdy’s book is clearly catering to fans of The Tudors (in fact, the back cover proclaims that this is a ‘rip roaring story of love, power and rivalry that will delight fans of BBC Drama The Tudors’) as there are plenty of lurid and occasionally wince-inducing sex scenes and endless descriptions of dresses, jewels and sumptuous dinners in between all the dramatics, plots and scheming.

Melanie Clegg

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THE SEPTEMBER QUEEN (US) / THE ROYAL EXILE (UK) Gillian Bagwell, Berkley, 2011, $15.00, pb, 352pp, 9780425243237 / Avon, July 2012, £7.99, pb, 400pp, 9781847562593 Jane Lane, daughter of an affluent Royalist family during Cromwell’s Commonwealth, longed for adventure over respectable marriage. This she found when the young king, Charles, showed up in her kitchen with a plan that required her to play a role in his great escape after the Battle of Worcester. Though cleverly disguised and with a document for her safe passage in hand, the king still faced imprisonment, trial, and execution if caught and Jane’s family would be suspect and penalized accordingly. Regardless, the Lanes of Bentley were adamant in their desire to help king and country.

Not surprisingly to those familiar with Charles’s reputation, he and Jane developed a relationship during their sojourn that would last throughout his years of exile. Jane ultimately had to flee the country and join the ragged courts who were hangers-on in Paris and the Netherlands. There she met and befriended such personages as Mary of Orange and Elizabeth of Bohemia, as well as Charles’s first love, Lucy Walter.

The true story of the courageous woman who helped Charles II escape is one of the few not often told of the Merry Monarch. Though congenial and possessing that irresistible sense of humor, this Charles is not the romantic hero throughout the story, but only a man surviving day to day and making promises to his light-o’-loves – a practice for which he became famous later in his reign.

The real hero in this tale is the ever-patient and admirable protagonist, Jane Lane. Her story – her survival and constancy through unthinkable hardships and impossible circumstances – is one that shouldn’t be missed!

Arleigh Johnson THE PAINTED LADY 28 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

Maeve Haran, Pan Macmillan, 2011, £6.99, pb, 489pp, 9780330472128 Frances Stuart arrives at the court of Charles II. A young and vibrant beauty, she quickly finds herself the cynosure of everybody’s eyes. These eyes include those of the king himself, who before long has fallen deeply in love and taken to calling her ‘La Belle Stuart’. Frances is flattered by the kingly attention and attracted to the man, but she has a secret that is known only to her own heart. She loves Charles Stuart, the Duke of Richmond. The duke returns her love but is himself married and cannot betray his honour or his wife. Frances is determined to be with the man she loves and will have no other in his stead. And so she refuses to be the king’s mistress. Thus all three are trapped in a terrible triangle of romance. The story then follows Frances as she attempts to resist the king’s amorous and obsessive clutches, aided and abetted by his devious mistress, the Countess of Castlemaine.

Can she be with the man she truly loves or are Frances and her beloved destined to remain apart?

The Painted Lady attempts to answer the question the Restoration court was fascinated with. Did Frances, the model for Britannia on the British coinage, ever surrender herself to Charles?

Set amongst the decadent court of Charles II and against the dramatic backdrop of the Great Plague and the Fire of London, this book is perhaps too long, however the language is expertly handled, the period dialogue a particular strength and the other female characters are sketched with enough brio to ensure the story’s momentum. And of course the story itself has more than enough twists and turns to keep the most demanding reader satisfied.

Gordon O’Sullivan MOON IN LEO Kathleen Herbert, Trifolium Books, 2011, £11.99, pb, 401pp, 9780956810403 Set in the 1670s, against a backdrop of the political and economic unrest which led to the Monmouth Rebellion, Moon in Leo is a terrific read, full of incident and rich in historical and topographical detail. The story centres on the feisty and gifted heiress, Rosamund Halistan, and the two men who court her. Both will be glad of her money, but only one is prepared to give his heart in return. Rosamund, meanwhile, is preoccupied with the safety of her twin brother, Stephen, whose return from travelling in Europe puts him in great danger.

Herbert handles her clearly immense knowledge of this period deftly and uses her profound familiarity with the landscape of the Leven estuary in Lancashire to great effect in creating her fictional world. I was particularly impressed by the way in which she could make the reader understand how far London was from the north of England in those days, and how events which seem momentous in retrospect touched some parts of the country hardly at all. Her characters are not so much preoccupied with the politics of Whitehall as with the turning of the seasons and the powers that reside in the land.

I did find the juxtaposition of realist fiction and fantasy somewhat uneasy, and the plot stretched almost beyond the bounds of credibility towards the end of the novel, but Rosamund and her suitors are arresting characters, and the supporting cast well drawn, and the action never lets up. Enjoyable and undemanding.

Sarah Bower CRUCIBLE OF SECRETS Shona MacLean, Quercus, 2011, £12.99, pb, 363pp, 9781849163156 Crucible of Secrets is Shona MacLean’s third novel, all of which feature Alexander Seaton.

The third book of the adventures of Alexander Seaton begins in Aberdeen in 1631. Robert Sim, librarian of Marischal College, is found brutally slain in the college courtyard, and Seaton is asked by the college principal to look into Sim’s private life and discover the motive for this seemingly random killing. Seaton little realises how closely the investigation will involve his own friends and family. As he begins to piece together connections between the hidden places of a town he thought he knew and the lives of the people close to him, he unleashes memories and feelings that would be better hidden. Can Alexander uncover the killer and his perhaps alchemical motives before he is consumed by doubt and puts his marriage and his life into mortal danger?

Crucible of Secrets starts slowly, despite the gruesome discovery of the librarian’s body in the first few pages, and doesn’t really get going until the first quarter has passed. But once it reaches that point, the narrative takes off and allows its many jewels to shine. The period detail is excellent; the Aberdeen of the time is richly imagined, and the dialogue is terrifically subtle. The characterisation too is accomplished with both major and minor characters clearly and enjoyably distinct. While there are passing similarities with Shirley McKay’s Hew Cullan and Matthew Shardlake, the sleuth of C.J. Sansom, Alexander Seaton is an original and complex character in his own right with an eventful history and intriguing psychology. I look forward to reading where his fictional journey will take him.

Gordon O’Sullivan CAVALIER QUEEN Fiona Mountain, Preface, 2011, £12.99, pb, 447pp, 978009193667 In 1624 Henrietta Maria, Princess of France, was betrothed to Charles, future King of England as Charles I. Amongst the English delegates sent over to arrange the actual wedding ceremony, albeit by proxy in Notre Dame Cathedral, was Harry Jermyn, who was destined to play a very prominent part in Henrietta’s life. The events of the Civil War are well known, and many of the reasons for it were laid at Henrietta’s door. She was a Roman Catholic at a time when Catholicism was banned in England and saw it as her duty to restore the country to the true faith; she maintained her own household of French Catholics and had her own chapel and priests and when she arrived in England 17th Century

had no knowledge of the language. Against this background was her growing friendship with Harry Jermyn.

I settled down expecting a fast action book full of political and romantic intrigue, but although I found it interesting enough and was fascinated to see how Henrietta’s love affair with Harry Jermyn intermingled with the political climate of the day, on the whole I was not impressed with this version of the story. I found it rather slow in the telling and for me, at least, it lacked any real passion or fire. The main characters, although historically correct, did not really come alive, and had they been simply characters in a story would have been very flat indeed. Fiona Mountain has been likened to Philippa Gregory, but on the basis of this one book, I don’t think Gregory has much to fear yet.

Marilyn Sherlock THE PILGRIM Hugh Nissenson, Sourcebooks, 2011, $24.99/£16.99, hb, 368pp, 9781402209246 Young Charles Wentworth, motherless from infancy, is raised by his beloved Puritan minister father to lead a pious life in early 17th-century England. From his childhood, he witnesses the everyday occurrences of terrible disease, poverty, harsh punishments, and crime, and he suffers a personal crisis in faith, realizing he cannot live up to his father’s high standards. Educated at Cambridge and sent to London to make his way after his father’s death, Charles finds work as a law clerk and romance with his employer’s daughter, Sarah. When tragedy strikes, the brokenhearted Charles decides to take ship to the Plymouth Colony in the wilderness of New England in 1622 in hopes of finding redemption.

Onboard, he meets Henry Winslow and his sister Abigail, who are also seeking a life of religious freedom and peace. Charles finds himself drawn to the pale and pretty Abigail, but they are separated for a year, as Charles, determined to further his goal to find God’s salvation and aid the struggling colony, agrees to help found a new settlement up the coast. During the course of this daring adventure, he discovers that New England, even with its issues of starvation, greed, harsh winters, and Indian problems, holds bright promise for those looking to affirm their spiritual faith and lead a new life of freedom. When news arrives from England that could prove life-changing, Charles knows where his heart and soul lie.

Nissenson has penned a bleak, unsparing novel, peopled with flawed humans and accurate period details. It’s not for the faint of heart (plenty of graphic violence here) and at times a real downer, but always with hope lingering in the background.

Michael I. Shoop THE ELOQUENCE OF BLOOD Judith Rock, Berkley, 2011, $15.00/C$17.50, pb, 400pp, 9780425242971 The Eloquence of Blood opens on Christmas Eve in Paris of 1686. Against a backdrop of a harsh winter, ex-soldier and now-Jesuit scholar 17th Century — 18th Century

Charles du Luc is struggling with issues of his faith and the more mundane worries of his college’s financially precarious situation. When hope dawns in the form of an expected donation, someone else appears to have equal claim on this fortune.

Murder complicates the situation, and du Luc is called upon to solve it, as the public suspects that something less than holy is at work, and anti-Jesuit violence grows.

Rock provides meticulous details of everyday life across various social classes with an engaging style; the touches of humour and insight into the creativity of Jesuit scholars and their involvement in dance and plays are particularly welcome as a contrast to some of the grim realities of poverty and illness. This is the second mystery featuring du Luc, the first being The Rhetoric of Death. It isn’t necessary to have read the first to find oneself quickly pulled into du Luc’s world, however, as Rock skilfully weaves information throughout that hints at the first book and du Luc’s past. In du Luc, Rock has created a highly likeable scholardetective. I hope that his adventures will play out for many books to come.

L.K. Mason SEA OF TROUBLES M Stanford-Smith, Honno, 2011, £8.99, pb, 353pp, 9781906784270 We have, in the first pages, a host of people of varying social position with confusing names, firmly in the writer’s mind and in her notes, yet they confuse the reader. Too many sections need to be read twice to gain understanding. What, for instance, does the following phrase mean to an average person: ‘choleric at the queen’s tourney...’?

The main character Nicholas, is also referred to as Nick and later as Nicolo. There is a Toby, then Tobias, on the same page.

The book starts with a bang in 1599 as young actor/nobleman, Nicholas Talbot, Lord Rokesby, returns to his burning castle. After a few early and banal chapters (as with Captain Corelli’s Mandolin) the book moves forward. Nicholas, appointed ambassador to Venice by Elizabeth I, romps through Europe with his troop. Beautiful descriptions of costume, castles, rivers and acquiescent ladies abound. He meets his friend Christopher Marlowe, sometimes called Kit, who writes plays for guess who? Inigo Jones appears, stunned by the Palladian villas along the Brenta.

The few errors include Grande Canale for Venice’s Canal Grande, and anachronisms such as ‘killing glance’ and ‘gear’ for clothes. After a splendid scene at the Doge’s court, ships are built and the troop sets sail for England, only to be shipwrecked. Piracy and bullion appear. Through Oporto Nicholas struggles back via the French court, even more splendid, to an England and the frozen Thames with stalls and games.

Few 17th-century events or characters are left out.

Burbage moves his Rose Theatre to Bankside to be called the Globe, and Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is aired. But where is William Shakespeare? This book contains far too much information and too

little development. It would make four books, which would be easier to read.

Geoffrey Harfield

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18th century

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THE GILDED SHROUD Elizabeth Bailey, Berkley Prime Crime, 2011, $15.00/C$17.50, pb, 368pp, 9780425242896 The screams of the maid announce the discovery of the strangled body of Emily, Marchioness of Polbrook, in the early hours of the morning.

Lord Frances Fanshaw, the brother-in-law of the murdered woman, needs to keep the horrifying incident from being made public, and prove his brother, the missing marquis, did not commit the crime.

It falls to Ottilia Draycott, the widowed companion of the dowager marchioness, to root out the criminal. With her probing questions and reticent manner, Ottilia exhibits a fine intellect with the ability to discover the who, why, and how of the murder. Francis cannot help but be attracted to Ottilia, and vice versa, and they discover more interests in common than murder.

Beautiful writing and gorgeous language that immerse the reader in the period highlight this romantic mystery. The problem: we don’t know which period. Up until page 55, where the Revolution in France is discussed, we have no timeframe. There is no description of the costumes (think: panniers), hairstyles (think: wigs or powdered hair) or historical background (think: who’s ruling Great Britain?) to clue in the reader. Instead of a Regency, I discovered this was a Georgian novel. The cover blurb should not be the way to anchor a time period in a historical.

Monica E. Spence SURGEON’S MATE Linda Collison, Fireship, 2011, $19.95, pb, 292pp, 9781611791426 Patrick MacPherson, born Patricia, is surgeon’s mate aboard the frigate H.M.S. Richmond. The ship and her survivors depart the 1762 siege of Havana at the opening of the story. During the siege, MacPherson earned the approval of the ship’s surgeon and the suspicion of some of her shipmates. The life MacPherson has built as a medical officer in the Royal Navy is further complicated by a romantic attachment to the ship’s gunner, Brian Dalton. In New York City, where the Richmond has carried the surviving infantrymen, MacPherson’s professional and personal existence are threatened by the jealousy of the Richmond’s other surgeon’s mate. Compassion for a patient removes MacPherson from the Royal Navy’s reach and sends her in company of New England smugglers into the Caribbean.

Surgeon’s Mate is a sea adventure from a unique perspective. MacPherson struggles to gain competency in 18th-century medicine and deals with the pressure of discovery when “Every good HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 29

thing I had done, was undone by the fact I hid a woman’s body underneath these masculine clothes.”

Patricia’s struggle with the age-old dilemma of wishing to have it all is interestingly played out in the microcosm of a mid-18th century ship of war, and in an America approaching revolution against Europe. She finds herself torn between a desire for freedom, respect, and the professional challenges of the life of a man and a surgeon, and the love of a good man.

Patricia’s story may appeal more to a young adult audience than action-loving fans of naval fiction. This is the second novel in a series detailing the adventures of Patricia / Patrick MacPherson, inspired in part by historical accounts of 17th- and 18th-century women who worked in men’s guise as soldiers, sailors, and marines.

Eva Ulett THE CHAMOMILE Susan F. Craft, Ingalls, 2011, $15.95, pb, 251pp, 9781932158946 Lilyan Cameron runs a wallpapering and artist shop in 1780 Charlestown, South Carolina. The future “Charleston” is under siege from the British during the Revolutionary War. Her parents dead, Lilyan lives with her Cherokee companion, Elizabeth, and is compelled to look after her brother. Her brother fights with the rebels and is arrested and held captive on a dismal prison ship in the harbor. Lilyan meets a handsome Greek officer named Nicholas who is serving with Francis Marion, the notorious Swamp Fox. With her new love, she contrives a way aboard the ship – using Christian charity as an excuse – and rescues her brother. Lilyan joins the resistance against the British and promises to spy to free her country from tyranny. In her first assignment, painting a mural for a British lady, she must save Elizabeth from disaster and they both end up fugitives in the wilds of South Carolina. Will Lilyan survive and be reunited with her true love?

I wanted to know more about Lilyan and her life before 1780 to better understand her character. I didn’t even learn her age until page 61. I didn’t know that Nicholas had a thick accent until pages after meeting him. Their romance is sweet but happens too quickly. Some situations aren’t believable, such as a prisoner being able to keep the ingredients for invisible ink on his person. Elizabeth is important to the story, but she isn’t a well-rounded character.

Twice, her foolish actions jeopardize everything and bring tragedy that could have been avoided.

The story gets preachy in places, but there’s plenty of action and lush details of early Charleston and the wilds of the Carolinas.

Diane Scott Lewis THE COLONEL’S LADY Laura Frantz, Revell, 2011, $14.99, pb, 408pp, 9780800733414 After a failed romance, Roxanna Rowan leaves her genteel Virginia life and travels to the wild Kentucky frontier of 1779. She plans to join her soldier father at an isolated wilderness fort, but he 30 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

has been killed in action. Roxanna is stranded at the outpost with the dashing Colonel McLinn, one of Washington’s western commanders. McLinn, whom Frantz tells us was inspired by George Rogers Clark, struggles with secrets that can cost him his relationship with Roxanna as well as a military victory over the British and Native Americans in Kentucky and Ohio.

While the plot requirements sometimes throw Roxanna into TSTL situations (where she seems Too Stupid To Live), Frantz’s prose shimmers with power and poetry. The story is morally strong without being preachy or pedantic. Roxanna and McLinn build a lasting love despite steep obstacles and bitter betrayals both personal and political.

This is a richly textured tale of love, forgiveness, and redemption by faith set against a vivid backdrop of frontier warfare. It is a keeper, and highly recommended.

Elizabeth Knowles BECOMING MARIE ANTOINETTE Juliet Grey, Ballantine, 2011, $15.00, pb, 461pp, 9780345523860 Becoming Marie Antoinette, the first in a planned trilogy about the life of the Archduchess of Austria and Queen of France, is a fantastic read. The novel begins at the court of Schönbrunn in 1766, when Marie is just a carefree girl. At the age of ten, she is promised in marriage to Louis Auguste, the future king of France. She knows that her fun-loving days are coming to a rapid end. Her mother, the imposing Empress Maria Theresa, is counting on her to make a solid alliance between France and Austria.

In preparation for her marriage, it becomes apparent that Marie has been indulged too much and must buckle down with her studies. Every hour of her day is accounted for and is spent perfecting herself – learning the Versailles glide, styling her hair and clothes in the latest French trend, and even enduring braces to straighten her teeth.

Marie is placed under an enormous amount of pressure, but she is determined to fulfill her duty and be loved by her new family and countrymen.

After arriving in France, she finds it almost impossible to make a connection with her husband, the Dauphin. She dedicates herself to breaking through his shell and becoming his friend. Their relationship has its ups and downs, eventually blossoming into friendship, then finally love.

The novel is wonderfully different from others I have read about Marie Antoinette as it focuses on her young life in Austria, a part of her life that is usually overlooked. Grey’s novel has a little bit of everything: the glitz and glamour of the French court, young love, and international politics. The most enjoyable aspect of the book is seeing Marie find her own way and becoming her own person. I can’t wait for the next in the trilogy.

Troy Reed THE PIANIST IN THE DARK Michèle Halberstadt, Pegasus, 2011, $24.00/ C$30.00, hb, 140pp, 9781605981185

Maria Theresa von Paradis was the musically talented daughter and only child of the secretary of the Empress of Austria. She was taught by and worked with master musicians, including Mozart and Salieri, and she was renowned for her beauty as well as her concerts. She was also blind, and that condition is at the crux of Halberstadt’s compelling novella.

Joseph Anton von Paradis refused to accept that his daughter’s blindness, which came upon her suddenly as a small child, was permanent, and he had her subjected to many “treatments,” provided by the top physicians of 18th-century Europe; in today’s world, these would be more likely classified as torture. When Maria Theresa was seventeen, Joseph Anton enlisted the aid of Franz Anton Mesmer, a philosopher, musician, and most importantly, a healer. Dr. Mesmer’s medical methods were nontraditional: his theories of animal magnetism and early work with hypnosis alternately thrilled and repulsed the moneyed upper class at whom his treatments were aimed.

Halberstadt’s fictionalized account of the purported relationship between Mesmer and Maria Theresa depicts a young woman shedding both her innocence as well as her blindness, only to realize that with sight – visual and psychological – much of what she thought she knew of the world was painfully wrong. Scandalous gossip about the prodigy and the older man led Joseph Anton to retrieve his daughter from the healer’s home, and Maria Theresa retreated into the much safer world of music and blindness. The descriptions of how a blind musician sees and hears her surroundings, and how her emerging feelings affect her other abilities, add depth and insight to the many layers of this lustrous story. The larger story of late 18th-century Viennese society, medicine, and psychological sabotage enrich it even further.

Helene Williams SCANDALOUS DESIRES Elizabeth Hoyt, Grand Central, 2011, $7.99, pb, 400pp, 9780446558938 Widow Silence Hollingbrook has a quiet life, working as headmistress of a foundlings’ home in the stews of St. Giles. When one of her beloved children is abducted by local pirate king “Charming” Mickey O’Connor, Silence will stop at nothing to get her back. But it turns out that sweet Mary Darling is Mickey’s daughter, placed in the foundlings’ home to ensure her safety – and now Mickey wants Silence to move into his extravagant palace to help care for Mary. Silence is used to being a proper lady who plays by society’s rules, so how will she handle living in close proximity to a handsome rogue?

The third novel in Hoyt’s Georgian-era Maiden Lane series stands alone effectively, but there are plot threads that weave through all of the books in the series. The sexual tension between the two main characters is believable, the dialogue is clever, and the secondary characters (including a mutt named Lad) are charming. Hoyt has quickly become one of the leading names in historical romance, and 18th Century

Scandalous Desires is another fine addition to her published works.

Nanette Donohue FORTUNE’S SON Emery Lee, Sourcebooks, 2011, $6.99, pb, 445pp, 9781402256448 Sir Philip Drake is the errant son of the Earl of Harris. He has renounced the life his father and brothers embrace so easily and is determined to steer his own path: namely, the gaming houses.

Drake is proficient at games of chance, particularly dice and cards. While playing, Philip is noticed by Lady Susannah Messingham, a recent widow in dire financial straits. Susannah, nicknamed Sukey, seeks out Philip and requests his assistance in mastering the games. He reluctantly agrees, and an unlikely partnership is born. Though they both try to deny it, the sexual attraction between them is apparent.

Set in mid-18th century London, Fortune’s Son is a page-turning account of the lives of two people brought together by fate who attempt, sometimes feebly, to cling to each other through love. The use of minor characters to assist the plot and the details of setting are used very effectively. One criticism: Prince George (who would become George III) is portrayed as drinking heavily and having mistresses; history proves otherwise. That aside, this proves to be a very enjoyable read with a multidimensional (and, surprisingly, male) protagonist.

Michael DiSchiavi COLD CRUEL WINTER Chris Nickson, Severn House (Crème de la Crime), 2011, £19.99/$29.95, hb, 224pp, 9781780290058 This is the second novel about the crime-solving exploits of Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds in the 1730s, and follows on from The Broken Token (HNR 53, p.31).

This time the quarry for Nottingham and his deputy John Sedgwick is a serial killer with a list of his targets, who sends boastful messages to Nottingham in a particularly gruesome way.

We know who the murderer is, and so does Nottingham, so this is a Day of the Jackal‑type plot, and very well done it is, too. The murderer is a man who is ablaze with bitterness against those who he feels have wronged him, and he is particularly well characterised.

The story takes place during an unusually cold and snowy winter in Leeds. The poverty, suffering, and despair of its inhabitants confront Nottingham every time he ventures out. Reading this book is like taking a time machine to 1732 Leeds, not that I would want to.

There are other interweaving threads to this story, which also contains false leads, tragedies, and a fascinating plotline that holds it all together: how can the killer be hiding himself and carrying out his atrocious mutilations on the bodies of his victims, in a town of which Nottingham and Sedgwick know every corner?

Although there were one or two points that I found a little hard to believe (if you were in the 18th Century

West Indies around 1730, would you entrust a letter containing money to a sailor and expect it to reach the recipient at a rough tavern in Leeds?

Would a poor woman be able to write a note, even a misspelt one?), Cold Cruel Winter is highly recommended, and I look forward to the next in the series.

Alan Fisk MOZART’S LAST ARIA Matt Rees, HarperPerennial, 2011, $14.99, pb, 336pp, 9780062015860 / Corvus, 2011, £16.99, hb, 352pp, 9781848879157 Cross-genre novels used to be considered unpublishable, but no more. Mozart’s Last Aria could be defined as historical mystery laced with strong threads of fantasy, paranormal and otherwise. This elegantly written and thoroughly researched crime story of 18th-century Vienna has many beauties despite the fact that the main character, Madame Maria Anna Berchtold von Sonnenburg, a.k.a. Mozart’s sister, is unbelievably cast in the role of bold detective. The murder to be solved is, as the title indicates, the murder of her famous brother, Wolfgang.

Whether foul play was the cause of his sudden demise can be argued by medical experts and conspiracy theorists of every stripe and has been since the composer went into a pauper’s grave in 1791. My reservations about this otherwise skillfully executed story arises from knowing these people and the facts of the case far too well

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THE QUALITY OF MERCY

to suspend belief sufficiently to accept a portrayal of the staid Baroness von Sonnenburg as the kind of woman who might throw her stays over the sofa and confront knife-wielding assassins in midnight streets. However, if you love an intricate history-mystery and aren’t that familiar with the people involved, or if you simply have a passion for conspiracies that involve secret societies, international intrigue, and the cynical machinations of the powerful, you will probably enjoy this novel very much.

Juliet Waldron THE RONIN’S MISTRESS: A Novel of Feudal Japan Laura Joh Rowland, Minotaur, 2011, $24.99, hb, 336pp, 9780312658526 Sano Ichiro, the heroic investigator of this novel, has been demoted from chancellor to investigator because of the machinations of Yanigisawa, now the right-hand man of the shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi.

Anyone familiar with Japanese literature knows the tale of the 47 Ronin, who in 1703 avenged the death of their leader, Lord Asano of Harima Province, the man who hosted all visitors to the shogun at Edo Castle. However, the plot of this story goes far beyond the few facts actually known about the ronin’s honorable act of revenge. The reader at first believes it’s Sano’s enemy, Yanigisawa, who is somehow connected to this death and the attempted assassination of one of the judges

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Barry Unsworth, Hutchinson, 2011, £18.99, hb, 294pp, 9780091937126 / Nan A. Talese, 2012, $26.95, hb, 336pp, 9780385534772 Barry Unsworth’s new novel takes up the stories of two characters who originally appeared in his Booker Prize-winning Sacred Hunger. It begins in 1767, two years after the earlier novel ended, with ship owner Erasmus Kemp bent on revenge for the death of his father and Sullivan, the Irish fiddler, miraculously (as he sees it) escaping prison and slipping Kemp’s noose.

The men’s paths are due to cross again, however, when Sullivan’s promise to his dead friend, Billy Blair, and Kemp’s business interests bring both to the Durham coalfields, home also to Unsworth, though he has lived in Italy for many years now.

This is a much shorter novel than Sacred Hunger but no less rich or powerful. Twenty years on from the earlier book, Unsworth has honed his skill as a writer so that every word and phrase of The Quality of Mercy is freighted with deep meaning and sharp observation.

Though the immorality of slavery remains at the heart of the story, and, in the characters of Frederick Ashton and his sister, Jane, Unsworth unsparingly exposes the cynicism underlying the altruism of the abolitionists, it is slavery closer to home which is the focus here; the slavery of the coal miners: Percy Bordon, down the pit at the age of 7, and his older brothers, Michael and David, who never see daylight for six months of the year.

The Quality of Mercy is a wonderful novel from a writer at the height of his powers, a gripping courtroom drama, a subtle love story, a knockabout comedy and a social commentary, all exquisitely packed into less than three hundred pages. A magnificent tour de force.

Sarah Bower HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 31

eventually appointed to determine the fate of the ronin assassins. The shogun is depicted as a pathetic weakling ruler, constantly pressured by his councilors, which matches the known facts about the decline of the Tokugawa clan in Japanese history but adds the petulant leader’s penchant for decadent behavior. The more Sano investigates Oishi, the ronin leader, his mistress and wife, his band of ronin, and other miscellaneous characters, the more different accounts emerge that increasingly confuse Sano and his helpers. Add to the intrigue the insights of an aide of Sano, Hirata, who has learned mystical powers that will prove to save one life and end another at the very end of this fascinating, riveting mystery.

Despite some repetition for clarification, The Ronin’s Mistress keeps the reader guessing with complex characters and action to the very last page, ending with a definite promise of a future novel with the remaining characters. Very well done, as always!

Viviane Crystal THE NIGHTMARE: A Mystery with Mary Wollstonecraft Nancy Means Wright, Perseverance Press, 2011, $15.95, pb, 264pp, 9781564745095 In 1781, Mary Wollstonecraft has just published her Vindications of the Rights of Women and is active with the men and women of intellectual London.

This crowd includes erotic painter Henry Fuseli, with whom Mary is obsessed. When Fuseli’s masterpiece, The Nightmare, is stolen, Fuseli blames minor artist Roger Peale and has him arrested.

Mary doubts Peale’s guilt, and Peale’s fiancée turns to Mary for help, but Mary’s obsession with Fuseli hampers her ability to think straight. When fellow intellectual and bluestocking Isobel Frothingham is murdered, her dead body arranged in The Nightmare’s tableau and found by Mary’s maid, Mary wonders if there is a connection between the theft and the murder.

Wright captures the character of intellectual London brilliantly. These writers, artists, and French revolutionaries are passionate idealists, but they lack common sense. With their heads in the clouds trying to unravel the grand philosophical knots plaguing mankind, they stumble into the mud puddles at their feet. Obsessed with trying to change her sexual attraction to Fuseli into an intellectual ideal, Mary hardly pays any mind to the crimes of the story, making her a bizarre yet intriguing sleuth. When she helps to solve the mystery, it is almost as an afterthought: save France from its corrupt royalty, demand equal rights for women, discover murderer, and avoid being killed…

Devotees to the murder mystery genre might be frustrated by the lack of focus characters show to solving the crimes, yet I found Mary’s scatterbrained intellectualism charming. I appreciate Wright’s ability to model her fictional Mary Wollstonecraft with the clay of the historical person, keeping her personality and foibles and not pretending that when faced with a murder she would suddenly 32 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

become Sherlock Holmes.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt A KILLING FROST Patricia Wynn, Pemberley Press, 2011, $29.95, hb, 362pp, 97819354210160 A year after German George of Hanover became King of England, the winter was so cold the Thames froze. Thus, the title and much of the setting of Patricia Wynn’s newest Blue Satan and Mrs. Kean mystery. For weeks, all of London frolicked on the frozen river in a great Frost Fair.

Against this frivolity, Patricia Wynn plays the unsteady politics of the era; this is The ‘15, the year of the first Jacobite uprising against the new monarchy. So when in the middle of the festivities a body turns up on the ice, clad in coronation robes, and frozen solid, a lot of people are desperate to find out why and who.

Hester Kean is a quick-witted widow living uneasily in the house of high-ranked cousins; Blue Satan, a nobleman who supported the wrong side against George, moonlights as a highwayman.

Together they search for truth in the elegant drawing rooms and wretched brothels of the city; at the same time, they fight against expressing their love for each other.

I didn’t understand why they couldn’t love each other, and that may be the problem with A Killing Frost. Wynn writes well, and she knows her period back and forth, but in the end this book seems very routine. There’s even an escape from Newgate by disguising the escapee as a woman. On the whole, disappointing.

Cecelia Holland

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19th century

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A FATHER FOR DAISY Karen Abbott, Hale, 2011, £18.99, hb, 224pp, 9780709092414 A wonderful romp of a read, this historical romance is set in late 1880s Lancashire. A vicar’s daughter saves baby Daisy from her dead mother, seeking the errant father. Deardon is not the father, but a nice chap who takes them in. The girl becomes governess to his nieces before the villain appears with both his eyes and hands on her.

This is an excellently constructed Victorian melodrama set against the Horwich, Bolton, Rivington Pike area, where the hero is a railway designer and draughtsman working at home. An easy page-turning read, it gives a good record of 19th-century middle-class life with its jealousies, lusts and dedication. The character introspection forwards the story as much as the dialogue itself.

Not only is the dialogue Victorian, but so is the author’s narration and characters’ introspection. I find this works very well.

With theatre visits and dinner parties we gain a good feel for the period, its morality and constraints. A mother exclaims, ‘It is a well-known fact that working class children have no capacity

for learning and young girls of the better classes of society such as our own are far too delicate… female brains are not capable of much learning.’

Towards the end the villain again appears and after a violent scene gets his come-uppance, the jealous woman is put in her place and a surprising development leads to a very satisfactory ending.

Geoffrey Harfield RODE Thomas Fox Averill, Univ. of New Mexico, 2011, $24.95, pb, 212pp, 9780826350299 Taking as his inspiration the story behind the ballad “Tennessee Stud,” Averill is off and running on a journey tale set in 1825. Young Robert Johnson inherits disputed land in Tennessee.

As he begins to settle it with his homesteading skills and his dreams of creating a horse breeding business with his remarkable Stud, he also falls in love with Jo, the daughter and sister of his feuding neighbors. When her menfolk burn down his cabin and frame him for murder, Robert and Stud become fugitives. Traveling the same route as the song, they journey from Tennessee into Arkansas, through Texas and into Mexico before Robert returns to clear his name and claim his bride.

Pursued by a relentless bounty hunter, Indians, religious charlatans, and harsh environments, Robert suffers the loss of his horse and virtual enslavement. But he is also graced by the kindnesses of fellow travelers, including an abolitionist family and French Canadian homesteaders. Throughout his transformation from innocence to experience, he keeps the kinship of his horse and the love of the pregnant Jo in his heart. rode (all lowercase), told in the clean, spare style of a folk ballad, is an example of how a novel’s length does not necessarily coincide with depth. Although it loses some of its momentum by the end, its precise language, compelling characterizations and driving narrative provide an immersion into another time that is the essence of great historical fiction.

Eileen Charbonneau THE DECEPTION AT LYME, or, The Peril of Persuasion Carrie Bebris, Forge, 2011, $22.99, hb, 304pp, 9780765327970.

The legendary sea wall in Lyme, called the Cobb, looms over this Austen-flavored mystery, whose sleuths are Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy. The plot, as the subtitle intimates, involves mashing together the hero and heroine of one Austen novel with the nasty family of another, always a good game for the seasoned Austen fan.

“There is never a particularly good time to stumble upon a body,” Darcy thinks, stumbling, and thus setting off a complex plot involving murder, lascivious greed, inheritance, the navy, and a lot of little gold objects. In finding out who pushed Mrs. Clay off the Cobb, the Darcys learn also who murdered one of their own family.

This is a complicated bit of work, and the plot comes together in a neat surprise. Elizabeth and 18th Century — 19th Century

Fitzwilliam’s baby daughter, Lilyanne, provides a necessary clue in a deftly captured moment, and Georgiana Darcy as usual is encrusted with suitors whose worth and virtues are not immediately obvious. Carrie Bebris writes gracefully and cleverly, often catching a lovely Austenite nuance: “He had a round face, a rounder gut, and a nose that pointed toward intemperance, but his wellmade clothes indicated that he had not abandoned all consciousness of his appearance.” If somehow murder seems as alien to the world of the Darcys as, well, zombies, The Deception at Lyme is a worthy read, and sheer fun for the Austen fan.

Cecelia Holland THE WORLD BEYOND Sangeeta Bhargava, Allison & Busby, 2011, £10.99, pb, 348pp, 9780749009342 Rachael Bristow is the daughter of a British colonel stationed in Lucknow as the story opens in 1855. Irritated by British prejudice and bored with the stifling restrictions of colonial life, she feels increasingly drawn to Indian culture.

Whilst visiting the bazaar, she encounters Salim, the adopted son of the local ruler, the Nawab of Audh. They discover a mutual interest in the music of each other’s cultures, and friendship slowly blossoms into love. But this is not a propitious time for romance, as the ruling East India Company becomes ever more heavy-handed. Salim’s father is deposed, and Indian sepoys are punished for refusing for religious reasons to handle gun cartridges greased with cow or pig fat. Meanwhile, Rachael’s father insultingly rejects Salim’s proposal of marriage. A sepoy is executed, British soldiers loot Indian homes and soon open revolt breaks out.

Salim rescues Rachael after she has been injured by a gang of rebels and takes her to the safety of his palace, before heading off to join the fighting. Will they and their love survive the cataclysmic events to come?

Set against the background of the Indian Mutiny and the Siege of Lucknow, this novel is an absorbing blend of history and romance. India is depicted in all its vivid, sensual beauty, the brutality of war is not played down, and the minor characters are as sympathetically portrayed as the lovers themselves.

Sarah Cuthbertson SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL Jennifer Blake, Sourcebooks, 2011, $12.99, pb, 320pp, 9781402238505 The reissue of this 1995 tale by award-winning author Jennifer Blake comes packaged beautifully from the romance classics line of Sourcebooks. In antebellum Louisiana, heiress Angelica Cardew awakes from a steamboat accident with her father and fiancé among the casualties and herself married to a man who she remembers trying to rape her aboard ship. As she pieces her new life together, she keeps her mysterious husband at bay by verbal dueling and enlisting the help of his household and relatives. She discovers his plot to gain possession of Bonheur, a plantation her gambler father won from 19th Century

her new husband’s stepfather, who subsequently committed suicide.

