Historical Novels Review, Issue 69 (August 2014)

A PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW Issue 69, August 2014

We will remember them. commemorating the first world war

what seeds the story? four authors’ impetus the price of beauty elisabeth of austria adventures on a “consecrated stage” john buchan’s war novels

walking the tightrope historical accuracy nurses in wwi a testament in fiction four romanov sisters an interview with helen rappaport

editor’s message | historical fiction market news | history & film | new voices

Historical Novels R eview

ISSN: 1471-7492 | © 2014 The Historical Novel Society

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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

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Managing Editor: Bethany Latham Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University 700 Pelham Road North Jacksonville, AL 36265-1602 USA <blatham@jsu.edu> Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson 6868 Knollcrest Drive Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu>

Features Coordinator:

Features Editor:

Lucinda Byatt 13 Park Road Edinburgh, EH6 4LE UK <mail@lucindabyatt.com>

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

review s edit o r s , u k

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

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

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

Andrea Connell 10011 Beacon Pond Lane Burke, VA 22015 USA <connell1453@verizon.net>

Publisher Coverage: Henry Holt, Other Press, Overlook, Sourcebooks, Tyndale, and other US small presses

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

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

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Alan Fisk Flat 25, Lancaster Court, Lancaster Avenue London SE27 9HU UK <alan.fisk@alanfisk.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; Quercus; and all small independent UK publishers not handled by other editors

Elizabeth Hawksley <mail@elizabethhawksley.com>

Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals

Edward James 2 Hayman Close Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 9FD UK <busywords_ed@yahoo.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); and Transworld (inc. Bantam Press, Black Swan, Corgi, Doubleday)

Helen Hollick Chapples Farm Chittlehamholt, Umberleigh, Devon EX37 9PB UK <author@helenhollick.net>

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

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

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

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

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

Arleigh Johnson <arleigh.johnson@att.net>

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 Ann Chamberlin <annchamberlin@annchamberlin.com> (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 entitles members to all the year’s publications: four issues of Historical Novels Review, as well as exclusive membership benefits through the Society website. Back issues of Society magazines are also available. For current rates, contact: Richard Lee Marine Cottage, The Strand Starcross, Devon EX6 8NY UK <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org>

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e d i tori a l pol i cy

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

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

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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

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Historical Novels R eview I s s u e 6 9 , A u g us t 2014 | 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 ha z el ga yn or , na ta lie meg evan s , kris ten harn is c h & j u d it h sta r kston | m y f anw y cook

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histor y & film b e l l e : r a c e & ide ntit y in g eorg ian en g lan d | b e t ha ny la th a m

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8 WE W I LL R EMEMBER T H E M comme mor atin g w wi in f iction | by l u ci nda by att, m .k. tod & em ma caza bo nne 10 what s eeds the sto r y?

4 auth or s’ writin g imp etus | by j en n y ba rden 12

walk ing the tig ht rope

ha n n a h ke nt’s bu ri a l rites | b y elizabeth j an e co rbett

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the price of beau t y d ais y g oodwin on elis ab eth of aus tria | b y betha ny l a tha m

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a dventures on a “con s ecrated sta ge” r ic h a r d buc han ’s w wi n ovels | by richa rd l ee

15 nurs es i n w w i a te s tament in hf | b y my f anw y co o k 16 f our si sters he le n r a ppap ort | b y charlotte wight w ick | reviews |

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

PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE onference season seems to be upon us! As I write I’m just packing for this summer’s Romantic Novelists Association weekend – really looking forward to talking historical fiction with them, and hearing all that’s new. September 5th-7th sees our London conference – with a mouth-watering line-up of speakers.

I very much look forward to meeting many of you there, and catching up with friends. It has become such an international event now, and we’re welcoming a fabulous roll call of guests: Conn Iggulden, Elizabeth Chadwick, Kate Forsyth, Robyn Young, Jessie Burton, Ann Weisgarber, Harry Sidebottom, Anthony Riches, Rory Clements, Suzannah Dunn, Giles Kristian, Deborah Harkness…and many, many others. Please treat yourselves to a fantastic weekend in London – full details are now live online at http://www.hns-conference.org.uk/ Next year, we have our first Australasian conference, to be held in Sydney (20th-22nd March 2015), and then our 6th North American conference, in Denver (26th-28th June 2015). These have individual websites linked from the main page of the HNS website. A feast!

We are also delighted to announce the inaugural HNS Indie Award, to be presented annually at the UK and US conferences. Shortlists will be chosen from Indie novels that have been submitted to the HNS for review. We have a prize, sponsored by The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and Indie B.R.A.G. Our 2014 judges are Orna Ross (author and director of ALLi) and Elizabeth Chadwick. It will be a great pleasure and privilege to be able to champion these novels in this way.

And we have just published our own first Indie novel: Martin Sutton’s spectacular First World War debut, Lost Paradise – winner of the HNS International Award. It is only available via Amazon so far, but we are working on wider distribution – and I could not recommend it more whole-heartedly.

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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 69, August 2014 | 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 Longtime reviewer Arleigh Johnson is our newest HNR staff member, replacing Ann Pedtke as US children’s reviews editor. I’d like to welcome Arleigh to the editorial team and thank Ann for her excellent work over the past four years.

We’re seeking a UK-based reviews editor with strong writing, editing, and organizational skills. Duties include requesting review copies from and liaising with a selection of large and small UK presses, communicating with reviewers, and compiling and editing reviews by each quarterly deadline.

Please email me if interested.

Helen Hollick, managing editor for HNR Indie, is organizing a new HNS Indie Award for self-/indie-published historical fiction writers. The winner and runner-up will be announced at the HNS London 2014 Conference in September. Indie novels receiving Editors’ Choice distinction have been automatically entered into a longlist, which has been evaluated by the editors.

Novels on the resulting shortlist will be judged by eminent writers Orna Ross and Elizabeth Chadwick. For more details and the current shortlist, see: http://ofhistoryandkings. blogspot.co.uk/p/hns.html New publishing deals Sources include author and publisher submissions, Publishers Marketplace, Booktrade.info, Publishers Weekly, The Bookseller, and more.

Margaret George’s forthcoming novel about the Roman emperor Nero sold to Claire Zion at NAL by Jacques de Spoelberch at Jacques de Spoelberch Associates. UK rights went to Macmillan.

E.M. Powell’s The Blood of The Fifth Knight, the second book in the series featuring 12th-century mercenary knight Sir Benedict Palmer, in which somebody is trying to murder Rosamund Clifford, Henry II’s beautiful young mistress, sold to Emilie Marneur at Thomas & Mercer, by Josh Getzler at Hannigan Salky Getzler, for publication in late 2014.

Karen Duffy, associate publisher and head of publicity at Atlantic, acquired Joanne Limburg’s debut Kindness, literary fiction about the unjustly neglected last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne, from agent Louise Greenberg. Publication is summer 2015.

NYT bestseller Angela Hunt’s historical series Dangerous Beauty, chronicling women of the Old Testament who wielded their beauty as potent weapons, sold to David Long at Bethany House, in a 3-book deal, by Danielle Egan-Miller at Browne & Miller Literary Associates.

Newport by Jill Morrow, set in 1921 in a glittering Newport 2 | Columns |

HNR Issue 69, August 2014

mansion, in which a series of séances reveals the secrets of its eccentric owner’s houseguests, sold to Amanda Bergeron at William Morrow by Ann Collette at the Rees Literary Agency.

Jennifer Laam’s The Tsarina’s Legacy, a companion novel to The Secret Daughter of the Tsar (HNR Feb ’14), a dual-period novel in which a present-day historian claims her birthright as a Romanov and transforms Russia by completing a project which Empress Catherine and her prince began two hundred years earlier, sold to Vicki Lame at St. Martin’s by Erin Harris at Folio Literary Management.

Playwright H. S. Cross’s Wilberforce, set in 1926 England, about a seventeen-year-old boy undergoing a crisis – emotional, sexual, and spiritual – at a boys’ boarding school facing a revolt, sold to Jonathan Galassi and Christopher Richards at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Alice Tasman at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis (The Invisible Mountain), set in 1913, in which a 17-year-old woman disguises herself as a man to become a musician in the sensuous, violent, male-dominated underworld of early tango, sold to Carole Baron at Knopf, by Victoria Sanders at Victoria Sanders & Associates.

Joanna Courtney’s Queens of the Conquest trilogy (The Half-Year Queen, The Last Viking Queen, and The Conqueror’s Queen), revealing the story of the Battle of Hastings through the eyes of the three queens, sold to Natasha Harding at Pan Macmillan for publication beginning Sept. 2015, by Kate Shaw at The Viney Agency.

Pan Macmillan acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for three new Ken Follett novels, for publication beginning in Sept 2017. The first will be a sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, set in the world of Tudor-era Kingsbridge. The second and third books will be sweeping historical epics. US rights went to Brian Tart at Dutton and Leslie Gelbman at NAL, all arranged by Barbara Follett at the Follett Office.

Dollface and What the Lady Wants author Renee Rosen’s untitled third novel, about a female cub reporter at the Chicago Tribune in the 1950s who becomes embroiled in a national conspiracy to steal the presidential election for JFK, pitched as House of Cards meets Mad Men, sold (again) to Claire Zion at Penguin, for publication in Fall 2015, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Christy English’s Terror of the Ton series, about rough-andtumble Highlanders wreaking havoc on the mannered Regency London only to be tamed by Englishwomen of their own, sold to Mary Altman at Sourcebooks Casablanca, in a three-book deal, for publication in Fall 2015.

Mary-Anne Harrington of Tinder Press (UK) acquired Rebecca Mackenzie’s The Prophetess Club, which follows Etta, an 11-year-old daughter of missionaries, during the Japanese invasion of China in 1942, from Judith Murray at Greene & Heaton.

Ariel Lawhon’s (The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress) novel Hindenburg, which reimagines the three-day transatlantic flight of the Hindenburg, giving a plausible, heart-wrenching

The Dressmaker of Dachau by Mary Chamberlain, following a naive young London seamstress who is taken as a POW to Dachau, where her dressmaking soon comes to the attention of the commandant’s wife, sold to Kate Medina at Random House, at auction, by Sasha Raskin on behalf of Juliet Mushens.

UK rights went to Cassie Browne at The Borough Press, for publication in Spring 2015, by Juliet Mushens at The Agency Group.

Cesca Major’s The Silent Hours, centering on a true event that devastated a small, unoccupied French village in the Second World War, sold to Anna Hogarty at Corvus in a two-book deal, for publication in August 2015, by Clare Wallace at Darley Anderson.

New and recent publications Cindy Vallar’s historical fantasy short story, “Rumble the Dragon,” a quest-adventure in which a misfit dragon named Rumble must work with outlawed Norsemen to recover a sacred chalice that’s the dragons’ most cherished treasure, appears in Dark Oak Press’ recently published anthology, A Tall Ship, A Star, and Plunder.

Kathy Tilghman’s historical novel, Slaves to Freedom, is a story where the Underground Railroad, tests of friendship and political turmoil that threatened to tear America apart, are woven together in 1850s Baltimoretowne, Maryland. It is the first book of a trilogy and can be found by accessing Kathy’s website, www.kathytilghman.com and on Amazon Kindle.

New transatlantic editions Kate Forsyth’s Bitter Greens, a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale set in the 166th and 17th centuries, will be published in North America by St. Martin’s Press ($25.99/C$29.99). In Aug 2012’s HNR, Elizabeth Jane wrote: “This is a perfect book to curl up in a chair and forget the world with.”

Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley, a dual-period romantic mystery set partly in 1920s Italy, will be reissued

by Sourcebooks in Sept ($16.99). In May 2010’s HNR, Sara Wilson wrote: “This is a novel that can afford to take its time and is never dull.”

“This is a vigorously written, well researched tale of postconquest England told through Norman eyes,” wrote Chiara Prezzavento of James Aitcheson’s The Splintered Kingdom (Nov ’12 HNR), which was published by Sourcebooks Landmark in August ($25.99).

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For additional forthcoming titles, including new lists of children’s and YA titles compiled by Fiona Sheppard, see: http://historicalnovelsociety.org/ guides/forthcoming-historical-novels/

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explanation for one of the most enduring 20th-century mysteries, sold to Melissa Danaczko at Doubleday by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary.

Helen Garnons-Williams, publishing director of fiction for Bloomsbury, acquired, at auction, world English rights to 24-year-old creative writing MA graduate Paul Cooper’s River of Ink, based on a poet to the king in 13th-century Sri Lanka who tries to use poetic words to unite two warring factions, from Eve White at Eve White Literary Agency. Publication will be summer 2015.

Rita Cameron’s Ophelia’s Muse, depicting the passionate but doomed romance between painter Dante Rossetti and his model, muse, and wife, Lizzie Siddal, sold to John Scognamiglio at Kensington for publication in 2015, by Jeff Ourvan at Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency.

The Suicide of Claire Bishop by Carmiel Banasky, whose dual narratives tell the story of a woman who, in 1959, sits for a portrait, only to discover that the artist has actually depicted her suicide, and a young schizophrenic who, in 2004, becomes obsessed with a painting depicting a woman’s suicide which he sees in a gallery, sold to Guy Intoci at Dzanc Books, for publication in Fall 2015, by Carrie Howland at Donadio & Olson.

Elizabeth Hall’s Miramont’s Ghost, a historical novel set in 19th-c France, in which a young girl’s clairvoyance threatens her aristocratic French family and ultimately leads to her exile and imprisonment in real-life Miramont Castle, in Colorado, where she must confront her family’s worst secrets, sold to Danielle Marshall at Lake Union Publishing by Alison Fargis at Stonesonng.

Sharon Biggs Waller’s as-yet-untitled follow-up to her debut YA novel A Mad, Wicked Folly, set in mid-Victorian England after the Opium Wars, following a 17-year-old as she travels to the mountains of China seeking a rare orchid to save her family from debtors’ prison, sold to Leila Sales at Viking Children’s, for publication in Winter 2016, by John Cusick at Greenhouse Literary Agency.

Mississippi Review editor Andrew Malan Milward’s I Was a Revolutionary, a collection of stories exploring Kansas history through the lives of William Quantrill in the 1860s, a medical charlatan in the 1920s, a black family in Lawrence in the 1960s, and a former student protestor turned history professor today, to Cal Morgan for Harper, in a pre-empt, by Renee Zuckerbrot.

Winner of Rome Prize in Literature Mary Morris’ The Jazz Palace, set in Jazz Age Chicago, following the trajectory of a Jewish piano player and a black trumpeter through their friendship, their struggles, and most importantly, through their music, sold to Nan Talese at Nan A. Talese, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.

Rachel Florence Roberts’ originally self-published thriller The Medea Complex, about a woman in Victorian England who is in a lunatic asylum for the shocking crime of having killed her son, which she has no memory of, sold to Danielle Perez at NAL, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency.

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

HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Columns | 3

NEW VOICES Hazel Gaynor, Natalie Meg Evans, Kristen Harnisch and Judith Starkston plant the seeds for future success with their debut novels.

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hen we are children, we often start the stories we write with ‘Once upon a time,’ and our tales grow from that starting point. Natalie Meg Evans’s The Dress Thief (Quercus, 2014) was inspired by one of those fairy tale moments. She explains: “It started with a dressing-up box. A pine chest full of discarded dresses and hats. To a very small girl, it was a fantasy collection of Cinderella ball gowns and princess costumes. In reality, they were cast-offs from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, kept by my thrifty mother, and by the time I arrived, would have seemed stiff and over-formal.

That off-the-shoulder cocktail dress with its silk fringing would have been hard to wear without solid underpinnings. The blue crinoline with its boned bodice and overskirt of peacock-eye chiffon was too much in a small, Midlands village where the grandest parties were social nights in the village hall. Hidden away in a pine box, they were relics of a life before marriage.

Before career and responsibility.

“I could almost cry that I pranced about in all that vintage loveliness, putting the heels of oversized court shoes through fragile hems. If I could go back in time for one day, with a big suitcase . . .

“To write The Dress Thief, I subconsciously re-opened the box. As the story’s heroine, Alix Gower, works in haute-couture, I submerged myself in the styles of the 1930s and researched sewing, cutting and decorating techniques. Though no seamstress myself, I love that era of sinuous, bias-cut clothes. And I loved dressing Alix in fantasy gowns!”

In contrast to Evans’s novel, The Girl Who Came Home (William Morrow, 2014), by Hazel Gaynor “is ultimately about a Titanic survivor.” Gaynor “wanted to explore what happened in the immediate aftermath of the disaster — in the lifeboats, on the Carpathia, in the New York hospitals where survivors recovered.” She explains: “I was also interested in how the event affected survivors during their lifetime, many of whom – like [my character] Maggie — were unable to speak of Titanic for several decades. I also write about the event from the point of view of family and friends waiting to hear the fate of their loved ones.

“One hundred and two years on, Titanic still fascinates people.

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I hope that through Maggie, readers will experience the Titanic disaster, and her lasting legacy, from a perspective they might not previously have considered.

“The Girl Who Came Home tells the story of Maggie Murphy, a young Irishwoman who leaves Ireland and the man she loves to start a new life in America with her aunt. Along with twelve others from a small parish in rural Ireland, they travel on RMS Titanic. Seventy years later, Maggie confides in her greatgranddaughter, Grace, sharing her experience of the traumatic events of April 1912.

“From the outset, I was clear that I wanted to explore the experience of a third class passenger. We know plenty about the opulence of the ship and of the wealthy Americans who travelled in first class, but very little about the poorest of Titanic’s passengers, many of whom were leaving their homes and family in the hope of finding a better life in America. I felt that it was these ordinary people who had the most extraordinary stories to tell.

“Living in Ireland, I was especially keen to understand more about the Irish passengers who travelled in steerage and boarded Titanic in Queenstown, County Cork. In survivor records, I discovered the name Annie Kate Kelly, which led me to the story of the Addergoole Fourteen – a group of Irish emigrants (friends and relatives), who sailed together on Titanic.

I knew immediately that this group would form the inspiration for my novel.”

A name on a record provided the kernel from which Gaynor’s story grew and flourished, whereas for Kristen Harnisch, the birth of her novel began with a visit: “The inspiration for The Vintner’s Daughter (HarperCollins Canada, 2014) came to me in a flash.

In October 2000, I was standing on the edge of a Vouvray, France vineyard, marveling at its pristine rows of Chenin Blanc grapevines and its ancient limestone caves. ‘This,’ I thought, ‘would be the perfect setting for a novel.’

“Questions flooded my mind as I toured the Loire Valley cellars. Why have these families chosen to make wine for centuries? How do they create fine wine and what obstacles do they face? Although the winemakers answered many of my questions, once I returned home, I wanted to learn more about the history of the wine trade in California. I delved into French and California wine history books, read years of nineteenthcentury trade papers such as The Pacific Wine and Spirit Review, consulted a master winemaker, reviewed old maps and photographs at The Napa County Historical Society and toured several family-owned Napa vineyards. I was fascinated by what I discovered.

“Every bottle of wine contains nearly three pounds of grapes and the vulnerability of this fruit is striking: over the last century and a half, grapes have fallen victim to pests, rodents, frost, mildew and Prohibition in the United States. Still, with a precise blend of hard labor, science and art, winemakers continue to perfect the wines that fill our glasses.

“I knew that my heroine, Sara Thibault, had to possess a winemaker’s passion and grit. Even when she’s attacked, in the midst of her fear she finds her fury — that deep-seeded sense of self that lashes out in defiance. For every woman who has ever been assaulted, I needed Sara to fight back with all her might — and win. From this scene on, although Sara endures many moments of terror and doubt, she remains determined to prevail.”

Judith Starkston’s inspiration for Hand of Fire (Fireship Press, 2014) “arose from silence and a question. The silence was Briseis’s — the captive woman Agamemnon and Achilles fight over in the Iliad. Homer devotes only a few lines to this pivotal woman, and I wanted to know her side of the story. In my read, the one thing we learn from Homer about Briseis is that there is a mutual love between Achilles and Briseis. How can Briseis love the man who destroyed her city, reduced her from princess to slave, and killed her husband and brothers? It can’t be an ancient version of Stockholm Syndrome. Achilles is a conflicted, halfimmortal hero, a warrior who questions the value of war — a man who ponders the purpose of life. He’s not a brainwasher even if he is a mess emotionally.

“So I went hunting for an historical Briseis. The Bronze Age world around Troy and further to the east with the sister civilization of the Hittite Empire has been literally unburied during the 20th century and the huge cuneiform libraries of clay tablets that so compellingly portray this world didn’t appear in translation in significant numbers until recently. It’s the perfect time for a classicist turned historical novelist to find Briseis.

“In the dry and dusty clay, I found a living woman and the details of her daily life. Contrary to the oppressed women you stereotypically expect to meet in the ancient world, many of these tablets were written by powerful women, priestesses and queens who served as healers and intermediaries with the gods.

The mythic tradition says Achilles also trained as a healer and he was a singer of tales, as were these women in their rites.

From this clay-stored history, I imagine Briseis as one of these women, strong enough to challenge the greatest of the Greeks.

I discovered from the tablets that she had enough in common with Achilles to bind them together — if I mixed in some circumstances that helped her overcome her emotional pain.

I hope I’ve created an historically believable Briseis in a fastmoving tale that finally gives this mysterious young woman a voice the epic tradition denied her.”

Alix, Briseis, Maggie Murphy and Sara Thibault are all examples of how one tiny seed of inspiration can germinate and grow into powerful characters and engaging novels. They have all been “salvaged,” in Evans case from her “dressing-up box days,” but also from all the rich and unexpected coincidences and events that these debut novelists have experienced, which have enabled them to create a diverse range of new historical fiction to delight and entertain us.

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MYFANWY COOK would love for you to tell her about any exciting debut novelists you discover. Please do email (myfanwyc@btinternet.com) or tweet (twitter.com/MyfanwyCook).

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Kristen Harnisch, Natalie Meg Evans, Hazel Gaynor & Judith Starkston

HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Columns | 5

great-niece, Elizabeth Murray, and at their palatial estate near London, Kenwood House, Dido spent her formative years in a & world of privilege and comfort as a companion to Elizabeth. A portrait of the two young women has drawn much scrutiny, as BELLE: GEORGIAN RACE RELATIONS ON A it is one of the few from the period to show a person of color in PERSONAL & SO CIETAL SCALE equal status with a white sitter. As Amma Asante, Belle’s director, noted, “For centuries, black people were basically accessories in ’ll admit it upfront: I’m a sucker for just about any kind paintings, there to express the status of white people. I knew this of period piece, especially if it’s a textile feast for the eyes, was something very different.”2 which, from the trailers I’d seen, the British film Belle In Asante’s film, Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) exists in a sort promised to be. An even more shocking admission: there is of limbo – she is loved and respected by her kindly uncle, Lord something about a man with a well-turned calf in 18th-century Mansfield (portrayed to perfection by the inimitable Tom garb – just does it for me. (If I cast back into the dark psychological Wilkinson), and is treated as an equal within the insular family. recesses of my formative years, there may be some connection But when outsiders are present, such as at a dinner party, Dido to nine-year-old Bethany’s crush on Jim Hawkins, portrayed is relegated to eating alone, so as not to make things “awkward” by the ill-fated Bobby Driscoll, from the 1950 movie version for the guests. This duality exists on a number of levels. Dido of Treasure Island.) But I supposedly occupies a digress. lesser social position than Obviously, Belle is more her cousin, Elizabeth than just a pretty frock (Sarah Gadon), due not flick – for all its glossiness, only to the color of her it is a film about race, skin but also to the fact about identity, about that she’s illegitimate slavery. And yet, it is not (and in the film, one a typical slavery piece; the is never sure, from a primary themes deal with social perspective, which the other in the midst of disadvantage is considered the establishment, societal “worse” by those around norms and belonging – her). Dido is, conversely, but the slavery film as it in a far better situation in most often manifests in other ways. She is more America is nowhere in intelligent and discerning, evidence here. Instead, and she is also in a there is much that will superior position from a be familiar to Regency financial standpoint, due romance fans: beautiful to the large inheritance women in gorgeous gowns her father has left Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray on the grounds at Kenwood House, near being put on the marriage London, circa 1779 her. Thus, while Lord market, all the while Mansfield is certain it will hoping “real love” will directly correlate with wealth and breeding prove overwhelmingly difficult to find a husband for Dido and in the form of the perfect husband. One of these beautiful plans to set her up as a kind of housekeeper, as one would a women just happens to be the mixed race offspring of a British spinster aunt, it turns out that her comparatively poor cousin aristocrat. It is almost as if this is a film about slavery…with Elizabeth is the one who has difficulties while Dido is the first no slaves. All such events take place offstage, so it is couched to be offered an eminently suitable match. This match comes in in terms more rhetorical and abstract. As a review in the New the form of a second son of the aristocracy who is willing to Statesman put it, “Belle is a story of race seen from an oblique overlook Dido’s “deficiencies” and is lasciviously attracted to angle.”1 her because she’s “exotic” – both of which he expresses in an The historical Dido Elizabeth Belle was born sometime in the insultingly patronizing manner. In true frock-flick fashion, Belle early 1760s, the daughter of a West Indian slave, Maria Belle, offers the protagonist a choice between suitors: one society’s allegedly taken prisoner from a captured Spanish vessel by a version of what she should want, the other her “true love.” Enter British naval officer, Sir John Lindsay. The result of this union, John Davinier (Sam Reid), a penniless legal apprentice working Dido, was left in the care of Lindsay’s uncle, William Murray, for her great-uncle. Davinier not only sees Dido as an equal, but the Earl of Mansfield, also Lord Chief Justice of England, and possesses a righteous, burning indignation against the institution his wife. The childless couple also had in their care another of slavery, and wishes to open Dido’s sheltered eyes to the truth

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HNR Issue 69, August 2014

The owners made this claim, and when the insurance company appealed, the case went before Lord Mansfield and two other judges.

The historical Mansfield ruled that the insurers were not liable to pay for slaves lost from the Zong, but while Belle portrays this as a sort of death knell for the slave trade in England (to swelling music and Dido breathless in the courtroom), Mansfield was not concluding that the Africans were people and not cargo – simply that the insurers did not have to pay for what he deemed intentional errors on the part of the Zong’s crew. Abolitionists wanted a great deal more – for the Zong’s crew to be charged with murder. This never happened. Mansfield was acutely aware of the commercial devastation that could come from the abolition of the slave trade, but at the same time, he was vehemently opposed to it on moral grounds. He used the law to mitigate it when he could, but it must be noted that, as a man who defined himself first and foremost as a jurist, he did this only within the bounds of English legal precedent. As he stated in another ruling, “The state of slavery…is so odious that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law. Whatever inconvenience, therefore, may follow this decision I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of England.”5 The historical Dido occupied what was has been called “the uneasy social position of one who was neither servant nor gentry,”6 and despite the fiery rhetoric Belle’s screenwriters put in Davinier’s mouth, it is Dido’s personal uncertainty and discomfort that the film truly excels in portraying. MbathaRaw imbues Dido with a sort of intelligent, quiet observation – she watches, listens, and tries to make sense of her place in the world, coming to the conclusion, “I don’t know that I find myself anywhere.” The film allows Dido, with Davinier, to find herself through a straightforward happy ending: the good fight against slavery won, a life of privilege, and a husband who values her as an equal. Things were undoubtedly far less simple for the historical Dido.

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Notes: 1. Gilbey, Ryan. “Race and Sensibility: Belle by Amma Asante.” The New Statesman. 12 June 2014. Available from: http://www.newstatesman.com/ culture/2014/06/race-and-sensibility-belle-amma-asante 2. Diu, Nisha Lilia. “Dido Belle: Britain’s First Black Aristocrat.” The Telegraph. 6 June 2014. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/ film/10863078/Dido-Belle-Britains-first-black-aristocrat.html 3. King, Reyahn. “Dido Elizabeth Belle.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2007.

4. Adams, Gene. “Dido Elizabeth Belle: A Black Girl at Kenwood.” Camden History Review. v. 12, 1984. pp. 10-14.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

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of the world around her. He starts by explaining the legal case upon which her great-uncle is about to sit in judgment. As the film would have it, Mansfield’s single ruling could effectively dismantle the slave trade in England. In point of fact, matters were much more complicated.

The screenplay, of course, presents a simplistic version of events and plays fast and loose with historical fact. Dido was never left anything by her father,3 while Elizabeth was given a substantial inheritance as well as being the first to marry, happily and well.

Dido occupied a less sure place in society; within the Murray family, it appears that she was treated well but, as was often the case with illegitimate family members, as somewhat subordinate.

Outside the Murray family, she was viewed as a curiosity at best, and at worst with hostility. A dinner visitor at Kenwood in 1779 wrote, “A Black came in after dinner and sat with the ladies…her wool was much frizzled in her neck, but not enough to answer the large curls now in fashion. She is neither handsome nor genteel – pert enough. Lord M…calls her Dido, which I suppose is all the name she has. He knows he has been reproached for showing fondness for her – I dare say not criminal.”4 This blatant reference to Dido’s illegitimacy, innuendo, and thinly veiled disdain was shared by many, who questioned the Murrays’ decision to raise, educate, and support Dido in a near-equal fashion to their other ward. Dido even served as a sort of secretary to her powerful great-uncle, a position generally reserved for ambitious young men. But the impact she had on the decisions Mansfield made in court is anyone’s guess. Belle offers one perspective: that Lord Mansfield’s ruling on a case of particular import to the issue of slavery in Great Britain owed all to the influence of Dido. Thus, the approach to the question of race in Belle is two-pronged – there is Dido’s personal struggle to find happiness and her place in Georgian society, and the larger issue of slavery as it pertains to social and economic conditions in Georgian England. I confess, for me, the former was the more engaging and moving, handled in an eminently nuanced manner. To address the latter, Belle focuses on a court case over which Lord Mansfield presided, that of the King’s Bench appeal regarding the slave ship Zong.

In 1781, the Zong set sail with over 400 enslaved Africans onboard, far more than a ship its size was intended to carry.

Two versions of subsequent events exist: 1. Inadvertent navigational errors resulted in the ship failing to stop at port and adequately provision water. In order to save the rest of the “cargo,” approximately 150 slaves were thrown overboard so that the remainder would have enough water to survive the voyage.

2. Due to appalling conditions, slaves aboard the Zong quickly became diseased; the crew knew they would not sell upon arrival, so the sick Africans were thrown into the sea. The crew then came up with the pretext of the water emergency. Ignoring the modern-day nausea provoked by the cruel and intentional murder of 150 human beings, the integral Georgian legal point between these two versions is that, if the first scenario were true, the ship’s owners could claim £30 a head in insurance under the maritime legal principle of “general average” – when part of a ship’s cargo must be sacrificed in an emergency to save the whole.

BETHANY LATHAM is a professor, librarian, and Managing Editor of HNR. She publishes in various scholarly and popular journals, as well as writing for EBSCO’s NoveList database. She serves as Internet Editor and a regular reviewer for Reference Reviews.

HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Columns | 7

commemorating the First World War in fiction

Memory and storytelling, the art of bringing past events alive, are arguably among the most powerful drivers of historical fiction. Recent novels written about the First World War are no exception, conjuring up stories of families torn apart, the chaos and horror of war, the ineptitude of leaders, the longing for home — stories of intense camaraderie, unfaltering duty and heroism. As we mark this year’s centenary, many readers will also return to classics, such as Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy,2 as well as Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong (1993).

The damaging effects of war, affecting both the minds and bodies of those at the Front and the equally destructive forces faced by their loved ones and families at home, are the focus of all of these stories, old and new.3 In The Lie (Windmill Books, 2014) by Helen Dunmore, the violent effects of war are prolonged by an innocent lie. Its fatal consequences form the subject of this haunting and disturbing tale of fresh emotional damage, not on the battlefield but in a small Cornish community. With extraordinary deftness Dunmore dissects the psychological damage of the war and its effects on Daniel Branwell, a former gardener’s boy with an astonishing gift for memorising poetry.

Some shared themes appear, particularly the parallel emotional responses to loss: Daniel’s to his childhood friend and “blood brother,” Frederick Dennis, whose life he almost saves, and Felicia’s to the husband she barely knew. Beyond loss, the author exposes the petty jealousies of a small community amidst post-war social change. When death comes, it appears as a relief, a reunion, while the living are left to grieve once more.

In Wake (Doubleday, 2014) Anna Hope uses a temporal constraint as the guiding thread: the story is set in November 1920, over the five days leading up to the first ever national British commemoration of the “Unknown Warrior,” an anonymous corpse retrieved from France. Hope uses this brilliant conceit to weave together the stories of three women dealing with the aftershocks of war: Ada, the grieving mother; Hettie, too young to have been directly involved but old enough to see the effects of war all around her; and Evelyn, who may finally allow hope to return to her embittered life. How each story touches on the others is wholly unexpected and revealing, and although set three years

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“We will remember them.” 1

after the war, the overwhelming theme of loss is still strong, analysed through the parallel bonds of mother–son, sister– brother, lovers.

Pierre Lemaitre won the prestigious Prix Goncourt with Au revoir là-haut (Editions Albin Michel, 2013). This raw novel paints a gritty picture of postwar French society, focused on its fallen heroes and ignoring or even trying to get rid of cumbersome soldiers who barely made it. The story opens just before the Armistice and concludes a year after the end of the war. In between, the reader follows Albert and Édouard, two unforgettable characters fighting once more for life, friendship, love, and a decent future.

But their efforts are threatened by the shadow of Lieutenant d’Aulnay-Pardelle, a character à la Javert.

More common themes emerge through the waste of millions of butchered lives, the pain and ugliness of emotional and physical injury (as in Édouard’s half-destroyed face), and the greed and corruption of military leaders. The scandalous traffic of corpses and graves is historically documented, although it was covered up by the French government in 1922. An English translation will be published by MacLehose Press in 2015.

Reading a WWI novel — The Russian Tapestry

by Banafsheh Serov (Hachette Australia, 2013) — from the Russian viewpoint is a refreshing experience, and a tapestry is a suitable metaphor for the story that unfolds with characters from the wide diversity of Russian society woven together in war and revolution. After war is declared, it becomes clear that Russian generals cling to outdated military tactics and technologies, and that supply lines cannot cope with the distances involved. To make matters worse, outdated factories cause massive shortages of guns and ammunition. Although the Russian army wins some battles, most successes are quickly overthrown. Then, as workers strike and protesters take to the streets, the plot shifts to actions taken by the Bolshevik party to gain power and end the war. Although this multistranded plotting occasionally confuses, the ending is very satisfying.

In A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith (Random House, 2014), Cora Blake and a group of American Gold Star Mothers cross the Atlantic to visit their sons’ graves.

by Lucinda Byatt, M.K. Tod & Emma Cazabonne

Recent novels...

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written about the First World War are...stories of intense camaraderie, unfaltering duty and heroism.

HNR Issue 69, August 2014

Jacqueline Winspear’s compelling and moving novel, The Care and Management of Lies (Allison & Busby UK, Harper Collins US, 2014), centers on four characters — Kezia, Thea, Tom, and Edmund — bound together by friendship, marriage and war. In June 1914 Kezia marries her best friend Thea’s brother, Tom, and comes to live on the Brissenden farm, which borders Edmund’s sprawling property. Tom enlists with his friends and neighbours, Edmund becomes an officer, and Thea, the suffragette and pacifist, goes overseas as an ambulance driver. Kezia, left to manage the farm, writes poignant letters to Tom sharing imaginary meals with him based on recipes from The Woman’s Book. Lies are central to Winspear’s story. Tom lies to Kezia about conditions; Edmund lies to encourage his men; Thea lies about her pacifist exploits; the brutal Sergeant Knowles lies about Tom sleeping on sentry duty, an offense punishable by death. Amidst the unrelenting horror of war what comforts Edmund, Tom, and others in their unit are Kezia’s letters embodying the taste of love and home.

Louisa Young’s The Heroes’ Welcome (The Borough Press, 2014) spans a period of almost ten years, but the story is firmly anchored in the events of WWI and its aftermath. The title sets up parallels between the women who welcome and the heroes who are welcomed. Nadine and Rose possess the empathy and sensitivity to welcome and love, in the truest sense, those who return, while beautiful Julia cannot see beyond her own needs.

Riley rebuilds his life, breaking through the barriers of horrific facial disfigurement and class prejudice, while Peter cannot “just slot back in,” instead reliving his own wartime horrors night and day, an Odysseus on a becalmed ship. The Heroes’ Welcome focuses on change — the physical reconstruction of Riley’s face and Julia’s emotional growth — yet below society’s superficial changes, its “architecture” remains the same.

These ten novels commemorating the centennial of WWI remind us of the inhumanity and folly of that ‘war to end all wars.’

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Notes: 1. Lawrence Binyon’s well-known poem, “The Fallen,” was published in The Times on 21 September 1914.

2. The trilogy appeared in the 1990s: Regeneration, The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road.

3. This selection of recent books and their themes are briefly examined in alphabetical order, by author.

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We follow Cora, Bobbie, Katie, Wilhelmina, and Minnie along with their ‘handlers,’ a young lieutenant and a nurse on contract to the army. Smith rounds out the cast with General Perkins, a taskmaster, and Grif Reed, a former journalist severely wounded during the war. While early chapters are slow, the pace accelerates when the women arrive in New York, and bits of humour add zest to the story. Verdun is where reality bites, where “instantly they were in a war zone, hardly changed since the battle of 1916” and each woman imagines her son in similar circumstances. At the end, Cora confronts General Perkins: “Wrongs cannot be righted by blood. Happiness can never be the result of senseless deaths. We mothers know.”

Martin Sutton won the 2013 Historical Novel Society International Award for his novel, Paradise Lost. With memorable characters and a fabulous choice of setting — the Heligan Gardens owned by the Tremayne family in Cornwall — this is a great read. Sutton has captured the detail of everyday life, whether at home — seen through the eyes of William Pascoe, the gardener, or Diane Luxton, Jack Tremayne’s niece — or on the battlefront. The disparity of experience on the Front is also brilliantly evoked: the horror of raids, the humour and boredom, even the ghost villages behind the line where William finds unexpected fulfilment as a talented writer. The dominating themes of class, the role of women and profound friendship are artfully incorporated in this extraordinary love story.

With a father and six uncles surviving the Great War, John Wilcox grew up with WWI hanging over his head “like a thundercloud.” His novel, Starshine (Allison & Busby, 2012), centers on two pals: Jim, who earns a DCM for his heroic efforts, and Bertie, who struggles with fear and the slaughter that surrounds them. Both men love the same woman. Beyond the notion of what enables a man to serve with courage, in Starshine Wilcox exposes the futility of so many WWI actions, the routine of trench duty, the nitty-gritty of war, and the way friendships and love kept men going. The novel is a soldier’s perspective on WWI with significant focus on battlefield strategies and tactics and the ‘human machine’ deployed against the enemy. Although some descriptions waver between fiction and nonfiction, the story propels us forward until its emotional and gripping climax.

The Storms of War (Orion, 2014), Kate Williams’s 657-page novel, creates a unique perspective on WWI, that of a well-to-do family living in England and the persecution they suffer because the father, Rudolf de Witt, is German. The story explores class tensions, the suffragette movement, shell shock, war conditions, the hatred of all things German, the nature of courage, attributes of those who excel at war, pacifist activities, homosexuality, and coming of age. While many scenes are very well written, The Storms of War spans too many plot lines and points of view to truly engage.

Visit LUCINDA BYATT at A World of Words, www. lucindabyatt.com. M.K. TOD blogs about all aspects of historical fiction at A Writer of History, www. awriterofhistory.com, and her second novel, Lies Told in Silence, is set in WWI France. EMMA CAZABONNE blogs at Words and Peace, www.wordsandpeace.com and on Twitter, @wordsandpeace.

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four authors on the impetus behind their fiction

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What Seeds the Story?

find the issue of creative triggers fascinating, particularly in relation to historical fiction, when so often the impetus begins with a convergence between the remains of the past and the present lives of authors. How does one spark off the other?

In what ways, often perverse and unexpected, does history continue to resonate by kick-starting the impetus to write?

Four of the ‘greats’ of historical fiction writing today were asked to pick out one specific factor that fired their imaginations and drive to tell a story.

Bernard Cornwell, Lindsey Davis, Alison Weir and Robyn Young each focused on a particular detail, discovery or experience that was a pivotal influence in the writing of one of their novels.

From a family’s place in England’s making, to a bleak mountain pass, to a speculation of murder, to twenty-two galvanised chimney cowls, here are candid insights into what has seeded four wonderful stories.

The family held the fortress from the 6th to the 11th century, despite the Viking invasions and the establishment of Danish rulers in Northumberland, and that unlikely survival of a small English enclave in Danish land was the story I had been seeking.

So the big tale of England’s making is seen through the small prism of a family’s story.

None of us would write historical novels if we did not love history.

I’m sometimes asked if my job is not ‘lonely,’ but writing novels is never lonely. The characters live, you hear their voices and, for a time, share their lives. That is a wonderful experience, a privilege too, and so perhaps the biggest motivation for writing is an addiction to the enjoyment it gives; a joy, I hope, we share with our readers.

Bernard Cornwell

I am asked to be candid: A lot of hoo-ha is talked about creativity. I won’t be reverent. This is my job. If it’s fun, excellent. If I find historical novels more fun than other writing, it’s only like preferring a policy meeting over auditing a sales report. Personal choice. Probably makes you look weird at a promotion board…

My ‘drive’ comes from having bought a house which needs expensive maintenance. I am writing another Roman series because I can do that even while all my research books are in 30 boxes, waiting for shelves. I’m hankering mildly for something different, but without inherited wealth, I don’t have the luxury. I first wrote about the Romans because that sold. Now people want more, so I carry on.

History is not some ethereal fabric to be breathlessly worshipped; it’s only my material in the same way that shopping or lust would be if I wrote chick-lit. Most is background material because what counts are characters and plot.

I believe the less ‘personal’ sharing an author does in a novel, the better that novel will be. Writing as therapy is bunk.

Autobiographical novels only work once or twice. Then you have to invent, so the ‘my divorce last year’ hacks come unstuck; until their next loathsome ex, they have no ideas. Well, not unless

We write what we want to read, it’s that simple. Years ago I looked for a series of novels that would imitate C.S. Forester’s wonderful Hornblower stories, only land-based instead of naval, and never found them, and so Sharpe was born. Other books had truly capricious beginnings; I was reading a hefty volume about crime and punishment in 18th-century Britain and came across a footnote which mentioned the existence of an ‘Investigator’ whose task was to advise the Home Secretary whether or not to grant petitions of mercy to condemned criminals, and I remember thinking that this obscure official was the first detective, and so Gallows Thief was born.

I had long been interested in the AngloSaxons and, specifically, the tortuous process by which England was born, but had no idea how to tell that big story until, in 2002, I met my real father. He had been an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force stationed in England during the Second World War, and I discovered him in British Columbia where he showed me the family tree. ‘It goes back a long way,’ he said, and so it did, all the way to Ida the Flamebearer, who was the Saxon invader who captured the fortress which was to become Bamburgh Castle.

The Empty Throne will be out from HarperCollins in the UK this October, January 2015 in the US.

by Jenny Barden

Lindsey Davis

Ahistorical lot...novels of hoo-ha is talked about creativity. I won’t be reverent. This is my job. If it’s fun, excellent. If I find more fun than other writing, it’s only like preferring a policy meeting to auditing a sales report.

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HNR Issue 69, August 2014

Enemies at Home (Hodder & Stoughton UK, Minotaur US, 2014) is the latest Flavia Albia novel.

Alison Weir

Their affair was the scandal of Europe, and in writing my new novel, The Marriage Game, which tells the captivating, tempestuous, often hilarious and ultimately poignant story of the extraordinary love affair between Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, I wanted to delve deep into the intrigues and mysteries that surround it.

Did they or didn`t they?

The matter has been furiously debated, and as a historian, I have my own strong views about it – but not necessarily the ones reflected in my novels! Elizabeth was famous as the Virgin Queen, but was that merely policy, or a cover for her profound psychological fears of intimacy? The other crucial issue is the fate of Dudley’s wife, Amy Robsart, and this novel offers a dramatised version of my own theory – a theory that rests purely on circumstantial evidence. In a history book one can only speculate so far – but in a novel a hypothesis may be creatively developed and acquire an authenticity of its own. I believe that Amy Robsart was murdered, and this novel recounts how and by whom.

It is a book packed with all the colour and pageantry of the Tudor court, a tale played out amidst the most famous events of the Elizabethan age, culminating with the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Above all it is the story of Elizabeth’s affair with Dudley and the dynamics that enabled it to last for so long.

I wanted the challenge of using the wealth of source material to bring Elizabeth, that feisty, formidable, witty and mercurial woman, to life. I wanted to bring to her story all the research I have done for my nonfiction books on the Tudors. Above all, I want my readers to be able to trust me to use the facts where they exist, and credibly to exercise my creativity where they do not. I have researched Elizabeth over many decades, and was fired by the challenge of portraying her in fiction, getting inside her head and reliving this

most extraordinary and controversial of royal love affairs.

The Marriage Game (Hutchinson UK, 2014, Ballantine US, February 2015) brings Alison Weir’s knowledge of Elizabeth I to vivid life.

Robyn Young

I remember exactly when the inspiration for the Insurrection Trilogy struck. I was standing in a lay-by in the shadow of Ben Cruachan, on Scotland’s west coast. I’d come to this place to climb a mountain and research the last book in my Brethren Trilogy, in which I’d always intended to feature Robert Bruce and his fight for independence.

Cruachan – or rather the narrow pass that curves around its lower flanks – was the site of one of the king’s most audacious victories, years before the confrontation at Bannockburn.

Aiming to capture the castle of one of his Scottish foes, Robert led his men through the pass, but his enemy was lying in wait and sent boulders hurtling down the hillside on top of them. It was one of many examples of Robert coming right up in the face of disaster – and giving it a head-butt.

The battle also serves as an example of just how complex this period is. It isn’t a simple case of Scotland versus England.

There were as many allegiances, familial ties and feudal bonds as there were divisions between the two kingdoms, and both suffered through bitter civil wars during the course of their long conflict. Robert himself is anything but black and white. He shifts and twists his way through the war, switching sides and changing from hot-headed ambitious knight to king in exile, to the desperate man fighting for his country’s freedom, to a ruler redeemed in the eyes of his people.

It was this complexity that attracted me to his story, but as I stood on the roadside looking up at the dark mass of Cruachan with the green mirror of Loch Awe stretching behind me, imagining the boulders thundering from the heights, the screams of panicked horses, the shouts of men, I realised Robert couldn’t just play a role in another man’s narrative. He was worthy of a trilogy all of his own.

Kingdom, the final instalment in the Insurrection Trilogy, was published this June (Hodder & Stoughton, 2014), the month of the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.

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their unknown love-child turns up on the doorstep with a fatal disease and a cute parrot.

If I admit a creative trigger with Enemies at Home it was that in Roman law, when a slave-owner was murdered at home, all the household slaves would be executed. How could I play with that? What if they were innocent? Yes it’s a historical rule from an alien society, but only a foundation for constructing plot, motives, dialogue, jokes.

I’ve turned in 27 books (books people like) by just getting on with it. That doesn’t debase what I write; I have high standards. I can’t muck about. Others can quiver over their creativity, but I need to buy 22 galvanised square (special order) chimney cowls... That’s what I call a trigger.

