Historical Novels Review, Issue 79 (February 2017)

A PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW Issue 79, February 2017

Untold Stories who didn’t make the cut? mad georgians elizabeth foyster & laura purcell indie reviews key changes in the name of the family sarah dunant’s latest a faraway place & time ronald wright’s the gold eaters historical curve balls new discoveries after printing scandinavian noir & hf cecilia ekbäck’s wolf winter

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE publisher’s message | historical fiction market news | history & film | new voices

Historical Novels R eview

ISSN: 1471-7492 | © 2017 The Historical Novel Society | |

pub lis h er

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

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Managing Editor: Bethany Latham Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University 700 Pelham Road North Jacksonville, AL 36265-1602 USA <blatham@jsu.edu> Publisher Coverage: Simon & Schuster (all imprints) Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson 6868 Knollcrest Drive Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu> Publisher Coverage: Bethany House; Five Star; HarperCollins; Henry Holt; IPG; Penguin Random House (all imprints); Severn House; Trafalgar Square; university presses; and any North American presses not mentioned below Features Coordinator: Lucinda Byatt 13 Park Road Edinburgh, EH6 4LE UK <textline13@gmail.com> |

review s edit o r s , u k

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

Elizabeth Hawksley <mail@elizabethhawksley.com> Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals Edward James <busywords_ed@yahoo.com> Publisher Coverage: Arcadia; Atlantic Books; Canongate; Head of Zeus, Hodder Headline (inc. Coronet, Hodder & Stoughton, NEL, Sceptre); John Murray; Robert Hale | Alma and The History Press (interim) Doug Kemp <doug.kemp@lineone.net> Publisher Coverage: Allison & Busby; Little, Brown & Co (inc. Abacus, Virago, Warner); Random House UK (inc. Arrow, Cape, Century, Chatto & Windus, Constable & Robinson, Harvill, Heinemann, Hutchinson, Orion, Pimlico, Secker & Warburg, Vintage); and Transworld (inc. Bantam Press, Black Swan, Corgi, Doubleday) | Quercus (interim) Karen Warren <worldwidewriteruk@gmail.com> Publisher Coverage: Birlinn/Polygon; Bloomsbury; Duckworth Overlook, Faber & Faber; Granta; Pan Macmillan; Penguin; Short Books; Simon & Schuster | Accent Press; HarperCollinsUK; and Knox Robinson

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Rebecca Cochran <CochranR95@gmail.com> Publisher coverage: Amazon Publishing; Hachette; Hyperion; Pegasus; and WW Norton Bryan Dumas <bryanpgdumas@gmail.com> Publisher coverage: Algonquin; Kensington; Other Press; Overlook; Sourcebooks; Tyndale; and other US/Canadian small presses Arleigh Johnson <arleigh.johnson@att.net> Publisher coverage: US/Canadian children’s publishers Ilysa Magnus <goodlaw2@optonline.net> Publisher Coverage: FSG; Grove/Atlantic; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Minotaur Books; Picador USA; Poisoned Pen Press; Soho Press; St Martin’s Press; and Tor/Forge |

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Richard Lee <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org> Publisher Coverage: all self-published, subsidy, and electronically published novels |

e d i tori a l pol i cy & copy ri g h t

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

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

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

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

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

confe re nce s

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The Society organizes biennial conferences in the UK, the US, and Australasia. Contact Richard Lee <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org> (UK), Vanitha Sankaran <info@vanithasankaran.com> (USA), or Elisabeth Storrs <contact@hnsa.org.au> (Australasia).

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Historical Novels R eview I ssu e 7 9 , Fe br ua ry 2017 | I SSN 1471-7492

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ed ito r i al

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hi s to r ic al f ic tio n m arke t ne ws

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ne w vo ic e s

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hi s to r y & f i l m

r ich a rd le e

s ar a h joh nson

p r of ile s of debut his torical f iction authors j an e t be nton, me redith j aeg er, m ark n oce & s u s a n r ive r s | my fanw y cook v i c t o ri a | ja ne steen

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U N TOL D STOR IES

wh a t d id n’t make the cut? | by tracey w a rr

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m ad georgians

e liz ab e th foy ste r & laura purcell | by lucin da bya tt

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indie reviews

a n a n nounc e me nt of key chan g es | b y richa rd l ee

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in the nam e o f family

s a r a h duna nt’s lates t | by charlotte wight w ick

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a f araway p lace & t ime

r on a ld wr ight’s the gold eaters | by claire mo rri s

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h isto rical cur ve balls

when f ac ts c h a nge a fter p rintin g | by j oan n a hick so n

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s cand inav ian noir & hf

ce c e lia e kbä c k’s wolf winter | by s ally zi gmo nd

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b o o k r e v ie ws

e d ito rs’ c h oic e & m ore

CONFERENCE CHAIR’S MESSAGE n behalf of the 2017 HNS Conference Board, I am excited to invite you to join us in Portland, Oregon from June 22-24. I attended my first HNS conference back in 2009 in Schaumburg, Illinois, and I still remember how amazed I was to find so many like-minded people who didn’t find history dry and boring, but an amazing tapestry that connects us all. And to get to meet authors like Sharon Kay Penman and Margaret George and have real conversations with them? What an amazing opportunity that not many other writers and readers get to have.

It’s with that spirit of inclusion that we have designed this year’s activities, with an expanded program based on what you’ve told us you want to see. The event kicks off with a full day of interactive workshops on everything from writing historical dialogue to hands-on classes in handling guns, bullets, and steels. There are two full days of general sessions with presentations from new voices on topics we’ve not seen covered in an HNS conference before.

This year, we’re also putting on our first-ever Reader’s Festival, as well as two additional social activities — Hooch Through History: From Mead to Martinis and Hellfire at HNS, a Regency masquerade ball with instruction in whist and English country dancing. This is in addition to our traditional costume contest and cocktail party, Cold Reads, the Blue Pencil café, and agent/editor meetings.

It’s a lot to take in, but if you need a break, Portland is the city for book lovers and has a compelling history of its own to explore, such as the Shanghai Tunnels used to kidnap laborers to draft on the high seas. We truly believe this year’s conference has something to offer everyone. Check out the details at hns-conference.org. I hope to see you in June!

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VANITHA SANKARAN has authored numerous prose pieces published both online and in print, served for 9 years as a founding editor of the journal flashquake, chaired the 2013 Historical Novel Society US Conference, and is the current 2017 US Conference Chair. Watermark: A Novel of the Middle Ages (HarperCollins/ Avon A, 2010), is her debut book of fiction.

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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 Staff Updates Karen Warren has recently joined the HNR editorial team as a UK reviews editor, replacing Tracey Warr, whose latest historical novel is profiled on page 20.

Call for submissions: Members’ New Books A new column will debut starting with the next HNR issue, May 2017, and focus on HNS members’ new book releases.

If you’ve had or will have a new historical novel (or historical nonfiction title) released between January and June 2017, please send me the following details: book title, author (your name or pseudonym), publisher (or indie, as appropriate), release date, and a blurb of one sentence or less. Details may be edited for space reasons. I look forward to receiving your submissions!

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

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, a spooky Victorianera gothic thriller, sold to Sarah Stein at Viking, for publication in Fall 2017, and to Alison Hennessey at Bloomsbury UK, via Juliet Mushens at UTA. The author’s previous historical novels are biographical fiction about Georgian-era royalty.

Set in 1909 London and featuring an ex-soldier who once led a team of spies employed by Sherlock Holmes, H.B. Lyle’s historical thriller The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, plus two sequels, sold to Nick Sayers at Hodder & Stoughton via Jemima Hunt at The Writers’ Practice.

Set mostly in 1960s London, Lola Jaye’s Orphan Sisters, telling the story of three orphaned and separated daughters of Nigerian immigrant parents, sold to Gillian Green at Ebury for publication this September, via the Judith Murdoch Literary Agency.

Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman, described as “queer western romance YA graphic novel” set in Civil War-era New Mexico, sold to Greg Hunter at Lerner’s Graphic Universe, for publication in spring 2019, by Jen Linnan at Linnan Literary Management.

Gateway to the Moon by Mary Morris, a multi-period novel focusing on the descendants in a family of Spain’s crypto-Jews, beginning in Columbus’s era and moving to contemporary New Mexico, sold to Nan Talese at Nan A. Talese, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.

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Manhattan-based writer Diana Forbes’s debut, Mistress Suffragette, set in the Gilded Age and chronicling a young suffragist’s attempts to thwart a villainous society couple, sold to Michael James at Penmore Press by John Willig at Literary Services. The novel won first place in the Missouri Romance Writers of America (RWA) Gateway to the Best contest in Women’s Fiction.

Kevin Powers’ second novel A Shout in the Ruins, set in Virginia just before and during the Civil War and ninety years later, sold to Michael Pietsch for Little, Brown, with Lee Boudreaux as editor, for publication in 2018, by Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge & White.

Agent Laura Langlie, who has her own agency, sold two new historical novels by Melanie Benjamin to Kate Miciak of Ballantine Bantam Dell, her longtime editor. In addition, Benjamin’s next published novel, to appear in Spring 2018, will be The Girls in the Picture, about the longtime friendship and collaboration between Hollywood actress and filmmaker Mary Pickford and director and screenwriter Frances Marion.

The Locksmith’s Daughter by Australian writer Karen Brooks, about a young Elizabethan-era woman with a scandalous reputation who had apprenticed under her locksmith father in London, and who is later recruited to work for Sir Francis Walsingham, sold to Rachel Kahan at William Morrow, for publication in 2018, by Jim Frankel at the James Frankel Agency.

The novel was first published by MIRA Australia in 2016.

Jasmin Darznik’s debut, Song of a Captive Bird, based on the life of Forough Farrokhzad, an influential and notorious Iranian female poet in 1950s-60s Tehran, sold to Andra Miller at Ballantine, for publication in 2018, by Sandra Dijkstra at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

Soraya Lane’s Wives of War, in which three military nurses travel from London to France during WWII on a journey that results in friendship, heartbreak, sacrifice and love, sold to Sammia Hamer at Amazon’s Lake Union imprint, in a twobook deal, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

Survival City by Adrienne Sharp (author of The True Memoirs of Little K), set in 1930s-40s Los Angeles and Las Vegas and featuring a girl growing up with her gangster father and showgirl mother, sold to Sara Nelson at Ecco via Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman.

Allison Pataki and her brother Owen Pataki’s epic novel of the French Revolution, Where the Light Falls, sold to Kara Cesare at Random House for July 2017 publication.

Stacey Lee’s Dear Miss Sweetie, about a Chinese teen in 1890s Atlanta who moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a popular newspaper advice column, and who uses her pen to change the outcome of a trial in which a black man is accused of assaulting a white woman, sold to Katherine Perkins at Putnam Children’s, in a two-book deal, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency.

Edgar-nominee Sujata Massey’s The Widows of Malabar

New and forthcoming titles: Merryn Allingham has signed a two book deal with HQ, the new imprint of Harper Collins. The Buttonmaker’s Daughter was published in January 2017 and The Secret of Summerhayes will be published in August. Both novels are set in Sussex, the first in 1914 and the second in the summer of 1944 in the run up to D Day. In 1914, Summerhayes is a large country estate of rare beauty, but what should be a place of calm and tranquillity is riven with conflict. The Buttonmaker’s Daughter follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the Summer family during that long, hot summer when thousands, including the men of Summerhayes, walked into recruitment centres to volunteer, signalling Britain’s entry into the bloodiest war ever.

Karen Harper’s The It Girls tells the true story of the dynamic Sutherland sisters, from the late Victorian era through the 1930s. Lucile, Lady Duff-Gordon, designed trend-setting lingerie and gowns for her London, Paris, New York City and Chicago stores, and survived the sinking of the Titanic. Elinor Glyn was a scandalous romance novelist and Hollywood screenwriter for the silents. This “faction” novel, edited by Lucia Macro at William Morrow, will be published in the autumn of 2017.