Renold soon realizes his growing feelings for his new wife but had been burned by the mother of his 10-year-old son, who refused to wed him because of his own illegitimacy. As Angelica becomes the victim of violence at Mardi Gras and a kidnapping plot, he fights to win her as his true wife. When her father and fiancé make an appearance at her second wedding celebration, Angelica must choose between her devil and the menfolk who prove themselves not quite what they seemed.

The set pieces of this Beauty and the Beast tale are in place, but there are many lengthy mind games and bloodless analyzing between bursts of well-written action and love scenes.

Eileen Charbonneau SHAME THE DEVIL Debra Brenegan, SUNY Press, 2011, $24.95, hb, 353pp, 9781438435879 A biographical novel about the life of Fanny Fern, writer, feminist, journalist and mother, Shame the Devil tells the true story of a bold and inspiring 19th century woman who was ahead of her time. Her contemporaries as mentioned in the novel included Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, Louisa Jacobs, and Catharine Beecher.

Sara Payton Willis took the pen name “Fanny Fern” to protect her anonymity. She married Nathaniel Willis at an early age but was left heartbroken when her husband died suddenly, leaving her with two small children. Her second marriage was a tragic disaster to an abusive man, and her decision to abandon the union was a bold step. She lived in abject poverty and regrettably agonized over what became a painful decision to leave one of her daughters with her in-laws.

Her circumstances were so desperate in 1851 that she believed she had lost just about everything.

Memories of her mother gave her the inspiration to write, and her situation soon turned around. Fern wrote for about 20 years for the New York Ledger, covering the wide range of social injustices within her purview. Outspoken and quick-witted, her unique writing style was read by men and women.

Her true identity was an allure and caused much speculation. She outsold Harriet Beecher Stowe; her fame was widespread.

The title of Brenegan’s book comes from Fern’s credo: “Speak the truth, and shame the devil.”

Snippets from her published writing introduce each chapter, providing a close look at her mind. Debra Brenegan will undoubtedly receive high praise for her superb portrait of Fanny Fern. Readers will gain an insightful look at this overlooked author and her firsthand account of American society during her time.

Wisteria Leigh LADY SOPHIE’S CHRISTMAS WISH Grace Burrowes, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2011, $7.99/£5.99, pb, 416pp, 9781402261541 Lady Sophie Windham has schemed to spend a

few days alone in her parents’ London home before joining her family for Christmas in the country.

Her plans come to naught, however, when an abandoned baby lands in her care. At 27 years of age, Sophie is used to taking in stray animals, but she has never even held a baby, let alone changed a dirty nappy. Fortunately, the handsome stranger, Vim Carpentier, seems to know everything there is to know about looking after an infant and is also quite willing to postpone his own journey in order to teach Sophie the basics of childcare.

A snowstorm fortuitously prevents Vim’s timely departure, and the pair spends several days in each other’s company, until they are “rescued” by Sophie’s three brothers.

Continuing the Regency family saga begun in The Duke’s Obsession, the author’s bestselling trilogy about the three Windham brothers, this novel launches a series about the five Windham sisters. The multitude of siblings, half-siblings, parents, and grandparents, all with their own titles and nicknames, are somewhat confusing on first introduction, but those many readers who enjoyed the earlier books will thoroughly enjoy this holiday romp with their heroes.

Nancy J. Attwell THE VIRTUOSO Grace Burrowes, Sourcebooks, 2011, $6.99, pb, 416pp, 9781402245701 The latest in the author’s connected series of Regency historical romances offers a credible romance between a pair of likeable but damaged protagonists—one physically, the other emotionally. Lord Valentine Wyndham is a gifted pianist and manufacturer of instruments whose musical career is curtailed by an immobility in one hand. On winning a country property in a card game, he departs London. He’s already slightly acquainted with his country tenant, with whom he shared a passionate kiss a year earlier. Concealing his aristocratic origins and his musical talents, he begins to renovate his house.

Ellen FitzEngle lives a solitary but useful life, growing herbs and selling her concoctions to the locals, and is still haunted by her frequent miscarriages and her husband’s death. As Ellen treats Valentine’s wasting hand with her healing herbs, their attraction blossoms into passion, but the nephew who gambled away the estate is a threatening presence.

Though the dialogue is lively, the suspense plot falls flat and the romantic resolution is weak. An intrusive parade of very talkative characters from prior novels detracts from the romance. American food habits and architectural references crop up.

But despite these inconsistencies, the most avid Regency historical fans will be entertained.

Margaret Barr THE LADY OF BOLTON HILL Elizabeth Camden, Bethany House, 2011, $14.99, pb, 336pp, 9780764208942 Daniel Tremain has not seen his childhood friend, Clara Endicott, since the day his father

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 33

was killed in a horrific accident at a steel mill in Baltimore, Maryland. Twelve years later, in 1879, Daniel and Clara encounter each other once again.

Their mutual affection is unchanged, but they now stand on opposite sides of a moral and social divide: Daniel has become a wealthy factory owner pursuing vengeance against the man responsible for his father’s death, while Clara has made her mark as a journalist exposing the abuses of the wealthy. Determined not to let her growing love for Daniel affect her work, Clara continues to write her inflammatory articles. By the time she realizes that her words have the power to unleash evil as well as good, it may be too late to stop the destructive forces she has set in motion.

Unlike many romance novelists, who mistake brashness and rudeness for strength of character, Camden recognizes that true strength lies in dealing with difficult circumstances with compassion and integrity. Clara is a marvelous heroine who does not allow her innate timidity to prevent her from standing up for what she believes in, even at the risk of her own life.

A secondary plotline involving the burgeoning opium trade is smoothly integrated into the greater story of the relationship between Daniel and Clara.

This very satisfying debut novel, about the power of faith and forgiveness, will surely launch Camden well into the midst of the field of inspirational authors.

Nancy J. Attwell AMONG THE WONDERFUL Stacy Carlson, Steerforth, 2011, $24.99, hb, 464pp, 9781586421847 This beautifully written literary novel takes us inside the strange, claustrophobic world of P.T. Barnum’s Museum of Wonders – that is, strange animals and even stranger humans – in 1840s New York. Carlson unfolds the stories of her two protagonists – an eight foot tall giantess and an elderly taxidermist – in alternating sections, which read almost like separate interleaved novellas because she chooses not to bring the two together at all until the surprising and moving climax. An equally odd choice is that Barnum, himself, is almost entirely absent from the book (and when he does finally appear is rather one-dimensional).

The taxidermist, Emile Guillaudeu, is an unhappy widower who has devoted his life and skills to rendering nature and making it comprehensible to ordinary folk. But he finds, to his dismay, that his devotion to science is scorned by the crassly exhibitionistic Barnum. However, the novel really belongs to Ana, who speaks to us in the first person. Loathing herself and those who pay to gawk at her, in constant pain, and living under the shadow of an early death, she is, nevertheless, insightful, good-hearted, full of dark humor, and, at the end, selflessly heroic. This novel explores the antitheses of reality and illusion, normal and abnormal, spectator and spectacle. It will give readers much to think about and leave them with indelible impressions of a (thankfully) vanished world.

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Bruce Macbain THE BRIDE WORE SCARLET Liz Carlyle, Avon, 2011, $7.99, pb, 375pp, 9780061965670 In the opening of the novel, it is London, 1837. Anais de Rohan is at the knee of her greatgrandmother, Nonna Sofia, who is seeking the young girl’s future in a pack of tarot cards. Sofia tells her young admirer that she is special and has a special life ahead of her. There is a special man waiting for her, the One. Anais has a long journey ahead of her.

Anais seeks to gain entry into a covert organization called the Fraternitas, a brotherhood of fighters. She is flatly refused until the men discover a reason to reconsider. She is sent on a mission with Geoff Besset, posing as husband and wife in order to rescue an English girl and her mother living in Belgium with a man who would destroy them. The girl possesses the Gift and is therefore vitally important.

With secret societies reminiscent of Dan Brown, gratuitous sex scenes reminiscent of Harlequin (neither of which I am a fan), and a fairly predictable plotline, I was disappointed by this novel. Nonetheless, Carlyle presents a well told story that may well delight fans of romance mixed with the occult.

Michael DiSchiavi INDIA BLACK AND THE WIDOW OF WINDSOR Carol K. Carr, Berkley Prime Crime, 2011, $14.00/C$16.50, pb, 320 pp, 9780425243190 Queen Victoria, perpetually grieving widow, hungers for news from “the other side” of her dearly departed Albert. Consulting a new medium from America in secret, the queen learns that Albert wants his beloved “Drina” to spend Christmas at Balmoral. In Scotland. A most startling suggestion, and scarcely conducive to warm merriment, but the queen agrees unconditionally. Meanwhile, an extremist group of Scots, the Sons of Arbroath, are secretly scheming for independence from the Crown, threatening regicide, and led by the secretive “Marischal.” Danger lurks.

Enter India Black, a lively buxom madam who runs her own brothel and possesses brains, humor, and some skill with a Wembley Bulldog pistol.

Having assisted Her Majesty’s Government on a recent case involving Russians and state secrets, she’s now summoned by an aristocratic spy named French to assist in a covert operation at Balmoral Castle. To India’s chagrin, she must disguise her gorgeous self as a devoted lady’s maid to a halfblind marchioness with an explosive snuff habit and devotion to Bible readings during chronic insomnia. No sleep for India, who must insinuate herself among the enormous staff to uncover and report suspicious behavior to French who managed the better job – carousing with the Prince of Wales.

Soon the plot thickens, and there are suspects galore both upstairs and downstairs.

For fans of Victorian antics, this confection of

a tale, told by India with snappy metaphors, jaded views on practically everything, and laced with a surprising knowledge of Scottish history, is a comical treat. Twists, turns, and tension keep the reader turning the pages, and a good romp is had by all.

Tess Heckel HAUNTED CREEK Ann Cliff, Robert Hale, 2011, £18.99, hb, 223pp, 9780709092759 In 1875, Rose Teesdale travels from England to join her husband, Luke, to live in a rough cabin in the Australian bush. She has high hopes for a new life on what she believes to be an Australian farm but faces challenges. Her husband is indifferent, the bush is a great silent forest with many terrors, and as Luke is often away, she is thrown on her own resources. After Luke’s death, she stays on, becomes resilient, survives and after a series of difficulties and misunderstandings finds renewed hope.

Haunted Creek is an historical romance peopled by well-drawn and engaging characters. Rose is a likeable heroine and a devoted mother to Ada, her tiny daughter. She is a true survivor. Luke is difficult and possesses few redeeming features.

We identify with Rose’s disappointment and her frustration. The Ganai people are sympathetically portrayed and are as shadows haunting the creek.

Rose’s relationship with them is convincing.

Equally interesting are settlers such as Maeve, who runs the ramshackle hotel in the emergent village; Lord Barrington, a mysterious and initially sinister entrepreneur; Eric, the novel’s true hero; his sensible mother, Freda; and the schoolchildren whom Rose teaches to sew.

This historical background will be familiar to readers of Kate Grenville’s The Silent River or Jane Campion’s The Piano, set in 19th-century New Zealand; it is a world thoroughly researched and convincingly depicted. Of particular note is the embedding of little details meaningful to women such as the ‘delicate china cups’ and ‘the silk’ that emigrants wanted to bring with them to the wilderness, a raiment of European civilisation in ‘a most uncivilized place’. Finally, Haunted Creek is a beautifully written story, its world very different from the busyness of our contemporary life.

Reading it was an escape into an adventure.

Carol McGrath EXPECTATION OF HAPPINESS: A Companion Volume to Sense and Sensibility Rebecca Ann Collins, Sourcebooks, 2011, $14.99/£9.99, pb, 336pp, 9781402253898 Several years have passed in this companion novel to Sense and Sensibility. It is now 1819; Margaret Dashwood is all grown up, a modern woman with contemporary sensibilities and a complicated love story. Elinor and Edward Ferrars have several children and still happily reside at the parish. Marianne is bored with married life.

Colonel Brandon conveniently travels for much of the book, giving Willoughby a chance to return, seeking forgiveness and a chance to reconnect with 19th Century

Marianne.

I am not a fan of these continuation or companion novels to the classics; it never seems like authors can truly channel Jane Austen. Nevertheless, Collins does an excellent job with the language, settings, and feel of the times. She has clearly spent much time researching the history and time period. The story switches from the viewpoint of each sister though focuses mainly on Margaret and Marianne.

Margaret’s is most definitely the better storyline of the two. Her search for education, independence, and love is well written and intriguing.

Unfortunately, I was not impressed with Marianne’s wishy-washy emotional saga.

Distraught over her lackluster marriage with Colonel Brandon and the sudden return of Willoughby, Marianne struggles for much of the book about her feelings. But as soon as Colonel Brandon breaks his leg, and Willoughby once again becomes the subject of gossip, she quickly reverts back to being a loving and true wife, without any repercussions. This sudden change of heart is a bit too tidy and convenient, and the fact that Brandon never once appears in the novel as a main character (he and Marianne never have a single conversation) detracts from the story.

Recommended for the essence and feel of Regency times, but not necessarily for the plot.

Rebecca Cochran THE ONE WHO WAITS FOR ME Lori Copeland, Harvest House, 2011, $13.99, pb, 320pp, 9780736930185 Beth and Joanie’s parents have died, and they are determined to escape their wicked Uncle Walt, who has made Beth distrust all men. Beth sets a fire to cover their tracks, and they take pregnant Trella, one of Walt’s former slaves, with them. As they flee, they meet three men returning home to North Carolina from the Civil War: Unionist Pierce; Gray Eagle, a half-Cherokee Confederate; and Preach, a former slave. Joanie becomes ill with asthma, and Trella is about to give birth right on the road. Can Beth trust the three men to protect them from her uncle?

There are several plot problems, such as Beth purchasing property. Her family members are mere sharecroppers – where did she get the money?

Readers are told that Walt is evil, but aren’t shown this. Preach and Trella are mostly wallpaper characters, only figuring into the ending in order to tie things up neatly. The story would have been richer if it had included more of the ex-slaves’ experiences. Joanie is the best-drawn character.

Beth is not very likeable, and her chemistry with Pierce just wasn’t there. One of inspirational author Copeland’s lesser efforts; not recommended.

B.J. Sedlock

A NIGHT TO SURRENDER Tessa Dare, Avon, 2011, $7.99/C$9.50, pb, 372pp, 9780062049834 In 1813, Susanna Finch is the only child of a world-renowned inventor of British weaponry.

Susannah has made the village of Spindle Cove, 19th Century

called Spinster Cove by its detractors, as a safe haven for well-bred ladies with problems. Women can come to regain their health, mend a broken heart, or find shelter from a cruel world.

Victor Bramwell is an injured Army officer deemed Earl of Rycliff for his valor in battle.

Susanna must figure out a way to keep the Cove from being overrun with unwanted men, while Bram must follow his orders to get a local militia up and running in time for a review of his superiors.

The two fight a powerful attraction, and one another, before they realize that working together is the key to success — and the key to their love.

A Night to Surrender tackles the treatment of early 19th-century women’s medicine and society’s treatment of women with “flaws,” both physical and emotional.

Alternately hilarious and serious, this is a most enjoyable read. Recommended.

Monica E. Spence BUTTERFLY’S CHILD Angela Davis-Gardner, Dial, 2011, $26/C$30, hb, 327pp, 9780385340946 Puccini’s haunting opera, Madame Butterfly, ends with Butterfly’s suicide when her longawaited lover, the cavalier naval officer, Pinkerton, finally returns to Nagasaki accompanied by his “real” wife, Kate. Realizing the situation, Butterfly agrees to give up their son then falls on her father’s sword. Pinkerton takes the boy to America where, presumably, Kate will raise him as her own.

In real life, of course, the story would not have ended there. Davis-Gardner picks up the thread to create a wonderful sequel to Puccini’s opera.

As in real life, the characters in Butterfly’s Child are complex and not always lovable. This and the hardships of farm life in turn-of-the-century Illinois make for the harsh environment in which Butterfly’s child, Benji, struggles to adapt, to find acceptance as a child of mixed race, and to follow his dream. The dream takes him from Pinkerton’s homestead through Iowa and Colorado, then to San Francisco and the earthquake of 1906 and then beyond – but telling where would spoil the story.

In form, Butterfly’s Child mimics a musical presentation. It is divided into Overture, Parts, an Interlude, and Finale. Each section moves the story forward at a steadily accelerating pace. The author allows time for rich detail of place, personalities, and historical events. But, she draws the reader in irresistibly to a totally surprising turn in Part Three. What was until then just a fine, sensitive, and complex story becomes a truly great one. I would put Butterfly’s Child at the top of your winter reading list.

Lucille Cormier CAPTIVE TRAIL Susan Page Davis, Moody, 2011, $14.99, pb, 272pp, 9780802405845 On the plains of north central Texas in 1857, stagecoach driver Ned Bright finds an exhausted, injured woman lying in the road. Assisted by some

Catholic nuns and his business partner, Ned tries to find Taabe Waipu’s identity and her American birth family. She has escaped captivity by the Numinu and wants to return to her former life – but the Comanche have other plans.

Susan Page Davis portrays the appealing Taabe Waipu as an intelligent, brave, multidimensional woman. Taabe is quiet and unassuming but has a solid core of strength and persistence. Her love story with Ned is lifeless, and few sparks fly, but the book is worth reading for Taabe’s experiences alone. Life in the Old West is vividly drawn, with the mix of American, Mexican, French, and Native American cultures giving the story texture and historical interest. The Comanche attack scenes are especially powerful and frightening. Taabe Waipu is an admirable heroine, and the reader will cheer for her as she regains her true self and recoups what was lost to her in childhood – and much more. Recommended.

Elizabeth Knowles THE GREATEST LOVE ON EARTH Mary Ellen Dennis, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2011, $6.99, pb, 448pp, 9781402249822 The Greatest Love on Earth is a lusty, adventurepacked romance set against the backdrop of late 1800s circus life. The heroine is 17-year-old Calliope Kelly, a spirited and talented equestrian performer. Her father is the circus owner/ ringmaster, and her mother a beautiful tight-rope walker. But Calliope’s mother dies in a mysterious fall that Calliope refuses to believe was an accident.

Her heartbroken father spirals into alcoholism, forcing Calliope to take over managing the show.

In the course of the book, Calliope attracts many male admirers. For practical reasons, she gives all their proposals due consideration, but the only man she truly wants is Brian O’Connor, the one-time lion tamer for the circus. She has adored Brian since she was a child. He disappeared the night of her mother’s death but returned seeking a job. Their mutual attraction is intense and immediate. However, they are both hot-headed and quick to take offense. Despite their desire, pride and misunderstandings get in the way of the relationship. Although they can’t converse without one or the other storming off in a huff, neither can they keep apart. Then disaster strikes the circus.

Calliope believes she has lost everything, including Brian. With no choice but to make a fresh start, she is thwarted at every turn and finds herself in increasingly dangerous situations. Calliope discovers it’s not so easy to leave the circus life – or circus people – behind. If you enjoy romances on the steamy side, this book delivers.

Sue Asher THE DAKOTA CIPHER William Dietrich, Allison & Busby, 2011, £7.99, pb, 448pp, 9780749009410 / Harper, 2010, $9.99, pb, 480pp, 9780061568084 France, 1800. In Ethan Gage’s third adventure, our hero – lover, adventurer, gambler, sharpshooter and man of unexpected talents – has to leave HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 35

France hastily (he’s bedded Bonaparte’s married sister) and finds himself with a mission from Talleyrand to help broker a French peace with America. Soon he’s on board ship with the hirsute, one-eyed Norwegian, Magnus Bloodhammer, who wields a fearsome double-headed axe. Magnus believes that his 14th-century Viking ancestors reached America and buried Mjolnir, Thor’s sacred hammer. He has an old map to prove it and tempts Ethan with the lure of treasure.

Magnus’s tale seems bonkers but harmless to Ethan. He’s not even too bothered when the inscrutable Tecumseh, chief of the Shawnee, joins them, especially when he’s accompanied by the aristocratic Lord Somerset and his beautiful cousin, Aurora. When Aurora makes it clear that she’d like a closer relationship, Ethan soon has more on his mind than improbable magic hammers.

Ethan doesn’t take himself too seriously, and I like his humorously ironic tone. Once again, his unexpected talents attract the women and confound his enemies – or do they? Before long, he is on a perilous journey to the Great Lakes – and his travelling companions are revealed as rather more than they seem. It will take all Ethan’s ingenuity and endurance to outwit his enemies and stay alive, let alone claim any treasure.

I love Dietrich’s skilful mixture of wellresearched Norse mythology, the exploits of the Knights Templar, early American history, the Egyptian Book of Thoth, and a fantastic imagination. He grabs the reader by the throat and doesn’t let go until the very last page. The plot’s twists and turns are labyrinthine and wellnigh incomprehensible, but who cares? Dietrich is a master storyteller who knows exactly how to keep his readers enthralled. I read this with great enjoyment.

Elizabeth Hawksley THE RAKE’S CHALLENGE Beth Elliott, Robert Hale, 2011, £18.99, hb, 223pp, 9780709092520 The novel opens with alternate chapters depicting the very different lives of the two main characters. First we have the dissolute and bored Giles Maltravers, Earl of Longwood, leaving the bed of a society beauty for whom he feels little; she is merely the latest in a long line. He is the rake of the title, impeccably dressed, broad shoulders, thick black hair, expert at duelling and driving in his curricle, all very manly and admirable abilities.

Meanwhile we see the lovely, lost Annabelle Lawrence, who has run away from home and, while on her way to a new situation as lady’s companion, becomes entangled with some ruffians and must be rescued. She is suitably grateful, innocent and somehow different to all the society beauties he has had.

The reader will probably not be surprised at the direction in which the plot goes, but the journey there is pleasant enough, with lots of period detail and much biting of lips, dancing of minuets and learning the language of the fan.

There is also a subplot involving the prince regent 36 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

and a dastardly attempt at poisoning, but that is The Days of the King is a light-hearted look at a essentially subordinate to the main love plot, which little-watched corner of history from the viewpoint is prolonged until the usual satisfactory conclusion. of a common man and his cat.

One for fans of the genre who will have their Elizabeth Caulfield Felt sensibilities tickled and enjoy this light read greatly.

Ann Northfield THE RESURRECTION OF NAT TURNER, PART ONE: The Witnesses A BURIAL AT SEA Sharon Ewell Foster, Howard, 2011, $15.99/ Charles Finch, Minotaur, 2011, $24.99/C$28.99, C$18.99, pb, 416pp, 9781416578031 hb, 320pp, 9780312625085 Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Virginia in 1831.

Charles Lenox, a member of Parliament with an This book tells his story through the eyes of others, unlikely background as a detective, is charged with including Harriet Beecher Stowe – who years later a secret diplomatic mission to Egypt to investigate researches a possible novel about him – and people French operations on the Suez Canal. Leaving his who knew him. It contains beautiful, lyrical writing beloved wife behind in London, Lenox sets off on and vivid portraits of “witnesses” to Turner’s life and HMS Lucy. His voyage promises to be stimulating, death. Another volume, to be published next year, since it will allow him to experience the life of a is expected to include what Part One strikingly Victorian sailor in a time of technological change omits – a retelling of events through Turner’s eyes. from sail to steam.

Nat Turner fought heroically for freedom, but Excitement quickly turns to danger as a brutal helpless whites, including young children, were murderer makes his presence known. Called killed in the revolt. He is presented in Foster’s upon to use his long dormant detective skills, book as virtually saintly, apparently devoid of inner Lenox is presented with a catalog of suspects as conflicts. This contrasts with the highly nuanced well as a number of mutilated corpses. Lenox’s portraits of other characters, slave and free. Turner steady progress matches Lucy’s transit of the is seen from a distance, and his actions in the revolt Mediterranean. The guilty party is unveiled as the are shrouded from the reader, though it is suggested Egyptian shoreline is in sight, but Lenox is unable his famous confession was pure fabrication. We to prevent the murderer’s escape. The diplomatic never watch him with his wife and child, or leading assignment to observe and report on the new Suez his followers into battle, or at his trial, or facing Canal takes up the final portion of the novel and execution. We do see him preaching against slavery the reappearance of the killer catches both Lenox and suffering for it. In contradiction to what one and the reader by surprise. usually reads about him, he is presented here as the Be of stout heart, though, our MP successfully son of a white owner and an enslaved Ethiopian serves Her Majesty’s government well regarding woman, who was herself a slave owner in her native the canal and serves the Royal Navy equally well in country. Her guilt and belated realization that bringing a killer to justice. slavery violates the tenets of Christianity provide John R. Vallely much of the emotional texture to the novel.

Sharon Ewell Foster has written a moving THE DAYS OF THE KING story, well worth reading. Her central figure – Nat Filip Florian, trans. Alistair Ian Blyth, Houghton Turner – remains unknowable, however. There is Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, $22.00, hb, 208pp, an empty place right in the center of the novel. It 9780547388359 might have been better to wait to publish the entire In 1866 Prussia, dentist Joseph Strauss is story at one time. Readers will certainly want to see invited by one of his patients, Karl Eitel Friedrich how that empty place is filled.

Zephyrinus Ludwig, to move to Bucharest, where Phyllis T. Smith Karl will be crowned Carol I. Strauss follows the young prince, sets up a dentist office, explores the LONE STAR TRAIL: A Morgan Family Series city, meets locals, and helps the new king when Darlene Franklin, Moody, 2011, $14.99, pb, 272pp, called to do so, all the while keeping his relationship 9780802405838 to the monarch secret. Strauss is accompanied to First of six novels in the Texas Trails Series, Bucharest by his cat, Siegfried, who also discovers Lone Star Trail opens at the Running M Ranch the city while watching his human companion near Victoria, Texas, in December 1844. make friends and eventually fall in love. Siegfried Comanche kidnap the Morgan family’s sister provides the poetry of the story, writing flowery Billie, traumatizing a family already grieving the odes to his master with his claws on the backs of death of their father killed in the Texas war for formerly well-upholstered chairs. independence. A year later arrives the Fleischer Filip Florian could be called the Romanian family, newly emigrated from Germany, come to Faulkner for his fifty-plus word sentences and find hope and prosperity in the German settlement several-page paragraphs. However, Florian’s of Neu-Braunfels. Jud Morgan and his family take resemblance to Faulkner ends there. This Romanian in the stranded German family caught in a wagon author uses a silent-film style of storytelling. accident near the town of Victoria. The families In The Days of the King, Florian presents the become great friends, and Wande and her brother colorful details and bustling movements of 19th- Georg stay on to help the Morgan family on their century Bucharest with a light hint of story, a mere horse ranch. silhouette of character, and not a whisper of dialog.

Jud changes from a man prejudiced against 19th Century

foreigners not born in Texas to one tolerant of others. He grows into a loving, responsible man who faces the challenges of heartache, fire, and thievery in order to protect the Morgan horses he cherishes. A heartwarming, inspirational story – we look forward to the sequel, Captive Trail.

Liz Allenby THE BLESSED Ann H. Gabhart, Revell, 2011, $14.99, pb, 416pp, 9780800734541 In The Blessed, Gabhart continues her delightful Christian romances set in the Shaker community of Harmony Hill in the mid-19th century.

Isaac Kingston returns to Louisville to bury his dead wife in her hometown, where her family will not forgive him for taking her away where she caught a fever and died. Isaac cannot forgive himself either. While contemplating suicide, Isaac meets a Shaker man who invites him to Harmony Hill for food and redemption. Isaac follows.

Lacey Bishop did not want to marry the elderly Preacher Palmer but could see no other option for her and her adopted daughter, Rachel. Lacey refuses her husband the marriage bed, and in his frustration and grief (having not properly grieved his first wife’s death), the preacher turns to the Shaker community.

The Shakers offer much to those in need, but they don’t always offer what is needed. The difficulties for Lacey multiply at Harmony Hill, but Lacey finds consolation in Brother Isaac’s smiles. Gabhart’s characters are rich and diverse, and her story is well paced and entertaining. The Shakers, who in this story have an odd mix of holiness and craziness, are created with care, love and respect by Gabhart.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt IN THE BARRISTER’S CHAMBERS Tina Gabrielle, Zebra, 2011, $6.99/C$7.99, pb, 352pp, 978142122749 Tina Gabrielle creates a compelling story of Regency murder featuring a barrister, Jack Harding, and a law professor’s daughter, Lady Evelyn Darlington, who team up to solve the bloody murder of Bess Whitfield, an actress at London’s Drury Lane Theatre. As a motherless child in her father’s law offices, Evelyn spent numerous hours in the company of Jack Harding.

Now an adult, she requests his help in exonerating her intended, Randolph Sheldon, for whom the Bow Street Runners are in hot pursuit. The tension mounts as all parties search for Bess Whitfield’s diary, which is sought by numerous suspects who had affairs with her. The author continues to pique the reader’s interest with a series of tightly woven episodes as Jack Harding and Lady Evelyn find their mutual attraction an asset in unearthing clues to the crime.

Tina Gabrielle herself is an attorney, and this novel proves to be full of authentic legal details about the Regency court system. The book captures the spirit of London society during the reign of the ton, while the story provides sensual 19th Century

sizzle. The ending surprises and satisfies. Highly recommended.

Liz Allenby LORD AND LADY SPY Shana Galen, Sourcebooks, 2011, $6.99, pb, 416pp, 9781402259074 With Napoleon defeated and in exile (1815) and the British secret spy network downsizing, the agents known as Saint and Wolf find themselves competing for a single spot on the force. To the astonishment of each, they also discover they are husband and wife … Lord and Lady Smythe. Their competition centers on discovering the reason the half-brother of the prime minister was brutally killed.

With that premise, we’re off to the races as these two highly trained and expert spies work with and against each other in a murky world that is personal, political and deadly. This clever and bold and brass romance is enhanced by a dandy murder mystery to solve and a hero and heroine just flawed enough to be interesting. Lord Smythe struggles with the new woman his wife is turning out to be, while his lady, after a five-year-old marriage not based on love and wounded by the loss of three pregnancies, learns to take risks not only with her life, but with her heart. A fast-paced, blithe, and charming tale.

Eileen Charbonneau SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA Paul D. Gilbert, Robert Hale/IPG, 2011 (c 2010), £18.99/$29.95, hb, 224pp, 9780709089049 This is Gilbert’s third Sherlock Holmes mystery, though the first I’ve read. The premise of this story is a throwaway line from Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire,” where Holmes mentions to Watson the name of a ship, the Matilda Briggs, “which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.”

The beginning was promising; Gilbert perfectly strikes the acidic, sarcastic yet humorous tone of the famous detective. Ditto for Dr. Watson’s homey, at times querulous but always loyal responses and queries. In unfolding the mystery, Gilbert makes use of extensive excerpts from a man’s letters, which after a bit tend to drag the story to a crawl and make the reader want to skip over all the descriptions of the man’s trials being lost in Sumatra to get to some real action. The story is narrated by Dr. Watson, and it is a treat to get a close look at his intimate friendship with his genius friend.

Gilbert excellently portrays both the affection and the impatience that each man has for the other, a friendship that would lead either of them to the ends of the earth to help the other one.

Nonetheless, with such a lead-in as being the story “for which the world is not yet prepared,” I felt a little let down by the end, exciting and dangerous as the final scene was. It’s a good, satisfying mystery, however, and fans of Holmes will be quite content.

Mary F. Burns

THE AMERICAN HEIRESS (US) / MY LAST DUCHESS (UK) Daisy Goodwin, St. Martin’s, 2011, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 463pp, 9780312658656 / Headline Review, 2011, £7.99, pb, 468pp, 9780755348084 Cora Cash is a beautiful and fabulously wealthy young woman in the 1890s – the decadent Gilded Age. To escape her overbearing, social-climbing mother, Cora begs her childhood sweetheart to marry her before her mother sweeps her off to England in search of a titled match. After he turns her down, Cora accompanies her mother to London, where rich American girls are marrying into the impoverished aristocracy. She meets a handsome young duke after a fall from her horse and is taken to his crumbling estate to recuperate.

Cora is drawn to the brooding Duke of Wareham, and soon he asks her to marry him. Cora falls in love and believes her new husband loves her as well.

But the duke has his own dark secrets. Is he only after her money? Cora tries to fit in with her new family, who disdain her as an upstart American.

She stumbles through the demanding English protocol, making numerous mistakes. Her actions upset her husband but amuse her haughty motherin-law. A scandal involving the duke’s spiteful exlover could destroy Cora’s happiness.

Part of the story is told from the point of view of Cora’s biracial maid, Bertha. Bertha has her own struggles in the strict hierarchy of the servants’ quarters and with her wavering loyalty for her spoiled mistress.

The point of view switches into minor characters detracts from the main thrust of the story. I’d also have welcomed deeper insight into the feelings of Cora and the duke. Cora is extremely naïve, especially concerning her husband, but I always sympathized with her and wanted her to succeed.

The prose is lush, and the details of American excesses and English genteel poverty are well portrayed. I look forward to more from this author.

Diane Scott Lewis SARAH THORNHILL Kate Grenville, Text Publishing, 2011, AU$39.95, hb, 304pp, 9781921758621 Sarah Thornhill is the sequel to Kate Grenville’s award-winning novel, The Secret River, which was set during the early years of the 19th century in the expanding colony of New South Wales. Drawing on extensive family research, Grenville tells the story of Sarah, William Thornhill’s youngest daughter; Jack Langland, a young aboriginal man orphaned by frontier violence; and a young Maori girl who lived amongst them for a time. This is the tale of the next generation of Hawkesbury River settlers – those who have grown up ignorant of the carnage so shockingly portrayed in The Secret River. Yet, it is essentially a tale of violence. For as new loves are formed, in this young ‘innocent’ generation, old truths come to the surface, and those who remember must find new and terrible ways to assuage the sins of the past.

As a literary work, Sarah Thornhill has much to recommend it. The novel is written in a unique HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 37

and compelling first-person voice that somehow feels right for its time. Sarah’s romance with Jack Langland is both tender and poignant, yet devoid of sentimentality. In keeping with Grenville’s earlier works, the narrative also pushes the boundaries of dialogue and formatting. Yet, at a deeper level, this novel is so much more than a good read. So much more that an experiment with voice and punctuation. For like The Secret River, it is a deeply personal story – ‘a story of cruelty and crime and miseries on every side.’ A litany, perhaps – or a confession, of things done and things left undone.

A story that must go on being told.

Elizabeth Jane COMES A TIME FOR BURNING Steven F. Havill, Poisoned Pen Press, 2011, $24.95/C$31.95, hb, 289pp, 9781590588277 This second book about Dr. Thomas Parks, who practices medicine in 1892 in the Pacific Northwest, is just as enjoyable as the first, Race for the Dying. Dr. Parks has settled into the community of Port McKinney, Washington, and his new wife’s pregnancy is coming close to term.

As the book opens, a logger from one of the nearby timber operations is brought in with painful injuries to his fingers. They are not, as might be expected, from a work-related accident, but rather from a finger wrestling contest. An emergency with a lumberjack quickly follows, but the worst is yet to come: the discovery of a cholera case in town.

The horror of what might come if the contagion spreads unchecked leads Dr. Parks and his brand new medical partner to extraordinary measures on their own parts, and the demand that others do the same. Some show their bravery, others resist.

Two of the most fascinating are the unbending Pastor Patterson, and his extraordinarily brave stepdaughter, Elaine, who steps in to nurse the ill when her older sister flees from the risk.

The period seems to be well captured, and the action is unflagging. I look forward with pleasure to the next adventures of Dr. Parks.

Trudi E. Jacobson THE FLOWER TO THE PAINTER Gary Inbinder, Fireship, 2011, $19.95, pb, 277pp, 9781611791617 Alone at the age of 22 in late 19th-century Florence, with no living relatives and no dowry, the future of expatriate Marcia Brownlow appears bleak. Marcia loves women: in particular, her childhood friend, Daisy. Suspicious of Marcia’s intentions, Daisy’s aunt arranges an opportunity for Marcia to work as a secretary for novelist Arthur Wolcott, on the condition that Marcia sever her ties to Daisy. Ever the pragmatist, Marcia agrees.

Arthur Walcott does not hire women, so Marcia poses as a man. Assuming the persona of her late brother, Mark, she interviews with Arthur and is promptly hired. Arthur discovers “Mark’s” grand artistic talent and arranges for him to be mentored by other artists. All the while, Marcia’s talent is nurtured and her skills continue to grow. While 38 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

developing a career that spans several Italian cities, London, and the United States, Marcia is pursued by three different women who believe her to be a man. Marcia struggles to manage her erotic feelings for these women, feelings which must remain hidden lest her secret be revealed.

Marcia Brownlow is an unconventional 19thcentury heroine. She desires to produce beautiful art, but her aesthetic sensibilities are tempered by practicality. Understanding art to be a business, Marcia desires to produce work that sells, and at the highest prices possible. Disguised as a man, she is taken seriously both as artist and businessman and achieves success. But just as in real life, success comes at a price.

The characters are rich, and the heroine is very compelling. The rather simple plot sometimes drags a bit, but the three-dimensional characters that inhabit it more than compensate. This is very worthwhile reading.