JENNY BARDEN writes Elizabethan historical fiction set against the backdrop of epic adventures. Her latest book, The Lost Duchess, features the Lost Colony of Roanoke and is published by Ebury Press. Find Jenny at www.jennybarden.com or on Twitter @jennywilldoit.

She is programme advisor for HNSLondon14.

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Hannah Kent on historical accuracy & speculative biography

D espite its bleak subject matter, the reception of Hannah

Kent’s debut novel, Burial Rites, reads like a fairy tale. Initially embarked upon as part of a creative writing PhD, the manuscript languished in a drawer for five months before being submitted for Writing Australia’s 2012 Unpublished Manuscript Award.

After winning the award, Kent received a mentorship with American-based, Australian writer Geraldine Brooks. Published in 2013, Burial Rites has since been shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, the Australian Stella Prize and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Set in the late 1820s, Burial Rites tells the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland. In her final months, Agnes resides at the home of a local government official. Kent’s version of the story is told in Agnes’s first-person voice, and from the multiple, third-person viewpoints of her custodians. It has been described as mixture of ‘death-row novel, Gothic romance, and feminist revisionism,’1 and how an Australian PhD student happened upon the subject is as much a part of the manuscript’s trajectory as the grim legend it conjures.

Kent initially stumbled across Agnes’s story as a seventeen-year-old exchange student. She recalls driving past a valley mouth ‘pimpled with hillocks of earth’ and having the execution site pointed out to her.2 When asked whether the homestay experience informed her depiction of Agnes’s time in custody, Kent is quick to deny the connection. ‘I’m reluctant to compare my situation with that of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, although I understand why some assume my exchange year informed my representation of Agnes’s experiences at Kornsa.’ Nevertheless, Kent has visited Iceland often since her return to Australia.

Whether inspired by her exchange, or subsequent visits, she vividly evokes the cold, the isolation, a strange landscape, and the sense of being an object of curiosity.

In addition to the voices of its characters, Kent utilises primary documents to advance her narrative. Nestled among these is a fictional correspondence between Reverend Jóhann

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Walking the Tightrope

Tómasson, Agnes’s spiritual advisor, and district commissioner, Björn Blöndal. Kent hastens to point out that these letters are rooted in research, drawing inspiration from the letters of other nineteenth-century clergymen. Regarding historical accuracy, Kent is particular, preferring the term ‘speculative biography’ rather than historical novel when describing her work. Asked about the responsibility of assigning motivations to historical characters, she says: ‘As a novelist I don’t have qualms about invention, as long as I’m certain that I have no other choice but to invent.’

Kent spent years researching Burial Rites.

There came a point, however, when in possession of all known facts, she realised she would have to start writing. In a candid article, Kent describes this moment. ‘People speak of the fear of the blank canvas as though it is a temporary hesitation, a trembling moment of self-doubt. For me it was more like being abducted by a clown, thrust into a circus arena with a wicker chair and told to tame a pissed-off lion.’ 3 Hardly surprising for such an ambitious first project, but with success under her belt, I asked Kent how the creative process was going the second time around. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever rid myself of the shadow of fear,’ Kent admitted. ‘That’s not a bad thing.

Doubt can keep the ego in check. It can be galvanising… and while there are many days that I yearn for increased confidence, I think my uncertainty will serve me better in the long run.’

Kent’s next novel will be set in 1820s Ireland. Whether it will enjoy the same fairy-tale run as Burial Rites is not the only matter for speculation.

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Elizabeth Jane works as a librarian, teaches Welsh and blogs at www. elizabethjanecorbett.com. Her short story, ‘Beyond the Blackout Curtain,’ won the Bristol Short Story Prize. An early draft of her first novel, Chrysalis, was shortlisted for a manuscript development award. She is working on a final round of edits prior to submission.

Notes: 1. Etherington, Ben. ‘The real deal’, Sydney Review of Books, November 8, 2013.

2. Kent, Hannah. ‘Keep calm and carry on: an unexpected path to publication,’ Kill your Darlings, April, 2013.

3. Ibid.

by Elizabeth Jane Corbett

As a Novelist... I don’t have qualms about invention, as long as I’m certain that I have no other choice but to invent.

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HNR Issue 69, August 2014

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Beauty

Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Goodwin’s The Fortune Hunter

he loveliest woman in Europe. Such was the burden of TElisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary during the Victorian period. Known to those closest to her as “Sisi,” the Empress was born into the Bavarian royal family and, in 1854, married at age 16 to her cousin, Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria. She seemed to have everything life could offer: wealth, a doting husband, the love of the people, an heir for the throne, and matchless beauty. Yet Sisi was anything but happy.

Sisi’s upbringing had afforded a great deal of freedom, a commodity in short supply at the Hapsburg court. Oppressed by both court ceremony and a pathologically overbearing mother-in-law, Sisi sought refuge abroad.

It is one such journey, to England in 1875 to participate in the Quorn Hunt, which forms the basis for Daisy Goodwin’s novel, The Fortune Hunter.

“I was given a jigsaw puzzle featuring the famous Winterhalter portrait of Elizabeth [sic] when I was a child, and I suppose the image must have imprinted itself on my imagination,” says Goodwin. “Thirty years later, when I started casting around for a new subject for a novel, she came into my head.”

Sisi developed what Goodwin calls a “cult of beauty.” It took two hours every morning to dress her ankle-length hair, which had to be tied to hooks at night to relieve its weight so the Empress could sleep comfortably. Her obsession with tiny waist size resulted in a brutal exercise regimen, tightlacing, and frequent fasting. She was known for wearing masks of raw veal to aid her complexion. “But her image came at a price,” says Goodwin. “She found the aging process very painful. She refused to sit for photographs from the age of thirty-two.” Sisi also possessed a great passion for hunting, and it is one of the novel’s predominant themes: “Hunting was the extreme sport of the nineteenth century. It was a way for royalty and aristocracy to let off steam and escape the formality of their lives. Unusually, hunting was a pastime where men and women were on equal terms. It is clear from the literature that hunting at that time was about the thrill of the chase, in every sense.”

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The Price of

It is the fox hunt which provides an entrée to the Empress for George “Bay” Middleton, a dashing young cavalry officer selected to be her pilot (guide). Goodwin notes that “rumor at the time was that they were having an affair,” and her novel centers upon this incident. “I started off writing about Sisi, but found myself feeling rather restricted by that.” So Goodwin has given the novel a threefold structure – equal page space for Sisi, Bay, and Bay’s fiancée, Charlotte. Goodwin needed to have an “independent” character, and once she “fixed on” Charlotte and “gave her an interest in photography, the whole book started coming together.”

This love triangle is set against Victorian mores, but Goodwin also draws parallels with today’s ceaseless media scrutiny of royalty, comparing Sisi to the former Princess of Wales, Diana. “Both women used and were ultimately destroyed by their love affair with fame. Sisi used her image to great effect, but that is a curse as well as a blessing. She dreaded the moment when another younger, more beautiful woman would replace her.” Though she attempted to travel incognito, this was impossible, and it was her fame which allowed an Italian anarchist to easily discover her identity and assassinate her in Switzerland in 1898.

Sisi’s life held other tragedies, both great and small: she was disenchanted with her husband. She suffered the death of a daughter, and also the death of the heir to the throne, the unstable Rudolph, in an apparent murder-suicide known as the Mayerling Incident. And it is this isolated Empress, whom Goodwin calls “a fascinating character,” which The Fortune Hunter showcases: a complex, exacting woman who nevertheless is tragic in her loneliness and unhappiness – proof positive that the price of beauty can be unbearably high.

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The Fortune Hunter is published by St. Martin’s, 2014, $26.99/$31.00CAN, hb, 480pp, 9781250043894 / Headline Review, 2014, £14.99, hc, 480pp, 9780755348091 Bethany Latham is HNR’s Managing Editor.

by Bethany Latham

Sisi used... her image to great effect, but that is a curse as well as a blessing. She dreaded the moment when another younger, more beautiful woman would replace her.

HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Features | 13

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ADVENTURES ON A “CONSECRATED STAGE” ohn Buchan was always a hard-working man, but his wartime Joutput was absolutely prodigious. He was the director of

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John Buchan’s war novels

network is at the sick heart of the war – something different from the morally neutral soldiering in the trenches. Again, the premise is very modern: the real danger is an extremist planning to use weapons of mass destruction. In Buchan’s hands, ‘contemplative’ does not mean static, and Hannay travels helter-skelter through a number of war-time vignettes, ending with a bravura battle sequence where the British lines almost fail. It is very noticeably a novel with good Germans, with good conscientious objectors, and with a profound wish for peace. It is also a novel that does not shrink from the horrors – from shellshock, from sacrifice, from loss.

Buchan was always surprised at the success of these novels. He regarded his historical novels and work as an historian as a serious commitment. However, his are the only war novels we still read that were actually written during the war. The other war classics – by Sassoon, Remarque, Graves, Hemingway, Ford, Mottram, Williamson etc – didn’t arrive till the mid to late twenties.

Re-reading them in 2014 to my children, I am struck most by the national identities that Buchan draws. Stumm, in Greenmantle, is every bit a Nazi, before the Nazi party was even founded. Blenkiron oozes American confidence, American ability. Hannay, though Scottish born and Rhodesian bred, is archetypally ‘British.’ None of these nationalities has the same identity today.

Re-reading the books in the context of historical fiction, what most strikes me is their optimism. Now we tend to think most about the waste and horror of war. Buchan, writing in the full grip of grief – he lost a favourite brother, and many friends – wrote to give value and honour to the sacrifice.

‘When you realize,’ he wrote in a memoir to his children, ‘what riches of heart and mind, what abounding zest for life, what faithfulness and courage, were bartered for six feet of French or Flemish soil, you will come to think of those years as a consecrated stage in the procession of time.’

a publishing company, lectured, wrote for The Times, and completed a 24-volume History of the War. He also worked for the Foreign Office, and in 1917 became Director of the Department of Information. During the same period, he was operated on twice to try to alleviate agonising duodenal pain.

And while recovering from these operations, and in other patches of stolen time, he wrote the three novels that made his name, and for which he is most remembered: The 39 Steps (published 1915), Greenmantle (1916), and Mr Standfast (1919). ‘It is the most restful and delightful thing in the world to write that kind of stuff,’ he wrote in a letter to Gilbert Murray.

What is fascinating now is the world-view we see in those swiftly-penned but wellinformed adventures.

The 39 Steps, essentially, is about war games. Richard Hannay stumbles across a bizarre concoction of lies and misinformation about the tensions between world powers.

These conspiracy theories melt away, but in the end he is faced with stark realities: the German plan of conflict, and the British plan of defence. He helps protect the latter, but by the time he has done so, there is no relief, because Armageddon has already begun.

Greenmantle is written on the premise of what might happen if the Islamic world were to unite and enter the war as jihad.

The novel suggests this might happen because of a German masterplan, but the idea still seems remarkably modern. In the language of Empire novels, this is the native uprising to end all native uprisings. Hannay, this time assisted by three romantically drawn companions, again foils the plot – but the lasting impression of the book is of a continent at war. This is not just the trenches, it is the home-front in Germany, it is the allies in Turkey and Russia, and it is a game of Empires that will change the world.

Mr Standfast, as its title suggests, is a more contemplative novel.

The motor this time is not conspiracy theory, but spying. A spy Richard Lee is the founder of the Historical Novel Society.

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by Richard Lee

WHAT MOST STRIKES ME... is their optimism. Now we tend to think most about the waste and horror of war. Buchan, writing in the full grip of grief...wrote to give value and honour to the sacrifice.

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HNR Issue 69, August 2014

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a testament in historical fiction

era Britain’s 1933 memoir, Testament of Youth, and the Great V War diaries of nurses such as Dorothea Crewdson, Dame Maud

McCarthy, Enid Bagnold (author of National Velvet) and Sister Edith Appleton1 are a few examples of the well-known accounts written by nurses who treated and cared for the wounded soldiers, many “just dying by inches.”2 Thankfully, nurses from Canada, Britain, America, and New Zealand were all prolific diary keepers, and as a consequence, the true futility and horror of the war was captured forever as a reminder of the inhumanity and destruction war can cause. However, they also recorded the romances that blossomed and have provided many historical novelists with a source of inspiration.

In October 1914, when Katharine Furse took two VADs (Voluntary Aid Detachments) to France, they were restricted to helping in the canteen, but under fire their skills were called on, and they found themselves working as nurses in military hospitals. The provision of nurses from Britain was hierarchical and complex because, at the outbreak of the War, there were so many different groups: Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, the Territorial Force Nursing Service, the Civil Hospital Reserve, Special Military Practitioners and VADs (which also included men), just to mention a few.

By the end of the War, 90,000 women had served in some capacity as VADs, and their role has been highlighted in TV series such as Downton Abbey and The Crimson Field (2014). They were often middle and upper middle class, some were aristocratic and all had to be aged over twenty-three.

In Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms (1929), written a mere decade after the war, the character of Catherine Berkley foreshadows the nurses of many of the historical novels that followed. Their characters and fate may not have been the same, but what they personified was: they were seen not only as healers caring for wounded bodies and minds, but they also represented the love of families, friends and lovers that the soldiers had left behind. Thomas Keneally’s The Daughters of Mars centres on two Eastern Australian nurses, Sally and Naomi Durance, who initially serve on the Archimedes, which is torpedoed, but also in Cairo, Gallipoli, and on the Western Front. Based on the diaries

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Nurses in the First World War of Australian nurses, the story charts the transformation of the sisters: in the beginning naïve Sally does not even know what “shrapnel” is, but by the end her experiences have matured her, leading her to remark, “There are only two choices, you know.

Either die, or live well. We live on behalf of the thousands who don’t. Millions. So let’s not mope about it, eh?”

Other novels featuring nurses have shown the hope that they provided to the wounded. These include Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs, Anita Shreve’s Stella Bain, and Marcus Sedgwick’s Alexandra in The Foreshadowing. These characters all create an authentic atmosphere, while Elusive Dawn

by Gabriele Wills portrays the Canadian nurses’ perspective.

Fatal Decision by Terri Arthur, which tells the story of Nurse Edith Cavell who was shot by a German firing squad for helping her patients to escape, and Jean-Pierre Isbouts’s Angels of Flanders, based on the true story of four courageous women who set up an “illegal” dressing station, illustrate the determination of these nurses to “do their bit.” In a similar spirit, Hemingway wrote: “War is not won by victory,” but by people’s sacrifice. This is a quality encapsulated in the spirit of “real” nurses, women such as Mary Keziah Roberts, who kept working even as the hospital ship on which she served, the Rohilla, sank. Violet Jessop was on board HMHS Britannic when it suffered a similar fate.3 These women and others like them leave behind legacies of courage, determination and skill, which have been enshrined in a growing list of historical novels.

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Myfanwy Cook is a member of the HNR editorial team. She is currently involved a new community heritage project aimed at highlighting history and heritage, https://twitter.com/ TavistockH2014 Endnotes 1. A Nurse at the Front – the Great War Diaries of Sister Edith Appleton (Simon and Schuster) 2. Dorothea Crewdson, Dorothea’s War: The Diary of a First World War Nurse (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) 3. Both had formerly been stewardesses on the Titanic.

by Myfanwy Cook

Nurses...

were all prolific diary keepers, and as a consequence, the true futility and horror of the war was captured forever as a reminder of the inhumanity and destruction war can cause.

HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Features | 15

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Helen Rappaport on synergies and gaps between fiction & nonfiction

A s readers of HNR will know, a good historical novel can

do a number of things. For example, it will provide clarity and shape to a period of history which might otherwise appear chaotic or confusing. Most importantly, however, it will provoke an emotional response from the readers, helping them to truly understand the people peeping out at us from the historical record.

Helen Rappaport, historian and author, agrees that writing historical fiction has helped her now that she has returned to nonfiction with Four Sisters, her biographical account of the lives of the last Tsar of Russia’s daughters: “Writing Dark Hearts of Chicago was a fascinating and challenging experience, and I learned a lot from it about narrative and structure, which has certainly informed the way I write history. I love writing history as story — not making it up, I hasten to add, but giving the narrative pace and impetus and cross-cutting scenes in perhaps a novelistic way.

“I wanted, with a passion, to tell the story of those four lovely, much photographed but historically neglected sisters,” she continues.

“I was haunted by the story and the girls, in particular, had been constantly in my head since I visited Ekaterinburg… [it] left an indelible impression on my mind and my creative imagination.”

Rappaport draws the reader into the lives of Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia (often known by the collective sobriquet ‘OTMA’). Indeed, this is a story with as much dramatic interest and emotion as any novel. To date, the stories of the sisters’ lives have been largely untold, the focus of historians primarily on their parents and brother, the girls coming into the story seemingly only to add pathos to the accounts of the family’s group murder in a cellar in Siberia in 1918.

This meticulously-researched biography does much to redress the balance, vividly illuminating their shared experiences: their sheltered upbringings, their suppressed, yet passionate love affairs, and their work as nurses and fund-raisers during the First World War, followed by their harrowing executions. What comes through is Rappaport’s interest in each of the girls as individuals. She says: “I have, at some point…had great affection

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FOUR SISTERS

for all of the sisters in turn, for one reason or another. I loved Olga for her sensitivity and vulnerability; Maria for her softness and kindness and care of others; and Tatiana for her devotion and stoicism during the war years. Anastasia of course could be a very seductive personality at times; at others I found her irritating and too egocentric…I can’t honestly say I have a real, clear favourite. Though Tatiana, of all of them, remains for me the most compelling and enigmatic.”

Despite the strides forward made in understanding the girls, it is clear that Rappaport remains frustrated by the limitations of her sources:“We don’t honestly know what they really thought about the people in their entourage and inner circle, and I found that frustrating. Their mother trained them always to be guarded in their letters and personal comments — even their diaries are very restrained and largely unrevealing.

I wish I knew what the girls really thought about the men they met — especially those for whom they seemed to have a soft spot or indeed loved… And did they ever really quarrel and fall out with each other? How aware were they of their desperate situation at the end? I sense that Olga anticipated something terrible happening; but what of the others?”

When I ask, however, Rappaport denies wanting to go one step further and to write the story of the sisters as a novel: “I was never ever tempted to look at my history subjects in novel form because, for me, real people and real lives are always so much more compelling. The truth is, indeed, always stranger than fiction.”

Despite the gaps in our knowledge (and they are the sort of gaps that could only be filled from a novelist’s imagination, or from the people themselves), this is a story that compels and fascinates, without the need for further elaboration. The stories of these girls’ lives really do stand by themselves.

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Charlotte is a reviewer for the HNS. The ‘beautifully crafted opening’ to Charlotte’s first historical novel, The Lady With an Ermine, won the 2014 Faber Academy’s creative writing competition. She’s currently writing the rest of it.

by Charlotte Wightwick

I WAS NEVER TEMPTED...

to look at my history subjects in novel form because, for me, real people and real lives are always so much more compelling.

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HNR Issue 69, August 2014

Reviews |

online exclusives

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Due to an ever-increasing number of books being reviewed and space constraints within HNR, many reviews are now published as online exclusives. To view these reviews and much more, please visit http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/ reviews/?type=online

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biblical

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IN THE FIELD OF GRACE Tessa Afshar, River North Fiction, 2014, $14.99, pb, 304pp, 9780802410979 The Book of Ruth is a touching Biblical account of piety and devotion, following a young widow who accompanied her mother-in-law into a strange land, adopting her religion and people. In the Field of Grace is a fleshed-out version of that account.

Ruth is a young Moabite woman who is neglected by her own family but finds acceptance and love in Naomi’s household. She marries Naomi’s son, but her happiness is short-lived. Her husband dies. Devastated by the loss of her son, Naomi decides to return to her homeland, Judah. Ruth insists on accompanying her on the arduous journey. They arrive to a hard life of poverty.

However, Ruth attracts the attention of Boaz, one of the wealthiest men in Judah. The romance that blossoms between them is the heart of the novel.

This is Biblical romance, so the protagonists are very noble and sweet. In every conflict, they set wonderful examples to others around them. And yet, even though I was aware of being preached at, the message was so appropriate to the context of the story that it was not intrusive. This is a warm, inspiring love story and a beautiful retelling of Ruth.

Sue Asher THE LAST QUEEN OF SHEBA Jill Francis Hudson, Lion Fiction, 2014, $14.95/£7.99, pb, 384pp, 9781782640974 When the ruling council controlling Sheba can’t decide who to appoint as the new queen, Tamrin, a wealthy and itinerant merchant, is tasked with traveling home to Africa to bring back Makeda, his crippled but beautiful and beloved niece, for consideration. On their journey, Makeda witnesses the suffering of her people and, after her coronation, pledges to improve conditions in her country. Tamrin, much impressed by Solomon of Israel, takes Makeda to Jerusalem to learn how to Biblical — Classical

rule from the great king. While there, Solomon and Makeda fall in love and, against her sacred vows to remain a virgin, she becomes pregnant. She hides the pregnancy and her slave, who is also her cousin, raises her son as her own. Once he is grown, he visits Solomon only to find Israel in disarray and the king a ruined shadow of his former self.

Having long been fascinated by the tantalizing story of the Queen of Sheba, I was looking forward to reading this book. And while the author clearly knows her time period and is able to evoke the sense of the people and the politics, I was disappointed.

Ultimately, I felt I never truly got to know Makeda as a woman because Tamrin, Makeda’s uncle, is the narrator. About halfway through, it hit me that the book was more about Tamrin’s admiration for Solomon than for Makeda, and that her story was traced through the men around her—Tamrin himself and the priests with whom he has long discussions of politics and religion, Makeda’s father, Solomon, and, finally, Makeda’s son. While the book opens a window on an intriguing Bible story, I longed to hear Makeda speak for herself.

Kristina Blank Makansi

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classical

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THE MARATHON CONSPIRACY Gary Corby, Soho, 2014, $26.95, hb, 330pp, 9781616953874 The skeleton of the pre-Marathon tyrant Hippias mysteriously turns up 30 years after the 490 BC Battle of Marathon. When people realize Hippias was murdered on Greek soil, instead of fleeing to Persia as originally thought, every politician running for office claims he was the one who murdered the hated tyrant. Then one girl is mutilated and murdered, and her best friend goes missing. Another man is murdered in the middle of the book for getting too close to the truth. The protagonist, Nicolaos, investigative agent under the employ of Pericles, has to connect all the dots, determine the real assassin of Hippias and the murderer of the first girl, locate the missing girl, and determine the murderer of the other man – while avoiding the attempts of various hired thugs to deter and then eliminate him.

The author’s knowledge of ancient Greece is superb, and the sets and details are done just right to make you feel like you are in ancient Greece – if only it wasn’t for the language, which at times is a bit too modern for my taste, “valley girl,” even. A number of “blue-eyed/brown eyed” contradictions also served to throw me out of the fictional dream at times. However, the plot and the pacing really pick up during the last half, or last third, of the book.

Overall, this is a really well-told story. The recounting of the Battle of Marathon through the eyes of the playwright Aeschylus was the best I’ve ever read and puts you right there in the action. For those who enjoy whodunits set in ancient Greece,

this is highly recommended.

Barry Webb

ACTIUM’S WAKE Ralph Jackman, Knox Robinson, 2014, $27.99/£19.99, hb, 310pp, 9781908483638 Roman Senator and army officer Marcus Rutilius is portrayed, in first person point-ofview, as the perennial loser. The story begins in Egypt with the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra

by Octavian (aka Augustus). Though born to high status, and married, he has no children and possesses no detectable skills, nor any great intellect. As a military officer, he makes blunders that draw Octavian’s displeasure.

In his efforts to rectify his position vis-à-vis Octavian, he makes additional mistakes, causing Octavian to seize all his property, except for his house in Rome, to pay the cost. Each blunder he commits causes him to engage in ever more stupid, outrageous schemes in an attempt to regain what he has lost. As he digs his hole ever deeper, he gets his wife killed and his home burnt down and brings immeasurable pain and grief to those around him.

By the middle of the book I was so ticked off at this turkey that I was hoping someone would go ahead and kill him to put him out of everyone else’s misery. And yet, I found myself wanting to continue reading to see what foolish idea he would come up with next to try to dig himself out of the ever-deeper hole. The protagonist’s one redeeming factor was that he seemed to treat his household help with kindness. In the end Rutilius does manage to exhibit a touch of nobility when he frees his slaves.

Very well researched, the story gives a good feel for ancient Rome and the intrigues that were common. The reader occasionally feels tension and a sense of danger. The writing is tight and fastpaced. Recommended.

Barry Webb SPARTANS AT THE GATE Noble Smith, Thomas Dunne, 2014, $27.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250025586 The Peloponnesian War has begun, and the city of Plataea is besieged by an encampment of Spartans. Athens, Plataea’s ally and Sparta’s principal enemy, is unable to send troops, so Nikias, a young Plataean warrior, defies his grandfather— the famous Arkon of the city—and rides to Athens with a bag of traitor’s gold and a half-baked plan to hire a band of mercenaries. At Nikias’s side rides Kolax, a fearless young Skythian with a talent for riding fast and shooting his arrows with dead-eyed accuracy. Needless to say, the two run into trouble before they even reach Athens and, once there, the political and romantic intrigues of the big city derail their plans and nearly get them both killed.

Spartans at the Gate is the second in Noble Smith’s Warrior Trilogy, and the action picks up right where it left off in Book I, Sons of Zeus.

In Smith’s hands, the adventures of Nikias and Kolax, as well as the fascinating characters left HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 17

back home in Plataea and those they meet in Athens, are exhilarating and packed with plenty of twists and turns. The pacing never slackens and the descriptions—whether of gruesomely realistic battle scenes or passionate lovemaking—put the reader in the moment. Smith clearly knows his history and is able to weave both big themes and minute details into a seamless narrative while at the same time offering large doses of levity that make you care about the each character. I’m looking forward to Book III. Kristina Blank Makansi HAND OF FIRE Judith Starkston, Fireship, 2014, $18.50, pb, 330pp, 9781611792959 In Hand of Fire, Judith Starkston frees Briseis from the actions of Achilles and Agamemnon and gives her the power to become the heroine of her own story. Briseis, like her mother before her, is the healing priestess of Kamrusepa and is betrothed to Mynes, the arrogant, hot-headed son of the king of Lyrnessos, ally of Troy. When rumors of Greek raiding parties arrive and with war looming, Briseis and Mynes wed, and Briseis’ worst fears are confirmed when her husband brutalizes and demeans her. But when war actually does come, Mynes’ father commands him to stay home and guard the city. When Achilles leads a raiding party to Lyrnessos, Mynes foolishly opens the gate and rushes out to fight, only to be quickly slain by Achilles himself. With the city destroyed, Briseis steps up to protect her one remaining brother, a fellow healer, and, with her bravery and beauty, captivates Achilles, who claims her as a war prize.

Although the story quickly picked up speed, I found the first few chapters a bit repetitive to the point where I wanted to say, “Okay, I get it. She’s a healing priestess serving a healing goddess just like her mother.” But the editorial nitpicks were easily set aside as Starkston does a lovely job of bringing the characters to life, and her descriptions of the religious rites, the scenery of Mount Ida, and life as a woman of privilege in the ancient world put me firmly in the story. The love story between Briseis and Achilles is well-rendered, as are Briseis’ relationships with her father and brothers, her nurse, and the other women in the city and in the camp. A wonderful new take on a timeless story.

Kristina Blank Makansi

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1st century

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THE ADVOCATE Randy Singer, Tyndale House, 2013, $24.99, hb, 496pp, 9781414391304 As a young assessore serving as legal counsel to Pontius Pilate, Theophilus comes up with a brilliant way to avoid crucifying an innocent man: “Offer to release Barabbas,” he tells his boss. But the strategy backfires, and Theophilus never forgets his role in Jesus’s death. Decades later he has an opportunity to make amends when a Roman citizen and disciple of Jesus stands trial before the deranged Emperor Nero.

Theophilus—unlike his client Paul of Tarsus— did not need to hear the Good News to be a good man; he used his position and his talent 18 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 69, August 2014

for rhetoric to help the wronged from within the system, dutifully honoring the Emperor and his pagan gods all the while. When his beloved Rome begins to fall apart around him, the message of Christ (summarized for him in writing by a visiting physician named Luke) sustains him and gives him purpose.

Setting aside the Christian theme, this is a solid mainstream novel of 1st-century Rome. I only wished for a few more details and historical quirks of the Roman legal system; the trials are sharply told but feel more like an open debate than a formal trial. Singer presents his Christian characters simply and honestly, as a counterculture united by a radical ideal of love. In his telling, the rapid spread of Christianity in Rome owes as much to Nero’s depravity and the self-destruction of Roman society as it does to the message itself.

Richard Bourgeois

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2nd century

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TABULA RASA Ruth Downie, Bloomsbury, 2014, $26.00/ C$30.00, hb, 352pp, 9781608197088 From the first book in Ruth Downie’s Gaius Ruso series, I fell in love with the gruff but goodhearted Roman medical officer who just can’t seem to avoid getting tangled up in murders despite his best intentions. This sixth installment doesn’t disappoint. From the opening scene – a literal cliffhanger (albeit with a twist) – Ruso is pressed into service once again to save the day in the midst of a hornet’s nest of political machinations between the Romans and the Britons.

On the borderlands of Britannia, the Romans are building Hadrian’s Great Wall, and Ruso spends his time patching up the myriad bumps and bruises of the construction workers. Meanwhile, his wife Tilla, a native Briton who has her own strong opinions about the Romans, tends to the maladies of the locals. Ruso has troubles enough just keeping smooth relations between Tilla and his barracks mates – but then his clerk goes missing, followed closely by a local boy. With a society already teetering on the edge of another rebellion, the disappearances might just be enough to throw the Romans and the Britons back into irreconcilable conflict.

Ruso is that rare detective figure who evolves as a person with each mystery installment, rather than remaining a static character. His relationship with Tilla matures, and his medical career progresses, but he never loses the wry humor and Eeyoreesqe penchant for bad luck that makes his voice so compelling. Admittedly, the sections narrated by Tilla are not quite as captivating, as I never quite broke myself of the habit of seeing Tilla through Ruso’s eyes. But Downie’s attention to detail – both historical detail and human detail – makes this series a joy to read for the mystery lover, the classics fan, or anyone seeking more character-driven genre fiction.

Ann Pedtke

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3rd century

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THE BLACK STONE Nick Brown, Hodder & Stoughton, 2014, £19.99, hb, 475pp, 9781444779097 This is the fourth in Nick Brown’s Agent of Rome series, following the adventures of Cassius Corbulo and his faithful sidekicks Indavara and Simo. For those unfamiliar with the series, Cassius is a Roman centurion in the 3rd century AD, but he is not in the regular line of command, being more what we would call an Intelligence Officer.

He joined the army hoping for an administrative post and claims to hate violence, but as he admits he has been consistently unlucky. The Black Stone is as violent an adventure as its predecessors, although Cassius himself handles a weapon only once.

Like the other books in the series the story is set in the eastern reaches of the Empire, and it centres around the emergence of a religious cult in the Arabian desert which challenges the authority of Rome. The cultists seize a black rock which is considered sacred, and it is Cassius’ mission to infiltrate the enemy camp and retrieve it.

The Black Stone is quite a lot longer than the earlier books, and the author seems to want to plough a deeper furrow. There is more about the relationships between the protagonists and in particular about their religious and ethical beliefs (Simo is a Christian). I am not sure that all followers of the series would welcome this, but they need not fear that the action has flagged. There are plenty of swordfights and action of all sorts, and if you liked the earlier books you will enjoy this.

Edward James

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4th century

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ENCHANTRESS: A Novel of Rav Hisda’s Daughter Maggie Anton, Plume, 2014, $17.00/C$19.00, pb, 448pp, 9780452298224 This is a book filled with magic; sorcery, necromancy, incantations and conjurations abound.

But it is also a story of enduring love. In this second in a series after Rav Hisda’s Daughter: Book One, Apprentice, Hisdadukh, an enchantress known as ‘Dada’, is recently widowed when she meets Rava, a master of the secret Torah, who is destined to become her second husband. In 4th-century Babylonia, after the destruction of Jerusalem’s Holy Temple, Rava and Dada are caught up in court intrigue and rapidly changing times. When Dada discovers that her mother was ‘chief sorceress’, it gives her new motivation to defeat an evil rival and fulfill her mother’s legacy. Becoming increasingly powerful, she is able to glean information from cats and birds, summon Ashmedai, converse with Samael, avert sandstorms and create illusory fire.

Although there is a fascinating story here, it is sometimes hard going because of the abundance of Jewish references which cannot be fathomed from the context. The novel reads much like a textbook at times, and I found my concentration constantly averted whilst I referred to various glossaries and notations. Enchantress is heavily laden with detail and pages of conversation sounding more like people quoting from an encyclopedia than conversing with family or friends. There is a lot to be learned here, however. Rava’s Mishna and 1st Century — 4th Century

Baraita arguments inform the reader of what makes meat kosher, how to brew date beer and conditions which make divorce acceptable. But few of these advance the storyline.

This novel deserves high praise for its meticulous research, creativity and subject interest, but nevertheless I did find the need to constantly renew broken concentration. It made for a less than satisfactory read for someone not versed in Yiddish or in Jewish history.

Fiona Alison

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7th century

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ATONEMENT OF BLOOD Peter Tremayne, Minotaur, 2014, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 978125004600 / Headline, 2014, £7.99, pb, 368pp, 9780755377541 Fidelma’s brother Colgú, the king of Muman, is holding a royal feast. Finally, after months on the road, investigating mysteries and solving crimes, Fidelma, a learned advocate of the courts, and Eadulf are able to attend and to spend time with their little son, Alchú. But when a well-dressed stranger attends the feast, he rushes Colgú, yelling “Remember Liamuin!”, stabbing the king and killing a bodyguard before losing his own life.

As Colgú hangs onto life by a thread, Fidelma and Eadulf start a journey to uncover the hows and whys of this would-be assassin and to learn who Liamuin is or was. Their journey takes them into hostile territory, the land of their arch-enemies, the Ui Fidgente, and to an abbey which holds many secrets.

I have read most, if not all, of the Fidelma books, and it never ceases to amaze me how seamlessly Tremayne, aka learned Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis, interweaves history with fiction, peopling his novels with fascinating characters – some extremely learned, some downright barbarian – and educating us about the Celtic world. I now am also seeing Fidelma deal uncomfortably with the demands of motherhood (Eadulf, I think, feels more comfortable in his role as a father), being torn in different directions by her head and her heart.

She is becoming more complex, more real and I understand her better than I ever have.

This installment of the Fidelma series is by far one of Tremayne’s best outings, and I highly recommend it.

Ilysa Magnus

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12th century

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JULIAN’S CRUSADE M. H. Achmann, Sun Dragon, 2014, $23.99, pb, 630pp, 9780991775897 In 1190, Julian, younger son of the Duke of Montguyon, is ordered to escort Princess Berengaria of Navarre to the city of Messina. She is betrothed to King Richard of England. His journey takes him to Italy, then to Cyprus to meet with the king, who then leads Julian, Princess Berengaria, and his army to the Holy Land to fight the Saracens. Once peace is restored in the Outremer, Julian accompanies the princess home to England, where she is to live with 7th Century — 14th Century

Richard. While traveling through Eastern Europe, Richard is captured by the Germans and held for ransom. Traveling separately from Richard, Julian is mysteriously wounded by an arrow and seeks refuge at a nearby German castle. He is unaware that someone is out to kill him before he arrives back home.

A first time author, Ms. Achmann has written about the Third Crusade with a different approach than many readers may be accustomed to, and as the title implies. Only a small portion of the book actually takes place in the Outremer. Her knowledge and understanding of this era are excellent, blending historical characters, such as King Richard and his wife, Berengaria, with her fictional characters. The culture and politics (holding Richard for ransom) are effectively evoked, bringing this period to life. I found this book a pleasure to read and would highly recommend it.

Jeff Westerhoff

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14th century

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A TRIPLE KNOT Emma Campion, Broadway, 2014, $16.00, 480pp, 9780307589293 A Triple Knot chronicles the life of Joan of Kent, a 14th-century English beauty famous for her three marriages, the last making her the first Princess of Wales. Joan’s childhood was turbulent; her father was executed for treason, which resulted in her being raised at the court of her cousin, King Edward III. Since she was a Plantagenet, her marital prospects were constantly debated until Joan secretly married Sir Thomas Holland. The

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lovers were split apart by the Hundred Years’ War and family machinations as Joan was married off to another. She was able to reunite with Thomas only after the pope intervened.

When Thomas died, Joan was left a young widow with four children. She turned to her cousin’s son and heir, Edward, Prince of Wales.

Previous novels depicting Joan’s life have her being in love with Edward from the beginning. But since Joan asked to be buried by her beloved Thomas, Campion postulates that he and not the prince, was Joan’s only love. The concept is compelling.

The novel spans twenty years of Joan’s life, and yet the most interesting parts come after the book’s conclusion. While Edward never assumed the throne, his son with Joan was crowned Richard II. For years she helped him rule as England went through the Peasants’ Revolt and continual outbreaks of the plague. Joan was obviously a very strong-minded woman, but she is rendered as a naïve, easily manipulated girl throughout the novel.

The Prince of Wales is depicted as a sociopathic, self-indulgent child who lashes out when his desires are thwarted. The only character who shines is Thomas Holland, who fights valiantly for Joan even though she does not deserve him. Despite these flaws, history lovers will enjoy this interesting look at an often forgotten time in England’s history.

Caroline Wilson KINGDOM Robyn Young, Hodder & Stoughton, 2014, £16.99, hb, 484pp, 9780340963708 Scotland in the 1ate 13th and early 14th centuries was firmly under the heel of England’s King Edward 1, who was not called the Hammer of the Scots for nothing. Kingdom is the third book

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Karen Maitland, Headline Review, 2014, £12.99, pb, 661pp, 9781472215017 Set during the time of the Peasants’ Revolt, this novel expertly weaves different strands and plots together to create a satisfying and fascinating whole. The book is centred around the enigmatic figure of the Widow Catlin, who worms her way into the affections of local wool merchant Robert of Bassingham; she brings along her son and her small innocent-seeming young daughter to join the family.

All is not as it seems, however, and tension quickly mounts. The famous revolt of 1381 plays a vital part, and the reader feels in the thick of it, hearing the screams and smelling the blood and fire as property is destroyed and nobles attacked. The narration switches focus from this family to the servants, Beata and Tenney, and from them to a poor river boatman family, whose son Hankin runs away to join the rebellion. There is also narration from a ghost, which sounds strange but seems to work in this heightened atmosphere of superstition, witchcraft and nefarious plots.

The reader is completely immersed in the medieval world, and the novel is very well researched. At the back there are historical notes, a timeline and a glossary to help with the more obscure medieval terms. It is a very good sign when you really don’t want a novel of nearly 700 pages to end, and I recommend this chunky offering unreservedly. Not to be missed by any lover of medieval fiction, and even better than previous offerings, Company of Liars and The Owl Killers.

Ann Northfield HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 19

in a trilogy narrating the battles the Scots fought to regain their independence after the death of Alexander III left them without a clear heir to the Scottish throne. This final part of the story deals with the wilderness years after Robert Bruce’s coronation, through to the victory of Bannockburn in 1314, the subsequent ruling by the Pope recognising Bruce as the rightful King of Scotland, and the Treaty of Edinburgh, when Scotland was finally recognised as a sovereign state once more, 32 years after the war was begun by Edward 1.

The intervening years between Bruce’s coronation and Bannockburn were brutal for the Scots, and Robyn Young has admirably described this time and the hardships suffered by both the supporters of Bruce and the common people. Most of the characters are the real people of the day, and their stories are well documented, but the few minor fictional characters blend in well with the story. Although the author has admitted to using some poetic licence to help the story along, the main theme is accurate enough.

Although I know the events of this struggle well, I still found it a fascinating book and would recommend both it and the first two in the series to all who are interested in this period of medieval history.

Marilyn Sherlock

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15th century

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KINGMAKER: Winter Pilgrims Toby Clements, Century, 2014, £16.99, hb, 551pp, 9781780891699 At the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, we meet Sister Katherine, a nun from Lincoln Priory. On the other side of the dividing wall, in the monastic section, lives Brother Thomas. When Sister Katherine is attacked by outlaws outside the convent walls, Brother Thomas comes to her rescue, but the fact that the two have met and spoken to each other means trouble for both. They are forced to flee and decide to head for Canterbury, travelling by sea from Lincoln to the Kent coast, but the boat they are travelling on ends up in France. They find themselves in the service of the Duke of York and the Earl of Warwick. Katherine disguises herself as a boy and now goes by the name of Kit. The story follows their lives from France back to England, where they get caught up in the developing Civil War. I found this to be a totally engrossing story, and it was refreshing to hear it told from the point of view of ‘ordinary’ people rather than concentrating on the nobility and the few men who controlled most of England at that time. The characterisation is good, and I really felt for the two main characters and wanted them to succeed. My only real criticism is that some of the events were described in too much detail. I understand that this is Toby Clements’ first novel, and it shows. His research is extensive, but he seemed to want to pass on every detail to the reader. That said, it is a thoroughly gripping read, and I shall look for more from this author.

Marilyn Sherlock WARS OF THE ROSES: Stormbird 20 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 69, August 2014

Conn Iggulden, Putnam, 2014, $27.95, hb, 496pp, 9780399165368 / Penguin, 2014, £7.99, pb, 544pp, 9780718196349 In this first of an anticipated trilogy, Iggulden turns his attention to the two powerful noble houses with potential claims to the English throne.

Lancastrian Henry VI ascends the throne when he enters adulthood. Completely unlike his father, Henry V, he is meek, mild, pious, sickly, often disoriented and weak-willed. To avoid another war with France, Henry’s advisors (here, read, primarily Derihew Brewer, an entirely fictional character and a tour de force), upon whom he is entirely dependent, strongly urge the king to enter into a secret truce with France, trading English holdings in France for a royal bride, Margaret of Anjou. Richard, Duke of York, and his followers see Henry’s decision as an opportunity to oust the ineffectual king. Rebellions break out; Henry’s reign is shaky if not nearing collapse, and often the young Margaret must step in to make crucial decisions.

Filling his novel with the violence of the times, Iggulden does not make an effort to “pretty up” the Middle Ages. As a woman reading Iggulden for the first time, I was struck by how gritty and masculine Iggulden’s narrative is, how even Margaret – a naïve 14-year-old at her marriage to Henry – is, within a fairly short time, masculinized. At the same time, Iggulden portrays her as a doting, loving wife who is protective and motherly. There are really no other women in this narrative, save briefly York’s wife, Cecily, who, like her husband, is tough and calculating. Other than the fact that these female characters get pregnant, there is nothing feminine about them.

I don’t know that this is a failing on Iggulden’s part, because the times were what they were, and his goal is to set the stage for the raging rivalries between the houses. This is a page- turner for sure, and I’ll continue to read the series.

Ilysa Magnus THE GOLDEN WIDOWS Isolde Martyn, Harlequin MIRA Australia, 2014, Au$29.99, pb, 400pp, 9781743568743 In the aftermath of the second battle of St Albans, two young noblewomen find themselves widowed. One is Katherine Neville, widow of the callow and unfaithful youth William Bonville.

Despite bearing a daughter, she has never been aroused in the marriage bed. The other, Elysabeth Woodville, is the widow of the much loved John Grey. After her husband’s death, she finds herself bereft and on the losing side. As Katherine seeks to raise her daughter, she is haunted by her husband’s infidelity. When her cousin, King Edward, offers her in marriage to the handsome Lord Harrington, she is wary of being humiliated a second time.

Elysabeth, on the other hand, is beautiful but landless. Ejected from her manor, and forced to live under the roof of her parents, she plots to win back her son’s inheritance, little realising the ploy will also bring her a crown.

This densely researched historical romance, set between 1461 and 1464 against the turbulent backdrop of the War of the Roses, is told in the alternating third-person points of view of its female protagonists. In terms of history, the households, foods and customs, women’s clothing, travel and

legal entitlements are all produced in loving detail.

The battles and their consequences are also well described – though at a distance, befitting the purposes of the narrative. Due to the necessary set up and its parallel storylines, the romances are slower to get started than in the average Harlequin novel (though Martyn gives her romance readers some flirtation and an ill-conceived proposal to spark their interest). I also found the relationship between Kathryn and Lord Harrington more satisfying than that of Elizabeth and the King.

But if you like your history spiced with handsome men, feisty heroines, strong sexual attraction, witty repartees, lavish costumes, impossible dilemmas and ultimately love and marriage, The Golden Widows is the book for you.

Elizabeth Jane Corbett

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16th century

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QUEEN ELIZABETH’S DAUGHTER Anne Clinard Barnhill, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014, $15.99, pb, 371pp, 9780312662127 When she is orphaned as a young child, Mary Shelton becomes the ward of her cousin, Elizabeth I. Enchanted by the girl, Elizabeth raises Mary as her daughter. Sir Robert Dudley plays the role of father, fulfilling Elizabeth’s desire for the family she knows she will never have. Mary grows up to be fiercely intelligent, sweet and beguilingly beautiful, and gains the admiration of many in the court. Elizabeth hopes to make a good match for her charge, a noble man or a prince perhaps, but Mary has other ideas. She wants to marry someone she truly loves. Unfortunately her true love, Sir John Skydemore, isn’t even close to meeting the qualifications that Elizabeth has in mind. He is a widower with five children, very little money and is only a minor knight – but most damning is he is a Catholic. Mary is forced to decide whether to follow her heart and marry Sir John or to obey her Queen and the only mother she has ever known, and accept a more suitable marriage for her status.

Barnhill’s story is fast-paced and engaging. Her description of the court, its feasts, and the fashions of its players are sumptuous and will delight fans of the Tudor period. Mary and John are appealing characters, and their love story is charming. The only character who does not shine, unfortunately, is Elizabeth, who is portrayed primarily as a bitter and vindictive queen as opposed to the multifaceted character readers might expect. Overall, however, readers will be pleased with this new take on the Tudor story.

Janice Derr MURDER AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY Amanda Carmack, Obsidian, 2014, $7.99, pb, 297pp, 9780451415127 Red-headed women are being murdered – two in brothels and one at the court of Elizabeth I. The possibility that this could be a threat to the newly crowned red-headed queen has Elizabeth and her protectors worried. The queen is concerned enough to enlist the services of Kate Haywood, a 19-year-old court musician who solved a murder in the first mystery in this series (Murder at Hatfield House). Kate adores her queen, crediting Elizabeth 15th Century — 16th Century

with “supernatural powers of observation.” They decide to solve the murders together with Kate doing the legwork, including a visit to a Southwark brothel. Robert Dudley assists her investigation at one point. Other characters include the sisters of the executed nine-day queen, Jane Grey.

In a note before the book, the author identifies Kate as her BFF. The author’s affection for her main character helps give the story a positive tone in spite of a gloomy atmosphere of madames and murders. The mystery is difficult to unravel, and most readers will be surprised at the end, but in looking back, the clues are reasonably fair.