A Column of Fire, the third novel in Ken Follett’s epic historical fiction series, picks up the story of the residents of the English cathedral city of Kingsbridge in 1558, as Elizabeth I takes the throne amid religious turmoil. It’s published this September by Viking (US) and Macmillan (UK).

Victoria Cornwall’s debut novel, The Thief ’s Daughter (reviewed this issue), was published as an eBook on 3rd January, 2017 by Choc Lit. The story is set in debt-ridden 18thcentury England, when The Bloody Code threatens all with the hangman’s noose. Yet, when night falls, free traders swarm onto the Cornish beaches and smuggling prospers. The Thief ’s Daughter tells the story of a woman’s love and loyalty for two men, her brother and her employer, which challenges her moral integrity, her loyalty and ultimately, her trust in both.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry will be published by

HarperCollins (US)’s new Custom House imprint in June.

Named the Waterstones Book of the Year for 2016 in its UK edition, this historical novel set in late Victorian England follows a young widow’s journey to the marshlands of coastal Essex, where a mysterious serpent is rumored to live.

The next novel from Anita Shreve, The Stars Are Fire (Knopf, May), features a young mother facing devastating circumstances during October 1947, at the time of the greatest fire in the state of Maine.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ The Long, Long Trail, set in 1917, and fourth in her War at Home saga featuring a family and their servants on the British home front and overseas during WWI, will be published by Sphere in June. The author is best known for her 35-book Morland Dynasty series, an extended family saga tracing the many descendants of one family from the Wars of the Roses through the 1930s.

Brian Doyle’s The Adventures of John Carson in Several Quarters of the World, which intertwines a picaresque adventure about the title character, a novel planned by Robert Louis Stevenson but never written, with Stevenson’s own life in 1880s San Francisco, will appear in March from St. Martin’s Press.

The US edition of Golden Hill by Francis Spufford, about a “young man with a fast tongue” in Manhattan of the 1740s, will be published by Scribner in June. The UK edition, out in May 2016, was from Faber & Faber; it was the winner of the Costa First Novel Award from 2016.

The Paperbark Shoe author Goldie Goldbloom’s new novel Gwen, biographical fiction about artist Gwen John in early 20thc Paris, is published by Fremantle Press (Australia) in February.

For fans of Viking-era novels, Linnea Hartsuyker’s The HalfDrowned King, first in a trilogy set in Viking-age Norway, will be published in August by HarperCollins. Little, Brown will be the UK publisher.

Prolific historical novelist Cora Harrison, author of the Burren Mysteries set in 16th-c rural western Ireland and the Reverend Mother mysteries set amid political turmoil in 1920s Cork, Ireland, will begin a new series with The History Press in July with The Cardinal’s Court, which features an Irish Brehon lawyer in Tudor England.

For more forthcoming titles, including both adult-level historical novels and those for children and young adults, please see: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/guides/forthcominghistorical-novels/

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Hill, first in a new mystery series set in 1920s Bombay, sold to Juliet Grames at Soho Press, for publication in January 2018, by Vicky Bijur at the Vicky Bijur Literary Agency.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse’s next two Mycroft Holmes novels (following book 1, Mycroft Holmes), continuing the adventures of Sherlock Holmes’s older (and smarter) brother, sold to Steve Saffel at Titan Books, for publication in 2018 and 2019, by Deborah Morales of Iconomy Multimedia.

The Education of Dixie Dupree author Donna Everhart’s The Road to Bittersweet, a coming of age story about two sisters living in North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains in the 1940s, sold to John Scognamiglio at Kensington by John Talbot at Talbot Fortune 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 79, February 2017 | Columns | 3

NEW VOICES In this new generation of debut novelists, Janet Benton, Meredith Jaeger, Mark Noce, and Susan Rivers have created a feast of engaging and entertaining historical fiction for the New Year.

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anet Benton, author of Lilli de Jong (Doubleday, May 2017), says: “I was a professional writer and editor with too little time for writing fiction when I had my only baby.

For months, nursing around the clock was my main occupation.

In that foggy time, my husband showed me a review of The History of the European Family, through which I learned of the profession of wet nursing and the high percentage of ‘illegitimate’ infants. For most of these infants, the cost of prejudice was separation from their mothers and death.”

As she explains: “As a new mother with a baby at my breast, I knew that women forced by social hatred to give up their infants must have suffered greatly, and I was haunted by the sad fates of their infants, unable to survive without a mother’s milk. Lilli de Jong, which is set in Philadelphia in 1883, began when the words of an unwed mother came into my head.

“Abandoned by her lover, Lilli had to give her baby to a woman nursing multiple infants to become a servant in a wealthy home, nursing that family’s newborn. Could she save up enough to lease a sewing machine and rent a room, so she could reclaim her baby? Would her baby survive till then?

What would be the relationship between the two mothers—the wealthy one who didn’t nurse her newborn, and the social pariah she’d hired to do so?”

Benton admits, “I had to fit the research and writing into a life crammed with motherhood and paying work. This was difficult, but the novel probably contains more layers of understanding and information as a result of all the years it took—things I wouldn’t have learned or found out if I’d written it more quickly.

Since I live near the settings in which the novel occurs, I was able to visit many historical societies, sites, and neighborhoods, attend lectures and events, speak with experts, and examine documents from institutions that helped the poor.”

She hopes, she says, that “others will have the chance to read Lilli’s story and to consider the plights of single mothers and their children, in the past and in our own day.”

Like Benton, Meredith Jaeger, author of The Dressmaker’s Dowry (William Morrow, Feb. 2017), highlights the problems 4 | Columns |

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facing women and their roles and positions in society. Jaeger loves “immigrant stories, especially those told from a female perspective. Some of my favorite novels depict the struggles of young women new to America.”

As “the daughter of a Swiss immigrant,” she believes that “what makes our country great is its mixture of people and cultures. Millions of Americans have relatives who crossed the ocean by steamship, their faces filled with awe upon seeing New York Harbor for the first time. But as a proud Bay Area native, I wanted to tell a tale of San Francisco.”

Today the City by the Bay, Jaeger says, is “recognized mainly for its tech boom—attracting Silicon Valley investors and talented software engineers. Yet it has so much more to offer than start-ups. Beneath the Financial District, hundreds of ships are buried, their wooden bones serving as a reminder of the adventurous spirit of the Wild West.”

However, she explains, “in the late 1800s, San Francisco was a city divided, silver-rich Bonanza Kings clashing with working-class Chinese, Mexicans and Europeans. The high-end boutiques of Jackson Square were once saloons, opium dens and brothels. I’m a fan of Victorian architecture, and I drew inspiration from my surroundings. Looking at Queen Anne mansions in Pacific Heights and humble workers’ cottages in Dogpatch, I asked myself, who lived there?”

Delving into “San Francisco’s bawdy Barbary Coast,” she says, “I spun the story of a German immigrant and an Irish immigrant, young dressmakers trying to forge a better life for themselves.

I also envisioned a modern-day writer in possession of a mysterious heirloom ring, tied to the missing dressmakers. My own heirloom ring, a delicate cluster of diamonds from 1903, belonged to my husband’s great-aunt.

These threads allowed me to weave The Dressmaker’s Dowry, a generational tale of San Francisco’s past and its future, rooted in both fact and fiction.”

On the surface, it might appear that Mark Noce’s Between Two Fires (Thomas Dunne, Aug. 2016) has little in common with Jaeger’s novel. It is set in early medieval Wales. However, the common ground is that both books focus on women struggling against the odds. Noce has always been, he says, “interested in ‘Dark Ages.’ Not necessarily a thematically dark era, but something that has been neglected by the history books or forgotten altogether. This is where the genesis of my novel, Between Two Fires, was born. Very little reliable text and artifacts survive from the early medieval period in Wales, yet we can infer that it was a tumultuous time, full of barbarians, infighting, and unrest. Nonetheless, the people of Wales endured and their

Photo credit: Tasha Thomas

resilient spirit shone through all the brighter in subsequent centuries. But I was always interested in what actually happened during these mysterious ‘lost’ centuries in Wales.”

Noce states: “‘Today I will marry a man I have never met’ was the first line stuck in my head, and it refused to let go. It introduced me to a character named Branwen, a young woman in medieval Wales who must wed a stranger in order to save her kingdom. Torn between her love for another man and her duty to her people, she must come to grips with the dangers of medieval Wales as Saxon barbarians threaten to tear her world apart.

“I have always enjoyed stories about strong women, and frankly, I don’t think that there are enough tales of strong women portrayed in the media today. In essence, I was trying to write a novel that I’d always wanted to read, but hadn’t yet found on a bookshelf. A novel about a strong heroine standing tall against the odds during the historical backdrop of the early medieval Welsh era. So I decided to write it myself.”

Noce drew inspiration from “Arthurian lore,” he says, and “the surviving written records and archaeology of the era also offered tantalizing clues that enabled me to create a realistic, historical world that in many ways has been lost to us today… I hope that in some small way, my own attempt to shed light onto this fascinating but forgotten era will encourage others to delve deeper into the neglected epochs of history and to help unearth the literary treasures that await us there.”

In The Second Mrs. Hockaday (Algonquin, Jan. 2017) Susan

Rivers has, like Noce, uncovered an overlooked corner of history.

Rivers encountered a story while teaching at a summer school in 2014 when, she says, “I decided to revisit some notes I’d made a year earlier on a story idea about the Civil War. Looking through the jumble of historical materials at the library near my home, I stumbled across a summary of an 1865 inquest. As soon as I read it, I knew this was a story begging to be told in novel form.

A Confederate soldier who had been away from his teenage wife for four years arrived home at war’s end to confront rumors that his bride had become pregnant while he was away. It was alleged that she had given birth to a son who had been killed and buried on their farm. Once the baby’s remains were dug up, the husband pushed to have his wife indicted for murder. For her part, the young woman refused to name the baby’s father, to explain how the child was conceived, or to tell how he died.”

Rivers, she says, “was electrified by the plight of this young woman and by the extraordinary courage she must have possessed to face this ordeal alone. She hadn’t been able to tell her story in 1865, but I knew I could tell it in 2014. I gathered up my things and ran home from the library with the voice of my fictional major’s wife, the second Mrs. Hockaday, already telling me her story and a war-torn world taking shape around her. The rest of that summer is a blur in my memory. That’s because writing this manuscript was the most intensely concentrated and inspiring process I have experienced in all my writing years. It was similar to falling in love: when you can’t eat, sleep, or think productively about anything but the beloved. It was all-consuming.”

Through their novels, Benton, Jaeger, Noce, and Rivers have illuminated the triumphs and tragedies of women whose lives were once hidden in the shadows of the past.

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MYFANWY COOK is always humbled by the work of debut novelists and their ability to bring to life those who have so often been overlooked. Email (myfanwyc@btinternet.com) or tweet (twitter.com/MyfanwyCook) about debut novelists you recommend.

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Janet Benton, Meredith Jaeger, Mark Noce & Susan Rivers

HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Columns | 5

aHISTORY & FILMe VICTORIA

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t isn’t easy being queen. So say two new TV series: Victoria, which has already aired on ITV in the UK and appeared in America on PBS (under the Masterpiece umbrella) beginning in mid-January, and The Crown, a recent Netflix original series.