Michael DiSchiavi

in the Durham village of Woolbridge, and the local magistrate warns Raif that radicals plan to cause a disturbance. Weavers, replaced by machines, are out of work and angry. Favian involves himself in the weavers’ cause. When a visiting salesman is found dead, Raif suspects murder, a murder that is part of a plot that involves government contracts and sinister spies. Raif scrambles to protect his cousin and an innocent man who is set up to take the blame for further murders.

The author’s strength is her characters, which are boldly described and nuanced in a few sentences.

Village life and workmen’s speech patterns are authentically portrayed. You feel the mud and ice the people trudge through. Many scenes start with pronouns, which can get confusing with so many characters. Dialog mixed with another person’s actions is also distracting. It’s a shame the book cover—a lady in a strapless gown—has nothing to do with the story or era.

Diane Scott Lewis

THE ASSASSIN IN THE MARAIS (US) / THE MARAIS ASSASSIN (UK) Claude Izner, Minotaur, 2011, $24.99, hb, 320pp, 9780312662158 / Gallic, 2009, £7.99, pb, 320pp, 9781906040147 The Assassin in the Marais is the fourth title in the Victor Legris mystery series set in Belle Époque Paris. For those unfamiliar with this series, the book’s cover readily reveals that Claude Izner is not a man but two sisters who sell second-hand books along the Seine and are experts on the history of Paris.

Although Victor Legris is the main character and sleuth, he is a neither a traditional policeman nor a detective. Victor’s involvement in investigating crimes and specifically murders seems almost accidental and distracts him continuously from his day job as a Paris book dealer. This particular story deals with a series of murders and a mysterious goblet that continually passes from one character to another. It is Victor, not the local police, who comes to understand that the goblet is the key to the killing spree that is gripping the city. As in previous stories, this one includes as a collection of colorful supporting characters that enhance the story’s charm and convey a sense of Paris of long ago.

There were two issues that detracted from the book: one was the continuous change in point of view, sometimes several times on one page; the second, the awkward sentence structure and peculiar vocabulary. These were not historical or foreign terms. I can only assume that something got lost in the translation.

Veronika Pelka

HEARTBREAK TRAIL Shirley Kennedy, Camel Press, 2011, $18.95, pb, 297pp, 9781603818315 Lucy Schneider’s new husband, Jacob, decides that they will follow his preacher brother, Abner, and leave Boston for the California gold fields. Lucy is reluctant to abandon her little stepson Noah, so she agrees. When a shooting accident on the trail makes Lucy a widow, Abner declares that Jacob’s property, including Noah, now belongs to him.

Abner’s religious fanaticism repels Lucy, and she turns to Clint Palance, one of the guides, who becomes her protector through treacherous river crossings and Indian attacks. Abner then decides that his wagons will leave the train and go it alone in the wilderness. Lucy is torn between wanting to stay with Noah to protect him from Abner and not wanting to part from Clint.

This is a historical romance, not inspirational fiction: Lucy and Clint manage to sneak away together a few times, where he educates naïve Lucy on how a considerate man should make love to a woman. While I believe the couple care for each other, the spark and charisma between the protagonists is less than expected. Romance fans will learn about the many forms of tragedy that struck pioneers on their way west but will not be disappointed in the ending.

B.J. Sedlock

DEATH OF A RADICAL Rebecca Jenkins, Quercus, 2011, £7.99/$12.95/ C$14.95 pb, 389pp, 9781849162333 It’s 1812 and Raif Jarrett, agent to the Duke of Penrith, awaits a visit from his cousin. Favian is an aspiring poet who has been sent down from school for a childish prank. The Easter fairs open

SECRETS OF THE HEART Jillian Kent, Realms, 2011, $13.99, pb, 289pp, 9781616384364 Dedicated to “everyone who has battled the twin demons of depression and doubt,” the author uses her background as a counselor for nursing students in this inspirational debut novel of Regency England. On a fox hunt, spirited Lady Madeline Whittington falls off her horse, breaking her arm.

Devlin, Lord Ravensmoore, rescues her, revealing he is the medical student who tended her ailing father, and Madeline blames his death on Devlin.

As the novel progresses, Lady Madeline’s mother, 19th Century

Grace, falls in love with Lord Vale, the conniving banker for Ashcroft Asylum. Failing to stop the marriage, Madeline returns to the family home only to find that Vale has drugged her mother with laudanum. Vale kidnaps Madeline and takes her to Ashcroft Asylum where he orders she be treated as an insane person – subject to near-drowning treatments, exposure, and beatings. At this point, the reader is fully engaged as the adventure takes a new turn with every page. Only with the help of Devlin and her belief in God is Lady Madeline able to overcome her past prejudices in order to forgive and live a fulfilling life. A quick and satisfying read – the first in a series entitled “The Ravensmoore Chronicles.”

Liz Allenby THE SWANSONG OF WILBUR McCRUM Bronia Kita, Picador UK/IPG, 2011, £7.99/$12.95, pb, 360pp, 9780330465090 Picaresque novels about the Old West abound, and with good reason: the outlandish adventures and unlikely escapades of the genre play wonderfully against the backdrop of dusty cowtowns, good-natured whores, evil sheriffs, and lots of guns going off. The Swansong of Wilbur McCrum mines this material for all it’s worth.

Wilbur, a classic Western antihero who tends to faint at the first sign of danger, nonetheless gets a reputation as a fearsome bad guy. In real life, he’s desperately trying to recover a lost love; when she turns up as a mummy in a circus he’s equally desperate to get her properly buried.

In the course of this, he falls down a well, witnesses a certain gunfight in Tombstone, meets Jesse James, robs banks, works for an Elmer Gantrylike preacher, survives into the 20th century, and rides in a model T Ford. Kita couches all this in a running first-person narrative that alternates between present and past tense and includes so much use of the word “iffen” I began to clench my teeth at it. The problem with this kind of book is its ancestry; Little Big Man is still the standard, and poor Wilbur is neither funny enough nor profound enough to keep that company. It isn’t helped by the recent revival of True Grit either.

Cecelia Holland VISCOUNT BRECKENRIDGE TO THE RESCUE Stephanie Laurens, Avon, 2011, $7.99/C$9.50, pb, 448pp, 9780062068606 It is 1829, and Heather Cynster, aged 25 and in her fourth Season, is about to be put on the shelf. She is beautiful, willful, wealthy and independent, and has resigned herself to a future of spinsterhood. But before that happens, Heather is determined to experience life, that is, lose her virginity. To that end, she attends a ball given by a lady of dubious reputation. Viscount Breckenridge, a notorious rake, sees her there and, being a friend of her brothers, takes on the role of Heather’s protector. He marches her out of the ballroom and watches as Heather is snatched by kidnappers before she reaches her carriage. Breckenridge gives 19th Century

chase, thus beginning an adventure full of twists and turns and romance. Who wants Heather? A mysterious Highland laird. Why? The answer to that is more complicated.

This romantic suspense, first in a new Cynster trilogy about Heather and her sisters, ranks among Laurens’ best. They are third-generation Cynsters, that wonderful family of strong men and independent women that readers will wish was their own family.

Audrey Braver BEYOND ALL MEASURE Dorothy Love, Thomas Nelson, 2011, $15.99, pb, 320pp, 9781595549006 In 1871, penniless Ada Wentworth journeys from her home in Boston to Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, to take up a position as a lady’s companion to the elderly Lillian Willis. Determined to do well in her new post, Ada nevertheless dreams about establishing a hat shop and becoming an independent businesswoman. Ada soon befriends Lillian’s nephew, Wyatt Caldwell, owner of the local lumber mill, with great plans of his own. Ada also befriends Sophie, a mulatto girl who resides at the Hickory Ridge orphanage. This friendship, however, causes much talk in the town.

As tensions rise, Ada is threatened but refuses to abandon Sophie, her growing love for Wyatt, and her business dreams.

While a typical and predictable Christian romance, the historical elements of a town

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still struggling to change with the times added interest to the story. The main characters were a bit unconvincing, though: for example, Ada never seems to grow. She has big dreams and hopes to change the townspeople’s prejudices, but she never actually does anything other than make hats. Ada and Wyatt do eventually both learn lessons about trusting in God, and each other, which creates a simple, satisfying, and tidy conclusion.

Rebecca Cochran BLOOD ON THE LINE Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2011, £19.99/$29.95, hb, 349pp, 9780749008697 Set in Victorian England, the eighth in Edward Marston’s Railway Detective series opens with the wily Jeremy Oxley – conman, thief and murderer – being escorted by two policemen on a train for his appointment with the hangman. His escape involves cold-blooded murder and more work for the tenacious railway detective Robert Colbeck and his deputy Victor Leeming, whose decade-long pursuit of their adversary has enhanced their skills to track their elusive, ruthless adversary. Oxley is an expert at his murderous trade, using the complex web of railways to outwit the police. Colbeck is also driven by something in his distant past as he and Leeming pursue Oxley and his accomplice across the Atlantic to New York. This is an uncomplicated plot with an easy-to-follow investigative process.

Whilst the concluding chapters are expertly and concisely written, one is left feeling that Oxley may

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

D.E. Meredith, Minotaur, 2011, $25.95/C29.99, hb, 304pp, 9780312557690 Following on the success of Devoured, this novel returns to the exploits of pioneering forensic pathologist Adolphus Hatton and his assistant, Albert Roumande, in the unexpectedly mean streets of mid19th century London. Reluctantly teamed once again with the dubious Inspector Grey of Scotland Yard, Hatton is soon confronted with a series of seemingly unconnected murders. Picking up a clue that points him in the direction of Irish terrorists, he finds himself dealing with strikes and even bomb blasts. Through all the violence he falls under the spell of the beautiful wife of one of the victims, a circumstance that threatens his objectivity and possibly even his life.

This mystery is expertly rendered. Cholera ridden districts of London are believably described in all their squalor as are the characters, people of their time, complete with all the prejudice and ignorance appropriate to the relatively uneducated of the 19th century. Even the inspector is not spared; he is a person who is more than willing to skirt the law in his zeal to maintain order.

The work is masterfully researched, rich in its depiction of the budding science of pathology as well as its information on early crime detection methods. If the novel is overflowing with violence, it is never gratuitous, stemming instead from the rampant injustice of those times.

Add in the author’s obvious talent for writing, we have an excellent historical mystery that is well worth a reader’s time.

Ken Kreckel HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 39

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E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Catherine Richmond, Thomas Nelson, 2011, $15.99, pb, 346pp, 9781595549242 I loved this book! It was cuts above the average Christian prairie romance that the cover led me to expect.

Susannah Underhill is an extremely reluctant mail order bride. She’s penniless, past the first bloom of youth, and has nowhere else to go other than to marry her pastor’s homesteading brother in 1870s Dakota Territory. She carries heavy mental baggage, legacies of undemonstrative parents, and a near-rape by an acquaintance. Nevertheless, Jesse Mason glimpses a strong woman behind the shy façade, and is willing to help her break her shell. But just as Susannah begins to blossom, Jesse goes missing while on a job-hunting trip. Susannah is left in the middle of the prairie with no resources and a baby coming on.

Richmond provides vivid period detail, such as the grasshopper invasion scene, and the very unromantic realities of living in a sod home. She also depicts married relations, unusual in the genre, though without getting graphic. Where Richmond really excels is in characterization. She did her homework in creating a complex backstory for Susannah, yet doesn’t dump it all on the reader. Susannah’s story is revealed bit by bit, making the reader unsure how she will react next. That makes for a very compelling character. Jesse is also multifaceted, though perhaps just a shade too patient and understanding to be true. Still, he makes a great wish-fulfillment hero for a romance. Even minor characters are developed beyond the cardboard stage.

This is the kind of character-driven book many first novelists hope to write and few achieve.

Richmond leaves the reader begging to know what happens next to her protagonists. More, please!

B.J. Sedlock yet thwart justice and reappear in another Colbeck story.

Vivien Cringle AN UNLIKELY SUITOR Nancy Moser, Bethany House, 2011, $14.99, pb, 400pp, 9780764207525 Bestselling author Nancy Moser takes us to a grand and intriguing time in American history: the Gilded Age. Lucy Scarpelli, sister Sofia, and their mother find work in a prominent dressmaker’s business. As Italian immigrants, New York society frowns upon them, yet their kind employer provides them lodging and encourages them as they grow proficient.

Meanwhile, wealthy customers Rowena Langdon and her mother come to the shop to have dresses made for the summer season in Newport. Rowena, who has a disfigured leg, finds a sympathetic seamstress in Lucy, who creates dresses to fit Rowena’s shape, hiding her disability – a feat no seamstress has ever accomplished in Rowena’s life. Summoning Lucy to Newport, Rowena wishes Lucy to be much more than a seamstress, instead a close and trusting friend. Rowena’s parents wish her to marry the young Edward deWitt from another wealthy family, with the intention of having Edward run the family elevator company.

Rowena, as the dutiful daughter, must comply.

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she meets and falls in love with a young man known to her only as Dante. He understands and accepts her social position and her outlook on life. Her sister, Sofia, and her mother join her in Newport, where Sofia becomes soul mates with Hugh, Rowena’s wild brother. When Morrie the coachman has an accident, and Rowena nurses him back to health, she remembers her true love for this childhood friend. Hidden identities emerge, conflicting with the rigid expectations of this classdriven society.

Nancy Moser creates a complex tale, providing a spiritual journey guiding the characters through their challenges. Her deft characterizations and strong descriptions make the book hard to put down. The reader feels sad when the story ends.

Liz Allenby THE BETRAYAL Diane Noble, HarperCollins, 2011, $12.99, pb, 283pp, 9780061980947 This is Noble’s second book in her Brides of Gabriel series, which continues the story of Mary Rose and Gabriel MacKay in their new lives as Mormons following Brigham Young on a great journey to the Salt Lake Valley. The story spans several years, starting in 1842 as Gabriel takes a second wife, Bronwyn. Bronwyn struggles to cope with her decision and acceptance of this new religion, especially when Gabriel marries a third

wife. As Mary Rose and Bronwyn develop a plan to escape the confines of their new life, events unfold that change their lives forever – including the return of someone they thought lost at sea.

Noble engages the reader from the very start, capturing the despair and helplessness sister-wives felt as their identities, independence, and ability to choose were slowly taken away from them.

Bronwyn is torn between love for her husband, faithfulness to her friend and God, and her growing concerns about the practice of polygamy. This story digs deep into the actual practices, emotions, and religious struggles that these travelers experienced on their journey for salvation and provides a unique look at a fascinating historical time. Highly recommended.

Rebecca Cochran HIDDEN AFFECTIONS Delia Parr, Bethany House, 2011, $14.99, pb, 347pp, 9780764206724 Lovely Annabelle Tyler needs a fresh start following her divorce from her ne’er-do-wellsocial climbing husband. Harrison Graymoor, Philadelphia’s most eligible bachelor, has no intention of ever changing his marital status.

Thieves leave them tied together overnight, and Annabelle and Harrison are forced to wed for propriety’s sake. Each of the reluctant spouses has secrets. Each tries desperately not to fall in love.

How they come to accept and love each other, and themselves, make the basis of a sweet inspirational romance.

The story gives the reader an overview of rough justice in the early 19th century, where society’s mores outweighs the needs of the individual. It also tackles the shame associated with divorce – especially for the woman, no matter how wronged she is by her spouse. A lovely read. Recommended.

Monica E. Spence WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES Caro Peacock, Severn House (Crème de la Crime), 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 256pp, 9781780290119 When intrepid lady detective Liberty Lane is approached by a two very different clients – a diffident young man from the Essex countryside with a missing fiancée that he doesn’t seem to know very much about and a cultured musicloving gentleman who is keen to protect a beautiful but mysterious foreign countess from creating a scandal, she has no idea that what actually lies before her is a tangled web of murder, kidnapping, royal iniquity and state secrets.

I was hooked and held enthralled from the very first page by Caro Peacock’s lushly imagined, vivid and highly detailed depiction of London’s dark and dangerous streets in the early years of ‘Little Vicky’s’ long reign. As is so often the case with really good historical fiction, the setting was the star of the show, and Liberty proved an excellent guide to the fascinating underbelly of the Victorian capital, where it seems that everyone and everything has a price.

The feisty, straight‑talking Liberty herself makes 19th Century

an excellent and immensely likeable heroine who is equally at home riding amongst the upper echelons of society in Hyde Park or wandering around the dark and dangerous streets of the docks.

The story itself was well realised and a lot of fun with a dash of romance, plenty of twists and turns and more than one genuine edge of seat moment as Liberty’s investigation progressed. If you are looking for a devious and deeply engrossing mystery set in Victorian London, then this definitely won’t disappoint.

Melanie Clegg SUMMER DREAM Martha Rogers, Realms/Strang, 2011, $13.99, pb, 278pp, 9781616383602 Rachel Winston is a P.K. (preacher’s kid) in 1888 Connecticut, who finds it hard to submit to her father’s wishes when he refuses to send her to visit her aunt in Boston. She doesn’t want to settle down with a boy she’s known all her life and remain in Briar Ridge. Then Nathan Reed, a young lawyer, comes to town on business. They both feel a tug of attraction. But Nathan’s secret past has led him to declare he’ll never get involved with a woman of faith. How can a pastor’s daughter make a lifetime commitment to a nonbeliever?

This is a quiet, gentle story, with no violence or villains, just a will she/won’t she romance. I enjoyed the Winstons’ warm family relationship.

The religious content is on the heavy side, as the two protagonists struggle with their faith or lack of it. The author surprised me by including some realities of everyday life. There are references to menopause, chamber pots, and a rape in a character’s background. In a genre that often avoids earthy topics, the acknowledgement that such things existed gives leaven to the sweet romance.

I recommend the book to readers who don’t mind heavy religious content.

B.J. Sedlock A MOMENT IN THE SUN John Sayles, McSweeney’s, 2011, $29.00/£16.99, hb, 955pp, 9781936365180 This epic work tells the stories of several men and women caught up in the violent end of 19thcentury America. These include Hod Brackenridge, searching for his fortune in the Yukon; Royal Scott, a black man looking for equality in the service of his country; and Diosdado Concepción, fighting for the freedom of his Phillippines. They meet on the battlefields of the Spanish-American War as our nation took its first steps towards becoming a world power, while others back in the States endure the backlash against the freed slaves, ending their “moment in the sun.”

Immense in scope, the novel is steeped in detail, such as the white coup in Wilmington, North Carolina, which swept many blacks from their jobs and their homes, to the depradations of battles in the malaria-infested ovens of Cuba and the Philippines. It focuses on the inequality inherent in those times, and especially in its depiction of the occupation of the Phillippines, it provides a 19th Century

lesson for our time. As a work of fiction, the book is unrelenting in its grim outlook, unremittingly negative in its choice of subjects, and unapologetic in its depictions of man’s cruelty to man. Excellent history yes, terrific storytelling surely, but entertaining? Possibly not.

Ken Kreckel

who comes and goes on various important but never fully explained activities. Tabitha’s devotion to him is total. The character of poor Lady Quayle is sympathetically drawn. I enjoyed the tale but felt that at just over 200 pages it was rather brief, and I wished the author had made more of the story.

Jen Black

THE LITTLE BRIDE Anna Solomon, Riverhead, 2011, $15.00, pb, 314pp, 9781594485350 Sixteen-year-old Minna Losk dreams of her new life as a mail-order bride in America. She’ll have a handsome young husband, a big house in the city, and days of leisure, a far cry from the poverty and hard work she suffered in Odessa. Instead she finds Max, devoutly Orthodox and living in a sod house in the Dakota plains with his two teenage sons. Max spends more time studying and praying than he does farming, and he leaves the eking out to his oldest son, the taciturn and stubborn Samuel.

As Minna struggles to deal with a forbidding landscape, failing farm, and weak husband, she begins to quietly fall in love with her stepson Samuel.

I’ll admit, Minna was a tough character to get close to. This is very much a character-driven novel, yet the writing choices the author made distanced me from Minna at times. I loved the premise and thought the other characters were well-drawn, but wasn’t able to get into the novel as much as I wished.

The time period, though, was fascinating and obviously well-researched. Max is part of the Am Olam movement, Jewish-Americans who believed that, through hard work and selfsufficiency farming the American West, they could prove themselves true citizens of their adopted country and avoid the persecution they faced in Europe. I’ve never read about Jewish pioneers or alternative views of the settling of the West and enjoyed adding this neglected piece of history to my store of knowledge.

Jessica Brockmole

BOHEMIAN GIRL Terese Svoboda, Univ. of Nebraska, 2011, $14.95, pb, 208pp, 9780803226821 Young Harriet opens her story by telling the reader that her frequently gambling father “lost her on a bet.” One can hardly grasp this possibility when one learns she has been left with an Indian tribe, in particular with one member who is attempting to build sand, dirt, and clay mounds similar to the sacred sites he has heard about elsewhere. But Harriet is fearful because she’s also heard that all the humans who assisted in building other “mounds” were buried in them after their work was done.

There’s nowhere to escape, but finally Harriet manages to do so, traveling through a world in which she meets miscellaneous strange folks in the early days of America’s Civil War in the 1860s.

Soon she travels with a Bulgarian girl, Sharon, and her baby toward what they believe is Florida.

Strange tales follow of a large balloon falling out of a sky and being rescued by its owner, being locked in a stockade by a weird lieutenant, and others, “each one…carrying hope on the tails of violence, Mr. Lincoln’s war or the Indians’.” She will again meet the Indian who once owned her for a brief time. She will become a permanent mother to an innocent, wild boy, David; attempt to help runaway slaves and many, many others before the novel ends with her expressing her prayer, love, and protection for her own baby girl, Duschecka.

Terese Svoboda’s book has been called a parallel story to Willa Cather’s My Antonia. While it clearly contains the depiction of the multiple types of personalities of the American West, it carries its own unique literary flavor by interweaving darkness and light, tragedy and joy, ugliness and beauty in lyrical language that magnifies this panoramic journey.

Viviane Crystal

CROSS MY PALM Sara Stockbridge, Chatto & Windus, 2011, £11.99, pb, 213pp, 9780701185046 London ladies in the 1860s loved to hold supper parties and have their fortunes told. Fortune-teller Miss Rose Lee is taken up by Lady Quayle and invited to inspect the palms of her guests. Rather to her surprise, Rose sees something she would rather not in the hand of one guest and keeps the secret to herself. Little by little and with tragic results, she is drawn into the dark happenings surrounding the Quayle family. It is an intriguing tale, oddly told through the two girls, Rose and Tabitha Quayle, and the official reports of three policemen.

The voices of the girls are at times are distinct and different and at others confusingly similar, so that surroundings and secondary characters offer the clues we need to know about whose story we are following. The hero, if I can call him that, is depicted as a magnetic and rather callous creature

CITY OF PROMISE: A Novel of New York’s Gilded Age Beverly Swerling, Simon & Schuster, 2011, $26.00, hb, 432 pp, 978143913694 The American Civil War is ending, and Confederate prisoner Joshua Turner returns to New York, minus a leg but filled with ambition.

Solving the increasing housing crisis for upper middle-class New Yorkers on the limited space of Manhattan demands a solution in between the unaffordable rich mansions and the “immigrant rookeries” of the poor. “Building upward” was the only solution, changing the New York skyline forever. The French flat, where each floor housed one family, is an idea that will take genius and money, which Joshua Turner possesses, and the HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 41

making steel using a different method.

His new wife, Molly Brannigan, niece of a shrewd and successful brothel owner, shares Joshua’s dreams with enthusiasm. They met by chance at Macy’s, when Mollie devised a discreet sartorial solution to Joshua’s empty trouser leg. Her cleverness and impetuous nature will sometimes help, but often hinder their marital relationship. As Joshua hires experienced workers – dwarves who do not succumb to the circus sideshows – to help his business get off the ground, he learns that he and they have enemies who want his dreams to fail.

Beverly Swerling knows how to make the everyday lives and social changes of a city pageturning reading. Her characters are rich and welldrawn. The atmosphere, sights, and sounds of a burgeoning New York City envelop the reader throughout this rich story of one couple’s dreams and the radiating effect they have on a teeming city and, conversely, the city’s effect on them. The new and overpowering Brooklyn Bridge plays a part, despite being built over one neighborhood which will be forever in the gloom of its shadow. Highly recommended.

Tess Heckel BROCK’S AGENT Tom Taylor, Hancock and Dean, 2011, C$19.98, pb, 346pp, 9780986896101 In February 1813, Major General Isaac Brock must defend Upper Canada against American attack, but he lacks sufficient numbers to succeed in this endeavor. If the Indians rise up against the Americans, he might have a chance. A young man,

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recently returned from a fur trading expedition, knows Tecumseh and has lived with the Shawnee.

Jonathan Westlake never thought to join the British army, but in attempting to save a young woman from her abusive stepfather, Jonathan almost kills the man. Brock agrees to protect Jonathan from prosecution if he undertakes a secret mission. His thoughts remain with Mary during his journey, but constant obstacles – captured as a spy after crossing the border, a brutal American sergeant, and a mysterious mercenary intent on killing Jonathan – delay his mission and his plans to return to Mary.

After participating in the successful capture of Fort Mackinac, Jonathan discovers that Mary and her stepfather are also present and in the company of the mercenary, who’s killed a friend. When he goes to her rescue and to confront the murderer, the trio has disappeared. Rather than pursue them as he wishes, Jonathan must continue his secret mission or General Brock will face defeat.

Told from several points of view and from both Canadian and American perspectives, readers experience the Battle of Tippecanoe through the taking of Fort Detroit during the early days of the War of 1812. This is a gripping tale of brutality, treachery, loyalty, and friendship. If any scene doesn’t quite ring true, it’s the scene involving Mary soon after her rape. Overall, however, Taylor spins a well-rounded and riveting tale of war, love of country, and friendship, a tale where the reader comes to understand some issues that caused the war and how those involved felt.

Cindy Vallar

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

DJ Taylor, Chatto & Windus, 2011, £17.99, hb, 405pp, 9780701183585 Any reader who likes the gentle and considered narratives of the novels of Trollope or Thackeray should enjoy this work of fiction. Indeed some of the minor characters share names which have been used

by Anthony Trollope in his own works. The author has written a number of highly acclaimed historical novels, and this is another impressive book.

It is set in a recognisably Victorian England of around 1860-1870, with a rich cast of living characters that the reader gets to know very well during the course of the story. It is a tale of human frailty, selfishness, duplicity and goodness. But like Trollope’s own villains, no-one is unremittingly evil, though if anyone can be considered to be the villain of the piece then it is perhaps the young and rather enigmatic Miss Rebecca Gresham, daughter of an ageing barrister. She is courted by and agrees to marry Gerald Happerton, a man who is not really a gentleman but who is able to ingratiate himself into the lives of others and has a number of shady and criminal schemes to make himself a rich man. These focus upon his ownership of the highly regarded horse, Tiberius, a candidate for the prestigious Derby at Epsom, and the cast of characters interested in this tale.

The plot has numerous tales and meandering stories to impart, which eventually all merge on the day of the race. It is a day when Nemesis, in various ways, strikes hard; but those who deserve good fortune are looked after by fate.

Doug Kemp 42 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH Becky Thacker, Univ. of Michigan Press, 2011, $22.95, pb, 273pp, 9780472117888 Based upon an actual event in Benzonia, Michigan, in 1894, Becky Thacker spins a psychological drama set in a farming community where, amid the austerity of Bible Christianity and Victorian prudery, a woman dies in agony and a family is almost destroyed. With clarity and restraint, Thacker explores the mysterious death of her own great-grandmother, Anna Thacker, weaving extracts from court records, letters, and newspapers into a seamless narrative. Was it murder or suicide?

Anna’s children stand helplessly by as their mother succumbs to a mysterious illness and their father is accused of poisoning her. While determined to clear their father’s name, the five Thacker children, under the guidance of determined Ralph and gentle Lottie, band together to hang onto their home and to each other. They realize, as does the reader, that their quiet, selfeffacing mother has been the strength of the family.

One sees that the influence of a strict but loving mother can never be underestimated, for Anna keeps her family going long after her death.

In the meantime, the youngsters must deal with scheming Aunt Charlotte, Anna’s pietistic sister, whose jealousy of Anna and her husband, William, is always seeking an outlet. The author skillfully builds layer upon layer of layer of enigma.

Do Charlotte’s problems originate with the murder of her own mother during an Indian raid? Would devout Anna really have committed suicide?

Should Ralph burn Charlotte’s journal which provides more information than he ever wanted to know about her twisted mind?

These questions, and many others, are part of the story of the Thacker family, brought to life with vividly accurate descriptions of the bleak conditions of farm life as well as moments of warmth and amity by the fireside.

Elena Maria Vidal MURDER ON SISTERS’ ROW Victoria Thompson, Berkley Prime Crime, 2011, $24.95, hb, 304pp, 9780425241158 Fans of Victoria Thompson and her Gaslight Mystery series will enjoy Murder on Sisters’ Row, the latest Sarah Brandt story. Sarah is an appealing sleuth, and her profession as a midwife in turn-ofthe-century New York makes plausible the murder in which she becomes embroiled. However, as often happens when new readers pick up a title in a longstanding series, the recurring characters come across a bit flat and contextless, especially the potential love interest, Malloy.

Here, the story revolves around a woman in a brothel, whom Sarah is called upon to assist in delivering her child. She claims she is not a prostitute but was abandoned there by her wellheeled lover, who suspiciously has the same name as the husband of a woman who uses her own fortune to found a shelter for women escaping prostitution. When this woman is murdered, all 19th Century

signs point to the new mother, but Sarah is not convinced. The cast of possible suspects is large, though it’s fairly easy to rule out most of them, and the inevitable last-minute twist falls a bit flat since the character had been rather colorless throughout.

The setting is not developed as thoroughly as readers of historical fiction may expect, and in parts only a specific mention of a figure like Teddy Roosevelt serves to remind the reader of the era.

This is a quick and engrossing read, but it might be better for those unfamiliar with the series to start with an earlier title.

Laurel Corona HEIRESS (Daughter of Fortune, Book One) Susan May Warren, Summerside, 2011, $14.99, pb, 380pp, 9781609362188 Set in the famously extravagant Gilded Age of New England, Heiress tells the story of the Price sisters, Esme and Jinx, who could not be more different. Esme wishes that society protocol would allow her to work alongside her father, the publisher of the Chronicle newspaper, and Jinx wishes to be at the forefront of society’s opulent stage. Just as Esme is betrothed to Foster Worth, a man she loathes, she realizes it is another who really has her heart, while her sister Jinx believes it is she who should wed Foster Worth.

Esme is forced out of the family and begins a new life amidst the rough ways of Montana, while Jinx becomes that pinnacle of society’s finest that she so coveted. Trials and tribulations threaten both sisters’ happiness as each realizes that being a daughter of fortune does not buy love, and that perhaps being true to oneself is the most important thing to accomplish. I was surprised by some of the secrets and twists presented and found the narrative hypnotic, as I was eager to learn the fate of these two families twisting within the deceit of society.

Marie Burton DANIEL O’THUNDER Ian Weir, Douglas & McIntyre, 2011, C$19.95/$16.95, pb, 390pp, 9781553655640 Canadian novelist Weir sets his tale in Victorian London’s underworld and the realm of boxing. The title character is an ex-soldier turned Irish evangelist, who runs an establishment that saves souls and teaches boxing. “The Hammer of Heaven” causes a sensation when he seemingly kills an opponent in the boxing ring and brings him back to life. Weary of fighting the Devil on a daily basis on behalf of the downtrodden, Daniel writes to a sporting newspaper, challenging the Devil to a boxing match in order to defeat him once and for all.

The narration is shared among Jaunty Rennert, a fellow ex-soldier; Nell Rooney the whore, Jack Beresford/Hartright, a failed preacher turned actor; and William Piper, a sleazy reporter. Are these narrators echoing the four Gospel authors, ranged around Daniel’s Christ-like figure? Another important character is the sinister gambler Lord Sculthorpe, of mysterious background, who 19th Century

severely frightens Jaunty after his bad advice to back Daniel’s opponent costs Sculthorpe money.

Yet just when the reader believes Sculthorpe must be the villain of the piece, he helps Nell, although for enigmatic reasons. Readers may find themselves liking a character to begin with, but then changing their minds partway through, or vice versa.

Historical nuggets are skillfully incorporated, such as when Jack and Nell attend the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park; Weir lists some of his sources in the acknowledgments. Readers may need concentration in order to keep all the characters straight, even with narrators’ names as chapter headings. I found the history and setting the most enjoyable things in the novel. The ending is somewhat disappointing, when the book runs out of steam as it leaves the verve of the Dickensian London setting and shifts to the Canadian wilderness.

B.J. Sedlock THE FIRST DANCE Richard S. Wheeler, Forge, 2011, $26.99, hb, 349pp, 9780765322029 Western writer Richard S. Wheeler gives us the latest novel in his Barnaby Skye series, The First Dance, which deals with border conflicts in Montana in the 1880s. Barnaby’s son Dirk, half English and half Shoshone, is abandoned on his wedding day by his bride, the enigmatic Métis girl, Therese. Crushed and mystified by his wife’s rejection, Dirk returns to his job as a civilian translator with the U.S. Army. He finds himself in the unenviable position of having to participate in driving his wife’s people, the Métis, who are a tribe of mixed French Canadian and Native American heritage, back over the border into Canada, where they have already suffered persecution. When his commanding officer sinks to unconscionable acts, Dirk objects and loses his livelihood. He decides to help the Métis, many of whom are starving and freezing in the wilderness with their families.

In the course of his adventures, he is befriended

by Pap Reilly, an Irish hog farmer with a shady past who gives shelter to the beleaguered immigrants. In the meantime, Dirk encounters his wife, Therese, who claims to have had a vision of St. Teresa of Avila and is determined to build a church for the Métis. Still reeling from Therese’s desertion, Dirk dedicates himself to her cause nevertheless and protects her from the hostile locals until his psychological “dance” with her reaches its climax.

Written with both tender pathos and blunt insights, Wheeler plumbs the souls of his characters even as he captures the harshness and majesty of the Montana landscapes. Filled with humor, tears, and intriguing historical detail, it is impossible to go away from the book without having learned a thing or two about the West, and about human nature as well.

Elena Maria Vidal A MOST UNSUITABLE MATCH Stephanie Grace Whitson, Bethany House, 2011, $14.99, pb, 330pp, 9780764208812

In May 1869, a protected, privileged, and recently orphaned young lady from St. Louis, Missouri, Miss Fannie Rousseau, heads west on a steamboat, with only her personal maid, to solve a family mystery and escape from marrying the wrong man. She finds herself attracted and beholden to Samuel Beck, a dockworker on the steamboat, who is simply not of her class.

Samuel is heading west to find answers to his own questions about the disappearance of his abused sister. Through their unusual friendship, born of adversity, the people they meet and the hardships they endure, they find answers to questions they did not even know to ask.

This inspirational novel shows that a person’s worth cannot be measured with dollars, and that answers to life’s questions are not as simple as they seem. The people Fannie and Samuel meet throughout the novel are multidimensional characters, each offering some valuable lesson, directly or indirectly. It is through these people and their imperfections that Fannie and Samuel finally find their answers. Readers of inspirational novels of the West and anyone interested in steamboats will enjoy the historical elements in this book.

Nan Curnutt TO WIN HER HEART Karen Witemeyer, Bethany House, 2011, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9780764207570 In 1887, after serving three horrific years in the stone quarries for killing a man in a boxing match, Levi Grant is trying to start a new life as a blacksmith in the small town of Spencer, Texas. Although Levi became a Christian and a pacifist while in prison, he fears that people will still see him as a dangerous murderer. Levi’s discouragement increases when he learns that his position depends upon the approval of Eden Spencer, a beautiful and compassionate woman who is so vigorously opposed to all violence that she will surely reject him when she learns the truth about his past.

Witemeyer is a talented author who plumbs the heart and soul of her characters while keeping a smile on the lips of the reader. Gentle humor pervades the story, never mocking, never crude, yet consistently illuminating the conundrums of life.

Twists and turns yield surprising adventure; for example, Eden, the librarian, loses her reputation while Levi, the ex-convict, becomes a hero. To Win Her Heart is charming inspirational fiction that will certainly win the hearts of those who enjoy this genre.

Nancy J. Attwell LADY LIGHTFINGERS Janet Woods, Severn House, 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 240pp, 9780727880567 Celia Law is the daughter of an Englishwoman who was hoodwinked by the man who fathered Celia and quickly deserted both of them. Although Celia longs to take revenge against him, she is living a life in London in 1850 that requires the conniving skills he possessed. She begs and picks pockets in a crafty style that makes her victims angry but HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 43

confused by her innocent looks. She is trying very hard not to turn to the life of a prostitute as her mother was forced to do out of dire poverty.

Without spoiling the story, Celia, after her mother’s brutal, untimely death, comes under the wings of one poet/scholar who does much good for the poor. It is he who encourages Celia to continue writing in the book she entitled, Famous Fictional Tales from the London Slums. Celia is then forced to escape the wiles of a woman who extorts money from prostitutes and travels to her aunt’s house, only to find only Aunt Harriet alive and welcoming.

Then Celia encounters two men from her past life in London, one who is unsure about her “potential” as a socially acceptable lady and the other who is constantly drawn to her despite his words. Finally, Celia will discover some truths about her origins that will be shocking to characters and readers.