James Hawking AN AIR OF TREASON: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery P.F. Chisholm, Poisoned Pen Press, 2014, $14.95, pb, 321pp, 9781464202223 This, the sixth book in the Sir Robert Carey mystery series, recounts the adventures of amateur sleuth Carey, the youngest son of Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon, Elizabeth I’s Lord Chamberlain and half-brother. In this tale, Carey is ordered to reopen a 30-year-old mystery: the murder of Amy Robsart, wife of Elizabeth I’s paramour Robert Dudley. The shadow cast from Robsart’s suspicious death ultimately prevented the Queen from marrying her greatest love and now, decades later, the queen is being blackmailed. Carey is given carte blanche to pursue every lead, even those that may prove inconvenient for the feisty monarch.

The level of period detail on everything from food to clothing and weapons to mercenary soldiering is extremely satisfying – Chisholm fully immerses her readers in the Elizabethan court – but the book focuses heavily on the machinations of the court, and so the mystery is treated as a rather minor part of the narrative. The many references to Carey’s previous adventures are lost on those who haven’t read the previous books, but Carey is a likeable scoundrel whose misadventures are as full of bravado and political maneuvering as they are sleuthing – a hapless Sherlock Holmes of the 16th century.

Rebecca Henderson Palmer THE MAY BRIDE Suzannah Dunn, Little, Brown, 2014, £12.99, hb, 308pp, 98714008704684 / Pegasus, 2014, $25.95, hb, 352pp, 9781605986302 Narrated by 15-year-old Jane Seymour from the time her brother Edward brings home his bride Katherine, to when, less than three years later, the marriage collapses, this provides an interesting picture of life in the Seymour home. It shows the shy Jane in an unusual setting, before she becomes public property for historical novelists. All the women, and the children, work at a multitude of domestic tasks essential to the family. There are some delightful descriptions of these, and the gardens. Jane’s brothers are shown as they might have been when young: Edward is serious and ambitious, Thomas jealous and mischievous.

The author deliberately uses modern language, which I could accept, but some colloquial expressions, and contractions in the narrative such as ‘could’ve’ and ‘would’ve’, jarred. I also found the overuse, and often incorrect use, of commas, semicolons, colons and dashes distracting. There were 16th Century

occasional scenes where Jane could not have been present, but was told about, which are narrated as though she had been there. The final section, skimming very briefly over Jane’s time attending on the Queen, to her own marriage, was superficial and unnecessary. Altogether a disappointing read.

Marina Oliver SISTERS OF TREASON Elizabeth Fremantle, Simon & Schuster, 2014, $25.99/C$32.00, hb, 448pp, 9781476703091 / Michael Joseph, 2014, £14.99, hb, 496pp, 9780718177089 The tragedy of the Grey sisters is brought to vibrant life with rich historical detail and a strong narrative in this weighty novel by Fremantle. It is set during the tumultuous reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I, and told from the viewpoints of three characters: Katherine Grey, her younger sister, Mary, and artist and Grey family friend Levina Teerlinc. The reader is immediately drawn into the story of these hapless members of the Tudor dynasty. Shortly after the execution of their sister Jane, the “Nine Days’ Queen,” the surviving sisters are alarmed to be summoned to court by their cousin, Queen Mary, who wishes to keep them close. With treachery and intrigue ever-present at court, Levina, at their mother’s request, secures work as a court portraitist to help protect the sisters. The lovely and flighty Katherine, irritating and untrustworthy to both queens, soon becomes a pawn of the Spanish and later a victim of her own desires, while the dwarfish but clever Mary, suffering the disturbing indignity of having to sit in Mary’s lap and later feeling the bite of Elizabeth’s cool dismissiveness, bides her time and finds love in a quite unexpected place. As their fates play out, Levina attempts to settle some problems in her own life.

Fremantle provides an accurate rendering of the unfortunate lives of these Tudor heirs and their times. Her use of the relatively unknown Bruges-born artist Teerlinc as a major character and including her relationship with fellow artist Nicholas Hilliard adds a different perspective on events, as well as an interesting storyline. There’s no denying this family continues to fascinate. A helpful list of characters and a bibliography for further reading are included.

Michael I. Shoop VERDICT OF THE COURT: A Burren Mystery Cora Harrison, Severn House, 2014, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9780727883780 In the latest in the chronicles of medieval Irish judge—“Brehon”—Mara, she keeps up the pace of the previous books in suspense, action, and thoughtful application of the deeply ethical and philosophical law that was the rule in Ireland for many centuries before the subjection of Ireland by the English. Mara is married to one of the greater small kings of the time, and this book opens with Christmas celebrations at the principal court of the king, to which Mara has brought along her usual collection of students. But the holiday turns dire when the court’s long-time—and not wellbeloved—Brehon is found dead at the feast— murdered. Suspects abound, and in the heat of the investigation, rumors fly that the castle is

about to be attacked. The siege and battle scenes are exceptionally exciting, and I’m not a great one for such things, but I was enthralled. Mara faces her greatest ethical conundrum when the actions of her husband, King Turlough Dunn, require her to bring him to judgment in the eyes of the law. A fascinating, continuing look at the heritage of the Irish in law and culture.

Mary F. Burns THE QUEEN’S EXILES Barbara Kyle, Kensington, 2014, $15.00, pb, 340pp, 9780758273246 An enthralling, swashbuckling adventure and romance, The Queen’s Exiles is the latest in Barbara Kyle’s Thornleigh Saga. The action begins on the first page, sweeping the reader into the intrigues of Elizabethan buccaneers as they confront the Spanish on the high seas and in the Netherlands.

The heroine, Scotswoman Fenella Craig Doorn, runs her own shipping business on the island of Sark. After an encounter with the handsome and dashing Adam Thornleigh, whom she has met once before, she finds herself returning to Holland after many years. There Fenella and Adam, even as they fall in love, become entwined in the troubles of the Dutch people as they revolt against the Spanish occupation.

According to the novel, the Spanish incarnate all that is evil; children are disemboweled in the streets and the devout, elderly Duke of Alba spends his nights at a notorious brothel. In the meantime, Fenella discovers that her husband Claes Doorn is still alive and has joined the resistance, which adds to her own peril. Adam must deal with his Catholic wife, Frances, who to his horror is bringing up his children as papists, even as she plots Adam’s death.

Determined to remove his children from Frances’ influence, Adam risks all, even if it means losing the hope of a life with the woman he loves.

I enjoyed the book but was disappointed by the black-and-white approach to the religious squabbles of the 16th century. By portraying all the Protestants as good and all the Catholics as bad, the nuances of character development are lost. Nevertheless, Kyle is a skilled storyteller and leads the reader down many twists and turns so the outcome does not fail to surprise.

Elena Maria Vidal THE MOOR’S ACCOUNT Laila Lalami, Pantheon, 2014, $26.95, hb, 336pp, 9780307911667 In 1527, conquistador Narváez sails from Spain for Florida with an armada of 600 men. His objective is to capture that region for the Spanish crown and become rich and famous like Hernán Cortés. After landing, they decide to divide into two groups: one to sail along the coast to a port, and the other to march northwards onto native Indian lands. The inland unit encounters many hardships.

They have to endure swamps, disease, starvation, and skirmishes with hostile Indians. With dwindling numbers and supplies, they desperately wander for eight years westward, attempting to sight their ships. Eventually the party is reduced to four: three Castilians and an African Moorish slave, Mustafa/Estebanico.

While the chronicle written by Cabeza de Vaca (one of the survivors) narrated the story of the illHNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 21

fated Narváez expedition, surprisingly it contains only a one-line mention of the African slave: “The fourth is Estavanico, an Arab Negro from Azamor.”

Laila Lalami, using the tools of historical fiction, has superbly rectified this omission by penning an account of Mustafa/Estebanico’s experiences.

Furthermore, Lalami – as mentioned in an interview she conducted with Radius of ArabAmerican Writers (RAWI) – had noted certain silences in Vaca’s text with respect to relationships with the natives, particularly women.

This novel explores, through Mustafa/ Estebanico’s first-person voice, the moments of contact and interactions between the Spanish and Indians. The brutality on both sides is evenly recited. The flora and fauna are evocatively presented, as are the lives of the natives. This is indeed a “brilliantly imagined fiction... that feels very like the truth,” as Salman Rushdie has written.

Lalami, an acclaimed novelist, has scripted this book sans quotation marks, a style that feels appropriate for this intimate narrative. In particular, the added glimpses of Mustafa’s Moroccan life and family— to whom he constantly longs to return—make us root for him and turn the pages wishing for their reunion. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani FRIEND AND FOE Shirley McKay, Polygon, 2014, £12.99, pb, 308pp, 9781846972171 Set in St Andrews in Scotland in 1583, this is one of the Hew Cullan Mysteries and is very much a novel steeped in its time. The young King James VI is confined to his castle, and religious strife seeps over the land. Different factions of the Kirk vie for supremacy, and dissension is as dangerous as ever.

The vocabulary can be both Scots and archaic, which adds to the flavour. Thankfully there is a helpful glossary at the back to aid the understanding of words such as “Miniard”’ and “Fazart”. Real historical figures such as the English spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, pop up from time to time and add to the strong sense of time and place.

The mysteries and strange happenings whirl around the town: a tree bleeds and a young soldier dies in unusual circumstances. Hints of witchcraft and sorcery abound. The bishop is misbehaving, and someone seems to know too much about it. The reader is frequently in the dark as much as Hew, but perseverance is important, as the information is drip-fed as the reader goes through the book. The novel is meticulously researched, but newcomers to the series should probably start with the first. I struggled at some points, though, having missed the second and third installments. Fans of C. J. Sansom and Shona MacLean will find much to admire in this gripping mystery.

Ann Northfield TRAITOR’S STORM M. J. Trow, Severn House, 2014, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9781780105406 Traitor’s Storm is the fifth installment of a historical mystery series featuring none other than Kit Marlowe as the heroic inspector.

Marlowe is sent by Sir Francis Walsingham to look into the whereabouts of Harry Hasler, another of Walsingham’s agents, who had been 22 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 69, August 2014

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FLIGHT OF THE SPARROW

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Amy Belding Brown, NAL, 2014, $15.00, pb, 331pp, 9780451466693 In 1676, Mary Rowlandson finds herself face to face with the enemy. Her village is burnt to the ground in an Indian raid, and she is captured and sold into slavery. All her life, Mary is taught that the Indians who inhabit the darkened forest are heathens and sinful. Now, living among them, she sees both the quick brutality and genuine kindness of their way of life. When she is sold back to the English—and her minister husband—she realizes that she has more in common with the ways of the Indians than her Puritan world. She questions her husband, her community, and her God, and is torn between a life she wants and a life she must lead.

In this amazingly written and deeply researched book, Amy Belding Brown delivers 17th-century Massachusetts to the reader with a prose that springs from the page and wraps you in wonder. Flight of the Sparrow showcases the author’s imagination bound by her dedication to historical fact. Her writing engages with a passion and longing as Rowlandson struggles with a life she desires living in the woods with the Indians or reverting to a subservient Puritan wife and mother. As Mary tells her husband, “The truth is… that my time in the wilderness has changed me. Forever.” And so will you be. This is a book for both readers of literary fiction as well as those who love a well-researched work of historical fiction.

Bryan Dumas sent to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, currently under the governorship of Sir George Carey. Marlowe is also taxed with making sure the Isle is prepared for imminent attack from

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Spain. Marlowe, posing as a playwright seeking inspiration, is immediately put on edge upon his arrival on the Isle of Wight and senses that things are not as they appear. His anxiety increases when

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V.C. Letemendia, Jonathan Cape, 2014, £16.99, hb, 598pp, 9780224089395 This is quite a tome at just under 600 pages, but it turns out to be a quick and brilliant read. Laurence Beaumont, impetuous and cynical renegade son of a nobleman, is recruited by the egregious Lord Digby as a royalist spy. Destined to marry a suitable wife to continue the family line, Beaumont is still in love with the clever and beautiful Isabella Savage with her secret link to Digby himself. Can Beaumont trust her? Can he trust anyone? Even his mother has a murky past which, if it comes to light, may destroy the family.

Set during the turbulent year of 1643 when England is plunged headlong into civil war, the shadow of betrayal hangs over everyone. Arch-villain Veech, with his personal vendetta against Beaumont, adds a strong vein of malevolence to the poisonous political disputes that set faction against faction, but he earns a sad though deserved comeuppance in the end. With a full canvas of many minor but essential and continually fascinating characters, Dr Seward stands out as the still point in this whirling brew. Able to scry into the future, he is a warning of greater forces at work than the merely personal.

Mixing historical figures with fictional protagonists may not tell us the truth about actual events after Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham, and the bloody set-piece battles between royalists and parliamentarians are given short shrift, as is that archetype of romantic cavaliers, Prince Rupert, but even so Letemendia vividly evokes the dirt and tumult of 17thcentury London and Oxford. Best of all, she leaves Laurence Beaumont to fight another day. I can’t wait for the third instalment of this skilfully written series.

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Hermione Eyre, Jonathan Cape, 2014, £14.99, hb, 448pp, 9780224097598 The observant reader will immediately deduce that there is something a little unusual about this novel set in 17th-century England if he or she notices that the cover features a portrait of Van Dyck’s Lady Venetia Digby holding an iPhone. Lady Digby is, or more correctly was, a celebrated society beauty. Unfortunately, she worries about losing her looks and figure. She is married to Sir Kenelm Digby – Renaissance man par excellence – explorer, pirate, scientist, bibliophile and mystic. He is a man of many talents who seems to have the ability to unconsciously take ideas, memes and elements of 21stcentury life: lines from modern-day pop songs enter his thoughts and language. Digby refuses to provide remedies to address Venetia’s concerns about her fading looks despite the deep and enduring love for his wife.

Hence she visits a quack who provides the eponymous liquid. Ingredients include the venom of adders plus a liberal dose of opium. It is hardly surprising that Venetia quickly becomes addicted to Viper Wine and the transformation it performs in her self-image.

This brief synopsis of the plot would suggest a rather odd fable. But the story works, brilliantly so. Hermione Eyre imbues the reader in 17th-century life, society and conventions and tells a superb story, whilst taking a swipe at modern day attitudes to perceived beauty and the industry that panders and exploits mostly feminine desires to put off the unavoidable change from the lush ripeness of youth.

Douglas Kemp

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Kelly Gardiner, Fourth Estate, 2014, AUS$29.99, pb, 378pp, 9780732298883 Motherless Julie d’Aubigny is brought up in the palatial stables of Versailles by her fencing-instructor father. He treats her much as any other squire under his tutelage, and Julie lives in breeches and develops into a superlative swordswoman – until the King’s Master of Horse transplants this striking boy-girl to Paris to become his mistress at age thirteen.

Sounds improbable, the stuff of melodrama and costume romance? Well, truth is stranger than fiction in this case. Kelly Gardiner’s novel traces the larger-thanlife career of a real historical personage. In the process, she creates a unique, blunt and quite compelling voice for this gender-bending, swashbuckling, and radically unconventional French opera singer.

As attested by historical sources of varying reliability, Julie runs away with her fencing tutor, falls in love with and abducts a nun, skewers a nobleman in a duel and then conducts a life-long affair with him, becomes a star of the Paris opera, kisses a married noblewoman in the middle of a crowded ballroom and then duels three furious defenders of the maligned woman’s honour, lives in disgrace in Brussels only to become Elector Maximilian Emanuel’s uncooperative mistress, flees to Spain, and eventually resumes her celebrity opera career in Paris.

In short, this is a wonderful story, made all the more gripping for being founded on truth.

Gardiner undertakes to bring this ambiguous and outrageous woman back to life and to furnish motivations, emotional or otherwise, for her actions. She succeeds with flair. The only aspect that reduced my enjoyment was the choice of narrative structure. Julie’s history is recounted in part from her deathbed, and such hindsight retelling largely removes the suspense from the novel. Even so, I wholeheartedly recommend this book as the most exquisitely-rendered historical novel I have read in years.

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he finds that the Isle is not prepared for any attack, much less from a mighty Spanish Armada. Trow skillfully weaves a suspenseful narrative, with tension coming on several fronts combined with a heightened sense of danger from those on the island and those outside.

Unfortunately for Marlowe, many of the islanders are suspicious. Sir George is more concerned with his smuggling than defense.

Lady Carey is suspiciously unfaithful to both her queen and her husbands. The local population is discontent with the governorship of the Isle, and then murdered bodies began to appear with slit throats; of even more concern, they are found with Spanish doubloons scattered around them just as the Armada looms on the horizon. In the end, Trow gives readers a clever detective story set amidst a turbulent historical backdrop and skillfully combines the two into a perfect dramatic storm that a tempest itself could not have torn me from.

Shannon Gallagher

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A PLAGUE OF SINNERS Paul Lawrence, Allison & Busby, 2014, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9780749015275 The hot and plague-haunted summer of 1665 is a very bad time to be in London, but Harry Lytle, former Tower clerk and now King’s agent, cannot bring himself to flee to rural safety – and lovely Liz Willis’ green eyes are as much to blame as his latest case, the grisly murder of an earl with many enemies. But the more Lytle and his partner, the taciturn and pious butcher Dowling, delve into the intricacies of the victim’s life and death, the more opaque and dangerous things become.

And who can be trusted, when trusting the wrong person might very lead to an unsavoury end? With the second instalment in his Harry Lytle series, Lawrence delivers a dark, well-researched, wellpaced whodunit, with a dry narrating voice, and abundant black humour to offset the sense of constant terror and general gruesomeness going with the plague. Recommended – but not for the squeamish.

Chiara Prezzavento THE KING’S RETURN Andrew Swanston, Bantam Press, 2014, £16.99, hb, 373pp, 9780593068908 It is spring 1661, and England awaits the coronation of Charles II in a London filled with hopes for the future. But it appears that England’s enemies are still at work. The murders of two gentlemen raise the suspicion that the reestablished post office is being used in the plans of traitors. The threat of another outbreak of war becomes a possibility. Into this volatile environment comes Thomas Hill, a skilled cryptographer in the capital visiting friends. The king’s security advisor approaches Thomas for help in deciphering coded letters that have been intercepted by the post office.

Yet as Thomas gets to grips with his task, more murders take place and his loved ones are in danger.

He needs to find who is responsible.

This is the third outing for Thomas Hill, and HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 23

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C.C. Humphreys, Doubleday Canada, 2014, C$24.95, pb, 400pp, 9780385679923 / Century, 2014, £16.99, hb, 384pp, 9781780891422 Restoration England is often portrayed as a licentious romp where Charles II and his bevy of mistresses enjoyed an endless party. The end of the brutal civil war that saw Charles’s father beheaded brought about a joyous return to life and art, including a fervor for the theatre, where women took the stage for the first time.

In C.C. Humphreys’ vivid and suspenseful new novel, Plague, the first in a trilogy about this fascinating era, the atmosphere is decidedly darker.

The story is told through the eyes of a traumatized veteran-turned-highwayman, a determined thieftaker dogged by destitution, and a troubled actress lured into a fanatic’s deadly obsession, and Humphreys brings to bear all his dramatic skills on this compelling tale of mayhem and murder. The fetid labyrinth of London’s backstreets is so pungently drawn, you can smell the leavings stuck to your boots, while the advent of the plague that ravaged the city offers a terrifying backdrop to the characters’ quest to unmask a savage killer.

Yet it is the cast itself, whom Humphreys invests with panache and very human foibles, who are the real draw here. These are people huddled on the fringes of society, where life is cheap and no one is safe, not from hunger, crime, or the disease creeping from the gutters like the relentless hordes of rats. Humphreys lightens the intensity with his characters’ warmth and period-flavored quips; despite the danger at every turn, we cannot help but root for these hardy survivors, though we know going in that not everyone will make it out alive.

Humphreys is well known for his talents in the historical fiction arena, and Plague may be his best work yet – a triumphant tour de force that is part adventure, part drama, and full of unexpected thrills.

C.W. Gortner I had not read the first two novels. But with such an exciting premise, I had high hopes for this latest

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instalment. I’m afraid it did not live up to my expectations. A very promising plot with interesting

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Martine Bailey, Hodder, 2014, £13.99, pb, 387pp, 9781444768725 / Thomas Dunne, 2015, $26.99, hb, 400pp, 9781250056917 In 1772 Biddy, under-cook at a Cheshire estate, is forced to accompany Lady Carinna, her new young mistress, to Italy while Carinna’s elderly husband is in Ireland. Given an old book of recipes by her mentor, Biddy collects more recipes on the journey through England, France and northern Italy, and writes a journal. Many of these recipes are included in the book, and very enticing some of them are! Meals are also described, with much detail of the cooking process.

At the Italian villa, which is neglected and strange, Biddy is plunged into mystery and danger, persuaded to impersonate Carinna on visits to a neighbour. Her only friend is the slave from Batavia, Mr Loveday. Their other companions, the courier and Lady Carinna’s companion, plus the lap dog, are far from friendly.

It could have become a mere travelogue, and though the scenery and the food are described extensively, the story is gripping enough, with an intriguing mystery, to make it something much more. Readers can feel the perils and problems of the journey, the sophistication of Paris and the cold of the crossing of the Alps in winter. For a first novel it is very accomplished, especially enjoyable if you enjoy food. Biddy is an unsophisticated heroine with a passion for cooking, something she has absorbed from the author.

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elements such as cryptography is let down with some weak characterisation. There is, for instance, an extremely traumatic event in a female character’s past, but its inclusion feels reduced to a plot device.

Hill himself often appears to be a passive observer or narrator of scenes (particularly action scenes) which slows the pace down and drops the reader out of the story. I also found the portrayal of Josiah clumsily done. For a character to drop an ‘h’ every now and then to help convey his lowly status is fine – but for him to drop it every single time he uses it eventually grates. I am afraid I won’t be reading the other books in the series.

E.M. Powell

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THE PATTERER Larry Brill, Black Tie Books, 2014, $15.00, pb, 341 pp, 9780988864344 London in 1765 is a great place to make a living, especially if you have quick wits and a golden tongue. Leeds Merriweather has both in abundance. He uses his patter—a titillating summary of the day’s events—to sell newspapers in the streets, but yearns to a higher calling. Leeds assembles a team to read—nay, to perform—the news at the Tamed Shrew Tavern, and also provide a crowd to buy the tavern’s ale. The nightly “live news performance” soon fills both the Tamed Shrew’s coffers and Merriweather’s pockets. Then, a dalliance with the Lady Jasper provides Leeds with a shocking news item about the royal family.

Revealing it could mean trouble, but the scandal is too good to resist…

Larry Brill’s The Patterer is a tongue-in-cheek rampage through Georgian London, complete with Benjamin Franklin and Russian spies at the Moose and Squirrel. Brill speaks of the patterer’s life with authority, for he was a TV news anchor for 25 years before turning his hand to fiction. Most historical novelists dread anachronisms, but Brill embraces them with his newscast team of patterers hired for their looks, sketch artists, actors who reproduce boxing matches for the crowd, and Doppler the weather dog. I had a lot of fun with The Patterer, and so will anyone looking for a hilarious read.

Jo Ann Butler THE HIGHWAYMAN’S DAUGHTER Henriette Gyland, ChocLit, 2014, £7.99, pb, 274pp, 9781781890714 1768. Jack Blythe, heir to an earldom, and his wastrel cousin, Rupert, are returning from London when their carriage is held up on Hounslow Heath.

They realise that this efficient young highwayman is, in fact, a woman in man’s dress. The cousins enter into a wager: a hundred guineas to the one who captures the beautiful outlaw, an outlaw to whom Jack is strongly attracted. Cora, the bandit, is the daughter of a former “gentleman of the road”, now very poor and in ill health. She steals for money to buy his medicine but lives in fear she will be caught and hanged and her father will die without her help.

The plot is anything but predictable. Twists and turns involving past adulteries, exchanged infants, and rivalry between cousins keeps the action moving at a fast pace. The 18th-century atmosphere 17th Century — 18th Century

is colourful, from the horror of Newgate Prison to bucolic country life in Hounslow. The novel is packed with well-drawn characters: rich and poor, thief and aristocrat. Cora and Jack are appealing ,and Rupert is a swine. As this is a ChocLit book, romance wins in the end.

Lynn Guest THE LAZARUS CURSE Tessa Harris, Kensington, 2014, $15.00/C$16.95, pb, 338pp, 9780758293374 In 1783 London, American anatomist Dr. Thomas Silkstone is thrust into a world of sorcery and racial prejudice. Entrusted with the specimens recovered from a ship’s scientific expedition to Jamaica, he is compelled to investigate the disappearance of the sole scientific survivor of the voyage. He learns that the doctors on the trip have died in Jamaica; therefore, he has no one to turn to who can help in his investigation. During his search, he learns that a powerful potion that could raise the dead back to life may be part of the cargo.

This book is the fourth in the series of the Dr. Thomas Silkstone mysteries. I wish I had read the previous books, primarily because this novel vaguely refers to the earlier relationship between the good doctor and his beloved Lady Lydia Farrell, which has become quite complicated. This is definitely one of the better mysteries I’ve read recently. The characterizations are excellent, the plots and subplots are fast paced and gripping, while the author places the reader into the thick of the story. This book is an absorbing blend of

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history and mystery. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff THE DEVIL ON HER TONGUE Linda Holeman, Random House Canada, 2014, C$26.95, pb, 544pp, 9780307361622 Canadian author Linda Holeman’s latest novel, The Devil on Her Tongue, is a gripping blend of tragedy and triumph, secrets and revelations, and a confidence that comes from knowing that destiny is not determined by birth but rather by hard choices and perseverance.

Diamantina ten Brink is enjoying a rustic childhood on the Portuguese island of Porto Santo with her Dutch sailor father, Arie, and her Africanborn mother, Estra, when her world is irretrievably altered by her father’s decision to return to the sea and make his way to Brazil. Diamantina’s determination to join him sets in motion a series of choices of her own which transport the reader from quiet Porto Santo to the wine-producing regions of neighbouring Madeira, and finally to the shifting, narrow, streets of 18th-century Lisbon.

Holeman’s novel, the follow-up to her international bestseller, The Lost Souls of Angelkov, presents a well-developed narrative, together with a number of complex characters which demonstrate the consequences which arise from choices made within the pressure, and often bleakness, of a single moment. Her characters are also offered unusual personal traits which keep the novel moving, with her depiction of the former priest, Bonifacio Rivaldo, particularly compelling. Rivaldo struggles

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Syrie James, Berkley, 2014, $16.00/C$18.00, pb, 385pp, 9780425271353 In 1791, fifteen-year-old Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra are visiting Goodnestone Park in Kent to attend the festivities planned by Lord and Lady Bridges to celebrate the engagements of two of their daughters.

One of them is betrothed to Jane’s brother. En route, Jane is helped out of her bogged-down carriage by a dashing young man, Edward Taylor, heir to the neighboring estate of Bifrons. Their meetings during the revelries make Jane’s heart race. Strong-willed Jane, although not “out” yet, is just coming of age. Upon her pleadings, Jane receives her mother’s permission to attend a ball where Edward induces her to dance, uncustomarily, a number of sets with him. That night while lying in bed, she murmurs to Cassandra, “I love him.” However, other complications stand in her way.

In one of her letters to Cassandra, Austen’s mention of “my Irish friend” had led to speculation of her involvement with an Irishman, which was chronicled in a biography, Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence, and in the movie Becoming Jane. Similarly, Syrie James has adroitly used words to compile this intriguing story from another Austen letter: “Bifrons… the abode of him, on whom I once fondly doted.”

This third fictional reconstruction of Austen’s ‘missing manuscripts’ by James is a much more convincing account of the first love Austen might have experienced. It’s not only based on James’s extensive research on the enigmatic Edward Taylor, but so many of the personalities are real, and the dates and events astonishingly match, which make this masterwork feel like a real memoir. Janeites will recognize many of the scenes in this novel from Austen’s other works, but the characters’ discussions of world events and politics are a pleasant surprise. Readers will race to the conclusion, not only for the enjoyable writing, but with a faint hope of a blissful ending, one typical of an Austen novel. Highly recommended.

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equally with both actions he has taken and those he has failed to take and which consequently have led to significant ramifications in the lives of those around him.

Interesting characters, enthralling scenery and a fast-paced narrative all combine beautifully to make The Devil on Her Tongue a satisfying summer read.

Janice Parker MARCO AND THE DEVIL’S BARGAIN Carla Kelly, Camel Press, 2014, $14.95, pb, 256pp, 9781603812290 In 1782 in Spanish New Mexico, Marco Mondragon, brand inspector for the government, and his wife, Paloma Vega, live on a ranch called the Double Cross. Always threatened by the Comanche, they are now faced with a new enemy: smallpox. Told that the disease is heading their way, they take on a stranger to the territory, the mysterious doctor Anthony Gil, to help inoculate the inhabitants of the local town and surrounding ranches. In order to obtain Gil’s help in this endeavor, Marco must agree to help him search for his missing daughter in Comanche territory: a devil’s bargain.

This book is the second in a series titled The Spanish Brand. Although it would be helpful to follow the character development from the first book, I feel that this novel can stand on its own. Known for her romances, Kelly has also been awarded two Spur Awards for her westerns. I found this book a pleasure to read, the characters well-formed and credible. Her knowledge and understanding of the era are excellent. I look forward to her next in the series. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff CRADLE TO GRAVE Eleanor Kuhns, Minotaur, 2014, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 352pp, 9781250050007 Will Rees, a traveling weaver and amateur sleuth in 1797 Maine, hurries to New York to assist an old friend. “Mouse,” a young Shaker woman, has been accused of kidnapping several children to hide them from their neglectful mother in the Shaker community of Mount Unity. Rees and his new wife, Lydia, arrive to investigate the situation and clear Mouse. After the children’s mother, Maggie, is found dead, Mouse is now accused of this crime.

Rees probes through the clues and uncovers bad behavior by several townspeople while he and Lydia end up caring for Maggie’s children. Soon, Rees’ life is in danger.

I commend the author for her unusual setting, though the historical details are scant. I learned little of the Shakers. Contradictions in the plot abound. Rees admires Maggie and her efforts to protect her brood, but she is a woman who would rather drink whiskey than care for the many illegitimate children sired by different fathers.

Maggie also hoards silver dollars while her babies are starving. She is far from admirable. The mystery is interesting; however, the prose can be clumsy and repetitive. This is the third book in the series.

Diane Scott Lewis THE MAN WITH THE LEAD STOMACH Jean-François Parot, Gallic, 2014, $15.95/£7.99, pb, 332pp, 9781906040123 HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 25

In 1761, Paris police commissioner Nicholas Le Floch rushes to investigate the apparent suicide of a young aristocrat. Nicholas immediately deduces that the young man was murdered and the suicide is a ruse. However, the aristocrat’s father, an elderly courtier to Louis XV, demands that the entire incident be hushed up. When Nicholas goes to meet the courtier’s wife who might have information for him, the poor woman is thrown to her death. Nicholas is determined to discover who committed these crimes, crimes that will lead him to betrayal at the highest level—even to the King’s favorite, Madame de Pompadour.

Parot’s descriptions of Paris are vibrant with all the grit of the mid-18th century. Food recipes pop up at the oddest intervals. Characterizations are sharp and varied, though a slightly omniscient point of view kept me from total immersion into Nicholas’ persona. The method of murder is unusual, and the story kept me engaged. I rooted for young Nicholas to succeed in his new position.

Diane Scott Lewis THE STORY OF LAND AND SEA Katy Simpson Smith, Harper, 2014, $26.99, hb, 256 pp, 978-0062335944 This debut novel lays bare both the joy and the heart-wrenching ache of love gained, love lost, and love withheld. Set in a small town on the North Carolina coast and tracing the story of three generations, the book begins with tenyear-old Tabitha and her love affair with the sea, a love nurtured by stories her father, John, tells her about his days as a pirate before the onset of the American Revolution. Asa, Tabitha’s grandfather, disapproves of the storytelling, and, when she gets sick and her father takes her to sea to heal her, he is incensed.

The story then transitions to Tabitha’s mother, Helen, and her relationship with Asa, her father, and Moll, the slave girl she is given for her tenth birthday. As Helen and Moll grow up, they develop a troubled friendship that is naturally fractured when Helen defies her father by falling in love and marrying John even as Moll is forced to marry a total stranger. Ultimately, the story circles back around as John, believing that nothing remains for him on the coast after both his wife and daughter are gone, plans to head west and, in a twist of fate, buys Moll’s son—the only person she truly loves— to take with him.

It’s easy to say that a novel is about love and loss, but in The Story of Land and Sea, debut author Katy Simpson Smith has truly evoked both the pleasure of loving and the pain of losing the beloved. I was moved by Smith’s use of such elegant prose to describe the harsh realities of disease, death, and slavery, and, most of all, by Asa’s blind and unyielding attitude toward Moll, whose story left me both heartbroken and hopeful. For fans of lyrical language, this is a recommended read.

Kristina Blank Makansi THE PELICAN BRIDE (Gulf Coast Chronicles, Book 1) Beth White, Revell, 2014, $14.99, pb, 365pp, 9780800721978 It is an age of exploration where men, out of greed or naked courage, fought for their own destinies and their women helped shape a civilized 26 | Reviews |

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community out of the marshes. Southern native Beth White is no stranger to the historical genre, but she enters new territory with The Pelican Bride, first in a series of romantic adventure novels set in 18th-century French Louisiana.

Huguenots in flight, Geneviève Gaillain and her sister Aimée, escape France and journey to the New World, where they’ve each agreed to marry a settler. As both girls wade through the murky waters of finding a good spouse and surviving the difficulties of colonial life, the secrets they brought with them may drown the community.

Following the fates of the “Pelican Brides” of 1704, we discover with them the joys and disappointments of matrimony, and the faith and courage that are a lifeline in the midst of brutality and tragedy. In other words, this is not your typical mail-order bride story. With a fast-paced plot full of dynamic characters inspired by the real settlers of the Gulf Coast (and a liberal dose of artistic license), White has fashioned a richly layered and engrossing tale.

Lauren Miller

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A BEAUTY SO RARE Tamara Alexander, Bethany House, 2014, $14.99, pb, 478pp, 9780764206238 Eleanor Braddock does not expect to marry, being rather plain without much money. When her father shows signs of dementia, she finds she must rely on the kindness and generosity of her auntby-marriage, Adelicia Acklen (a real-life historical personage whose wealth and fame were quite wellknown in mid-1800s Nashville). Eleanor goes to live with her aunt, where she is introduced to local society and matched with an unimaginative banker who will secure her future. But Eleanor’s attentions fall first to the gardener, Marcus Gottfried, and then to helping local widows who cannot afford to feed their families; neither of these interests find favor with Aunt Adelicia, and Eleanor realizes she will have to make a choice in how she wants to live her life.

This story was of particular interest to me, a native Nashvillian, as I’d heard about Adelicia Acklen most of my life. The story is well-woven among the people and society of real life at the time, and Eleanor is quite relatable, if a bit naïve.

My biggest problem in suspending belief came with Marcus’s story, which was unbelievable in almost every way. I enjoyed seeing Eleanor’s growth and maturity shown throughout the novel, and I did ultimately like the ending. The story is at times slow, and the characters’ voices are often stiff and formal. However, overall this is a good story with an inspirational plot that manages to thread reallife characters with fictional ones fairly seamlessly.

Tamela McCann SONG OF THE SHANK Jeffery Renard Allen, Graywolf, 2014, $18.00, pb, 680pp, 9781555976804 Tom Wiggins was born a slave in Georgia in 1849. He was blind, and also appears to have been autistic—what was once unkindly called an “idiot savant.” His genius was for music. He was world-

famous in his time, and various handlers/owners took him to concertize in Europe and all over the United States. Largely absent from contemporary accounts of the Civil War period, “Blind Tom” entertained at the White House before he was ten.

In this lengthy novel, Tom is observed by those closest to him, those who care for him, and those who profit from his talent. Tom himself always remains a mystery, locked away inside his own mind. We discover a few facts—he loved to drink milk and that he was able to translate his sensory knowledge into moving, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying compositions—but we cannot know much more. Instead, the author focuses on the mind-set of this anxious mid-Victorian period, and we learn what it meant to be a slave or to be an owner, to be a poor white or a rich one, and the ways in which racism and class can infuse and color each and every human perception. The writing is poetic and often epigrammatic. One caveat, however—the intrusion of fantasy in the form of an “all-Negro” haven, an island called Edgemere, seemed a philosophical sidestep, unnecessary in this otherwise elegantly conceived literary novel.

Juliet Waldron A SHOCKING DELIGHT Jo Beverley, Signet Select, 2014, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 423pp, 9780451468017 England, 1817. In this Regency romance, Lucy Potter, a cit’s wealthy daughter, is forced by social circumstances to have a London season.

She is not interested in marriage until she meets the handsome, intelligent, scandal-ridden Earl of Wyvern. Sensuality percolates as Wyvern finds reason after bona-fide reason why he cannot marry Lucy. His deplorable, crime and madness-soaked family history may doom this passionate love story before it starts. Can happiness possibly prevail?

Some may find the ongoing parade of characters from Beverley’s earlier books a little confusing.

London scenes of ton social events are tepid, except for episodes of delicious romance between Lucy and Wyvern. When the action moves to the Devon seacoast, the setting is grittier and more compelling as the plot picks up speed and real danger threatens.

This is another of Beverley’s wickedly entertaining reads, carefully researched and full of spice. Fans should buy it as a matter of course.

The book stands alone, but new readers may want to start with earlier Company of Rogues titles, or with The Dragon’s Bride, set a year prior to this in the same locale.

Elizabeth Knowles THE CAPTIVE Grace Burrowes, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2014, $7.99/£5.99, pb, 415pp, 9781402278785 First in the Captive Hearts Series, this Regency romance is set at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Christian Severn, Duke of Mercia, captured by the French and tortured during his incarceration, returns to a family destroyed: both his wife and only son and heir are dead. His deceased wife’s cousin, Gillian, recently widowed from an abusive marriage and disinherited, coaxes Christian back to life on behalf of his young daughter. The relationship between Christian and Gilly flourishes with their close proximity on his estate, but they cannot marry until Gilly accepts (her excuses 18th Century — 19th Century

become a little tiresome) and Christian has settled a debt he considers owed.

Off to a good start, the book flags in the middle where nothing happens to speak of. Plot development is weak, and I was impatient for someone to take action. As a result, the looseend-tying at the conclusion feels rushed and features overly convenient and somewhat contrived circumstances. However, familiar themes of love, sincerity, friendship, familial loyalty, and dastardly betrayals are generally well managed; the characters engage with an abundance of clever dialogue, often witty, something Burrowes clearly excels at. Despite certain implausible situations, given the era, this is a satisfactory read, and lovers of Regency drama will enjoy it and look forward to the next in series.

Fiona Alison WOLF HUNT Armand Cabasson (trans. Isabel Reid), Gallic, 2014, $15.95/£7.99, pb, 296pp, 9781906040833 During the Napoleonic Wars in 1809, Napoleon’s army is camped outside Vienna awaiting reinforcements. Captain Quentin Margont of the 18th Infantry Regiment of the line befriends a young lieutenant, a hussar named Lukas Relmyer. Margont learns that Relmyer is Austrian, not French, and an orphan who was kidnapped as a child. Margont joins forces with Relmyer and an Austrian woman named Luise, who was an orphan with Relmyer, to track down his kidnapper and a soon-to-be-discovered serial killer, who has killed other young boys since Relmyer’s capture and escape years ago.

This second in the Napoleonic Murders series was translated from the French by Isabel Reid. I found the suspense gripping in the characters’ attempt to locate the murderer of the young boys.

Interspersed within the mystery is the actual battle between the French and the Austrians, which culminates at the conclusion of the book. The author intertwines the mystery with battle scenes, which are well written and authentic in detail.

Although I’ve read the first novel in the series, I feel that this book can stand alone. With scenes rich in historical detail, especially the description of life in Vienna during the war, the author did a masterful job in drawing the reader into this time period. I look forward to the author’s next entry and highly recommend this book.

Jeff Westerhoff INAMORATA Megan Chance, Lake Union, 2014, $14.95, pb, 444pp, 9781477823033 Set in 1879 Venice, this story is hard to categorize, but impossible to put down. Twins Joseph and Sophie Hannigan leave behind a mysterious, unhappy past in New York City to join Venice’s expatriate artists’ community.

Handsome, gifted Joseph has great talent and lovely Sophie is his muse. Their close relationship and strong attraction for each other make some people uncomfortable. Readers learn later in the story what disturbing events brought the brother and sister to guard and care for each other as they do. The twins are short of money. They must find a wealthy patron to help support them financially and promote Joseph’s work.

Also figuring in this atmospheric, intricate 19th Century

story are failed English poet Nicholas Dane and the beautiful French courtesan Odilé Léon. These former lovers are now implacable enemies. Odilé has irrevocably damaged Nicholas, and he is determined to destroy her and prevent her dark secrets from ruining more lives. She is driven by her obsessive need to win renown through the great artists she sponsors, but her price is higher than most would want to pay.

Troubling threads of forbidden love, artistic obsession, and evil-tainted beauty wind through this page-turner. While hard to summarize without giving away too much plot detail, this mysterious, dangerous, haunting novel will keep readers spellbound. Venice is a character in itself—dark, romantic, and decadent. Readers may wish to travel there to see the beauty that Chance describes. The ancient city in all its moods provides an enchanting backdrop for the storyline. The plot will keep readers wondering and guessing until the very end, when this conundrum of love, death, art, and obsession finally comes to its bittersweet resolution. Recommended.

Elizabeth Knowles ANGELS MAKE THEIR HOPE HERE Breena Clarke, Little, Brown, 2014, $32/C$29, hb, 288pp, 9780316254007 In 1849, young Dossie Bird’s loved ones send her off from slavery and onto the Underground Railroad’s uncertain fate. The little girl doesn’t make it to safety, but rather lands with a heartless northern couple. They work her more than they feed her, and will doubtlessly sell her back South.

That’s when Duncan Smoot, who was to have been the next conductor on her journey, burns the couple’s home down and saves Dossie, bringing her back to his own hidden, backwoods New Jersey mixed-race community. Duncan, his sister and her husband, his nephews, his mistress, and others embrace the likeable girl. Dossie comes to love these people, and falls in love with Duncan too, hoping he will take her as his wife once she’s old enough.

But America, even Yankee New Jersey, is a wretchedly dangerous place for the counterculture villagers, who know they can only depend upon each other and their ability to kill before being killed. The violence inevitably comes, and Dossie must flee to New York with one of Duncan Smoot’s nephews, a handsome man her own age.

New York, with its Irish riots against President Abraham Lincoln’s conscription orders, proves a dangerous haven.

Clarke’s third book is a page-turner. She skillfully illuminates both the grime and shine of the age (both moral and physical) as her characters come to life. No character is perfect; no one is a victim. They hurt one another and save one another.

I was frustrated here and there by language that ran by like a too-fast river, leaving me not always understanding a particular phrase. That was more than balanced by the story’s satisfying fullness of characters and their actions. Recommended.

Kristen Hannum WILD RAN THE RIVERS James Crownover, Five Star, 2014, $25.95, hb, 300pp, 9781432828776 “My grandpa was a pirate on the Mississip,”

says Zenas Meeker of White Sands, New Mexico.

His half-Cherokee grandmother, Ruth Fourkiller Harris, is just a teen when her family seeks free land in the Louisiana Purchase. Tragedy strikes when river pirates kill her parents, and Ruth is sold to one of them as a wife (not graphically depicted).

For the next eight years Ruth despairs of ever escaping. Then the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 make the pirates, and much of the Midwest as well, think the world is coming to an end. New islands rise, the Mississippi River runs backwards, and Ruth’s family makes their escape westward.

James Crownover opens his promising Five Trails West series with Wild Ran the Rivers.

Written with an eye to detail and historical accuracy, it is suitable for adults and YAs. The vernacular language is sometimes cloying, but Wild Ran the Rivers is an entertaining tale of frontier life and family survival. Ruth’s struggle to keep her family together will draw you in, then Crownover’s gripping earthquakes keep you up late into the night while they provide a vivid reminder for Midwestern readers – they could happen again.

Try this one if you love frontier and Western fiction.

Jo Ann Butler WHAT IS VISIBLE Kimberly Elkins, Twelve, 2014, $25.00/£18.99, hb, 307pp, 9781455528967 Imagine being deprived of sight and hearing at the age of two. Your mother’s voice and the color of the sky become but a distant memory, and communication with the world around you is nigh impossible. Nowadays, educators and medical personnel would rush to reach such a child, but it was 1831 when Laura Bridgman was stripped of every sense but touch.

Many such persons were reduced to a feral state and abandoned, but Laura’s life is transformed when Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe accepts her at Boston’s Perkins Institution for the Blind. Though Laura was not able to speak like Helen Keller, fifty years her junior, she learns Braille, communicates with sign language, and does arithmetic on a special board. By the time she is thirteen, Laura is a national celebrity, and Dr. Howe’s special protégé.

Then her sense of privilege is dashed, for Dr. Howe takes a wife. Julia Ward Howe, who will soon compose the Battle Hymn of the Republic, becomes the center of Laura’s beloved Doctor’s life.

Kimberly Elkins, in her richly imagined novel, What Is Visible, sets before readers Laura’s pride in her accomplishments. Though Laura is dependent on her instructors, she is fiercely determined to experience every sensation she can in life, including forbidden lesbian love. Elkins also spends quite a bit of her book exploring the lives and loves of Dr. Howe and his wife Julia; marital and illicit, visible and invisible. The Howes are an intriguing couple, but it is Laura’s inner life which fascinates in What Is Visible.

Jo Ann Butler KEANE’S CHALLENGE Iain Gale, Heron, 2014, £16.99, hb, 312pp, 9781780873640 This is the sequel to Keane’s Company (reviewed in HNR 65) and is probably best read after that book.

HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 27

Keane is an exploring officer in the Corps of Guides under Wellington during the Peninsular War. In the story, Keane describes himself (and is described as) a “spy,” and he often reports directly to Wellington. He moves from being a combat soldier to being a scout, to hunting down enemy agents as what we would nowadays call a counterintelligence officer, and back to being a combat soldier. He kidnaps enemy generals and seduces their mistresses, advises commanders on the disposition of their troops, develops new ciphers and is attached to Portuguese irregulars to ensure that they stay loyal to the Allied cause.

A summary of the plot comes close to suggesting that he wins the war single-handed. While there is a fair bit of reasonably convincing military detail, the plot eventually veers off into a series of Boys’ Own Paper adventures and implausible triumphs.

The Guides were indeed actually more like scouts, tasked with mapping the land and observing the movement of enemy troops, and they reported to one of Wellington’s staff officers. The version of the Guides that Gale gives us certainly makes for a better story than the real thing, and having junior officers talk directly to generals is a common narrative device in historical novels (although the Wellington we see here bears little resemblance to contemporary accounts). The degree of fictionalisation in this approach combines with carelessness over details until the whole thing fails to ring quite true as a novel of the Peninsular War. On the other hand, it is pacily written and succeeds as a spy thriller set against a more-or-less credible historical background.

Tom Williams THE FORTUNE HUNTER Daisy Goodwin, St. Martin’s, 2014, $26.99/ C$31.00, hb, 480pp, 9781250043894 / Headline Review, 2014, £14.99, hb, 480pp, 9780755348091 Little Charlotte Baird, sole heiress to the vast Lennox fortune, may look mousy, but her character is strong, forthright, and unusual – she cares little for the fripperies of her Victorian society life, instead choosing to indulge a passion for photography. Bay Middleton is a cavalry officer with an eye for the ladies and a passion of his own – for his horse, Tipsy, with whom he dreams of winning the Grand National. Charlotte and Bay are drawn to each other, but when Bay is appointed as pilot to the contradictory, beautiful Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, his burgeoning relationship with Charlotte is threatened.