This article focuses on Victoria and its two companion books, The Victoria Letters by historian Helen Rappaport (HarperCollins UK; Victoria: The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen, HarperDesign US, 2017) and Victoria, a novel by Daisy Goodwin (Headline Review UK; St. Martin’s US, 2016), who wrote the screenplay for the series. Yet The Crown can’t be ignored in this context, since it portrays Victoria’s great-greatgranddaughter, Elizabeth II, in the same settings a hundred years later, dealing with similar issues. Both were young queens whose early years were influenced by a tenacious older generation; both had to juggle their position as monarch with the demands of wifehood and motherhood in times when gender roles were more rigidly defined than they are now. For both of them, the route to the crown was by way of historical accident — the death of Princess Charlotte and her stillborn son in Victoria’s case, and the abdication of Edward VIII in Elizabeth’s. Potential heirs from early childhood, they were relentlessly groomed for the throne; Jenna Coleman (Victoria) and Claire Foy (Elizabeth II) have mastered the icy royal glare that only comes with training and the autocratic wielding of power that at times seems brutally dismissive of the feelings of those around them.

Most interestingly of all, the two series show these queens in the context of a nexus of family relationships, courtiers, and servants both civil and domestic. For the historical writer, these series brim with potential rich pickings as they hint at the fascinating stories of personages less well remembered by the reading public. They are also reminders that the reigns of these two young queens marked a time of transition into a more modern world, with the inevitable resulting tension with the old. Victoria is rich in references to the recent Hanoverian past and the problems created by a succession of unpopular 6 | Columns |

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monarchs, and its portrayal of Prince Albert’s enthusiasm for science and progress illustrates the movement toward what we now think of as the Victorian era.

When you’re depicting a real-life historical personage in any medium, you’re always going to run into the tension between history and story — the need to balance accessibility and entertainment value with the prevailing view of what actually happened. Note that I’m staying away from talking about reality or truth, since historians and biographers have to deal with issues of selection and arrangement of material — as do the personages themselves if they’re aware of their importance to history. TV drama, by its very nature, tends to favor story over history; the word “drama” is the clue here. Consequently, every history-based costume drama meets with criticism, ranging from comments on the appearance of the actors to outrage over the portrayal of events and relationships. As Helen Rappaport told me: “TV and film companies have to be pragmatic. In order to sell a production and pull in the ratings they have to have bankable names, and in terms of Victoria, the most bankable actresses [who’ve] played the role recently — Emily Blunt and Jenna Coleman — are both far too pretty and too slim. Emily was too tall as well. But in both cases the actresses transcended the obvious physical differences by being so good in the role. Jenna, for me, is absolutely perfect casting because she has that small, vibrant personality and fiery feistiness that perfectly captures the impetuous young Victoria. When the acting is that good, and captures the spirit of the original person, one tends to let go of the need for physical similarity ... What is so wonderful about ITV Victoria is how skilfully and convincingly so many of the wonderful cast get to the heart of their characters and convey such a vivid sense of them.”

Similarly, books written expressly to accompany a TV series have the added task — over and above reader expectations of what makes a good historical read — of keeping close to the branding decisions made for the series itself. The emphasis placed by the TV series’ first season on Victoria’s relationship with her first Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, has a clear influence on Goodwin’s novel. If anything, she goes farther than the series, developing what most people saw as a platonic friendship into a doomed love story. This, of course, has attracted criticism — and yet Rappaport’s nonfiction tie-

become a fantasy in our minds. As Helen Rappaport says, the tendency is to emphasize the extremes of the era: “Unfortunately TV and films particularly go either for the unrelentingly grim — all those dark satanic mills of grinding poverty, crime, prostitution, Jack the Ripper etc.

— or the other end of the spectrum, which is the cozy nostalgic Dickensian Christmas bonhomie. The Victorian era generally is either the best of times or the worst of times in the popular perception, and I know that in the TV series, Daisy [Goodwin] wants to explore a lot of aspects of the reign that are usually overlooked.”

The Victoria showrunners have announced a second season, again with Daisy Goodwin as screenwriter and Helen Rappaport as historical consultant. There’s certainly plenty of scope for drama, with the Irish Potato Famine, European revolutions, and political unrest on the horizon, not to mention the fact that Victoria and Albert’s marriage had its tempestuous side. The one thing The Victoria Letters lacks is a bibliography, but sales of Victoria biographies may well soar as the public gets to grips with the fact that Victoria wasn’t always popular, either with those close to her or the general public. I’ll let Helen Rappaport have the last word on that: “I think there has been far too much romanticization of Victoria, in particular in the context of her relationship with Albert (which I personally don’t believe lasted long in the saccharine twittering lovebirds mode. That soon evaporated with her PMT, all the pregnancies, and some serious post-partum depression). What I like about the series is that it boldly shows Victoria’s very real inexperience, her lack of self-restraint, her rush to judge people like Lady Flora Hastings with disastrous consequences, her wilful attempts at overstepping the mark as constitutional monarch in those first years. When I researched my book, Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert and the Death that Changed the Monarchy, about the dark and difficult ten years or more of Victoria’s retreat after Albert’s death, I was appalled by her selfishness, her relentless wallowing in misery, her cruelty, at times, to her children, her neglect of her public duties. I don’t think people realize how deeply unpopular she became during those years and the extent to which her monarchy was reaching crisis point by 1871. The real golden years of popularity did not come till the jubilees at the end of the century.”

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in quotes liberally from Victoria’s letters and journals to show how very intense was the young Queen’s interest in every facet of Melbourne’s personality. As others have noted, an extensive author’s note would have been helpful to readers who wish to know where the source materials end and the fiction writer’s art takes over. The novel does achieve one of the main aims of tie-in fiction, which is to supply an engaging and entertaining reading experience for readers regardless of whether they’ve seen the series, thus hopefully turning casual viewers into long-term fans.

One aspect of Victoria’s first TV season is practically omitted from the novel — the influence of Downton Abbey in the show’s awareness that contemporary viewers and readers want to see behind the scenes. As Helen Rappaport says, “the real drudgery of those in service to the royals” is a valuable counterpoint to the “ballrooms and chandeliers and the toffs upstairs.” As with Downton Abbey, there’s a challenge in Victoria — condensing a huge household of domestics into a few story lines that are straightforward enough for TV viewers to follow.

Daisy Goodwin meets this challenge cleverly, by incorporating the lives of a largely fictional small staff who follow the young queen from Kensington Palace to her new home. While the lives of the real upper echelons are played out against the backdrop of the English countryside, candlelit drawing rooms, and glittering ballrooms, the servants are seen congregating around a work table or — a technique also used frequently in The Crown — busying themselves in palatial corridors. In Helen Rappaport’s words: “In terms of the scale of the court, what I think works really well is the way in which the Buckingham Palace corridor becomes the focus of a lot of coming and going, and in fact was the location for that beautiful candlelit proposal scene. The producers have made the palace seem much more intimate, and a lot less draughty, than it really was.”

Helen Rappaport’s The Victoria Letters does a skillful job of bridge-building between drama and history by furnishing the reader with nuggets of the historical record, including many portraits of the real people involved and excerpts from Victoria’s writings, interspersed with full-page stills from the series. The style of the book is lavish; in one sense the reader is invited into the fantasy world created by the TV series, but you could also say that a court is itself a fantasy world. This is a facet of Victoria’s life that the TV producers did not fail to point out — through, for example, Albert’s comments on the elaborate and obligatory Windsor uniform. The Victoria Letters turns fantasy back on itself by allowing the actors to speak to the readers and including a Behind The Scenes section illustrating the mechanics of filming the series. The result is, in 21st century terminology, very meta — an admission that we live in a culture that often wants to be entertained by history rather than learn from it.

And yet, taken as a whole, the TV series, Victoria the novel, and The Victoria Letters are a sincere attempt at bringing a fresh look to a historical period that — mostly due to TV — has itself

JANE STEEN has authored the House of Closed Doors series, as well as the Victorian ghost stories The Bars of the Marshalsea and The Unforgotten.

HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Columns | 7

what didn’t make the cut?

T ransforming research into fiction, deciding what to leave

out and what to transfigure, are critical stages for any historical novelist. Research is a process of being comprehensive and then selective. I asked four writers to tell me what didn’t make the cut in their novels, why not, and might it reappear elsewhere?

Livi Michael, author of a fifteenth-century trilogy, cites the need to reduce the number of characters as a reason for cuts. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, she says, demonstrate the advantage of focusing closely on a single character. John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, and Ankarette Twynyho are two characters that didn’t make it into Michael’s novels.

Tiptoft was especially cruel to captured rebels: not only were they hung, drawn and quartered, but also skewered through the anus by a sharp stave. “This angered the people of the land and forever afterwards the Earl of Worcester was greatly hated,” records Warkworth’s chronicle. When Tiptoft was himself sentenced to death, his execution was delayed by the extreme anger of the mob. He was kept in gaol overnight until the crowds calmed down enough to allow soldiers to get him to Tower Hill to be beheaded. “I love this story,” says Michael. “It speaks eloquently of the difference between our own era and fifteenth-century England, in which barbaric punishment was lawful, but it was still possible to go too far.”

Twynyho was hanged, unjustifiably, by the Duke of Clarence, who suspected her of poisoning his wife. Twynyho was given a sham trial at which all the jurors were men who lived on Clarence’s land and were dependent upon him. After sentencing, each juror addressed an apology to Ankarette, begging her forgiveness.

And then she was hanged. Michael says: “I still have pangs of regret for these lost characters!” There is a temptation to get

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HNR Issue 79, February 2017

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so carried away by research that the drift of the story is lost, but Michael stresses that you should fight the desire to include something simply because you find it interesting.

S.G. MacLean’s novels are set in seventeenth-century Scotland and London. She also cites learning not to be self-indulgent with research, instead keeping the story focused. “If it added nothing to my substantive story, if it didn’t further the plot or deepen the portrayal of my main characters in any way, it had to go.”

She came across a story in the Annals of Banff about a young boy called Francis Brown who was hanged by the town authorities for “persistently breaking into booths,” and “stealing buttons and bows.” MacLean says, “I wanted to rescue him from the anonymity of history, and so I put his story in my book.

My editor, very gently, but very firmly, took it out again. Other victims of my editor’s pencil in the early days were lovingly researched and written up descriptions of a seventeenthcentury apothecary’s shop, and the contents of a Scottish bookseller’s shop. They smacked too much of a writer with copious research notes beside her as she wrote, and again, the cardinal sin of crime fiction, they held up the story.”

French author Andrea Japp’s medieval mysteries have recently been published in English. She notes, “I have to understand everything, even if I do not use it. It is a way to ground my story, so that my readers wish to accompany me back to these ancient times.

So, indeed, there are many things that do not make it to my novels, just because they are a sort of substrate.”

Japp feels regret for research she cuts out, usually because she decides it is not essential, she has too much material, or she doesn’t have room to do it justice. One example of her cuts is Etienne Marcel, a supposed hero of the Hundred Years’ War against

by Tracey Warr

RESEARCH...

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U NTOLD STOR IES

is a process of being comprehensive and then selective.

archaically jolly, with a jaunty ‘end-of-the-pier’ humour of songs and routines, but that picture is very far from the reality. Nelly’s story is ultimately depressing and sordid. I cherish a Goodreads reviewer who wrote that I ‘seem to cover everything in life that is unsavoury.’ I’ve used aspects of Nelly’s story to inform the gritty darkness in the Kitty Peck books, but the truth is – despite what some people might think – I probably haven’t gone far enough!

Hopefully I’m writing to entertain, not depress my readers.”

In my own fiction I tend to focus on lesser-known women in history – untold stories themselves, if you like. I have a list of women I would like to write about, and I don’t suppose I will manage to get around to them all. The sixth-century Frankish princess Rigunth, with her murderous mother, the Merovingian Queen Fredegunde, and her ill-fated journey to be betrothed to a Visigothic prince, is very tempting. I hope I will get to ‘write her’ one day. But my first three novels focused on the early medieval period, and there are still many more untold stories in that era before I can get around to opening up a whole new trench of sixth-century research to tell Rigunth’s story.