The essence of surviving poverty is not always so easy to define. Janet Woods writes in a Dickensian style but with more of a balance between the light freedom and weighty darkness of that period. Lady Lightfingers is a wonderful story that depicts the social problems of 19th-century English life but also offers a coming of age, historical story that will delight every reader. A fine, fine novel!

Viviane Crystal

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THE BRUMMSTEIN Peter Adolphsen, AmazonCrossing, 2011, $9.95, pb, 90pp, 9781611090284 In 1907, Josef Siedler descends into Switzerland’s Hölloch Caves searching for a gateway to the land of the “inner earth.” Instead he finds a strange rock emitting a humming sound.

Taking a sample of this Brummstein, literally “hum stone,” he returns to Berlin, unwittingly sending it on a journey through Germany’s 20th-century history. The stone bears witness to the ambitions of the early century through the tumult of two world wars, the bleakness of life in East Germany and finally the reunited Germany of modern times.

This novella, originally published in Denmark in 2003, is part geology lesson, part study of modern history, but most of all a reflection on the meaning, or perhaps the lack of meaning of life, and the relative insignificance of individuals. Set against the enormity of geologic time, much of our own experience is seen as trivial, a mere “final coat of paint on the knob” of the Eiffel Tower.

Thought-provoking, this is a gem of a little book.

Ken Kreckel THE TALE OF CASTLE COTTAGE Susan Wittig Albert, Berkley Prime Crime, 2011, $24.95/C$29.00, hb, 292pp, 9780425243503 In the final installment of The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, it is 1913 and Beatrix is busy trying to renovate Castle Cottage as a future home for her and Will Heelis. However, with both families 44 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

opposing their marriage and her brother about to drop a bombshell of his own, Beatrix sees no happily ever after in her future. Add to this discrepancies on several construction sites run by her contractor, a gang of thieving rats, and a suspect suicide, and both Beatrix and her animal friends have much to do to restore harmony to the Land Between the Lakes.

As a Beatrix Potter fan, I have read the entire series of Cottage Tales, gentle mysteries aimed at readers of all ages, each with one of Beatrix’s “little books” as a central theme. I enjoyed the earlier books a little more than the later ones, where the mysteries are downplayed and the narrator’s voice becomes more intrusive. Even so, I was sorry to see the series come to an end. Fans will of course wish to round out the series; new readers intrigued by the premise should go back to The Tale of Hill Top Farm to enjoy the story from the beginning.

Susan Cook THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU Rosie Alison, Washington Square Press, 2011, $15.00, pb, 313pp, 9781451613971 / Alma, 2011, £7.99, pb, 350pp, 978-1846881527 This engaging novel was shortlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction, and it is not difficult to understand why. The author writes with a grace and assurance not often found in first novels, and the missteps are few and minor. At the heart of the novel is Anna Sands, 8 years old when we first meet her, in 1939, at the start of World War II. While her father is serving in the army, her mother makes the difficult decision to send Anna out of London to safety from German bombers. Anna is sent to Ashton Park, an estate in Yorkshire. She ends up spending most of the war there, though her experiences from this time will shape the direction of the rest of her life. She blossoms under the teaching of caring instructors, particularly Mr. Ashton, the owner of the estate and a former diplomat. At first things seem idyllic in Anna’s new setting, but she slowly becomes aware of disturbing or confusing undercurrents between some of the key adult characters.

The perspective on events is usually Anna’s, but we also have the opportunity to experience things from the viewpoints of Anna’s mother, Mr. and Mrs. Ashton, and Miss Weir, another caring teacher, amongst others. These shifts are seamless and welcome. What I found disjointed were transitions to and from sections that focus on Sir Clifford Norton, another diplomat still serving in a Europe made tense by German aggression, and his wife, nicknamed Peter, who promotes the arts and is heavily involved in humanitarian efforts. While they provide a broader picture of the times, the connection seems a bit forced. This, however, is a minor quibble, and I recommend this book highly.

I look forward to Rosie Alison’s next novel.

Trudi E. Jacobson UNTIL THE DAWN’S LIGHT Aharon Appelfeld, trans. Jeffrey M. Green, Schocken, 2011, $26.00, hb, 240pp,

9780805241792 Blanca Guttman is a promising high school student when she is assigned to tutor Adolf Hammer, a Christian from a working-class family.

Attracted by Adolf ’s need for her, Blanca falls for him and agrees to convert and marry rather than attend university. Adolf ’s robust Austrian family dislikes Blanca’s slight frame, her mother’s chronic illness, and her father’s profession as a bookseller.

Adolf convinces Blanca to distance herself from her family and begins to beat her in an attempt to toughen her up. But when her mother dies and Adolf convinces Blanca to put her 53-year-old father in a nursing home, Blanca realizes that she has given up far too much. She considers leaving Adolf only to discover that she is pregnant and condemned to live in the prison of her marriage forever.

This is a beautifully written yet sad tale of a vulnerable girl whose story sheds light on the condition of European Jews a generation following the Jewish Enlightenment. Blanca is young and impressionable. Her parents, while providing a loving home, possess little direction or confidence to pass on to their daughter. Consequently, Blanca’s adult life is a daze of confusion and despair. She cannot change enough to please Adolf, just as the Jews could never assimilate enough to gain the acceptance of their Christian neighbors. In contrast to Blanca, Adolf ’s hard-drinking and Jewhating rages make him seem driven with purpose.

Aharon Appelfeld’s simple, yet dramatic story translated by Jeffrey Green is a superb tale with poignant lessons about identity and legacy.

Patricia O’Sullivan ONLY TIME WILL TELL Jeffrey Archer, St. Martin’s, 2011, $27.99/C$31.99, hb, 400pp, 9781429984379 / Pan, 2011, £7.99, pb, 400pp, 9780330517980 Archer’s latest saga introduces a bright young man facing an uphill battle. Harry Clifton is born in Bristol, England, in 1920 to Maisie and Arthur Clifton, a young working-class couple, but Arthur disappears mysteriously, and the boy grows up without a father. Maisie is illiterate, but she takes work as a waitress to support them, and she never gives up on making a better life for her talented son.

Young Harry has a beautiful singing voice.

When a choral scholarship gets him into a good grammar school for two years, it becomes clear that Harry has the intelligence to further his education but, without money or connections, he’s more likely to end up working on the docks. Of all the young man’s gifts, however, none is more valuable than his ability to inspire friendship and, to a degree unknown to Harry, teachers, mentors, and friends make sure he gets through Oxford. It looks like the sky’s the limit for Harry – until he runs into trouble and takes the wrong way out.

Only Time Will Tell has many narrators: Harry’s mother, a young woman he loves, his best friend, his mentor, and a man who could be his father.

Each tells the story from a different perspective.

So we may know more about Harry’s past than he 20th Century

does – but not what Harry’s going to do when he finds out. Be prepared for surprising developments that upend all your expectations and keep you guessing.

This is Volume 1 of a planned trilogy, The Clifton Chronicles, which will follow the life of Harry Clifton through the 20th century. Readers will be eager for Volume 2 of Harry’s intriguing story.Jeanne Greene A MORTAL TERROR James R. Benn, Soho, 2011, $25/£17.99, hb, 354pp, 9781569479940 A Mortal Terror is the sixth book in the Billy Boyle World War II detective series. While the American army is fighting Germany on Italian soil, two strange murders occur. Lieutenant Landry is found in the third division bivouac area between tents with his neck snapped and with a 10 of hearts playing card in his pocket. The same night, Captain Max Galante is found strangled in the palace gardens outside headquarters, a jack of hearts in his pocket. Billy Boyle is called in to find the murderer before more American officers are killed.

Not a fan of war stories, I was pleasantly surprised by the cleverness of this mystery. In the beginning, the murderer could be one of many people, but as Billy continues his investigation, the circle closes and as the murders pile up, suspects are eliminated by being killed. Still, it is difficult to pinpoint the psychopath, for in wartime, many people become momentarily insane.

This is an uncozy cozy. Wrapped in the cloak of war, with shells dropping and shots flying, it maintains that whodunit suspense that keeps mystery readers guessing. Billy Boyle narrates his adventures in a tough, Sam Spade-like voice. Fans of the series are sure to enjoy this episode, as are those who are new to Billy Boyle.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt COWBOYS DON’T CRY Charles Berry, Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2011, $24.95, pb, 232pp, 9780826349897 Scout McBride is a young boy growing up outside of El Paso, Texas, during the Depression.

Raised on a farm until circumstances force the family to move to a more urban area, Scout is sensitive to the needs of the animals on the farm and is able to communicate with them. His longest meaningful relationship, in fact, is with his horse, Ol’ Paint. Scout feels things deeply and intuitively knows things that others cannot fathom. Scout has the gift of being able to communicate with the animals. He also is able to see and hear the dead, both human and nonhuman. The novel provides a first- person account of various significant events in Scout’s life, from his early days in school, beaten for speaking Spanish, to his last days of high school, when he must say goodbye to someone he loves.

This novel, which purports to be semiautobiographical, is the coming of age story of a young boy who wants to be a cowboy. “Cowboys don’t cry” is more than a title to this book; it is also a running theme throughout the narrative.

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The protagonist is three-dimensional and very sympathetic. The author managed to create a plot which, despite my lack of interest in the “southwestern” genre, kept me interested from the first page to the last. The setting is somewhat vague and nondescript; a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, the author produces a compelling and engaging storyline. I had trouble putting it down; very much recommended.

Michael DiSchiavi NAUGHTY IN NICE Rhys Bowen, Berkley Prime Crime, 2011, $29.95/ C$29, hb, 336pp, 9780425243497 Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 34th in line to British throne, returns in her fifth mystery.

Eschewing the frigid temperatures of London, Scotland, and Transylvania that served as previous settings, Bowen takes pity on her penniless heroine and sends her to Nice in this outing. Once again, she’s on a mission for her cousin, the queen, this time to retrieve a snuffbox stolen by Sir Toby Groper. Groper is aptly named, and Georgie has an unpleasant encounter with him before fleeing.

Naturally, she later finds him murdered in his pool and must convince the local gendarmes she’s innocent.

In this outing, the change of scenery does Georgie good. She’s befriended by none other than Coco Chanel, and her own flighty mother makes an appearance as well as her beloved granddad.

Her mother and Wallis Simpson bare their claws at each other, and her horrid sister-in-law Fig gets her comeuppance when Chanel asks Georgie to model in her show. This normally light and frothy series takes a serious turn at the end, however, when Georgie meets her doppelganger and learns a family secret. Bowen adeptly captures the British class system in the early 20th century. Georgie lives by her wits and the good graces of her famous relatives. I look forward to reading how they next employ her.

Ellen Keith THE BLOOD ROYAL: A Joe Sandilands Murder Mystery Barbara Cleverly, Soho, 2011, $25, hb, 320pp, 9781569479872 / Constable Crime, 2011, £18.99, hb, 224pp, 9781849019965 In the ninth Joe Sandilands mystery (after Strange Images of Death, 2010), the handsome police commander is back on duty in London, where the 1914-1918 war has produced a different kind of crime and political miscreants mingle with common criminals.

When an outspoken opponent of Irish home rule is shot, Sandilands is on the lookout for a killer who may be a woman. She may also be Irish, but she speaks plummy English, and a mysterious Russian beauty has just arrived in London. What motivates the daring shooter? What if she aims higher, much higher, next time? How can Joe protect the royal family from assassins? He recruits a female sidekick, of course.

Joe is extraordinarily conscious of women’s

rights for a military-trained policeman, but then he’s always been a paragon. He chooses Constable Lily Wentworth based on ability and availability.

There are places a policeman cannot go – like the loo in Claridges, where Lily corners a suspect.

There are things a policeman cannot do, like waltz with someone who needs protection on a dance floor. Lily acts as decoy, intelligent foil, and (almost) equal partner as they untangle a very tangled plot.

Plotting is Cleverly’s forte, but her characters are intelligent, and once you get used to the cadence, their witty dialogue fits the Twenties atmosphere.

Barbara Cleverly mysteries are addictive, and The Blood Royal is highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene THE RACE Clive Cussler and Justin Scott, Putnam, 2011, $27.50/C$32.50, hb, 404pp, 9780399157813 Josephine Josephs Frost loves to fly, but when she witnesses her husband murder Marco Celere, she flees for her life. When she enters the Whiteway Atlantic-to-Pacific Cross-Country Air Race, newspaper magnate Preston Whiteway hires the Van Dorn Agency to protect her from her husband, who spent time in an insane asylum and has vowed to kill her. The agent in charge of the case is Isaac Bell, who soon learns to fly so he can accompany Josie in the air while Van Dorn agents protect her and the plane on the ground. Before the race begins, Isaac discovers that Celere’s body was never found and that the man was accused of stealing another plane designer’s inventions. Bell also learns that Harry Frost is even more dangerous than first thought. He stashed his wealth in banks across the country, very few know what he looks like, and he has friends in high and low places who will abet his murderous plans to repay favors. And if that’s not trouble enough, Whiteway falls in love with Josie, and a saboteur is determined to fix the race so she wins.

This fourth installment in the Isaac Bell series vividly recreates the thrill, fascination with, and excitement of the early days of flying. Although it lacks some of the investigative intensity of previous books, readers will find themselves soaring through a breathtaking adventure across America that is populated with memorable characters, extreme danger, and dogged determination to thwart evil wherever it pops up. The Race is a fast-paced tale that sweeps readers back to 1909, a time when technology is still in its infancy and communication is slow. To further enhance the ride, the authors use terminology of the period.

Cindy Vallar MURDER IN BURNT ORANGE: A Hilda Johansson Mystery Jeanne M. Dams, Perseverance Press, 2011, $15.95, pb, 256pp, 9781564745033 Having read Hilda Johansson mysteries in the past, I looked forward to reviewing the seventh book in the series. In the sweltering summer of 1905, Hilda is pregnant and miserable at being stuck in the house for the end of her confinement.

HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 45

To take her mind off the heat and the impending baby, her family encourages her to do a little remote detective work on a series of local train wrecks suspected to be deliberate. She delegates beautifully, employing family members and old friends to pick through gossip around town and bring her the choice nuggets. Without leaving the house, Hilda endeavors to get to the bottom of the recent train wrecks, labor disputes, arson, and murder. It’s been a rough summer in South Bend, Indiana.

Although solidly researched and well-plotted, this moved a lot slower than other Hilda Johansson mysteries. Hilda wasn’t up to her usual adventures; putting on a maternity dress and venturing out to church was about as daring as she got. While I liked the concept of a very pregnant Hilda proving her still-intact smarts, it didn’t work as well in execution. We had a lot of her fanning herself in the parlor, waiting for someone to come with fresh news. This slowed down what was otherwise a very interesting political mystery.

If you’re already a fan of the series, you’ll enjoy this continuation of Hilda’s story. If you’re new to the series, try one of the earlier books first.

Jessica Brockmole THE GHOST OF LILY PAINTER Caitlin Davies, Hutchinson, 2011, £12.99, pb, 346pp, 97800091937034 Split between the early-to-mid 20th century and contemporary North London, this novel has a true event as its core – the insidious practice of baby farming in Victorian and Edwardian England. Young single females could pay to send their unwanted babies to other women, who would then sell them to others who wanted to become mothers. But in some cases the unfortunate infants were killed. The eponymous Lily Painter, a young music-hall girl, becomes pregnant and, in desperation to rid herself of the ruinous burden, resorts to the baby farmers. Her story is uncovered

by Annie Sweet in modern-day London. Annie is a separated single mother, and in attempting to find out more about the previous occupants of her Holloway house, she uncovers a strange story that reaches right back into Annie’s own past.

It is a well plotted and capably narrated novel, with the historical elements strong. The story also covers issues in modern England such as family relations and the role of children. However, it does depend upon a number of outrageous coincidences and the plot is completely cliché-ridden too, with an utterly predictable outcome. Lily’s ghost monitors proceedings in Annie’s property, adding another unnecessarily fantastical element to the story.

Doug Kemp THE DEVIL HIMSELF Eric Dezenhall, St. Martin’s, 2011, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 293pp, 9780312668822 It’s 1982. President Reagan is exploring unorthodox methods to counter acts of terrorism.

He knows Roosevelt enlisted the services of 46 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

the Mob during World War II to organize the dockworkers’ cooperation in ferreting out Nazi saboteurs among their ranks. Reagan has the official report, but he is anxious to learn what’s not in the file. The principal player in this case is Meyer Lansky, so Reagan turns to a White House intern, Jonah Eastman, who is the grandson of Lansky’s partner and who also knows Lansky well enough to call him “Uncle Meyer.” Lansky, who is near death, is willing to tell his story, which comes as a surprise to Jonah.

The scene shifts to February of 1942. The French ocean liner, Normandie, is being refitted as a US troop ship when it catches fire and sinks in New York harbor. Many think this is an act of enemy sabotage. The government sends men to infiltrate the docks, but the docks are controlled by the union and the union is controlled by the Mob. So the government has to go to the Mob, specifically Meyer Lansky, who ultimately has to go to his old partner, Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Although in Dannemora Prison, Luciano still has influence over the dockworkers. For his cooperation, Luciano was released from prison and deported to Sicily.

Lansky never received any official recognition for his patriotic actions during World War II. The author has created a fascinating tale, a mixture of fact and creative fiction about military covert actions, espionage, and how the Mob, while breaking many of its laws, remains patriotic when its country is under threat. This is a brilliantly entertaining novel.

Audrey Braver STAYING ON PAST THE TERMINUS Robert Douglas, Hachette Scotland, 2011, £16.99, hb / £7.99 pb, 404pp, 9780755380282 One of the reviewers for this journal commented on Robert Douglas’s previous novel, Whose Turn for the Stairs, that it was ‘the literary equivalent of a hot water bottle’. The publishers have splashed this ‘recommendation’ across the back cover of Staying on Past the Terminus. It is equally apt.

Hot water bottles have many virtues, but narrative drive and dramatic tension are seldom among them. Not that Staying On shirks topics such as death, prostitution, crime, and alcoholism, but they are all wrapped in a warm nostalgia for the community life of the Glasgow tenements of yesteryear.

Staying On has the same cast of characters and the same setting as Whose Turn. They all inhabit 18 Dalbeattie Street, and the date is now 1962, the year the last trams ran in Glasgow, hence the title. The story is structured like a soap opera, with about a dozen separate plot lines and the text is almost entirely dialogue written in broad Glaswegian. This is not as inaccessible as one might expect, but it makes for slow reading.

Those who share the author’s nostalgia for the Glasgow of 60 years ago will love this book, and it is no doubt a monument to a lost way of life.

However, I am not sure that it will engage many readers outside Scotland.

Edward James

THE BETRAYAL Helen Dunmore, Black Cat, 2011, $14.95, pb, 352pp, 9780802170880 / Penguin, 2011, 6.99, pb, 336pp, 9780141046839 Lime trees are depicted in Helen Dunmore’s novels The Siege and The Betrayal, both set in 20thcentury Leningrad. Both were listed for notable international awards. In the opening scene of her second, we see two doctors talking and smoking in the courtyard of a hospital which is “large enough to be planted with lime trees.” While The Betrayal is a sequel, it’s not mandatory to have read The Siege.

True to its title, this novel has a series of betrayals, and the first one that sets the plot evolves in that courtyard. The perspiring older, Russov, wants to transfer the case of an acutely ill infant to the younger paediatric, Andrei, without the full disclosure that x-rays, taken secretly, had revealed the presence of a tumour, most likely cancerous, in the boy’s leg. Russov does disclose, however, that the kid is the only child of Volkov, the well known, and dreaded, MGB official. Andrei, despite learning of the surreptitious x-rays, warnings from others that if he fails to cure the child, “It’ll be you on the firing line,” and the suggestion from his wife that he call in sick and go away to their dacha, he takes on the case. Andrei strongly believes that he posses the savoir-faire of a physician.

The Betrayal is based on the ‘Doctor’s Plot,’ where upon Stalin’s fanatical belief many doctors, mostly of Jewish origin, were arrested and accused of murdering Party officials. However, its details in the story are sketchy and those interested may wish to peruse recently declassified CIA documents, which Dunmore has referenced. While the novel’s ending is somewhat predictable, it’s Dunmore’s wonderfully poetic writing style that carries the reader to its conclusion. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani RISING BLOOD James Fleming, Jonathan Cape, 2011, £17.99, hb, 328pp, 9780224091350 A strange, strange novel. We begin pretty much in the middle as the hero, Charlie Doig, is on a barge with his associates and a great deal of stolen Tsarist gold. This is the third part of a trilogy, and it certainly feels like it. I think I would have had more grasp of the events had I read the previous installments.

The book is recounted in the first person, and Doig is an endearingly hard-bitten-with-a-heartof-gold character whose laconic delivery of events and interactions adds to the atmosphere. Unable to take the gold with him out of Russia, Doig decides to sink the barge with the gold in it and come back later when things have settled down. Together with his partner Kobi, another tough adventurer who is loyal to the core, the duo head towards Japan, encountering more strange people on the way, such as the Tunga tribe and the Japanese doctor, Hijo, who is experimenting on Bolshevik prisoners to find a vaccine against typhus. Environmental issues are also touched upon when Doig kills and preserves the usually unseen by human eyes ‘Lala 20th Century

bird’. Collectors are willing to pay huge sums for this rarity, even though it is dead, and Doig intends to use the carcass to gain international respect and, of course, lots of money.

The characters don’t really develop or change much over the book, the focus is external action rather than internal musings, and it is more about the plot and adventure – lots of strange things happen. It is a kind of old fashioned adventure with a layer of surreal events on the top, cautiously recommended therefore, but definitely start with the first of the trilogy, White Blood.

Ann Northfield NIGHTWOODS Charles Frazier, Random House, 2011, $26.00, hb, 272pp, 9781400067091 / Sceptre, 2011, £17.99, hb, 272pp, 9781444731248 One of my favorite lines in Nightwoods is: “Luce was not much maternal.” She is young, single, and childless, but by the time you finish this book you’ll be cheering her wonderful instincts and intuition.

Charles Frazier’s third novel takes place in the 1960s in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. His writing is spare and poetic, and he tells a wonderful story.

Luce inherits her sister’s children after their stepfather, Bud, murders their mother, Lily. As victims of terrible abuse by him, they do not speak, but act out by setting fires and killing Luce’s rooster. She is the caretaker of a hunting lodge that hasn’t had a guest in over fifty years, and when the owner dies, Luce stays on and enjoys her life of solitude – most of the time. When the children arrive she takes her responsibilities seriously and sets out to give them the best life she can. Soon the owner’s grandson, Stubblefield, comes back to claim his inheritance and falls in love with Luce all over again. He had spent the summers with his grandfather and never forgot her.

After Bud is acquitted of Lily’s murder, he comes to the mountains looking for the children.

Lily had hidden his large cache of stolen money just before she was murdered, and he believes the children hold the key to its recovery. They’re prone to run off and not come when called, but the first time they see Bud sneak into their house, they take the neighbor’s horse and head high into the mountains. Luce and Stubblefield must find the children before they fall victim to Bud or the harsh environment. By the end of the story you have a feeling that things might start to turn around for all of them – just maybe.

Susan Zabolotny DAUGHTERS OF WAR (Leonora Trilogy) Hilary Green, Severn House, 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 224pp, 9780727880369 Leonora Malham Brown is a fashionable young woman living with her grandmother in upscale London. She is bored, as probably many in her circle are. Serendipity strikes, and Leo literally runs into Victoria Langford: sassy, independent, and driving her own car. Leo and Victoria forge a fast friendship punctuated by flights of fancy 20th Century

by Victoria about joining the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) or the Women’s Sick and Wounded Convoy, both women’s organizations hell-bent on going to the front to nurse wounded Bulgarian soldiers. Naturally, the men in their lives believe that this is a crazy idea and totally improper for well-bred young women.

No matter. Believing firmly in the righteousness of their goal, Leo and Victoria run away from London, seeking passage to the Bulgarian front so they can join up with the nurses. They get there, although the road isn’t easy and the nursing even more difficult. Yet, Leo pushes on while the aggressive, smart-alecky Victoria ultimately caves.

It is in this plot twist that we come to understand and appreciate the depth of Leo’s convictions about life, about war, about love.

There is much here to talk about, not the least of which is the historical impact of these nurses, most of whom came from well-bred backgrounds, the push-back by society of what these women were attempting to achieve, and the realistic rendering by Green of the atrocious conditions they encountered. Green’s characters are intensely real, idiosyncratic, fascinating, but not just Leo and Victoria. As the first installment of an anticipated trilogy focusing on Leo, this novel gives the reader a fine appreciation of the depth of character that a talented writer is capable of imparting to an otherwise one-dimensional creation. Well done and highly recommended.

Ilysa Magnus THE ANGEL MAKERS Jessica Gregson, Soho, 2011, $24, hb, 352pp, 9781569479707 / PaperBooks, 2011, £7.99, pb, 304pp, 9780955109454 In 1914, Sari is an intelligent young woman living in a rural Hungarian village; but like many others, she finds happiness with another man when her fiancé goes off to war. When her fiancé returns, angry and abusive, she fears for her life. Sari decides to kill him. Her success encourages others who beg for Sari’s help.

Béla grew up in a house with a cook who told the child a tale of brutal backwoods expediency. “We make angels,” the peasant had said. The adult Béla, a policeman, remembers this when an old woman walks miles to report a heinous crime. Her son and others in her remote village have been poisoned, she says, and someone is trying to poison her. Béla and his partner are dispatched to investigate what sounds like a series of deaths.

The villagers are ignorant and backward, but there’s no evidence of any crime. Béla decides the old woman was senile – or mad – after Sari guides the policemen around the village. Sari is bright and cooperative and so unlike her neighbors; she steers the policemen to people willing to talk. Béla relies on her help and then her company. Beguiled, he stays on longer than planned, letting his assistant continue the interviews.

Suddenly the case splits wide open.

Incriminating evidence is found. Murderers must be brought to justice, and the guilty, hanged for

their crimes. Béla‘s duty is clear – until Sari is implicated. How can he arrest her? How can he let her go? We question Béla’s judgment – but who are we to say where the right lies?

Gregson’s unsettling novel may not be to everyone’s taste but, based on a true story, it is unforgettable.

Jeanne Greene VICTORY AND HONOR W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV, Putnam, 2011, $26.95/C$31.00, hb, 310pp, 9780399157554 Just after Victory in Europe day, Cletus Frade, Army Air Force fighter jockey, Argentine commercial pilot, and member of the OSS, finds himself embroiled in more than one new battle.

There are escaped Nazis to deal with, the rush to grab the “good Germans” before the Russians do, and if that wasn’t enough, the OSS is fighting seemingly every other government organization for its very existence. Inevitably another mission lies ahead for Frade. The Russians have surrounded the Allies portion of Berlin and are showing unmistakable signs of becoming our next enemy.

There is much history in this work, especially suited for someone unfamiliar with the events surrounding the last few years of the war, as well as the fall of Berlin and subsequent Soviet occupation.

However, even those with just some knowledge will likely be disappointed, as virtually every anecdote and piece of trivia from those times finds its way into these pages. There is also a curious lack of action in the novel, remarkable considering it’s about spies, Nazis, Russians, and such. In the same way, for all the talk about honor within these pages, there is very little demonstration of it. Indeed, the characters seem to be mostly trying to impress each other with how manly they can sound. Overall, the book is a rather pedestrian effort, certainly not worthy of authors of their reputation and track records.

Ken Kreckel AUTUMN BENDS THE REBEL TREE Carolyn Guy, Canterbury House, 2011, $16.95, pb, 261pp, 9780982539699 Carolyn Guy’s debut novel, Autumn Bends the Rebel Tree, tells the story of Clarinda McCloud, a strong Appalachian woman who raises her large brood of children (seventeen!) in the mountains of North Carolina from 1913 to 1951. Married at 14 and widowed at 38, Clarinda must struggle to clothe and feed her brood.

Though the title page calls this work a novel, it reads more like a memoir and is told episodically.

For those not used to reading mountain dialect, this book might prove problematic, but for one such as myself, raised in the mountains of West Virginia, Guy captures the idiomatic speech of the region – she’s spot on.

She also captures the Depression-era desperation of hardscrabble farmers struggling to eke out a living from rocky mountain soil and the love that often binds such families together. FiddleHNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 47

playing and dancing are the bright spots of such a life, and the McCloud family enjoys both. There is an innocence to this story set in an age before Americans came to expect life to be easy. And there is hope in the love one woman can bring into the world.

Anne Clinard Barnhill

peeking into the courthouse and browsing through the tabloids. It is an almost voyeuristic approach that works beautifully with this very public, very scandalous crime. This excellent novel captures all of the sensationalism of not only the trial, but also of the Jazz Age. Jessica Brockmole

DEAD BEAT Patricia Hall, Crème de la Crime, 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 224pp, 9781780290041 It is 1963, and Kate O’Donnell has just moved from Liverpool to London to pursue a career in photography and, in her spare time, look for her brother, Tom, who has not written home in the two years since he left for London. Kate’s determination lands her a steady job with a small photography company and some disturbing news about Tom: he’s wanted by the police for the murder of his boyfriend. With the help of a flirtatious police detective named Harry Barnard, Kate learns more than she bargained for about Tom’s secret life and London’s dangerous underworld.

Dead Beat features lots of interesting details about England in the early ’60s. In particular, I really enjoyed the bits about The Beatles and Hall’s comparisons of life in Liverpool and in London at that time. However, I was a little disappointed in the novel’s lack of suspense. There were no big surprises or plot twists as I’ve come to expect in a mystery/crime story. In all, however, Dead Beat is an enjoyable read.

Patricia O’Sullivan

LAST TRAIN FROM LIGURIA Christine Dwyer Hickey, Atlantic/IPG, 2010, £7.99/$12.95, pb, 392pp, 9781843549888 Spinster Bella Stuart, at the insistence of her cold-hearted father, leaves London for Italy in 1933 to become a governess to young Alec Lami.

The Lami family is, and will remain, a mystery to her; Alec’s father dies shortly after Bella’s arrival, and the young, beautiful Signora Lami is distant, providing detailed travel instructions but no personal introduction for the woman who will be her son’s constant companion for the next several years. Bella arrives at the Lami’s summer estate, in Bordighera on the Northern Italian coast, where she meets the mysterious Edward King, who is Alec’s piano teacher and trusted friend. Also present are some Lami cousins from America, who, drinks always in hand, are portrayed as arrogant and gaudy.

The heart of the story is the relationship between Bella, Edward, and Alec, countered by parallel chapters from Anna, who the reader discerns is somehow related to Bella, from a 1995 London perspective. As each story unfolds – Bella’s embracing of Italy and her young charge and Anna’s investigations into her family’s past – the characters and settings come to life. Italy is glorious and colorful, until Mussolini and Hitler join forces; London and its environs are grey and unrelentingly dreary, as is Anna’s life. The downward spiral culminates in the Jewish race laws of 1938, when Bella and Edward are forced to confront their pasts and take on a dangerous task to ensure Alec’s future. Connections between the stories and characters are nimbly woven and had this reader rooting for an impossible outcome.

Helene Williams

A WILD SURGE OF GUILTY PASSION Ron Hansen, Scribner, 2011, $25.00, hb, 272pp, 9781451617559 When corset salesman Judd Gray meets sultry Ruth Snyder in a Manhattan diner in 1925, both are in loveless marriages and looking for a bit of excitement. They begin a heady, scorching affair, sending love notes, meeting in speakeasies, and keeping a regular room at the Waldorf-Astoria. As their appetites grow, so do Ruth’s complaints that she wishes to be rid of her husband. Two years later, reluctantly but completely under her control, Judd agrees.

What follows is a darkly comedic series of murder attempts on Ruth’s husband – pulling the ladder out from under him, kicking away the jack while he’s beneath the car – and then a disorganized, alcohol-fueled, but ultimately successful murder disguised as a burglary-gonewrong. The investigation borders on absurdity as the pair craft increasingly illogical alibis in the face of solid evidence, but the story sobers with the subsequent trial and the media frenzy surrounding it.

A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion is based on a real murder trial that dominated the news in 1927, the same trial that inspired James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity. Hansen’s novel is carefully researched and skillfully constructed. Reading at times like narrative nonfiction, at others like a lurid dime store novel, it lets the reader feel as though they are 48 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

A BEDLAM OF BONES Suzette A. Hill, Soho, 2011, $25/C$28.95, hb, 254pp, 9781569479599 / Constable, 2011, £18.99, hb, 320pp, 9781849014588 This mystery is the latest in a series, Bones in the Belfry, A Load of Old Bones, Bone Idle, and Bones in High Places being the earlier installments. The books have a charming premise: some chapters are told from the points of view of the protagonist reverend’s dog and cat, Bouncer and Maurice.

There’s a dead-on Miss Marple British village setting complete with eccentric characters, and the author’s style is cheeky, chirpy, and witty. Hill also has created a nice plot, a tale of a blackmailed bishop amidst treacle tarts, waistcoats, and buggery.

I finished it with some relief, weary of feeling perplexed about what was going on. I have read a fair amount of British fiction, but this was hard work. The glib repartee here is evidently

graduate-level British English, and it turns out I’m a dull American sophomore. More confounding yet was that instead of a back story the book has 25 footnotes. “First mentioned in A Load of Old Bones,” “Dumont appears in Bones in High Places,” “See A Load of Old Bones.” I puzzled over the story’s era; my guess is the 1930s. The reverend drives an old Singer. Maybe the ’50s. It was as though the first third – or more – of the book was missing. See Bones in the Belfry indeed.

Kristen Hannum HELLFIRE James Holland, Bantam Press, 2011, £16.99, hb, 446pp, 9780593058404 August, 1942, North Africa. General Gott, the commander of the Eighth Army, is killed, and suspicion points to a previously unknown Axis spy ring. Newly commissioned Jack Tanner, along with his trusty sidekick Sykes, while involved in raids behind Axis lines, find themselves involved in the search for the sinister mastermind behind the spy ring which threatens the success of the forthcoming campaign. Eventually, however, he and Sykes must return to their regiment to prepare for the Battle of El Alamein.

The author states at the back of the novel that he decided to write a Sharpe or Hornblower character for the Second World War, and this book, the latest in a series, does invite comparison with the Sharpe novels. Well researched and written, the battle scenes are exciting and realistic. The descriptions of Cairo and the desert bring the whole region to life. The characters are well defined, while the plot gallops along. I have not read any of the previous Jack Tanner novels, but this did not detract from the story, which stands alone in its own right. Fans of the genre will enjoy this latest offering.

Mike Ashworth PARIS NOIRE Francine Thomas Howard, AmazonEncore, 2011, $14.95/C$14.95, pb, 370pp, 9781935597971 Americans sometimes forget that racism also exists in other countries – even France, better known for welcoming African-American artists in the 1920s. In Paris Noire, author Francine Thomas Howard makes vivid the reach of racism in Paris at the end of World War II through a family’s competing love stories.

Marie-Therese Brillard, daughter of a white French father and an African-Caribbean mother, fled her native Martinique sixteen years earlier, after her white French husband broke her heart.

She’s raised her two children, Christophe and Collette, in Paris with the understanding that when they marry it will be to someone of color. Neither sibling agrees with that plan. For Christophe, who turns his back on his childhood sweetheart and falls in love with the wife of a deadly French resistance fighter, his choice may cost him his life.

The book’s description makes it sound as though Collette’s story is also woven through, but we never see her with her beloved; we simply know he’s white, that Collette is with him, and that Marie20th Century

C

Therese impotently disapproves.

The danger to Christophe is balanced with delicious fun as the upright and (in her own mind) elderly Marie-Therese tumbles into love with a handsome African-American officer – something Christophe can’t fathom. His mother? With a man? Marie-Therese is a unique heroine, an insecure, 50-year-old, devout Catholic in need of a better bra. She is absolutely certain that whites can’t be trusted in matters of the heart and she doesn’t hesitate to lie to Christophe in order to save him. Paris Noire is a winning historical romance that feels true to the mores of its time. Its slow start gathers force for a powerful and poignant ending.

Kristen Hannum THE WOMAN WHO HEARD COLOR Kelly Jones, Berkley, 2011, $15.00/C$17.50, pb, 400pp, 9780425243053 Lauren O’Farrell’s job in present-day New York as an “art detective” is to track down pieces lost during World War II; often those works were stolen from Jewish families or removed from collections after being branded by the Nazis as degenerate art. Lauren’s current investigation may lead her to information about someone who participated in these atrocities, someone longrumored to be a Nazi collaborator, someone who may have kept a selection of the famous art to fund a lavish post-war lifestyle.

Those are the rumors about Hanna Schmid, a German country girl who ended up marrying into the revolutionary Munich art world that included Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, and other artists from the Bauhaus and Blue Rider movements.