Goodwin has written a historical romance which is surprisingly light on sex – romps in the bedroom are eschewed in favor of romping on horseback over hill and dale. Based loosely on Elizabeth’s (known as “Sisi”) trip to England and Ireland in the late 1870s, this romance is full of the fox hunt as well as cutting remarks in English drawing rooms. Rather than focusing entirely on Sisi, the novel is divided almost equally, providing perspectives on all three of the major players.

Characterization is sure. The prose, which is highly visual, moves along at a substantial clip, peppered with small insights into human nature. Through Sisi, Goodwin highlights the plight familiar to modern royalty – the constant scrutiny – and the idea that one can have it all and still be miserable.

The conclusion struck this reader as rather abrupt, 28 | Reviews |

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but fans of historical romance will want to pick up Goodwin’s latest tale of a love triangle between a dashing officer, plain Jane, and dazzling but aging Empress.

Bethany Latham

and how unmarried pregnancy, without today’s DNA-testing, could hide a multitude of sins. If you are already a fan of Laurie Graham’s work, you will enjoy it, but it does not convince me, I’m afraid.

Sally Zigmond

THE BAKLAVA CLUB Jason Goodwin, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014, $19.16, hb, 288pp, 9780374294373 / Faber & Faber, 2014, £12.99, hb, 288pp, 9780571239962 The Baklava Club is the fifth (and purportedly the last) of the Edgar-winning Investigator Yashim stories, set in 19th-century Istanbul. This story begins in 1846, during the final, waning century of Ottoman power, and makes a fitting end-piece for this detailed and lovingly presented historical mystery series.

Three young Europeans, innocents abroad who have been duped into believing they are part of a revolutionary international spy operation, fall into Yashim’s orbit. Although our hero is older and far wiser than these aspiring revolutionaries, he introduces them to his friends and finds himself enjoying their wide-eyed appreciation of his exotic world. When the powerful valide, the Sultan’s mother, asks Yashim to take charge of another young visitor, a melancholy, mysterious Russian beauty named Natasha, all manner of murder and mayhem ensue.

Jason Goodwin is not only an engaging writer, but a Cambridge scholar and a Byzantine specialist (note his non-fiction work, The Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire), so the settings, the characters, and the intellectual ferment of the period are flawlessly presented. Fans of the series and of the wise (and sometimes vulnerable) Investigator Yashim will not be disappointed.

Juliet Waldron

HOW TO LOSE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS Laura Lee Guhrke, Avon, 2014, $7.99/C$9.50, pb, 371pp, 9780062118196 It began with a simple arrangement: American heiress Edie and the handsome Stuart, Duke of Margrave, would marry to save her reputation and pay off his family’s debts. The only catch was he had to disappear to Africa, never to return. But five years later, when Stuart is nearly killed on safari, he decides to return home to win over his wife for real. The only problem: she’s unwilling to make their marriage true in body as well as in name. He bets that he can make her kiss him in 10 days. If she does, they will be married for forever; if not, she is free to leave.

This is an entertaining, if predictable, Victorian romance. The dialogue is much wittier and the characters and plot much more fully formed than those found in some romance novels. My only issues are that the story relies on the tired convention of rape as a source of female shame, and it takes over 100 pages to get to the bet. But, if that doesn’t bother you and you’re looking for an entertaining read where the hero will seduce you along with the heroine, you’ve got it in this book.

Recommended.

Nicole Evelina

THE LIAR’S DAUGHTER Laurie Graham, Quercus, 2014, £8.99, pb, 352pp, 9780857387868 The “father” in question is Lord Nelson—or is he? Here, the first daughter of the title is Nan, whose mother claims to have been a rare female who served aboard Navy vessels, stitching sails and dressing battle wounds, culminating by serving in the Victory. But she is a notorious drunk, a former prostitute, the details of whose anecdotes and beliefs change like the wind, although the central core never changes. Her own daughter, Pru, begins her life with a more sceptical nature.

However, because she longs to know the truth about her origins, she begins to probe into the truth which dominates her life although she is a highly intelligent woman and who, somewhat anachronistically, pursues a medical career.

This is where I lay my cards on the table.

Laurie Graham has published several applauded 20th-century historical novels, but she has been venturing further back in history, and I am not convinced of her accurate knowledge of the history here. This novel, to me, is also tedious and overlong without any real plot. First Nan, and then Pru, pursues the possibilities of their “Nelson” connection, which makes the novel too long with too many characters and viewpoints for me to latch on to.

I assume that Laurie Graham’s aims as the novel began were to explore the nature of hero-worship

HOW DARK THE NIGHT William C. Hammond, Naval Institute Press, 2014, $34.95/£26.50, hb, 224pp, 97816125114673 How Dark the Night is the fifth book in a series featuring the Cutler family, Boston merchant traders with their own shipping firm. This story begins in 1806, as Jefferson is President and Great Britain is engaged in a war with France. The new nation of the United States is still taking baby steps on the world’s political stage. To staff their ships, the British Navy is impressing American sailors.

Britain doesn’t recognize American citizenship if these seamen were born in England. This not only affects the Cutlers’ shipping business, it also affects their family. Seth Cutler, from the Barbados branch of the family, is a midshipman serving on a British man-of-war that attacks a U.S. Navy frigate. All the while, life goes on for the Cutlers and their various families. There are visitations, weddings, births, and life-threatening illness.

Hammond uses his extensive naval knowledge to enhance the action. He peoples the story with cameo appearances by real historical figures, the most intriguing, perhaps, being the famous Caribbean pirate, Jean Lafitte. How Dark the Night reads in part like a textbook on naval history and partly as a family saga. The reader is quickly engaged in the story. The author has also provided a helpful nautical glossary.

Audrey Braver THE VINTNER’S DAUGHTER Kristen Harnisch, HarperCollins Canada, 2014, C$22.99, pb, 347pp, 9781443426435 / She Writes Press, 2014, $16.95, pb, 9781631529290 Harnisch’s satisfying first novel draws readers 19th Century

into two glorious locations, France’s Loire Valley and California’s Napa Valley, with an intermediary stop in New York’s Lower East Side. The timeframe is the late 19th century, and as might be guessed, the characters are involved in wine production.

This industry is shown literally from the ground up: from the land best suited to different grapes and vine inspections through the harvest, pressing, storage (barrels vs. the more newfangled bottles), and sales and distribution. Her thorough presentation also delves into the winemaker’s natural enemies: not only phylloxera infestations and competitors’ cheaply priced vintages but also the temperance movement sweeping across 1890s America.

These instructive details don’t overwhelm the story, fortunately, resulting in a fast-moving romantic saga about two independent, ambitious people hoping to succeed in winemaking. In the French village of Vouvray, Sara Thibault is a vintner’s daughter who wants to be a vigneronne in her own right. After her father is killed while out seeking a buyer to give him a fair price for his wine, the Thibaults find it hard to make ends meet.

Their vineyard falls into rival hands after Sara’s older sister, Lydia, marries Bastien Lemieux, a cruel man who’s easily recognizable as the novel’s villain.

After Sara takes a drastic step to save herself and her sister, they escape to America. Sara’s search for a winemaking career eventually sets her on the path to Napa – where she crosses paths with Bastien’s reputed ne’er-do-well brother, Philippe, who owns a sizeable vineyard. Although sparks fly between them, he doesn’t recognize her from Vouvray or know her role in his brother’s death.

There is some stiffness in the dialogue early on, but the pair’s complicated love story plays out realistically, and the regional landscape is beautifully described. This relaxing summer read offers an enjoyable armchair voyage to wine country.

Sarah Johnson WHY KINGS CONFESS C.S. Harris, Obsidian, 2014, $24.95/C$27.95, hb, 340 pp, 9780451417558 In the latest mystery featuring Sebastian St. Cyr, aristocratic sleuth in Regency England, a friend of Sebastian’s finds the mutilated body of a French physician in a London slum. The dead man’s wounded female companion remembers nothing about the killer. Sebastian has met the woman before, when he was serving with the British army in Portugal in 1810, and the sight of her reawakens memories of an atrocity that has left mental scars on both of them. The Frenchwoman hates Sebastian because of his actions in the war, but her skills in midwifery may be the only thing that can save the life of Sebastian’s pregnant wife, Hero, who faces a difficult childbirth. It turns out that the dead physician’s father had ties to the French royal family, and Sebastian’s investigation draws him into the mystery of the “Lost Dauphin,” the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and earns him the hatred of the vengeful Marie-Therese, the Dauphin’s sister.

Sebastian is a fascinating protagonist, adventurous and courageous, but haunted by inner demons, and the reform-minded Hero is a worthy companion. The intricate plot kept me in 19th Century

suspense, and I am looking forward to Sebastian’s next adventure.

Vicki Kondelik THE CONVICTIONS OF JOHN DELAHUNT Andrew Hughes, Doubleday, 2014, £14.99, hb, 349pp, 9871781620144 On a December morning in 1841, a Dublin boy has his throat cut in an apparently motiveless killing.

The trial and conviction of John Delahunt for the murder causes a public outcry when it becomes apparent that Delahunt is a paid informant for the authorities at Dublin Castle. As Delahunt reveals in his final statement before execution, nothing is what it seems in this dark, convoluted tale of doomed romance, drug addiction, poverty, greed and violent death.

Hughes, who discovered the bare facts of Delahunt’s life while researching a social history, spins an ingenious plot out of the half-truths and denials which emerged from his trial, but the true strength of his novel arises from his daring to defy convention to give us a protagonist who is virtually without redeeming features, reminiscent, for me, of Grenouille, the narrator of Patrick Susskind’s Perfume.

Haunted by the notion that he is responsible for his mother’s premature death, he grows into a feckless, venal, almost entirely amoral man. He fails at everything he undertakes, from the study of optics to his role as informer, yet he fascinates because his voice is blackly comic, his observations of other people’s foibles astute, and his love for his naive and feckless wife steadfast and unflinching. It is this, above all, which redeems him.

If I have any criticism of this accomplished gothic revival, it is that Hughes’ obvious love of Dublin causes him to dwell too much on the setting. The final scene, for example, loses tension and reads like a travelogue as Delahunt and his intended victim tramp the city streets, but it is a small price to pay for an otherwise excellent read.

Sarah Bower IT TAKES A SCANDAL Caroline Linden, Avon, 2014, $5.99/C$7.50, pb, 372pp, 9780062244901 This enjoyable Regency romance is second in a series inspired by reader interest in Fifty Shades of Grey. Not only do we find the conventional independent-minded heroine and brooding, wounded hero struggling against the pressures of social expectations and prejudices, but also some less common ingredients: on the one side, the curiosity aroused among the bored and daring (but not too daring) young ladies of fashion by erotic stories being circulated surreptitiously; on the other, the dire consequences of the hero’s war wound, his impoverishment and tarnished reputation, and his father’s insanity and mysterious disappearance. Though it starts slowly, the suspense builds as the courtship between the lovers heats up and the social barriers grow more forbidding. The problems are rather conveniently resolved, but this is only to be expected. Recommended to Regency fans.

Ray Thompson

A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT Anna Loan-Wilsey, Kensington, 2014, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 328pp, 9780758276384 A mystery set in 1890s Newport, this third in series continues with the traveling secretary/ amateur sleuth, Hattie Davish. Her employer, Sir Arthur, is unexpectedly called away, and Hattie travels to the ‘cottage’ with Lady Philippa, but is soon hired out as ‘social secretary’ to one of the Island’s richest residents. I felt the pace was sometimes a bit slow and the characters do rather a lot of nothing, such as tirelessly planning balls, tea parties and luncheons and trying to outdo someone else, but there’s no shortage of colorful characters and agendas. Given the location the settings are naturally lavish and luxurious. Hattie seems to attract dead bodies as lanterns attract moths but as an amateur horticulturalist, between corpses she ranges across fields looking for new specimens and tracks home all sorts of wayward seeds and prickles on her long skirts. And she often forgets to eat or sleep. I enjoyed these quirky traits, and they make Hattie an endearing heroine.

A comfortable afternoon’s read, this is lighthearted with no undue violence or gratuity, just as a ‘cozy’ should be. A fun read for fans of the previous Davish mysteries or as a stand-alone.

Fiona Alison BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND IAN EVERSEA Julie Anne Long, Avon, 2014, $7.99/C$9.50, pb, 372pp, 9780062118110 The latest volume in the Pennyroyal Green series follows Titania (Tansy) Danforth, orphaned, newly arrived from America, and consigned to the care of her cousin, the Duke of Falconbridge. She is stunningly beautiful and knows it, and soon has all the men at her feet. Except Ian Eversea, brother of the Duchess. That womanizing war veteran is more interested in helping repair the vicarage roof and planning his next adventure voyage than being caught by a pretty face. But a night of passion with Tansy makes him rethink his free-roving life, especially when rival suitor Lord Stanhope comes courting.

Long excels at creating sexual tension in this Regency historical romance. The bedroom scenes are everything a historical romance fan could ask for. But I did not care much for Tansy. She is selfabsorbed and shallow, collecting suitors while using loneliness as an excuse for her actions. There are several historical anomalies, such as using “cigarette” before the word was invented. This attempt at humor falls flat: “´I think I’ve been shot,’ he said, bemused. Alas, nobody disagreed.”

Snippets of information about other characters make me think that previous books in the series may be more satisfying than I found this one.

B.J. Sedlock HEARTS AFIRE Sara Luck, Pocket, 2014, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 356pp, 9781476753775 In 1893 New York, actress Sabrina Chadwick commits a cardinal sin by walking off the stage in the middle of a performance. Distraught over a failed romance, she hides behind her real name, Victoria Drumm, and returns to her hometown in Colorado to rebuild her life. Wealthy mine owner HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 29

Lincoln Buchannan may not recognize Tori as a stage star, but he certainly recognizes her beauty— and the fact she is stranded in a town in the midst of gold fever. Offered a room in his mansion, she reluctantly accepts, hoping to track down her brother, a union organizer.

Tori comes to love her simple life away from the stage. Despite their differing loyalties, desire kindles passion between her and Link. Fears of partisan threats and violence menace not only their romance but their very lives. Can there be a way to satisfy the miners’ demands, avoid a strike, and bring peace to the town without bloodshed? Will their love survive when Tori’s past comes back to haunt her?

Sara Luck’s historically-based tale gives the reader an interesting look at the dawn of the union movement in the American West. I found the protagonists with their different backgrounds to be fascinating, especially the look into the New York stage and the Colorado gold mines.

Monica Spence A TICKET TO OBLIVION Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2014, £19.99, hb, 383pp, 9780749014278 1858. Inspector Colbeck’s latest case involves the disappearance of a young lady, Imogen Burnhope, and her maid, travelling on a nonstop train to Oxford to stay with Imogen’s aunt and cousin, Emma. But they never arrive – it’s as if they’ve vanished into thin air. On the surface, it seems incredible. According to her father, Cabinet Minister Sir Marcus Burnhope, Imogen is supremely contented with her life. She is engaged to the ambitious MP Clive Tunnadine, a match which, he assures Colbeck, gives her entire family pleasure. Sir Marcus has no time for Colbecks’s awkward questions and slow, careful investigations, which he finds both intrusive and time-wasting.

He wants immediate action. As Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming begin their inquiries, a very different picture of Imogen’s life begins to emerge, and Emma has some important information about what might have happened to her cousin. Then the ransom letter arrives, and soon Sir Marcus and Tunnadine’s insistence on being in on the action threatens to wreak everything.

I’m a fan of Edward Marston’s Inspector Colbeck detective series. I like the coolly heroic Colbeck and his slightly fuddy-duddy side-kick, Detective Sergeant Leeming. Their characters are well-rounded and believable; the author’s research into the workings of the railways is impeccable but never intrusive; and there are enough twists and turns of the plot to keep the reader involved and interested. And I always enjoy seeing unpleasant characters get their eventual comeuppance.

One small niggle: surely Sir Marcus would never refer to his daughter as ‘Imogen’ when speaking to subordinates like his coachman or Colbeck.

It would always be ‘Miss Burnhope’; a lady’s first name was never bandied about, it was for intimates and family only.

Elizabeth Hawksley SHADOW ON THE MESA Lee Martin, Five Star, 2014, $25.95, hb, 198pp, 9781432829629 In 1883 Arizona Territory, three men murder an 30 | Reviews |

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Arapaho Indian woman named Mary Antelope. In Wyoming Territory, Wes Montana, a hired gun for the Cattlemen’s Association, is tired of the killing that goes with his job and heads south to Arizona.

Upon learning of his mother’s death, he believes his father, Ray Eastman, has killed her. He seeks revenge against Eastman, who had abandoned Wes’s pregnant mother before he was born.

Eastman is a wealthy rancher, and Wes thinks that he wants to rid himself of his past relationships, especially an Indian wife.

This novel is based on the author’s screenplay, which became a TV movie of the same title, and won an award for best western-themed television film. I found the novel to be a character study of each of the individuals in the book, rather than the gun-slinging western that you would expect from the credentials of the main character. The story kept me interested until the end, a real page-turner.

It’s an enjoyable western, and I look forward to watching the film, now that it is available on DVD. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff THE LAST KIND WORDS SALOON Larry McMurtry, Liveright, 2014, $24.95, hb, 256pp, 9780871407863 / Picador, 2014, £12.99, pb, 256pp, 9781447274575 The 1881 shootout near the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona has fascinated the world for over a century. The Clanton and McLaury brothers accumulate a gang of stock thieves, smugglers, and stage coach robbers, and terrorize the area. Virgil Earp, the U.S. Marshal, deputizes his brothers Morgan, Warren, and Wyatt, and Doc Holliday to subdue them. They have a shootout on the street near the O.K. Corral and the good guys triumph.

Movies and books galore dramatize that gunfight, and Wyatt Earp and other ‘50s TV westerns make Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday household names.

Wyatt Earp and Holliday were friends before they followed the silver mining boom to Tombstone. What sort of relationship did these tough, deadly men have? Larry McMurtry presents readers with The Last Kind Words Saloon, which takes place in the few years before the shootout.

Doc pulls teeth, Wyatt wields a gun for hire; and both drink and gamble their days away. Cattle herding is risky work, a stint in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show ends as quickly as it began, and the pair drifts ever closer to Tombstone.

Parts of The Last Kind Words Saloon are sketchier than I would like, and the famed confrontation and shootout occupy only a few pages. However, when an artist like Larry McMurtry is at work, a few lines of dialogue are all it takes to paint vivid characters and events. The Last Kind Words Saloon abounds with both, and is recommended.

Jo Ann Butler MOONLIGHT ON MY MIND Jennifer McQuiston, Avon, 2014, $5.99/C$7.50, pb, 371pp, 9780062231345 1841. Last year, impetuous red-haired London beauty, Julianne Baxter, had accused Patrick Channing of murdering his older brother, the next Earl of Haversham. However, as she thinks about that night, the more she believes she made a terrible mistake. Now she is alone in a carriage headed to Scotland, Patrick’s last assumed location, to give

him the news of his father’s unexpected death and the imminent disaster facing his family.

To society, erstwhile veterinarian Patrick Channing committed fratricide. The last person he expects to see while hiding in a small Scottish town is his accuser. Patrick and Julianne, powerfully attracted to one another, plan a marriage of convenience. Marriage is the only way to save her reputation, and since a wife cannot be forced to testify against her husband, Patrick will avoid the hangman’s noose. Returning to England, the newlyweds realize the murderer is not only on the loose but looking to kill again.

I enjoyed this romantic period novel and the snippets of veterinary lore. The plot and characters kept me turning the pages, and of course, there is a satisfying “happily ever after” ending.

Monica Spence A SHINING LIGHT Judith Miller, Bethany House, 2014, $14.99, pb, 347 pp, 9780764210020 Widow Andrea Wilson takes the settlement money from her deceased husband’s maritime job and decides to travel home to reunite with her father in her hometown in Iowa. Unfortunately, upon arrival, she discovers that her father has not only passed away, he’d sold the farm to the local Christian group of the Amana colonies. With no hint of what happened to the money from the sale, Andrea and her son are left without a home or money. Agreeing to stay in West Amana until she can decide how she and her son can move elsewhere, Andrea not only begins to love the life but also finds herself attracted to the town tinsmith, Dirk Knefler. Dirk’s attention and his thoughtfulness with her son Lukas slowly work on Andrea’s emotions until their lives are upended with a devastating reveal.

Set in 1890, this story mainly takes place in the Amana colonies, a religious sect I knew very little about. Miller does an excellent job of bringing the people and their beliefs to life without being overtly dogmatic, and while I could see the ending coming a mile away, it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. I was particularly taken with Andrea’s devotion to her young son and her determination to better herself after an abusive marriage. I was also very pleased at the nearly seamless way the German dialect was woven into conversations so that the reader is not distracted from the story.

This inspirational romance is a cut above the rest and can be recommended for its support for any woman facing difficult choices.

Tamela McCann EAGLE TALONS Robert Lee Murphy, Five Star, 2014, $25.95, hb, 292pp, 9781432828769 In 1867, the transcontinental railroad is beginning to traverse the western plains. Fourteenyear old Will Braddock, recently orphaned in Iowa, is positioned to become a blacksmith’s apprentice, much to his chagrin. He runs away to the West to join the Union Pacific railroad work crews and meet his uncle, hoping he will take him on and raise him. Upon his arrival, he meets Union Pacific’s chief engineer, General Dodge, who then takes him to his uncle. His uncle decides to let Will temporarily stay with him. Will meets a young 19th Century

girl named Jenny, traveling with a wagon train to Oregon, an English-speaking Cheyenne named Lone Eagle, and a young Irishman named Paddy O’Hannigan, who has a vendetta against Will and his uncle.

This book, the author’s debut, is the first novel in the Iron Horse Chronicles trilogy. He has mixed fictional and historical characters with great success by adding depth to their character descriptions.

The novel is rich in historical detail about the early transcontinental railroad and the Hell on Wheels, a temporary community that would follow the construction of the railroad. I look forward to his next book.

Jeff Westerhoff DEATH IN SARATOGA SPRINGS Charles O’Brien, Kensington, 2014, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 294pp, 9780758286383 This mystery is set in 1894 Saratoga Springs, New York, a posh resort town for the rich and famous. Private investigator Pamela Thompson and her employer, Jeremiah Prescott, an attorney in New York City, arrive in the small town to search for a young black maid who was abducted from her home, possibly by the local community’s leading citizen, Captain Jed Crake. Captain Crake is a former Union officer and wealthy meatpacking mogul. Soon after they arrive in Saratoga Springs, Captain Crake is mysteriously murdered, and our sleuths now try to solve his murder, along with learning the whereabouts of the missing maid.

This book is the second in the Gilded Age Mystery series, although this book can be read as a stand-alone story. The period detail reveals the author’s knowledge of this era. An absorbing blend of mystery and history, the book has a fastpaced plot. The lead character, Pamela Thompson, manages to carry the story as the plot thickens. An entertaining read and a series I highly recommend for mystery lovers.

Jeff Westerhoff GOLD FEVER Ken Salter, Regent Press, 2013, $18.95, pb, 320pp, 9781587902406 Pierre Dubois and his girlfriend Manon arrive in San Francisco in 1851. Dubois is in California to investigate gold mining fraud committed against French miners during the height of the Gold Rush. Meanwhile, Manon is attempting to open a restaurant in San Francisco. They are faced with a lawless frontier town, growing leaps and bounds each month, where anything can be purchased with gold.

This is a well-researched novel about the California Gold Rush. The author blends into his narrative the gold mining challenges faced by the men who searched for the precious mineral.

Unfortunately, I empathized very little with the characters, which made this a tedious read. One annoying aspect is the constant descriptions of each meal served and eaten by the main characters; I understand that the protagonist’s girlfriend is French, looking to open a French restaurant, but this information does not add anything to the plot.

If you are interested in understanding the history of the California Gold Rush and don’t require a lot of action in your reading, than you may enjoy this book. Apparently there are more 19th Century

books scheduled in this series, based upon the wording at the conclusion: “End of Part One.” Jeff Westerhoff THE SMOKE AT DAWN Jeff Shaara, Ballantine, 2014, $28, hb, 493pp, 9780345527417 Jeff Shaara wrote his first two Civil War books as a continuation of his late father Michael’s inspired Gettysburg novel, The Killer Angels. The book under review is the third of a projected set of four novels about the Western theater of the war, in this case the battles around Chattanooga.

Each chapter is from the point of view of an individual, alternating between Confederate and Union generals and one Union sniper. By showing fragments of the whole picture, Shaara builds suspense, always difficult to sustain in historical fiction where the outcome is known. The conflict is most intense between officers on the same side, especially between Confederate commanding general the petty, paranoid Benjamin Bragg, and the subordinate he despises, the headstrong James Longstreet. On the Union side, the unassuming leadership of Ulysses Grant results in greater coordination, but the battle is ultimately won by rank and file troops like Fritz Bauer, a deadly sniper. Day by day accounts of troop movements, battles, and communications with Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln accumulate to give dramatic perspective.

All the characters are real people whose diaries and letters have been impressively researched and brilliantly combined. Normally I would contend that reading historical fiction to learn history is no more useful than reading mystery novels to understand homicide investigations, but the Shaara novels are an exception. They promote an understanding of the military history of America’s bloodiest war, the central event in United States history. Recommended.

James Hawking LOVE’S SWEET BEGINNING Ann Shorey, Revell, 2014, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9780800720728 1868 Missouri: Cassie Haddon grew up being waited on by servants, but since the war ended that way of life, she has no training for any kind of job. Yet in spite of her mother’s insistence that she remain a “lady,” Cassie is determined to work.

She talks her way into a kitchen job at a restaurant run by Jacob West, only to be fired the first day.

But Cassie discovers a talent for pie-baking, and persuades Jacob to hire two former slaves as extra help. While attraction grows between the couple, Jacob worries that Cassie will reject him if she finds out about his shady past. And his business partners back East are about to put the squeeze on him.

This inspirational romance has good characterization: I liked how Cassie was undiscouraged by failure and is willing to try again. The plot touches on post-Civil War societal changes, such as the difficulties ex-slaves encounter despite being free. Shorey’s books usually stand above others in the genre, but this one has a slightly disappointing denouement. Problems are resolved too easily, such as an extremely tame villain. It’s still enjoyable despite that quibble, and I recommend it to inspirational fiction fans.

B.J. Sedlock

AN APPETITE FOR MURDER Linda Stratmann, The Mystery Press, 2014, £8.99, pb, 286pp, 9780750954440 This is a book in the Frances Doughty mysteries, featuring Miss Doughty, a lady detective, and takes place in Victorian Bayswater in London. Miss Doughty is asked to discover the person who is writing a series of libellous letters relating to the death of an overweight man,. Thomas Whibley.

Hubert Sweetman, recently released from prison, also requires her help to find the whereabouts of his wife and children. When Sweetman is arrested for his wife’s murder, Miss Doughty is determined to prove his innocence as well is solve several more problems involved in this mystery.

This book is impeccably researched, the language is authentic and the Victorian setting excellent.

However, for me, the book lacks pace and relies too heavily on coincidence. The author has a tendency to tell the reader what is taking place, rather than show what’s happening through dialogue or action.

This is a book for those who like a slow-paced, but well-written historical novel. Unfortunately it is not one that I’d recommend for anyone who enjoys a page-turning thriller.

Fenella J Miller THE ILLUSIONISTS Rosie Thomas, Overlook, 2014, $27.95, hb, 480pp, 9781468309904 / HarperCollins, 2014, £14.99, hb, 336pp, 9780007512010 In Victorian London, illusionist Devil Wix’s chance encounter with dwarf performer Carlo Boldoni results in the dynamic duo of Boldoni & Wix, who soon become headliners at the rundown Palmyra Theatre. Devil is a man with a plan – he wants to own his own theatre, and the Palmyra could be the perfect opportunity, if only it could be wrested from its despicable manager.

Meanwhile, unconventional Eliza works as an artist’s model and dreams of a liberated life, not the suffocating domestic sphere her sister inhabits and which Eliza’s aspiring suitor, Jasper Button, would provide. When she meets Jasper’s friend Wix, she’s enchanted by both the scheming illusionist and the prospect of working in the theatre.

The characterization of this novel is strong; theatre performers provide differing levels of eccentricity, and all are souls longing for something they don’t have, from the talented dwarf Boldoni, to the quietly loyal Jasper, to the peculiar maker of automata, Heinrich Bayer. The personal and professional rivalries are engaging. The setting is well-constructed: Victorian London is not a pleasant place for most, and one understands Devil’s desire to provide wonder to its struggling morass of humanity.

The plotting is likewise sure-footed and gripping… for the first half of the novel. The fight for theatrical success, romance and a thrillerlike aspect build tension, but are resolved far too soon. This is when the plotting derails, resulting in a reader instantaneously bored with what has become a tale of humdrum domestic life, infidelity, and Lorena Bobbitt-type threats of retribution.

One wonders why the book still continues, and it’s all the more disappointing in that it’s exactly the type of life “modern” Eliza supposedly eschewed and for which she spurned the attentions of better men in favor of one whose redeeming qualities are HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 31

few. Overall, this novel is A+, place-on-the-fridge material for the first half, and a D- for the rest.

Bethany Latham BAUDELAIRE’S REVENGE Bob Van Laerhoven (trans. Brian Doyle), Pegasus, 2014, $25.95, hb, 256pp, 9781605985480 “Love could be the cruelest motive, he thought.

And blood the oldest messenger.” As the Prussians bear down on Paris in 1870, a series of brutal murders captivates the attention of besieged workers and aristocrats alike, providing a bizarre distraction from the hardships of war. Each corpse is found with lines from the scandalous work of the recently deceased poet, Charles Baudelaire, seemingly written in the poet’s own handwriting.

Commissioner Lefèvre, a lover of poetry, and his old comrade-in-arms from the Algerian War, Inspector Bouveroux, investigate as the bodies pile up and the intrigue deepens by degree into the seamier side of Paris and the darker side of human nature. With flashbacks from Algeria and a mysterious memoir, the two struggle with their own mortality and confront their own acts of violence.

Up until the very last page, I wasn’t sure what to make of this book. It is certainly not for the faint of heart, but that is not because of the violence or sex, per se, but rather because it so provocatively examines the connections between violence and sex, life and death, love and hateful revenge. Beautifully written and deftly translated, Baudelaire’s Revenge mixes the mystery of the crime novel with the sophistication of a philosophical treatise to produce a literary thriller that is both stylish and tragically appalling.

Kristina Blank Makansi THE SACRED RIVER Wendy Wallace, Scribner, 2014, $26.00, hb, 304pp, 9781451658125 / Simon & Schuster, 2014, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9780857209542 The Sacred River begins its journey in Victorian England and then takes the reader to Egypt.

Harriet is a 23-year-old invalid, and her doctor recommends a change of climate. Harriet loves Egyptian art and history, studying the books of hieroglyphics that her uncle left her. She convinces the doctor that Egypt will cure her. It is for that reason that she, her mother Louise, and her Aunt Yael set off on an adventure that will affect all three of them very differently. Harriet is naïve regarding men and finds that there are both artistic rewards and danger in discovering her newfound independence. Her aunt takes on a mission to aid those in need and finds that politics play an important role in her work, while her mother is haunted by a terrible secret in her past in this mysterious land that threatens to resurface.

These three independent Victorian women set off on very different paths while in Egypt, and readers are caught up in the mystery and excitement that each path holds. Readers will also be aware of the dangers that lurk, and I wished I could warn the ladies and steer them to safer choices. It was interesting to learn more about the political uprisings and the city’s social classes during that time. I enjoy reading wellresearched historical fiction that can truly help readers understand not only the lives of the people 32 | Reviews |

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during the period but also the social and politically charged atmosphere in the country where story takes place. Recommended.

Beth Turza THIS OLD WORLD Steve Wiegenstein, Blank Slate Press, 2014, $14.95, pb, 199pp, 9780985898631 Set in the Utopian community of Daybreak, This Old World follows the lives of the men who once called this ideal place home, but had to leave to fight in the Civil War, and the women they left behind. When the men return, they find that everything they once held dear is altered by the tides of war. However noble the people of Daybreak aspire to be, they are still burdened with the flaws of humanity. This is a story that highlights the challenges faced by people from all walks of life— Irish, freed black, Utopian idealist, and men who fought for both the North and the South—in a tiny community in the Missouri Ozarks.

Steve Wiegenstein’s characters are written in such a way that they hit close to home. Their hopes, desires, and lusts drip from the pages. The rich details—both character and setting—draw the reader quickly into the book and do not let go until the heartbreaking end. There are enough twists to keep the reader honest, but Wiegenstein does not include them at the expense of a believable story.

This is a well-told novel and definitely one to place at the top of your reading stack.

This is the second book set in the community of Daybreak. I have not read Slant of Light prior and did not miss a beat.

Bryan Dumas WILDERNESS BRIDE Kelly A. Wilkins, Amber Quill Press, 2014, $14.50, pb, 253pp, 9781611245769 In this romance novel, Kathleen’s money runs out as her stagecoach arrives at a frightening spot in the Michigan Territory. A lady traveling alone in 1823 did not have any protection from the uncivilized men found in remote trapping communities, so Kathleen takes on another name and poses as the mail order bride of the gentle Luther, who has just arrived at the trading post to collect his mail, and now his bride! She had been on the run from her frightening past and hopes that she could hide out with Luther in the wilderness.

The book lacks historical and logistic sense, as she finds herself traveling from out East to New Orleans to Michigan with the seeming ease of a 20th-century traveler. The man who is searching for her also seems to have no trouble finding her in these faraway and remote regions. Kathleen and Luther have to address issues about one another before the trust of a relationship can develop, so this is an interesting journey of discovery. The ending is also an interesting one, and leaves me wondering if consequences would occur for the couple.

Beth Turza RAIDING WITH MORGAN Jim R. Woolard, Kensington, 2014, $24.00, hb, 314pp, 9781617732683 Ty Mattson is a young Kentuckian who longs to know who his father is. When he learns that his father is riding with General John Hunt Morgan in

Indiana, Ty sets out to join the infamous Raiders.

Ty’s time with his father is brief. They are often separated on the battlefield and in the final battle of the Raiders, Ty watches his father die by an assassin’s bullet. Wounded himself, Ty convalesces at the home of a prominent Ohio magistrate and his daughter who has fallen for the young “secesh”.

Moved to a deplorable prison camp in Chicago, Ty vows to survive at all costs so he can avenge his father’s murder, and reunite himself with his true love.

Though the back cover would lead the reader to believe that this will be a sweeping saga following the exploits of John Morgan and his Raiders through Indiana and Ohio, it is more the story of young Ty Mattson and his time with the Raiders both on the battlefield and in prison. In fact, the last third of the novel is set at Camp Douglas in Chicago, far from the battlefields of the Civil War. Though Jim Woolard’s story of Ty Mattson and the lessons he learns from his father and fellow riders in the forty-six days riding though the North is done well, I wished for more saga surrounding Morgan’s Raiders. If you are looking for a book about Morgan’s exploits explicitly, this one may not be for you. If you are looking for a coming-of-age tale set during the Civil War, this book will satisfy that desire.

Bryan Dumas MIAMI GUNDOWN Michael Zimmer, Five Star, 2014, $25.95, hb, 244pp, 9781432828479 In 1864, eighteen-year-old Boone McCallister and about a half dozen other cow hunters are moving a herd of cattle from his ranch to the Gulf coast of Florida. His father expects him to collect money in gold coin for the delivery, with the cows eventually sold to a Cuban buyer. Along the way, he and his crew try to avoid Union patrols, along with a gang of cattle thieves. Raising longhorn cattle in Florida is a big business; his father is also on his way north with a large herd for the Confederate army.

This novel is Book Four in the author’s American Legends Collection. Stories in the Collection are excerpts from transcripts written years after the events occurred. Of course, these events are fictitious. This novel is set in Florida, which is not exactly a western locale. I never realized, before I read this novel, that cattle drives were located anywhere other than in the American West. His characters are clearly defined and realistic and the action is fast-paced. The novel is rich in historical detail, describing how Floridians coped during the Civil War. Prepare to be immersed in the story.

Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff

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STRANGE GODS Annamaria Alfieri, Minotaur, 2014, hb, $26.99/ C$31.00, 288pp, 9781250039712 In 1911 British East Africa, in a tiny settlement outside Nairobi, Scottish missionaries, doctors, and plantation owners tread a fine dividing line of “rules for the British and rules for the Africans.”

19th Century — 20th Century

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Sebastian Barry, Viking, 2014, $26.95/C$31.00, hb, 310pp, 9780670025879 / Faber & Faber, 2014, £17.99, hb, 288pp, 9780571276950 In 1957, inside a cottage on the outskirts of Accra, Irishman Jack McNulty sits at a table writing his memoir. Although his burly Ghanaian houseboy still calls him “major,” his commission in the British army wasn’t permanent (he was termed a “temporary gentleman”). Similarly, Jack has been a short-lived soldier, engineer, civil servant, gun runner, and a U.N. observer. While most of the British have departed from recently independent Ghana, Jack for some baffling reason, has stayed on. Even though he says, “I will go back to Ireland, I must. I have duties there, not least to my children.” The excuses for his hesitation are revealed gradually through flashbacks of his life.

Having overcome many impediments in various parts of the world—the sinking of a torpedoed ship, bomb explosions, a jeep’s plunge down a cliff—the ones he doesn’t seem to have surmounted are related to alcohol, gambling, and his relationship with the glamorous Mai. Jack meets her while in college, and although she’s above his station, he manages to entice and marry her.

This is Sebastian Barry’s word-painting of an intricate portrait of an Irishman and his family. The characters will be familiar to Barry’s readers from his earlier novels. In the Gold Coast, while Jack doesn’t quite achieve the eminence of Conrad’s Kurtz, he does interact with the locals and visits villages. The comparative observations of the impact of colonialism in Ghana and Ireland are keenly presented, particularly when Jack is forewarned about the violence in Accra by another Irishman: “It’s like I never left Ireland… take away the black skins… it’s all just Ballymena in the rain.” The novel is written in his typical acclaimed poetic and metaphoric prose, and his use of the first-person and shifted-time structure works well to keep us engrossed. It deserves to win Barry another nomination for the Man Booker Prize. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani Although born in Africa, 20-year-old and pretty Vera McIntosh, the daughter of missionaries, doesn’t feel she belongs to either group. She yearns to accompany her brother on a safari and pines for the handsome British police officer she’d danced with, Captain Justin Tolliver, an earl’s second son.

They meet again following the grisly murder of Vera’s uncle, Doctor Pennyman, who is discovered in a field with a native spear pierced through his back. Justin’s superior coerces him to pin the murder on a Kikuyu tribe’s medicine man. The shaman hated Pennyman because the natives preferred the Scotsman’s medicines over indigenous potions. Since the spear is of Massai tribal design, Justin investigates others who had cause to loathe Pennyman for his rakish ways. The list of suspects grows daily.

This fourth offering from acclaimed historical novelist Annamaria Alfieri is a departure from her earlier South American settings. Although the title (words from the First Commandment) might imply a religious theme, and while there is some discourse of native African and Christian beliefs, this is a murder mystery with a romantic touch in an exotic land. The pages bring that era’s African towns and jungles to life, which we would traverse today in the comfort of a jeep. Readers might despair at the unjust system that takes so long to trace the murder weapon—the spear—via the village blacksmith to its owner, for the delay results in tragic consequences. As Alfieri confided in a recent essay for Jungle Red Writers, “Real people 20th Century

creep into my stories,” and while big-game hunter Denys Finch-Hatton does, we await the sequel, and the appearance of Out of Africa writer Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen).

Waheed Rabbani GRAND CENTRAL: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion Melanie Benjamin, Jenna Blum, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, Sarah Jio, Sarah McCoy, Kristina McMorris, Alyson Richman, Erika Robuck, and Karen White, Berkley, 2014, $16.00/$18.00, pb, 368pp, 9780425272022 This collection of ten stories is remarkably varied, though they all speak of the same date and place in history: September 21, 1945 at Grand Central Station, New York City. Each story holds up well, but a few highlights include Karen White’s “Harvest Season,” Kristina McMorris’ “The Reunion,” and Alyson Richman’s “Going Home.” In “Harvest Season,” Will Claiborne returns from war to unexpectedly meet his ex-girlfriend at Grand Central who will bring him back to a home he barely recognizes. The love of his life married his brother, and now his father is unable to run the farm and Will is forced to confront disparities between his life, then and now. McMorris’ tale is about female pilots during World War II, and an extraordinary friendship that is by turns heartbreaking and fulfilling. “Going Home” by Richman covers two immigrant survivors whose paths cross with romantic and breathtaking uncertainty.

The writing throughout the collection is consistently solid; each story engages readers immediately and leaves them feeling as if they’ve known the characters for years. One drawback is that the themes and events of the stories are by and large fairly heavy (domestic abuse, concentration camp survivors, war veterans’ bad experiences, Hollywood’s manipulation of young girls, etc.) so reading them back to back can be somewhat depressing. That said, the stories are so good that readers will want to keep reading, despite the deep topics.

Amy Watkin THE WHITE RUSSIAN Vanora Bennett, Century, 2014, £18.99, hb, 360pp, 9781780890043 In 1937 young American socialite Evie Vanderhorst flees her stifling family, and heads to Paris to meet her estranged, highly unconventional grandmother – only to find her dying of a stroke.

Soon she finds herself alone, with an apartment full of modern paintings, and a scrawled note imploring her to set things right with someone named Zhenya. When she embarks on a quest to fulfil the dying wish of the grandmother she barely met, Evie crosses paths with the White Russians downstairs, ineffectually conspiring against the Soviets, and with their commander’s moody son, who would much rather let the past lie. Little she knows, as she uncovers old secrets, grows up, and falls in love, that something sinister is afoot… This is a bittersweet story about finding oneself, and the weight and value of the past. Bennett finely captures an unusual Paris, seen through the double lens of Evie’s naïveté and the White Russian’s soured romanticism. A thoughtful, pleasant read.

Chiara Prezzavento LUCKY US Amy Bloom, Random House, 2014, $26.00, hb, 256pp, 9781400067244 / Granta, 2014, £12.99, hb, 256pp, 9781847089366 At the age of twelve, Evie Acton’s young mother leaves her on the steps of her father’s house, where she meets her elder stepsister, Iris, for the first time.

Though complete opposites and separated by four years, they form an unusual bond, setting out for the glamorous Hollywood scene, where Iris quickly becomes the new darling of the entertainment world. That dream crashes when Iris throws discretion to the wind, entering a forbidden fling with an early version of the paparazzi trailing her every move.

Moving back East with an eclectic group – including the oddly irresponsible Mr. Acton and a lovable cosmetologist – they arrive in New York just before World War II breaks out, trying their luck with various professions. Iris continues her brow-raising affairs, while the others find work and solace in various places. Evie becomes the object of affection to the character with the most interesting story: Gus, the German-American, who lives through the war on both sides of the Atlantic strangely documenting his experiences via an assuming correspondence.

This is a curious and unconventional book, with a peculiar back and forth storyline. Without a solid theme, the story seems stilted in places, lacking proper direction—although there are enough HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 33

dramatic scenes to hold the reader’s interest.

Ultimately it is a story of two sisters who only find true camaraderie once the war years have taken a toll and left the siblings to sift the ashes.

Arleigh Johnson RUBY Cynthia Bond, Hogarth, 2014, $25.00/C$29.00, hb, 352pp, 9780804139090 Ruby is a story of great pain – but also hope and possibility – set in Liberty, a small East Texas town.

Ruby Bell, in 1974, is “buck-crazy. Howling, halfnaked mad.” The novel describes how Ruby has reached this point and what, if anything, Ephram Jennings can to do to help.

Ephram bags groceries for a living and lives with his sister Celia, who has acted as a mother to him since their own mother was shut up in an asylum after walking to church naked on Sunday morning.

It takes Ephram eleven years after Ruby’s return to Liberty to decide to take her an angel cake, but having decided, he is not a man easily diverted.

The story weaves seamlessly across the decades of the 20th century. The lives of Ephram’s parents, Ephram, Ruby, and others intersect and separate, gradually revealing the dark secrets of Liberty and the horrendous abuse suffered by Ruby through her childhood and beyond.

Two things really set this novel apart: Bond’s mastery of language, and her fearlessness. At points the novel is not easy to read. Just when you feel Ruby’s story cannot become more harrowing or awful, it does. But in a story of great darkness there is also immense lyrical beauty both in Bond’s immaculate prose and in the promise of redemption embodied in the character of Ephram.

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Arguably, the story lingers a little too long before Ephram arrives at Ruby’s home, but that’s a minor quibble. Despite the challenging nature of many scenes from Ruby’s childhood, there is also much humour to be enjoyed in the small town lives of Bond’s characters. And with such dark beauty in her descriptions and yet such hope for the future, it is the good things that linger in the mind after reading, despite the horror.

Kate Braithwaite CAVENDON HALL Barbara Taylor Bradford, St. Martin’s, 2014, $27.99, hb, 416pp, 9781250032355 / HarperCollins UK, 2014, £18.99, hb, 464pp, 9780007503162 Cavendon Hall, a frothy historical drama set in the wilds of Yorkshire, focuses on two families: the aristocratic Inghams and their devoted servants, the Swanns. The two families have been interlinked for over a century with the Swanns taking the motto “Loyalty binds me.” The Inghams are the predictably premier family in England; there is Charles, the current Earl of Mowbray, his wife Felicity, and their six gorgeous children. The daughters are known as the “Four D’s”: Diedre, Daphne, DeLacy, and Dulcie. Daphne, the beauty of the family, is expected to make a brilliant marriage until a tragedy clouds her prospects. This is where the Swanns swoop in: Walter, the earl’s valet; his wife Alice, the family seamstress; their daughter Cecily, playmate to DeLacy and her brother Miles; and finally there is Aunt Charlotte, who has a rather familiar relationship with the current earl.

Indeed, the whole family is unrealistically familiar with their employers.

This is an interesting domestic novel with a

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Malcolm Brooks, Grove, 2014, $26.00, hb, 367pp, 9780802121646 In the mid-1950s, Catherine Lemay goes to London to study music. Instead, she falls in love with archeology. Battered by German bombs only a decade before, the city’s Roman ruins enchant Catherine, and she helps salvage a unique temple which blocks post-war rebuilding. The next year, Catherine applies to the Smithsonian Institute for a summer position.

To her surprise, the graduate student is hired, in large part because of her experience on a site which interfered with a developer’s plans.

Catherine is assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers in Montana. Soon the Corps will start work on a dam which, when complete, will drown a canyon.

It is Catherine’s job to ensure that no significant archeological remains will be lost. However, the area is far too vast for a lone archeologist to cover. Catherine realizes that the Corps wants the inexperienced young woman to fail. Then she hears of a fabulous panel of Pleistocene artwork, unlike anything seen in the New World. Catherine needs to locate it quickly – and also to prove herself. She seeks help from the mysterious John H, a U.S. Army deserter living in the canyon and Miriam, a young Crow woman whose tribal lands will soon be flooded.

I loved Painted Horses, the marvelous debut historical novel by Malcolm Brooks. He’s a hell of a story teller, and offers readers an elegant love story, a haunting memoir of war, and an epic battle between preservation and development. Above all, this book will leave its mark on you, just as John H slaps yellow handprints on his mounts and some prehistoric artist etched horses on a rocky Montana canvas.