Playing untold stories forward into future books is a recurring note in the authors’ responses to my questions. I quite often have stories glanced upon in one novel that I then develop in a later novel. Several readers told me they wanted to know more about Dia, a female troubadour who appears in my first novel, and now I have a new story in development with a female troubadour protagonist. Similarly, Japp says, “I could not get the idea of the executioner out of my head. A few years later, I created another saga where the hero is an executioner. I had room to focus on making this man exist and to show the way he felt, since he is not at all a sadist, but rather an educated man. It was fascinating to explain his denial.” Kate Griffin plans to include her research on Victorian stage machinery, make-up, props and the mechanics of illusion – “they all offer rich potential for murderous intent” – in her next two Kitty Peck novels. Livi Michael says she may use her untold stories on her website.

S.G. MacLean says she refers to the story of the young boy hanged for stealing buttons and bows when talking to writing groups about deciding what to put in, and what to leave out. She knows, from the reactions of audiences, that in a small way, the harsh ending of that young boy’s life is not forgotten.

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Recent novels by the authors: Livi Michael, Accession (Penguin, 2016), S.G. MacLean, The Black Friar (Quercus, 2016), both reviewed HNR 78; Andrea Japp, The Lady Agnes Mystery (Gallic, 2015), reviewed in HNR 74; and Kate Griffin, Kitty Peck and the Child of Ill Fortune (Faber, 2015), reviewed in HNR 75.

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England, who has a subway station named after him in Paris but is, Japp says, not quite the hero everyone thinks. Another example of a character she cut from her story is an executioner.

Japp notes, “Executioners were essential for every town, but they were considered sub-human – not allowed to live in the city, send their children to school, eat in taverns. Some became very rich, sometimes more educated than the rest of the population. I did not want to squeeze in this character, because the subject was complicated. Readers needed to understand the state of mind at that time, very different from ours today. Horrific torture and the death penalty were not seen as that cruel. What was crucial was to save the soul of the convicted person. It was a very complex reality, and I could not be cursory about it.”

Kate Griffin’s Kitty Peck novels are set in the world of the Victorian music hall. “People seem surprised by the bleakness of my characters’ lives and the London they inhabit,” she says, “but the truth was actually far worse.” She told me how she reworks her source material to make it more effective as fiction for contemporary readers. Her research on music hall entertainers took her to London’s Victorian cemeteries. Abney Park in Stoke Newington is the resting place of non-conformists, and many music hall performers are buried there. They lived outside the mainstream, not conforming to the standards or morals of their time. “The fact that they were stage performers,” says Griffin, “was enough to mark them out as ‘undesirables,’ but their perceived ‘loose’ morals, sometimes ambiguous sexuality and professional association with cheap liquor (alcohol was served in music halls, not theatres), was anathema to polite society. Their lives were often poor, rough, brutish, short. Definitely not the kind of people a ‘decent’ Victorian family wanted to see buried alongside Grandmama.”

During a tour of Abney Park cemetery led by the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, Griffin found the graves of nineteenth-century crowd-pullers George Leybourne (Champagne Charlie) and Albert Chevalier, and of Nelly Power, the original singer of the music hall standard, “The Boy I Love is Up in the Gallery.” “Nelly’s story, as related by our guide at her graveside, was as dismal as the foggy November afternoon of my visit,” Griffin says. She appeared in the halls from the age of eight, and by fifteen she was a star, one of the biggest names in the business. “She was catnip to the audiences, and also, unfortunately, to a series of unscrupulous rogues attracted by her money and pert beauty.” But her last years were pitiful. She died alone, probably from venereal disease, in a rented room above a pub in Islington, aged thirty-two.

Griffin’s research also revealed that the music hall was a place where strong women could control their own careers and choices.

Griffin’s protagonist, Kitty Peck, reflects the spirit of the young Nelly Power, but Griffin deliberately made her character more wily, resourceful and independent: “I’ve been careful to ensure that she is not a victim – not a syphilitic, chaotic alcoholic, vulnerable to sexual exploitation or manipulation, as many of the performers were. We tend to think of music hall as something

TRACEY WARR divides her time between France and the UK. Almodis the Peaceweaver, The Viking Hostage and Conquest: Daughter of the Last King are all published

by Impress Books. She tutors writing courses in France with “A Chapter Away,” reviews for HNR and Times Higher Education, and writes a column for The Displaced Nation. http://traceywarrwriting.com; @TraceyWarr1

HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Features | 9

an interview with Elizabeth Foyster and Laura Purcell

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he treatment of madness was on the cusp of change in the Georgian era. This was driven in part by the very public bouts of insanity experienced by the “mad king” himself, George III, and also by calls for the “moral treatment” of madness, a disorder so prevalent that it was known as the “English malady.” Even definitions of what constituted “madness” were slowly shifting, although lunacy, with its associations of melancholy, continued to predominate. Cibber’s statues of “Melancholy Madness” and “Raving Madness” remained on the gates of Bethlem Hospital, Moorfields, London, until 1815.

Starting with the Act for Regulating Private Madhouses (1774), greater controls were placed on private madhouses.

Moreover, as some of the worst conditions of patients at public asylums were exposed – like those of James Norris at Bedlam in 1814 – public scandal ensued. Yet the institutionalisation of the insane remained the order of the day, and the numbers of “lunatics” registered in asylums continued to rise as the population exploded. Some of the large public asylums resulting from the County Asylums Act (1808) still survive on the outskirts of towns and cities across Britain. Private houses guarded their secrets in towers and attics, as epitomised by Bertha Mason.

Elizabeth Foyster made the find of a lifetime in Lambeth Palace Library, London, in 2014 when she started to read the uncatalogued records of a court case, running to 600 or 700 pages, that had lain undisturbed in boxes for years. The records relate to a cause célèbre of 1823 for the annulment of the marriage of John Charles Wallop, 3rd Earl of Portsmouth, on grounds of insanity. As a professional historian, Elizabeth said that, rather than revealing a story limited to the privileged classes, “many of the depositions were made by ordinary working people, whether from Portsmouth’s estate or house servants.” It is this aspect that gives her work its immediacy. “I felt a much greater sense of freedom writing this book compared to other academic works, because I could tell the story. There is analysis here but it is

The general reaction...

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Mad Georgians

behind the scenes. First and foremost, I tried to let the witnesses speak, so I brought in the dialogue and the reported speech.”

Novelists might argue that “telling the story” through dialogue is a prerogative of fiction, but Foyster shows how far narrative non-fiction can push traditional boundaries while remaining firmly anchored in academic writing. In this case, the material gives lie to the saying that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Foyster says that she remembers thinking: “If this were a novel, would anyone believe it?”

Madness was not unknown in Portsmouth’s family, and both an aunt and a cousin had been confined in private madhouses. At some stage, Portsmouth’s mother threatened to put him “in the custody” of Dr Thomas Monro, one of four generations of this family who held sway in Bethlem. It was under the Monro dynasty that Bethlem, also known as Bedlam, became notorious. Yet Portsmouth was not obviously insane, since he had a quick mind for figures, could speak decent French, successfully managed his large estates, and could conduct himself in public with propriety. However, aspects of his behaviour seem clearly psychotic to the modern reader, including his perverse habit of chasing servants, his absolute sexual naïvety, his indulgence in blood-letting (not self-harm since he insisted that others bleed him) and the pleasure he derived not from death but funerals (which he referred to as “black jobs”).

Foyster remarks on a familiar problem facing all writers: “Sometimes there was so much to go on, and sometimes very, very little.” However, faced with those “gaps,” she enjoyed “constructing that story and imagining what it must have been like, and thinking about the different characters.”

Undoubtedly, one of those characters was the earl’s mother, Urania, an intimidating lady in all respects. With characteristic forthrightness – not to say cold disregard – Urania married her son to an older woman, Grace Norton, in 1799. However, it was the earl’s second marriage that escalated the situation to a

by Lucinda Byatt

shown by the earl’s family reveals the characteristic stigma towards mental illness that has proved impervious to wealth and period.

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HNR Issue 79, February 2017

“While I do not believe George III enjoyed full mental health, I do attribute the majority of his troubles to porphyria. The physical symptoms, such as his rashes, abdominal pains, visual interference and swellings all suggest the disease. Although some academics claim to have ‘disproved’ the porphyria theory, their basis for this argument seems to be that the King’s urine was not really blue.” Purcell points out how “easy it is to blame eighteenth-century doctors for their ignorance, when in reality they could not possibly have known how useless their treatments were. To modern eyes, it is almost comical to discover that opium and even marijuana was recommended to bring a patient back to a sense of reality! In the case of George III, the doctors tried every treatment, especially those designed to expel fluids.

As a consequence, he suffered purges and vomits, blistering and cupping, bleeding and cold baths, all within a short time of each other. It’s no wonder his physical health deteriorated significantly! Perhaps the most useful part of his treatment came from Dr Willis, who encouraged outdoor exercise and a kind of ‘music therapy’ for when the King had ‘behaved.’”

The question of the stigma of insanity is far more insidious, and despite huge advances in treatment, attitudes are slower to change, as is shown by today’s persistent taboos regarding mental illness. Purcell concurred that, “as far as his contemporaries were concerned, George III was ‘deprived of his wits’ and he (and his family) endured all the stigma and social shame that came with that.” Similarly, Foyster describes the 3rd Earl of Portsmouth as “a faceless man whom his family wanted to forget.” However, she leaves it to the reader to explore the borderlines between eccentricity and mental illness. In an age of institutionalisation, both king and earl could rely on privilege and some family support to ensure the relative privacy of their lives. For Foyster and Purcell, the human aspect of how individual and family lives were affected by mental illness is of prime interest. Like the best historical writing, whether non-fiction or fiction, readers are challenged to explore past attitudes, but also to make connections with key modern issues regarding mental illness.

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Elizabeth Foyster is a history lecturer at Clare College, Cambridge. The Trials of the King of Hampshire: Madness, Secrecy and Betrayal in Georgian England is published by Oneworld Publications, 2016.

Laura Purcell is the author of the Georgian Queens series about the Hanoverian dynasty, and spine-tingling Gothic fiction. www.laurapurcell.com

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tipping point, since Mary Ann Hanson was young enough to give birth to a child, in this case a daughter, although the earl was almost certainly not her father. The prospect that a son might be next jolted the family into bringing the case for annulment before the Commission for Lunacy in 1823.

While the Commission usually sat for one day, on this occasion the trial lasted for two weeks. The jury passed a verdict of insanity. Portsmouth, however, was not confined to Bedlam or even tricked into entering a private madhouse – rather, the verdict was a liberation. Thanks to the care of his nephew, Henry Arthur Wallop, Portsmouth was able to return to his family home at Hurstbourne Park, Hampshire. Hurstbourne became quite literally his kingdom; a throne was installed in the ballroom for the days when he thought of himself as King of Hampshire. The earl remained within the bounds of the estate, unseen by the outside world, and died there in 1853, at the age of 86.

Except for this generous nephew, the general reaction shown by the earl’s family reveals the characteristic stigma towards mental illness that has proved impervious to wealth and period.

The family’s reaction was also driven by self-interest: “a nobleman was being sacrificed in the name of property, at the behest of his family, and by the words of ordinary, working people.” No portrait of the earl exists, and he was buried in an unmarked grave, whose presence is only revealed by a line in the parish register. Foyster hopes that the objective retelling of the trial will allow readers to draw their own conclusions and wrestle with the difficult questions it raises about mental illness and society.