C

LOVE CHILD

Lauren hopes to validate these rumors when she interviews Isabella Fletcher, Hanna’s octogenarian daughter. What she gets, over the course of two long days in Isabella’s high-rise Central Park apartment, is a wealth of information about art

WHITE TRUFFLES IN WINTER

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

N.M. Kelby, W.W. Norton, 2011, $24.95/C29.00/£19.99, hb, 352pp, 9780393079999 Famed French chef Auguste Escoffier loves his wife Delphine, despite being separated for the majority of their marriage. Whether Escoffier is in London, designing a menu for Queen Victoria’s jubilee, in Paris, running the kitchen at the newly opened Ritz, or in the Atlantic, cooking for Kaiser Wilhelm II on the eve of the First World War, Delphine stubbornly stays at their villa in Monte Carlo, wondering if her husband loves her as much as he loves fresh truffles.

And yet, in the last year of their lives, they come together in Monte Carlo, to cook, to regret, to work up the courage to show how they feel. Delphine’s last wish is for Escoffier to create a dish and name it after her, the way he did for Europe’s celebrities. But Escoffier struggles; how can you write a recipe for love?

Kelby has created a sumptuous feast of a book.

Not just a story about a chef, it’s also the story of a marriage and of a couple who keeps falling in love despite not having the words to say so. Recipes weave between moments of passion, all perfumed with the heady tastes and smells of Escoffier’s kitchen. Kelby moves effortlessly between Escoffier’s last year and the key points in his career, as he creates dishes whose very taste brings to mind history.

This book is a morsel to be savored.

Jessica Brockmole 20th Century

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Sheila Kohler, Penguin, 2011, $15.00/C$17.50, pb, 254pp, 9780143115977 After her lawyer advises Bill to write her will, the beautiful, wealthy widow sets out to examine her life and the people around her to determine on whom to bequeath the wealth she has inherited from her husband. Besides her unusual – and distracting – nickname, Bill has made several unconventional choices in her past, choices that have made her an outcast in the pre-apartheid South African society of 1950s Johannesburg. Bill’s analysis is unflinching.

Her two young sons are strangers, “milquetoasts,” rich boys with ideas that scare her. They are closer to their servants than to their mother. Bill’s own siblings are rapacious and self-serving. The scrutiny takes Bill to the 1920s and to her first love, Isaac, a young Jew, and to the 1930s, as Bill, living in crowded quarters with her family, takes a job as a nurse aid in a luxurious mansion.

A mystery hovers throughout the book. What happened to the child Bill had? What happened to Isaac? With a spare, beautiful prose full of unexpected turns of phrase and psychological acumen, step by heartbreaking step, Sheila Kohler discloses the transformation of a love-struck young girl “with so much hope, so many expectations” into a latter-day, middle-aged South African Scarlett O’Hara whose aspirations to leave poverty behind and to help her family exact a tremendous prize from her. A beautifully written novel with an unforgettable protagonist.

Adelaida Lower history, and the incredibly risky actions of a brave woman doing her best to survive during the war.

Chapters alternate between Lauren’s and Hanna’s perspectives, with an occasional interlude from Isabella’s point of view. The story, however, clearly belongs to Hanna, who begins her working life as a maid in the home of a major art dealer, and then evolves into an influential figure in the art world in her own right. Along the way there’s music, education, and love, until the rising power of the Nazi party takes over everything and everyone she cares about. This well-crafted story offers a nuanced portrait of life between wars, then behind Nazi lines, and is based on true stories of people who risked everything to keep the German culture of the time from perishing forever.

Helene Williams AFTER MIDNIGHT Irmgard Keun, trans. Anthea Bell, Melville House, 2011, $15.00/£9.99, pb, 176pp, 9781935554417 “A writer who is afraid is no true writer,” say the bohemian characters in Irmgard Keun’s 1937 novel, though the words could’ve come from Keun’s mouth. Censured and arrested in Nazi Germany, she wrote After Midnight while exiled.

This subversive, elegant little novel is filled with her frustration at both her situation and the culture that created it.

A 19-year-old girl has enough to worry about; in the Third Reich she has to worry about every word she says. Arrested after a chance remark that the Führer looked “sweaty,” vivacious Sanna moves to Frankfort to escape the scrutiny of her neighbors.

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But she can’t escape politics. Her writer brother, whose new book was banned, is considering writing a long poem about Hitler to save his career.

Her best friend is mad for a “mixed race” boy, though Sanna thinks they wouldn’t be so in love if it weren’t forbidden. Her boyfriend, opening a tobacconist’s shop, is speciously informed on by a competitor and arrested. Sanna can’t even walk home from the bar without running into a parade commemorating a visit from the Führer.

Lighthearted at times, heart-rending at others, After Midnight is, above all, brutally honest. Sanna’s wry voice and her focus on the absurd show a character trying not to drown in the futility of it all. But it catches up with her, and amidst a fierce and startling ending, Sanna is forced to decide where she stands. Keun’s careful prose reveals the darkness beneath the mundane, the captivity within the trappings of culture. As one character says, “We’re all in a concentration camp, the whole nation is, it’s only the Government can go running around free.” After Midnight is furious, real, and a book everyone should read.

Jessica Brockmole THE ARTIFICIAL SILK GIRL Irmgard Keun, trans. Kathie von Ankum, Other Press, 2011, $14.95/C16.95, pb, 216pp, 9781590514542 First published in 1932, Irmgard Keun’s The Artificial Silk Girl became a runaway bestseller in

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its native Germany. And yet, only the following year, with the rise of the Third Reich, this wholly nonpolitical book was banned for endorsing tolerance.

Doris is an aspiring actress in Cologne with a Rebecca Bloomfield love of expensive things. She’s looking for nothing more serious than a good time and a boyfriend who lasts longer than a night. After falling in love with a fur coat in a cloakroom one night, she steals it and flees to Berlin. She hopes the fur coat will be the lucky charm to change her fortunes and land her either an acting gig or a wealthy man. But Berlin isn’t as glamorous as she hoped, and as she struggles to survive, the fur coat becomes the only thing she can depend on.

Though in this new edition, Keun is compared to authors like Candace Bushnell and Sophie Kinsella; I didn’t see it. Keun’s story is darker, her writing almost Joycean in style. Although we see Doris as frivolous and flighty, Keun also forces us to see the seamy underside of prewar Berlin. The translation, though, really tried to push us into the mindset of a lighthearted contemporary novel. The modern American slang chosen by the translator for this purpose pulled me out of the story and, in my opinion, did a disservice to Keun and her artistry.

Jessica Brockmole CATCHING THE TIDE Judith Lennox, Headline Review, 2011, £7.99,

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Deborah Lawrenson, Harper, 2011, $25.99, hb, 400pp, 9780062049698 / Orion, 2011, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781409135487 The prologue to this novel leads you to believe that it may be a takeoff on Du Maurier’s Rebecca, but this wonderful story stands alone. When freelance writer Eve meets Dom while vacationing in Switzerland, she wants nothing more than to spend her life with him. Like Maxim in Rebecca, he is older, wealthier, and in need of companionship – and, like Rebecca’s protagonist, she acquiesces. They fall madly in love and move to Les Genévriers in Provence, an ancient farmhouse. They explore its intricacies – the secret passageways, hidden rooms, and relics of a time gone by. Eve’s life seems perfect, even though Dom will not discuss Rachel, his erstwhile wife, but she doesn’t think it’s a problem until they meet Sabine at a local dinner party and she greets Dom with all the warmth of a former acquaintance. This causes Eve to rethink his secrecy about Rachel and the history of their home and why he chose to live there. She becomes even more curious as Dom evades her questions about Rachel.

This story not only gives a beautiful description of Provence, but a glimpse into the history of lavender production there. Bénédicte, a former resident of Les Genévriers, haunts Eve, and we are privy to her history and that of her blind sister, who succeeds famously in the perfume industry of the region just after World War II. Bénédicte is haunted by the ghosts of her past – her sadistic brother, Pierre, and the love of her life, Andre. The lantern plays a magical part in this story, too.

This book is one of the best I’ve read in a long time. I also think that anyone contemplating a trip to Provence should not hesitate – Deborah Lawrenson is onto something there.

Susan Zabolotny 50 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

598pp, 9780755344895 This is certainly ‘a good read’ at almost 600 pages. I found it quite a challenge, as there is no strong narrative line to carry the book forward.

The story follows the lives of three women over the course of about twenty years, from the 1930s to the 1950s. Two are sisters and the other is the wife of the elder sister’s lover. The two sisters live in Italy and England respectively, and since there is a war on for much of the time they see little of each other.

The third woman never meets the elder sister and encounters the younger one only in the last few pages. So we have three largely independent stories told in alternating chapters.

At first I found it difficult to find sympathy for any of the characters, who all seemed shallow and spoilt, with too much money and no real work.

I later decided that this was intentional, as the characters gradually matured as they coped with increasing difficulties, including major catastrophes and everyday struggles. I was quite moved when the elder sister died. I suppose this book is classed as a romance – the protagonists are female and the main emphasis is on their love lives – but the heroines have more than their share of misfortune and they don’t all live happily ever after. There are more divorces than marriages, and they all end up in reduced circumstances.

The book is very well written, with a strong sense of time and place. There were some improbabilities that jarred, but it is psychologically credible. Take your time with it.

Edward James A YOUNG WIFE Pam Lewis, Simon & Schuster, 2011, $25, hb, 289pp, 9781451612721 Minke van Aisma was born and raised in a small Dutch town where the old ways of life have yet to give way to the modern conveniences and technological advances of the early 20th century. When Sander DeVries, a wealthy Amsterdam merchant, chooses Minke to help him nurse his ailing wife, teenage Minke is excited for the opportunity to see the world outside Enkhuizen. Minke’s naïveté keeps her from realizing that Sander is also looking for a new wife, someone young, attractive, and pliable who will follow him to Argentina, where he plans to make his fortune. Though Minke is surprised by Sander’s offer, she accepts, and the newlyweds sail for Comodoro Rivadavia. But the honeymoon ends quickly, and Minke soon discovers that Sander is a man of many secrets who will stoop to incredible levels to maintain or increase his wealth and status.

Lewis’s novel is loosely based on the life and experiences of her grandmother, who emigrated from the Netherlands to Argentina and then, finally, to New York. There are a lot of twists to the plot, many of which are unexpected, and the gradual revelation of Sander’s true character is surprisingly shocking. Minke’s confidence grows throughout the book, and it’s fascinating to watch her mature from a sheltered country girl to a sophisticated, intelligent, and confident young woman. The outof-the-ordinary settings, the fascinating characters, 20th Century

and the fast-paced plot made for a very enjoyable reading experience.

Nanette Donohue THE DOWER HOUSE Malcolm MacDonald, Severn House, 2011, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 256pp, 9780727880611 After being liberated from a concentration camp, German sculptor Felix Breit travels to England with only a crumpled visiting card given to him by an English soldier, Adam Wilson. Felix finds Wilson, now an architect involved in the rebuilding of London, and Wilson invites Felix to join a communal living community in an old dower house in Hertfordshire. With no other plan for rebuilding his life, Felix moves to the dower house and soon gets caught up in the lives of those living there including several architects, a French chef, and a Swedish Nazi. Felix gets on with everyone, but personal dramas rock the little community of eight families. However, when Felix meets Faith, an art book publisher, his own personal drama begins to unfold. Faith introduces Felix to Angela, a former Nazi interred for disloyalty to the party.

Felix begins to fall for Angela, but she has secret information about the Vernichtung that involves his family. Angela’s revelations and a packet of letters from an aunt he thought was dead will challenge everything Felix thought he knew about his family.

This was an interesting read. I love Malcolm MacDonald’s witty British dialogue and his commentary on post-war English society from the mouths of his non-English characters. As an American whose only knowledge of this period comes from Julia Child’s memoir, I especially enjoyed learning more about England and Germany in the early years after World War II. The Dower House would make a great Masterpiece Theater adaptation because its characters are so compelling and the setting is so rich.

Patricia O’Sullivan THE ASTOUNDING, THE AMAZING, AND THE UNKNOWN Paul Malmont, Simon & Schuster, 2011, $26.00, hb, 418pp, 9781439168936 The author of The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril is off on another romp (the title refers to the three leading sci-fi pulp magazines of the 1940s) as the early fathers of the science fiction genre turn action heroes for some stateside World War II intrigue.

The government-sponsored Kamikaze Group is led by Robert Heinlein, in early retirement, although his editor is having none of it (who retires from writing? It’s hardly work to begin with.). His team is Sprague de Camp, a young Isaac Asimov, L. Ron Hubbard, and later The Shadow himself, Walter Gibson.

Traveling from their base in Philadelphia to New York and the North and South Pacific, this crew is trying the beat Nazis in search of the Wunderwaffe wonder weapon. But is it a weapon of destruction or communication? No one seems to know, but the wonder boys think the answer lies in the decades-earlier War of Currents waged 20th Century

between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. Their search takes them deep in their own imaginations as well as through great physical trials and emotional entanglements in their imperfect marriages. They try to save a world at war as they continue to dream of possibilities for a better future.

Well-paced by episodes rather than chapters, Malmont’s thriller proceeds at breakneck speed of a serial adventure, with cameos provided by other wonder boys Frederick Pohl, Hugo Gernsback, Kurt Vonnegut, and Albert Einstein, and stunts ranging from making a battleship disappear to several literal cliff hangers. The pace only slackens when this Jason and the new Argonauts must deal with their womenfolk who are by turn demons, armpiece wives, or clinging vines.

Eileen Charbonneau PROMISES TO KEEP Rachel Moore, Allison & Busby, 2011, £19.99, hb, 384pp, 9780749009885 It is 1944. We are in rural Cornwall during the weeks preceding and the months immediately following D-Day. Most local lads, including Tom, the childhood sweetheart of Kerry, our heroine, are away serving in the various armed forces. The story begins when thousands of American servicemen are mustering in southwest England, preparing to embark for Northern France. Steadfastly loyal to her Tom, Kerry becomes innocently involved with Marvin, a GI soldier. Local gossip inevitably picks

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up on this and when Tom, wounded and discharged from the army, returns from a military hospital, his longed-for reunion with Kerry is briefly blighted by his lack of faith in her fidelity.

One problem with this novel is that the characters, Kerry and Tom in particular, fail to develop as the very slight story slowly emerges from the exhaustively-detailed minutiae of the narrative.

When confronted by major and sometimes tragic incidents, we are told how they react on a practical level, but they seem more concerned about what sort of cakes to have at a party, where to hold it and who to invite to it, than with the demanding and life-changing situations to which they are all having to adjust. The author states on page 10 and several times subsequently that Tom is ‘fighting the Jerries somewhere in France’. The facts are that between the evacuation of the British army from Dunkirk (27th May - 4th June 1940) until the D-Day landings ( June 6th 1944), there were no British units fighting in France. Readers may find this lack of historical accuracy irritating.

Robert Fletcher THE SWEETEST THING Elizabeth Musser, Bethany House, 2011, $14.99, pb, 398pp, 9780764208317 Elizabeth Musser’s eighth novel, set in Atlanta during the Great Depression of the 1930s, is a story of faith, friendship and love. Two young girls become unlikely friends after each suffers tragedy

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Freda Lightfoot, Allison & Busby, 2011, £7.99, pb, 447pp, 9780749009618 Rarely, in all my years of reviewing for the HNS, have I come across such a masterly historical romance with a brilliantly set up plot. It has a touch of Catherine Cookson, but on the other side of England. The banal cover quote, ‘charming and exciting’, and even its title do the book no justice. It is very exciting in places, true; it is tragic and horrific, showing the finest human qualities as well as the basest human instincts, but it is hardly charming.

This is a far more important social record than its title or cover indicates. Angels is a department store in the suffragette years, not, as the title and cover imply, girls at war. Livia, the predictably titian-haired daughter of the rotten owner, is left with debts on her hands. Oddly in 1910 she is living with Jack, a loose ne’er-do-well, but is ambitious to resurrect the family business and denies Jack marriage. The family lawyer brings in a store manager, a tall, handsome interloper. Friction develops between Livia and Matthew, a friction which leads to both love and hate. The scene is set for an excellent, hardto-put-down read with some deeply drawn characters, some lovable, some not, but all moving together.

The story is thick with historical accounts of suffragette meetings in 1910. Our heroine and her sister pass through poverty, prison, a hunger strike and miscarriage. While Livia is away, Jack is bedding Livia’s younger sister, Mercy. In 1914, all four go off to war to scenes of terror and death and the filthy horrors of World War I. Freda Lightfoot has the rare ability to touch the hearts with true love in the separation of war. The end, like a game of chess, is unpredictable but satisfying.

Geoffrey Harfield HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 51

and loss. Perri, a banker’s daughter and debutante, reigns over Atlanta’s belles as the “girl of a thousand dates.” Dobbs, a preacher’s daughter, is determined to free the world from injustice and set souls on fire for Christ. Dobbs decides to begin her mission by reforming the worldly young ladies of the private academy where she and Perri are students. As Dobbs helps Perri to be more spiritual, she finds herself beginning to have serious doubts about her previously unflinching beliefs. As the girls deal with their personal problems, including ups and downs with boys, they are confronted with a mystery which may hold the key to many of the troubles in their community.

With a distinct Southern flavor, the novel is replete with descriptions of stately homes, lavish soirées, gowns and gardens. In spite of its title, there is nothing saccharine about the book, which looks realistically at the bitterness of life, the dark nights of the soul, and the heartbreak and the joy of genuine love.

Elena Maria Vidal THE KIRILOV STAR Mary Nichols, Allison & Busby, 2011, £19.99, hb, 377pp, 9780749009922 Beginning in November 1920, this novel follows the life and struggles of Lydia Kirilova, who leaves Russia as a small child. As a member of an aristocratic family, she is in great danger because of the Russian Revolution. Escape is not simple, however, and she ends up becoming separated from her parents, eventually being rescued and adopted by a childless British couple.

Changing her name to Lydia Stoneleigh, she lives the privileged life of any upper-class girl of the time, yet something always tugs her back to her homeland and, falling under the spell of fellow immigrant Kolya, she decides to return to seek out her roots. Many adventures befall her, and she returns to England in time for the Second World War to erupt.

The novel is reasonably well-researched without being too fact-heavy. It’s more of a lightweight beach read rather than a literary tome; perhaps the fact that the author has written many books for Mills & Boon might help you decide if it is for you or not. It is a little predictable and runs out of steam in the last third, as the reasons for the lovers not to reunite immediately was not particularly convincing and seemed to be included only to lengthen the book. There are some interesting parts, and it is not without entertainment value by any means. Undemanding but not spectacular might just sum it up.

Ann Northfield VELVA JEAN LEARNS TO FLY Jennifer Niven, Plume, 2011, $15/C$17.50, pb, 416pp, 9780452297401 Velva Jean Hart, heroine of Niven’s debut novel, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, makes a welcome return in this sequel. Velva Jean has left her preacher husband, Harley, and her hometown of Alluvial, North Carolina, to drive to Nashville, Tennessee, 52 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

in her yellow truck, following her dream of singing her songs at the Grand Ole Opry. The path to the Opry never did run smooth, and Velva Jean finds herself working as a singing waitress and rooming with the down-to-earth Gossie. When her favorite brother, Johnny Clay, looks her up, he ignites a new love in her – flying. Before too long, she’s leaving the earth behind and soaring into the air.

World War II comes along and Johnny Clay enlists as a paratrooper. An article in Life about female pilots inspires Velva Jean to enlist in Jacqueline Cochran’s WTFD (Women’s Flying Training Detachment) which trains at a base in Texas. After graduation, she and a fellow pilot are assigned to Camp Davis, a camp in North Carolina where female pilots are not only unwelcome but in danger from men who think women have no business being in the air or being in the army.

I loved Velva Jean Learns to Drive, but I love the sequel even more. Velva Jean is a character I want to be my best friend. Men come and go in her life, and some make her heart beat a little faster, but it is in the air or singing one of her songs that makes her truly feel alive. Niven’s gift for place, space, and character made me feel the heat and dust in Texas and the fear Velva Jean felt at the North Carolina base and the determination she had to prove herself. What will Velva Jean learn to do next?

Ellen Keith THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC Julie Otsuka, Knopf, 2011, $22.00, 144pp, 9780307700001 / Fig Tree, 2012, £12.99, hb, 128pp, 9781905490875 This slim, elegant novel is written from an unusual group perspective. We follow the thoughts and life events of the Japanese women who came to the west coast of the United States as mail order brides in the early 20th century. While we learn some names, we don’t learn enough to determine which husband goes with which wife, which child with which parents.

However, that is not the point. Instead, we get a wash of experiences, from which we can determine the similarities and differences in their experiences: the new husbands who are brutes and those who are gentler; the unending labor of those who work in the fields and orchards, picking tomatoes, picking apples, picking pears, and those who work as maids or cooks or dishwashers; the babies who are born and thrive, and those that don’t; the children who assimilate (there is no counterbalance for this); the distress that come with interacting with whites and the far fewer positive experiences; eventually the possibilities for owning their own businesses with their husbands; and lastly, the terror of the forced relocation to the internment camps and the loss of everything they had built up in their lives.

Universally, their existence is nothing like what they dreamed of when they were on their way to the United States. Most are indomitable in the face of hardship after hardship. The stories of these women, crystallized to essentials and yet haunting in the little details, had an impact far beyond what one might expect from such a slender volume.

Trudi E. Jacobson A SPARK OF DEATH Bernadette Pajer, Poisoned Pen Press, 2011, $14.95, pb, 210 pp, 9781590589076 Pajer’s debut novel, the first in a proposed series, introduces us to an unlikely sleuth.

Benjamin Bradshaw is a professor of electrical engineering in turn-of-the-century Seattle – a time when electricity was still an exciting, and potentially lethal, novelty. Bradshaw’s colleague, an insufferably arrogant pedant, is found electrocuted inside the Faraday Cage of an Electrical Machine, and the police think Bradshaw did it. The professor must find the real killer (a disgruntled student? a neglected wife? an anarchist?) while coping with the pain of his wife’s recent suicide and opening his heart to a possible new love interest in the person of Missouri, a charming young lady who appears on his porch one day. The setting is nicely evoked, the electrical theory seems to make sense (though I’m no expert), and Bradshaw emerges as a sympathetic, if rather stiff, protagonist. I look forward to his further adventures.

Bruce Macbain THIS BURNS MY HEART Samuel Park, Simon & Schuster, 2011, $25.00/ C$28.99, hb, 320pp, 9781439199619 South Korea in the early 1960s is a land of both challenge and opportunity; young SooJa Choi wants to leave her small hometown and move to Seoul, to become a diplomat. Her parents refuse, and Soo-Ja makes a choice that she thinks will allow her the freedom she desires, but her marriage to the weak-willed and deceitful Min turns out to be more of a prison than a step towards independence. Her brief brush with student revolutionaries introduces her to Yul, a strong, articulate man whom she comes to realize she loves. Soo-Ja’s obligations are with her family – her brutish in-laws, her disappointed parents, and her lively daughter Hana – and for years she works selflessly, until Yul reappears.

Samuel Park provides insight into the growth pains of South Korea, both economic and cultural, and his descriptions of the traditional and modern living conditions are well done. There are quite a few discordant word choices throughout, however (the word “hoodie,” which didn’t come into popular parlance until the 1990s is an especially glaring example). In addition, it’s difficult to connect with the characters; Min, his family, and Yul’s wife, EunMee, all lack depth or subtlety and come across as negative caricatures, whereas Yul and Soo-Ja are represented as all good, the airbrushed hero and heroine. This Burns My Heart has received glowing reviews elsewhere, and indeed, the love story at the heart of this novel has its moments. The other characters create such a negative and stereotyped backdrop, however, that they irreparably detract from what may be an otherwise historically accurate and beautiful story.

Helene Williams 20th Century

THE SCRAPBOOK OF FRANKIE PRATT: A Novel in Pictures Caroline Preston, Ecco, 2011, $25.99, hc, 240pp, 9780061966903 Frankie Pratt’s mother gives her a scrapbook as a high school graduation gift. She finds her late father’s typewriter in the family’s attic and begins to chronicle her young adulthood, complete with colorful clippings and photographs. Frankie lives in a rustic farmhouse in rural New Hampshire, but her dreams take her far away. Through the pictures and text in her scrapbook, we follow her ill-fated romance with a World War I veteran, her enrollment at Vassar College, her expat years in Paris, and, finally, her discovery of true love in a most unexpected place.

Preston lets the pictures tell the story – the text consists mainly of diary-style entries, very few of which are longer than a paragraph. She has a curator’s eye for interesting artifacts, which is unsurprising given her professional background as an archivist. But the artifacts aren’t merely presented for their archival or historical value – each plays a role in telling Frankie’s uniquely American story. The combination of Frankie’s pluck and spirit, the much-beloved time period of the Roaring Twenties, and the colorful presentation made this a surprisingly enjoyable combination of art and narrative.

Nanette Donohue BRIGHT’S PASSAGE Josh Ritter, Dial, 2011, $22.00, hb, 193pp,

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9781400069507 Josh Ritter’s Bright’s Passage tells the story of Henry Bright, who returns from military service in World War I to steal away his “wife,” Rachel, and reclaim his mother’s dilapidated cabin the West Virginia mountains. Guided by his horse, an “angel,” Bright sets fire to the cabin after his wife dies giving birth to his son, The King of Heaven. At least, that’s who the child is, according to “Mr. Ed,” you know, the talking horse. As the blaze spreads to become a true forest fire, Bright and his son escape, thanks to the horse and the goat (who later speaks as well).

Hot on his trail is Bright’s father-in-law, a crazy “colonel” from a previous war, and his two evil sons, who aim to give Bright a dose of his own medicine; they want to steal his son the way Bright stole Rachel.

The most convincing scenes in this book take place as Bright remembers his army days, the trenches where men fall all around him and war takes its savage toll. Less authentic are the scenes where Bright carries his newborn son, feeds him with goat’s milk from his fingertips and dips the child into a mountain stream to clean his soiled diapers.

Ritter made a name for himself as a singer/ songwriter, and his music has been compared to Bruce Springsteen’s. He has what agents call a “platform,” a ready-made audience for his books.

Those who enjoy his music may very well enjoy this debut novel.

Anne Clinard Barnhill

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Alyson Richman, Berkley, 2011, $15.00, pb, 352pp, 9780425244135 / Hodder & Stoughton, Mar. 2012, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781444730203 I struggled with a review that would do this gorgeous book justice. Richman takes what could be a sorrowful story and renders it human through her elegant prose and storytelling.

Lenka, a young art student, and Josef, a medical student, meet in Prague in the last golden days before the Second World War and fall in love. Neither their hopeful relationship nor their vibrant city is destined to last, though, as the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia tears them apart only a week after their wedding.

Although Josef believes Lenka died in the war, he doesn’t forget her. And, struggling to survive in the Nazi ghetto at Terezín, Lenka also holds to the memory of their brief marriage. It isn’t until sixty years later that a chance encounter in New York City reaffirms that faith in first love.

Richman masterfully wields her prose. She jumps between time, tense, and point-of-view, but without ever losing control of her story. The reader feels each blush, each tentative kiss, each heartbreak as the couple is separated. Beautiful writing aside, intriguing premise aside, Richman tells a unique story. Not just a Holocaust story of survival, it’s also about the survival of art and of self. Lenka paints idyllic souvenirs for the Nazis, while at the same time paints in secret the true conditions of the ghetto. Through her art, she’s able to keep heart, even while missing her love, her freedom, and the world she once knew.

Jessica Brockmole 20th Century

THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE Monique Roffey, Penguin, 2011, $16.00, pb, 448pp, 9780143119517 / Pocket, 2010, £7.99, pb, 448pp, 9781847395221 George and Sabine Harwood came from England to Trinidad in 1956. Young, passionately in love, they embraced the land, the people, and the political world rapidly evolving into its independence.

This novel is the story of Trinidad’s historical evolution into self-rule and degeneration. George and Sabine’s relationship also gradually deteriorates in a parallel direction. George gradually falls in love with the land to the point where he becomes a financially secure Trinidad citizen. Sabine hates everything about the country and fears being hated by the natives, the latter depicted in tangibly volatile scenes where she is insulted and threatened.

Meanwhile, George sleeps around and buries his inability to keep Sabine’s love in booze; his only hope is writing about famous Trinidad leaders in politics and sports. When a young man is brutally beaten up by the police for protesting the theft of a mobile phone, George attempts to bring a lawsuit against the thugs guilty of this attack, an effort planned only to try to win back Sabine’s respect. But Sabine has only one passion left, Eric Williams, the first leader with noble ideals who wins Trinidad’s first election and who becomes a model of the “Massah” he despises and fears. Over the course of fifty years, she pens hundreds of letters to Williams in which she honors his leadership and ideas; her notes, like her relationship to George, deteriorate into diatribes on the injustices Williams ignores or orders.

Monique Roffey’s multilayered plot is a passionate, microcosmic look at formerly colonial territories achieving freedom but unable to deal with the responsibilities and problems they inherit.

Roffey’s brilliant novel suggests that Paradise is created, not left to nature’s whimsical acts or human nature’s failure to learn from colonial history.

Viviane Crystal THE WAR BEFORE MINE Caroline Ross, Honno, 2011, £6.99, pb, 410pp, 9781870206976 On the face of it, Caroline Ross’s debut tells an oft‑told story. Soldier on the eve of action has whirlwind affair with a beautiful girl. A child ensues, but he’s gone missing in action and, this being the 1940s, she is forced to give the baby up for adoption. But Ross eschews the tropes of romantic fiction and confounds our expectations with a novel which is far more than a simple love story.

Ranging between the mid-1930s and 2006, with a chronological structure which is not always predictable but invariably works, the novel combines romance, action and social history.

Ross writes with tremendous verve and seems as comfortable in the voice of the young soldier, Philip, as she is in that of her half-Romany heroine, Rosie. Her wide-ranging story is clearly very well HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 53

researched, but she uses factual information skilfully, so that the reader doesn’t really notice it but nevertheless feels as if she is the hands of an author who knows her subject inside out. The plot twists and turns in so many directions, it keeps you in its grip to the very last page.

A hugely enjoyable read, easy yet well-informed, light yet crammed with poetic images and unafraid to confront the harshness of war and its longlasting consequences.

Sarah Bower THE EMPEROR OF LIES Steve Sem-Sandberg, trans. Sarah Death, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011, $30.00, hb, 672pp, 9780374139643 / Faber and Faber, 2011, £14.99, hb, 672pp, 9780571259205 Lodz, Poland was home to the second-largest Jewish ghetto during the Second World War. Established in 1940 with a population of 230,000, it was liquidated in 1944. When Soviet troops liberated the ghetto in 1945 only 877 people were living there. The Emperor of Lies is the story of the Lodz ghetto. In particular, it is the story of the ghetto’s controversial leader, Jewish businessman Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski.

Appointed by the Nazis, Rumkowski turned the ghetto into a factory over which he controlled even the smallest details. Some historians praise Rumkowski’s management of the ghetto, pointing out that Lodz’s Jews fared better than those in most other ghettos. However, other historians portray Rumkowski as a collaborator who abused his power. Sem-Sandberg takes a more objective stand, showing how both accounts of Rumkowski may have merit. In his afterword he writes, “There was clearly a point at which even Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski felt obliged to look away and say no.

This novel revolves around that moment.”

Sem-Sandberg’s graphic details of ghetto life and his careful adherence to the historical record make this an important contribution to Holocaust literature. However, the thoroughness of the narrative means that the story includes a large cast of characters, none of whom the reader gets to know intimately. In fact, there are times when the novel reads more like a non-fiction account. On the other hand, with its short chapters and plain writing, the novel is very readable.

Patricia O’Sullivan CITY OF SECRETS Kelli Stanley, Minotaur, 2011, $24.99/C$28.99, hb, 304pp, 9780312603618 Chain-smoking, hard-drinking, fast-talking San Francisco detective Miranda Corbie is back in Kelli Stanley’s second entry of what looks to be a longlived series. The seamy underside of Chinatown that was introduced in City of Dragons is still there, but this time Miranda’s investigating a murder at the 1940 World’s Fair, and much of the action takes place on Treasure Island. Showgirl Pandora Blake is found draped over a piano, stabbed with an ice pick, with an anti-Semitic slur written in her own blood across her chest. Although the stagehands 54 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

call in Miranda, the police quickly dismiss her from the case; as an escort-turned-private eye, she’s distrusted by many on the force.

However, a second murder and the framing of a suspect – a former policeman who beat her up in City of Dragons – has Miranda working the edges of the case, questioning evidence, and searching for connections between the two women. She quickly finds herself in a web fraught with politics, payola, and personal danger, backed only by erstwhile reporter Rick Sanders, and inspector David Fisher, one of the few Jews on the San Francisco police force.

Once again, Stanley succeeds in integrating international intrigue into Bay Area haunts, including the still-functioning Napa State Hospital. Descriptions of the pre-war jitters that led to reactionary “patriotic” isolationism also have resonance for today’s readers. Miranda may seem a bit super-human in her ability to battle so many issues, fueled mostly by cigarettes, bourbon, and her own inner demons, but her spirit is admirable and the outcome more than satisfactory.

Helene Williams A BITTER TRUTH Charles Todd, Morrow, 2011, $24.99/C$27.99,

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THE LEGACY

hb, 352pp, 978006201570 World War I nurse Bess Crawford returns in her third mystery. As in previous outings, Bess’s kind nature and sense of duty enmeshes her in another family’s secrets. Arriving in London on leave from France, Bess finds a battered woman huddled on her doorstep. She gives her refuge for the night and allows herself to be persuaded to accompany the woman home to Sussex to face her husband, a soldier home on leave for his brother’s funeral. A drunken family friend alludes to an embarrassing secret and is found murdered the next day. Bess is reluctantly drawn even further into the family’s life, seeking an orphan in France when she returns to duty at the behest of the wife.

As in Todd’s Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the war looms large. It causes husbands to do things they can’t share with their wives, tests characters, and strains relationships. Todd throws in a few red herrings, enough that I lost sight of the mystery itself, but that didn’t detract from how engrossed I became in this book. Bess’s empathy and humanity at this turbulent period in history make her a character I’ll continue to follow. And Todd holds out hope that she may get a personal life in the next book.

Ellen Keith

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Katherine Webb, Harper, 2011, $14.99, pb, 480 pp, 1978006207731 / Orion, 2010, £7.99, pb, 432pp, 9781409117162 Webb’s well-written romantic mystery spans four generations but, told largely from the perspective of two women, The Legacy is a very personal story.

What could have been clichés – the crumbling manor houses, a stern matriarch, a fading photograph – are skillfully woven into an intelligent and addictively readable novel.

In 1905, Caroline Calcott, a desperate young woman alone in her Wiltshire manor house, commits a terrible act. We cannot understand the deed until we learn, in flashbacks, about her earlier life – perhaps not even then – but we will see the consequences.

When Caroline’s great-granddaughters inherit Storton Manor many years later, they are ignorant of its past. Beth, a thirtyish divorcee, and her younger sister, Erika, were never close to their grandmother, Caroline’s daughter, Meredith. As children, they spent summers at the manor, where Meredith’s careless oversight allowed them full run of the grounds – but a tragic accident ended the carefree visits.

Now Beth, who is deeply depressed, never wants to see to Storton Manor again. Erica believes her sister has painful memories that need airing – and Erika wants to see Dinny, the young gypsy whose friendship was once forbidden – and she persuades Beth to return for the first time in over 20 years.

All goes well at first. But Dinny’s presence rekindles sibling rivalry, making Erika unsure whom to trust. Then she stumbles on a photograph that raises different issues.

By now, we know more about Caroline than Erika does but not the whole story and, like Erika, we have questions about the half-remembered tragedy that Beth refuses to discuss.

We expect revelations. Childhood memories may be suppressed (or just inaccurate) but when examined in view of Caroline’s legacy, they take on different meanings. The Legacy is highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene 20th Century

THE ORIENTAL WIFE Evelyn Toynton, Other Press, 2011, $15.95, pb, 304pp, 978159014412 Louise and Rolf were among the lucky Jews who left Nazi Germany before it was too late.

And with Rolf ’s connections and tireless work for German refugees, they were even able to get out Louise’s parents and Rolf ’s mother and bring them to America. As the older generation wept over the destruction of their lives and the loss of loved ones in Germany, Louise and Rolf embraced America.

And America seemed to embrace Louise and Rolf back until a debilitating illness reminded them that the sorrows of the Old World could follow them across the ocean. Feeling betrayed by American promises of freedom and prosperity, Rolf and Louise must choose between spending the rest of their lives dutifully hopeless or selfishly content.

Though depressing at times, this story is a fascinating character study of how people cope with both tragedy and success. I love how Toynton’s characters grow and change, some becoming older, wiser versions of their young selves, and others changing so completely they are hardly recognizable from the refugees who arrived in America in the 1930s.

Patricia O’Sullivan THE AZTEC Bill Vidal, Arrow/IPG, 2011 (c2010), £7.99/$13.95, pb, 405pp, 9780099534655 International intrigue and espionage mix with old Bolshevik secrets in this thriller by Bill Vidal.

British professor Jack Hadley is gathering data for a biography on the notorious Mexican Communist Jesús Florin, called “the Aztec,” the former comrade of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev. Florin has spent a lifetime igniting revolutions all over South America and Africa, making friends and enemies along the way.