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huge cast of characters, both above and below stairs. As a result, the pacing is excruciatingly slow, and conversations are repeated over and over again.

Despite this, Bradford excels at setting the scene.

The gracious world of pre-World War I England is displayed in all its splendor. Food, dresses, and daily routines are described in exacting detail.

As such, readers who require quick pacing and straightforward writing may want to give this novel a miss. But for those diehard fans of Bradford and readers who love the popular Downton Abbey television series, Cavendon Hall delivers in all of its sudsy glory.

Caroline Wilson THORNBROOK PARK Sherri Browning, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2014, $6.99/£4.99, pb, 384pp, 9781402295867 Eve Kendal, a 25-year-old widow who deeply loved her husband, has returned to England after living in India for six years. The mysterious disappearance of her husband’s money has left her dependent on the generosity of her childhood friend, Sophia, the Countess of Averford. Eve soon encounters Sophia’s brother-in-law, Captain Marcus Thorne, and discovers the joy of falling in love for a second time. Despite their longings to build a life together, Eve and Marcus agree that they must sacrifice their own happiness so that he might provide his brother with an heir by marrying Sophia’s younger sister.

Set in 1906, after the Boer War, the story highlights the difficulties a soldier can encounter when returning to civilian life. While Marcus is a fairly typical romantic hero (a lonely man who needs a good woman to help him overcome his demons), Eve’s character holds an interesting blend of gentleness, audacity, wisdom, recklessness, and strength. The lack of tension between the protagonists is nicely counterbalanced by the threatening circumstances in the secondary storyline. These assets combined with the author’s smooth writing style work together to make Thornbrook Park a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Nancy J. Attwell O, AFRICA! Andrew Lewis Conn, Hogarth, 2014, $25.00, hb, 384pp, 9780804138284 Micah and Izzy Grand are the stars of silent films in the year 1928. The descendants of Jewish immigrants, they are self-made men; Micah is the genius behind the script of each movie, and Izzy is the talented cameraman. Their personalities couldn’t, however, be more different, with Micah being rambunctious and wild in all he does and Izzy being the rational, technical and controlled brother. The melding of their gifts and weaknesses makes the risks they take both admirable and outrageously shocking.

Micah’s affair with an African-American lady and an outstanding, huge debt force them to accept a job in Africa. The goals are to can stunning background scenes that will be rented to other movie producers and secretly make a film spanning African-American history from slavery to the present jazz age in New York, with its beauty and ugliness equally depicted. This is the story of their life with the tribe of Malwiki, set in the heartland of Africa with mind-numbing, primitive scenes, 20th Century

where the Grand brothers will bring such immense happiness and devastating tragedy. Still, when all is said and done, the effort was worth it all, wasn’t it?

There isn’t one stereotypical character in this unique story. Add to that the phenomenal literary style used in Conn’s descriptions of characters, settings, and the narrator’s reflections, and you have an amazing read that has been compared to the writings of Saul Bellow and Michael Chabon.

This reviewer believes it stands admirably on its own as a remarkable work of historical fiction.

Viviane Crystal THE WILD DARK FLOWERS Elizabeth Cooke, Berkley, 2014, $16.00/C$18.00, pb, 358pp, 9780425262597 The Wild Dark Flowers is the second novel in the Rutherford Park series. It begins in 1915. Harry Cavendish, the son and heir, is leaving the estate to join the Royal Flying Corps in France, much to the distress of his parents, William, Lord Cavendish, and his wife, Octavia, whose nearest neighbors had just lost both their sons in the war. Besides his parents, Harry leaves behind his two sisters, Louisa and Charlotte, and his illegitimate infant daughter, Sessy. The fighting may be in France, but its stresses are felt at home in England. One after another of the male staff of Rutherford Park leaves to join the army, only to be followed by the estate’s horses. The newspapers gloss over the reports from the front, which are contradicted as wounded soldiers return home. Not only does Octavia miss Harry, but she is also missing her former lover, John Gould, now back home in New York.

Cooke has written a charming, intriguing novel.

Some scenes are reminiscent of two popular TV series, Upstairs, Downstairs, and Downton Abbey, which have similar subject matter. Her research is excellent. The various battle scenes in France are completely riveting, and her portrayal of the sinking of the Lusitania is heartrending. This book is a perfect summer read.

Audrey Braver THE END OF ALWAYS Randi Davenport, Twelve, 2014, $25.00/C$28.00, hb, 324pp, 9781455573073 “Men everywhere and the world belonged to them, and always had, and always would, and the very fact of this blinded them to the rest of us.” Such is the powerless environment faced by Davenport’s vulnerable heroine, 17-year-old Marie Reehs, who yearns to free herself from her family’s long-standing cycle of domestic abuse. Her story unfolds in a small town and in the woodlands of early 20th-century southeastern Wisconsin, whose laws didn’t favor women. Its history and geography feel realistic, but more importantly, it achieves an emotional authenticity that rings devastatingly true. Marie’s plight isn’t unusual, and many women today will see their situations reflected in hers.

Incorporating vivid sensory details and old fairy tales from the German island of Rügen, Davenport’s prose has a dark, mysterious quality as she reveals Marie’s tale, which is based on her great-grandmother’s life. The middle daughter in a poor immigrant family, Marie observes her father’s controlling, violent ways and knows that, unless she escapes, decisions about her life will always be made without her approval. After a 20th Century

bloody “accident” steals her mother from her, Marie is made to work in a nearby laundry under her employer’s uncomfortable stares. With her older sister Martha echoing her father’s harsh policies, Marie has no one to turn to – so can’t help falling for handsome August Bethke, whose German accent makes her feel at home. She doesn’t realize how little she knows about him until she’s trapped.

The novel affectingly explores the inner lives of women who hope so desperately for love that they’ll accept anything in its guise – and shows that other women who see abuse and do nothing are contributors to these destructive patterns. Due to its subject, the text is hard to read at long stretches, but it leaves a strong impact and offers a hopeful message that needs to be heard.

Sarah Johnson JACK OF SPIES David Downing, Soho, 2014, $25.95, pb, 338pp, 9781616952686 / Old Street, 2014, £8.99, pb, 352pp, 9781908699718 Forsaking his popular World War II series (Masaryk Station, 2013), Downing starts anew in 1913, when war already looks inevitable. Jack McColl sells luxury automobiles to moneyed elites. His marketplace is the world, but he travels with his brother and a friend who can take over the car business when he is needed in his other job – as a British agent. McColl is assigned to collect information that will be of strategic importance when war breaks out. Given his talent for languages, his military background, and his interest in Irish nationalism (his lover is an Irish-

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American journalist), McColl could turn up in almost anywhere – and in Jack of Spies, he does.

His assignment takes him from China to the U.S., Mexico, Ireland, and includes a couple of hospital stays (spying is a dangerous business), and then back to England just as war is declared. The plot is historically plausible, but we don’t learn enough about McColl to care about him. Jack of Spies may speak to Downing fans and readers sold on fastpaced plots; other may want to wait until for fully developed characters.

Jeanne Greene RAGTIME COWBOYS Loren D. Estleman, Forge, 2014, $24.99/C$28.99, hb, 256pp, 9780765334541 In 1921, Charlie Siringo is past his prime, living under a leaky roof and writing books about the days he rode with the Earp brothers and tracked down the likes of Billy the Kid. In 1921, Dashiell Hammett is finished being a Pinkerton detective, and is now building a good-sized collection of empty whiskey bottles and rejection slips from publishers. What sort of case could pair up the last of the cowboy detectives with the future author of The Maltese Falcon? Well, this one involves Wyatt Earp’s prize racehorse, Jack London’s widow, and an Irish bootlegger from Boston who wants to make his son “the first Roman Catholic president of the United States.”

Siringo and Hammett make a great team, each man’s skills complementing the other, though neither is particularly complimentary. Their dialogue spits nails and always seems on the verge

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Anthony Doerr, Scribner, 2014, $27, hb, 544pp, 9781476746586 / Fourth Estate, 2014, £16.99, hb, 544pp, 9780007548668 Sometimes a novel doesn’t merely transport. It immerses, engulfs, keeps you caught within its words until the very end, when you blink and remember there’s a world beyond the pages. All the Light We Cannot See was such a book for me.

Marie-Laure has been blind since childhood. She’s learned Paris through her fingertips, with a miniature model of the 5th arrondissement made by her father, a master locksmith at the National Museum of Natural History. She’s fascinated by mollusks and snails, by Jules Verne, by faraway places she can only imagine.

But then war comes and, with it, an enemy she can’t see. In the face of the Nazi occupation, Marie-Laure and her father flee to her reclusive great-uncle’s house, perched above the sea along the Brittany coast. With them they bring what might be the museum’s most valuable and infamous diamond.

Across Europe, an orphan named Werner grows up in a German coal-mining town, devouring discarded books on mechanics and salvaging scraps to make a radio, one that picks up forbidden broadcasts from outside the Reich. His quick hands earn him a place at an elite Hitler Youth school, where he’s taught both technology and ideology. Werner is precocious and willing, soon in the army rooting out resistance radio operators from Russia to France. On his way to Brittany, he begins to understand the cost of his skill.

The novel—written in prose that begs to be savored and reread—is Marie-Laure’s eyes, Werner’s antenna. It’s France caught fragile in the war, yet holding on resiliently. It’s vibrant, poignant, delicately exquisite. Despite the careful building of time and place (so vivid you fall between the pages), it’s not a story of history; it’s a story of people living history.

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HENNA HOUSE

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Nomi Eve, Scribner, 2014, $26.00/C$29.99, hb, 320pp, 9781476740270 This extraordinary family saga begins in Yemen in 1923. Five-year-old Adela is the ninth child and only daughter and lives in fear of ‘confiscation’ under the Muslim ‘Orphan’s Decree’ should her sick father die prematurely. Hence her mother’s desperate and sometimes cruel machinations to find her a husband.

Although not a meekly conformist child, Adela’s days are filled with mundane tasks, like her mother, cousins and sisters-in-law, but when she meets her cousin Hani she is drawn into the seductive and ritualistic art of henna. All the primary characters here are female and, although deferential to the men, these are forceful women living in difficult times. Their sacred rituals bind them in their tasks of marriage, child-rearing and housekeeping, and a woman’s domain is inviolable.

Bridal henna and the ‘shackles of beauty’ are definitely a woman’s domain.

I was enchanted by this book. It is a meticulously researched coming-of-age story with all the strictures of childhood and the complexities of maturity. The prose style is clean, elegant and descriptive. Nowhere does the narrative stray from its purpose or become too colloquial. It is never embellished, never wordy, and the events flow with vivid detail of everyday family life, multi-layered threads, complex relationships, ritual and mysticism.

My one complaint is that the prologue is too explicit, hindering the story a little because having been told the ‘what’ I was sometimes impatient for the ‘why’. But with that small exception this was a captivating read, one where it is possible for the reader to delve briefly into the extraordinary lives of this little-known community of Yemenite Jews. Jewish phrases are successfully scattered within the text without overburdening it, and Henna House pays a special tribute to Jewish history. Highly recommended.

Fiona Alison of breaking into a fistfight. Actually, about every other time the two partners are alone together, somebody gets punched. The action is constant, a jolting ride on the back of a strong horse with a bottle of rye in one hand and a .45 automatic in the other. My one regret (which the author no doubt shares) is that Theodore Roosevelt died in 1919 and thus could not challenge Joe Kennedy to go at it bare-knuckled.

Highly recommended for fans of hard-drinking, pistol-packing men in hats – Stetson or fedora, your choice.

Richard Bourgeois KILL MY MOTHER Jules Feiffer, Liveright, 2014, $27.95/ C$29.00/£18.99, hb, 160pp, 9780871403148 This graphic novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Feiffer is a gender-bending take on 1930s-40s noir. In 1933, teen-aged bad apple Annie tortures her admirer, Artie, shoplifts, and wants her mother dead. Said mother, Elsie, works for an alcohol-soaked private eye she hopes will solve her husband’s murder. Throw in mysterious blonds, nightclubs, boxers, and goons, and you’ve got several mainstays of the genre. Fast forward to 1943, the war is in full swing, Annie is grown (but no more mature), Artie fights in the South Pacific, Elsie is in Hollywood, and all comes to a denouement when the main characters participate in a USO tour.

A graphic novel invites scrutiny for both its writing and illustrations; in this case, the latter are distracted, hasty-looking black/white/shades36 | Reviews |

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of-grey constructions. The color palette (or lack thereof ) is appropriate, but the style seems wrong – it gives a sense of frenzied energy and slapdash execution, rather than the polish of noir cinematography. Faces are so indistinct and similar, especially for females, that it can cause confusion as to which character is actually in frame. The prose is likewise unrefined. Unlike the sardonic wit and biting dialogue of a Chandler or Cain work (both of whom are mentioned in the dedication), this novel’s prose has little to recommend it. Advance praise (of which there is plenty from Art Spiegelman, Neil Gaiman, et al.) touts the novel’s “humor.”

Your mileage may vary, but this reviewer could find little evidence of it. The storyline contains surprise twists and character about-faces that beggar belief.

The author mentions his research into the period (“googling World War II uniforms and what all”), and perhaps this is the major flaw from a historicity standpoint: the novel attempts to recreate noir, but has missed the correct feel for the period and genre.

As an art work, Kill My Mother is worth a look; as a noir novel… it leaves much to be desired.

Bethany Latham THE UNWITTING Ellen Feldman, Spiegel & Grau, 2014, $26.00/ C$31.00, hb, 304pp, 9780812993448 / Picador, 2014, £14.99, hb, 256pp, 9781447223146 Nell and Charlie Benjamin have a solid marriage, though it’s not without its ups and downs. They’ve got journalism jobs that feed their need to research and report on politics, a great apartment in New York City overlooking Central Park, a smart, well-

adjusted daughter, and an active social life with the “in” crowd. In the early 1960s, the world is theirs to explore and own.

Or, it is until November 22, 1963, when, just as Nell sees the televised coverage of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, she receives a phone call that changes everything. She embarks on the biggest investigation of her career, to discover the truth about Charlie, her marriage, and their life together. Was Charlie really working for the CIA? Has everything she’s been working toward really been funded, or tainted by, money and politics? Has she been an unwitting accomplice to a CIA asset? Nell forces herself to reign in her own feelings of rage and betrayal in order to use her more measured investigative reporting skills to untangle the complex web of connections between people, organizations, and money.

Feldman’s intriguing tale is part political thriller, part romance, and all well-written. From the House Un-American Activities Committee, Soviet Russia, and Cold War espionage, to Civil Rights activists, college protests, and coups in Guatemala, the reader sees the postwar world from multiple angles. There’s also plenty of accurate detail in the portrayal of the female characters, who are struggling against gender and cultural norms in their efforts to build careers. Discovery is everywhere, both political and personal. The reader and Nell both learn some useful, though painful, lessons from this exploration of power in the seemingly disparate worlds of politics, international relations, journalism, and philanthropy.

Helene Williams THE MAJOR’S DAUGHTER J.P. Francis, Plume, 2014, $16/C$18, pb, 384pp, 9780452298699 Francis brings to light a little-known part of World War II history – a prisoner-of-war camp in the small town of Stark, New Hampshire. The camp is run by Major John Brennan, and serving as translator is his daughter, Collie. Brennan keeps the camp humane; the men are put to work shoring up the logging industry. Collie, as one of the few women on site, attracts Augustus Wahrlich, a young Austrian prisoner who writes poetry and plays piano. This is no Harlequin novel against the backdrop of war, though. Collie and August’s love is both a blessing and an anxiety. Francis contrasts Collie’s story with the woes of her college friend, Estelle. Estelle, drawn to Mr. Kamal, the Indian owner of the flower shop in her hometown in Ohio, is not brave enough to flout convention and so settles for marriage and motherhood with a more sensible choice.

The nuances of war are explored. August and other soldiers who aren’t Nazis suffer midnight beatings from the more vicious Nazis. When the town’s only doctor is unavailable, Collie takes a doctor POW out of camp to try to save her young friend from deadly influenza. Other prisoners are aware of August and Collie’s feelings for each other, but no one exposes them. Her father disapproves but doesn’t punish her. No punishment could be greater than the inevitable tragic end to their story.

I hesitate to write that but feel that it’s not a spoiler, that an unhappy end is telegraphed simply by the description “a love story between an American woman and a German POW.” I slowed the pace of 20th Century

my reading to forestall the end, but it had to come, and Francis is too good a writer not to deserve the courtesy of seeing it through.

Ellen Keith

descriptive passages in her scene setting, but I found the plot somewhat lacking in realism and the conclusion more sensational than believable.

Cathy Kemp

SUNDANCE David Fuller, Riverhead, 2014, $27.95/C$32.95, hb, 352pp, 9781594632457 In 1913, Harry Longbaugh, aka The Sundance Kid, is released from a Wyoming prison under the assumed name of Harry Alonzo. The Kid, along with his partner in crime, Butch Cassidy, had been reported killed in a shootout in Bolivia several years earlier. The world has changed and become more modern since his incarceration: automobiles, electric lights and skyscrapers are replacing horses, gas lighting and one- to two-story buildings. He has not heard from his wife, Etta Place, in two years. He now begins his quest to find her, his search eventually taking him to the city of New York.

On his trail is Charlie Sirango, a police officer and former friend, who always felt that the Sundance Kid was still alive. He is following Longbaugh to arrest him for the killing of a sheriff ’s son in a shootout soon after his release from prison.

The Kid befriends a young Chinese boy who helps him try to locate his wife. He is competing with the Black Hand, an Italian mob, who wish to locate and kill her. He also meets people involved in an anarchy movement to overthrow the government.

David Fuller is a screenwriter who wrote the novel Sweetwater, which I have also reviewed. The steady unraveling of this novel’s plot, the search for the protagonist’s wife, is genuinely exciting because the drama is fast-paced from cover to cover. Fuller does a masterful job in mixing fictional and historical characters while keeping them credible.

Don’t be put off by the western overtones of this book. In fact, western genre aficionados may be disappointed in the story, because much of the action takes place in New York City. I highly recommend this book, which is well researched with a mystery subplot.

Jeff Westerhoff

MIDNIGHT IN EUROPE Alan Furst, Random House, 2014, $27.00, hb, 237pp, 9781400069491 / Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2014, £18.99, hb, 320pp, 9780297863953 Readers of Furst’s excellent inter-war espionage novels will find themselves in familiar territory for this one. It is the end of 1937, and although it begins in Manhattan (an unusual place for Furst’s spies), the action quickly shifts back to France, Germany, Poland, Russia and Spain. The protagonist, a Spaniard named Cristián Ferrar, is an attorney for an old, established law firm with offices in the U.S. and Europe, and he is enlisted to aid the valiant but failing rebels in the Spanish Civil War. Illegal purchase and transport of armaments is the name of the game, which is played out under the growing Nazi menace and Soviet duplicitousness.

Although there are some excellently drawn minor characters, Cristián is somewhat twodimensional: like other Furst spies, he is lean and dark, silent and mysterious, a magnet for the ladies, and possessed of the kind of luck that allows him to narrowly escape while others are, sadly, killed or captured. Furst brings out the “usual suspects” of his previous narratives—the overweight, falsely hearty Russian bear with long-limbed eye candy clinging to his arms, the gruff but patriotic sailors and captains, and the seductive lady spy who falls for Cristián (of course). It feels a bit half-hearted,

THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN Kate Furnivall, Sphere, 2014, £7.99, pb, 375pp, 9780751550740 / Berkley, 2014, $15.00, pb, 400pp, 9780425265093 Orphaned at a young age, Dodi has secured her independence in the Bahamian capital Nassau, working as a waitress with her own beachside home. As she walks home late one night from her shift in the restaurant, she is begged for help from an American man who has been fatally stabbed and is cowering in some bushes. Her life is completely altered by subsequent events, and Dodi becomes involved with people whom she would normally avoid. Finding previously unknown strengths within herself, Dodi sets out to unravel the mystery surrounding the murder and is rapidly drawn into dealings with the Mob, the Police, and a senior diplomat’s wife called Ella with whom Dodi forms a friendship.

This story is loosely based on the unresolved murder of a rich and famous character from 1943, when the global conflict reaches the Governor of the Bahamas, the Duke of Windsor and his wife Wallace. Kate Furnivall uses some excellent 20th Century

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EDGE OF ETERNITY

like Furst is more going through the motions than coming up with something new, but fans will enjoy the suspense and the crisp descriptions of the places Cristián visits.

Mary F. Burns WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Elizabeth Gaffney, Random House, 2014, $26.00, hb, 320pp, 9781400064687 Wally Baker’s dad is serving in Japan during WWII, and her mother is a medical intern working numerous hours to further her dream of becoming a doctor. Wally is raised practically parttime by her grandparents, but she spends more time with her grandmother’s African-American maid, Loretta, and her son, Ham. To Wally, Ham is the only one she can share anything and everything with. Their world opens to the reader on glorious V-Day, when so many danced in the Brooklyn and Manhattan streets over this long-overdue end to a cruel, horrific war.

Ham and Wally develop an avid interest in the world of ants, including all facets of how they move, eat, obey the queen ant, and reproduce. These studies are facilitated by a professional entomologist at the famous Natural History Museum. Wally’s mother, meanwhile, is becoming great friends with a boarder, Mr. William Niederman, a visiting math professor who is actually working on a secret, lethal project at a well-known university. This will turn out to have a shattering effect on the Baker family, one even greater than the two losses that Stella, Wally’s mom, has already endured.

When the World Was Young is a riveting coming-

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Ken Follett, Dutton, 2014, $36.00, hb, 1120 pp, 9780525953098 / Macmillan, 2014, £20.00, hb, 640pp, 9780230710160 The Century Trilogy concludes with this historical novel that captures the essence of historical events from 1961 to 2008. It is thrilling in its evocation of critical events and their participants, who capture the successes and failures of freedom’s evolution in America, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Vietnam and more notable places.

The early conflict of the Freedom Riders, who began the fight for civil rights for African-Americans, is riveting reading. The leadership and shocking deaths of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy are depicted as suddenly and dramatically as they occurred, as well as the legacy they left with regard to the Berlin crisis, the attempts at segregating public facilities and educational institutions, the conflict in Vietnam, and more. The evolution of communism in Russia, Germany and Poland is documented in its notorious stages. Bitter rivalries and debates fill these pages with the intensity that is normal for this author’s writing style; this enriches the readers’ experience, as it is so full of human ability, deception, and manipulative machinations. Popular culture is also given its due as music evolves from the acceptable social norm to rock music and lyrics which parallel the increasing demand for freedom and human rights.

What makes this all work so phenomenally well is that we follow the story through a set of characters who live and engage in all these events over the years, with romance, terror, frustration, determination, fury and celebration. It is their involvement that saves this novel from just being a skimming of the surface of history, and it’s a glorious conclusion to a remarkable trilogy that is wonderful, exhilarating reading for all ages. Fine, fine historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 37

of-age story. The author depicts the tumultuous, annoyingly vague, and unsettling thoughts, feelings, and actions of a young girl who has to negotiate new relationships, analyze the awareness of roles and social standards regarding AfricanAmericans, and negotiate the fluctuating pathways of familial and romantic love. The reader will come to respect many well-drawn characters and empathize with strong but sensitive Wally’s everchanging challenges. Elizabeth Gaffney has crafted a mesmerizing tale in the highly credible guise of a commendable historical novel. Wonderful read!

Viviane Crystal THE CONFABULIST Steven Galloway, Riverhead, 2014, $27.95, hb, 304pp, 9781594631962 / Atlantic, 2014, £12.99, hb, 320pp, 9781782393993 Harry Houdini comes to life in Galloway’s literary thriller. Houdini’s early poverty and a promise to his father keep him always striving for more, which, in his business, equates to more danger. Wife Bess is unhappy with Houdini’s inability to enjoy the present. In addition to his escape and magician act, Houdini works with the U.S. Secret Service, spying on foreign governments and making note of European prison facilities when hired to break out of them. His work brings him into contact with the Russian Romanovs, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Margery Crandon and other famous persons.

Galloway tells this story in three ways: the sections devoted to Houdini are in the third person, but other sections are narrated by Martin Strauss: in the present day, in which Martin has been diagnosed with a brain disorder that will cause him to have false memories; and in the past, beginning in 1926 and up to and beyond when Martin punched Harry Houdini in the stomach and killed the magician. Within these alternating sections, flashbacks duel with the main thread.

I had no trouble keeping track of the when and where and whom, as I was enthralled by the story and read the book in two days. Slower readers might find the flashbacks and multiple points of view difficult to follow.

Galloway’s writing is masterful. While keeping the suspense high and bringing depth to multiple characters, this author uncovers truths about family, life, love and magic. The Confabulist is a wonderful mix of intriguing characters, thoughtprovoking ideas and fast-paced action.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt MADAME PICASSO Anne Girard, MIRA, 2014, $14.95, pb, 432pp, 9780778316350 Pablo Picasso is arguably one of the greatest artists ever. Art historians and theorists have pored over his works for years, and many have come to the conclusion that Picasso was greatly influenced by the women in his life. Madame Picasso shines a light on Eva Gouel, Picasso’s second mistress and, most likely, his greatest muse.

Very little is known about Eva. According to the novel, she was born to Polish parents and grew up in the suburbs of Paris. Often in frail health, she shocks her conservative parents by running away to the city in order to join the great artistic fervor of the early 20th century. She obtains a position at the 38 | Reviews |

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famed Moulin Rouge and stumbles into the orbit of Picasso, a virile artist with an established mistress who calls herself Madame Picasso. Unassuming Eva quickly captivates the artist, and after many months of denying their feelings for each other, they break off their respective love affairs to be together. But the path to true love is not smooth; devastating tragedies and life-threatening illnesses threaten to force the couple apart.

Girard is a capable writer who accessed Eva’s letters to Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas in order to get a better grip on her character. Eva comes off as overly saintly throughout the novel but is not so saccharine as to annoy the reader. However, Girard’s use of modern lingo throughout the novel may jar some readers from the plot. Despite this deficiency, lovers of Paris and art history will find Madame Picasso an interesting look into a littleknown artistic muse.

Caroline Wilson AFTER THE EXHIBITION Dolores Gordon-Smith, Severn House, 2014, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 240pp, 9780727883766 An exhibition of church art sounds sedate, but murder soon intrudes into this cozy, 1920s English mystery. Set in London and bucolic Whimbrell Heath, this clever, intricate puzzle should attract fans of Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes.

Amateur sleuth Jack Haldean teams with Scotland Yard to discover whether ingénue Betty Wingate has really witnessed a murder, or whether, as some suggest, she is just looking for attention.

As the multi-layered plot becomes more complex, the characters complain to each other that nothing makes sense. Readers may feel the same way at times, as the action shoots back and forth from lively, jazz-age London to quiet, leafy, Whimbrell Heath. There are hints of blackmail, bigamy, and hidden treasure. There is love, sacred art, a touch of science, and skullduggery from the previous century. The death count rises. This complex plot will keep readers guessing, although it cannot really be summarized without giving away too much. Fans of traditional, complicated, cozy mysteries set in England between the wars will enjoy Gordon-Smith’s eighth Jack Haldean book.

Elizabeth Knowles APHRODITE’S ISLAND Hilary Green, Hale, 2014, £19.99, hb, 223pp, 9780719811845 The story begins in 1955. EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Struggle) is launching a military campaign to unite the island with Greece and end British rule. Serving in the British Army is a young officer called Stephen Allenby who, whilst taking lessons in Greek from a local schoolmaster, meets and falls in love with Ariadne, his daughter. Their feelings are mutual, and they meet in secret but when they are found out Stephen is immediately sent back to England without knowing that Ariadne is pregnant. The story then jumps to 1974. Stephen is now married with a daughter, Cressida, but the marriage is not a happy one and he finds the opportunity to return to Cyprus to try and find Ariadne. Jump again to 1998 and in her turn, Cressida also goes to Cyprus in search of her family’s roots.

I found this a fascinating story. I remember

the EOKA period but didn’t know a lot about it.

This book brings the political struggle vividly to life and points up the penalties Cypriots faced if they intermingled too closely with the British.

The characterisation is excellent, the descriptions of the Cypriot countryside colourful and it was very easy to become totally immersed in the tale.

Recommended.

Marilyn Sherlock REVOLUTION BABY Joanna Gruda (trans. Alison Anderson), Europa, 2014, pb, $16.00, 236pp, 9781609451981 Julek is literally a child of the Revolution. After the Polish Communist Party decides in 1929 that Comrade Helena Rappaport may indeed carry her baby to term, but not raise him, Julek begins his journey from family to family, relatives to strangers, boarding school to summer camp, Poland to France to the USSR and back, all the while telling his story with humor, irony, and wry honesty. He grows up with different sets of parents, lives his formative elementary school years in a Communist orphanage in France, where he pulls pranks and gets into scrapes like any eager young school boy.

When he is called back to be with his mother in Paris during the German occupation, he adds the job “secret agent to the Resistance” to his already long and varied resume.

Not a sad tale at all, Julek’s story (based on a true story of the author’s father) is a lesson in resilience and optimism. Armed with biting—but never painful—sarcasm and the ability to see the humor in most things, he makes his way gracefully though both his unstable life and this volatile period in the 20th century, allowing the observer to view events with his childish innocence, even while that innocence is being swept away.

Revolution Baby was obviously written with a passion that can only come from a personal connection to the story. The language in this wonderful piece of literary fiction (in its translation at least) hits the mark: clear and descriptive, never too wordy, dry, or dull. If you are seeking a pageturning summer read, I can’t say this is for you, as there is much to digest between the sentences.

It is best taken slowly, savoring the innuendos and subtle political barbs along with Julek’s extraordinary adventures. Recommended.

Andrea Connell GOODBYE PICCADILLY Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Sphere, 2014, £19.99, hb, 392pp, 9780751556261 From the author of the well-known Morland Dynasty novels comes this first novel in a new series beginning just before the advent of the First World War. This epic family saga centres on the Hunters, who are a comfortable upper middleclass family. Daughter Diana is beautiful enough to marry well, but it is doubtful whether her latest beau, the son of Earl Wroughton, will be allowed to marry a banker’s daughter. Accused of fortune hunting, Diana thinks bitterly to herself of the lack of opportunities and career paths for women, a key topic of the age. The eldest Hunter son epitomises the contemporary urge for heroics and doing something noble as he breaks his mother’s heart by volunteering for the army. The jingoistic and patriotic attitudes of the day are convincingly 20th Century

conveyed, with a party-like atmosphere and fervent beliefs that it will all be over by Christmas. The newly enlisted soldiers’ camp is similar to a Boy Scout camp with singing and nationalistic pride to the forefront, but of course this adds to the poignancy for the reader, who, with hindsight unavailable to the characters, is aware of the terrible Armageddon which is about to commence. There are comparisons with Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs as the servants are also an important part of the unfolding drama. Thoroughly enjoyable and well worth a read. I’m looking forward to the next one in the series already.

Ann Northfield BETWIXT AND BETWEEN Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos (trans. Irene NoelBaker), Armida, 2014, €16.99, pb, 348pp, 9789963706839 The account of the hero Dimitri’s passage from small boy through adolescence and on into young manhood is set against the uncertainties, both political and domestic, which Cyprus, his homeland, and his family were experiencing in the 1950s. The Cypriot backdrop to Dimitri’s story and to the political events is not over-glamorised.

The city streets are dusty and dangerous.

My reservations about this very worthy novel stem from that very worthiness. Although the characters are largely convincing, many of them, including Dimitri’s father, remain distanced, not only from one another but from the reader.

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On pages 92 and 93, for example, where Dimitri and Laeta swim in the harbour, we have two teenagers having a conversation about “political issues” which not only seems unlikely, during a relaxed afternoon swim, but which is couched in very lofty, adult language. Incidents like this, and there are a lot of them, suggest that the novel has somehow lost its way and become bogged down in worthy detail which is working against what could be a compelling and evocative piece.

Because of its passionate themes (adolescent turmoil, family dysfunction and political violence), set against the vivid brilliance of the island of Cyprus, I had been expecting the telling of this story to light up. In one or two places this does happen, but for the most part it remains wallowing in detail, the characters just out of reach.

There is very little sense of the drama of even key events in this devastating social unrest, nor of its impact on the local population. Where are the sharp sunshine and the stark shadows of Dimitri’s personality and of the island that has formed him?

Julia Stoneham EMPIRE GIRLS Suzanne Hayes & Loretta Nyhan, MIRA, 2014, $14.95, pb, 304pp, 9780778316299 Rose and Ivy Adams are heartbroken when their father dies in 1925. Shock follows grief when the young women learn that he was nearly broke, and left the management of his estate to a half-brother they never knew they had. If they don’t find him,

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Greg Iles, William Morrow, 2014, $27.99, hb, 800pp, 9780062311078 / Harper, 2014, £7.99, pb, 864pp, 9780007317967 In this sprawling novel, Iles, best known for his contemporary mysteries featuring prosecutor and author Penn Cage, begins his anticipated epic trilogy.

Interweaving unsolved mysteries from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the present, now-Mayor Penn Cage of Natchez, Mississippi is caught in a dilemma: what does he believe? His father? Or the truth? And what if those two aren’t the same?

Dr. Tom Cage is perhaps the most respected man in Natchez. Now 73 and ill, Tom is accused of mercy-killing his former nurse, Viola Turner, who fled decades before to Chicago. Talented, beautiful and African-American, Viola had a son shortly after leaving Natchez under threat from a KKK spin-off group, the Double Eagles. As respectable a pillar of the community as Tom is, Penn must deal with the fact that his father may have had an affair with his nurse and fathered a child with her. Tom is suspiciously unforthcoming and, despite Penn’s most basic urges to save his father, Tom is uncooperative.

But what seems like a personal challenge for Penn spirals into something greater with far-reaching implications. Together with a courageous reporter who has been investigating the Double Eagles for years and his fiancée, journalist Caitlin Masters, Penn finds himself on a path which stretches back decades to uncover the truth, for which he puts those he loves in the crosshairs.

How far will Penn go to ensure that justice is served?

For me, Iles has always written page-turners, and Penn Cage is one of my favorite contemporary characters. I looked forward, then, to sinking my teeth into this doorstop, and it did not disappoint. It is smart, well-written, often funny. The 1960s come to life again – as if any of us would want to relive them – but the horrific crimes that were committed by a fairly small number of people are gut-wrenching. This must-read will keep you captivated to the last page.

Ilysa Magnus 20th Century

the bank will seize the sisters’ home. One clue about Asher Adams is a photo of a brash working man with eyes just like Rose’s. He stands by a sign which reads “Empire House.” A small painting created by their father depicts a pretty woman with a baby in her arms. They stand by an imposing New York City brownstone with a plaque which also reads “Empire House.”

The Empire House is a boardinghouse for women, so the sisters obtain rooms there and begin their search. Ivy, the flamboyant younger sister, gets a job serving drinks in an illegal speakeasy. The more reserved Rose creates beautiful dresses to sell on consignment, and both women pursue clues from Greenwich Village to Coney Island. Along the way the bond between the sisters is stretched, strained, and ultimately strengthened as Rose and Ivy learn to trust each other, as well as the people who assist in their quest.

Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan have concocted an entertaining Roaring Twenties tale in Empire Girls. A colorful cast of characters keeps the pace fast, but intertwines enough that I wish I’d kept a list to sort them out. Nevertheless, give Empire Girls a try if you like a lively story.

Jo Ann Butler THE VENETIAN VENTURE Suzette A. Hill, Allison & Busby, 2014, £19.99, hb, 287pp, 9780749016555 Rosy Gilchrist is in Venice, authorised to offer twenty guineas on behalf of the British Museum for a specific signed and annotated first edition of Bodger’s tedious translation of Horace the Roman poet. But a mischievous eccentric has offered a prize of one million pounds, a fabulous sum in 1954, for this unique volume. ‘Bodger’s Horaces’ abound, but where is the right one? The race is on as the greedy and ruthless assemble and Rosy must use all her wit, courage and determination.

Are all these people (or any of them) what they appear to be: Hewson, the American artist whose work has strangely changed in style; brother and sister Edward Jones and Lucia Borgino, who both apparently make a career of being odious; Guy Hope-Landers with his heroic reputation. And why are the breakfasts served by the landlady of Rosy’s pensione so horrible when the dinners are so good? This last may be a McGuffin. Rosy’s old acquaintances Cedric and Felix, notoriously selfish although kind-hearted, are indifferent to the prize; snuggly resident in a luxurious palazzo, their only responsibility is Caruso the dog. Even they, much against their will, become involved as the danger turns deadly.

There is a fine vocabulary, although ‘expatriates would be better than ‘ex-patriots.’ Plenty of firstrate meals may be vicariously enjoyed along with copious wine drinking and chain smoking as this delightful romp takes readers through the streets, canals and bridges of Venice.

Nancy Henshaw THE WINTER GUEST Pam Jenoff, MIRA, 2014, $14.95, pb, 352pp, 9780778315964 Pam Jenoff has built a strong reputation writing about World War II and its terrible effects on ordinary people. In The Winter Guest, she returns to Poland in 1940, the site of her bestseller, The HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 39

Kommandant’s Girl, to tell the story of Helena and Ruth, twin sisters living with their younger siblings in a village near Krakow, as the Nazis seize control.

The setting is key. Isolated from the rest of the country, like many rural Poles, Helena and Ruth struggle for daily survival amongst food rationing, suspicious neighbors, and the looming threat of winter. Their mother lies dying in a Jewish hospital in Krakow – the only place that can care for her – and stalwart Helena makes the long trek to the city every week to visit her, while introspective Ruth stays behind to tend the children, nursing a recent heartbreak. Then Helena stumbles upon an injured American paratrooper in the woods and decides to hide him; this act of mercy sets the stage for a passionate affair and betrayal that changes the sisters’ lives forever.

Jenoff excels in her vivid portrayal of the deprivation and corrosive fear that afflicted those dwelling under Nazi aggression. The sisters are inherently different, convincingly drawn within the paranoia and seething anti-Semitism coursing under their village’s façade. This claustrophobic insularity, however, can at times dampen the narrative, which quickens through Helena’s awakening to possibilities beyond those she has known and increasingly disquieting trips to Krakow, where her discovery of a secret and witnessing of tragic events shatter her confidence.

In the end, The Winter Guest proves compulsive as it races to its desperate denouement, the finale a moving testament to the suffering endured during the war.

C.W. Gortner A MATTER OF BREEDING J. Sydney Jones, Severn House, 2014, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9780727883803 The fifth installment of Jones’ Viennese Mystery series finds Karl Werthen and Dr. Hans Gross puzzling over a peculiar succession of ritualistic murders in the close-knit village of Graz. In her husband’s absence, Berthe Werthen has stumbled onto a mystery of her own, a conspiracy that threatens to destroy one of Austria’s most recognized treasures: the world-renowned Lipizzaners of the famed Spanish Riding School.

Following a complex series of leads, the Werthens soon discover themselves in a high-stakes web of violence, scandal and corruption.

A brilliantly atmospheric novel, A Matter of Breeding paints a remarkable portrait of Vienna at the dawn of the 20th century. The city literally comes to life in a radiantly authentic display of pageantry and prejudice, effectively drawing the reader into a bygone age. Cameo appearances by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, artist Tina Blau, and author Bram Stoker deepen the illusion and bring genuine flair to the narrative.

The mystery itself is elaborate and thoughtprovoking, and though I felt it somewhat overwhelming, I honestly appreciate the underlying themes of Jones’ intrigue. The characterizations are rather thin, suggesting it best to read the books chronologically, but all told I found A Matter of Breeding both enjoyable and entertaining.

Erin Davies THE END OF INNOCENCE Allegra Jordan, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2014, 40 | Reviews |

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$24.99/C$29.99, hb, 320pp, 9781492603832 It’s 1914, and at just 17 years of age, the affluent Bostonian Helen Brooks is struggling with losing her suitor to another girl. Most likely it’s because her mother has shocked Boston society by working with Margaret Sanger in helping poor women plan their families—something proper people would never discuss, much less be willing to go to prison for.

Helen gratefully takes herself off to Radcliffe, where she’s swept off her feet by Riley, an Irish ladies’ man, and then, more lastingly, by his cousin, Wils Brandl, a German student at Harvard. Helen, like most Americans, doesn’t think much of the Kaiser’s bellicosity or Germans, but she and Wils fall in love only to be parted as Wils returns home to fight for his country.

Allegra Jordan says that part of her inspiration for this story was the small plaque found at the Harvard Memorial Church commemorating those Harvard students who died as German soldiers during the war. The plaque, written in Latin, was found tucked far away from the larger memorial for the Harvard students who died fighting with Allied troops.

The End of Innocence is a compelling and believable love story in an era so different as to be foreign in many ways, despite being just 100 years ago and in familiar Boston, a city that’s still famously parochial and snobby. I enjoyed it immensely for the way it carried me along. Part of the wealth of the book was the way the selfrighteously prim Helen came to see the point in speaking out, risking calling attention to herself, and advocating for a position other than the safe

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one.

Kristen Hannum

VALERIE’S RUSSIA Sara Judge, Robert Hale, 2014, £19.99, hb, 221pp, 9780719812347 Valerie is invited to Tsarskoe Selo in 1914 to help the young Romanovs speak more English. She is impressed by Grigorii Rasputin, especially when he helps young Alexis, but cannot understand Count Pyotr Silakov’s dislike of the holy man and is soon deep in love with Pyotr. He, however, must marry the wealthy Sophia and wants Valerie as his mistress. She sees St Petersburg, the Crimea and Ukraine and comes to love the country. She introduces Pyotr’s crippled sister to Rasputin, who helps her begin to walk once more. Then, seeing Rasputin’s malign influence over women, she is thankful to leave the royal family and stay with Pyotr’s mother who becomes ill and needs a companion.

There is much well-researched description of Russia: balls at the Winter Palace, with descriptions of lavish gowns. Valerie sees the lives of the upper classes, but little of the peasantry.

The emotions, dealt with so briefly, seem rather superficial. I suspect the author tried to include too much, but as a picture of Russia on the eve of the First World War and before the Revolution it is an intriguing read.

Marina Oliver DANGEROUS DECISIONS Margaret Kaine, ChocLit, 2013, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781781890349

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Jeanne Mackin, NAL, 2014, $16.00/C$18.00, pb, 384pp, 978045146582 The Beautiful American is a work of fiction that follows an artists’ colony in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. While one of the main characters, Lee Miller, and some subsidiary characters were real people, the story unfolds through the eyes of the fictional heroine, Nora Tour, an American who was Lee Miller’s childhood friend in Poughkeepsie, New York. The horrific rape that Lee suffered as a child ended their friendship. When their paths cross again in Paris, Lee is a protégée and mistress of Man Ray, and she acts as if she and Nora had just met. Nora plays along because Man Ray has taken on her lover, Jamie, an aspiring photographer, as a studio assistant and student.

Despite Lee’s pretense that she and Nora were strangers until Paris, they still become close friends until a betrayal causes a rift that sends a pregnant Nora running alone to Grasse, a confused Jamie running home to Poughkeepsie, and Lee into a marriage with Azziz Eloui Bey, a wealthy Egyptian. Lee and Nora’s paths cross once more sixteen years later when Nora is in post-war London searching for her runaway child. Lee invites Nora for a weekend in the country.

In gratitude for not divulging her secrets to the other houseguests, Lee vows to help Nora locate her child.

Mackin employs Nora as a narrator and on-looker much the way F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. However, Nora has her own pertinent story, which ties everything together in a masterful way. Mackin’s intelligent and sympathetic portrayal of Lee Miller, one of the undisputed beauties of her day, a model and World War II photojournalist, makes this novel an outstanding read.

Audrey Braver 20th Century

This novel opens in 1905 with Helena Standish embarking on her London coming-out season. Oliver Faraday, who Helena meets at a Grosvenor House ball, appears to Jacob Standish as the ideal candidate to marry his beautiful and wealthy daughter. Oliver’s wealth, gentlemanly behaviour and political connections all seem to make him the ideal partner for her. To complicate matters, Helena has another less eligible, but more appealing admirer in the shape of the impoverished fledgling doctor Nicolas Carstairs, who is unable to forget her even after he witnesses her marrying Oliver. True to the ChocLit brand, this is a romantic bagatelle of a novel. The characters are all well-drawn, and Cora, a whore with ambition, is particularly appealing.

The author has cleverly given Oliver an unusual obsession, which gradually becomes more dangerous as the plot unfolds. Although you are reading this review in August, this is a novel to enjoy on a grey winter’s day sitting in front of a cosy fire and with a box of chocolates close by.

Myfanwy Cook EUPHORIA Lily King, Atlantic Monthly, 2014, $25.00, hb, 272pp, 9780802122551 In the 1930s, in the heyday of anthropologists studying rapidly vanishing tribes, controversial American Nell Stone and her Australian husband, Fen, come out of the New Guinean rain forest.

Nell, sick and exhausted, had insisted on leaving the previous subject of their study because the violence of the tribe kept her from doing any useful work.

Mercurial Fen, on the other hand, liked them, and is jealous of the success his wife’s popularized work is having in the outside world. There is also a hint that the unborn child Nell lost during this stint was not a natural miscarriage.

A third anthropologist, the Englishman Andrew Bankson, joins them in what passes for civilization on Christmas Eve. After two years alone with “his” own tribe, and haunted by the deaths of his brothers as a result of the Great War, he was on the verge of suicide. The euphoria of their meeting ignites an intellectual and eventually romantic triangle that threatens careers and eventually lives.

It is paralleled by the euphoria Nell feels at a certain point in her interaction with any new people, the point when suddenly she understands them and sees the logic and beauty of their vanishing way of life.

Euphoria is obviously and closely based on the real intellectual and romantic triangle of Margaret Mead, her first husband Reo Fortune, and her second husband Richard Bateson. Anyone who has read Mead’s autobiography will see that instantly but rejoice in the beautiful writing that makes the events in Mead’s groundbreaking but more scholarly works leap to emotional life. Just don’t expect the same ending, however. A wonderful read.

Ann Chamberlin REALLY THE BLUES Joseph Koenig, Pegasus Crime, 2014, $25.95, hb 304pp, 9781605985817 Paris in 1941 is a very dangerous place for jazz trumpeter and New Orleans native Eddie Piron.

While other Nazi “undesirables” lay low, Eddie 20th Century

continues to lead the band in “negermusik” at La Caverne Negre. But when both a guest piano player and his regular drummer come to brutal ends, and then a couple of American tourists begin investigating his own past, more than the jazz gets hot. Eddie’s luck with women is no better.

His upper crust girlfriend’s discoveries prove her undoing. A woman linked to both dead men has an unidentifiable accent and activities that lead back to a British-funded spy network. Trapped and on the run, Eddie must choose sides and find loyalty.

Details, crisp and crackling dialogue, and vibrant characters bring occupied Paris and her citizens to life. The story flies along at a breathless pace as tension mounts, builds, and never lets up. An instant classic noir. Highly recommended.

Eileen Charbonneau

back into the action. Meanwhile, Japan prepares to attack Maggie’s native country at Pearl Harbor, and Maggie’s estranged mother, Clara Hess, is now held in the Tower, her execution date set.

Immensely entertaining, if a bit overdone in parts, MacNeal’s tale allows readers to relive this harrowing period of time through many perspectives. Sit in on meetings with Churchill, observe the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, and accompany Maggie on an undercover mission.