Laura Purcell based the plot of her debut novel, Queen of Bedlam, on madness at the very apex of English society, focusing on the “mad king” himself and on his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her research included eyewitness accounts from the court, such as the diaries of Charles Greville and Fanny Burney, which give an insight into how George III’s illness affected the royal family and the day-to-day workings of the palace. “It was this ‘human’ side of the story that interested me,” Purcell writes, “although it was also useful to read the many academic papers that have been written on the subject. Nearly every biography of George III and George IV lists a range of treatments the poor king was subject to in 1788. The difficulty was deciding how many of them to list in my novel!”

Clearly, there was never any question that the king would be confined with fellow sufferers, yet to some extent, Kew and later Windsor became George III’s private asylum. However, Purcell adds, “The spectre of asylums did loom over the court, especially with the introduction of Dr Willis, a specialist who came from his own institution to treat the king.” In the public imagination lunacy was associated with strait-waistcoats (invented at around this time) and chains, the prevalent methods of restraint used in asylums.

The historical diagnosis of mental illness is fraught with risk, and controversy still surrounds the diagnosis made in 1963 that King George III suffered from acute porphyria. Purcell writes,

LUCINDA BYATT is HNR’s Features Coordinator.

She blogs at “A World of Words,” textline.wordpress.com

HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Features | 11

Richard Lee announces key changes to HNS Indie reviews

The HNS has revised the way we review Indies (self- or subsidy-

published novels) to reflect the transformed nature of publishing.

In 1997, when the HNS began, self-publishing was seen as vanity publishing, and primarily a way for unscrupulous printers to take money from writers who had little or no route to market.

Now, in 2017, even J. K. Rowling chooses self-publishing as one of her routes to market – so the world has changed.

The HNS has been ahead of this curve for much of these seismic 20 years. We reviewed Indies early, we have reviewed a lot of them, and we have never charged for reviews. Lately, though, we have fallen behind the curve, and so changes were needed.

The main issue was structural: Indies and traditionally-published books were reviewed by separate teams using different criteria, with a different submission guide and process, different reviewer guidelines and supervision, and these teams were independent of each other. This led to the following complaints (brackets for the reasons we were doing what we were doing): Complaints from Indie authors – - Indie reviews were separated on our website and labelled as Indies (because we wanted to indicate that they had undergone a different editorial process); - Indie reviews were excluded from the print edition of the HNR irrespective of merit (initially for space reasons; latterly because of their different editorial process).

Complaints from traditionally-published authors – - Indies had their own HNS Indie Award that excluded traditionally-published authors, and there was no equivalent award for them (because we felt that there were other nonHNS awards for traditionally-published authors, but there were none specifically for Indie historical fiction); - Indies had an easier time getting to be Editors’ Choice because they were not competing against traditionallypublished authors (mea culpa, this one happened without us really noticing).

What we have decided to do going forward is to bring the processes together, so –

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Indie Reviews -

Indie reviews will no longer be labelled as Indie, they’ll just be reviews; - Some Indie reviews will appear in the print edition of the HNR; - HNS Awards will no longer exclude any route to market; - Editors’ Choice will be not be differentiated by route to market.

That said, another thing has changed in the publishing landscape.

The number of books being published and reissued is now enormous, and the HNS has more to review than we can possibly manage. We also have the gamut of quality to assess. This means that our editorial process has become more selective, because we cannot review everything, and it doesn’t benefit our readers to do so. Thus, our editorial team will decide in the first instance whether we request your book – Indie or traditional – for review. We will choose, like any knowledgeable reader, based on information provided to us by the publisher, author, and/or vendor. Then we will look carefully, we will read some of the text, and in some instances this will be a group decision – but we will only consider books that meet our high standards. And even if we do request the book to be sent for consideration, submission of a book to us does not guarantee a review.

From 2017 we will have a section in the print HNR for‘Members’ New Books’ where we will list and outline members’ books that we know about. But please note that membership in the HNS is not relevant to our reviewing process. We do not sell reviews, and membership in the Society brings no entitlement to a review.

Sadly, there is one more thing. Some people have been abusive to our editors. Others feel that it is acceptable to harass our editors and readers – usually with ‘when can I expect my review?’ or ‘why will you not review my novel?’ This is something we do not tolerate, and our reviewing staff will not respond to such enquiries.

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Richard Lee is the founder of the HNS, publisher of HNR, and Indies Review Editor.

by Richard Lee

T h e n u m b e r. . . of books being published is now enormous, and the HNS has more to review than we can possibly manage. We also have the gamut of quality to assess. This means our editorial process has become more selective.

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HNR Issue 79, February 2017

an interview with Sarah Dunant

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In the Name of the Family

arah Dunant, bestselling author of five historical novels, S talks to Charlotte Wightwick about the challenges of writing

Thankfully, Dunant was not daunted for long, and her beautifully-drawn characters are one of the highlights of the historical fiction and how Machiavelli nearly broke her new novel. Discussing how she makes decisions when the historical book. evidence is patchy, she says; “Well, what you do is very much like what a historian Sarah Dunant’s second novel about the Borgias, In the Name does, you weigh up all the evidence that you have, and the of the Family (Virago UK / Random House US, 2017), is a novelist in you adds to that the psychological portrait that rich and convincing portrait of the beauty and brutality of you have been able to create about the characters involved Renaissance Italy. It covers Pope Alexander VI’s attempts to in this hazy moment of history, and so the mixture of build a lasting heritage for his children, contemporary evidence and your Lucrezia and Cesare. Lucrezia is married knowledge of personality allows you to into the powerful and cultured d’Este family, take a very good educated guess.” while Alexander funds Cesare’s attempts to Using this approach, Dunant has create a military super-state for himself. painted a series of convincing, very human Meanwhile, a young Florentine diplomat, portraits: Machiavelli, who we see not only Niccolò Machiavelli, watches in fascination. as the author of The Prince, but also as a When comparing writing her new novel younger man with a new wife, starting out with her previous book on the Borgias, on his diplomatic career; Lucrezia, whose Blood and Beauty, Dunant says: relationship with her husband is marred “They were very different… in the first by misunderstandings and who is tempted book, the family was very often together, to flirt with her courtiers, but is far too so there was a domestic intensity about savvy to take things further; Cesare, whose this kind of love-hate cauldron, whereas frustrated ambitions (and possibly the onset in the second book they’re scattered. So of syphilitic madness) result in increasingly my job was to tell three stories, the Pope’s erratic behaviour; and throughout, the story, Cesare’s story, and Lucrezia’s.…

Pope, driven by the twin spurs of love of And then of course, then I realised I had power and love for his children. a fourth story, which was Machiavelli’s, It isn’t just detailed historical research or so that was the big challenge. fascinating characters that make this book shine, however: it is “Each book that you ever write throws you a version of also the fact that Dunant retains some of her own roots – she the question: this is too difficult, I can’t do this. And so was a writer of thrillers before she came to historical fiction: with Blood and Beauty, it was ‘I’ve never written about real “I also wanted to write something which was a bit of a people at this level.’ I walked into In the Name of the Family thriller. It takes a long time to read a novel, so you’ve really knowing that I could write about real people, except of got to take your reader by the scruff of the neck. It all has to course, there was one person I’d never write about because look like it’s effortless, and you want to keep turning the page.” he’s far too complicated, and his after-life is far too divisive, Trust me, you will. and that’s Niccolò Machiavelli. But then History says, ‘I’m sorry, Sarah, you want to write a book about the end of the Charlotte Wightwick writes reviews and articles for the HNS. Borgias; you can’t avoid him.’ So he was the challenge. And She is currently seeking representation for her first novel, The he very nearly broke the book for me, I didn’t know how to Lady with an Ermine, set in Renaissance Milan, and writing do him. I was frightened.” her second.

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by Charlotte Wightwick

He very nearly... broke the book for me, I didn’t know how to do him. I was frightened.

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Ronald Wright’s The Gold Eaters

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compelling story, history that’s sound without being intrusive, and characters that are human and believable – this is what you’ll find in Ronald Wright’s The Gold Eaters (Riverhead, 2016). The novel is also unique because it focuses on territory not covered by others. The author told me that, as far as he knows, no one has written a literary novel set during the invasion of the Inca Empire.

Wright, who first became fascinated by the Incas in his early teens, says that he soon found out why other writers have avoided the period: “The momentous clash between worlds 500 years ago wasn’t easily shaped into the symmetries of fiction.

The breakthrough came when I saw that the central character should be the interpreter. Known briefly to history as Felipe or Felipillo, this young man had a foot in both worlds but was at home in neither. I gave him the Peruvian name Waman, and began with his early years growing up in the Inca Empire, only to be seized and taken to Spain for years, then brought back as Pizarro’s translator. Waman regards both Incas and Spaniards with suspicion. Yet he knows his survival depends on mastering the high-wire role of the chaka, the bridge between worlds. Later, as the enormity of what he has helped set in motion becomes clear, he must decide where his loyalties lie.”

Anyone familiar with the Age of Exploration knows the outcome of this period of history. Wright points out that in the early 16th century, the Inca Empire was second in size only to China, yet unknown to the outside world. “It was exceptional in having no hunger, poverty or grinding slavery, a state of affairs the Spaniards found unnatural and ungodly,” he says.

“The conquests of Peru and Mexico (both enabled by smallpox plagues) are one of history’s greatest turning points, laying the foundations of our modern world. Inca gold kick-started the rise of Europeans to world dominance, first the Spanish Empire and later the British and American.”

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A Faraway Place & Time

The Gold Eaters took him five years to write. He had to make many choices about what to include, what to leave out, which characters and scenes to bring alive. His greatest technical challenge was language, especially dialogue. How should characters who lived 500 years ago, and who spoke Spanish and Quechua, sound on the page in English? He decided to opt for a plain style: “Neither deliberately archaic nor so modern it would break the spell of a faraway place and time. I use foreign words sparingly, only where needed for colour and authority, or to express a specific idea.”

This choice contributes significantly to the novel’s authentic sense of time and place, as do the descriptions of landscape, which stem from Wright’s background: he studied archaeology at university and spent years in Peru. The first of his ten books, Cut Stones & Crossroads, was a memoir of his travels there.

Wright acknowledges this connection: “The years in Peru were essential, both for describing places where events took place, and for portraying the landscape as a ‘character’ in its own right. Peru is a land of stunning contrasts: a desert coast with irrigated valleys and ancient mud-brick cities; behind this the Andes with the great stone cities and roads of Inca times still standing here and there; and then the steaming forests of the Amazon.”

To shape the story and characters, he drew widely on chronicles written by Spaniards and Peruvians, and on more recent histories such as John Hemming’s Conquest of the Incas.

Ultimately he was drawn to the era by his own curiosity about what he calls “this extraordinary land, people, and times,” and by its importance in terms of understanding ourselves today.

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Claire Morris is the HNS web features editor. She served as the managing editor of Solander from 2004 to 2009, and helped to start the HNS North American conferences. She lives in Toronto.

by Claire Morris

The momentous...

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clash between worlds 500 years ago wasn’t easily shaped into the symmetries of fiction.

HNR Issue 79, February 2017

changes in the historical record...after your book’s gone to print

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Historical Curve Balls

What is a historical curve ball? Well, when history suddenly

particularly if I set the scene somewhere that later proved to be takes a swerve just after your intensely researched manuscript completely inaccurate. has been sent to the printers, threatening your novel with an It would be spoiling readers’ enjoyment to reveal the location own goal – that!

I chose, but I will say that some news came out of Pembroke For centuries Shakespeare’s depiction of Richard III was Castle very recently, well after First of the Tudors had gone to accepted as accurate, but now those of us who wish to chart the print, which gratifyingly justifies the choice I made. So one rise of the Tudors encounter messianic support for a ‘betrayed’ historical curve ball kicked into touch – phew!