Hadley and wild child girlfriend Mercedes are duped by the Spanish secret service into helping to discover what became of the gold which the Spanish Communists sent to the Soviet Union on 1936, some of which became lost. The missing gold is comprised of rare coins, at least $200 million worth, and Florin is the only one left alive who might know where it is hidden. As Hadley travels from Spain to Cuba to the Balkans to Africa in search not only of the treasure but trying to unravel the mysteries of Florin’s life, the Aztec has a score of his own to settle.

The novel has frequent flashbacks in the first few chapters which make the chronology difficult to follow at times. However, the vivid descriptions of the various cities where the protagonists find themselves are fascinating, especially the mouthwatering depictions of Spanish restaurants. For those interested in the Cold War period, The Aztec gives a view of what was happening outside of Europe and the Soviet Union, as country after country became Marxist, while others became dominated by Fascist, totalitarian regimes, some of which were supported by the CIA. The human cost of war and revolution is assessed in Vidal’s riveting 20th Century

novel of suspense.

Elena Maria Vidal (no relation to the author) THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW Pam Weaver, Avon, 2011, £6.99, pb, 408pp, 9781847562678 There’s Always Tomorrow is an excellent, very readable first novel from Pam Weaver which is set in Worthing, just after the war, during the 1950s.

Its language and descriptions are authentic, and it is a great book for anyone who loves a family drama. If you enjoy the writing of Lyn Andrews, Maureen Lee or Josephine Cox you are will surely love Pam Weaver.

The novel tells the story of Dottie, who struggles to live with Reg, her husband. Before the war she fell in love with a kind, considerate man who, after being traumatised during the war, has been demobbed and become cruel and violent. They have no family of their own so when Reg receives a letter telling him he is the father of Patsy, a young orphan, he is now her sole carer. Life becomes hard for Dottie, as she struggles with bringing up another woman’s child alongside dealing with Reg’s deceit. At first Reg seems pleased to have 8‑yearold Patsy, the child from his dalliance during the war, living with them, but this starts to change once the truth starts to come out. Dottie is not pleased about the situation and struggles to get to the truth, while seeing her chances of ever having a family of her own slowly disappearing. She tries hard to make her marriage work before it is too late.

The book is appealingly nostalgic of the Fifties, with tears and drama as the reader shares the hopes and disappointments of Dottie. The characters are believable and well-rounded, the descriptions vivid and accurate, the pace is good and the storyline gripping. A good read.

Barbara Goldie OBEDIENCE Jacqueline Yallop, Atlantic, 2011, £12.99, hb, 276pp, 9780857891013 The last three remaining nuns are facing the closure of their convent – two are destined for an old people’s home and one is planning to go and live with her friend. The ending of their way of life brings back memories, particularly for the main character, 90-year-old Sister Bernard. What she recalls is shocking. Sister Bernard’s physical desire for a Nazi soldier has led directly to tragedy. The reader has to do quite a lot of work filling in the gaps, as the action and emotions are often suggested rather than made explicit. None of the characters is particularly likeable, and it is difficult not to share the anger of the locals towards the errant nun.

This novel places its main emphasis on the interior life of the characters, and it is not for those seeking a thrill-filled adventure. However, in its exploration of character, difficult choices and passionate feelings, many readers may find a great deal of interest. Writers such as Hilary Mantel and AS Byatt have both provided quotes stating their admiration for this book, and if you like these authors, this is another of that ilk.

Ann Northfield PAO Kerry Young, Bloomsbury, 2011, £11.99, pb, 288pp, 9781408812075 / Bloomsbury USA, 2011, $15.00, pb, 288pp, 9781608195077 The novel opens in Kingston, Jamaica in 1938.

Fourteen-year-old Yang Pao arrives from China with his mother and brother. They live with Zhang, the “godfather” of Chinatown, who runs a series of criminal enterprises. Over the years Pao takes over the empire and becomes a powerful man in Chinatown. Although involved in a longterm relationship with Gloria Campbell, a black prostitute, craving respectability he marries Fay Wong, the headstrong daughter of a Chinese merchant. However, Jamaica is changing, and Pao finds that his own beliefs are challenged, not least by those closest to him, and even the wisdom of Sun Tzu cannot provide answers.

The book is written in the first person, which gives it a strong, immediate impact. The voice of Pao is so powerfully Jamaican it is easy to forget that he is in fact Chinese, and this gives a unique insight into 20th century Jamaica. A fascinating book from start to finish, this is an exceptional debut novel from a talented writer. Packed full of colourful characters, the book also provides a unique insight into the impact of colonialism, capitalism, and endemic racism based on shades of colour. Highly recommended.

Mike Ashworth MY DEAR I WANTED TO TELL YOU Louisa Young, HarperCollins, 2011, $25.99, hb, 336pp, 9780061997143 / HarperCollins, 2011, £12.99, hb, 336pp, 9780007361434 My Dear I Wanted to Tell You takes its title from a standard field letter sent by soldiers wounded in the Great War to family and friends back home.

This book, however, attempts to show that not all injuries are physical, and often there are layers of pain to recover from before both sides of a relationship can be healed.

Set during the World War I years, this novel focuses on the problems of social class and the inability to move beyond the caste in which one had been born. There are two couples central to the story: Riley Purefoy, a working-class young man, and Nadine Waverly, the posh friend with whom he falls in love; and Peter Locke, Riley’s commanding officer, and his wife, Julia, left alone back in England. Riley enters the service to escape his feelings for Nadine and a drunken tryst of which he is ashamed; Peter sees his involvement in the war as his duty, yet his beautiful, vapid young wife is left alone and bereft back home. The paths these four take as they try to define their relationships form the backbone of the story, but the war itself is just as much a character as they.

I was pleased to garner a good feel for the time period from the novel, but unfortunately, the narrative is uneven, and Peter and Julia are simply not all that compelling. Had the story focused more on Riley and Nadine, whose relationship HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 55

seemed much more realistic and complex, I might have felt more engaged. The battle scenes are quite well done and gritty, but in a book focusing on relationships, those scenes should have reinforced the story rather than making its shortcomings more noticeable. It just leaves you feeling that it could have been so much more.

Tamela McCann

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multi-period

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RELIC Tom Egeland, John Murray, 2011, £7.99, pb, 418pp, 9780719521737 Relic is unashamedly indebted to Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, which it lists in its bibliography, along with The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, whose authors famously sued Dan Brown for plagiarism – unsuccessfully, because they claimed their work was nonfiction and one cannot copyright history.

In Tom Egeland’s reworking of the story, the Guardians of the ancient secret are the Knights of St John, not the Templars (no great change), and the secret itself is the same as in The Holy Blood, that Jesus did not die on the Cross but survived and retired to the south of France. The originality lies in the hero, who is once again a puzzled academic, but he is also a seriously neurotic, sexually frustrated, albino, Norwegian archaeologist. The story is narrated in the first person in a terse, sardonic, selfmocking style. I’m not sure if this is not a spoof on the Da Vinci Code, but it is an entertaining pageturner, and the reader learns a lot about the Gospel of St Mark.

Edward James

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THE LAZARUS VAULT

TALES OF THE NEW WORLD Sabina Murray, Black Cat, 2011, $14.95/C$17.95, pb, 272pp, 9780802170835 In ten short stories, some as short as seven pages and others over seventy pages, Sabina Murray considers the motivations, fascinations, and inner demons of various explorers. New World in this context does not refer to the traditional European idea of the Americas. Indeed, Murray’s longest story, “Fish,” features Mary Kingsley, an English woman who defied Victorian strictures by exploring and writing about West Africa. In “Paradise,” Murray writes about Jim Jones, comparing him to Hitler, Pol Pot, and Idi Amin. And in “Periplus” Murray gets inside the head of a Jesuit seminarian contemplating the library’s holdings. Then there are stories of men who explored Australia such as William Dampier and Edward John Eyre. Of course some of Murray’s short stories do concern the Americas such as “Translation” about Magellan, “Balboa” about the explorer of the same name who crossed the isthmus of Panama to find the Pacific Ocean, and “Last Days,” which is a conversation between Texcoco ruler, Nezahualpilli, and the king of the Aztecs, Motecuhzoma.

Murray’s detached writing style made it difficult for me to feel engaged with her characters.

Especially in “Fish” so often I almost began to care for Mary Kingsley before the narrative pulled back and left me feeling that Murray had missed the opportunity to develop Mary Kingsley as in interesting character.

Patricia O’Sullivan

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Tom Harper, Arrow/IPG, 2011, £6.99/$12.95, 465pp, 9780099547839 Out of the blue, Ellie Stanton is offered a job – posh flat and limitless credit included – at a bank in modern-day London. She leaves a boyfriend and the life of an impoverished Oxford grad student to take it. Suspicions are raised and soon she is Grail hunting with the best – and hunted herself. A parallel story line bounces us back to the 12th century to follow the revenge quest of a second son who will eventually take on the name of Chrétien de Troyes and become that written origin of all Grail stories. Events from his life plus his Breton mother’s tales form the stories he will eventually write – and weave with clues for our modern heroes.

I am reviewing the paperback edition of what was hardcover a year ago. I found the novel, in spite of a number of leaps of logic, so much more enjoyable than The Da Vinci Code to which it is obviously indebted for everything from hidden bank vaults to secluded country estates and handicapped villains. Lazarus’s puzzles are actually believable. The female characters are better drawn. Most importantly for this audience, the history is competent. Alas, that the modern bestseller could not take a whole book set in the time of Chrétien (written in gripping present tense). “The hulls are so thin I can feel the water beneath, like horseflesh through a saddle” graces just the first paragraph of the 12th century; fine historical writing.

Ann Chamberlin 56 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

JANE AUSTEN MADE ME DO IT Ed. Laurel Ann Nattress, Ballantine, 2011, $15, pb, 464pp, 9780345524966 Jane Austen continues her afterlife as the Scylla and Charybdis of women’s fiction, luring innocent writers ever closer until she can swallow them whole. This book is a collection of short stories inspired by the sibyl of romance; like most anthologies, it’s an uneven jumble of work, from sketchy stories that hardly seem thought about, to some very clever pieces.

“Faux Jane,” for instance, is a lovely bit of work

by F.J. Meier that seems as inspired by The Thin Man as by dear Austen: a collector has turned up a signed (!) first edition of Pride and Prejudice, and the husband and wife sleuths must expose the forger. The sharp conversations and tinge of the underworld make this story, which stands above any of the others.

“What Would Austen Do,” by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, exposes the possible radicalizing power of a good Jane Austen book in the world of Twilight. And if you ever wondered what it was like for dear Mr. Knightley, moving into the same house with Mr. Woodhouse, “Nothing Less than Fairyland,” by Monica Fairview, proposes a startling and satisfying resolution to the lives of two of the best characters in Emma.

Several of the stories take a turn at the classic first sentence “It is a truth universally acknowledged...” and all these writers know their Austen. But in the end, none of them can match her wit, her ear, her eye, or, in the end, the intense female anxiety that transforms her comedies of manners into literature.

Nice try, people, but Jane wins again.

Cecelia Holland

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alternate history

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SAVAGE CITY Sophia McDougall, Gollancz, 2011, £12.99, pb, 424pp, 9780575094888 In this alternative history, Rome has never fallen and is still a major player on the world stage in the 21st century. But there is trouble both internally and externally. The Nionian Empire ( Japan) is slowly advancing and may be about to win the arms race. In Rome, the Colosseum has just been bombed by a terrorist, killing the current emperor outright, and gravely wounding his heir. The future of the Roman Empire ultimately rests with a brother and sister from Britannia, but can they and their supporters survive in a hostile empire?

This is the third volume in the Romanitas trilogy, and I haven’t read the other two volumes.

For the most part, this was not a barrier to enjoying the story. This is a well‑imagined, bedded‑in, alternative world, and felt very plausible throughout. There are changes in the technology, but it was easy to work out what they approximate to in our world. In addition, there are maps showing Multi-period — Alternate History

the Romanitas world, plus very useful chronologies detailing the alternative time line.

The book is epic in scale, with the interior life of the many characters very well realised. It is a triumphant conclusion to the series. McDougall is one to watch.

Sandra Garside-Neville THE WAR THAT CAME EARLY: The Big Switch Harry Turtledove, Del Rey, 2011, $27.00/ C$31.00, hb, 418pp, 9780345491862 In the third volume of the alternate history series The War That Came Early, Harry Turtledove brings us to 1940. The Spanish Civil War is deadlocked. The Russians have lost Vladivostok to the Japanese, and in Western Europe, the French and English are driving back the Germans and their Polish allies. As in the previous two volumes, Turtledove moves across many settings. His cast of characters include: Luc Harcourt, a French soldier; Julius Lemp, a German U-boat captain; Sergeant Hideki Fujita, a Japanese soldier guarding a POW camp; veteran Welshman Alistair Walsh, and Sarah Goldman, a Jewish adolescent struggling to survive. From a claustrophobic, foul-smelling U-boat, Turtledove jumps into the cockpit of a fighter, slides into a panzer with a scared crew, or wanders into a death camp where starving Soviet prisoners are labeled ‘logs.’ Turtledove has been called “The Master of Alternate History” for good reason. At no point does the reader wander away.

A word of advice: if you are one of those fussy devotees of single-point-of-view novels, stay away from the series. More’s the pity. I love the multicharacter aspect of these books. It endows the story with an epic sweep, which fits the grand theme. Turtledove writes with devil-may-care grit and pitch perfect tone, again perfect for the subject.

The characters do blend – that is true. But what emerges from the common hopes and aspirations of soldiers across war fronts, what surfaces above the political and ideological struggles and prejudices, is an orchestral composition, a world at war. Little by little, Turtledove continues to change the history of World War II. At the end of volume three, the results are ominous. I have no clue where he is heading. But, boy oh boy, I am ready to follow.

Adelaida Lower

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timeslip

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WHISPERS IN THE SAND Barbara Erskine, Sourcebooks, 2011, $16.99, pb, 496pp, 9781402261756 / Harper, 2009, £7.99, pb, 592pp, 9780007288649 After a 14-year stint as a trophy wife, Anna Fox is recently divorced and at loose ends. Her great-aunt Phyllis suggests that Anna retrace the Egyptian journey of her great-great-grandmother, Louisa Shelley, a renowned artist of Victorian England.

Timeslip — Paranormal & Historical Fantasy

Phyllis gives her Louisa’s journal from that trip up the Nile, and Anna decides to go. She takes along the journal and an antique scent bottle that also came from Louisa’s journey. It’s not long before Anna is forced to confront the power of the scent bottle and its role in ancient Egypt. We also meet a band of interesting characters along the way. She sits next to a handsome, aloof man on the plane who seems more interested in reading the diary over her shoulder than anything else, yet they are destined to meet again as they are both booked on the same cruise. His interest in the diary soon shifts to Anna herself. Also in the group is a practicing student of Egyptian occult who tries to help Anna when snakes and apparitions begin to appear. Anna clings to the diary and the hope that her great-great grandmother’s experience may guide her in some way.

Louisa’s story is a wonderful journey into the world of travel in Egypt at the dawn of the 20th century. She is widowed with two young sons awaiting her return to England, yet she is drawn to her handsome dragoman, Hassan. They must deal with the mores and prejudices of that era. Hassan purchased the bottle for Louisa, not realizing the supernatural power within its sealed interior.

Originally published in 2001, this book is a wonderful look at the exotic world of Egypt now and long ago. The evil surrounding the bottle in ancient Egypt is just as powerful today. Erskine never disappoints.

Susan Zabolotny THE ROSE GARDEN Susanna Kearsley, Sourcebooks, 2011, $16.99/ C$19.95, pb, 448pp, 9781402258589 / Allison & Busby, 2011, £19.99, hb, 480pp, 9780749009809 Canadian author Susanna Kearsley’s timetravel books have always enthralled me, and The Rose Garden is no exception. Its heroine, Eva Ward, has returned to Trelowarth, a house in Cornwall, where she and her sister spent many happy hours as children. Her return is for a more somber reason – to spread her sister’s ashes at the place she loved best. Eva’s own future is unsettled after her sister’s death, and she welcomes brother and sister Mark and Susan’s invitation to stay at Trelowarth for the summer and help get Susan’s tea room off the ground.

At first, Eva attributes the fact that she’s hearing conversations in the next room, which turns out to be unoccupied, and seeing paths in the woods that don’t actually exist, to her grief. When she finds herself at Trelowarth three hundred years in the past, facing its occupant at that time, a Cornish smuggler who accepts her presence matter-of-factly albeit with curiosity about her era, she realizes something more is happening.

Kearsley inserts Eva into a fully realized world of sympathetic smugglers, odious constables, and Jacobites and makes Daniel Butler, Eva’s host in this world, a compelling character that causes Eva to question in which world she belongs. Daniel’s loyal friend Fergal and roguish but lovable brother

Jack give Eva pause – is she altering history by being there? And how can she not share what she knows about the future?

This book pays homage to Cornwall’s past and present. Although Eva recognizes the conditions for women were not ideal in 18th-century England, that concern doesn’t overwhelm her experience. In present day, Eva avails herself of a local historian to inform herself about her hosts in the past and proves herself up to the challenge of navigating between two worlds. I know Kearsley writes standalones, but can I put in a bid for a sequel, please?

Ellen Keith MIDNIGHT ON JULIA STREET Ciji Ware, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2011, $15.99, pb, 512pp, 97811402222726 Ciji Ware’s Midnight on Julia Street is a spellbinding story that promises relevance for today as it uncovers the truth of America’s past.

The author has chosen the luscious and culturally flavorful setting of New Orleans, pre-Hurricane Katrina, along with a seductive plot. As with a sculpture made of clay, each character emerges as the chapters progress. The two main characters, one-time enemies, unite to save a part of New Orleans history.

Corlis McCullough is a popular television reporter. Strong fragrances take her back into the past, an ability that proves invaluable. Kingsbury Duvallon is a handsome history professor and preservationist. His latest mission is to save a structure built around 1840 that contains twentythree row houses which had served as commercial and residential spaces at the time. However, in 1960 an aluminum face that now is a visual eyesore covered the architectural beauty, and with it a valuable history lesson. Corlis and King learn that prior to the Civil War nearly half of the city’s population consisted of free men and women of color. Its genealogy is a mixed racial blend of marriages and offspring.

In court, in the present day, each side is determined to win at all costs. The developer wants to demolish the building to restore the downtown.

The preservationists, headed by King Duvallon, present their case to save history. When the building’s owner and heritage are discovered, it is a surprise to all, including Corlis and King. Corlis comes to learn that what people have told her is true: New Orleans is a really small town where everyone knows everybody.

The many novels by Ciji Ware are among the best in the historical fiction genre. Midnight on Julia Street is unforgettable entertainment.

Wisteria Leigh

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paranormal & | historical fantasy

IN WINTER’S SHADOW Gillian Bradshaw, Sourcebooks, 2011, $14.99, pb, HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 57

432pp, 9781402240744 The third volume of Bradshaw’s Arthurian trilogy (originally published in 1981) is narrated

by Gwynhwyfar, wife of King Arthur Pendragon, and is set during the final years of Arthur’s reign.

Gwynhwyfar is a capable queen, trusted by all who serve her, but she fears the threat of Arthur’s power-hungry illegitimate son, Medraut. When her attempt to poison Medraut is foiled, Gwynhwyfar’s marriage begins to suffer, and she finds solace in the arms of Arthur’s loyal warrior Bedwyr. Their forbidden affair leads to further intrigue and their eventual banishment from their beloved kingdom – but Gwynhwyfar uses her wits and her wisdom to come to Arthur’s aid when he is most in nee Though there are certainly elements of fantasy in Bradshaw’s retelling of this familiar tale, realism reigns supreme. The Arthur/Gwynhwyfar/ Bedwyr love triangle is a portrait of a marriage unraveling over time and a woman caught between the comfort of a lifelong partnership and the passion of a new lover. Both Gwalchmai and Rhys, the primary characters in the two earlier novels of the trilogy, play important roles in this final novel, and the introduction of a new character, Gwyn, helps connect the three novels even further. Full of longing, betrayal, intrigue, and reconciliation, Gwynhwyfar’s tale is a rich, rewarding read.

Nanette Donohue WITH FATE CONSPIRE Marie Brennan, Tor, 2011, $27.99, hb, 526pp, 9780765325372 The rise of technology during the Victorian era is killing the Onyx Court, a faerie city that once thrived beneath London. The iron of the newlyconstructed London Underground is poisoning the fae and physically destroying the court itself.

Lune, who has served as queen of the Onyx Court for more than three hundred years, is putting her heart and soul – literally – into keeping the court alive and intact. Meanwhile, Dead Rick, a man-dog changeling whose memories have been stolen by supernatural criminal boss Nadrett, struggles to break free from his captivity.

Above ground, Irishwoman Eliza O’Malley continues her quest to find her childhood love Owen Darragh, who was abducted by faeries. She assumes a variety of disguises and roles in her attempt to recover her lost love and bring him back to the real world. Her break comes when she spies on a meeting of the London Faery Society and discovers that a young socialite, Louisa Kittering, is a member. Eliza assumes another disguise and becomes a maid in the Kittering home in hopes of figuring out Louisa’s connection to the fae.

Though this is the fourth book in a series featuring the Onyx Court, it is able to stand on its own. The plot is very complex, but as the three stories begin to intertwine, readers will be impressed at Brennan’s command of both her fictional world and the real world of Victorian England. The detail in both worlds is rich and engrossing, and the adventures of all the characters are quite enjoyable. Readers who enjoy a blend of 58 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

history, folklore, and fantasy will enjoy Brennan’s latest.

Nanette Donohue RED-ROBED PRIESTESS Elizabeth Cunningham, Monkfish, 2011, $25.95, hb, 314pp, 9780982324691 This fourth of The Maeve Chronicles returns our heroine – the Celtic Maeve raised on a lone island by witches, also known as Mary Magdalen and the mother of Jesus’ posthumous child Sarah – to her British roots where first she met and fell in love with the man destined for the god-death when he was also a student of the druids. Maeve returns in order to find a previous daughter, the product of incestuous rape, whom she was forced to give up in the first volume. This older daughter has become Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe, leader of the illfated rebellion against the Roman invaders. There are now granddaughters, too, who command our heroine’s protection and affection. The crone Maeve knows Rome; she is in love with the new Roman governor although she must salvage the wisdom of the druids when he comes to destroy the sacred island of Mons.

Kirkus Reviews called previous books “gleefully iconoclastic,” and that is what I loved about them. There is less to be iconoclastic about in this concluding volume, but our author “as an interfaith minister and counselor” still manages to lay religious images side by side in thought-provoking

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ways.

Ann Chamberlin THE TAKER Alma Katsu, Gallery, 2011, $25/C$28.99, hb, 440pp, 9781439197059 / Century, 2011, £12.99, hb, 448pp, 9781846058172 When Lanny arrives in police custody at the St. Andrew ER, she meets Luke, the physician on duty, a man recently divorced and whose life feels as though it has no direction. Though he can find no medical reason why the police can’t take Lanny away, he quickly becomes captivated by her story of immortality and is drawn to help her in spite of her confession to murder.

Lanny’s tale begins in the village of St. Andrew, Maine, in 1809, where she falls in love with Jonathan St. Andrew, a boy above her station and the man she can never have. But it is in Boston where her life is touched by another who gifts her with the curse of immortality.

The Taker marks Alma Katsu’s debut as a novelist. The book is one of supernatural suspense that captures the historical flavour of scenes set in earlier times. Katsu’s narrative feels effortless – the words draw the reader into the intrigue of Lanny’s centuries-long life. As an immortal, Lanny certainly manages to overcome her Puritanical upbringing.

While it’s a difficult book to put down, The Taker may take a bit too long to tell its tale, and then it ends rather abruptly. But it’s the first of a

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Erin Morgenstern, Doubleday, 2011, $26.95, hb, 400pp, 9780385534635 / Harvill Secker, 2011, £12.99, hb, 400pp, 9781846555237 Le Cirque des Rêves arrives unannounced. No posters, no parade, no invitations. Overnight, black and white striped circus tents appear on the outskirts of town, surrounding a white-flamed bonfire that never goes out. But it’s a circus unlike any other. Patrons can wander a garden made entirely of ice, climb a labyrinth of clouds, watch a contortionist disappear in a puff of smoke.

But Le Cirque des Rêves is more than just a circus; it’s a battleground for two young illusionists, Celia and Marco, caught in a competition of magic. Arranged by their rival mentors, the competition has no clear rules, save that only one will emerge a victor. They battle illusion with illusion, creating tents of imagination -- one filled with flying paper dragons, one with a pure white desert, one with a pool of tears – each one surpassing the last. Soon the tents they create are not just for the competition, but for each other. Despite the warnings from their mentors, Celia and Marco fall in love.

The Night Circus is a love story, a mystery, a fantasy, and a gaslight romance. Skipping between time, the circus, the competition, and the romance slowly unfurl. The story itself is small – forbidden love leading to a heart-rending choice – but the world it’s set in is big. Morgenstern’s Victorian London is fanciful and moody, Le Cirque des Rêves so atmospheric I can almost taste the caramel corn and smell the bonfire. I’m a selfavowed skimmer of world-building in novels, but I was unexpectedly lost in those black-andwhite striped tents. Morgenstern writes visual prose that leaves me anticipating an eventual film adaptation. An entrancing and engrossing debut.

Jessica Brockmole Paranormal & Historical Fantasy

trilogy, so that might help explain the structure. I’m certainly curious about the second book.

Janette King THE TWELFTH ENCHANTMENT David Liss, Random House, 2011, $26.00, hb, 416pp, 9781400068968 Lucy Derrick does not want to marry Mr. Olson, a dull mill owner, but as a poor orphan with a damaged reputation, she has little choice.

Soon after their engagement, strange things begin to happen. An impossibly handsome man bursts into the house to warn Lucy not to marry Mr. Olson and then passes out cold. Lucy begins to see shadow people who urge her to “gather the leaves.”

And a beautiful cunning woman named Mary Crawford befriends Lucy and begins to train her for a dangerous and mysterious task of national importance involving a wordless book of alchemy, the Mutus Liber. While trying to make sense of the magical world she is being drawn into, Lucy finds herself torn between the rakish Lord Byron and Jonas Morrison, the man who broke her heart and ruined her reputation four years earlier.

This novel is a page-turner complete with family drama, secret societies, romance, and a haunted house. It also contains literary nods to Jane Austen, Bram Stoker, Charlotte Brontë, and many others.

However, the novel seems rather Frankenstein-like, as if Liss has sewed together bits and pieces of other stories to create this one. It reads as if Elizabeth Bennet goes to Hogwarts, befriends Jonathan Harker and Lord Byron, and together they put down a Luddite rebellion. As a big fan of Liss’s historical fiction, I missed his clever dialogue, rich vocabulary, and careful plotting. But The Twelfth Enchantment was an enjoyable read nonetheless, sure to please readers who enjoy paranormal twists on classic novels.

Patricia O’Sullivan THE MOONLIGHT BRIGADE: A Millennial Novel Sarah Jane Stratford, St. Martin’s, 2011, $14.99/ C$16.99, pb, 320pp, 9780312560140 Nazi-hunting vampires, led by an undead Roman general bent on rescuing Italy from Fascism? Why not? You can’t fault Stratford for her fresh take on the World War II resistance novel. Mors, a 2,000-year-old vampire with a penchant for war, is in Europe, searching for other vampires hemmed in by the Nazis’ power. But when he meets Giulia, a beautiful resistance fighter in Rome, he can’t help but be drawn into her cause, despite her being a human. Using his military skills, he organizes Giulia and her band of young girls into a highly-trained guerilla unit, hoping, in the process, to win her as more than an ally.

The prose is solid, the characters well-drawn and distinct, but the transition into Stratford’s world is a bit jarring. This is the second book in a series, and it felt like it. She brings her readers into the middle of the vampires’ campaign against the Axis powers and ends without them reaching their goal. I understand that not every series book Paranormal & Historical Fantasy — Children & YA

is meant to be read as a stand-alone, but it was hard to sympathize with the characters. Stratford is a historian, and her careful research shows, but in a story that leaps beyond the history into something more, a more careful coaching into that world would have been appreciated.

Jessica Brockmole DEATHLESS Catherynne Valente, Tor, 2011, $24.99, hb, 352pp, 9780765326300 Catherynne Valente understands the power of threes, of repetition and incantation, the stuff of fairy tales. In Deathless, her powerful evocation of old Russian fairy tales, she uses both the matter and the style of stories from outside the realm of ordinary time to capture something about real, cruel, and tragic history that might otherwise be inexpressible.

The real history is that of Russia under the last tsar and the first communists, culminating in the siege of Leningrad during World War II. But this part of the story is never in the foreground. Instead, Valente weaves her plot from a wealth of magical tales that comment on that time, and somehow, redeem it.

Marya waits in a window, until at last her husband comes to her: and he is Koschei the Deathless, Tsar of Life, who spirits her away to his kingdom in the east. Many fearful and beloved figures of Russian folklore come to life here, the house fairies behind the hearth, Baba Yaga with her chicken-legged wagon, the firebird itself, glowing in

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the forest.

The war in the fairy tale world, between the Tsar of Life and the Tsar of Death, reconnects Marya with the war in the “real” world, where the Nazis are attacking Stalin’s Russia. How the world of the imagination succors and ultimately saves the other is the theme of this ambitious and extraordinary novel. Scraps of poetry by Anna Akhmatova, spooky and elliptical, reinforce the many-leveled feel of the book. A wonderful piece of work.

Cecelia Holland

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LITTLE WOMEN AND ME Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Bloomsbury, 2011, $16.99, hb, 352pp, 9781599905143 Emily March is tired of being overlooked. Her sisters seem to get most of the attention in her family, and the boy she likes wants to date her older sister. When Emily’s English teacher asks his students to write an essay about something they would change about a favorite classic novel, Emily chooses her childhood favorite, Little Women. As she ponders this, she finds herself swept back in time to its world – where she could change things for real. Emily makes some funny missteps as she adjusts to her new life, unknowingly bringing modern slang, styles, and dating customs into the

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H.M Castor, Templar, 2011, £10.99, pb, 330pp, 9781848774995 Having read so much about Henry VIII, it was a real treat to find a book which manages to give a new perspective to the story. Telling the tale from Henry’s point of view with an engaging and strong voice works very well, and starting with Henry as a young boy enables us to see some previously neglected parts of his life.

I found the relationships between Henry and his mother, father and ill-fated older brother, Arthur, a fascinating insight into the make-up of this young monarch, and throughout the book the author attempts quite successfully to provide some dimension to Henry’s character. She also tries to offer potential reasons as to why and how the sweet and likeable young Hal changes into the notorious monarch. It is disturbing to observe the character development, as superstition, unfulfilled ambition and an overdeveloped ego conspire to mould Henry into the dangerous tyrant we are so familiar with.

I also enjoyed the fact that the story stays focused very much on Henry, and although each of his six wives are observed, their parts are merely periphery to the central character.

Overall I loved the book – the early part more than the latter, because this was the area that was fresh to me – but for young readers this is an excellent introduction to the life of one of our most infamous rulers with a fresh angle, a vivid depiction of the times and a real attempt to look beyond the obvious.

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March family. But after several years as the middle sister in a different March family, Emily longs to return to her own time. How will she get there – and what changes will she find when she returns?

Baratz-Logsted’s take on Little Women’s wellknown plot and characters will resonate with contemporary teens who have read the novel.

She pokes gentle fun at some of the more dated aspects of Little Women, such as Marmee’s frequent preachiness, while showing respect and love for both the characters and the novel. Baratz-Logsted finds the heart of Emily’s unhappiness – her feeling that she’s a second-class member of her family because she’s the middle daughter. As Emily finds her way with the Marches of the 1860s, she realizes that her position in her own family can also change, and she discovers strengths that she didn’t know she had. This timeslip twist on a coming-of-age novel is appropriate for readers ages 12 and up.

Nanette Donohue SYLVIA AND AKI Winifred Conkling, Random House, 2011, $19.99, hb, 200pp, 9781582463377 Aki Munemitsu’s life is about to undergo an amazing and undesirable change. For after Japan attacks the United States on December 7, 1941, all Japanese-Americans residing in the United States are under suspicion of being spies or, quite simply, the enemy. Her family’s peaceful, prosperous status as successful farmers changes to that of prisoners of war, and they are sent to a temporary, but no less shameful, interment camp. For now, Aki leaves behind a hidden treasure, one that will come to tie her to another young girl, Sylvia Mendez.

Sylvia is the daughter of Mexican-Americans, and she is very excited about finally attending school.

Imagine her shock when she is told she cannot attend the nearby Westminster School but must go to the one assigned to all Mexican families. As she puts it so sadly, “We’re being treated like secondclass people.” However, her father is not going to take this decision without protest. The story of his action that would affect all of California’s school children and eventually the nation’s, and the story of Aki and Sylvia’s friendship fills the remaining pages with real-life sorrows, joys, and hope that every reader is sure to remember and love. Based on real historical events, Sylvia and Aki is a wonderful read for all ages.

Viviane Crystal THE FITZOSBORNES IN EXILE Michelle Cooper, Knopf, 2011, $17.99/C$19.99, hb, 464pp, 9780375858659 I was repeatedly drawn back to this book, only to remember (with a little shock of disappointment each time) that I’d already turned the last page.

It’s a classic story of four young orphaned royals who must take on the adult task of righting a grave injustice. Its setting, Britain of 1937-1939, accentuates that timeless feel – akin to Swallows and Amazons or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – but for an older readership.

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cousins have fled to Neville Chamberlain’s Britain after Nazis bombed their island kingdom.

Now they’re the wards of an overbearing aunt who wants them to forget their home and focus instead on marrying well. Plain Sophie (compared to her beautiful cousin Veronica) tells the story through her journal, a technique the author, Michelle Cooper, pulls off perfectly. She also creates the FitzOsbornes’ mundane little kingdom, Montmaray, located in the Bay of Biscay, without making the story feel whatsoever like a fantasy or alternate history. Both teen and adult readers will be charmed by the FitzOsbornes: sensible but surprisingly Machiavellian Sophie; radical Veronica, mourning Montmaray’s library’s destruction but busy making enemies of Britain’s Fascist-sympathizing upper crust; 11-year-old tomboy Henrietta, leading her troop of girl scouts on commando missions; golden and gay young king, Toby, who prefers partying to studying at Oxford and is in love with Veronica’s handsome illegitimate half brother, Simon Chester. For his part, Simon is tempted by envy of his legitimate relations.

The FitzOsbornes in Exile chronologically follows and frequently references Michelle Cooper’s earlier book, A Brief History of Montmaray (The Montmaray Journals), which is now on my reading list. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to a sequel!

Kristen Hannum THE YEAR WE WERE FAMOUS Carole Estby Dagg, Clarion, 2011, $16.99, hb, 256pp, 9780618999835 Having previously reviewed a book about Helga and Clara Estby’s walk across the U.S., I was eager to read this. And I was not disappointed. Carole Estby Dagg brings more than meticulous research to the story of these remarkable women. As a descendant of both, she brings heart.

In danger of losing the family farm, gutsy Helga Estby proposes to walk across the U.S. from Spokane to New York City, gathering famous signatures and garnering publicity for suffrage along the way. A publisher promises $10,000 if Helga completes the walk within seven months, as an advance on the book she’ll write of her travels. In 1896, such a journey is unheard of, especially by a woman. Her 17-year-old daughter Clara, an aspiring writer rather than a suffragette, reluctantly comes along, with curling iron and notebook in her satchel. Shy Clara is tested in ways she never imagined – fighting bandits, flash floods, and hunger – but finding in herself strength she never knew she had.

Estby Dagg limits her story to the months of Helga and Clara’s journey, choosing not to include their plans beforehand or the aftermath. She gets directly into their adventure and then keeps the action going through short chapters peppered with Clara’s letters home. The hardships faced on the journey mirror the hardships in their relationship, and Estby Dagg steers the characters through this admirably with a realistically fallible mother-

daughter relationship. Whether learning to stand their ground in the face of danger or learning to trust one another, this is a story of women finding strength in each other.

Jessica Brockmole THE OTHER COUNTESS Eve Edwards, Delacorte, 2011, $17.99, hb, 335pp, 9780385740890 / Puffin, 2010, £6.99, pb, 352pp, 9780141327303 Eve Edwards has mixed a frothy tale – part romance, part suspense, part friendship – as she stirs the reader with the story of Lady Eleanor Rodriguez, Countess of San Jaime (or “Ellie” to her friends), who struggles with her alchemist father and her growing love for a forbidden man, William Lacey, Earl of Dorset. Both Ellie and Will suffer from the same problem: lack of money. In the earl’s case, his family duty lies in making a good marriage to a wealthy woman. Ellie’s duty is to manage what little her father brings in from convincing nobles that it is, indeed, possible to turn lead into gold.

Will goes to Court and tries for the hand of Lady Jane Perceval, a haughty woman who has made the mistake of giving her love to Sir Walter Raleigh. But, just as you think you are gearing up to despise this woman, Edwards turns her into a likeable, even admirable character, and friendship blossoms between the two countesses, one poor and educated, the other rich and pampered.