MacNeal’s details are so complete that some of her characters represent versions of real-life individuals (e.g. Clara Hess closely mirrors the real-life story of Rudolph Hess). This is a worthy series with an engaging heroine, and you will certainly enjoy your time with Maggie.

Rebecca Henderson Palmer

THE TWO HOTEL FRANCFORTS David Leavitt, Bloomsbury, 2014, $25.00, hb, 253pp, 9781596910430 / Leavitt’s most recent success (after The Lost Language of Cranes, 2011) takes readers to Lisbon early in World War II. In a way, this is familiar territory. It is Rick and Ilsa’s Casablanca, the last neutral port in Europe, a city teeming with refugees – royalty, spies, Jews, expatriates – all fleeing encroaching Nazism. Expat Americans, Julia, who is Jewish, and Pete, our narrator, abandon their home in Paris just as the Germans march in. They have a decent hotel room in Lisbon and passage on a ship that will take them where Julia swore she would never go – home. Iris, an Englishwoman, her Jewish husband Edward, and dog Daisy, also escape from France. A little less comfortable in a different hotel, awaiting the same ship, they are well traveled, worldly, and not terribly close to each other.

The four meet when Pete drops his eyeglasses and Edward steps on them. Edward insists on leading the myopic Pete back to his room for his other pair where – this is a new experience for Pete – there is mutual attraction. The men meet again, and again, neglecting their wives. Julia, who seems oblivious to the men’s liaisons, plays game after game of Patience. Iris cossets Daisy, apparently unconcerned. The four dine and sightsee together, killing time, while waiting for the ship.

“We were all double agents,” Pete says, as we witness the collapse of an ego, the dissolution of a marriage, and, worst, the loss of a soul. The story may have loose ends, unanswered questions, and improbable coincidences, as Pete suggests, but readers may understand far more than Pete does by the end. Highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene

THE PALE HOUSE Luke McCallin, Berkley, 2014, $16.00, pb, 384pp, 9780425263068 Gregor Reinhardt is a decorated war hero, a veteran of both the First World War and the current one, in which he serves as an intelligence officer. In civilian life between the wars he was a police investigator. All told, he makes the ideal candidate for the new and powerful military police, the Feldjaegerkorps. Little do his new superiors know that in recruiting him, they have a man who has spent the last several years as part as a resistance cell against Hitler’s Nazi regime.

His first assignment takes him not only away from friends and allies when he could use them most, but back to Yugoslavia, where dark memories and a brutal reality await him. When Reinhardt comes across a massacre of civilians by the dreaded Ustaše, he knows at once that far more is behind this atrocity. As more bodies crop up, each with its own set of disturbing clues, Reinhardt finds himself sucked into an investigation that threatens to expose not only the complicity of the Ustaše, but a conspiracy that reaches back to Berlin. With many lives at stake, including his own, and the German army in full retreat, he must decide how far he is willing to go to see justice done and truth served.

The Pale House is the second installment, after The Man from Berlin, of what is proving to be a very engaging thriller series. Reinhardt is both tough and thoughtful, and it’s impossible not to get drawn into his emotional depths and root for him.

The cast is full of sympathetic characters, the worst of villains, innocents, and everyone in between. The setting is engaging, the characters complicated, and the plot inspired. Recommended.

Justin M. Lindsay

THE PRIME MINISTER’S SECRET AGENT Susan Elia MacNeal, Bantam, 2014, $15.00, pb, 320pp, 9780345536747 Maggie Hope returns in this fourth installment of MacNeal’s WWII-era mystery series. Codebreaking, lock-picking super-sleuth Maggie is now in Scotland as a trainer for her former espionage school, where she can recover from the physical and emotional scars of a recent undercover mission to Berlin. With a menacing “black dog” at her heels and a Nazi bullet still lodged in her stomach, Maggie is trying to put the past behind her when dancers for the Vic-Wells Ballet are poisoned, propelling her

NO JOB FOR A LADY Carol McCleary, Forge, 2014, $24.99, hb, 304pp, 9780765334404 As with others of McCleary’s novels that feature intrepid young reporter Nellie Bly, this installment blends history with fantasy in a fun and fresh way.

In this adventure, Nellie sets off for Mexico on her own, her mother suddenly unable to accompany her. Nellie’s editor has refused to admit a woman, in this, the Victorian era, is capable of being a foreign correspondent – too dangerous, no job for a lady! Nellie vows to prove him wrong.

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personalities, who may or may not actually have been in Mexico at the time of her well-documented trip. The cast includes the renowned Gertrude Bell, female explorer of Egypt; Lilly Langtry, famous actress and consort to the Prince of Wales; and the Sundance Kid, gunslinger. Altogether, they encounter bloodthirsty Aztecs, dark magic, ancient ruins and even a threatening government agent.

Brave Nellie refuses to back down when faced with the challenge of digging ever deeper into nefarious goings on in the haunted city of Teotihuacan.

Readers who want their history in its purest form may have difficulty investing in the wild tale, but those who love a mix of fiction and history will enjoy the ride.

Kathryn Johnson THE WOMAN IN THE PICTURE Katherine McMahon, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2014, £12.99, hb, 368pp, 9780297866039 It is 1926, and the aftermath of the Great War still darkens the country. Evelyn Gifford finds looking to a successful future, as one of the very first female lawyers, difficult. She had been employed by the far-sighted head of the chambers that employ her, Daniel Breen, and the novel hinges on two major trials from opposite ends of the social spectrum. One involves the murder of a brutal husband by his downtrodden wife, and the second deals with the complicated marital mess between a politician and his wife concerning the identity of the father of their young daughter. He is heading up the government’s opposition to the impending

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strike, and she is artistic and volatile. In both cases, the strike looms large on the action.

The Woman in the Picture is the sequel to The Crimson Rooms and. although it can be read alone as a single novel, for me it’s better to read it as a continuation and conclusion. On its own it’s an accurate novelistic portrayal of lead-up and betrayal of the miners during the catastrophic UK General Strike of 1926, and you will more fully understand what makes Evelyn Gifford tick as a woman. My only disappointment is, towards the end, it teeters on the verge of romantic fiction. I prefer my heroines not to think that the love of a strong (and handsome) man to be the best future for women.

I am a fan of Katherine McMahon’s historical novels and as such thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a period of history I know well and find it’s not written about much in fiction, as opposed to political history, but I suppose that will all change in 2026. However, my favourite novel of hers remains The Rose of Sebastopol, closely followed by The Alchemist’s Daughter—although I like all she’s written. She is a fine historical novelist who should be applauded more highly.

Sally Zigmond LOVE COMES CALLING Siri Mitchell, Bethany House, 2014, $14.99, pb, 366pp, 9780764210365 Ellis Eaton, a young actress who dreams of Hollywood stardom, takes on her toughest role yet when she agrees to pose as a friend and

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Michael McGarrity, Dutton, 2014, $28.95/C$33.00, hb, 512pp, 9780525953241 Once again, Michael McGarrity brings us the aweinspiring but also harsh and unforgiving desert and mountain landscapes of the Tularosa that are the backdrop to the conflicts within the tough but everresourceful Kerney clan.

After losing her elder son CJ during World War I, Emma Kerney becomes ill and takes steps to guarantee the financial future of her younger boy, Matt. Meanwhile, her ex-husband, Patrick, continues to struggle with alcoholism and an ill disposition that will be complicated by an unwelcome reminder of his time in prison. As the years pass, Matt and his father remain at odds, yet they have the common goal in a determination to keep the family ranch going in spite of drought and the disasters of the Great Depression.

When America enters World War 2, both men are faced with new challenges and Matt risks becoming cynical and bitter like his father.

Aside from the gutsy Emma, the women include the shy Hispanic, Evangelina, optimistic but tubercular Beth, and free-spirited Anna Lynn, all of whom provide excellent feminine balance in this gritty macho world of dust, cattle and ponies. An added plus are the details of how Roosevelt’s New Deal initiative, the Civilian Conservation Corps, operated in assisting young men find work in building roads, planting forests and creating new parks.

McGarrity’s characters have a believable humanity, and his writing is straight as a die, but that does not mean he is predictable, as just when you anticipate a certain outcome he throws a wrench into the story that makes you gasp. The open ending suggests there is more to come in this enthralling saga that began with Hard Country, echoes of which resonate strongly throughout this sequel. Most highly recommended – but make sure you read Hard Country first if you haven’t already done so.

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temporarily work at the telephone exchange. If she succeeds, she’ll earn the funds she needs to skip town and make her dream a reality. When Ellis overhears a threat to Griffin Phillips, the boy everyone assumes she’ll settle down with, she commits to foiling the plot to hurt Griffin while avoiding his romantic advances.

Siri Mitchell ventures into the Roaring Twenties with a charming, but scatterbrained, heroine in Ellis, whose madcap escapades will have you laughing at her misadventures. Mitchell’s book is well-written and has moments of (surprising) depth with a pulse on class relations and the dark side of Prohibition. Featuring a gorgeous Art Deco-influenced cover, the book also includes endnotes on Prohibition and the real gangsters of Boston in the 1920s and discussion questions for book clubs or classrooms.

Lauren Miller MOTOR CITY BURNING Bill Morris, Pegasus Crime, 2014, $24.95/C$26, hb, 336pp, 9781605985732 Motor City Burning, set in Detroit in the spring and summer of 1968 following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has two protagonists: black Willie Bledsoe, a Tuskegee student turned activist turned burned-out busboy, and white Frank Doyle, a police detective determined to solve a cold case, the murder of a woman in the summer riots of 1967.

Morris’s novel works both as a mystery and a fascinating study of this particular time and place, made a little more poignant (a word both Bledsoe and Doyle would scorn) by Detroit’s recent bankruptcy. For Bledsoe, the summer of 1968 is the Detroit Tigers, dating a receptionist for Motown, and navigating his employment at a country club. He also tries to write his memoirs of his time with “Snick” (Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee) and come to terms with how he helped his Vietnam vet brother run guns. Doyle, a lifetime Detroit resident, lives in his childhood home and talks over his cases with his dead father. He doggedly follows leads in Helen Hull’s death, and they bring him to Bledsoe. Both men are compelling characters, which made me anxious about their inevitable meeting. I wanted Doyle to solve his case and Bledsoe to be innocent.

No spoilers here, though. This is an excellent read for a portrait of Detroit that is full of affection without misplaced nostalgia. Put on some Motown music and enter into the past.

Ellen Keith THE DARK PALACE: A Silas Quinn Mystery R.N. Morris, Severn House, 2014, $28.95/19.99, hb, 256pp, 9781780290591 Detective Inspector Silas Quinn heads the Special Crimes Unit of New Scotland Yard, using the burgeoning technology of the early 20th century to solve his cases. As war hangs over Europe, Quinn is assigned to investigate London’s German community and identify any spies trying to infiltrate English society. He attends an Austrian director’s latest premiere to gain more information, but he finds the artifice of “kinema” distasteful and disconcerting. Then a young woman is found mutilated in a grisly imitation of the film – one eye cut out – and Quinn suddenly has a 20th Century

much darker case on his hands. Things get more complicated when men associated with the film begin receiving packages containing references to missing eyes. Disturbed but strangely compelled by the case, Quinn delves into the fledgling movie industry, a sordid world of blackmail, corruption, and unsettling connections to his own past.

Morris’ excellent writing pulls the reader in at once and makes it difficult to stop until the end; his style is sparse and detailed at the same time, a middle ground between the vestiges of Victorian whodunits and the beginnings of hardboiled noir.

Quinn is an intriguing protagonist, not an antihero but not a hero either; he’s capable of deep feelings but has disconnected himself from them, becoming a man who can carry an eyeball in his pocket while musing on the nature of love. This is not a book for those easily repulsed by gore (the eyeball thing ought to be a hint), but those who don’t mind a few bodily fluids will be rewarded with a satisfying mystery. The Dark Palace is the third book featuring Silas Quinn, and I intend to put the other two on my to-read list.

Heather Domin AMERICAN BLONDE Jennifer Niven, Plume, 2014, $16/C$18, pb, 384pp, 9780452298217 Disclaimer: I am a huge Jennifer Niven fan. I loved Velva Jean Learns to Drive, Velva Jean Learns to Fly, and Becoming Clementine. In them, I saw Velva Jean grow from a young girl in Sleepy Gap, North Carolina, to a woman who teaches herself to drive, write songs, and fly planes, and even become a spy for the French Resistance in World War II while searching for her missing-in-action brother, Johnny Clay. This latest outing of Velva Jean’s tests my love. Filmed in a newsreel returning to the States with Johnny Clay, she catches the eye of MGM and is offered a movie contract. Although the studio claims to love everything about her, they set about changing everything about her, from her hair color (making her an “American blonde”) to her name, renaming her Kit Rogers, to her singing style, putting her through the MGM factory. An old friend of hers from her flying days, having made her leap to stardom earlier, is on hand to show her the ropes, but when she dies at a house party and the studio moves into cover-up mode, Velva Jean (it’s impossible to think of her as Kit) must investigate.

While Niven captures perfectly the artificiality of Hollywood and the iron grip of the studio system in the 1940s, the rest of the book feels false.

I could more easily see Velva Jean becoming a spy than I could see her submitting to everyone else making decisions for her. And, in any novel about Hollywood, it’s a challenge to mix real characters with fictional ones. Is Nigel Gray supposed to be Laurence Olivier? For Home of the Brave, should we read Gone with the Wind? “Kit Rogers” is put in a series of films about a girl pilot, and it’s hard not to see this book as part of a similar formula.

Ellen Keith FLYING TIME Suzanne North, Brindle & Glass, 2014, $19.95/ C$19.95, pb, 280pp, 9781927366233 On the eve of the Second World War, Kay Jeynes volunteers to transfer out of her typist’s job to work 20th Century

for Japanese businessman Hero Miyashita. The relationship between the sophisticated Japanese gentleman and the naïve working-class Canadian rapidly turns into that of mentor and disciple, and Kay’s family and friends learn to view the Miyashitas with less prejudice than is the norm in the Calgary of the Thirties. But war is looming, and in the wider Canadian context, prejudice against the Japanese is fast turning to fear and hatred.

Flying Time is an example of what literary historical fiction does well: provides a snapshot of a time and place through the small evolutions in relationships in a clearly defined context. North’s evocation of Calgary in 1939 is masterly, a clear sketch that is never too heavy on detail. Her writing style is fluid, chatty, and engaging, and the pages of this novel flew by for me. I was not initially thrilled by the framing device for Kay’s reminiscences, a memoir writing class in a nursing home, but North made it work through Kay’s awareness of the poignancy of old age and the fleeting nature of youth.

Personally, I could have enjoyed the story without Kay’s journey to Hong Kong, even though I found the depiction of international travel by flying boat fascinating. I felt that the really engaging aspect of Flying Time was the delineation of the relationships that built up from a chance meeting, enhanced by the poignancy of historical hindsight.

Jane Steen CAGE ON THE SEA Kaoru Ohno (trans. Giles Murra), Bento, 2014, $26.95, hb, 413pp, 9780983951384 Just before the end of WWII in 1944, a group of Japanese soldiers from three Japanese ships wound up stranded on the island of Anatahan (one of the Mariana Islands near Saipan) after American air attacks. The United States discovered

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their presence on the island after the war ended; they attempted to drop leaflets on the island about the end of the war, and even tried to land on the island to rescue the Japanese inhabitants. But the Americans were repelled with the sole weapons remaining to the holdouts. In this novel, as the American military plans to bomb Anatahan, one American officer, Johnson, believes he can use “persuasion” to save these stalwart Japanese soldiers from a horrible, unnecessary death.

This is the story of the Japanese soldiers and how they survived on the island, their rescue by Johnson’s efforts, and the ultimate story of how they survived the war. It’s a fascinating tale as one enters the world of these soldiers and the native people around them, with their clashing personalities, their frequent movements and skills to obtain food and avoid injuries and illness, their fights and even murders, and the presence of a Japanese woman, Kazuko Higa, whose pivotal influence is depicted gradually in a way the reader never expects. Cage on the Sea is an awesome read as one learns of the immense respect for the emperor that kept these men strong, juxtaposed with the survival needs exceeding some of the harshest reality shows one can imagine. Strong, realistic, patriotic historical fiction on so many levels! Highly recommended.

Viviane Crystal WHERE COURAGE CALLS Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan, 2014, $14.99, 329pp, pb, 9780764212314 Written as a companion to Janette Oke’s When Calls the Heart series, this story is about Beth Thatcher, who, inspired by her Aunt Elizabeth, accepts a year-long teaching job in the Canadian West in the early 20th century. The tiny, povertystricken Coal Valley is quite a change for Beth, who is accustomed to luxuries like running water and

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Robert Paston, Forge, 2014, $25.99/C$28.99, hb, 317pp, 9780765326812 The Innocents are a rock band from Pennsylvania coal country, desperate to escape the black-lung soot for the big time. They used to be called the Destroyerz, and they weren’t bad. Now, with guitar genius Matty back from ‘Nam, the band is going places—blowing audiences away with a powerful sound and unbelievable riffs, getting the attention of record labels and soon finding themselves on the cusp of making their impossible dream a reality.

But Matty discovered a second virtuosity in Vietnam, that of a killer. He drops napalm with every chord, an Achilles who somehow survived his war and now wants nothing more than to play his lyre in peace. He will not get that wish; he was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Raw, violent forces roil beneath the surface of the decaying town, sucking Matty away from his lyre and back to the spear. Will, the narrator, has neither the genius nor the madness needed to hold it all together. He’s along for the ride, working hard at his craft and at life. If only that were enough.

Sex, drugs, rock n’ roll. Creation and destruction united in the key of G. This book bashes the senses, a stunning debut from author who’s been there. I heard every note and smelled the chemical sweat of desperate youth. Highly recommended.

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indoor baths. When she finds that there is no actual schoolhouse, many locals are Italian foreigners, and someone even brews moonshine, Beth almost gives up and goes home. But through her faith, and a few very good friends, Beth begins to enjoy herself.

Her inspirational ideas bring a new energy to the townspeople, who become encouraged by her good deeds.

Culture shock, prejudices, and compassion all feature broadly in this placid story. While pegged as a Christian love story, there really isn’t much romance. Beth becomes involved with a Mountie but the romance is understated, and a bit unresolved. I am hoping this means the Okes will be writing a sequel; it would be nice to find out what happens to Beth next. Overall, this is recommended for those interested in a sweet, mellow read, and for fans of the Hallmark TV series.

Rebecca Cochran ALL THINGS HIDDEN Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse, Bethany House Publishers, 2014, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9780764211195 Gwyn Hillerman is worried. Working as a nurse in her father’s Alaskan medical practice, Gwyn has always taken comfort in her peaceful surroundings.

But now President Roosevelt has authorized the Matanuska Colonization, which will send 200 new families to Alaska. Gwyn is happy to see Alaska thriving, but her fear of change is overwhelming.

Jeremiah Vaughan has a secret. His medical license has been stripped away, and he is traveling to Alaska to work with his former mentor, Dr. Harold Hillerman—who doesn’t know that Jeremiah’s secret. When Jeremiah develops feelings for Dr. Hillerman’s daughter Gwyn, things become even more complicated. Can Gwyn overcome her fear?

Can Jeremiah find the courage to reveal his secret?

Will the appearance of a madman rip the two apart forever?

The debut novel of writing team Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse, All Things Hidden is a fascinating look at the Matanuska Colonization, and a group of Depression-era pioneers. It is wellwritten with an engaging plot and interesting characters. The historical detail is remarkable, as is the description of the Alaskan landscape. In many ways, Alaska becomes a character in and of itself in this brilliant work of Christian historical fiction.

Shaylin Montgomery EVERGREEN Rebecca Rasmussen, Knopf, 2014, $25.95/ C$28.95, hb, 352pp, 9780385350990 In a tiny cabin surrounded by forest in Evergreen, Minnesota, there’s a lot of life lived, secrets kept, and the past preserved in Rasmussen’s tale. Eveline and Emil start their life together in this cabin in the 1930s; they are alone, and Eveline is lonely. The nearest town is twenty miles away, so she spends her days reading Emil’s taxidermy books and drawing the forest creatures. When Hux is born, the family feels more secure in this hard place. Then Emil returns to Germany to visit his ailing father, and becomes trapped by the Nazis and war.

Eveline struggles again, to survive, to get life out of the land, to maintain hope that Emil will return.

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She’s befriended by crazy Lulu—that’s how she’s known in town—and gradually learns to fish, to garden, and to trust others. That naïve trust goes awry when Cullen, a handsome representative from the power company, comes to assess the property.

From that day, Eveline carries a secret so dark that even Lulu’s best efforts to right the situation are of no use.

In powerful, spare prose, Rasmussen shows the long-term effects of a heartbroken mother’s decision. Eveline’s inability to forgive herself, and let herself love (and be loved), is reflected in the second part of the novel, which focuses on the next generation. Descriptions of orphanage life, of postwar small town society, and of men in the logging camps ring true, and show more than just a peek at the dark side of human behavior. Readers will find many reasons to root for good to win out, just as they will find much to admire in the well-drawn characters who want to belong, to live, and love, in the forest of Evergreen.

Helene Williams KILLING GROUND Douglas Reeman, McBooks, 2014, $19.95, pb, 344pp, 9781590136799 Destroyer HMS Gladiator patrols the Western Sea in 1942–43, protecting convoys from packs of German U-boats. She is not entirely successful.

The torpedoes always seem to get through, filling the seas with burning wreckage and sending thousands of men to the bottom. This brutal story is told from many points of view both British and German; in fact, maddeningly so. It’s dense with differentiable characters, jumping from one to the next without warning. The young sub-lieutenant in whose mind we spend the first twenty pages disappears for the next two hundred, returning for a paragraph or two before being forgotten entirely. Action is tense, but the plot is episodic and haphazard, one convoy escort rolling into the next. Jargon abounds; clearly the author has great knowledge of destroyer operations, but he neglects to weave it into a narrative that a reader can understand. I spent more than half the book thinking that “Gunner (T)” was a placeholder for a character the author did not pick a name for in time for the galley printing. Turns out he’s the officer in charge of torpedoes, and his name is Pym. Neither fact matters much in the end. Killing Ground is dense and unsatisfying as a novel, more useful as a technical reference on antisubmarine warfare.

Richard Bourgeois KINGDOM LOCK I.D. Roberts, Allison & Busby, 2014, £16.99, hb, 349pp, 9780749016392 In 1914 it is recognised that future wars will be won or lost by black gold; keeping the oil pipelines free of sabotage is therefore absolutely essential.

This is the task of Kingdom Lock. After a deathdodging prologue and a first chapter mainly of argy-bargy of the top brass I was tipped right into a world where the loading of a troop ship is almost as riveting to read about as the danger-filled episodes where Kingdom must exercise all his skills of leadership, improvisation, coolheaded courage or the full fury of a soldier in battle. I became deeply engaged with this novel, not from the start but from the first movement as HMS Lucknow sets

sail for Basra. The Turks are the enemy, but what other races have reason to be friends of the British?

For me, General’s daughter VAD Amy Townshend becomes an unwanted distraction, although she is the perfect hostage of master spy and master of disguise – the wonderful Wilhelm Wussmuss. My own favourite scene is the destruction of the punts whereby the enemy proposes to launch its attack.

This is a complex story brought to vivid life.

The terrific and terrifying agonisingly prolonged climax is hard to endure. In the kind of wholesale slaughter later to be encountered in Europe on a vastly greater scale, Kingdom seizes one forlorn hope after another – hopeless for all too many as his little band, notably the sturdy, calm Indian sepoys, use their wits as much as firepower throughout a day of horror.

Nancy Henshaw LAST NIGHT AT THE BLUE ANGEL Rebecca Rotert, William Morrow, 2014, $25.99/ C$31.99, hb, 336pp, hb, 9780062315281 Naomi Hill wants to be famous, with her name up in lights, and she’s got the voice to make that happen. She leaves rural Kansas in 1954, escaping the poverty-stricken family and community that didn’t understand her, winding up in the Windy City, where she learns some more of life’s hard lessons. Over the years, she builds up a great team of supporters: her daughter Sophia, her friend and photographer Jim, and a colorful cast of mentors, lovers, and confidantes, ranging from Sister Idalia to the cross-dressing Ricky/Rita. In 1960s Chicago, this motley group embodies the changes happening across social classes and throughout American culture. Jazz music is entering the mainstream music world, gender and race issues are beginning to be openly discussed, and the nuclear family has exploded. Some parts of the past, though, as seen in Chicago’s classic architecture through Jim’s camera lens, are worth preserving, and sorting out what can be kept and what should be tossed has a steep price.

We see Naomi’s painful past juxtaposed with eleven-year-old Sophia’s worries about today and the future; their alternating narratives converge as Naomi at last achieves her goal. The dissonance created by Sophia being the more reliable, adult narrator and Naomi the childish and self-centered one adds depth to the narrative. We can’t help but be sucked in by Naomi’s desire to be loved as a perfect icon, and at the same time there’s no way around the fact that she is blind to the unconditional love of those standing right next to her. This tale is intricately woven, with several intense subplots and a cast of memorable characters, all of which ring true. Rotert’s page-turner is filled with apt observations and vivid images which will remain with the reader long after the curtain comes down.

Helene Williams CHINA DOLLS Lisa See, Random House, 2014, $27.00/C$32.00, hb, 400pp, 9780812992892 / Bloomsbury, 2014, £11.99, pb, 400pp, 9781408853252 In China Dolls, Lisa See (New York Times bestselling author of Shanghai Girls and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) brings to life the threehanded story of Helen, Grace and Ruby – three immigrant girls who meet by chance and audition 20th Century

to be dancers at San Francisco’s Forbidden City nightclub in 1938.

Helen is the most traditionally Chinese of the three girls, still living with her extended family and working at the telephone exchange until she meets the other girls and is drawn into a different world. Grace is also Chinese, but much more westernized, and she has run away from an abusive father to make her own fortune as a dancer in San Francisco. And Ruby, although she passes herself off as Chinese in order to join the other girls in the Forbidden City nightclub, is in fact Japanese, a secret that becomes terribly dangerous and difficult to keep when Japan bombs Pearl Harbour.

The novel is at its best in the early period as the girls establish themselves and their friendships in the San Francisco nightclub scene. The challenges of working and living as female immigrants in 1930s and ´40s America are interestingly portrayed from these three different perspectives. The aftermath of Pearl Harbour and the internment of Japanese immigrants are also fascinating.

But the relationships between the three main characters sometimes let this otherwise enjoyable book down. The twists and turns of the trio’s friendships at times lack believability, and it seems that their characters change in order to meet the needs of the plot, rather than their characters’ choices determining how events play out. By the end, the novel reads more like a saga than literary fiction, following the three women to a final, and perhaps unnecessary, reunion in 1988.

Kate Braithwaite WEAVING WATER Ryhaan Shah, Cutting Edge Press, 2013, £8.99, pb, 254pp, 9781908122384 In the midst of a storm at sea, one life was exchanged for another and a baby girl was born, born of the very sea itself. Within her community, ethnic superstition was rife; myth and religion were often persistently bound into everyday life and, although they tried to overlook the circumstances of her birth, there are some things that you cannot ignore forever.

Rampat and Parvati are some of the last of the Indian indentured labourers to sail to British Guiana in 1917 to work the sugar plantations; it would be “easy work”, the recruiters told them, “such sweet, sweet work in the Demerara sugar lands”. Through their incomparable drive to earn for themselves a new life and to make Guiana their home, we follow their hardships, their friendships and their resolute belief in the promise of a better tomorrow.

Much is written about slavery, but perhaps less well-known is the story of the indentured labour that followed. Ryhaan Shah brings a taste of Indian mysticism to this period and weaves beautifully the myth of a devi/goddess into the actual events of the social and political awakening of the Afroand Indo-Guyanese communities in the years that followed the outlawing of indentured labour.

Although the final words felt somewhat anticlimactic, lacking a more substantial or profound link back to the mysterious devi, I cannot deny that I had enjoyed the journey I had shared with Rampat and Parvati, their jahaji and jahajin (shiptravellers) and their children. It was perhaps Shah’s intention to retain this quiet hopeful view for the 20th Century

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Dan Smith, Pegasus Crime, 2014, $25.95, hb, 416pp, 9781605986098 What began as a revolution to overthrow the tsar has devolved into civil war, and anyone deemed an enemy of the state is summarily executed. Koyla can no longer stomach such brutal and senseless killing.

To survive he must go home, but desertion from the Red Army will make him a traitor. To thwart pursuit, he stages his death. The long trek home is fraught with danger, but thoughts of reuniting with his wife and sons drive him onward. When he arrives, though, the remote village is deserted.

Have the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police, taken his family? Are they dead? His search turns up only the tortured and massacred bodies of the men from his village. Then whispers reach him of a possible perpetrator of this mass killing – Koschei, The Deathless One; but he’s just a folk tale. Koyla has no answers, but is determined to unravel the mystery and find his wife and sons. Time, however, is running out.

If the men tracking him catch Koyla, he will die.

Told in the first person, Red Winter is a riveting tale of the Red Terror that swept through Russia after Lenin came to power. Smith recreates the horrible atrocities and constant danger so vividly you can’t help but glance over your shoulder. Each character and incident is memorable, so much so that the day may be sweltering as you read, but the wintry chills make you shiver. Smith transports you back in time to 1920 and rural Russia with the skill of a master storyteller. Once ensnared, he compels you to turn each page regardless of whether it’s to witness more despicable crimes or to grasp the lifeline of hope that compassion still exists and that Koyla will find his family. Highly recommended.

Cindy Vallar future of those who remained in Guiana, making a subtle connection to the declining beliefs in religious myth and mysticism, as India’s children continue to step further away from home.

Penny Wild ENGLAND EXPECTS Sara Sheridan, Polygon, 2014, £16.99, hb, 256pp, 9781846972812 In 1953, Mirabelle Bevan, ex-SOE agent, is running a debt collection agency in Brighton. She like to play detective, so when a woman asks her to recover the lost betting slips of her murdered brother, Mirabelle and her black assistant, Vesta, investigate. Mirabelle, with her helpful police friend, Superintendent McGregor, finds herself up to her neck in bodies. Is it all the work of the Masons? Can Mirabelle and McGregor ever be more than just good friends?

It’s a solid piece of detective fiction, but hardly a historical novel. Details are wrong. (“Red tops” and “dolly birds” were not terms in common use in 1953.) More significantly, there is no feel for the social realities of the time. A black woman working in 1953 Brighton would be a constant source of wonderment. Here, her colour is almost incidental.

No one ever uses the N-word though this is the era of signs reading “No dogs, no blacks”. There’s a similar failure to understand the pervasiveness of sexism. Many pubs, even in the 1960s, wouldn’t serve unaccompanied women. Yet Mirabelle and Vesta simply have to put up with the odd bit of male condescension. Fun, but not history.

Tom Williams

OUT OF THE WEST Kevin Sullivan, Armida, 2013, €16.50, pb, 349pp, 9789963706907 This book begins with a quote from the Odyssey, which is appropriate enough for a novel set partly in Greece. The quote is, however, in ancient Greek.

My assumption is that this is supposed to intrigue the reader. I’m afraid that in my case at least, it only irritated.

The novel contains a dual narrative: Thea and Petros, in Greece in the 1920s-40s, and Ian and Clare, who both work in British Intelligence during and after World War II. The two stories are linked via Ian, who meets Thea and Petros in the course of his wartime exploits.

The novel is perfectly readable: the story moves along swiftly, with plenty of incident and interest.

The characters each face a number of moral choices, which should engage the reader on an emotional, as well as intellectual level.

This, however, is where it falls down. The characters’ emotions do not come across well, not helped by the author’s tendency to change the point of view away from the main characters whenever a dilemma is faced. So we do not get to understand Clare’s feelings on being told that she must commit blackmail to secure an intelligence asset for the UK; nor Thea’s when she realises that she must become a politician’s mistress to save a friend. This makes it difficult to feel much emotional connection with the characters.

At the end of the novel, the reader is treated to a translation of the opening quote. It turns out that the author may have felt it too much of a spoiler to have in translation at the start. I found this symptomatic of the book as a whole: whilst I HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 45

could glimpse a number of good ideas here, their execution let them down. As a result, this is a disappointing novel overall.

C. Wightwick ANNIE’S STORIES Cindy Thomson, Tyndale, 2014, pb, $14.99, 382pp, 9781414368450 All Annie Gallagher has left in her life are stories. The most precious of these are the ones her father—an Irish storyteller—wrote for her as a child. After his death in the early 20th century, Annie is sent to America to live in a boardinghouse in New York City. She dreams of one day opening a library to help immigrant girls and to honor her father’s legacy. Stephen Adams is the neighborhood postman who is down on his luck and running out of money. He befriends Annie and falls in love.

When he learns that Annie’s stories may be the works of a famous author, he is determined get them published and to earn enough to pay off his debts. But Annie is determined to do things on her own.

Annie’s Stories is the second book in Cindy Thomson’s two-part Ellis Island series, but there is no need to read the first (Grace’s Pictures) to be able to engage with this book. My only real complaint is that it gets repetitious. The reader is often—quite often—reminded that Stephen needs to learn obedience to God and Annie needs to have faith and trust in God, and, for me, the pacing of the story suffered. Though this book is set in turn-ofthe-century New York and focuses on the lives of immigrants to the city, it is more of an inspirational novel. Although this isn’t my personal preference for historical fiction, it does weave a powerfully inspiring Christian message.

Bryan Dumas AN UNWILLING ACCOMPLICE Charles Todd, Morrow, 2014, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9780062237194 It’s 1918 and Bess Crawford, of Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, has just returned to London from France with a convoy of wounded. Longing for few days’ respite with her family, she is instead surprised by a special request that she accompany a wounded soldier to Buckingham Palace, where he will receive a medal of honor from the king. The task completed, she is to hand the war hero over to an orderly the next day, but before then, the man goes missing and Bess is held responsible. What looks worse on her record with the Service than a hero who goes AWOL on her watch? A soldier decorated by the king who is suspected of murder.

To clear her name, and possibly catch a killer, Bess goes in search of the missing soldier, with the help of her long-time family friend Simon. But they find a far more convoluted maze of deception than either of them anticipated. A mystery from the past, guarded family secrets, treason, arson and gunfire turn Bess’s hunt into a dangerous game. The historical setting is well researched and lends a realistic flavor to the adventure. This popular mystery series set during World War I, written by a mother-and-son writing team, has established a firm fan base with earlier titles.

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Tiphanie Yanique, Riverhead, 2014, $27.95/C$32.95, hb, 368pp, 9781594488337 If I could only read one novel this year, Land of Love and Drowning would be it. I wasn’t captured by the first page, or even the first ten pages, but I was a goner before I realized it, highlighting passages and reading them aloud to anyone who would listen. It’s a deft mix of magic and reality—love and drowning—so beautifully written that the ample dialect goes down without even a hint of annoyance.

Two orphaned sisters, Eeona and Anette Bradshaw, and their half-brother, Jacob Esau McKenzie, live on St. Thomas, American Virgin Islands. The story begins on March 31, 1917, when Denmark transferred authority over what are now the U.S. Virgin Islands to the United States. It ends in about 1970, four babies and as many lovers later, when the sisters’ lives, as well as their parents’, are already legend because their stories contain metaphors of myth. There are whispers of Obeah, the islands’ voodoo, or perhaps the sisters’ magic is simply the power of self-confident youth and beauty. Either way, the sisters know their own power, their ability to curse their loved ones or to bless them.

They use that power sometimes thoughtlessly. They long for fulfillment and make love in a world far different than ours and yet familiar, because we see it through their eyes.

Yanique writes, near the beginning of the book: “Family will always kill you—some bit by bit, others all at once. It is the love that does it.” Recommended.

Kristen Hannum of her exploits. New readers will have no trouble picking up the series in the middle, as this reads like a single-title novel.

Kathryn Johnson BLUE RAVENS Gerald Vizenor, Wesleyan Univ. Press, 2014, $27.95, hb, 296pp, 9780819574169 Anishinaabe brothers Basile and Aloysius Beaulieu take on the character of sacred trickster spirits in this novel set mostly in the years around World War I. Brought up near the headwaters of the Mississippi on the White Earth Reservation, Minnesota, the narrator Basile is a storyteller and Aloysius a visionary painter. After growing up together under the tutelage of their uncle, who publishes the reservation newspaper Tomahawk, the pair chooses to work with horses, but also to use the railroad to access a wider world.

Their world widens further when they are drafted into service in World War I, and serve as scouts during some of the war’s bloodiest battles.

Haunted by their experience, they return to the reservation for a Warrior Way ceremony. Paris beacons anew, and soon after the pair takes up their lives among other Lost Generation compatriots Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, and James Joyce. Basile and Aloysius remain humble and egalitarian throughout, learning from animals, disfigured war vets, well-traveled traders full of stories, the Odyssey and masters of art and literature in equal measure.

Literary and reserved in style and visionary in scope, Blue Ravens centers on storytelling more than character development, interior life, or dialogue.

After a promising beginning the repetition, many descriptions of Aloysius’s paintings, and reporting style became monotonous for this reader. Native

American focus stays consistent throughout the narrative, and gems spark up, like native descendants of the fur trade returning to America with stories from France, and drinking New World chocolate in the cafes of Paris.

Eileen Charbonneau THE SECRET LIFE OF VIOLET GRANT Beatriz Williams, Putnam, 2014, $26.95/C$31.00, hb, 436pp, 9780399162176 This smashing summer read introduces two ambitious career women living fifty years apart: Violet Schuyler Grant, an American atomic physicist in WWI-era Oxford and Berlin; and her great-niece, Vivian Schuyler, who defies her posh family to work at a magazine in 1960s Manhattan.

While Violet’s courage, drive, and vulnerability make her a worthy heroine, Vivian’s cheeky and whip-smart voice steals the show.

The younger Schuyler gets caught up in a tantalizing mystery when a shabby old valise addressed to Violet shows up in her mail. Vivian also finds romance – a complicated one – with “Doctor Paul,” the dreamy surgeon she meets at the post office. Rumored to have murdered her husband and run off with her lover during the Great War, Violet hasn’t been mentioned chez Schuyler for decades, so Vivian is startled to learn of her existence – even more so when she pries the suitcase open and reads what’s inside.

As Vivian digs into her shadowy relative’s life, with the hopes of writing a dishy story that will be her big break, Violet’s tale of her disastrous marriage and risky affair with her husband’s former student unfolds in parallel. Brilliant but inexperienced with men, Violet is flattered by the attention of her older mentor, Dr. Walter Grant, whom she weds. Her dismay and fear are palpable 20th Century

when she discovers his controlling nature and infidelity.

Williams confidently re-creates both New York in the freewheeling ‘60s and the growing tension of prewar Europe, and she amps up the suspense as Violet’s situation gets desperate. Vivian’s commendable loyalty to her uber-rich friend Gogo adds interest, but the novel’s best part is simply watching the fabulous and always fashionably dressed Vivs in action. By the time she daringly acknowledges the plot’s big coincidence, she already has readers eating out of her hand. It satisfies on many levels, and it’s also immense fun.

Sarah Johnson THE STORMS OF WAR Kate Williams, Orion, 2014, £12.99, hb, 673pp, 9781409139881 The strapline of this WW1 saga, the first of a trilogy, announces: “Atonement meets Downton Abbey”. The book begins in July 1914. The de Witt family are nouveaux riches from the manufacture of tinned meat. Rudolf, German by birth but living in England for more than 30 years, married old money. One son lives in Paris, the second is at Cambridge University. A society wedding is planned for daughter Emmeline later in the year.

Most of the narrative unfolds through the eyes of Celia, the youngest child, 15 in 1914. We follow the family until the end of 1918. There is a lot here, any of which could be a novel in its own right: family secrets, illicit love, the truth behind a family member’s death in France. For me, the most moving part of the book is Celia’s year driving an ambulance in France, having stolen her sister’s birth certificate to lie about her age: the shattering of innocence, the horrors and dirt, the camaraderie between the girls sharing precious pieces of chocolate, came over well. The author is well known as a TV journalist and broadcaster. The Storms of War is a TV-adaptation-in-waiting.

Janet Hancock THE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIES: A Novel of the Great War Jacqueline Winspear, Harper, 2014, $26.99/ C$33.50, hb, 336pp, 9780062220509 At the outbreak of WW1, the lifelong friendship between two women is under strain. Kezia has given up teaching to marry Thea’s farmer brother, Tom. As Thea doubts her friend’s capability with domesticity, she presents her with a book on cooking and household management. Meanwhile, Thea confronts deeper moral issues as she progresses from suffragette to anti-war campaigner and finally ambulance driver. Tom signs up, leaving the farm in Kezia’s care. His commanding officer is Edmund, a disenchanted landowner hiding his secret obsession with Kezia.

Jacqueline Winspear is rightly acclaimed for her finely-plotted Maisie Dobbs psychological detective series. Her inherent understanding of how peopled lived and behaved during this era shines through, although this novel is sluggish in the beginning with too much exposition. It starts to gain its vitality when the narrative is broken up with dialogue, the banter between the men in the trenches being a fine example, and Edmund’s ethical conundrum in dealing with Tom when his life is at stake is exceptionally well written.

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Kezia nobly carries the burden of the farm with unflagging optimism, but she is not as interesting a character as the imperfect, yet spirited, Thea.

There is too much focus on Kezia’s experiments with gourmet recipes, and the inclusion of these in her letters sent to a man on a bully-beef diet may be intended as an unusual expression of love, but they become irksome and call for the censor’s pen in more ways than one. The ending is poignant and sombre but accurately reflects the finalities of war.

With the approaching centenary of WW1, many novels with a similar theme to this will appear, of which just a few may be outstanding.

With more immediacy and less of the herbs and spices this could have been one of them.

Marina Maxwell MRS. HEMINGWAY Naomi Wood, Penguin, 2014, $16.00, pb, 336pp, 9780143124610 / Picador, 2014, £12.99, hb, 336pp, 9781447226864 Mrs. Hemingway follows the four wives of author Ernest Hemingway. As the book jacket says, “Each Mrs. Hemingway though their love would last forever; each one was wrong.” The book opens with Hadley, Hemingway’s first wife and mother to his son Bumby. Her marriage is already under siege from Pauline Pfeiffer, her friend and Ernest’s mistress. The novel flashes back and forth between the characters’ present and past, deftly illustrating how Hemingway managed to lure his wives with his own brand of impetuous charisma.

The novel then moves to Pauline’s story. She gives Hemingway two sons before he is distracted by journalist Martha Gellhorn, but even his and Martha’s romance and subsequent marriage crumble into the mediocrity of domesticity and Hemingway’s raging alcoholism. Mary is the last wife, and much like Henry VIII’s wife Catherine Parr, she manages to survive her tumultuous years with Ernest and his subsequent suicide.

The novel spans forty years and can get confusing in some parts. The frequent flashbacks and change of character perspective can be hard to follow. Wood’s prose is sparse but beautiful and as a result, keeps the story moving. Hemingway emerges as he has usually been portrayed: a selfdestructive enigma with little staying power. He moves through four wives in succession, leaving broken hearts and changing lives in his wake.

General historic fiction loves and devotees of Hemingway will enjoy this comprehensive look at the women who shaped the great American writer.

Caroline Wilson EMERALDS INCLUDED Betsy Woodman, Henry Holt, 2014, $27.00, hb, 288pp, 9780805093582 The third and latest novel in the delightful series

by Betsy Woodman, Emeralds Included, follows the further adventures of Jana Bibi, also known as “Mrs. Laird,” in the Himalayan village where she lives in a mansion inherited from her eccentric Scottish grandfather. Jana awaits a visit from her grown son, Jack, who is coming from Scotland with his Hungarian fiancée, Katarina. The blend of various cultures in early 1960s India adds to the enthrallment of the story which, for all its charm and humor, explores some serious issues.

Jana must scramble to find the money for much-

needed repairs to the house while dealing with the disastrous school experiences of her ward, Tilku, and the grumpiness of her maid and housekeeper, Mary. In the meantime, she must also face the losses of her past and the potential for happiness in her future, by taking risks and reaching out to the world. Surprises abound by means of Woodman’s marvelous storytelling and colorful characters.

Elena Maria Vidal

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DARKLING Laura Beatty, Chatto & Windus, 2014, £16.99, hb, 396pp, 9780701188283 Mia Morgan is researching the life of Lady Brilliana Harley, 17th-century Puritan and now known mostly for the letters she wrote to her husband, Sir Robert Harley. Mia is attempting to complete the research on Brilliana that her partner John was doing, before his sudden death from a coronary. This was two years ago, and Mia is still stuck in the bog of desperate bereavement, even though John’s friend, Bill Radic, who is writing the book, does his best to lift her out of her gloom.

Mia’s life is made more complicated by the difficult relationship she has with her widowed and blind father.

This contemporary narrative alternates with Brilliana’s life, and extracts from her letters to her family. While Sir Robert is engaged in national politics in London, Brilliana is left behind to manage the estate and raise a growing family at Brampton Bryan castle in Herefordshire – tasks which are made considerably more challenging when the country slips into Civil War. The Harley’s part of the country is Royalist and is thus violently opposed to the Harley’s Puritan redoubt.

Parallels between the lives of Mia and Brilliana are made by the author. Even though there are profound differences between their lives, the similarities of the lot of the female in both societies are crisply delineated by Laura Beatty. This is an intelligent and well observed novel. Certainly not a story to race through, but linger and ponder on – although possibly just a little bloodless at times.

Douglas Kemp ABOVE THE EAST CHINA SEA Sarah Bird, Knopf, 2014, $25.95/C$28.95, hb, 322pp, 9780385350112 This novel opens in 1945 as Tamiko, fifteen years old and pregnant, jumps from Okinawa Island’s Suicide Cliffs, which loom above the East China Sea. Tamiko and her sister were among the hundreds of “Lily Girls” forced to work in Japanese underground hospitals. Following the invasion by U.S. forces, Tamiko, dejected, chooses suicide over rape. At the ocean floor, while awaiting entry into the afterlife and reunification with her family— in accordance with Okinawan beliefs—Tamiko narrates her life story to her unborn child.

Years later, Luz, a teenage American military brat, stands at the edge of the same Okinawan Suicide Cliffs. Her sister, Codie, had recently died while serving in Afghanistan. In profound grief, Luz wishes to join Codie, but a friend pulls her back. Luz’s single mother is a “strictly-by-theHNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 47

rules” sergeant on the U.S. base and, although half-Okinawan, has been ignored by her island family since her arrival from the States, except for a letter. Luz finds the hidden letter, which includes a photograph. Luz embarks on a mission to establish her lineage, assisted by Codie, her spiritual contact.

Nonetheless, other surprising revelations await her.