Richard, particularly from The switch from the Julian the United States where his to the Gregorian calendar is opponent seems to have become a constant curve ball since, in a pariah by default. Even here 1752, it removed 11 days from in England and particularly the calendar of the United in Leicester where, in 2015, Kingdom. I have tended not to Richard’s body was reinterred fret too much about exactitudes in the cathedral after being in this matter, but I have been famously discovered under a hauled over the critical coals local car park, he has almost for failing to take those vital reached the status of sainthood. days into account! However, His marble tomb has certainly mould was not a hazard I had become a must-visit destination. expected to encounter when So these days, for those of us I was trying to establish the trying to tell the story of the correct date and cause of death Tudor rise to power, encounters Pembroke Castle, Henry VII’s alleged birthplace of Henry VII’s father, Edmund with fanatical Ricardians can be a curve ball challenge.

Tudor, Earl of Richmond, in 1456. It is generally accepted that Historical curve balls are sometimes encountered when fresh he died in early November in Carmarthen Castle in South archaeology or academic research changes the ‘facts’ of history. Wales, but the documents and records for that particular period At Pembroke Castle in West Wales, for instance, visitors are are unavailable, owing to the fact that they have been stored in a informed that King Henry VII was born in a certain chamber in a damp cellar and restoration will now take two years. I decided to certain tower, and they are shown a tableau of the swaddled baby swerve around these details and take my own view of that tragic in the arms of a nurse and his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, death, which took place roughly three months before Henry seated beside the cradle at the fireside. All very cosy, you might Tudor’s birth. Mould being a pernicious enemy of parchment, it think, but at the same time an icy wind is howling through the seems unlikely that we will ever know the exact date or cause of unshuttered windows and slamming the doors that give access Edmund Tudor’s demise, so I felt at liberty to take my pick. This to the wall-walk along the battlements. This was a tower built to mouldy curve ball is one I may live to find has caused me an own give structural support to the castle’s curtain wall and a vantage goal! point to the soldiers of the garrison, not for accommodating the birth of a child to a vulnerable thirteen-year-old mother.

After a career at the BBC, Joanna Hickson now writes novels By the time I returned to my writing desk after my research about the Tudors, before they were famous. The latest is First of trip, I had decided that in my novel Henry Tudor would not the Tudors (HarperCollins, 2016). be born in that chamber – but where to set such a historically important event? By abandoning tradition I could face ridicule,

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by Joanna Hickson

By abandoning... tradition I could face ridicule, particularly if I set the scene somewhere that later proved to be completely inaccurate.

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Cecilia Ekbäck’s Wolf Winter

I n October 2016, from the six shortlisted historical novels,

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Cecilia Ekbäck’s Wolf Winter was judged the winner of the Goldsboro Debut Crown. I was fortunate enough to be present at the Harrogate History Conference and to hear her express her thanks in a lilting voice which carried traces of both Canada and Sweden.

As all members of the HNS know, historical novels come in all shapes and sizes frequently overlapping with other genres of fiction. In the past two decades, the British public has embraced Scandinavian Noir crime fiction. Wolf Winter presents us with a historical crime novel set in the early 1700s. It grabs readers by the scruff of the neck right from the start when a woman and her two daughters stumble across the mutilated body of a man on the slopes of Blackåsen mountain in Swedish Lapland. A cursory glance indicates brutal injuries inflicted by a bear or wolf.

The local inhabitants are prepared to leave it at that; but not Maija. Having recently arrived from Finland, she is the archetypical outsider, a constant in crime fiction, and she cannot or will not let it go.

Blackåsen cannot be found on a map of Sweden, yet it is totally real to readers.

Ekbäck has created an authentic sense of unease, even evil, as bitter winter grips the community. She takes readers into its small community, slowly and irrevocably revealing the darkness within. Two distinct groups of people inhabit Wolf Winter: the Swedish settlers and the Lapps, whose ancestral beliefs are a combination of animism, polytheism and shamanism. Both communities are mutually distrustful. There is an air of magic realism in Ekbäck’s writing which tempers the harsh reality of the environment.

The novel has three viewpoint characters: Maija; her adolescent daughter, Frederika; and the priest. All are outsiders and all are troubled people. Although the characters and the underlying darkness of Blackåsen dominate this novel, it is Lapland, in general — its harsh environment, its people and its history — that fascinate me the most.

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Blending Scandinavian Noir & HF

Swedish by birth, Cecilia lived in that country until she was twenty. Her grandparents lived much further north in Swedish Lapland,2 where she used to visit them. Ekbäck feels a strong affinity with its people and their environment. During her beloved father’s terminal illness, she spent a great deal of time talking with him about his life. When he passed away, her grief plunged her into a period of deep darkness, which in Swedish is called “Wolf Winter” (Vargavinter). This phrase can refer to a particularly harsh winter physically, but is more likely to refer to a dark period in one’s life.

Both meanings are strongly in evidence in Wolf Winter. For instance, when Maija and her daughters are caught up in a severe blizzard, Dorotea’s feet are frost-bitten, and it is highly likely they will be lost.

Yet, as the novel continues, it is ironic that Dorotea’s damaged feet are precisely what save her from a different evil.

I have also read Ekbäck’s second novel, In the Month of the Midnight Sun, with admiration. It is also a tale of murder set around Blackåsen Mountain, but in the nineteenth century. Set in high summer rather than deepest winter, it is equally stunning in its evocation of the landscape and its inhabitants and how its extremities can unbalance people.

Ekbäck says the novel she is currently writing has a contemporary setting and characters. I look forward to it, but I do not think the past will let her go so easily.

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References: 1. http://historicalwriters.org/hwa-goldsboro-debut-crownshortlist-announced/ 2. Ekbäck justifies the choice to refer to the Lapps using this now denigrated name because this was the term current in the eighteenth century.

After Hope Against Hope (Myrmidon, 2011) Sally Zigmond is now working on a novel set in the fourteenth century about a small priory of nuns. sallyzigmond.blogspot.co.uk.

by Sally Zigmond

Her grief... plunged her into a period of deep darkness, which in Swedish is called “Wolf Winter” (Vargavinter).

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Reviews |

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online exclusives

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don’t improve it.

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 Denotes an Editors’ Choice title

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ancient egypt

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PHARAOH Wilbur Smith, William Morrow, 2016, $28.99/$35.99, hb, 408pp, 9780062276483 / HarperCollins UK, 2016, £20, hb, 384pp, 9780007535811 In ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Tamose lies dying of a battle wound, and his weak, corrupt son Utteric seizes power, to the horror of General Taita, who thinks Rameses, Tamose’s younger son, should be Pharaoh. Taita is the wealthiest, most brilliant, and second most powerful man in Egypt, so multitalented it’s ridiculous, beloved by gods and men and women—and yet somehow he can’t manage to deal with Utteric. (Oh, yes, Taita’s a eunuch, although that’s barely mentioned in this book.) Vowing to help Rameses overthrow Utteric, Taita flees with Rameses to Sparta, ruled by Taita’s friend Hurotas and Taita’s beloved former pupil, Rameses’s aunt Tehuti. Rameses falls in love with their superbly beautiful daughter, Serrena, and Taita, who adores Serrena and Rameses, ensures they marry without angering Serrena’s dozens of royal suitors. That’s right: Taita comes up with the Oath of the Sundered Horse, so when Serrena is abducted by Utteric’s thugs, a bizarre, insideout version of the Trojan War ensues. Utteric imprisons and degrades Serrena, but Taita rescues her, and they embark on the task of destroying the evil Utteric and setting Rameses and Serrena on the thrones of Egypt.

Taita is one of the most outrageous “Mary Sues” ever. He’s a skilled surgeon, a master general, an inventor of every conceivable item, a structural engineer, and a superb rider. He’s of divine descent (he’s sure of it). He’s also innately modest and a great judge of character. We know this because Taita tells us so frequently. He’s got a special friend in the goddess Inanna, who comes and sits on his lap (literally) and gives him great tips to help him succeed. Pharaoh is a vastly annoying book, and multiple mentions of stirrups in ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt — Classical

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India Edghill

biblical

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DEBORAH RISING Avraham Azrieli, HarperLegend, 2016, $2.99/ C$2.99, ebook, 224pp, 9780062563552 Set in ancient Israel, Deborah Rising imagines the young life of the Hebrew prophetess Deborah, whose coming of age begins in death: that of her parents and beloved sister, Tamar, at the hand of Seesya, vicious son of a wealthy Hebrew judge.

Seesya wants to marry Deborah of Ephraim to increase his power by acquiring the abundant, water-laden land which is her inheritance. She begins her quest for rebirth through the powerful hand of the Elixirist, Kassite. Her epic journey is littered with injustices righted in faith and determination, grit, and the elegance of unlikely friendships. She escapes her brutal husband, aided unwittingly by his mother, a fearful priest, a wise Edomite slave, a blacksmith and his son, and the kindness of tradesman tribes and lepers. From behind the walls of Judge Zifron’s Emanuel to the holy city of Shiloh, and further to Aphek‘s tannery, Avraham Azrieli invites readers into the kingdoms, tribes, and customs of Israel.

A captivating read from the opening shock of a stoning to the cliffhanger conclusion, Deborah Rising provides action-packed adventure steeped in Jewish tradition and tribal institutions, wrapped in the mysticism of a heroine whose character is at once mired in the eternal female struggle and reveling in the hope of freedom through gender transmogrification. Azrieli explores escape from Biblical gender roles through male metamorphosis, toying with the epitome of female empowerment as the male archetype. He creates an illiterate child bride whose shaky first attempts at boldness and unexpected retreats into timidity wreak havoc with this reader’s expectations of women’s power, even when confined to Biblical norms. Though 21stcentury standards may not apply, perhaps fickleness is Azrieli’s ploy to create depth of character. As such, this reader remains on the fence. It’s a great action-adventure and historical fiction read, but a feminist novel, not so much!

Kathryn Voigt VALLEY OF KINGS: The 18th Dynasty Terrance Coffey, Helm House, 2016, $15.95, pb, 390pp, 9780692756584 The familiar story, a frequent favorite of historical novelists, is the story at the heart of Terrance Coffey’s ambitious debut novel Valley of the Kings: the life and rise in 1400 BC of the young pharaoh Amenhotep IV, whose father’s unexpected death propels him to the rule of ancient Egypt at a

very young age. When the young prince comes to power, he finds himself confronting the immense power of the professional priesthood, and he shatters that power by establishing a new faith, in the sun-god Aten, and taking a new identity for himself, as the “renegade” pharaoh Akenaten.

Coffey fleshes out this story, creating compelling portraits not only of Akenaten himself but of his imperious mother Queen Ty and his beautiful, capable wife Nefertiti—and also of ancient Egypt itself, which comes alive in all its seasons and moods and peoples. The daring and odd conviction of Akenaten feels here folded into the personality of a three-dimensional character; even readers already well familiar with the story will find themselves fascinated all over again. Recommended.

Steve Donoghue REDEEMING GRACE: Ruth’s Story Jill Eileen Smith, Revell, 2017, $15.99, pb, 368pp, 9780800720350 When drought and famine ravage ancient Canaan, Elimelech takes his wife and two sons and moves from the Hebrew land to Moab, much to his wife Naomi’s regret. For as years go by, Naomi’s husband and sons are seduced by Moab’s permissive society and pagan religion, and both her sons marry Moabite women. But when her husband dies, and her sons die without heirs, Naomi decides to return to her own land and people. While one daughterin-law remains in Moab, the other refuses to abandon Naomi. Ruth vows that Naomi’s people will be her people, and Naomi’s god will be her god.