Edwards recreates the feel of Elizabethan England with grace and ease, and what is most delightful about her book is the way the characters and plot continue expanding, a sort of literary alchemy. The Other Countess will not disappoint – it really is pure gold!

Anne Clinard Barnhill THE ROGUE’S PRINCESS Eve Edwards, Puffin, 2011, £6.99, pb, 257pp, 9780141337340 The Rogue’s Princess is the third in a series of Tudor romances, and this particular story is set in the London of 1586. It follows the story of Mercy Hart, a 16-year-old girl raised in a Puritan household who meets and falls in love with Kit Turner – a stage actor, and therefore not a suitable suitor for Mercy at all.

The author gives an interesting account of the time period, with several well observed details, and the characters are engaging if a little simplistic. It is an enjoyable, light read well suited to young girls who enjoy a touch of history thrown in with their romance.

Personally I found the relationship between Kit and Mercy not entirely believable, based as it was on just a few very short encounters that gave them hardly any time to get to know each other, but that may just be my cynicism shining through!

I did enjoy the historical aspects, however; the author has a very easy style with an excellent understanding of the time period. She covers some interesting areas, including the plot by the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots to invade England and have her cousin Queen Elizabeth Children & YA

assassinated. She even brings a young Will Shakespeare into the storyline.

Overall it is a well written, engaging story, but a little light for my own tastes.

Lorraine Gregory THE TRAITOR’S SMILE Patricia Elliott, Holiday House, 2011, $17.95, hb, 304pp, 9780823423613 / Hodder, 2010, £6.99, pb, 432pp, 9780340956779 The Traitor’s Smile is Patricia Elliott’s sequel to The Pale Assassin, featuring the wily and adventurous Eugenie de Boncoeur, who battles corrupt forces during the French Revolution.

Eugenie’s newest adventure casts her in the coastal town of Deal, England, a refugee of the Revolution, at the home of her strong-willed cousin Hetta. Her budding relationship with the young Frenchman, Julien de Fortin, appears in jeopardy as he strikes up a close friendship with Hetta. Eugenie’s old admirer, Guy Deschamps, finds her in Deal, and enchants her. Little does she know that Guy acts on behalf of Raoul Goullet, the pale assassin, to whom she was betrothed in France against her will.

She finds out that her brother, Armand, has been captured by revolutionary forces and is headed to the guillotine. Soon after, Julien disappears to France, and both Hetta and Eugenie fear his arrest as a Royalist.

The Traitor’s Smile never fails in its use of period detail and historical accuracy. Elliott conveys the plight of the individual versus the larger maniacal wave under Robespierre in Paris during the Revolution. The reader shares in the desperation and fear, yet gains an understanding of the clever plots enacted for survival during this bloody time.

This is an entertaining, instructive read for both the young and older adult audience.

Liz Allenby THE CRIMSON SHARD Teresa Flavin, Templar, 2011, £6.99, pb, 288pp, 9781848770737 Fourteen-year-old friends Sunniva Forrest and Blaise Doran visit a private museum in Phoenix Square, London. Blaise is excited at the prospect of seeing the old house, whilst Sunni, who is also creative, follows him in. The interior is painted in a fashion where the art is deceptive: paintings give the appearance of being real objects. When their mysterious guide shows them a painted doorway, which forms into the real thing, he lures them through it and traps them in the murky life of 18thcentury London. Here they are kept in the company of boys who work in an artist’s academy. This is a world of art thieves, forgers, body snatchers and murderers. Their captor wants information from them about an ancient secret, but Sunni and Blaise will not divulge this powerful information and seek only to return to their own time and home.

This is a follow on title to The Black Enigma but stands alone as an action-packed adventure. After reading it, I would certainly enjoy reading the first book. The amount of detail never slows the pace or interrupts the flow of the story. The characters, Children & YA

both good and bad, are well formed and intriguing.

From their first step through the doorway, I wanted to know how they would return safely to the 21st century. The plot never sags, and the severity of the period is captured, but is not overstated.

I would recommend this novel as an entertaining read, which should appeal across the genders.

Val Loh TRAITOR’S KISS Pauline Francis, Usborne, 2011, £5.99, pb, 270pp, 9781409527441 Elizabeth I is one of England’s best known rulers and is often described as the ‘Virgin Queen’.

This novel explores her early life when her future was uncertain and her reputation very different, damaged by a mother she barely knew. Anne Boleyn was executed for alleged affairs and for being a witch who enchanted men. Was she? Is Elizabeth the same?

After the death of her father, Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s younger brother has been crowned king, and powerful men vie to hold influence over him. Elizabeth is living with her stepmother, but the attentions of her stepmother’s new husband threaten to put her in serious danger. Her desire to

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know more about her disgraced mother leads her on a secret journey to the mental hospital known as Bedlam, where she will find out the truth.

Francis blends fact and fiction well, with a note at the end saying which is which. Through Elizabeth’s eyes we see not only the grand palaces of the Tudors but also the lives of the very poor and the desperate, locked in Bedlam or dredging dead bodies from the Thames. I particularly liked her use of the mental hospital as a place to put women you wanted silenced, sadly something that must have happened often.

My only criticism of the novel would be the constant reference by Elizabeth and other characters to the fact that she might be queen.

Obviously she was, but at the time, it must have seemed a remote chance and involved the death of two of her siblings. It could even have been considered treason to discuss it. Other than this, I enjoyed the novel. Elizabeth is an engaging character, and the story is fast-paced with plenty of intrigue and secrets. It would appeal to girls of around 9+.

Julie Nicol NANBERRY: Black Brother White

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Jennifer Donnelly, Bloomsbury, 2011, £6.99, pb, 472pp, 9781408801512 / Ember, 2011, $9.99, pb, 496pp, 978-0385737647 Seventeen-year-old Andi is in her last year at school in New York, but she can’t bear to work on her thesis on the 18th-century French composer, Amadé Malherbeau, even though music is her passion.

Following her 10-year-old brother’s tragic death, she is on medication and feels both despairing and suicidal.

In desperation, her geneticist father takes her to Paris where he’s due to DNA test a small blackened heart, supposedly belonging to Louis-Charles, the lost son of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI. Hoping Paris will kick-start Andi into doing her research on Malherbeau, he gives her an 18th-century guitar. Andi discovers a journal dated 1795 belonging to 17-yearold street actor, Alexandrine, inside the case.

Alex recounts how she was pulled out of poverty and taken to Versailles to amuse 10-year-old LouisCharles. Her life and the unfolding tragedy of what happens to Louis-Charles echo Andi’s own personal traumas, and she becomes obsessed with both them and Malherbeau. It’s a race against time between the deadline for her thesis outline, discovering what happened to Alex and Louis-Charles and finding a way to cope with her own self-destructive impulses.

This is an extraordinary book. Donnelly gets inside the teenage mind brilliantly: the assumptions, the knowledge (or lack of it), the music, the language, the relationships are all 100 percent convincing. She is not afraid to strip Andi’s soul bare and let the reader experience what she is going through.

But Revolution succeeds as an historical novel, too. The scenes in Paris during the Terror are gripping. The chaos inside Andi’s head is made manifest as she confronts a 1795 world which is anarchic, dangerous and unpredictable.

This is easily one of the most powerful books I’ve read this year. Highly recommended for sophisticated girls of 12 plus who like stories which pack a real emotional punch.

Elizabeth Hawksley HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 61

Jackie French, Angus and Robertson, 2011, AU$16.99, pb, 277pp, 978073229022 When Nanberry sees the great ships of the white-skinned ghost-people sailing into Sydney Cove, he does not realise that he is witnessing the birth of the Colony of New South Wales. He is full of imagining – what would it be like to slip across the line between land and sky? How could he possibly realise that this is the first of many fleets – bringing not only convicts, but also death and disease? As one of the few indigenous survivors of a smallpox epidemic, Nanberry is adopted by the colonial surgeon, Doctor White. No longer part of his own people, or fully accepted by the white settlers, Nanberry must walk a lonely path on the edge of society – a path that will eventually take him far across the sea.

Written in a shifting third person point-of-view, this novel gives us the experience of Nanberry, the colonial surgeon, his two female servants, and the young boy Andrew White, who becomes a brother to Nanberry. We start off fully identifying with Nanberry, and the Surgeon White, but these two characters diminish in importance as the novel progresses, and we are given the rather skippedover experience of Andrew to bring the narrative to its close.

This is an ambitious novel, but it doesn’t hang together quite as well as Jackie French’s earlier works. There seems to be a question at its core – what is this story actually about? But having said that, the story is still eminently readable, with the hallmarks of careful research and well-crafted prose for which French is known. Based on a true story, it brings to life an important character in Australia’s early history, a young indigenous person who successfully walked the difficult path of two worlds. It deserves to be read for that reason alone.

Elizabeth Jane DEAD END IN NORVELT Jack Gantos, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2011, $15.99, hb, 352pp, 9780374379933 Jack Gantos is both author and hero in this novel set in 1962 in the town of Norvelt (named after its patron, Eleanor Roosevelt). Norvelt was founded in 1934 as a low-income community housing project. In the past 30 years, the town has declined. The original families are dying and younger townspeople have left. Jack, age 13, is looking forward to a summer of baseball and adventure when he is grounded and assigned to work with the original Norvelter, Miss Volker, town coroner, historian, and chief obituary writer.

Jack discovers history through reading a collection of discarded library books and keeping company with Miss Volker. Throw in a sinister undertaker, a Hell’s Angel gang who curses the town, and a rash of mysterious deaths, and the summer becomes unexpectedly exciting for Jack (which is a problem, because his nose will gush blood at the least provocation).

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particularly well drawn. His mother grew up in Norvelt and is holding on to its communal past, while his father is carting unused Norvelt houses to another thriving town. Miss Volker is a charming character, and it’s easy to see why Jack grows to like her. Jack’s peer relationships are sketchier, and tangential to the story. Constant historical delving works well as part of Miss Volker’s obituaries (every death is linked to that day in history), but less successfully as part of Jack’s musings about life.

In the end, the history seemed to be outweighing the much more interesting story about a dying town and Jack Gantos trying to find his place in it.

Michaela MacColl THE REVENANT Sonia Gensler, Knopf, 2011, $16.99/C$18.99, hb, 336pp, 9780375867019 The year is 1896, and 17-year-old Willemina Hammond finds herself on a train headed to her new teaching position at the Cherokee Female Seminary. When she arrives, however, she is no longer Willie but Angeline McClure, her identity borrowed from an unsuspecting classmate at her own school, and she is assuming teaching responsibilities for which she is ill-prepared. Still, to Willie it’s better than being forced to return home to her mother and stepfather, and she undertakes her new duties enthusiastically under the careful eye of Miss Crenshaw, the headmistress.

Surrounded by young Cherokee women her own age, Willie finds life at the seminary intimidating, and life is made more complicated when she begins a flirtation with Eli Sevenstar, a young man whose previous love died under mysterious circumstances.

It’s while she’s fighting her feelings for Eli that strange events begin occurring: weird noises in her bedroom, odd notes appearing, and students being hurt by unseen forces. What precisely happened to Eli’s girlfriend Ella? Is her ghost trying to tell Willie to beware?

The Revenant is a ghost story, filled with lots of creepy atmosphere and foreboding, but it is also the story of a young woman discovering herself while trying to escape her family circumstances. Willie’s tenacious personality kept me entertained during her investigation to find what is haunting the school, though she is at times a bit immature in her actions. While the story itself isn’t particularly deep or layered, it is filled with strong characterizations and a good sense of the frustration of a young woman determined to create her own life. It’s a fast, enjoyable story for readers of all ages.

Tamela McCann VELVET Mary Hooper, Bloomsbury, 2011, £9.99, pb, 308pp, 9780747599210 Velvet has a secret within her past. Worse still, she is in danger of losing her livelihood in Ruffold’s Steam Laundry, because the heat and backbreaking work has caused her to faint too many times. Her supervisor offers her a lifeline: working on the clothes of their wealthier clients.

This is the Victorian era, and Velvet is about to be

noticed by Madame Savoya, a respected medium who will offer Velvet employment and a life within her household.

The Victorians were fascinated by the wave of spiritualism, which came to our shores from America. The gullible and grieving rich were easy targets for many ruthless charlatans, who manipulated their prey out of their inheritance through emotional blackmail and fear. Even known historical characters, such as Arthur Conan Doyle, were taken in and appear in this beautifully crafted novel.

Velvet’s story is a romantic adventure revealed against the careful balance of fiction and fact. The descriptive prose brings every scene vividly to life, whether in a laundry, a séance, a Victorian family Christmas, the horror of a baby farm, an attack by a canal or a tender moment between two people in love.

In one sense, Velvet’s naivety frustrates because you want her to understand the dangers around her earlier, but this aspect works because you have to read on to find out what will happen to her and how.

I was captivated by this novel from the onset. It is accessible to younger readers, but also interesting to adults. I would strongly recommend it as a good read, an introduction to life within the time, but it also shows how easily frauds can take advantage of people who are desperate.

Val Loh SIGRUN’S SECRET Marie-Louise Jensen, Oxford, 2011, £6.99, pb, 307pp, 9780192728821 Sigrun’s Secret is a good read, particularly suitable for 12+ girls. Set in the Viking era, it focuses closely on the life of one Icelandic girl as she matures. Her story is told in the first person, and whilst several of her experiences in the 9th century will be strange to most readers, the writer carefully uses familiar emotions and situations to engage our sympathies.

Thus Sigrun is embarrassed at public speaking, diffident about her own abilities – as a healer – and has rather a soft spot for horses.

Period details occur as part of the action and there are some particularly deft touches, such as the young Icelander’s reaction to large trees. The darker aspects of Viking life, such as slavery and violence are sensitively handled. Sigrun is depicted as lively and courageous with a tendency to be impetuous that is easy to empathise with. She matures through the book, dealing with distressing family secrets, exile to Jorvik and bitter feuds.

Her romance with Ingvar is delicately portrayed, and the characterisation of her reckless brother, Asgrim, is well-delineated and credible.

The plot moves along briskly and there is a pleasing resolution with our heroine as prime mover. Satisfying and well-told, it is let down by an uninspired cover.

K.M. Lockwood ICEFALL Matthew J. Kirby, Scholastic, 2011, $17.99, hb, Children & YA

336pp, 9780545274241 Solveig’s father, a Norse king, has sent her and her siblings away to a remote fortress to protect them while he is at war with a rival king. During the long Scandinavian winter, the three children, a handful of household staff, and two dozen warriors wait for the ice to melt so they can return home. To escape the dullness of the endless days indoors, Solveig befriends the official storyteller, the skald. The skald agrees to teach Solveig his craft, and Solveig learns that she has a natural gift for storytelling. Because she is not as pretty as her sister and not as valuable as her brother, Solveig revels in the praise she earns as a skald. But when the warriors mysteriously begin to die, Solveig and the others realize there is a traitor among them.

But who is it? And when will he strike next?

This novel has something for everyone. It is mythical historical fiction that borrows from the great Norse epics, yet it is told in the classic whodunit style. This makes Icefall a page-turning mystery with lots of great action sequences.

However, Kirby transcends both genres by writing Solveig as an insecure girl on the verge of womanhood, trying to find her place in a society that values women only for their beauty. Solveig’s discovery of her own value is as compelling a narrative as the mystery of the secret traitor. Ages 9-12.

Patricia O’Sullivan

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BATTLE FATIGUE Mark Kurlansky, Walker, 2011, $17.99/C$21.00, hb, 244pp, 9780802722645 Growing up in the years following World War II, Joel and his friends hear the stories of fathers and uncles who fought in the conflict, and while such stories may seem far way, Joel has the foreboding sense that there will be another war waiting for him when he is of age.

This teen novel begins with a 7-year-old Joel already convinced that at some point he will be fighting – perhaps, he believes, with the Germans or Russians. Over the next eleven years, Joel matures into a life in which he develops into a better than average baseball player, discovers girls, and also runs into schoolyard bullies and tough guys. In one such encounter, Joel gets the best of a particularly mean bully and finds that his success makes him a target for other boys who want to prove how tough they are. But Joel does not fight back, realizing that the retaliation would never end, and pacifism takes root within him.

By the time Joel turns 18 and becomes eligible for the draft, the dreaded Germans and Russians of his youth have morphed into the Viet Cong in a war that Joel sees as immoral and unjustifiable, one in which he decides he cannot participate. While some of his friends wind up in the military, Joel turns his eyes northward to the haven of Canada.

Can he really turn his back on his family and friends in order to live his pacifist beliefs?

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Katherine Langrish, HarperCollins, 2009, £6.99, pb, 336pp, 9780007214891 Wolf is a novice monk, driven by the cruelty of his master to run away. The story begins with his escape across the wild landscape of Devil’s Edge on the Welsh borders, and we are plunged immediately into a medieval world in which people believed in angels and devils, elves and spirits. And what people believe in, they will see.

Wolf sees an elf – a small naked creature – fleeing from a hunting party, and tracks her to a cave where she is hiding. But the nobleman leading the hunt, Hugo fitz Warin, a veteran of the Crusades, seems strangely moved and excited by the discovery of the elf and takes her back to his castle with Wolf as her keeper.

The story that follows is full of mystery, suspense and human drama. Hugo is a man tormented by the loss of his wife. He believes that if the elf can be taught to speak, she will tell him where his wife is and how he can reclaim her. The tension increases with the arrival of a sinister stranger, and the story builds to a climax of extraordinary power.

Katherine Langrish’s writing is a joy to read. Her descriptions of landscape and weather are poetic, and she conveys well the cosy discomfort of the castle where ghosts and spirits rub shoulders with the human inhabitants, and where the gates are pulled shut at night on a wilderness of rain, wind and rock.

Dark Angels weaves together folk tale, magic and medieval Christianity. The reader can never be sure whether the magical creatures are real or exist only in the imaginations of the characters.

As for the frightened little elf, older readers will soon realise what she really is and how she came to be on the hillside; but wisely the author does not explain.

Ann Turnbull Children & YA

This book reflects the author’s own true experiences and is told in a personal and engaging style. As long as there are conflicts to be fought – in Iraq, in Afghanistan – young men will have to answer the same questions that Joel faced. Perhaps this book will help them make the right choices.

John Kachuba INGENUE Jillian Larkin, Delacorte, 2011, $17.99, hb, 368pp, 9780385740364 Ingenue continues the story of four young 1920s flappers begun in Vixen. Gloria, the former debutante, is hiding with Jerome, her black musician boyfriend, after they have killed a member of the Mafia in self-defense. Gloria’s exbest friend, Lorraine, is out for revenge after being humiliated by Gloria at a party; she’s managing a Mafia-run speakeasy with a hidden agenda. Clara is trying to leave her flapper’s life behind for her boyfriend, Marcus, but when she receives an offer from a magazine to write a column about the goings-on of her flapper life, she simply can’t refuse.

Jerome’s sister, Vera, is rushing to find her brother to warn him of the Mafia’s latest plans and finds an unexpected romance along the way. The scene has moved from Chicago to New York in the second installment of this riveting series.

On the whole, Ingenue is an extremely enjoyable read. Larkin does make the mistake many authors tend to make in a sequel – letting the plot get a little too complicated – but it doesn’t detract too much from the overall story. One thing she did that I liked immensely was including a lot of 1920s slang in her narration; it really helped me to get in the mood. Larkin also possesses a greater than normal skill in using clear and flowing descriptive language, which is always a welcome addition to any novel, but especially to historical fiction. I would recommend this book for girls ages 12 to 16.

Magdalen Dobson THE CASE OF THE DEADLY DESPERADOS Caroline Lawrence, Orion, 2011, £9.99, hb, 269pp, 9781444001693 Pinky, full name P.K. Pinkerton, is trapped in a Virginia mine shaft waiting for her (or is it his?) fate. Born in Hard Luck in 1850, Pinky’s 12th birthday was marked by the death of foster parents and being chased by their three ruthless killers who seek a valuable object. As they pursue Pinky across the western United States, others offer help but Pinky does not know whom to trust confessing that ‘people confound me.’ Pinky takes on various disguises in an attempt to escape them and seeks a new role working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. A seven shooter provides some protection, but it does not safeguard Pinky from the dangers of a Wild West town, especially from the cruel ‘Whittlin Walt’ and his two sidekicks.

Lawrence rewrites Pinky’s story with passion, telling it through the words of the child whose occasional lack of knowledge and confusion comes across in the text. Pinky’s personality develops HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 63

through the pages and the many other characters encountered come to life on the pages - though more than one risks death. Weapons are frequently used and the reader is not spared the gruesome details.

Some terms are difficult to understand (though there is a glossary), and there is a large cast of characters – it is a book that requires concentration – but most children will be captivated by this hero, and the page-turning action. Readers may already know Caroline Lawrence’s Roman Mysteries series: this is the first in the Western Mysteries. As ever, she provides excellent backup materials with her website and Facebook page. This book also has beautiful pen and ink illustrations by the author’s husband.

Helen Papworth OPEN WOUNDS Joseph Lunievicz, Westside, 2011, $16.95, hb, 351pp, 9781934813515 This is a story of survival. It begins in 1936, when the hero, 7-year old Cid Wymann, an abused, home-schooled boy, lives with his stern, abusive grandmother and his violent, alcoholic, equally abusive father. Cid survives in the dream world of movies. He especially loves Errol Flynn’s swashbucklers. Cid’s mother died during his birth, and his father never forgave him. Soon after the story begins, Cid’s father disappears, and he gains a little freedom, just enough to bond with two neighborhood kids, Tomik and Siggy. The disappearance of his father became an economic disaster for Cid and his grandmother. Unable to face the consequences of their pending eviction, Cid’s grandmother kills herself. Siggy Braun’s family takes Cid in, until Mr. Braun loses his job. Then the Brauns move to Baltimore without Cid. After six years in an orphanage, a long lost English cousin, Lefty Leftingsham, finds Cid and takes custody of him. Lefty is a survivor of World War I and a mustard gas attack that has left him horribly disfigured and in constant pain. There is an instant bonding between the two cousins. Lefty understands Cid better than Cid does himself. He arranges for Cid to have lessons from Varvarinski, an alcoholic Russian fencing master, also a survivor.

Thus begins a symbiotic relationship among three survivors.

This is Lunievicz’s debut novel, a work of young adult fiction. It is well-written, and while the plot has some violence, it is not gratuitous and furthers the plot. The reader cheers for the likable young hero in his fencing competitions and also in his efforts to overcome obstacles that might defeat many adults.

Audrey Braver THE SILVER STAG Eithne Massey, O’Brien, 2011, £6.99, pb, 256pp, 9781847172068 The Silver Stag is a historical adventure set in Ireland during the 14th century. The story centres on four children in the household of the Sir Richard de Clare, master of the castle of Bunratty.

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Tuan is a member of the MacConmara family and a hostage of de Clare. Maude and her brother, Matthieu, are his wards. The fourth character, Cliar, is a servant and apprentice to Dame Anna, a witch who inhabits one of the castle’s towers.

The novel deals with the hunt for the fabled Silver Stag whose antlers Sir Richard arrogantly hopes to mount in his hall despite the legend warning that ruin will come to Bunratty should the Silver Stag be killed. It falls on the four children to stop Sir Richard from succeeding.

At first the various characters clash. Maude sees Tuan as a savage, Tuan hates the English, Matthieu lacks courage and Cliar lacks confidence in her abilities. But each develops as the story progresses, with Maude and Tuan taking centre stage.

The setting is evocative and though there is subtle magic, the novel is firmly historical, rather than fantasy.

Sarwat Chadda

cattle. In addition to being brave and thoughtful, his compassion and intelligence help him to solve the problems of others, including those of Sweet Rain’s tribe members, who face a threat to their livelihoods as a direct result of the white settlers in 19th-century United States.

Children will remember opening books like this in their Christmas parcels back in the 1960s.

The story is wonderfully nostalgic. It is a gentle combination of a classical cowboy story and a moralistic tale of good over bad. It also deals with the contemporary issue of the Western white settlers’ relationships with the Native Americans.

Geraldine writes gentle prose, introducing new words and concepts gradually, allowing the young reader to build up a picture of this distant land and its characters. It should appeal to boys and girls alike; a relatively short read with lots of action and humour.

Helen Papworth

COWBOY JESS Geraldine McCaughrean, Orion, 2011 (c1996), £4.99, pb, 88pp, 9781858811864 Jess Ford, a young orphan adopted by the people in and around Sundown Town, encounters adventure in his work as a cowboy and his friendship with Sweet Rain, his ‘Sioux injun friend’. On his horse, Destiny, he tries to save a new barn from fire and control a stampede of

THE APOTHECARY Maile Meloy, Putnam, 2011, $16.99/C$19.50, hb, 368pp, 9780399256271 Meloy’s first book for young readers, and hopefully not her last, The Apothecary is a fantastic adventure with a built-in lesson about Cold War history. In 1952, Janie and her family have just moved from Los Angeles to London, although Janie is not quite sure why. Ready for an adventure, she

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E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Michaela MacColl, Chronicle, 2011, $16.99/C$18.99, hb, 256pp, 9780811876254 Anyone who has ever read the gorgeous West with the Night by Beryl Markham may doubt the need for a young adult novel written about the aviatrix’s early life. Within a few pages of Michaela MacColl’s new novel, however, even the most skeptical should be persuaded. Promise the Night tells the story of preteen, horse-loving, lion-hunting Beryl Clutterbuck, who became Beryl Markham, a woman bigger than life and who may well deserve as many books as Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Beryl’s parents moved from Britain to British East Africa (now Kenya) in 1906. Her mother soon fled back to Britain with Beryl’s brother. By 1912, as the book begins, Beryl has become a girl who manages to simultaneously exasperate and charm.

Her father, a retired British Army captain, gives her freedom but demands toughness. His influence is checked by her tribal life – she basically runs wild with an African friend and learns respect and honor from his tribal point of view.

Patched in between chapters of this narrative is the story, told via news reports and the older Beryl’s diary, of her foolhardy and brave solo flight west across the Atlantic in 1936. The young Beryl makes a lot of embarrassing and even life-threatening mistakes, and MacColl does a masterful job of bringing those mistakes and their repercussions to life. MacColl also shows how no blunder, even the stupidest, shook Beryl’s supreme confidence in herself. (That by itself was worth the price of admission for this reader.)

MacColl offers a thoroughly modern and yet believable heroine for young readers, gives great period details that move the plot along, offers telling insights into Beryl’s youthful exploits, and provides a thoughtful list for further reading. Recommended.

Kristen Hannum Children & YA

quickly befriends Benjamin Burrows, whose father is a mysterious apothecary with an even more enigmatic book, the Pharmacopoeia. Introduced to a world of magic, potions, and mysteries, Janie finds her new life in London quite exciting. Janie and Benjamin swiftly become involved in all sorts of dangers when Mr. Burrows is kidnapped and they are required to protect the book from enemies while racing to prevent a horrible disaster and unravel the mystery of his disappearance.

Readers will be easily swept up in this adventure that successfully blends history, humor, and just a hint of romance. The characters are fun, witty, and engaging. Both Benjamin and Janie are full of spunk and spirit, and Ian Schoenherr’s illustrations add depth and flair to the already interesting dialogue and prose. Highly recommended for ages 10 and up.

Rebecca Cochran CLEOPATRA CONFESSES Carolyn Meyer, Simon & Schuster, 2011, $16.99/ C$19.99, hb, 290pp, 9781416987277 Born in the 1st century B.C., Cleopatra was the favorite of her father, the pharaoh of Egypt, who bypassed his older daughters and made her his heiress. Her early life was a ruthless struggle for survival against her siblings and in face of Roman encroachment on Egyptian sovereignty. This novel, which takes her from a precocious 10-year-old to a 22-year-old queen, ought to be full of emotional juice. It isn’t. In this first-person account, Cleopatra has little to confess. There is hardly any romantic intrigue and, more generally, there isn’t much feeling. When their father puts Cleopatra’s disloyal and dangerous older sister to death, Cleopatra watches her being dragged off to execution, but does not seem either greatly relieved or greatly upset. After her father himself dies – depriving her of her one protector, the only relative who gave her any affection – she says, “I am overcome by grief,” but this flat statement is the only sign of it.

This novel will introduce younger readers to the bare facts of a very interesting life. They may wind up admiring Cleopatra as she earnestly endeavors to govern Egypt. But it’s hard to imagine them feeling the pull of her enduring, 2000-year-old charisma.

Phyllis T. Smith THE LOST CROWN Sarah Miller, Atheneum, 2011, 17.99, hb, 412pp, 9781416983408 Sarah Miller’s well-researched novel The Lost Crown gives beautiful, honest voices to the teen daughters of Tsar Nicholas II in the years of their imprisonment following his abdication. Faithful Tatiana, thoughtful Olga, comforting Maria, and spunky Anastasia are brought to life within the pages of this moving young adult novel. Knowing the fate of these girls does not make this an easy read, but certainly worthwhile. I began reading the book in the evening and it did not leave my head until I finished it the next morning. Each chapter is told in alternating voices with a small photo of each Children & YA

narrator on the chapter’s first page.

Readers may find themselves comparing these historic events to recent headlines. As exile options dwindle for deposed leaders, many of them struggle to hold on to their sovereignty. Tsar Nicholas’ daughters, once privileged and protected, lived under house arrest for years before meeting their brutal fate. Bewildered by the growing hatred towards them, Sarah Miller portrays the life the girls lived behind painted windows and unlocked doors.

A thorough bibliography follows to provide readers with further information about this period of Russian history.

Nancy Castaldo THE CROSSING Donna Jo Napoli, illus. Jim Madsen, Atheneum, 2011, $16.99, hb, 40pp, 9781416894749 This is a wonderful selection to add to a collection of American history picture books.

Donna Jo Napoli’s writing, whether it be young adult historical fantasy, middle grade historical fiction, or picture books, always reflect her penchant for research. The Crossing is no different.

Beautiful, lyrical text tells the story of Lewis and Clark’s historic journey told through the eyes of guide, Sacagawea’s child on her back. Napoli has captured all of the sights and sounds her child would have encountered in the western wilderness.

Jim Madsen’s luscious illustrations further the story.

Napoli includes an author’s note that provides more details and makes this book a great addition to an elementary library!

Nancy Castaldo DAY OF VENGEANCE Johnny O’Brien, Templar, 2011, £5.99, pb, 208pp, 97818487713031 Jack Christie is a boy cornered in time-travelling conflict. His father, along with a team of top-secret scientists, has created the Taurus time machine, hidden beneath Jack’s school. However, their attempts to alter history have split the team into two warring factions, with Jack and his friend Angus caught in the crossfire.

In this, the third book of the Jack Christie Adventures series, Jack and Angus try to avert present-day disaster by travelling back to 1940, crash-landing in occupied France. Embroiled in a plot to assassinate Hitler, the boys uncover a more sinister threat – plans for a nuclear weapon in enemy hands. The meddling of time-travelling scientists has put thousands of lives at risk. Jack and Angus might just save them, if they can save themselves from the Nazis.

Although the opening chapters are heavy on background information, once the action hits 1940, the story rockets along. It’s packed full of gun fights and skin-of-your-teeth escapes. There’s also plenty of historical detail, such as spitfire combat, to keep enthusiasts happy. The characters of Jack and Angus get swamped by the plot at times, but towards the end Jack emerges as a more

distinct protagonist. His father’s unresolved issues, with the scientists and with his family, give Jack’s character plenty of scope for further adventures.

Readers who love fast-paced action will be coming back for more. For ages 10-14.

Mary Hopper LIFE: An Exploded Diagram Mal Peet, Candlewick, 2011, $17.99/C$20.00, hb, 400pp, 9780763652272 / Walker, 2011, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9781844281008 Life: An Exploded Diagram is an ambitious novel about the effects of war on three generations in the bleak countryside of Norfolk. Workingclass teenager Clem Ackroyd falls in love with Frankie Mortimer, the daughter of a wealthy local landowner (and his father’s employer), and they both know that their love is dangerous. The year is 1962 and the world teeters on the brink of war over Cuba, and the horror that may rain down on the young lovers is always in the background. Mal Peet weaves in flashbacks of Clem’s grandmother and parents and their experiences during the World Wars, and brings the story forward to the 21st century.

Mal Peet’s novel explores the lives of ordinary people defined by the crises of war. Clem’s grandmother, Win, is drawn particularly well, and her single-minded bitterness is understandable.

Clem’s parents, especially his father George, are more sparsely portrayed. The story is focused on Clem’s experience and his illicit affair with Frankie.

Their relationship is believable, although the reader feels (as do they) that it is doomed. Peet interrupts the narrative to tell the parallel story of the Cuban Missile Crisis via Clem’s adult voice. The complex events are unveiled in a comprehensible way – all the more so with Clem’s commentary. However, ultimately the historical narrative seems to rob power from Clem’s story. Clem’s experience is more than sufficient to show us the effect of war on ordinary people. Mal Peet’s novel is well written, and recommended to readers who are interested in an unusual take on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Michaela MacColl TIME RIDERS: The Eternal War Alex Scarrow, Puffin, 2011, £6.99, pb, 448pp, 9780141336336 This is the fourth in a time-shifting series for young adults, which is well worth reading by anyone of any age. Three teens are given a choice in the seconds before death – choose life and join an agency so secret no one knows its name, or die.

All three will live locked within a time bubble in New York City during 10 and 11 September 2001, watching for timewaves: evidence that the past has been altered. If that happens, they must fix it.

In The Eternal War, much of the action is set in 2001, but in a near-present that is much changed, all because Abraham Lincoln has a drink too many and finds himself in 2001 having to survive in a Civil War that has never ended. Liam, Sal and Maddy, and their seven-foot support units, Bob HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 65

and Becks, are with him, each trapped in their own world of danger.

It’s a world of chivalry and brutality on all sides – American, French and British all play their part until the Americans finally decide to try and unite to get history back on track. But beneath lies prejudice, reminiscent of the original conflict over slavery. Now the perceived threat comes from genetically engineered creatures that have been left to run free long enough to gain a soul. There are faults and good in everyone. The future is also by no means utopian – it is no wonder that characters seek to go back and change it. Even more worrying is the increasing darkness surrounding ‘The End’.

The impact of mankind and its decisions on our planet have preoccupied Scarrow’s other novels, and he does not shy from presenting similar themes here.

Kate Atherton CLEOPATRA’S MOON Vicky Alvear Shecter, Scholastic, 2011, $18.99, hb, 355pp, 9780545221306 This story of Cleopatra’s daughter by Mark Antony comes from a press specializing in books for young adults, and follows the familiar format of a young girl rebelling against being told she must spin wool and can’t play ball with the boys or study seriously. This is not to say that the novel has no appeal for adults interested in Roman fiction.

Young Cleopatra Selene strives to regain her kingdom, restore Egyptian independence, and have a few variously motivated love affairs along the way.

A familiar cast of characters includes the villainous Octavianus, his sister Octavia, his precociously promiscuous daughter Julia, and the omnipresent Livia. Operating within these parameters, the book still manages some twists and surprises. In keeping with the mission of the press, the section entitled “The Facts within the Fiction” helps the reader sort out the fiction from the history in a way that more historical novels should do.

In the acknowledgments, the author mentions that she had been discouraged when she found out that another novel on the same subject was soon to appear. This was undoubtedly Michelle Moran’s Cleopatra’s Daughter, reviewed rather harshly in the November 2009 issue of this magazine. I disagree with the author’s original premise that there is room for only one historical novel on each subject, and I would recommend both to the interested reader. History has been described as an ongoing argument, and the branch of history that is historical fiction has interesting disputes of its own.

James Hawking THE POISON DIARIES: Nightshade Maryrose Wood, HarperCollins, 2011, $17.99, hb, 288pp, 9780061802423 / HarperCollins, 2011, £6.99, pb, 240pp, 9780007366248 In the aftermath of the first Poison Diaries volume, lovers Weed and Jessamine are separated, wandering England and battling their own guilt and remorse. Jessamine learns the truth of her father’s 66 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

crimes and strikes out to find a new life far from his insidious influence. Weed, feeling unworthy of Jessamine now that he has become a murderer and an outlaw, seeks refuge in the forest but finds that even the peaceful company of plants – with which he has always had a mysterious affinity – offers little solace. Meanwhile Oleander, the malevolent Prince of Poisons, delights in leading the lovers astray and revels in his growing power.

This second volume in the series is ever more disconnected than the first. The two separate narratives – Jessamine’s trials when her medicinal knowledge brings her under suspicion of witchcraft, Weed’s journey to Italy to find the renowned Orto botanico – seem only vaguely related. Jessamine is far too easily corrupted, tempted into infidelity and worse, while Weed remains almost implausibly chaste and single-minded. And the villain, the Prince of Poisons, is completely inscrutable. The plot line rests on the vague idea that Oleander “wants the world to know his might,” but that wasn’t enough motivation to make me buy into the story.

The tragedy is that Maryrose Wood’s language is lovely, and the historical elements – the use of plants in poisons and medicines, the English court’s trip to Italy to cure the dreaded syphilis – offer rich ground to explore. But alas, the story just doesn’t come together. Don’t pick up this book unless you are prepared for a fantasy well removed from any

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historical context – and unless you have read the earlier volume first, to give you a foothold in the strange and shifting world the author has created.