Sarah Bird has constructed an extraordinary novel that not only narrates the Battle of Okinawa— from an Okinawan nurse’s perspective—but also intermingles past and present young adult lives, with entertaining banter plus a touch of the supernatural. Furthermore, Bird has brought out the Okinawan cultural aspects evocatively, and as noted in an interview with Kirkus Reviews, she also had to “explain the[ir] rules of afterlife.” The main characters’ first-person narratives, plotted with coincidences, blend their stories. The ramifications of the United States’ continuing presence in Okinawa are tactfully presented. This literary novel is a study of war and its aftermath on families, although separated by oceans, even decades later. A gratifying read. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani CHATEAU OF SECRETS Melanie Dobson, Howard, 2014, $14.99, pb, 400pp, 9781476746111 Dobson’s latest historical novel for Christian imprint Howard Books features an appealing dual timeframe. In 1940 Normandy, young noblewoman Gisele Duchant waits in fear as Nazi invaders close in on her home, the Chateau d’Epines. Even more terrifying than the realization that these monsters will soon occupy the rooms she’s grown up in and cherishes is her worry that they will discover the French resistance fighters she shelters in the tunnels below the mansion. But it’s her decision to save the baby of her missing Jewish friend by pretending the child is her own which places her in direst danger.

In counterpoint to Gisele’s tale of defiance to Hitler’s minions is the journey of her granddaughter, 70 years later. Chloe Sauver, disturbed and confused by her politician fiancé’s postponement of their engagement, flees Virginia to travel to her ancestral home. She knows nothing of the secrets that her family has kept since World War II, nothing of the daring escapades her beloved grandmother was once involved in. The old chateau reminds her of the fantastical Narnia stories her Meme once read to her, never hinting at her own dark secrets or “magical” cupboards. On a mission to discover the truth, she searches the ancient estate, turning up one clue after another until she lays bare the family’s grim secrets – despite personal risk.

The novel is smoothly structured, moving back and forth between Gisele’s third-person perspective and Chloe’s first-person narrative. Each young woman is as intrepid as the other, dealing with the challenges of her time. Along the way, Chloe also must sort out her love life – deciding whether to mend her relationship with her fiancé or welcome a new love into her life. A satisfying read with two remarkable heroines.

Kathryn Johnson THE ANGEL OF LOSSES Stephanie Feldman, Ecco, 2014, $25.99, hb, 288pp, 48 | Reviews |

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9780062228918 Stephanie Feldman’s debut novel, The Angel of Losses, weaves fable, family, religion and mystery together as she tells the story of two sisters, Marjorie and Holly, who are estranged. Told in first person from Marjorie’s point of view, the story begins with a fable told to the girls when they were children by their grandfather, Eli Burke. It is a frightening tale they both remember for years, about the ghastly ghost of a young boy.

After Eli’s death, Marjorie discovers his lost notebook about the White Rebbe, one of the main characters in the fable she’d heard as a child.

There is also mention of the Angel of Losses, who seems sinister and intimately connected to the White Rebbe. Marjorie learns there are three other notebooks and sets out to find them in order to make sense of her grandfather’s life, a life about which she knows very little.

In the meantime, she must deal with her pregnant sister, Holly, who has married an Orthodox Jew, much to her Gentile family’s consternation. Marjorie is particularly unhappy with Holly’s choice, Nathan, and feels he is taking Holly away from her family.

Marjorie is working on her doctoral dissertation, researching all she can about the Wandering Jew, condemned to wander the Earth until the return of the Messiah, according to Christian tradition. She is amazed to discover connections between the Jew, the Rebbe and the Angel. As she digs deeper, she unearths her grandfather’s tortured past in Nazi Germany.

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Parts of this book are beautifully rendered, especially the fables themselves. However, the last third of the book becomes very confusing, leaving the reader wondering what actually happens at the end of the book. This novel is a promising debut, but needs further development. Reading about someone’s dissertation research is not particularly riveting.

Anne Clinard Barnhill THE JOHNSTOWN GIRLS Kathleen George, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 2014, $24.95, hb, 348pp, 9780822944317 The Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood of 1889 remains one of the deadliest weather-related disasters in United States history, killing more than 2,200 and leaving the town decimated. Subsequent floods in 1936 and 1977 play a role in this retelling, as a host of characters relay their lives as affected by the events.

The great flood’s centennial in 1989 is hardly newsworthy to the editor of Pittsburgh’s PostGazette, but he allows the piece to go forward, hoping for fresh material from a story heavily covered in decades past. Ben Bragdon is the journalist covering the story, but his girlfriend, Nina Collins, a newly hired assistant at the paper, supplied the idea and the contact for their article: 103-year-old Ellen Emerson—the last known living survivor of the Johnstown Flood. Ellen’s parents and brother perished, but her twin sister was never found. Feeling restless, Ellen finally decides to divulge family secrets never before

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Belinda Alexandra, HarperCollins Australia, 2014, A$29.99/NZ$34.99, pb, 414pp, 9780732291976 In 2000, Lily has left her home in Australia for a job in Moscow, where she hopes to build a new life after a personal tragedy. While she is there, a fighter aircraft missing since World War II is discovered in a forest near to Ukraine, and soon afterwards the remains of the bailed-out pilot, Natalya Azarova, are discovered by relic hunters who include Natalya’s former lover, General Valentin Orlov. Natalya had been a pin-up girl for Stalinist propaganda, but her reputation was tarnished after she was suspected of being a German spy.

Through her part-time activities in animal rescue, Lily meets a mysterious sick and elderly woman who seems to know the real truth behind Natalya’s disappearance. With the aid of friends, Lily is drawn into caring for her and at the same time begins her own inner journey to healing when she meets veterinarian Luka.

This is a fascinating tale about the Soviet female pilots dubbed the “Night Witches” by the Germans and the horrific post-war years under Stalin’s iron fist that are rarely the topic of popular fiction. In spite of what they endure, there is strength and dignity in these characters. The background research is impeccable, yet never intrusive, and the switches in points of view that can be distracting in other novels are scarcely noticed, due to the author’s skill and fine editing that keep the narrative flowing smoothly. The inclusion of the modern sub-plot in animal welfare adds an extra warm dimension.

Belinda Alexandra is the author of several novels with unconventional plot-lines and unusual settings. As with her first, White Gardenia, this has echoes of her own Russian family history within it, although it is not necessary to have read the earlier book to enjoy this one. Most highly recommended.

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revealed to the press, while Nina hunts for her long-lost sister.

With multiple points of view, it is difficult to become instantly engaged in the narrative, but by the halfway point—once the characters are shaped into intriguing protagonists—it moves right along.

The theme of twin psychology adds a fascinating aspect to counter the sometimes slow story of Ben’s and Nina’s personal struggles. The story could have been written without the flashback perspective, but perhaps Ellen’s quirky personality wouldn’t have been as well-appreciated.

The history of this devastating event is minutely detailed and particularly authentic, as the author is from the town of Johnstown. Coming on the 125th anniversary of the flood, this is a worthy literary contribution to the memory of those who lost their lives and an excellent study for readers interested in natural disasters and American history.

Arleigh Johnson THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL Nadia Hashimi, William Morrow, 2014, $25.99, hb, 464pp, 9780062244758 The Pearl That Broke Its Shell is a truly riveting account that highlights the struggles and oppression that Afghani women have suffered for centuries. The novel brilliantly presents the life of Rahima, a modern Afghani girl, interwoven with the life of her great-great-grandmother, Shekiba, a century earlier.

Rahima is struggling with a drug addict father and the traditional structure of Afghani society, which prohibits her from leaving home without a male family member. As such, Rahima and her sisters rarely leave the house, even for school. Her aunt Khala Shaima hopes to help Rahima by telling her the story of Shekiba, who dealt with many of the same issues that Rahima faces by using an ancient custom, bacha posh, which enabled her to get around the restrictions placed on Afghani girls. Bacha posh allows female children to become sons whereas they are dressed and treated as boys until they reach marriageable age. Khala Shaima uses the story of Shekiba to teach Rahima not only how to be a bacha posh but to impart to her niece something different than the traditional role of women, rather, she tells a story of empowerment and strength.

Hashimi gives readers a beautifully written narrative that is full of gripping honesty overlaid with admiration and respect. She uses the historical account to teach the modern girl how to be more independent and how to find self-worth and confidence. It is through the use of ancestral storytelling that a modern woman learns how and when to break from her shell.

Shannon Gallagher THE SEA GARDEN Deborah Lawrenson, Harper, 2014, $26.99, hb, 320pp, 9780062279668 / Orion, 2014, £20.00, hb, 360pp, 9781409145912 The Sea Garden consists of three novelettes.

Book one, “The Sea Garden,” is set in the present day, where we find an award-winning gardener, Ellie, traveling to a small French island. She has accepted a position restoring the expansive gardens of an old chateau to their former glory. The elderly man and his ancient, eccentric mother make her Multi-period

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Liz Trenow, Sourcebooks, 2014, $14.99, pb, 336pp, 9781402282485 / Avon, 2014, £7.99, pb, 400pp, 9780007480845 Two women’s stories are interwoven in this dualperiod novel about love, loss, and betrayal. Readers get pieces of two women’s stories and wonder how they will all come together in the end. Trenow begins with Maria Romano’s turn-of-the-20th-century tale about becoming a seamstress at Buckingham Palace, which seems believable enough, but was she also Prince Edward’s lover? In present-day England, newly single and unemployed Caroline Meadows finds a quilt that holds many memories for her and was even more important to her grandmother. But where did it come from, and is it as unusual as it seems? How is it connected to Helena Hall Mental Hospital? Readers will piece the puzzles together at about the same pace as Caroline, making for a nice mixture of page-turning mystery and comfortable, homey story of a woman nearing forty, making a new kind of life for herself.

Trenow’s historical detail regarding mental hospitals and fabric is not only specific but also integral to the story and at times quite emotional. She does an excellent job of weaving the plot action with the historical information. The pattern of the quilt helps unwind the mystery surrounding it, and ambitious readers can visit Trenow’s website to find an actual pattern to create their own version of Caroline’s quilt.

You do not have to be a quilter, however, to be drawn into the stories of these two women. The book is ultimately about people, our memories, and the lengths we will go to in order to protect ourselves and each other. It’s a compelling read, and I highly recommend this book.

Amy Watkin feel uncomfortable, and Ellie finds herself drawn to a mysterious stranger in the nearby village.

Book two, “The Lavender Field,” introduces us to Victor and Mme Musset, who distill perfumes from the flowers that surround their Provençal home in 1944. They are also part of the French Resistance, aiding British agents as well as downed pilots during France’s occupation by the German army. Book three follows the dangerous life of Iris, who has a command of the German and French languages, combined with an uncanny ability to analyze people. This makes her a perfect candidate for the British Secret Service office during WWII. She is part of a team that gathers intelligence about all aspects of occupied France and works with teams of agents being sent there. It is lovely how these three seemingly unrelated stories come together at the end of the third novelette.

I enjoy a good WWII historical novel, and this one did not disappoint, even though novelettes are so condensed that I find that they end just as I am getting involved with the story. The author shows a nice palette of how lives changed and people found themselves in very different situations due having the war in their own backyard. She has many details to share with readers, and I am impressed by her research to bring these people alive for me. I would recommend this book.

Beth Turza DAUGHTER OF CATALONIA Jane MacKenzie, Allison & Busby, 2014, £7.99, pb, 347pp, 9780749015787 The publicity blurb for this book likens it to a Victoria Hislop novel, and the comparison is just, if what is meant is that it is a gentle holiday read

designed to invoke nostalgic ‘past times’ and tug on the heartstrings. It lacks, however, Hislop’s ability to spot a truly unusual story; either that or I’ve read too many ‘descendant of wartime lovers travels back to homeland to discover her roots’ novels in recent years. In MacKenzie’s book, the descendant in question is Madeleine, whose mother Elise came to England in the later years of WWII. A refugee from the border between France and Spain, she takes her two small children back to her upper middle-class English family, from whom she had been estranged after eloping with an ardent young Catalan. Elise, a faint cipher of a character, wilts away after her husband’s death in mysterious circumstances in the last weeks of the war.

Elise’s death in the late 1950s, combined with a stultifying life with her reserved grandparents, are Madeleine’s spurs to find out more about her passionate family across the Channel. Predictably, she discovers kindly, elegant Parisian relatives before going on to uncover wartime betrayal in the village where her parents lived and worked as resistance fighters. Equally unsurprisingly, her arrival precipitates a crisis among the inhabitants of the village, as she uncovers long-buried secrets, and then proceeds to fall in love herself: but will the secrets of the past keep her from happiness?

There is little here which is original, although the descriptions of the sun-drenched south are pleasant enough, if a little clichéd. That about sums this novel up: it is pleasant, but unremarkable.

C. Wightwick WHEN THE MORNING GLORY BLOOMS Cynthia Ruchti, Abingdon, 2013, $14.99, pb, 339pp, 9781426735431 HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 49

This Christian novel follows the stories of Anna, Ivy, and Becky, who live in different historical periods in the same Midwestern town. In 2012, Becky’s daughter Lauren has a son out of wedlock and doesn’t seem willing to take responsibility for him. Becky is afraid Jackson will be neglected if she doesn’t enable Lauren. Ivy is a young woman in 1951 whose boyfriend is posted to Korea before she finds out she is pregnant. And in the 1890s, Anna hears a calling from the Lord to establish a home for unwed mothers, despite having no resources other than an empty house. How the three women’s lives intertwine is revealed as the story progresses.

“Even as the Lord spread His grace-gift over the worn and tattered parts of my life…” from page 92 is an illustration of the book’s fairly heavy religious content and some slightly over-the-top descriptions. But despite that, I really liked the three main characters, and was eager to find out what would happen to them. Readers will experience how American society’s attitude toward unwed mothers changed over the decades. Compelling characters and learning a bit of social history make me heartily recommend this inspirational novel.

B.J. Sedlock THE END OF THE BOOK Porter Shreve, Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2014, $22.50, pb, 211pp, 9780807156223 Two narratives alternate in this fictional experiment. The first is set in Chicago beginning in 2008. In order to pay off debt accumulated getting a creative writing degree, Adam Clary works as “a termite in the house of the written word,” cooperating in the digitization of world literature.

His wife, who got him the job with her firm, correctly suspects him of seeing a former girlfriend.

His father is a retired scholar of Sherwood Anderson.

The second track begins in 1904, when George Willard arrives in Chicago from Winesburg, Ohio, continuing Anderson’s character sketches. George works in an ad agency where he has preserved his shaky job by marrying the boss’s daughter, who correctly suspects him of seeing his hometown sweetheart, Helen White.

The two threads are cleverly connected in ways that are unexpected and almost, but not quite, parallel. Although both stories are told from the point of view of the two male protagonists, all of the women, both wives and both girlfriends, are sympathetically drawn, not an easy thing to do when infidelity is the issue. They are all strong and interesting women and provide a contrast of female roles in the two eras. Shreve draws a sympathetic portrait of Chicago at the beginning of both the 20th and 21st centuries. Recommended.

James Hawking THAT SUMMER Lauren Willig, St. Martin’s, 2014, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9781250014504 In 2009, Julia Conley is an unemployed equity research analyst in New York City who is not sure what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She finds out she has inherited a house in England from an aunt she doesn’t know, and that her mother, who died when she was young, had grown up in the house. Intrigued, and with nothing better to do 50 | Reviews |

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for the summer, she sets off to London, with the intention of selling the house. Her father has never talked much about her mother or her mother’s family. In London, Julia meets her mother’s family for the first time. While cleaning out her aunt’s house for sale, she finds a painting, possibly preRaphaelite, hidden in the back of a wardrobe.

The painting, a medieval banquet scene, features Tristan, Iseult, and King Mark of Cornwall.

Iseult bears a striking resemblance to a portrait of Julia’s ancestor Imogene Grantham hanging in the drawing room. With the help of attractive antiques dealer Nicholas Dorrington, Julia sets out to find out more about the painting. Slowly, the story of how the painting came to be painted and hidden in the house is revealed, along with the story of Julia’s ancestor, her loveless marriage to a rich art collector in the mid-19th century, and her tragic affair with a pre-Raphaelite painter one summer long ago.

I confess to a fondness for novels with these types of parallel story lines, where the reader sees how the past influences the present, and this one is lots of fun. Through the fictional character of painter Gavin Thorne, Willig neatly weaves the activities of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood into the story, which I found very interesting. There are no great surprises in the plot, but that did not prevent me from enjoying it!

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THE WIDOW’S WALK Robert Barclay, William Morrow, 2014, $14.99, pb, 320pp, 9780062218803 Set in New Bedford, Massachusetts in the mid19th century and the present day, Robert Barclay’s third book involves Constance Canfield, a young woman caught between life and death, and the only man in existence who can “save” her. His name is Garrett Richmond, and he is the sensitive architect who purchases the beautiful seaside home Constance once inhabited, so that he may renovate the place. What Garrett does not know is that 170 years earlier Constance—whom only he perceives—fell from the widow’s walk while awaiting the return of her missing whaler husband.

Now Constance is a ghost of sorts, doomed to completely disappear if something isn’t done, fast.

One consolation is that Garrett takes her shopping for some really cute clothes at Victoria’s Secret, which—somehow—he alone can see.

Together, eventually Constance and Garrett consult Dr. Brooke Wentworth, a world authority on a phenomenon called mora mortis. Quoting a few vague lines from that renowned authority Nostradamus, the doctor informs the couple the only way to break the spell Constance is under is for them both to hurl themselves from the widow’s walk. Maybe. Because the woman they have known for less than an hour says she doesn’t actually know what could happen then. Both could die, one could die, and so on, through various possibilities.

Now Garrett finds himself contemplating suicide, something he denies to himself by considering the act a “leap of faith.”

Like the author’s previous efforts, this one is aimed at fans of Robert James Waller and Nicholas

Sparks and may appeal to those who enjoy books similar to The Notebook.

Alana White THIS MOST AMAZING Jenny Benjamin, Armida Books, 2013, €15.25, pb, 9789963706655 Dahlia Conti, an Italian-American poet and academic in modern-day Milwaukee, falls in love with an artist, Jonas. Her story is spliced with that of Vincenzo, a conscript serving in Napoleon’s Italian campaign, who, in 1797, deserts to return home to his Apennine village.

Dahlia begins to have a series of increasingly violent and erotic dreams and out-of-body experiences that seem to connect her to Vincenzo and his world. Sometimes, she is an observer, but at others she feels she becomes him or those close to him. The novel charts her struggle to come to terms with the time-slips and to understand how her life connects to these past events, especially after her work takes her to Italy.

There are parts of the novel, especially Vincenzo’s story, that read with great lyricism; however, at times the allusion and imagery feel forced, and some of the modern scenes in particular have a certain awkwardness, with sentences seeming stilted and the dialogue over-explanatory. The mechanics of the writing show through and there is the odd lapse into cliché (yes, someone does feel the earth move!).

For me, the novel’s opening sentences, although certainly arresting, were dangerously close to parody. Unfortunately, if I has been browsing in a bookshop, this would have gone straight back on the shelf at that point, which is a shame, because of in spite of its faults, this is a story that has the power to move in its exploration of lost love, and love found, of what it means to be home and how we may be connected to past lives.

Mary Seeley HERE AND AGAIN Nicole R. Dickson, NAL Accent, 2014, $15, pb, 400pp, 9780451466778 Why does a Confederate soldier, trying to get back home in 1863, keep on turning up in Ginger Martin’s orchard in 2012? The answer is Nicole Dickson’s elegantly crafted ghost story Here and Again. Occasionally syrupy, mostly precise and sure, the novel is steeped in the atmosphere of the Shenandoah Valley, both now and in the Civil War when Stonewall Jackson’s troops fought to control it.

Ginger Martin, widowed by the Iraq War, is struggling with her grief and her children’s lives on a farm, and it is the farm life that sustains her.

Dickson makes it all sound a little too easy, but she conveys the power of the land to heal the people devoted to it. The story of the Confederate soldier, told mostly in his lovely letters to his wife, weaves a counterpoint to Ginger’s coming to terms with her life. Her day job, in a rural hospital, adds a valuable layer of grit to the plot. Maybe the most compelling character of all of them is one who never even appears: Ginger’s dead husband, Jesse, whose soul still binds his family together. The resolution of the ghost story is especially satisfying. A rewarding read.

Cecelia Holland Multi-period — Timeslip

WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD Diana Gabaldon, Delacorte, 2014, $35, hb, 827pp, 978035344432 / Orion, 2014, £18.99, hb, 848pp, 9780752898490 Entry number eight in the popular Outlander series picks up almost squarely where its predecessor left off: Jamie is back from the supposed dead, Claire has married Lord John, and the Revolutionary War rages. Meanwhile, back in the 20th century, Roger has left Brianna to travel to the past in search of son Jem. In other words, it’s a fairly typical set of circumstances that opens the novel, but it’s the playing out of the drama that once again pulls the reader into the world of the time travelers. Gabaldon’s use of language exquisitely brings the era and the characters to life, making us dodge bullets, feel flames, and experience emotion so deep it hurts.

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood takes us inside characters’ motivations by moving among perspectives frequently. Naturally, Jamie and Claire take center stage; it’s their deep connection that drives all events and circumstances. Much of the novel centers around the Battle of Monmouth; Lord John, his brother Hal, Jamie’s son William, and Ian and Rachel all have stories woven throughout and beyond this event. There are so many subplots occurring at the same time that it’s impossible to name them all, though each one succeeds in engaging the reader quickly. Our friends face danger and deceit at almost every turn; there’s rarely a lull in the action in this sprawling novel.

Fans of the series will recognize many of the people and places that have populated the books since the beginning, and there’s intriguing foundation laid for the next book.

It’s hard to express the feelings brought to a long-time reader when visiting with these old friends, though it’s easy to say that this book proves that the author’s ability to draw you into the story.

Gabaldon’s world has become expansive, yet it still thrills and engages. Written in My Own Heart’s Blood is a solid novel that is highly recommended.

Tamela McCann IMMORTAL MUSE Stephen Leigh, DAW, 2014, $24.95, hb, 515pp, 9780756409562 This is an ambitious book with a fascinating theme and a wide-ranging cast of characters. It starts in the present, with every other chapter taking us back to the present day, interspersed with historical trips to other times, starting in 1352. Major sections are named after the various Muses—Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Calliope—and are related to the kind of artistic endeavor that section is about. Camille is the protagonist, and as the reader figures out pretty quickly (no spoiler here), she has lived several lives through the centuries, frequently as the “muse” to some great artist, sculptor, scientist or writer. It is a symbiotic relationship (verging on the predatory) but because Camille is immortal and her lovers are not, she ultimately must move on, find a new identity and new “host.” What makes it interesting is she has a psychotic pursuer, linked to her past, who keeps showing up and ruining things.

Overall, although it is an intriguing idea, I felt a lack of sympathy for Camille and her plight that made me feel impatient with the continual cycle of Timeslip — Historical Fantasy

her many lives—one or two fewer turns around the centuries may have picked up the pace some. Part time-slip, part semi-sci-fi, part medieval witchery, and part self-absorbed-modern-artist in an urban setting, Leigh’s book is odd but also memorable and interesting.

Mary F. Burns THE BOY IN HIS WINTER Norman Lock, Bellevue Literary, 2014, $14.95, pb, 191pp, 9781934137765 Huckleberry Finn floats down the Mississippi without aging until the early 21st century, when he encounters Hurricane Katrina. Arrested for his inadvertent involvement in a marijuana smuggling operation, he is incarcerated as a juvenile and inexplicably begins to age until 2077. Throughout, Huck writes like a graduate student, which he explains by saying, “I have smoothed out like a wrinkled pair of pants after the hot iron has done its work.” When he represents Jim’s speech, he explains that the dialect disappears because of his imperfect memory. Historical events like a Civil War naval battle receive less attention than Huck’s philosophical musings about fate or his resentment of Mark Twain. Huck remarks that Jim is not the simpleton Twain portrayed him as, but the relationship between Huck and Jim, the core of the original book, never really comes alive. Jim goes ashore in 1960 only to be lynched, and Huck travels down to New Orleans without him.

The years between 2005 and 2077 involve Huck’s career as a yacht salesman and his involvement with a woman who wins the Caldecott Medal for a book also called “A Boy in His Winter.”

At one point Huck tells us “Listen: Every writer wants to write at least one time-travel novel in his or her life.” It would have been better if Lock had fought this urge. Not recommended.

James Hawking TAPESTRY Fiona McIntosh, HarperCollins Australia, 2014, A$29.99, pb, 457pp, 978073229585 Tapestry is a time-slip tale set in both 1715 and 1978. When her fiancé, Will Maxwell, ends up in a coma after a run-in with British soccer hooligans, Jane Granger is desperate to help him. Will has been researching ley-lines: ancient straight tracks of great power. After speaking to a clairvoyant – at this point, down-to-earth Jane is willing to consider anything! – Jane rushes to Uluru, the mystical rock in the centre of Australia and Will’s favourite place.

At this conjunction of ley-lines, she is transported back to Scotland of the Jacobite Revolt and into the body of frail Winifred, wife to imprisoned Jacobite lord, William Maxwell – a direct ancestor of her fiancé. Jane’s clairvoyant assures her that 18thcentury William must be saved from execution if 20th-century Will is to live. Ingeniously, McIntosh then proceeds to animate and explain the attested historical events surrounding Countess Winifred and her condemned husband through time-slip fantasy. So far, so good.

Depth of historical research is certainly not lacking. Indeed, McIntosh occasionally becomes over-eager to establish historical setting and strays into episodes of “info dump”, letting historical facts intrude into the story in an unconvincing manner. For example, would a woman visiting her

condemned husband in the Tower of London really catalogue details of previous notable prisoners to herself as she hurries along?

Despite an intriguing story concept and the wonderful set of historical events around which they are woven, I struggled to finish this book. Perhaps it was the plot clichés (a woman threatened with rape and robbery by highwaymen is conveniently rescued by a handsome nobleman), the unconvincing details ( Jane’s karate-kick in 18th-century petticoats when she has minimal knowledge of martial arts), the excess of “mayhaps” to signify period dialogue, or the frequently clumsy writing. Unfortunately not recommended.

Carol Hoggart

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historical fantasy

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A PLUNDER OF SOULS: The Thieftaker Chronicles D. B. Jackson, Tor, 2014, $25.99/C$42.00, hb, 304pp, 9780765338181 In the third in a series set in 18th-century Boston (after Thieves’ Quarry, 2013), D. B. Jackson, better known as David B. Coe, blends “fantastical and fictional elements with the actual historical events” in the life of a bounty hunter with special gifts.

With colonial opposition to taxes imposed by Parliament becoming more vocal, Ethan’s lover and his friends urge him to speak up for the cause of Liberty. But Ethan, who is a conjurer as well as a bounty hunter, has less earthly things on his mind. Corpses are being unearthed and mutilated.

Wraiths are appearing. Something (someone?) is preventing the dead from settling peacefully into their afterworld. When Ethan tries to use his magic to calm the restless spirits, he is thwarted by a more powerful conjurer. Forced to find allies, he enlists his competitors to help put an end to the evil— temporarily. The historical framework is sturdy— Jackson knows 18th-century Boston—but the plot and characters here interact on a different plane. A Plunder of Souls is recommended for readers who enjoy fantasies with historical settings.

Jeanne Greene ALIAS HOOK Lisa Jensen, St. Martins, 2014, $24.99, hb 353pp, 9781250042156 / Snowbooks, 2013, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9781907777875 Jensen flips the Peter Pan story we are all familiar with, making Captain Hook the sympathetic hero and Peter a bratty child tyrant.

James Benjamin Hookbridge is a ship’s captain during the Restoration who becomes stuck in the magical world, Neverland, captive to the whims of the eternal boy, Peter Pan. Captain Hook, as he becomes known, must play the never-ending role of the villain to Peter’s hero. The two battle time and again, with Peter and his tribe of Lost Boys always emerging as the victors. Hook’s murdered crew members are continuously replaced with new bands of pirates, but he can never die and is condemned to repeat this hellish scenario for eternity.

Things begin to change, however, when Stella Parrish, an Englishwoman from the 1950s, arrives.

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If it is possible for another adult to come to Neverland, might it be possible for Hook to finally escape? In the spirited newcomer Hook discovers something he thought he lost long ago, hope, and maybe something else, love.

A very grown-up reimagining of a classic tale, Alias Hook is simultaneously funny, sexy, dark and violent. All of the familiar characters are present here: the fairies, Indians and mermaids, but with deeper and more complex backstories than the original. Jensen certainly creates her own Neverland, and the parts of the story that take place there soar. Having Stella come from 1950s England seems a bit arbitrary, neither adding to nor diminishing the story. It is Neverland that will keep readers; I have to say it, hooked.

Janice Derr THE STRING DIARIES Stephen Lloyd Jones, Mulholland, 2014, $26.00, hb, 432pp, 9780316254465 / Headline, 2014, £14.99, hb, 416pp, 9781472204660 A centuries-old evil stalks Hannah Wilde, an evil that purports to love her, just as it has all the women in her family for generations, with devastating and murderous consequences.

And since this evil can assume any human form, Hannah seeks constant validation – not of herself, but that those she loves are really who they appear to be. For the sake of her daughter, Hannah will confront this evil, which has a name to go with its many faces: Jakab.

Using interconnected storylines and the “String Diaries” begun and perpetuated by members of Hannah’s family to help those who come after, this tale of Jakab’s life, Hannah’s parents, and others in Hannah’s family spans centuries. Born in 19th-century Hungary, Jakab is a member of the hosszú életek, the “long-lived,” elite creatures who have the ability, within certain constraints, to heal themselves as well as change their appearance.

Jones creates and fleshes out the concept so realistically that I was uncertain, while reading, if it was of his own devising or based upon some Hungarian folk mythology I’d never before encountered. (It appears to be the former, so even more kudos to Jones.) The jumping storylines and settings (present-day Snowdonia, 1970s Oxford, 1800s Budapest) completely engage the reader and allow for the maintenance of nail-biting suspense over the length of the novel, while still allowing a nuanced “show” rather than “tell” unfolding of the story. The characterization is strong and dimensional, the pacing perfect, and the plot threads skilfully woven. The prose is highly visual, allowing for some disturbing mental pictures, but it’s also an engrossing novel which appeals on a number of levels. Be sure to pick this one up – it’s a stand-out in its genre and a great read.

Bethany Latham A BARRICADE IN HELL Jaime Lee Moyer, Tor, 2014, $15.99/C$18.50, pb, 331pp, 9780765331830 This is the second in a series of paranormal mysteries set in San Francisco after the onset of WWI. Delia Martin has the ability to see ghosts; her husband Gabe Ryan, a San Francisco police captain, conducts investigations in the natural world. After Delia lost her parents in the San 52 | Reviews |

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Francisco earthquake, Delia and Gabe’s first child was stillborn. This loss overshadows her life, convincing her that her ability to communicate with the spirit world is a permanent obstacle to having a family. Perhaps her recent loss is why Delia is haunted by a little girl spirit that defies all of Delia’s attempts to exorcise her from her house and her life.

The ritualistic killing of the son-in-law of the Police Commissioner and the disappearance of a rich heiress are the catalysts that put Gabe to work. A charlatan peace activist and mysterious characters whose auras of evil can only be seen by Delia and her mentor Isadora spike the tension in this supernatural murder mystery. However, there are story lines left unfinished: we never discover what happened to the rich heiress, and Isadora’s mysterious coma-inducing struggle with an evil force is conveniently reversed but never fully explained. Nevertheless, Moyer does a fine job of weaving supernatural elements with natural elements.

Terri Baker THE QUICK Lauren Owen, Jonathan Cape, 2014, £12.99, hb, 526pp, 9780224096386 / Random House, 2014, $27.00, hb, 544pp, 9780812993271 England in the latter half of the 19th century.

The novel begins conventionally enough with orphaned brother and sister James and Charlotte living in Yorkshire. James decides to go to London to follow his vocation as a writer and shares a house with the charismatic socialite Christopher. After a surprise or two in the plot, the narrative suddenly enters the fantastical when they are both viciously attacked by a vampire outside the house of Oscar Wilde.

The elite Aegolius Club is the vampires’ gentleman’s club in London, but they have a group of lower-class rivals in the east of the city. Part of the story is told through the diaries and papers of Augustus Mould – a non-vampire (one of the so-called Quick) who is employed by the Aegolius to conduct research into elements of vampire life.

James survives the attack, and Charlotte comes to London to find out what has happened to her brother – just as the Aegolius and their rivals gear up for a confrontation.

This is Lauren Owen’s first novel, but it a wholly beguiling and wonderfully narrated story. It can be difficult to make Gothic and macabre stories like this appear plausible for obvious reasons, but because of the quality of the writing it is an absorbing and wholly engaging novel.

Douglas Kemp

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alternate history

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THE BOLEYN RECKONING Laura Andersen, Ballantine, 2014, $15.00/ C$18.00, pb, 416pp, 9780345534132 The Boleyn Reckoning is the third and concluding installment in Laura Andersen’s alternative history series that traces the life of a king that never was. Anderson begins with The Boleyn King and presents a Tudor world in which Anne Boleyn

did in fact give birth to her savior, William, who is now King Henry IV. The story continues in the second in the series, The Boleyn Deceit, which finds the king dealing with questions of his legitimacy, relations with France and Spain, and the tortuous decision of whom to marry, either for love or for England. The Boleyn Reckoning picks up the story with the royal family scraping through a disastrous winter and preparing for invasion.

William is still consumed by matters of the heart, and his decision to select Minuette, his childhood friend, over a European princess has brought England to imminent war. Moreover, Minuette has since married Dominic, William’s lifelong friend, in secret, but William’s determination to have Minuette might ruin them all and bring England down with them. Mirroring his father, Henry VIII, William becomes erratic, vengeful and merciless, and it seems he will risk England itself to sedate his growing rage. However, England is not without hope. William’s elder sister, Elizabeth, must choose between the love for her brother and her love for her country.

Andersen’s trilogy is a thoroughly mesmerizing read. She not only manages to create a Tudor England with all the well-known inhabitants that fans of the period will readily relate to but she also manages to craft an intriguing alternative historical plotline with rich fictional personages that are as engaging as the historical ones, if not more so. The Boleyn Reckoning should not be missed.

Shannon Gallagher THE WAR THAT CAME EARLY: Last Orders Harry Turtledove, Del Rey, 2014, $28.00, hb, 401pp, 9780345524713 Turtledove, the king of alternate history, clarifies on his website that Last Orders is the sixth thick tome in a series where “World War II began about a year earlier than in our own timeline and none of the nations involved were as prepared for the war.”

I had read none of the previous titles and hadn’t even read this premise until I finished the blurbless ARC for review.

Last Orders follows the lives of people on the varied fronts of a world war: A Japanese soldier on Midway Island preparing biological weapons to drop on Hawaii. A woman on the U.S. home front struggling through a divorce. An Azeri and an Armenian, ancient foes, who find themselves in the same cockpit of a Soviet plane, trying to make peace with each other as new “Soviet men.”

Hemingway-esque fighters from the U.S. and German-swallowed Czechoslovakia fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. A Jewish family in the German town of Münster, still wearing yellow stars and not rounded up for Dachau yet – although that horror is sometimes mentioned as a possibility – is on the ground to watch when their fellow citizens rise up against the Reich. These are just the most memorable interwoven threads. Jews are prominent on several of these fronts, hiding out in military positions they had in the First World War. I had no trouble becoming immediately engrossed in each of the vignettes. Gunnery details may not be my forte, but Turtledove makes them important through the eyes of well-drawn characters. It’s important to them, it becomes Historical Fantasy — Alternate History

important to me. I especially enjoyed excurses into the obscene Russian slang mat and the point where our Armenian airman hits upon quantum mechanics with his own version of Schrödinger’s cat: Is this war or is this peace? We don’t know until we unpack it.

Ann Chamberlin

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children & young adult

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SABOTAGE Karen Autio, Sono Nis Press, 2014, $10.95, pb, 293pp, 9781550392081 The third in a trilogy (after Saara’s Passage, 2008), Sabotage continues the story of a FinnishCanadian family during World War I. The newspaper is full of spies, which are known to be active in Canada, and acts of sabotage. Although most citizens are not at risk, the threat of danger produces fear and, often, xenophobia. Saara Mäki and her younger brother John are wrapped up in themselves. Saara, a good student, may have to repeat a year of school because of an extended absence, which could ruin her chances of becoming a teacher. John, a newsboy, feels responsible for setting the record straight when he knows a reporter is misleading readers. The two squabble over who has the worse problem.

Meanwhile, townspeople are turning on anyone who doesn’t speak English well or anyone who has a German-sounding name. A Ukrainian neighbor is arrested. A German family is interned in a faraway camp. The situation becomes real for the Mäki siblings when they are singled out as “foreign” because of Saara’s European pigtails. They learn the meaning of injustice the hard way, and, after helping catch a spy, they also learn a lot about loyalty – but since they’re siblings, that may be temporary. Sabotage is a well-written, fast-moving adventure that never becomes tedious. Although part of a trilogy, it can be read as a standalone by young adults ages 10 and up.

Jeanne Greene THE GIRL FROM HARD TIMES HILL Emma Barnes, A & C Black, 2014, £5.99, pb, 94pp, 9781472904430 This is a quiet story although it turns out happily in the end. Any gloom, unfortunately, comes from the protagonist, Megan, who seems to see the worst in everything. First, her father returns home from WW II and she sees it as an annoying disruption to her own life – she’s forced to share a bedroom with her sister for heaven’s sake! – and then she gets a place at a grammar school and is resentful at the thought of having to leave her less bright best friend. Finally, she moves to a new town. And hates that, too (at first). Honestly, there’s no pleasing her.

I’m not sure a story works interestingly when the lead character is so passive and reluctant to change. We get quite a lot about roller-skating, and this becomes the opening that allows Megan to accept her father’s presence. Change is shown as difficult, but it can be exhilarating and still remain a challenge. The dialogue is rather stilted, and the writer seems to have a checklist of what makes a period novel: the platitudinous grandmother and Children & YA

her endless cuppas, the Princess Elizabeth cake tin, the dress coupons, the list of popular 1950s children’s fiction, the lines of washing in the working-class back yards, the lino – all reinforced by the nostalgic detail on the cover and, for me, too studied to convince. This is not helped by somewhat thin characterization throughout.

It’s the time for war stories, of course, and this fills a space, although I feel Megan is not a strong role model on how to welcome change.

Grandmothers might give this to a grand-daughter as a sketch of what it was like for some in the 1950s.

Cassandra Clark MY BROTHER’S KEEPER Tom and Tony Bradman, A & C Black, 2014, £5.99, pb, 106pp, 9781408196793 In 1915 young Londoner Alfie joins the army.

He’s fifteen, full of patriotic fervour and eager to see action. Despite the rigours of life in the trenches he can’t understand why his three good friends – older, seasoned soldiers – are so cynical about the war. When the chance comes to join a raid on the German trenches, Alfie is the first to volunteer. But from then on his illusions are gradually lost.

This story celebrates comradeship. At just over a hundred pages long, it shows not only the horror and pointlessness of war, but also the love of friends, the jokes, the camaraderie, and the way even the worst situations can bring out the best in people. There is a wealth of detail about life in the trenches, about weapons, uniforms, and the chain of command, and a real sense of time and place in the way the characters behave and speak.

This is a moving and thought-provoking story, easy to read, yet with considerable emotional depth. Highly recommended for age 9+.

Ann Turnbull REMEMBRANCE Theresa Breslin, Random House, 2014, £6.99, pb, 303pp, 9780552547383 1915. Charlotte Armstrong-Barnes, rising sixteen, longs to do something useful for the war effort, like nursing, but her genteel mother is horrified at the idea. Charlotte’s older brother, Francis, is in an even more uncomfortable position; he abhors all form of war and soon he will be called up. What will he do?

The Dundas family runs the local village shop.

Seventeen-year-old Maggie resents what she sees as Charlotte’s high and mighty airs, but she has more than a soft spot for Francis, and when Francis and Charlotte invite her, her twin brother John and younger brother Alex to a picnic, she agrees. John, who is secretly in love with Charlotte, is eager. He longs to join up and ‘do his bit’ for his country. And Alex, now fourteen, is desperate for the war to go on long enough for him to join up.

The war will change all their lives forever; they do not know it, but the traditional views of class, gender and war will be blown sky high as the war on the Western Front consumes more and more young men.

As always, Theresa Breslin writes with insight and empathy. And Charlotte, Francis, Maggie, John and Alex each have their own distinct problems, hopes and fears, and each will have to face their deepest fears, learn the lessons, and move on. There will be tragedy as well as triumph and all of them

will be somewhere different by the time the war ends.

Remembrance would be a splendid book for young people to learn about the changing mindset of the time and how the Great War affected the status quo. There are useful notes at the end, not only about Breslin’s research, but also covering themes as pacifism, the changing role of women, and war-time censorship.

Elizabeth Hawksley SEVENTEEN COFFINS Philip Caveney, Fledgling Press, 2014, £6.99, pb, 219pp, 9781905916740 Tom Affleck’s first time-slip adventure, Crow Boy, took him back to 1645, to an Edinburgh ravaged by bubonic plague, where he met the evil plague doctor, William McSweeny. In Seventeen Coffins, Tom goes back in time again, to Edinburgh in 1828, where he makes some new and sinister enemies. Unable to get back to his own time, Tom finds lodgings in Tanner’s Close, in the home of the infamous body snatchers, Burke and Hare.

Knowing he has no family and few friends, the murderers decide Tom will be their next victim.

To make matters worse, Tom realises that the terrifying McSweeny has followed him through time and is stalking him through the tenements and slums of the city.

At the heart of the story are seventeen small wooden coffins, complete with small dressed-doll corpses, which were found on Arthur’s Seat in 1836. Only eight of the original seventeen survived, and they are now on display in the National Museum of Scotland. Philip Caveney brings the coffins into Tom’s story and in doing so offers one possible explanation for who made them and why.

Seventeen Coffins is a well written and exciting book. The story is a blend of fact and fiction, and it brings to life an interesting period of Scottish history. The story is very dark at times, but there are touches of humour to lighten the mood. Tom is a likeable hero, and there are enough details of the cold, squalor, unpleasant food and foul smells of 19th-century Edinburgh to appeal to boys and girls of 9+. The dialogue is very modern, which lessens the historical feel at times, but I doubt this will spoil the story for younger readers. I am sure we will meet Tom again in further time-slip adventures.

Pat Walsh SECRETS OF THE TERRA-COTTA SOLDIER Ying Chang Compestine and Vinson Compestine, Amulet, 2014, $16.95, hb, 240pp, 9781419705403 A Chinese officer serving in 200 B.C.E. under Emperor Chu’u yearns for battle, but has long been assigned only to “boring” tasks like guarding the Great Wall. When he finally gets the chance to engage against the Ch’in (Qin), he takes several heads, an act that entitles him to fame and riches – but instead, the Chu’u general condemns him to die as a terra-cotta soldier because his ability is negated by his disobedience.

So begins the story told to a young, poor boy living during the Communist regime of Chairman Mao. Ming’s father’s position as the manager of the Xi’an museum is at risk, as he hasn’t found any notable artifacts in quite a while. However, HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 53

when two greedy laborers bring a broken statue of a terra-cotta soldier to Ming’s house, dramatic, thrilling change is looming. This is the tale of a statue that comes alive, tells the story of his life and death, and reveals a secret place where highly technological dangers protect other “dead” soldiers and officials. The story is accompanied by fascinating photographs and drawings that enhance this riveting tale. A fascinating YA historical for readers of all ages!

Viviane Crystal BRAVE Wendy Constance, Chicken House, 2014, £6.99, pb, 282pp, 9781909489059 Wendy Constance’s Brave was the winner of The Times/Chicken House prize, 2013, for an unpublished new children’s author. It is the story of a boy and girl from two tribes of the Clovis huntergatherer people as they journey across prehistoric America. Blue Bird has run away from her clan and is looking for her dead mother’s people on the other side of the continent. Initially challenged with finding Blue Bird and bringing her back, thirteenyear-old Wild Horse joins her in her flight, and together they face many challenges, including natural obstacles and dangerous mega mammals as they are pursued by Wild Horse’s spiteful cousin, Zuni, and his band of hunters.

The book was originally titled Like a Brother which was presumably changed due to possible confusion with Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother to which it bears a strong resemblance. There is evidence of other alterations; for example, Zuni’s father is sometimes called Grey Wolf and at other times he is Great Wolf, which is both confusing and curiously inelegant, given that the professional editorial process was supposedly part of the prize.

The story is told from the alternating point of view of Blue Bird and Wild Horse which is clearly flagged at the start of each chapter, a device that provides a satisfying breath of perspective that allows both boys and girls to identify with a protagonist. The quest to find a family, the adoption of the big cat, the early domestication of a dog, the spear hunting, the mammoths, the chaste love story and the rival, all combine to produce in Brave, a children’s version of Jean Auel’s The Valley of Horses which is suitable for boys and girls aged 10+.

Charlie Farrow THE HISTORY KEEPERS: Nightship to China Damian Dibben, Random House, 2014, £7.99, pb, 423pp, 9780552564304 The third book in The History Keepers series will not disappoint its readers as the adventure continues taking Jake Djones time-travelling from Shakespeare’s England to imperial China. His quest is to track down the evil Xi Xiang who seeks to make war between east and west. Accompanied by his friends Nathan and Topaz, he also seeks to find his brother, Philip, and reveal the truth about his sibling’s disappearance.

The fast pace of this series means that the reader’s mind is swept along into each adventure by the hero Jake, who is having some attitude issues toward his mother, but who is still a hero to the core. The rich cast of supporting characters is both 54 | Reviews |

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varied and captivating.

The time-slip element of the series allows the author the scope to place global history in perspective. For instance: the reference to the Han Dynasty existing in China at the same time as the Roman Empire. Historical detail is slipped in throughout the plot, such as references to the trade carried out by a South China Sea trading junk in 1612.

The amount of costume detail included gives the true feel for each country and period visited without it ever slowing the action or interfering with the dialogue. The emotional conflicts that Jake faces are touching and make the reader feel for him and keep following him as each new plot thread appears.

The History Keepers is a series that I thoroughly enjoy for its vivid adventures packed with constant surprises and satisfying endings. I would recommend this book for competent readers of 10+ to adult.

Valerie Loh COPPER MAGIC Julia Mary Gibson, Starscape, 2014, $17.99, hb, 328pp, 9780765332110 In 1906, twelve-year-old, imaginative Violet Black is very lonely. Her mother and brother have left their Michigan home, and Violet doesn’t know where they have gone. Her father is immersed in a project, and Violet is left much on her own. So when she unearths an artifact on the lakeshore, it is no surprise that she feels a special bond to the copper hand. The discovery leads to an archeological dig and much discussion about ownership of the artifacts. Violet stubbornly keeps her copper hand, even making a replica when the original is discovered. She thinks she can use the hand to bring her family back together. But, when other more serious events transpire, Violet fears she has unleashed a dangerous magic, and she isn’t sure what to do.

As the story gently unravels, readers discover that Violet’s mother is half-Native American, which brings to light a number of issues relating to culture, race, and class. Violet mainly struggles with acceptance, becoming a woman, and understanding the prejudices of the community.

It was a bit disappointing to discover there are no fantasy elements in this story, and that the copper hand was just a coping mechanism for Violet. But, there were interesting parts to the plot, and good life lessons that Violet learns. This is most certainly a coming-of-age story, and best suited for readers 10-12.

Rebecca Cochran SOLDIER DOLL Jennifer Gold, Second Story Press, 2014, $11.95, pb, 256pp, 9781927583296 A number of books lately have tried to work through terror and loss of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars through some larger frame of history. Jennifer Gold’s novel Soldier Doll opens in the present, with a family moving from Vancouver to the sultry summer heat of Toronto, as the father prepares to go to Afghanistan, and a teenager, Elizabeth, struggles with a strange new life.