Having lost everything in Moab, Naomi and Ruth bravely set out to create a new life for themselves in Bethlehem. It won’t be easy for a Moabite woman in Israel, but if Ruth can find favor with Elimelech’s kinsman Boaz, according to Hebrew law Boaz can redeem Ruth’s barren widowhood, giving Ruth a good life and giving Naomi grandsons. So Naomi sets in motion a plan to achieve just that for her faithful daughter-in-law.

Without straying from the Bible’s tale, Smith provides a retelling that gives a detailed look at what life might have been like in pagan Moab for the devout Hebrew, Naomi, and mirrors that with the Moabite Ruth’s struggle for acceptance when it’s her turn to leave her own land and dwell among strangers. Both women make the best of what life hands them, taking an active role in shaping their own futures. Likeable characters and a strong sense of place help make this another fine entry in Smith’s Daughters of the Promised Land series.

India Edghill

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classical

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THE RAGE OF ARES Christian Cameron, Orion, 2016, £19.99, hb, HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 17

354pp, 9781409114536 Rage of Ares documents the last stages of the struggles of the Persian Wars in 479 BC, particularly the Battle of Plataea. Cameron expertly blends fact with fiction so that, as you read, you feel that you are actually fighting alongside the protagonist, Arimnestos of Plateaea, in the midst of battle. The novel has an engaging dialogue, since Arimnestos is narrating the tale to his daughter, which keeps the reader focused and connected to the storyline. The content is rich with historical information and believable characters. This can be seen through the dynamics of the Peloponnesian League, where one could say the classic phrase ‘The enemy of your enemy is your friend’, since nearly all of the Greek city-states resented each other. The novel successfully addresses the concept of Medism, where Greek cities such as Thebes defected to the Persian side, and emphasises the ill feeling towards the invading foreigners. Ideals of heroism, comradeship and battle fatigue are convincingly portrayed throughout the story, and similarly the importance of family. It is interesting to see how a battle-hardened warrior takes up his weapons for the final rush, where every decision matters.

If you are daunted by the specific Ancient Greek vocabulary, there is a useful glossary at the front.

Also, there is an outline of the historical events of the Persian Wars. I was struck by how easily Cameron introduces you into the story with a summary at the beginning, for I had not read any other novels in this series. I thoroughly recommend The Rage of Ares to anyone who wishes to learn more about this particular period of history.

Clare Lehovsky THE SPARTAN DAGGER Nicholas Guild, Forge, 2016, $29.99/C$41.99, hb, 384pp, 9780765376510 Two brothers seek to claim their manhood by “wetting” their swords in an ancient Spartan rite of passage. They attack a traveling family, killing the mother and father. The couple’s son, Protos, evades the attack and manages to kill one of the Spartans.

He keeps the dead man’s dagger and seeks revenge upon the other brother, Eurytus. Protos, whose name means “destined,” is a Helot, and his people have been oppressed by the Spartans for centuries.

As Protos grows to manhood, all the while in a cat-and-mouse game with the Spartan brother he seeks to kill, he discovers that while avenging his parents’ murders, he can also help others who fight for liberation against Spartan rule.

Oddly, the first part of this novel loses its suspense as it goes along. There is never a shift in character dynamics; Protos always has the advantage, and Eurytus is always looking behind him in fear of Protos’s revenge. Protos’s superhuman abilities—to completely sneak up on warriors (trained since childhood), to dodge javelin throws, and to teach himself to throw swords and daggers with precision—all come across as almost unreal. It is the “will of the gods.” This appears to be a plot device used in Guild’s earlier novels, serving to explain Protos’ dynamic abilities. However, giving Protos a few character flaws would have 18 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 79, February 2017

made him more relatable to readers.

Guild expertly examines the price of vengeance as it consumes a person’s life. I was impressed by how the author brings the main conflict to a close.

There are a lot of personal discoveries and examples of character growth in the last third of the book.

The time period is well captured by Guild’s settings and characters. Overall, a satisfying read.

J. Lynn Else AGRIPPA’S WAKE Ralph Jackman, Knox Robinson, 2016, £14.99, hb, 229pp, 9781911261162 Around 27 BC in Rome, after Octavian becomes the first Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, a man stands beside a tombstone inscribed with the name of Marcus Rutilius Crispus. The man has a “haunting experience,” for he is Rutilius himself, and very much alive. Rutilius, a former senator, had supported Octavian in the civil war against Antony and Cleopatra. However, having disobeyed some orders, he has to face Octavian’s wrath. Not only does Rutilius lose his senatorship, his wife, and all his wealth, but he also has to escape from a death sentence. He manages to fake a drowning and sneaks away in a fishing boat. Following many weeks at sea, he returns seeking vengeance. While he alone could not challenge Octavian’s power, Rutilius is assisted by an attractive former slave girl and an unlikely ally, Agrippa, who had testified against him. Although Agrippa is Octavian’s fidus Achates (faithful friend), Rutilius, while reckless at times, uses adroitness and Roman political intrigues to his advantage.

Ralph Jackman introduces the novel’s historical features in a unique manner. In addition to vividly describing the architecture of the many imposing edifices of Rome and elsewhere and the stories depicted in the friezes, the backgrounds of many Roman patricians are illustrated by narrating the details on the various coins depicting them.

In addition to the historical chronicle, which many might be familiar with, the author includes fascinating snippets, such as: “Octavian only became Caesar’s son after Caesar was murdered,” which add to the story’s appeal. He constructs the plot by weaving together the storylines of fictional characters and real historical figures’ lives, making the novel come alive. We are transported to that era. Although Octavian’s portrayal as a tyrant might surprise some, the novel’s historical aspects are feasible, informative and entertaining.

Recommended.

Waheed Rabbani WORLD ON FIRE Christian Kachel, CreateSpace, 2016, $13.99, hb, 334pp, 9781536825664 It’s five years after the death of Alexander the Great, and his empire is in turmoil. Alexander’s generals and family vie for the throne of the splintering realm. Andrikos, still working alongside his mentor, Vettias, continues with the King’s Hand to secure the throne for Alexander’s heirs.

They must leave the army in its mountain fastness of Nora in a desperate effort to save all they’ve fought for. And somehow, in the midst of it all,

Andrikos must reunite with his one love, Mara, and bring her safely home.

This is the second installment of the Spoils of Olympus series. It’s a fascinating time in world history, and Kachel brings it to life. Andrikos’s rise from near-street criminal in a Macedonian town to one of the King’s Hand’s most important operators is believable and moving. As with the first novel, By the Sword, Kachel’s career as a military officer lends tremendous authenticity to both the narrative and to life while on campaign. He’s done his homework, and he manages to take the largerthan-life personalities of Alexander’s generals, men whose actions during this time altered the course of history, and make them dynamic and intriguing.

Justin M. Lindsay

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1st century

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ARMINIUS: The Limits of Empire Robert Fabbri, Corvus, 2017, £14.99, hb, 381pp, 9781782397007 9 AD. Arminius of the Cherusci leads an alliance of six Germanic tribes against the might of the Roman Empire. The story is told from the viewpoint of Thumelicatz, son of Arminius.

The book opens with Thumelicatz fighting as a gladiator, before gaining his freedom and returning home some thirty-odd years after the battle. As chief of his tribe, after the death of his father, he is approached by a group of Romans who ask for his help in recovering one of the Eagles lost in the battle. The story of the events leading up to the massacre, the battle itself, and the aftermath unfold as the facts are revealed from records written by two Roman survivors who are slaves to the Cherusci chief.

This is historical fiction at its very best. In this well-researched novel, the author brings alive the whole period. The characters are strong and the cultures of both Rome and the Germanic tribes are effectively portrayed, contrasting and comparing the two societies. The action scenes are exhilarating and graphic without being gratuitous. This is a story of courage, military incompetence, political jealousy, pride and a warning that the ancient Gods are very unforgiving. Once you start this, you’ll find it difficult to put down!

Mike Ashworth

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A VILLA FAR FROM ROME Sheila Finch, Hadley Rille, 2017, $16, pb, 312pp, 9780997118834 AD 66: the Romans have conquered much of Britain, and the tribes live uncomfortably beside a powerful military force. Insurrections still occur, but some Britons are assimilating. One tribal chief, Togidubnus, has taken the Roman name Tiberius and has sent his eldest son to Rome to be educated.

Visiting him, Tiberius steps unwittingly into the plans of Antonia, a young girl who has borne Nero’s daughter after he raped her. She plans to have Nero acknowledge the child, but Nero, surrounded by enemies, wants rid of both of them. Instantly he marries Antonia to Tiberius and banishes them to Classical — 1st Century

the furthest corner of his empire: to Britain, where Tiberius’s loving wife awaits him.

Tiberius struggles to lead his people and fit in with the ruling Romans as well as with ancient tribal customs.

Antonia hates her new home, the inadequate house, the climate, and the customs. Only her young daughter Lucia happily explores the countryside with Tiberius’s younger son and his dog. Then Severus, Nero’s own architect, appears with orders to build a palace as grand as those in Rome. This requires taxing the local people even more heavily. Tiberius is caught between their insurrection and the power of Rome.

What follows is an intricately woven story that imaginatively explores the difficulties of straddling two vastly different cultures as they struggle for dominance. While the author sets out to explain the remains of a Roman palace in this outpost of empire, she details the very human stories of the old wife and the new wife. The moral and practical dilemmas of Tiberius, the costs in physical pain— even death—and emotional turmoil of even the minor characters are shown in clear dramatic form.

The conclusion has beauty and inevitability. I felt that I lived this book.

Val Adolph THE CONFESSIONS OF YOUNG NERO Margaret George, Berkley, 2017, $28.00/C$37.00, hb, 528pp, 9780451473387 / Macmillan, 2017, £18.99, hb, 528pp, 9781447283355 The awesome power, political maneuverings, decadence, and general nastiness of ancient Rome are brought vividly to life in this hefty, lavishly written novel about Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, better known as Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian Roman emperors. Written in the form of an autobiography, George’s enthralling narrative immediately pulls the reader into the life and times of this notorious and perhaps maligned Roman.

His father dead and his mother exiled, Nero, after nearly being drowned by the mad Emperor Caligula, is raised by his aunt Lepida in relatively safe obscurity outside Rome. However, when he comes to the notice of Messalina, his cousin and the Emperor Claudius’ wife, she perceives him as a threat and attempts to eliminate him.

Reunited with his murderously ambitious mother, Agrippina, his path to the throne becomes assured through her efforts, and at 16, the handsome, blond, blue-eyed, athletic Nero becomes Rome’s youngest emperor up to that time.

Peopled with such fascinating personalities as the philosopher/counselor Seneca; the tragic Octavia; the gentle ex-slave mistress, Acte; the poet Lucan; and the poisoner Locusta, among others, this saga goes against the general attitude that Nero was a deranged tyrant infamous for his excesses and ruthlessness. Instead, the focus is on 1st Century — 8th Century

his sensitive, artistic, somewhat moody nature, with all its inner conflicts and turmoil, thus providing a more thoughtful, balanced portrait, while not totally absolving him of certain unsavory activities.

George does an admirable job of keeping the reader on track in a dramatic, intense, carefully researched chronicle containing an enormous cast of characters and important events. Readers may or may not agree with her interpretation as depicted here, but George’s storytelling doesn’t fail to captivate and entertain. Can’t wait for the second volume!

Michael I. Shoop BETRAYAL: The Centurions 1 Anthony Riches, Hodder & Stoughton, 2017, £14.99, hb, 383pp, 9781473628717 68 AD, a time of turmoil in the Roman Empire.

Nero has committed suicide, and Galba has taken the throne. Galba dismisses the incorruptible Germans of the imperial bodyguard and orders them back to their homeland. He releases Julius Civilis, a Batavian officer, to be their prefect.

Outwardly loyal, Civilis has plans of his own.