Ann Pedtke

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THE STORY OF CHE GUEVARA Lucia Alvarez de Toledo, Quercus, 2011, £8.99, pb, 456pp, 9781849160407 One might initially question the need for another biography of Che Guevara, whose doomed and beautiful face adorns posters, t‑shirts, wallpaper and all manner of other consumer goods which would have horrified the great man himself, who was not only a socialist but also of modest demeanour. Alvarez de Toledo, however, writes as a fellow Argentine and as a fellow Latin American, about a man whose political convictions developed directly out of the experience of being Latin American, travelling around that continent and perceiving the need for co-operation between its nations in order to become economically and ideologically independent of Europe and the USA. Through personal knowledge and extensive interviews with Che’s friends and family, she constructs a rounded picture of the real man

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Stanley Yelchin, Henry Holt, 2011, $15.99/C$18.50, hb, 160pp, 9780805092165 Ten-year-old Sasha wants nothing more than to become a member of the Young Pioneers – the corps of Soviet school children devoted to serving Communism. Although living conditions are cramped and food is scarce under Stalin’s regime, Sasha is convinced that he is lucky to live in “the most democratic and progressive country in the world” and idolizes his father, who works for Stalin himself. But when Sasha’s father is arrested, and Sasha accidentally commits a crime that makes him an Enemy of the People, he is forced to reevaluate his loyalties. Have the people he trusts most – his teachers, even his father – been misleading him all his life? Must he engage in the same cruelty to survive, or can he forge his own path and his own convictions of what is right?

Don’t be fooled by this slim volume: though the short chapters and simple narration give it the ring of a book for very young readers, the conflicts Sasha faces are complex enough for any adult to appreciate. Stanley Yelchin, who grew up in the former Soviet Union himself and whose father survived the Great Terror, offers a compact and affecting story of a boy moving from naïveté to understanding. While the reader always feels a bit wiser than the protagonist, Yelchin avoids the common pitfalls of adopting an innocent viewpoint in the face of horrible historical reality (e.g. the saccharine quality of John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas). The author’s accompanying illustrations, at once whimsical and slightly eerie, only enhance the mood. This is a wonderful little book for anyone in search of an affecting story – or of insight into an era that is so often neglected in our convenient reimaginings of history.

Ann Pedtke Children & YA — Nonfiction

behind the famous symbol.

The book is written in plain, readable language.

It is full of anecdote and often very funny. It focuses substantially on Che’s early life, tracing the roots of his revolutionary politics not just to the injustices he witnessed on his travels and work as a doctor but also to his lifelong struggle with severe asthma, which both made him an outsider and gave him a sense of solidarity with the disadvantaged.

Recommended.

Sarah Bower APRIL QUEEN: Eleanor of Aquitaine Douglas Boyd, History Press/IPG, 2011, £9.99/$14.95/C$17.95, pb, 360pp, 9780752459127 Douglas Boyd’s 2004 biography of the always fascinating Eleanor of Aquitaine, now reprinted in a new edition for 2011, weaves the sparse information surrounding this formidable woman into a convincing and very satisfying work of narrative nonfiction. Rather than indulging in the temptation to spend pages discrediting other biographers or presenting radical theories for shock value, Boyd instead approaches the work from the beginning at a fresh angle, examining primary sources from his perspective as a linguist, using the subtleties of old Occitan and the langues d’oïl to reveal the cultural history behind assumptions and stereotypes. Occasionally he gets a little enthusiastic in claiming to know Eleanor’s inner thoughts, but that’s hard not to do when attempting to understand such a beloved historical figure, one about whom so much is unknown and so much else tainted by slanderous bias. Densely packed with information yet amiable and easy to read, this is a work of dedication and passion which fans of other Eleanor biographies will want to add to their collection.

Heather Domin ACROSS MANY MOUNTAINS: A Memoir Yangzom Brauen, St. Martin’s Press, 2011, $25.99, hb, 304pp, 9780312600136 Kunsang is a young nun, spending years learning the rituals and meditation techniques central to Tibetan Buddhism. Her life seems blessed and peaceful until the Chinese incursion into Tibet.

She marries Tsering, births and loses her youngest daughter and then her husband as they trek through the mountains toward India. The author depicts this dangerous transition in remarkable ways, juxtaposing the beauty of the land, the colorful dress, and well-loved Tibetan foods with the fear and brutality as the Chinese attempt to wipe out Tibetan culture.

The life of Kunsang’s daughter, Sonam, gradually becomes centered in her mother’s spiritualism after she realizes these beliefs and practices provide stability in a world where she is seen as a poor exile of the lower classes in India, subject to the compassionate responses of the wealthy and those Nonfiction

who control the social organizations attempting to help the huge number of Tibetan refugees.

Eventually, Sonam marries a Swiss student who is studying Buddhism, and the family moves to Switzerland and much later to America. Words cannot convey the deep peace, beauty, struggle, and strength threading every page of this account.

Across Many Mountains is a moving, beautifully constructed memoir, a personal portrait of those who have loved and lost but reclaimed Tibet’s true identity.

Viviane Crystal ALL THE KING’S COOKS: The Tudor Kitchens of Henry VIII at Hampton Court Peter Brears, Souvenir/IPG, 2011, £15.00/$21.95, pb, 208pp, 9780285638969 From the storage of game without modern refrigeration to the extraordinary size of the staff required to cater a banquet, Peter Brears’ All the King’s Cooks offers a fascinating, detailed account of how the massive kitchens built at Hampton Court were operated. This deceptively slim book goes beyond a mere accounting of pots and pans. Interspersing recipes from the era with commentary on social mores and table etiquette, along with a thorough examination of how the system contended with the daily demands placed on it, Brears has created an intelligent yet accessible look into a rarely explored part of the Tudor world.

The kitchens at Hampton Court are marvelous to visit; the book fleshes out the displays for tourists with the grease and grit of the machinery that propelled these kitchens to become one of the most efficient in the realm. Numerous illustrations help visualize a part of the palace that remained hidden from most courtiers’ eyes. Brears has himself re-enacted cooking at Hampton Court, and his hands-on knowledge makes his book a must-have for Tudor aficionados.

C.W. Gortner EVA BRAUN: Life with Hitler Heike B. Görtemaker, trans. Damion Searls, Knopf, 2011, $27.95/C$32.00, 320pp, hb, 9780307595829 / Allen Lane, 2011, £25.00, hb, 336pp, 9781846144899 This meticulously-researched and documented biography is far more than the story of Eva Braun, Hitler’s longtime mistress and, very briefly, wife.

Görtemaker has sifted through photographs, diaries, letters, interviews, and previous research to provide a wider perspective on not only Eva, but also many others in Hitler’s inner circle. As most of Hitler’s and Braun’s own documents were destroyed, there is very little primary material in their own voices. Görtemaker serves as an able guide through the myriad views of others – ranging from Heinrich Hoffmann (official Nazi Party photographer, at whose studio Eva was employed when she met Hitler in 1929) to Magda Goebbels (beautiful society wife of Joseph, the Minister

of Propaganda) to Nerin Gun, author of a 1968 biography of Braun. Görtemaker provides critical perspective throughout, questioning previous assertions and pointing out the political interests at play. She concludes that Eva, while being close to Hitler for over a decade, exerted no overt influence on his policy or philosophy, and apparently was not much interested in either, preferring to throw parties and gossip about movie stars. How this naïve ingénue’s loyalty was rewarded with Hitler’s unquestioning trust may never be fully understood, but it makes for fascinating reading.

Helene Williams KEARNY’S MARCH Winston Groom, Knopf, 2011, $27.95, hb, 336pp, 9780307270962 The subtitle of Kearny’s March is “The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847.” For a reader who is weak on American history, any topic beyond the Revolutionary/federal period and before the Civil War is terra incognita. This popular history details the events of only a single year, but what a year it was! In 1846, General Stephen Kearny set out from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with 2,000 cavalrymen and began a march to California. President Polk had just been elected, winning his election by talking war, specifically with the British, who still held the Oregon Territory. Congress, too, was in a pugnacious mood, voting to annex Texas. By 1847, Polk would have achieved both objectives, and the United States would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Territories held by mighty empires fell with surprising ease into American hands. Here (in occasionally confusing) detail is the story of this astonishing year and the men who schemed, intrigued and fought carrying the flag across a continent. Some names are familiar – Kit Carson, Brigham Young – others, like General Kearny and Colonel Alexander Doniphan are military heroes whose exploits are not as well known. Kearny’s March is an information-dense work by a multipublished historical writer. (Novelists take note.)

Juliet Waldron RICHARD III AND THE MURDER IN THE TOWER Peter A. Hancock, History Press/IPG, £9.99/$16.95/C$18.95, pb, 224pp, 9780752457970 For centuries, Richard III has been analyzed, villianized, apologized and more by historians, psychologists, novelists, and playwrights. The Ricardian and anti-Ricardian camps remain strictly delineated and firmly entrenched. Hancock’s history is undeniably well-researched (a full third of the page count is devoted to the references) as well as meticulously detailed. Does it provide new elucidation? Sort of. As you may’ve noticed from the title, that’s “murder” singular; this focuses on the execution of William, Lord Hastings – HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 67

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STA F F P U B LI C AT I ON S

ELIZABETH I IN FILM AND TELEVISION: A Study of the Major Portrayals

Bethany Latham’s Elizabeth I in Film and Television takes a colorful promenade through the past hundred years of the silver screen (and the small screen), focusing on major portrayals of that most celebrated of English monarchs: Gloriana herself. While it boasts the scholarly rigor of a wellproduced academic monograph, it is also written in a lively, witty style that invites reading from cover to cover.

Latham’s enthusiasm for her subject is infectious.

“I’ve always been fascinated by history, by the personalities which populate it,” she says. “The rampant popularity of this queen and her period was one of the main reasons I was interested in writing this book – to find out why she and her times hold such fascination for modern audiences.”

The book’s seven chapters analyze these evolving views of Queen Elizabeth. Eighteen offerings are presented, covering the silent film era, big-budget historicals from Hollywood’s Golden Age, the rise of the TV miniseries, Elizabethan bit parts (eg, Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love), and modern blockbusters with Cate Blanchett and her contemporaries. For each, Latham discusses the historical context – for both the making of the film and the era depicted on screen – as well as the actors’ influences and techniques, the plot, major themes, critical reception, and much more.

In entertaining detail, Latham explains how the films bring different aspects of the Virgin Queen’s life and character to the forefront: for example, her coming of age in Young Bess, her relationship with her royal cousin in Mary, Queen of Scots, and her role in the Spanish Armada’s defeat in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. When they diverge from historical fact – as we know, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary never met in real life – this is examined as well, to determine what filmmakers have hoped to accomplish by their modifications of history.

As part of the research process, Latham watched each production at least three times. While she gained added elucidation for some works on repeated viewings, Sarah Bernhardt’s early silent film in particular, others suffered from close scrutiny. For example: “Repeated viewings of Kapur’s Elizabeth highlighted just how flawed the plotting could be,” she says. “Things that made cursory sense in the first brief flyby, when viewed critically a second or third time ... didn’t so much, such as [Robert] Dudley’s actual role in the (completely fabricated) conspiracy.”

One highlight of the book is seeing how each actress – or actor, in the case of Quentin Crisp in 1992’s cross-dressing Orlando – interprets the character. When younger, Latham was awed

by Bette Davis in the starring role, but her opinion has changed. “[Davis] was so comically flamboyant in her portrayals; all that melodrama and pageantry and textile porn in brilliant Technicolor made quite an impression,” she remembers. “But when I watched them again for this book, it was impressed upon me how one-dimensional they truly were.

“I’ve always admired Glenda Jackson’s portrayal, and that hasn’t changed. But I had never seen the Flora Robson films before this book, and once I did, it was a revelation. She manages the perfect combination of gravitas, temper, and charm. Robson was accomplished enough as an actress to subvert her personality so that it never peeks through the Elizabeth façade – something none of these other actresses manage, even Jackson.”

With this book as their guide to screen queen Elizabeths, film and history buffs will gain substantial familiarity with each work, and each imagined version of the historical woman. If you’re among this group, chances are you’ll be anxious to view these creative interpretations of Tudor times for yourself.

– by Sarah Johnson, with input from Bethany Latham Bethany Latham’s Elizabeth I in Film and Television: A Study of the Major Portrayals was published by McFarland in August 2011 (pb, $45, 287pp, 978-0-7864-3718-4). For more details, see www.mcfarlandpub.com.

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Hancock’s lynchpin to understanding of Richard III – rather than the princes in the Tower. Though well-written, this is a slow read, as Hancock repeats himself and feels it necessary to minutely detail the entire lives of people such as William “the Cat” Catesby in order to reach less than revelatory conclusions. His final pronouncement: Richard was “a basically loyal and honorable man caught in the Realpolitik of his times.” I’ll have to remember that line the next time I murder several people to get what I want.

Bethany Latham ESCAPE FROM GERMANY Neil Hanson, Doubleday, 2011, £16.99, hb, 263pp, 9780385612043 The stories of escapes from POW camps in the Second World War are familiar, but how many know of the First Great Escape of 23rd July 1918?

During the First World War there were some 180 camps in Germany holding up to 8 million Allied prisoners. One of the most notorious was Holzminden, 60 miles southwest of Hanover.

Surrounded by barbed wire, the facilities were inadequate, the guards corrupt and hostile, the Kommandant brutal.

With an impressive bibliography and extensive notes, Hanson describes the ingenuity shown by some of those prisoners to regain their freedom.

In the winter of 1917, twenty-nine men spent nine months digging a tunnel over 150 feet long. The tools were spoons and knives. It is an absorbing account of human endurance.

The full-page cartoons which introduce most chapters are authentic and splendidly drawn.

The greater part of the book, however, is given to conditions in the camps and the depravities inflicted on the prisoners. These details are of profound interest but nevertheless read at times like lists taken from the records – which no doubt they are.

The epilogues give a tantalising, if brief, résumé of the post-war life of the escapees. The young men who performed such an amazing feat deserve more recognition.

Gwen Sly THE NORTHSIDE: African Americans and the Creation of Atlantic City Nelson Johnson, Plexus, 2010, $24.95, hb, 359pp, 9780937548738 Atlantic City, once a desolate seaside island with no access, was a developer’s dream. Over time, a fashionable resort for the privileged white upper class emerged. Prior to the American Civil Rights movement and after the Civil War, blacks migrated to the Northeast for jobs. The plan to build a fashionable resort that would cater exclusively to the leisure desires of whites became a coveted place to find work.

The Northside is a compelling story and narrative of the African Americans who were instrumental Nonfiction

in the creation of Atlantic City. As it thrived, so did they. The church served as a community center that nurtured solidarity and produced numerous dynamic leaders. The people of Northside prospered with pride despite the segregation and racial prejudice they endured. Johnson presents the story of the making of Atlantic City through the lives of key leaders. Sara Spencer Washington was a successful entrepreneur, sports great Pop Lloyd became a legend. Morris Cain, civic leader led the community and preached that “life has no purpose if we aren’t about the business of helping one another.”

Johnson’s history of African Americans’ role in our past covers an important period of racial instability. It is a haunting reminder of America’s shameful past that is a continuum of revelations.

Wisteria Leigh DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris David King, Crown, 2011, $26.00/30.00C, hc, 432pp, 9780307452894 / Sphere, Jan. 2012, £12.99, pb, 432pp, 9781847445483 As swastikas decorate their national monuments, French authorities make an even more horrific discovery at a house in the fashionable 16th arrondissement – burned, dismembered bodies by the dozens. The search for the house’s owner, Dr. Petiot, and the identities of the victims, is complicated by the situation during the Nazi occupation: people disappear in droves every day. Could the mysterious doctor, as he claimed, have killed these people under orders from the Resistance, or does he work for the Gestapo? Is he simply a monster? Part true-crime procedural and part history of Paris under the occupation, this engrossing book reads like a comedy of errors courtesy of the French judicial system; the absurdity of the trial actually makes one appreciate American jurisprudence. The book is a bit uneven, but for the most noble of reasons – King sticks to the known facts and doesn’t indulge in the rampant, novelistic speculation many nonfiction authors use to fill gaps. He advances his theories in the last chapter and clearly labels them as such, leaving the psychoanalyzing to the doctors who examined Petiot. As they couldn’t even agree amongst themselves, no true elucidation to his character is provided. A well-written, well-constructed, and gripping read.

Bethany Latham THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES: Bunker Hill, the First American Army, and the Emergence of George Washington Paul Lockhart, Harper, 2011, $27.99, hb, 414pp, 9780061958861 Few events in American history have stirred the national imagination as much as the heroic stand of ragtag colonial militia against crack British regulars at the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. But Nonfiction

author Lockhart points out in this authoritative and engrossing book that some of our modern conceptions of that momentous event are dead wrong. The British troops that trudged up the hill on that hot June day were mostly raw recruits, not much better trained than their rebel counterparts.

Military discipline failed them; heroic British officers could not get their men to follow orders.

On the Yankee side, a similar lack of discipline, coupled with desertion and mistrust of authority, almost destroyed the colonial army.

Despite that, colonial heroes came forth; Prescott, Ward, Putnam, Stark, and others, men who sacrificed everything to hold the army together, not only in the heat of batlle, but until a Virginian by the name of George Washington could take command and begin transforming the brave but untrained colonials into an effective Continental fighting force. Reading more like a novel than a history book, this is a must read for anyone interested in the American Revolution.

John Kachuba CATHERINE THE GREAT: Portrait of a Woman Robert K. Massie, Random House, 2011, $35, hb, 640pp, 9781588360441 In 1744, Sophia, a 14-year-old German princess, arrived in Moscow as a bride-to-be. In this biography, Massie tells us how Sophia became the woman we know as Catherine the Great. This is a meticulously detailed work about Catherine and her world, yet Massie never left me with the feeling of being overwhelmed (or worse, bored). Even though I knew almost nothing about Catherine or this period of Russian history, I never felt adrift.

As a general reader, I particularly appreciated the short chapters and the section breaks within chapters, allowing me to leave the book when work intruded without having to reorient myself when I returned to it. Staying firmly within the confines of biography, Massie nevertheless makes Catherine’s story as gripping as that of any novel. His book does full justice to a complex and fascinating woman and to the age in which she lived.

Susan Higginbotham RED SUMMER: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America Cameron McWhirter, Henry Holt, 2011, $30.00, hb, 368pp, 9780805089066 One of the negative side effects of the decline in newspaper readership is that fewer people are exposed to the artistry displayed by the better journalists. Red Summer will, one hopes, enable a wide audience to experience the top grade writing of Cameron McWhirter, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. The author presents the violent racial turmoil in 1919 America in a well-documented depiction of a nation seemingly on the verge of race war. Set in a moment when African American veterans of the trenches believed the country was

ready to accept advances in racial equality, the black population was the target of white-instigated urban riots and rural lynchings that averaged almost one a week throughout the year. State and local authorities either blamed African Americans or “Reds” or remained aloof while the supremely racist Woodrow Wilson chose silence over federal intervention. Red Summer presents a disturbing look into the era of racial bloodlust that still shocks.

John R. Vallely DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President Candice Millard, Doubleday, 2011, $28.95/C$33, hb, 352pp, 9780385526265 James A. Garfield didn’t want to be president; he didn’t seek the nomination and didn’t campaign after being nominated against his wishes. He was elected in 1880 all the same and took office in March 1881. He was shot on July 2 and died September 19. His brief stint in the White House might not seem to have much potential, but Destiny of the Republic is history as good as it gets.

Millard threads the stories of Garfield, an extraordinary scholar, politician, and family man; a delusional assassin, fueled by the heated political rhetoric of the time; and Thomas Edison, who dropped everything else in order to invent something that could locate the bullet within Garfield that his physicians couldn’t find. An integral part of the story is the president’s abysmal medical care. Most American physicians, including Garfield’s, mocked the importance of sterilizing their instruments or even washing their hands before poking around inside a patient.

Millard doesn’t waste a word in this gripping account; it’s a quick read. The book is filled with marvelous historical details in addition to its potent story of greatness snuffed short. Read Destiny of the Republic and see if you don’t also have a new president on your list of favorites. Recommended.

Kristen Hannum LION OF THE WEST: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion Robert Morgan, Algonquin, 2011, $29.95, hb, 496pp, 9781565126268 This collection of brief accounts of ten “legends” of 18th and early 19th century America is a fine introduction to the persons and the culture that drove Americans across the country in search of land, freedom, prosperity, and “home” – albeit often at the expense of the peoples and cultures who lived there before them. With ample apologies for the excesses and atrocities of the white men who cheated and killed the American Indian tribes, Morgan nonetheless is able to present with some sympathy the driving forces behind the crusade to expand for such men as Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Sam Houston, Kit Carson, David Crockett (yes, David), and others. The text HNR Issue 58, November 2011 | Reviews | 69

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NOTA B L E P U B LI C AT I ON S HISTORICAL FICTION FOR TEENS: A Genre Guide

Melissa Rabey, ABC-CLIO, 2011, $45.00, hb, 324pp, 9781591588139 Melissa Rabey aptly describes the task of defining teen historical fiction as “like nailing Jell-O to a wall.”

Can historical fiction for young adults be defined on the same terms as adult historical fiction? Should the genre’s priority be to educate or to entertain?

Are historical inaccuracies permissible in the effort to engage a younger audience? Pinning down this subset of an already slippery genre is no easy feat, but it’s a challenge Rabey is ready to take on in her useful and expansive survey Historical Fiction for Teens: A Genre Guide.

Rabey’s critical introductory chapter is all too brief, but it does touch on some important questions. Rabey’s discussion of the tension between historical accuracy and engaging plot is particularly relevant, though I would have liked to see more on the history of historical fiction, the use of historical fiction in school curricula, and cultural and ethnic gaps in the genre. Rabey whets our appetites for such discussions, but raises more questions than she answers.

This volume covers over 300 historical young adult novels published between 1975 and 2010, with a few older classics thrown in. Brief summaries of each book are provided, along with keywords, suggested grade levels, and awards. Profiles are separated into chapters on “World History” and “History of the Americas,” with separate chapters on the subgenres “Historical Mysteries,” “Historical Adventures,” “Historical Fantasy,” and “Time Travel.”

While I appreciated this division, I thought that the distinction of “Historical Adventures” was unnecessary, and that “Historical Fantasy” and “Time Travel” could easily have been combined.

Instead more space and attention might have been devoted to untangling the morass of settings and time periods included in Chapter 2, which covered “traditional” historical fiction in the entire Eastern Hemisphere. While subdivisions were provided for different continents and periods, these section headings were hard to locate on a casual skimming, and separation into multiple chapters would have made many of the titles in this group easier to find.

Despite some confusion in the layout, however, Rabey offers excellent coverage of the genre.

Rabey’s choice to include novels with settings up to the 1970s allows for the inclusion of books on Vietnam and other more modern historical episodes that are often covered only briefly – or overlooked altogether – in history curricula. She also offers a good selection of novels with less-popular settings such as Africa and the Middle East. If I occasionally wondered at some of her omissions (why not include all of the Newbery-winning historicals?), much of this ground was made up in the useful resources chapter and appendices. Overall, this guide provided an excellent overview of the genre, and will prove useful to teachers, librarians, YA authors, and anyone else with an interest in historical fiction for teens. I know I encountered many new titles to add to my reading list!

Ann Pedtke is simple, the information often very interesting, and it serves as a solid overview of the theme of Manifest Destiny and how it helped form the nation we find ourselves living in today, with a bittersweet mix of nostalgia and perhaps shame.

Mary F. Burns KILLING LINCOLN: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Henry Holt, 2011, $28.00/£18.99, hb, 336pp, 9780805093070 Bill O’Reilly is one of the more wellknown conservative media personalities of the contemporary American scene. As such, a large number of American readers will undoubtedly 70 | Reviews | HNR Issue 58, November 2011

be attracted to his account of the John Wilkes conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln in the final moments that ended armed rebellion in 1865.

The reader, however, should be prepared for a fair amount of breathless and needlessly exaggerated comments, such as “[Union troops] will swarm from their positions and race across no-man’s land…hell-bent on capturing the city”; Lincoln’s “guts churn”; Booth’s sweetheart “knows…that the man she loves is mysterious and passionate and fearless in the bedroom,” and “Lincoln still has miles to go before he sleeps.” Those knowledgeable about Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson may find it interesting to learn that he “fell from his horse, dead” at Chancellorsville. Unless you revel in

purple prose, save your money.

John R. Vallely THE YOUNG ELIZABETH Alison Plowden, History Press/IPG, 2011 (c1971), £9.99, $16.95, pb, 216pp, 9780752459431 With excellent excavation of the facts and an engaging style of writing, Plowden explores what life was like for Elizabeth Tudor in the dangerous period before she was crowned Queen of England.

She begins with the story of Elizabeth’s ancestors, including her infamous mother, Anne Boleyn. But Plowden goes back even further. She tells us about the romance between Queen Katherine the Fair, young widow of Henry V, and her “man of Wales,” Owen Tudor. Plowden brings this relationship into focus, which goes a long way in explaining the teetering point on which the entire Tudor dynasty was balanced and, ultimately, why Henry VIII was so keen to get a son and heir. This strong desire led, ultimately, to the disappointing (for the king at least) birth of Elizabeth.

Plowden points out the forces which helped form Elizabeth’s personality. When she presents facts, they are clearly stated. When she presents conjecture, that, too, is clear. There are no muddy waters here; Plowden is a historian one feels one can trust to discover and relay the information, but she is careful to label any conclusions she has reached as possibility, not necessarily the truth.

Anne Clinard Barnhill THE YOUNG VICTORIA Alison Plowden, History Press/IPG, 2011 (c1981), £8.99/$14.95/C$17.95, pb, 281pp, 9780750946995 This reprint of the 1981 classic is sure to please readers old and new. A short book written in a casual narrative style, this is an entertaining as well as informative record of Queen Victoria’s life from her birth to her marriage. Beginning with the crisis that led to her conception, it chronicles her rise from the rubble of a crumbling royal family, growing up constrained by an overbearing mother and increasingly burdened by the knowledge that the expectations of an empire rest on her success.

Once free of the drama and dysfunction that hindered her, the young queen blossoms to meet those expectations – devoted, charming, exuberant to take on the challenges that face her. It’s a far cry from the dour black-clad matron of later years; as the writer illustrates so often with good humor, this Victoria was definitely amused. For anyone who enjoyed the recent movie of the same name and is curious to get a better picture of the history behind it, The Young Victoria is a great place to start.

Heather Domin FOR HONOUR AND FAME Nigel Saul, The Bodley Head, 2011, £25, hb, 416pp, 978847920522 The subtitle is Chivalry in England, 1066-1500, but this book deals with the reality, not the romantic Nonfiction

image of colourful knights trailing favours in the tourney grounds. It’s an account of many aspects of medieval England, military, social, and political.

Where events on the continent impinge on English life, these are also considered.

Nigel Saul writes about the influences that brought chivalry to England after 1066, how ideas changed, and the influence of chivalric ideals on many features of society, including religion and architecture. He also considers how society influenced chivalric ideas. He traces how fighting on horseback arrived with the Normans, and their continental interests led to more wars with France. Saul explores the reality of tournaments, the influence of Arthurian legends, other literature, the Crusades, and the gradual transformation from dependent household knights to relatively independent landed gentry who took on many administrative duties in their areas, and may have had nothing to do with fighting. This is a wideranging account, both academic and accessible.

Professor Saul draws on a vast range of sources – and combines them into a fascinating story which shows the reality rather than the romanticised version of chivalric customs and behaviour.

Marina Oliver

Chicago Tribune empire, which frequently included other Washington newspapers. Newspaper Titan spans 1840 to 1948 and covers not only Cissy’s career but also background on her family, friends, peers, and enemies. This historical biography is also a formidable analysis of the era’s political parties, social criteria, cultural icons, and foreign policy. Powerful Medill family members shaped destinies, sometimes with negative consequences.

Cissy Patterson, however, was unique in using her intelligence and volatility to righteously fire those guilty of incompetence or to promote her editing policies. Knowing which stories would draw readers, she was unafraid to look beyond the norm in an age when “difference” was anathema to the status quo. Married disastrously at first, conservatively Republican, estranged from her daughter Felicia, Cissy Patterson returned from Europe to claim her share of wealth and power.

She was also unafraid to blast FDR for his policy decisions. This book, a historical account of a famous personage and era, fluctuates between tedious overkill and riveting conflict.

Viviane Crystal

THAT WOMAN: The Life of Wallis Simpson Anne Sebba, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011, £20.00, hb, 400pp, 9780297858966 The charmingly rakish handsome prince gives up his throne for the woman he loves, who happens to be a rapacious American divorcée with a fondness for gaudy jewellery, champagne and the high life. We all think that we know the story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, but do we really?

Anne Sebba’s biography of the enigmatic Wallis tells the true story of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and reveals that it was far from being the great romance it’s usually portrayed as. Far from being a fairy-tale prince, Edward was apparently emotionally stunted, philandering and somewhat dim-witted, while Wallis herself comes across as a lot more likeable than the rapacious, brittle socialite of popular imagining.

Although this makes no claim to be a scholarly biography of the royal couple, it’s a rollicking and highly entertaining read. There are a few bits of speculation about the possibility that Edward had Asperger’s and Wallis suffered from a form of hermaphroditism, but it is never presented as anything other than speculation, so although I rolled my eyes a bit, those ideas didn’t detract from the rest of the book.

Melanie Clegg

A BOOK OF LISZTS – VARIATIONS John Spurling, Seagull, 2011, £14, hb, 224pp, 9781906497941 The publication of John Spurling’s ‘biography’ of Franz Liszt celebrates his career as a dazzling performer, composer and conductor – a 19th‑century international superstar. Its publication coincides with Liszt’s bicentenary in October 2011. It is a ‘biography’ that has been well-researched but that also contains elements of fiction, and it uses different literary devices and viewpoints which one might associate with fiction writing. Each of the 15 chapters is selfcontained, and represents ‘variations on a theme’ of Liszt’s life covering his colourful love affairs, his friendship with Wagner and his hypnotic effect on his audiences. It is an innovative book, which in some aspects mirrors Liszt’s original approach to composition.

The author’s background as a playwright, novelist and the New Statesman’s art critic has no doubt enabled the writer to create a work of nonfiction that reads like a novel. Parts of the book read like a play script, and I was intrigued by the way that the author transformed Liszt’s correspondence with Marie d’Agoult into a mini-opera/play. It also includes three CDs of music. This is a subtle, elegantly written and witty ‘biography’, which manages to be interesting throughout. Much to my surprise I loved it!

Myfanwy Cook

NEWSPAPER TITAN Amanda Smith, Knopf, 2011, $35.00, hb, 720pp, 978.0307701510 Eleanor Josephine “Cissy” Medill Patterson was the first female editor and publisher to run the

VISIONS OF ENGLAND Roy Strong, The Bodley Head, 2011, hb, 237pp, £17.99, 9781847921604 This is a short, but cogently argued book, almost a monograph, which asks the question of

Nonfiction

just what is England and what are the essential features of Englishness. Roy Strong, as former director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum, is eminently well qualified as a cultural historian, and he argues with some justification, that during these times of multiculturalism and the breaking apart of the Union, there is a requirement to examine the nature of the English and the England’s arts and customs, as opposed to wider Britain.

The author argues that the essence of England can be found in the crucible of the 16th-century Tudors. This era witnessed an unprecedented artistic flowering, economic advancement and the continuation of the limitation of the limitless powers of the sovereign. But more than these, it created the myth or generally accepted perception of England, as a pastoral, bucolic society and it also initiated England’s imperial role, which for Strong, are the abiding characteristics of England and the predominant views of its history.

Doug Kemp THOMAS SUTHERLAND: A GREAT VICTORIAN Malcolm Sutherland, Leiston, 2011, £10, pb, 120pp, 9781907938023 Thomas Sutherland was born in Scotland and had an austere childhood. Even his mother did not remember the date of his birthday. Thomas escaped to London, where at the age of 17 he became apprenticed to his uncle, a general agent, Thomas Webster, and began to learn about shipping. One year later he was promoted to junior clerk in P&O offices in London. From this small step, Thomas climbed to become Chairman and Managing Director of P&O. He was strongly in favour of the construction of a canal in Egypt to link the Mediterranean to the Red Sea (the Suez Canal). He forged bonds with de Lesseps, father and son, and played an important part gaining backing for the construction of the canal. Following the opening in 1869 there was an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade, and Sutherland proposed a second canal. In the end it was decided to widen the existing canal instead. The AngloFrench Suez Canal was a real ‘entente cordiale.’

This is an inspiring book for all those who possess the vision and determination to succeed against challenging odds.

Jane Hill STOLEN CHILDHOODS Nicola Tyrer, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011, £20, hb, 9700297858782 This distinguished book gives us snatches, often in their own words, of the stories of children interned during World War II in Japanese prison camps.

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even contriving, while surrounded by sickness and starvation, to deliver a modicum of education which helped to structure the children’s lives.

Nicola Tyrer attempts not only to recount individual experiences of bereavement, torture and sickness suffered by these children, enlivening their bleak histories with tales of courage, tenacity and even of humour, but to cover the major events of the hostilities.

The shifting of focus, from child to child, from north to south and from one aspect of the war results in a cumbersome construction. A brief summary of the chronology of the Japanese occupation and perhaps an easy-reference map, showing the locations of the camps, would have been helpful. Nevertheless this is an engrossing book, scoring highly not only as a record of appalling events but as a tribute to those who endured them.

Julia Stoneham BOUDICA’S LAST STAND: Britain’s Revolt Against Rome AD 60-61 John Waite, The History Press/IPG, 2011, £9.99/$16.95, 256pp, 9780752459097 It is 60 A.D. Boudica, Queen of the Iceni and widow of Prasatagus, has formed a confederacy of tribes in order to drive out the Roman invaders.

After decades of humiliations, abuses and Roman horrors perpetrated on the tribes and particularly on Boudica herself, the native tribes have decided to take up arms against their oppressor.

On the Roman side is the famed Roman governor and warrior, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, who awaits the tribal hordes after their victories over and obliteration of three pivotal Roman cities. Although Paulinus has a small army and the native forces far outnumber them, how can Paulinus develop a strategy to defeat the great army? If Paulinus loses to the natives, he will lose the province forever.

To answer these questions, Waite examines the revolt from a fresh, vastly different and tactical perspective.

With considerable archaeological information at his disposal, the author produces a reinterpretation of the revolt, suggesting a different battle site based not merely on the writings of Tacitus and Cassio Dio but strategic relevance.

There is an enormous amount of information about the Roman army, Roman strategic thinking and the Roman world and very little about Boudica and the natives. In that, I found the book disappointing.

Ilysa Magnus

future generations, so much of her life is a blank to us.

Weir makes a gallant effort to answer many of the questions about Mary – such as her birth date, the parentage of her children, the dates her affair with Henry VIII began and ended – but as she herself admits, the answers to most of these questions can only be educated guesses. She does, however, do the reader the service of noting some of the assumptions about Mary that are unsupported by fact (although she herself appears strangely eager to cast Mary’s mother in the role of a loose woman, based on rather shaky evidence).

Not surprisingly, given the little that is actually known about Mary and the need to put her life in context, there’s a great deal here about Anne Boleyn, although some of the material about other people, like Bessie Blount, feels a bit like padding.

Still, I did find this a useful and well-written book, and while I didn’t find all of Weir’s arguments convincing, I did find them plausible.

Susan Higginbotham WITH SCOTT IN THE ANTARCTIC: Edward Wilson: Explorer, Naturalist, Artist Isobel Williams, History Press/IPG, 2011, $19.95, pb, 336pp, 9780753452463 Williams dramatizes Edward Wilson from his early childhood to his death in Antarctica. Wilson traveled to the unchartered frontier at the South Pole on two expeditions, first the Discovery and later the ill fated Terra Nova. As a young boy, he struggled with an explosive temper, yet he matured into a quiet, unassuming naturalist and artist who advanced in the medical field. Joining the expedition to Antarctica was the perfect job for him. Williams does an excellent job of shaping the image of Wilson by using diaries of his colleagues and his own personal journals which provide vivid details – nothing spared.

Wilson believed time was our most precious gift, not money. His devotion and spiritual faith was limitless. His soul mate and wife, Oriana, was always with him despite their physical separation.

Williams captures the essence of this unique explorer who felt that “ordinary day to day life should not need planning and worrying, but rather, grateful acceptance.” In reading about Wilson, you see his ambition was not in the ultimate destination, but in the knowledge he gained and the richness of his life each day. Minor editing of repetitive sections would enhance this otherwise brilliant biography of a remarkable explorer.

Highly recommended.

Wisteria Leigh

MARY BOLEYN: The Mistress of Kings (US) / MARY BOLEYN, ‘The Great and Infamous Whore’ (UK) Alison Weir, Ballantine, 2011, $28, hb, 370pp, 9780345521354 / Jonathan Cape, 2011, £20.00, hb, 352pp, 9780224089760 Thanks to her famous sister and Philippa Gregory, the subject of Alison Weir’s latest biography hardly needs an introduction.

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Nonfiction

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© 2011, The Historical Novel Society ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 58, November 2011