The novel starts well. Elizabeth is likeable and lively, active, inquisitive. When she discovers an

antique doll painted in a soldier’s uniform, her story becomes the support for a series of short pieces, following the doll’s career from the First World War on, not a new idea, but a handy one.

The problem is the short pieces. The gentle style that brings Elizabeth to life does not work well with war stories. These fragments seem all research, accurately told, but reported, not experienced. In the 9/11 segment, for instance, the whole attack is shown on television, the same view all of us already have. This is a chance to use a new perspective, to tell this fresh. Soldier Doll has its moments, but they’re all in present tense.

Cecelia Holland WILLOW Tonya Cherie Hegamin, Candlewick, 2014, $16.99, hb, 384pp, 9780763657697 Willow is a riveting coming-of-age story from award-winning author Tonya Cherie Hegamin (Most Loved in All the World). Set in 1848 on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, the novel’s narration shifts between Willow, a fifteen-yearold slave, and Cato, a seventeen-year-old free black man, who is dedicated to helping slaves escape to freedom.

Knotwild, the plantation where Willow was born and raised, is on the Mason-Dixon line. Her master is kind and her father overprotective, and she enjoys some small freedoms that slaves on other plantations do not, such as being able to ride her horse, Mayapple, into the woods. But Willow has been taught to read by her master, Reverand Jeffries, and keeps a secret journal hidden in the woods – a dangerous thing.

Willow begins to realize she has little true control over her destiny when her father and master begin making plans for her to marry a man from the neighboring plantation, and her master begins courting a woman who is unkind and quick to find fault. One day while Willow is in the woods, she witnesses Cato helping fugitive slaves across the border. She is intrigued by him and thinks about him constantly. When their paths cross again, Willow must decide between loyalty to her family or following her dreams.

Hegamin has created memorable primary and secondary characters, and Willow’s voice is strong and unique. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and a must-read for young adults.

Troy Reed ZERAFFA GIRAFFA Dianna Hofmeyr (illus. Jane Ray), Frances Lincoln, 2014, £11.99, hb, 30pp, 9781847803443 In 1824, the Pasha of Egypt sent King Charles X of France a present of a giraffe. She was captured on the plains of Africa when she was a baby. Being far too young to walk, she was strapped to a camel, fed on camel’s milk, and taken to the River Nile.

From there she sailed up the Nile in a felucca to the Mediterranean and boarded a special ship to Marseilles. Then came the long walk to Paris, a distance of 550 miles. Two-and-a-half years later, she arrived at the Rotunda, a specially-built giraffe house in Paris. She was now four metres tall and thousands of people had cheered her progress.

This enchanting book tells the story of Zeraffa Giraffa’s adventurous journey with her faithful keeper, Atir, They were accompanied on the long Children & YA

walk through France by two milk cows, several guards on horseback, and a dignitary in a carriage.

She was the first giraffe France had ever seen, and people flocked to see Zeraffa and Atir every inch of the way.

Dianne Hofmeyr gives just the right amount of detail to interest a child, like the ladies combing their hair with porcupine quills on the banks of the Nile who feed Zeraffa Giraffa with dates and pomegranates as the felucca sails past. And I loved learning about the specially-made cloaks to keep Zeraffa dry when it rained and warm when it snowed.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Jane Ray’s delightful illustrations which complement the story perfectly.

I loved the cartoon-like pictures showing how France went giraffe mad: we see ladies wearing their hair piled high à la giraffe; bakers making giraffe-shaped biscuits and giraffe-like spots becoming the rage in fashion – even the dogs wear spotted jackets.

Children age 6 plus should love this book.

Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Hawksley POPPY Mary Hooper, Bloomsbury, 2014, £6.99, pb, 271pp, 9781408827628 Christmas, 1914, the country is at war. But for Poppy Pearson, parlourmaid to the de Veres, life goes on as normal; except that young Freddie de Vere has begun to seek her out and express an interest in her, something she finds both alarming and exciting.

Poppy’s life is thrown into turmoil when her old teacher offers to sponsor her as a VAD nurse.

Poppy accepts and suddenly finds herself in a completely different world. First comes the training at Devonshire House in London, and then she is sent to the Royal Victoria Military Hospital in Netley. Poppy must learn to cope with men who have lost half their faces, or who have been blinded or lost limbs. She must be calm, unflinching and do what she can to help, no matter how difficult or unpleasant.

Fortunately, there are a few precious meetings with Freddie to lighten the stress of her nursing work. She lives for his letters, but can she believe all his protestations?

I really enjoyed this book. What impresses me is how thoroughly Mary Hooper draws you into the VAD world. It is Poppy’s whole world, and it becomes ours, too. There are the everyday tragedies and small triumphs of life on the wards. The badlywounded soldiers are often brave and cheerful but sometimes despairing and suicidal, and Poppy must learn to handle their various moods and problems.

Previous reviewers have called Mary Hooper’s work ‘wholly imagined’ and ‘thoughtfully-written’, and I’d go along with that. Mary Hooper brings an emotional depth to the story which I found most impressive. Poppy is no 21st-century heroine in period dress, she is a fully-realized girl from 1914 with the class assumptions and hopes and fears of that period. It’s extremely well done. Highly recommended for girls of 12 plus.

Elizabeth Hawksley

Children & YA

RUNAWAY Marie-Louise Jensen, Oxford, 2014, £6.99, pb, 311pp, 9780192735355 Runaway is a novel that promises to be about ‘dark secrets and forbidden love’, which it is. It is also an engaging read, with a satisfying, if somewhat predictable, ending. Yes, gentle reader, she marries him – and along the way she finds out that she is the daughter of an aristocrat who renounced his elevated position to marry for love. However, how the ending is reached is fresh and the plot moves along at a good clip.

Because it was easy to suspect from the first page how the story might develop, and the tone the book is mock-archaic, it took a couple of pages to warm to it. However, the central character is engaging and there are some surprising plot twists. Just as importantly, the book weaves historical details into the text with skill. The reader learns with the heroine as her knowledge and understanding of the world around her grow. In that sense, it is a coming of age novel.

The girl starts out naïve and, through force of circumstance, finds her way in, and into, the adult world. The reader is also given the opportunity to be a little wiser than the protagonist at some points, which must be satisfying to young readers.

What may make this book particularly appealing to girls of around twelve to thirteen, however, is the focus on horses – something that, one suspects, is more than just a plot point, or a necessary part of the historical setting. The baddies are cruel to horses and do not know how to handle them, the good people deal with them well. However, these are quibbles. The target audience will likely be charmed and identify strongly with the feisty heroine.

Ouida Taaffe BRAZEN Katherine Longshore, Viking, 2014, $17.99/ C$19.99, hb, 528pp, 9780670014019 Brazen is a historical novel aimed at the YA set. Told through the voice of young Tudor noblewoman Mary Howard, the story chronicles her life from her marriage to Henry Fitzroy until his death. It is a light coming-of-age story that happens to be set in the past. Generally, I would applaud the attempt to include a historical setting, personages and events as the backdrop for a novel appealing to young women.

However, for reasons unfathomable to me, Katherine Longshore has elected to restyle none other than Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, as a caring father. There is no mention of the tireless promotion of his niece, Anne Boleyn, for his own self-interest, although Mary serves in her household and Anne herself is featured heavily.

Nor is Norfolk’s treatment of Anne or his part in her trial and execution ever mentioned. Rather, Thomas Howard, who mercilessly beat, starved, tortured and imprisoned his wife for years and was not known to spare the rod to his children, including Mary, is within the pages of Brazen touted as a savior – rescuing Mary, his “dear child,” from none other than her battered and abused mother. In fact, never in the course of the novel does he physically enforce his will on his daughter.

Overall, Longshore’s general facts are acceptable, albeit simplified and fluffed up, but they certainly

give young readers a general overview of the period.

However, the depiction of Thomas Howard as a savior begs the question of why Longshore felt it necessary for Mary to need one. I would rather that young women read that Mary Howard, though privileged, had little help or love from either of her parents and, despite all of that, grew to be a caring, nurturing adult. To my mind that is what the message to young women should be, and ironically it is the message that history has already provided.

Shannon Gallagher RIVER OF PERIL Susan K. Marlow, Kregel, 2014, $7.99, pb, 144pp, 9780825442971 The year is 1864, and although California is aligned with the northern states in the Civil War, the Knights of the Golden Circle attempt to funnel gold to Confederate troops in the South. After their stage is robbed by the Knights on the way from Goldtown to Sacramento with a shipment of gold, twelve-year-old Jem and his sister Ellie are soon acquainted with the dangers of traveling with gold. They learn that the thieves took the wrong box. Once in Sacramento, his father deposits the real gold in the bank, where it is destined for the Union army.

Meanwhile, the Duchess, a side-wheeling steamship, prepares for departure at the Sacramento wharf. Jem and Elle encounter a young French-speaking lad named Henri being beaten by some thugs. They save him and discover he is son of the Captain of the Duchess. When they go aboard to meet his father, they run into Black Boots, one of the robbers from the stagecoach.

As the novel progresses, Ellie is kidnapped by the robbers and secreted on board the Duchess. Jem must work to save her. The novel grows ever more tense and exciting, culminating in an unexpected turn of events.

Well-researched and full of little-known historical facts, this book illustrates the life and times of Gold Rush Sacramento from a child’s point of view. Jem is a likeable, well-rounded character who has the gumption to rescue his little sister despite great danger. Jem’s common sense and humanity prevail, making this an excellent selection for any classroom studying the California Gold Rush.

Liz Allenby THE FALCONER Elizabeth May, Chronicle, 2013, $17.99, hb, 378pp, 9781452114231 Set in 1844 Edinburgh, this is the story of Aileana Kameron, a young noblewoman whose life has been wrecked by rumors that she murdered her mother. It’s true that she witnessed the murder, but the culprit was really a bloodthirsty faerie – a secret she can’t reveal to anyone. The trauma of that night awakens in Aileana hidden power and a lust for vengeance. Soon, she learns that she’s the last in a line of faerie-killers called Falconers. With the help of a rouge faerie named Kiaran, she trains to be able to accept her birthright, while trying to maintain a normal façade in society, including becoming engaged to a Seer named Gavin. Together, Aileana and Kiaran aim to close a broken seal that would allow a horde of evil faeries into Edinburgh and signal the end of the human race.

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This book could easily be described as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (but with faeries instead of vampires) meets Kim Harrison’s Hallows series in streampunk dress with a star-crossed love triangle.

As much potential as a description like this has, the book fails to have that spark that keeps you reading.

The book is trying to be so many things that its ambition results in potentially great elements being diluted to bland plot devices. It’s not a bad book, but in a world overflowing with YA fantasy, it doesn’t stand out or live up to expectations.

Nicole Evelina THE TIN SNAIL Cameron McAllister, Random House, 2013, £12.99, hb, 388pp, 9780857551290 The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister is a charming, somewhat old-fashioned read that delights with its humour, adventure, patriotism and love. Invoking the spirit of war-time France, it tells the tale of the development of the French version of the ‘people’s car’, the Citroën 2CV. We have baddies ranging from Nazis, including the villainous Ferdinand Porche, designer of the VW Beetle and the Panzer tank, who is trying to steal the plucky French design for Germany, to young Philippe, the jealous love rival, and his father, Victor, the pompous and obstructive mayor, who are ultimately redeemed by their courage and patriotism.

The Tin Snail is well plotted and the story unfolds like a script for a rattling good family film.

However, although the book is illustrated, it is never completely clear from pictures or text what the revolutionary designs look like, unless one is already familiar with the 2CV (which my daughter was not). I wonder whether as a screenwriter, the author was imagining that all would become apparent on screen?

It appears to be creative non-fiction, telling the true story of the development of the car, so I felt a little cheated that that having invested in Angelo, his father Luca Fabrizzi, Christian Silvestre and Bertrand Hipaux, I discovered that their names were really Flaminio Bertoni, André Lefèbvre and Pierre Jules Boulanger. I don’t even know whether Fabrizzi’s son Leonardo had anything at all to do with the design. The other niggle is the sub-title: The little car that won a war – it didn’t. What actually happened was that the prototypes were deliberately hidden from the Germans and the car only went into production in 1948.

That said, this is a delightful book for anyone over the age of eight, and it would make a tremendous film.

Charlie Farrow THE ICE BEAR Jackie Morris, Frances Lincoln, 2014, £6.99, pb, 38pp, 9781847804570 The Ice Bear is a story of the relationship between man and the natural world at the dawn of time. Here, pre-history meets myth. Far away in the frozen north, in the depths of an Arctic winter, a polar bear gives birth to twin cubs. But, through trickery, a raven steals one of her cubs and gives him to a childless Inuit couple; the cub becomes human and grows up learning human ways, and his father teaches him how to hunt the Inuit way.

When he’s seven, the raven leads the boy back 56 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 69, August 2014

to the bears. There is rejoicing at his return, for his bear mother and brother have never forgotten him.

But his human hunter father fears that the child has been killed by the bears and is on his trail. He will kill the bear who killed his child. Is the human child/bear cub wise enough to find a way which will allow bears and humans to live peaceably together? It is a tale which has a special relevance for our own times.

This enchanting story, beautifully told and ravishingly illustrated by Jackie Morris, echoes the Greek myth of Demeter and her lost daughter, Persephone. There is grief and loss when the cub or child, goes missing, but also joy at their return.

The same story, in many versions, has been told and re-told across many cultures and periods.

Jackie Morris’s modern take on an ancient legend fits in perfectly. This is a story which I’m sure an imaginative child would love to have read to them.

Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Hawksley SECRETS OF THE TOMBS 1: The Phoenix Code Helen Moss, Orion, 2014, £6.99, pb, 272pp, 9781444010398 I may be slightly biased, as I’ve been fascinated

by Egyptian pharaohs and their treasures from an early age, but I absolutely loved this book! It’s a children’s version of the adult historical treasure thrillers à la Dan Brown/Steve Berry type (and I mean that in the best possible way – great plots, edge of the seat suspense), and it’s every bit as exciting and very well-written.

Ryan Flint is a 15-year-old boy who gets to accompany his journalist mother on an expedition to Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. He’s not expecting to get caught up in any ancient mysteries, he just likes to draw everything he sees. The dig’s director has a 14-year-old daughter, Cleo McNeil, and although Ryan finds her strange at first (she’s brainy and very serious, having traipsed around the globe with her parents instead of going to normal school), they become friends. When she starts to solve an ancient mystery, Ryan helps and they find that they make a great team, complementing each other.

The story that follows – of how they search for a legendary object called the Benben Stone by solving clues left by an Egyptian temple priest 3000 years ago – draws the reader in from page one and once I’d started, I didn’t want to put the book down. It sizzles along with never a dull moment, and the reader can’t help but like the two young protagonists and root for them as they try to outwit the (adult) villains.

I think this book would be suitable for children of ten plus (depending on their reading tastes) – everything is carefully explained without seeming like info dumps and you learn a lot about Egyptian history along the way. I’m very much hoping it’s the first in a series – hugely recommended!

Pia Fenton DEFY THE NIGHT Heather and Lydia Munn, Kregel, 2014, $14.99, pb, 311pp, 9780825443213 Magali Losier is a teenager in 1941 occupied France. While fighting back against the regime by helping her pastor work with refugees, she learns of an aid worker called Paquerette who brings

children out of internment camps. The “final solution” has not yet been enacted, and children can be brought out of the French camps and put into the care of aid organizations. Magali begins making trips with Paquerette to rescue the children, but her impulsiveness gets her into trouble. Magali is kind to a convalescent German soldier, which brings repercussions, and she gets in trouble again when her impetuous attempts to distract the Vichy police from arresting a Jew results in Paquerette being thrown into prison.

Kregel is a Christian publisher so I expected a heavy religious slant, but such content was actually minimal. The setting is extremely interesting; I previously didn’t know much about daily life in the “free zone” of France during the early part of the war. Magali is sometimes a difficult character to like, rather immature and self-centered. But she struggles to come to terms with her faults and eventually attempts to grow past them. The plight of the children she rescues is especially moving. A historical note explains the background information not covered in the plot, and tells what happened to real-life rescuers later in the war.

This book is a coming-of-age novel in an unusual setting, but the subject matter would be on the heavy side for young teenagers. Recommended for older teens and adults who want to learn about a rarely-studied facet of World War II. B. J. Sedlock THE LOST KING Alison Prince, A & C Black, 2014, £5.99, pb, 91pp, 9781472904409 1473, Ludlow Castle. Twelve-year-old Lisa becomes the maid and companion to the young Prince Edward Plantagenet, son and heir of King Edward IV, which develops into a long friendship between the two. Lisa watches with concern as Edward and his younger brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, are taken into protective custody in the Tower of London after the death of their father.

She never sees them again …

The Lost King is a balanced treatment of King Richard III’s reign that also looks at the mystery surrounding the ‘Princes in The Tower’. Telling it through the eyes of a young commoner, Alison Prince sets out to unravel the political intrigue of the court during the ‘Cold War’ between the houses of York and Lancaster. Prince makes the mystery interesting to nine- to twelve-year-old readers, explaining why their uncle was forced to turn from regent to king. The systematic purge of the Plantagenet line and its supporters is also explained clearly. This book is a good presentation of the historical events. It avoids speculation about the actual fate of the Princes in the Tower but lays out the known facts with plausible suggestions as to what might have happened.

Alan Cassady-Bishop WAR SONG James Riorden, Oxford, 2014, £6.99, pb, 199pp, 9780192737991 War Song pictures working-class life in Portsmouth and nursing in France during WW1.

Twin sisters, Dorothy and Florence, together with Mum and eight children, struggle financially while Dad and their brother are at war. To help the war effort, Doss and Floss join the ‘canaries’, workers in Children & YA

a munitions factory. Their work is filling shells with TNT which turns their skin yellow. While Doss makes shells, which maim and kill, Floss resolves to devote herself to nursing those wounded.

Lying about her age, Floss joins the Voluntary Aid Detachment to assist nursing staff with menial tasks, then trains in nursing and joins the Duchess of Sutherland’s Ambulance (hospital).

Here she mixes with upper-class girls as devoted as she is. Through the horrors of First-Aid Dressing Stations just behind the lines to crossing no-man’sland searching for medical supplies, Floss and her friend Beatrice show determination as well as foresight. For a time they help Germans, too, perhaps injured by Floss’s sister’s shells.

James Riorden shows us that the human qualities of self-sacrifice, compassion, care and drive, are given to all. They are not the province of accepted ‘do-gooders’, celebrities, the educated or the religious. In War Song, love and care are given by the humblest as well as the titled and wealthy.

Unfashionably, War Song extols the unselfish love between humble people following the examples of Edith Cavell and Florence Nightingale. Not for nothing is our heroine named Florence. This book also illuminates the work of the medical profession and shows their selfless devotion to their patients in spite of overwork, exhaustion and shortage of medical supplies. Highly recommended, especially for teenage girls.

Geoffrey Harfield THE FREEDOM MAZE Delia Sherman, Candlewick, 2014, $6.99, pb, 272pp, 9780763669805 Thirteen-year-old Sophie wants an escape from her parents’ divorce, her father’s impending remarriage, and her mother’s new job, but not if it means being stuck spending the summer of 1960 with her aunt and overbearing grandmother in the old family home in the bayou of southern Louisiana. She protests their attempts to make her a proper Southern lady, wishing they’d just leave her alone to wander the ramshackle estate—an old sugar plantation—and read the adventure books she loves. When a strange creature appears in the house’s overgrown maze and offers her a wish, she impulsively asks for an adventure of her own.

Being whisked away to 1860 and being mistaken by her own ancestors for a slave is not the sort of adventure Sophie anticipated.

Through Sophie, shuttled from one task to another on the plantation, months away from her own home and time, we see the work done by slaves in the house, the yard, the field, and the sugarhouse.

We feel their worries and their dreams as sharply as if we were there. Sophie is a keen and sympathetic observer and is immersed in the history in a way not often seen in time-slip novels. Her journey is aided by Delia Sherman’s rich prose, under which the plantation comes alive.

The lessons Sophie learns to carry back to her privileged life in the still-segregated South of the 1960s never feel heavy-handed. They are not only lessons on race, but also on respect and empathy, on self-reliance, on firm independence. Freedoms can be as big as a slave escaping for a better life or as small as a thirteen-year-old girl learning the confidence to take charge of her own life.

Jessica Brockmole Children & YA

This book is about a teenager named Sophie who meets a wish-granting creature in Oak River, Louisiana. So Sophie can get away from her demanding mother, she wishes that she could go back in time and have a grand adventure. When the creature grants Sophie’s wish, she is taken back to the 1860s. There she is mistaken for a slave and her perspective of the world changes.

This book was not one of my favorites. I thought so because it was kind of dull and boring in parts.

There were good adjectives to describe the setting, but there were too many. I wish this book had more action and reality. I think you would like this book if you were interested in learning about the slave conditions.

Ellen Brockmole, age 10 RUGBY WARRIOR Gerard Siggins, O’Brien Press, 2014, £6.99, pb, 176pp, 9781847175915 This story is the second in a series about Eoin, Brian and school rugby in Ireland, the first being Rugby Spirit. I knew little about rugby and cared even less, but this is such a good read that I feel quite ‘converted.’ The story is a pacey and warmhearted account of one boy’s new school term as captain of the under-14s with the responsibilities that brings. It is also a how-to-book: how to develop self-respect; how to deal with divided loyalty to friends who don’t get on; how to deal with bullies; and how to honour the heroes of the past. Eoin, then, is a boy dealing with big issues, but they’re seamlessly woven into a fact-filled story about the team’s efforts to win the cup.

It’s not all sport. Eoin is writing a piece for a history competition about an Irish rugby star from the First World War era. He is helped by two ghosts based on real sportsmen: Dave, a New Zealander who fought in the trenches, and the Irish player, Brian Hanrahan, who died in a scrum at the very ground where Eoin’s Castle Rock team are playing. He fulfils the role of guardian angel with advice to Eoin at moments of crisis.

Mix this with Eoin’s dawning realization that a new boy at school has a serious, maybe lifethreatening problem, together with the fall-out from Eoin’s absent father’s political activities, and we have a cracking plot with an exciting and unexpected conclusion. The crisp dialogue is full of humour. Siggins, a sports journalist, describes the team ‘sauntering’ or ‘strolling’ to victory but he brings tears, too. Highly recommended for any under 14s including girls who want a glimpse into a boy’s world.

Cassandra Clark MY BROTHER’S SECRET Dan Smith, Chicken House, 2014, £6.99, pb, 308pp, 97819094 12-year-old Karl Friedmann is proud to be a German and wants his country to win the war. He fully believes in Hitler’s vision for the German youth and like other boys his own age enthusiastically joins Deutches Jungvolk (meaning “German Youth”, a section of Hitler Youth).

Excited, because they get to play war games and learn about real weapons, he nevertheless begins to have doubts about the Führer’s ideology when he is forced to participate in the bullying of another boy.

When his father is killed fighting on the Eastern

Front and his grief-stricken mother cannot cope, Karl and his older brother Stefan go to live with their grandparents in a village outside Cologne.

Here he meets Lisa, who makes no secret about her hatred for Hitler and the Gestapo and, as it slowly becomes clear to Karl that his family share Lisa’s views, he discovers that Stefan is involved in illegal activities and may be in real danger.

This is a story of the seductive powers of wanting to belong, and of disillusionment and lost innocence. The systematic dehumanisation of children and young adults, thinly disguised as patriotism, is truly shocking, and even more so the sense that betrayal is everywhere. Parents fearing their children will report them, and siblings mistrusting each other, creates an undercurrent of unease and a feeling of claustrophobia, a core thread throughout the novel. The indoctrination in schools with subjects such as Racial Science on the curriculum was a real revelation, and getting a German perspective on WWII through the eyes of children was especially poignant.

My Brother’s Secret is a well-written pageturner and a must for both boys and girls aged 10 and over. Adult readers will learn something too.

Highly recommended.

Henriette Gyland VALENTINE JOE Rebecca Stevens, Chicken House, 2014, £6.99, pb, 154pp, 9781909489615 A time-slip novel featuring a modern teenager and events from the First World War published that such a war ‘must never happen again.’

Lively and likeable, 15-year-old Rose accompanies her grandfather to Ypres so that he can visit his uncle’s grave on the war’s 100th anniversary. I don’t want to spoil the story, so you might not want to read any further, but the central plot device involves the ghost of a real life boysoldier killed in the trenches a month before his 16th birthday. Rose soon finds herself back in the Belgium of the last century and, with his ghostly help, learns about the everyday heroism and tragic waste of life of youthful volunteers such as himself.

He helps her see how she might come to terms with the grief of losing someone you love.

Both strands of the story are equally strong.

Rose’s own father has recently died, and her mother is unreachable in her sorrow, with the result that the teenager feels very much alone. Not that she doesn’t have friends she can text – but they have not suffered her loss and cannot understand.

The author tells us that her interest was aroused by discovering letters from her own grandfather serving at the Front and later by the true story of a real life boy-soldier, Valentine Joe Strudwick, who volunteered, as did so many, when he was still underage, and was killed before he reached the official age for joining up.

Such is the strength and compassion in the writing that this is not a miserable read but an inspiration. It shows that despite war there is a way of surviving grief ’s aftermath with enough shared love and understanding. Highly recommended.

Cassandra Clark ARCTIC STORM Joanne Sundell, Five Star, 2014, $25.95, hb, 295pp, 9781432829162 HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 57

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E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

THE GREAT WAR: Stories Inspired by Objects from the First World War Various (illus. Jim Kay), Walker Books, 2014, £12.99, hb, 304pp, 9781406353778 The objects that inspired these eleven stories are very varied and include a tin helmet, some sheet music, the nose from a Zeppelin bomb and a Victoria Cross. The eleven authors are top quality, including Michael Morpurgo, John Boyne, Timothée de Fombelle, A. J. Kennedy and Marcus Sedgwick. The stories are very diverse in scope, tone and treatment.

For example, Tanya Lee Stone’s blank verse story is about an African-American hornplaying soldier in a black regiment, the ‘Haarlem Hellfighters’ who went to war in 1917 and played ragtime music to the troops. Tracy Chevalier’s story was inspired by a Princess Mary Fund gift box. Three children squabble when one of them steals some cigarettes from the gift box due to go to a soldier at the front. The story ends with a surprising, but satisfying, twist.

Sheena Wilkinson offers an unusual slant on the human cost of war as we slowly realize that sixteen-year-old Edith must give up all hope of a college education and a bright future. Her mother is dead, her brother Gilbert has returned shell-shocked from the war. Who else is there but Edith to look after him and their father, and keep house? David Almond’s inspirational story looks at sectarian violence. The Craigs and the Killens have fought for generations. It takes a school visit from Agnes Bourne, whose fiancé John was killed in the Great War, to change things. She shows the children John’s writing case with the now brittle pencils and thin writing paper, and suggests that they each write a letter about a world with no war in it. Gradually, the possibility of mending relationships between the warring families emerges.

Special mention must go to Jim Kay, whose fragmented black and white illustrations complement the stories perfectly. For confident readers of eleven plus. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Hawksley

In Siberia, 1908, Anya, a young Chukchi shaman, is traded to a Russian along with a team of huskies bound for Nome. Through the spirit world Anya can communicate with the dogs but as a female she is barred from leading a sled team.

The ship captain’s son, Rune, who has vowed to protect Anya, agrees to be the ‘driver’ despite the inhospitable Alaskan weather and terrain and his lack of experience. This YA frontier novel is never short on action, and the plot moves as swiftly as the inclement storms. Anya is fiercely resilient and stubborn but her inability to always understand the tasks the spirits set her makes her appealingly sympathetic and flawed. Huskies, Zellie and Xander, are sometimes more human than the humans.

The plot revolves around the first race, in 1908, which pitted stocky Eskimo ‘malamutes’ against the smaller Siberian Huskies, brought into Alaska, in the 19th century, by Russian traders. In 1908 and 1909 the 408 mile race from Nome to Candle and back was won by malamute teams, but in 1910 the ‘Sibiriskiy haskis’ triumphed, and this historical tidbit has the makings of a fascinating sequel to this delightful book.

Fiona Alison UNCERTAIN GLORY Lea Wait, Islandport Press, 2014, $16.95/ C$19.95, hb, 203pp, 9781939017253 April 1861: Ambitious young Joe Wood, 58 | Reviews |

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newspaper owner by the age of 14, reports firsthand the impact upon Wiscasset, Maine, his beloved hometown, of the rumors of impending war with the nation’s southern states. But rumors all-too-soon turn to reality, and war’s declaration hits close to home as fathers and brothers answer Lincoln’s call to enlist, turning individual and family lives topsy-turvy.

Middle-grade readers will enjoy the focus on mid-teens forced too soon into young adulthood.

Family changes, financial burdens, racial and political strife complicate the already pressing urgencies of adolescence for the young editor and his friends. I liked Nell, the twelve-year-old spiritualist who communicates with the dead and Owen, Joe’s nine-year-old assistant, whose racial identity suddenly matters in this northern New-England town more than it ever did before.

Especially appealing are Joe’s hastily printed broadsides and newspaper pages, reproduced convincingly here in mid-nineteenth-century typeface.

A well-told, authoritatively researched, novel, Uncertain Glory will transport young readers to a time and place where, although Maine was not a battlefield state, the Civil War made urgent demands on everyone in their hearts and in their homes.

Joanne Dobson

THE GHOST OF THE TRENCHES Helen Watts & Taffy Thomas, A & C Black, 2014, £5.99, pb, 123pp, 9781472907875 This book comprises fourteen stories from the Great War, and what I like about them is that they are very varied. Some will be familiar, such as the Christmas Day 1914 game of football between English and German troops; or the story of the Angel of Mons which exists in a number of versions and is, perhaps, more myth than reality. There are also three poems, one of which is Wilfred Owen’s ‘Strange Meeting’.

Some of the stories are small scale and homely, like the farm boy who stayed at home to look after the farm; or the amazing episode of the Lancashire Fusiliers who were rescued from almost certain oblivion by some ghostly monks. There are stories from Germany and France as well as Britain, like the jinxed German U-boat, where the death toll from mysterious accidents kept on rising, until its end came with an unexplained explosion and the loss of her entire crew. I particularly enjoyed the Phantom Soldiers of Crécy, where Colonel Shepheard encounters the ghosts of soldiers from the battle of Crécy over 570 years earlier.

The stories are engagingly told by Helen Watts and professional story-teller, Taffy Thomas. The subject matter is serious: war, death, and the triumph of the human spirit. The tone manages to be both informal without being in the least bit prosy, yet it has a certain gravitas, and it is perfectly in tune with the subject. The authors have obviously gone to a great deal of trouble to get the tone just right and, in my view, they have succeeded splendidly. This book is aimed at boys of 9 plus who enjoy war stories with a bit of added mystery.

However, in my view, girls would enjoy it as well.

Elizabeth Hawksley I liked this book a lot, since it just wasn’t one long boring story but a lot of good interesting stories, which could either chill you to the bone or make you laugh out loud. I really loved how they mixed poems with stories so you didn’t get tired of the stories. My favourite poem was We Must Not Forget since it made you think about what people thought of during and after the war. Overall I would rate this book 8/10, it lost 2 points since I did not like how it explained all the stories before you read them because I like to get shocked and excited while reading.

Louis McNulty, age 11

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THE BLACK RUSSIAN Vladimir Alexandrov, Head of Zeus, 2013, £14.99, pb, 306pp, 9781781855201 / Grove Press, 2014, $17.00, pb, 336pp, 9780802122292 It is always a pleasure to discover any tale that grips you from the first page and leads you along the byways of history – in this case, from the struggles of emancipated slaves in the Deep South to Tsarist Russian cafe society to the cosmopolitan demi-monde of 1920s Constantinople/Istanbul.

Frederick Bruce Thomas escaped family tragedy and set out on a remarkable journey via Memphis, Chicago, New York, London and various European cities before settling in Russia where he became one Children & YA — Nonfiction

of that country’s wealthiest and most celebrated entrepreneurs. Losing everything in the Bolshevik Revolution, he fled to Turkey where he was forced to begin again even as another national upheaval took place.

This biography flows as well as any novel, packed with adventure, romance and drama. The writing and research are exceptional, and the reader will be enthralled with this man who would have been denied the American Dream in his homeland yet managed to achieve it in foreign societies where the colour of his skin was irrelevant. In contrast with his business acumen and public generosity, Frederick’s personal life was messy, and his futile attempts to gain passports for his family are a heartwrenching indictment of the prejudices that still worked against him in spite of his extraordinary achievements. Most highly recommended.

Marina Maxwell THE FANTASTIC LABORATORY OF DR. WEIGL: How Two Brave Scientists Battled Typhus and Sabotaged the Nazis Arthur Allen, Norton, 2014, $26.95/C$28.50, hb, 352pp, 9780393081015 Polish biologist Rudolf Weigl developed the first typhus vaccine, made from carefully cultivated colonies of lice, in Lwów, Poland before WWII. He was sought by Nazi doctors and ordered to produce his vaccine for the German army. Weigl did so, but not quietly. Small quantities of vaccine were smuggled out of the lab and many of Poland’s threatened intelligentsia were smuggled in, hidden amongst the workers and protected from deportation or worse. Immunologist Ludwik Fleck, Weigl’s former assistant, confined in Lwów’s Jewish ghetto, worked on a vaccine of his own to protect against the waves of typhus ravaging the ghetto. Eventually in Buchenwald, Fleck carried out more deliberate sabotage of Nazi medical trials.

This is less an examination of the typhoid vaccine and more an examination of the rich community of scientists and thinkers in Poland in the years before and during WWII. Working as “licefeeders” in Weigl’s lab or as captured scientists in Buchenwald’s Block 50, they were able to keep alive a flourishing of ideas and a steely resistance. Harrowing history, well told.

Jessica Brockmole HERZL Shlomo Avineri, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2014, £20.00, hb, 274pp, 9780297868804 Theodor Herzl, even though he died at an early age in 1904, is widely considered to have been the main influencing force behind the eventual creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948.

At first Herzl had no political ambitions, and he was by no means an independent public figure. But in 1896 he published a pamphlet entitled “The Jewish State” that called for a political-territorial solution to the Jewish question. The following year he convened a Zionist Congress in Basel. Herzl’s phenomenal achievement was that he transformed the notion of a political solution to the Jewish question from an idea debated by a handful of Jewish intellectuals sitting in cafés and writing in Jewish journals to eventually becoming a challenge for the international community.

Avineri includes some wonderful glimpses into Herzl the man. On a visit to Jerusalem he found Nonfiction

the Western Wailing Wall, its holiest Jewish site, repulsive because the place was “pervaded by a hideous, wretched, speculative beggary. At least, this is the way it was when we were there, yesterday evening and this morning”.

When the modern state of Israel was founded in 1948, Herzl had been dead over 40 years, but he is extremely well honoured in the number of streets and towns named after him. There is even a Mount Herzl in Jerusalem where his tomb lies.

This book contains a wonderful selection of evocative photographs of the period. This book will be of great interest both to the casual reader and the more knowledgeable student of this period.

Ray Taylor ONE SUMMER: America 1927 Bill Bryson, Doubleday, 2013, £20, hb, 558pp, 9780385608282 / Anchor, 2013, $16.95, pb, 544pp, 9780767919418 1927 was certainly an eventful year for the USA. Charles Lindbergh made the first solo transatlantic flight, and immediately became the world’s most famous man, Babe Ruth hit an extraordinary number of home runs for the New York Yankees, and the musical Show Boat was popular, as was the first talkie film The Jazz Singer.

Bill Bryson provides an informative and absorbing narrative of these momentous few months in the U.S. – pulling together a variety of social, economic, political and other notable events and trends, written in his familiar wry and dryly humorous style. He immerses the reader thoroughly into the times, customs and mores of American society. But it is one that could be surprisingly intolerant; for example, anti-Semitism was openly expressed, and there was widespread popular support for some of the more extreme measures of the eugenics movement – which were subsequently taken up by the Nazi state in Germany. But it was also the time when a dynamic and successful USA began to dominate the globe with its economic might and cultural preeminence: a supremacy that lasted for the rest of the century.

Douglas Kemp THE HEATHEN SCHOOL John Demos, Knopf, 2014, $30.00/C34.95, 337pp, 9780679455103 The intersection of the idealism, religious fervor, and experimentation of the early American republic with 19th-century racism provides the context for this account of the Connecticut-based Foreign Mission School, known locally as the Heathen School. Its core population was made up of Hawaiian men brought to America by the China trade and of Native American youths; its purpose was to educate and ‘civilize’ them so they could return to their point of origin as missionaries.

The hopes of the school’s founders were gradually eroded by the difficulties of assimilating its students into a white society ill-prepared to ascribe full manhood or citizenship to them. The culminating scandals concerned the marriages of Cherokees John Ridge and Elias Boudinot to white women, leading to a shift toward taking missionary endeavors into the field.

The Heathen School provides a good account of the evolution of thought from early American willingness to intermarry with and assimilate native

populations to the outright fear and prejudice of the mid-19th century. Its quirky presentation—with travelogues and extensive chapters on background matters and later developments—and its overuse of quotation marks and parentheses hinder the story, but there are many points of interest.

Jane Steen JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON John Ferling, Bloomsbury, 2013, $30.00, hb, 464pp, 9781608195282 This history covers the lives of two founding fathers from the 1740s into the 19th century. When I saw that here “J” precedes “H,” I knew where the bias would fall.

The first chapters, concerning the childhood of the soon-to-be political rivals, are straight reporting. As the narrative enters the Revolutionary War years, the author’s preference surfaces. For instance, Jefferson doesn’t “own slaves,” he has “chattel.” On the other hand, Hamilton is “vain” and a “self-promoter.” Particularly unconvincing is the author’s attempt to directly link modern political movements to them. Attaching “monarchist” or its modern version, “plutocrat,” to Hamilton sheds no light on anything besides the persistent appeal of mud-slinging. Hamilton, who was illegitimate, brilliant and self-made, nevertheless emerges as a natural pragmatist. Getting our financial house in order was the way he knew to establish the Republic. On the other hand, the privileged, classically educated and equally brilliant Jefferson was an idealist, author of the forward-thinking Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence, although he did not practice the “liberty and justice for all” he preached. In a small, post-Revolutionary arena, with such incompatible styles, they were bound to come to blows. There are better books on both.

Juliet Waldron THE ARK BEFORE NOAH Irving Finkel, Doubleday, 2014, $30.00, hb, 421pp, 9780385537117 The focus of this book is a small tablet Dr. Finkel stumbled upon recently that had been sitting unnoticed among the British Museum’s cuneiform collections for over a hundred years. The significance of the “Ark” tablet is that it fills in some gaps in our knowledge on how the Ark was constructed.

It is also the only cuneiform source (so far) that specifically has the animals enter the Ark in pairs, two by two, as in the Book of Genesis. The tiny tablet, though only sixty lines, helps to connect the two Mesopotamian Flood traditions (the Uta Naphisti tradition as recounted in Gilgamesh tablet XI, and the various Atrahasis traditions) with each other, and with the Biblical (Noah) text. Dr. Finkel uses these connections to expound on each of the major flood stories from Mesopotamia and Genesis, showing similarities and differences while explaining how they all derived from a common earlier flood tradition. Along the way he provides numerous delightful tidbits of arcane knowledge.

His writing style makes this book accessible to the non-specialist while providing enough new material to be of use to the scholar. Highly recommended.

Barry Webb LINCOLN’S BISHOP: A President, a Priest, and the Fate of 300 Dakota Sioux Warriors Gustav Niebuhr, HarperOne, 2014, $26.99 hb, HNR Issue 69, August 2014 | Reviews | 59

224pp, 9780062097682 As the Civil War raged in the United States in 1862, another war raged in Minnesota – an uprising by the Dakota Sioux that killed hundreds of settlers. In the face of cries for vengeance, Henry Whipple, Minnesota’s first Episcopal bishop, journeyed to Washington to make a desperate appeal to President Lincoln to spare the lives of the 303 Dakotas condemned to hang. As it happened, 38 would hang – but Lincoln would allow 265 to live.

Harrowingly detailed, Lincoln’s Bishop is a concise, disturbing, and impassioned account of an ugly episode in American history that has been overshadowed by the carnage of the Civil War (Whipple’s visit to the president coincided with the battle of Antietam). It is also, however, the inspirational story of Whipple, a principled man who dared to take on an unpopular cause, and of Lincoln, who was willing to listen to his pleas. It also raises questions of what might have been, for as Niebuhr tells us, Lincoln promised at the end of his meeting with Whipple that if the country made it through the war, he would reform “this Indian system.” Sadly, he never got the chance.

Susan Higginbotham THE NORTHMEN’S FURY: A History of the Viking World Philip Parker, Jonathan Cape, 2014, £25.00, hb, 450pp, 9780224090803 The author has achieved the subtitle’s description in 340 pages (excluding the extensive notes, etc).

‘The situation became very complicated,’ he writes on page 14. True, but it is nothing to the complexity of what follows and must be disentangled by the dauntless author. He is working with material that may be untrue, possibly true, plausible, likely or established truth, making his own assessment of events after the extraordinary people called Vikings were let loose on an unprepared world: from a few men with tiny primitive ships making ferocious lightning coastal raids to warriors whose shields adorned the sides of huge vessels of unequalled sophistication and grandeur. Their story leads from sea to land settlement throughout the known and new world; farming, trading, becoming chieftains and eventually even kings. The exotic religion of Christianity was embraced by some Vikings with enthusiasm as a useful Club to be a member of.

Some accepted baptism without abandoning their old gods. Others remained stubbornly pagan throughout.

This book is a treasury with treats galore. Lucid, comprehensive, it is a work of reference which deserves to become a classic.

Nancy Henshaw THE ROMANOV SISTERS Helen Rappaport, St. Martin’s, 2014, $27.99/ C$31.99, hb, 448pp, 9781250020208 Though most know about the downfall of the Romanovs amid the Russian Revolution and their tragic end in Ekaterinburg in 1918, few know as well the quiet, intensely private side of the family. Drawing heavily on diaries and personal letters, Rappaport tells the story of the four Grand Duchesses—Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia—much of it through their own words.

Seen by the public for no more than their beauty and their privilege, they were often referred to with the collective moniker OTMA. Behind 60 | Reviews |

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that public façade were four sisters with the same sorts of worries and dreams of any teenage girls.

They had whims, obsessions, fervent crushes.

They tried to buck expectation and they worried about the future. But they were also the daughters of a tsar, strong beside their constantly-ill mother and brother, and sensitive to the growing discord outside the palace gates.

Rappaport keeps her focus fixed on the Grand Duchesses, only letting in broader history as it impacts them directly and as it is revealed through their own writings. A poignant, heartfelt tribute to the Romanov sisters.

Jessica Brockmole FASHION IN THE 1920S Jayne Shrimpton, Shire, 2013, £6.99/$12.95, pb, 64pp, 9780747813088 This slim little volume is an excellent introduction to the fashion of the 1920s and its evolution from post-war liberation to the more restrained shapes of the 1930s. Through the decade, hemlines rose, sleeves shortened, neckties loosened, color and pattern had free rein. The stylish found inspiration in movies, in art, in exotic lands. The athletic found freedom in lighter fabrics and briefer garments.

Those of modest means found a way to keep up with fashion with new synthetic fabrics and readymade clothing. Shrimpton’s book looks at clothing for men, women, and children, from head to toe.

She also skims special occasion ensembles, such as eveningwear, bridal wear, and sportswear, and how increased leisure time to do things like dancing, motoring, and tennis lead to changes in fashion.

Filled with snapshots, advertisements, patterns, cartoons, photos of extant clothing, illustrations from fashion magazines, the book is glorious to flip through. A nice primer for the reader looking for an introduction to clothing of the era or a well-illustrated addition to the shelf of the reader already familiar with the 1920s fashion.

Jessica Brockmole JET SET William Stadiem, Ballantine, 2014, $28.00/ C$34.00, hb, 384pp, 9780345536952 To a contemporary traveler squeezed into the center seat of an Airbus A380, air travel in the 1960s was all about glamor: men in hats, Liz Taylor sipping champagne in first class, Frank Sinatra crooning “Come Fly with Me.” But the story of the jet age is more about the back end of the plane, which brought untold thousands of middle-class Americans to Europe for the first time—perhaps for as little as “five dollars a day” if they’d packed Arthur Frommer’s latest guidebook.

Stadiem tells the story of the popular revolution in air travel comprehensively, starting with the introduction of the 707 in 1958 and ending when skyjackings and the sardine-tin 747 ended everyone’s fun. At times it’s too comprehensive, with hoteliers and airline CEOs’ backstories constantly dialing the clock back all the way to propellers and Prohibition. The style is equal parts gossip-column snark and social history, usually entertaining but frequently losing focus in the turbulence of too many period references. Overall this was a good read, leaving me longing for the days before jets and the slow Americanization of Europe—not that I could have afforded to go.

Richard Bourgeois

ZEPPELIN NIGHTS Jerry White, The Bodley Head, 2014, £25, hb, 356pp, 9781847921659 When one thinks of London and war, one inevitably thinks of the Blitz. But London historian Jerry White has written an account of London in the First World War. It is a fascinating story, and all the more so for being a less well-known history.

White explores the impact of the Defence of the Realm Act on Londoners, with highly amusing anecdotes such as the investigation into ‘Tippling among Women.’ Morally lax theatres were also the bane of the establishment: the Lord Chamberlain was charged by the King himself to investigate a picture of a scantily-clad music hall performer in an illustrated paper.

Women came under further attack due to their perceived loose sexual conduct. Arthur ConanDoyle described the city as ‘harlot-haunted’, a view not shared by Sylvia Pankhurst. Pankhurst’s account of the sights she witnessed reads far more credibly and charitably. Dancing was of course condemned, too, as ‘enjoying the war’. Interestingly, the first female police officers began to appear on the streets at time. While these aspects of social history are absorbing as well as at times highly entertaining, White also unflinchingly explores the harshest realities of the war. And of course, it wasn’t just soldiers – civilians also died in the terrible Zeppelin incendiary raids. No wonder Londoners sought consolation where they could.

Recommended.

E.M. Powell THE FORGOTTEN REBELS OF EUREKA Clare Wright, Text, 2013, A$45.00/NZ$55.00, hb, 512pp, 9781922147370 The Battle of the Eureka Stockade is a legendary milestone, the birth of Australian democracy. It took place on 3rd December 1854 in gold-rush Ballarat when police and British soldiers fired on miners protesting against the injustices of the government’s licences and fines. The death toll isn’t precise – around 22 miners and five troopers, with others dying later of wounds – but this work had its genesis when historian Clare Wright read a first-hand witness account of how a young woman was bludgeoned to death by a soldier, yet she remains anonymous and unrecorded on any list of casualties.

The Colony of Victoria was still a long way from being an ordered and stable society, ill-equipped to deal with the thousands who came in search of fortune. Most people lived in tents but, as Wright says, “there was no more exciting place to be in late 1854 than Ballarat” with its “heady mix of anxiety, restlessness, disaffection and disregard for authority”. It was a powder keg that had to blow.

This enthralling and immensely readable book is a long overdue acknowledgement of the women who were at Eureka and whose personal histories are as equally important as those of the men in this famous episode that forged the future nation of Australia.

Marina Maxwell

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© 2014, The Historical Novel Society ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 69, August 2014