Four centurions, two Batavi and two Roman, will be caught up in the unprecedented political intrigue, skullduggery and war of the Year of the Four Emperors, as the legions support different contenders in their bids to become Emperor.

Civilis will change the Empire’s destiny and that of the centurions.

This is the first of a trilogy from the author of the excellent Empire series. Detailed research puts the reader into the hearts and minds of the characters, bringing alive the whole bloody period in a way which is informative and exciting.

The battle scenes are tense and vibrant without being overly graphic. Historical fiction has gone from strength to strength, and this latest offering ranks with the best. I can hardly wait for the next instalment. Highly recommended.

Mike Ashworth

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WRITTEN IN THE ASHES K. Hollan Van Zandt, HarperLegend, 2016, $0.99, ebook, 448pp, 9780062570123 This epic novel tells the story of Hannah, a Jewish shepherdess who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in Alexandria in the late 4th-early 5th century.

The city is in a state of chaos between the zealous Christians and their Jewish and pagan neighbors, whom the Christians seek to destroy. Soon, this conflict reaches Hannah’s door, sweeping her up into an adventure that takes her from Alexandria’s Great Library and the Temple of Isis to the oracle of Delphi and deep into the

Saharan desert on a quest to find a legendary relic that may secure peace amid growing violence.

I haven’t read a book that affected me this much since The Mists of Avalon, 20 years ago. Fans of that book will notice similarities in theme and in a few areas of plot. While the book is long, it is fast-paced, and the world is so well-drawn you won’t want to leave it for reality. The author spent 15 years doing research, and that is clear from the detail in every scene and how well-developed the characters and historical events are. All of this makes the inevitable ending all the more painful for the havoc it wreaks upon characters you’ve spent hours rooting for. Still, I never wanted it to end.

The only thing I didn’t like was the seemingly random use of the word “So.” in its own paragraph throughout the book. I think it was supposed to serve as a transition and mimic the way an oral story is told, but I found it jarring and interruptive.

But that is of little consequence when compared to how brightly this book shines. I highly recommend it to fans of Alexandria or pagan spirituality and anyone who’d like a glimpse into what may have happened before the famous library burned.

Nicole Evelina

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7th century

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CLOAK OF ASHES: The Women of Beowulf Donnita L. Rogers, Bagwyn, 2015, $18.95, pb, 468pp, 9780866988117 Seventh-century Scandinavia: Freawaru, the daughter of a king and the lover of the renowned warrior Beowulf, is a seer in her own right and a devotee of the Goddess. Disturbing visions of her mother, whom Freawaru has not seen for years, compel her to leave Geatland. Freawaru assembles a crew and a ship and takes the whale road.

Accompanied by a few loyal followers she journeys first to the Norwegian court of King Brecca, and then to her own childhood home of Heorut, in Denmark. She meets old enemies, with unexpected consequences, and discovers that her mother has left Denmark for distant Angle-land. Freawaru follows, seeking an end to her quest. In East Anglia, she is tested by new challenges as she confronts the black robed emissaries of a strange new religion and tries to aid the noble King Raedwald as he struggles to forge a kingdom.

Cloak of Ashes is the third book of a trilogy.

Exceptionally well researched, the book’s epic scope immerses the reader in the ocean ruled world of Viking-age Scandinavia and Britain. It might be helpful to read the trilogy in order; the story is rich and complex, and I found myself curious about Freawaru’s earlier life as I read this final volume.

The book is illustrated with drawings of interesting and relevant artifacts of the era, and several maps.

Susan McDuffie

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HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 19

WINGS OF THE STORM Giles Kristian, Bantam, 2016, £12.99, hb, 304pp, 9780593074558 The late 8th century is a time of violence and change in Scandinavia. While the order of the old gods is threatened, and the great of the land are busy waging war against each other, young Norseman Sigurd Haraldarson is on a quest for revenge against the men who betrayed and murdered his jarl father. With his small but tough war-band, cunning beyond his age, and (possibly) with Odin’s favour, he is quickly making a reputation for himself—as well as the fortune that might soon allow him to challenge the treacherous King Gorm. Meanwhile, Sigurd’s sister Runa is training with Freya’s Maidens on a secluded island, and wondering at the changes that loom on the horizon. Is Ragnaròk, the end of the world, close?

Are the gods going to fall?

Giles Kristian draws Sigurd’s story to a stirring conclusion in this tale of vengeance that nicely blends vigorous action, subtle politics and an eerie sense of the Old Norse religion. A vivid, adventurous, thoroughly enjoyable read.

Chiara Prezzavento

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THE FLAME BEARER Bernard Cornwell, Harper, 2016, $27.99, hb, 304pp, 9780062250780 / HarperCollins UK, £20, hb, 304pp, 9780007504213 Though a fragile peace exists between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain and the last Norse-held kingdom of Northumbria, Uhtred begins his campaign to reclaim his ancestral lands of Bebbanburg.

Uhtred hasn’t seen the inside of Bebbanburg since childhood, but he knows it is a mighty fortress. To further complicate the matter, he must grapple not only with his cousin’s forces inside, but also with Northman mercenaries, the nobles in the Mercian court, the needs of his sonin-law, King Sigtryggr, and the power play of the Scottish king to the north. Though his forces are small, and his timing and scheming must be just right, Uhtred hopes that his desperate bid will see him once again as master of Bebbanburg.

Having long been a fan of Cornwell, and a follower of this particular series from the beginning, this reader’s expectations for this book were met and exceeded. Uhtred may have grown old, but he is still the lethal, decisive, and vigorous warrior and leader of men we’ve come to know and love. Add to that the cast of characters that have become some of his closest companions and his fiercest rivals, and we have a fantastic story. As always, Cornwell sets the reader deep inside 10th-century England, without a whiff of modernity or a nod to current 20 | Reviews |

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sensibilities. The world, people, and events are rich and alive. Highly recommended.

Justin M. Lindsay THE UNBROKEN LINE OF THE MOON Johanne Hildebrandt (trans. Tara Chace), AmazonCrossing, 2016, $14.95, pb, 464pp, 9781503939080 The 10th-century Nordic lands are locked in a war between the Norse gods and Christianity.

Sigrid, a chieftain’s daughter and devout follower of the old gods, is being offered as a peace bride to secure a profitable alliance. Through nightly visions provided by the goddess Freya, Sigrid learns of her destiny: to give birth to the king who will unify the Vikings and Saxons. But danger lurks in every shadow, threatening to destroy this future.

Across the Baltic Sea, Sweyn seeks acknowledgement from his father, the King of Denmark, who raped his mother and soiled her reputation. Now a well-regarded Viking warrior, Sweyn journeys to his father’s land for restitution. Once there, he’s captivated by the beauty of Sigrid, who is passing through to her future home. Sigrid, however, is shocked to discover Sweyn is the man from her visions, the father of her son, whom she assumed was her betrothed.

Uncertainty plagues Sigrid until she meets Emma.

During a Viking attack on the monastery where she lived, Emma is saved from death by the Norse gods and becomes host to a powerful spirit sent to protect Sigrid and her unborn child.

In this novel, told in epic fashion, these three become embroiled in the battle for control of the Nordic lands. Reward comes only after great sacrifice. Hildebrandt’s depiction of this culture comes without apology. It’s a savage world with brutal people. Graphic content is high and includes gang rape, burning people alive, casual sex, and battle violence. That said, Hildebrandt’s meticulously crafted world and three-dimensional characters coalesce to form an absorbing read. Sigrid is a fantastic heroine, carrying her plotline proudly alongside the fierce Viking plotline. It will satisfy Game of Thrones fans with its spellbinding, wellpaced narrative involving rich mythology and political intrigue. However, this book is not for the faint of heart.

J. Lynn Else SEVEN NOBLE KNIGHTS: A Saga of Family, Betrayal, and Revenge in Medieval Spain J. K. Knauss, Bagwyn, 2017, $16.95, pb, 346pp, 9780866988193 Based on an epic medieval poem, this appealing novel seems a bit of Romeo and Juliet overlaid with Spanish Christians and Moorish Muslims. It is a story of vengeance and young love set in a uniquely fascinating setting within medieval Europe. In 974 AD, the youngest of seven spectacular Christian sibling knights horribly disrupts a royal wedding when he witnesses a dishonorable act. This sets the stage for the destruction of all seven brothers at the hands of an evil Don and his noble wife, and the agony of their parents when the father is taken captive by the Moors.

Somehow the father survives, and many

years later a hero arrives from the splendors of the Moorish capital to aid the stricken father and mother and seek revenge against the evil perpetrators. This intriguing character, Mudarra, is a strangely believable mixture of Christian and Muslim, boy and man, intellectual savant and formidable warrior. He impresses all he meets, is made a leader of warriors by the Count of Castile, and systematically goes about hunting down the sources of all the misery. Along the way, Mudarra falls in love with the most unlikely young woman; an issue which dramatically complicates his quest.

This book is not a battle-filled saga with clashing swords and the clanging of shields, though there are several very well-done short combat scenes.

Braced for predictable revisionist history, I didn’t find any. The historical settings are lavish, and the descriptive accuracy draws the reader into the time and place. The contrast between the technically advanced but decadent opulence of Cordoba and the relatively simple but proud character of Christian Spain is fascinating. Despite Mudarra’s somewhat weird relationship with both his birth and adopted mothers, I look forward to the sequel and will happily recommend this book.

Thomas J. Howley

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STAFF PUBLICATION: CONQUEST: Daughter of the Last King Tracey Warr, Impress, 2016, £9.99, pb, 309pp, 9781907605819 The latest novel from Tracey Warr is the first book in a trilogy about the aftermath of the Norman Conquest. It focuses on Nest, daughter of Rhys, the last King of Wales. Nest is captured by Norman lords when her father’s castle and lands are seized, and she is raised as a captive by the Montgomery family, who plan to marry her to one of their own and thus legitimize their claim on her father’s land. When asked about her inspiration for the story, Ms Warr, who lived in Wales for a number of years, said: “I am generally looking for stories about fascinating, little-known, early medieval women, and Nest certainly falls into that category.

Conquest was also very much sparked by my travels back and forth by train across the spectacular triple river estuary at Carmarthen Bay, with its string of Norman castles including Llansteffan, Carmarthen, Laugharne and Kidwelly. Looking at the silhouette of Llansteffan at sunset on the headland, I started imagining Nest moving through that landscape. Once I began researching and writing the book, the Normans themselves also became fascinating, especially King Henry I.” Certainly the Normans do play a part in this 10th Century — 11th Century

book, especially Henry I, who becomes enchanted

by Nest and determined to make the young Welsh beauty his mistress. Ms Warr has a doctorate in art history, so she’s no stranger to research. I asked her how difficult it had been to research Nest and her story.

She replied: “The kidnap of Nest from her Norman husband by the Welsh Prince Owain ap Cadwgan is recorded in the Brut y Tywysogion – The Chronicle of the Princes… Starting with that nub, I then research everything I can. There is often very little about the women themselves, sometimes a little more about their husbands and sons, about the times they lived in. It enables me to ask questions: why did she do that? Why did that happen? And to come up with researched, plausible, but imagined answers.”

Conquest wears its learning lightly. The novel is clearly meticulously researched, but it is never weighed down, and the detail about daily life at court, in Norman castles or in convents is always interspersed with great character development, engaging dialogue and page-turning action. Nest is a lively and engaging protagonist, one I look forward to meeting again when the next instalment in the trilogy is released.

Lisa Redmond

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13th century

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PURGED BY FIRE: Heresy of the Cathars Diane Bonavist, Bagwyn, 2016, $14.95, pb, 270pp, 9780866988100 The history of the Cathar heretics in 13thcentury France is both fascinating and tragic, and they make attractive subjects for historical fiction because of their relatively enlightened views on women’s education and roles as spiritual leaders.

This thoughtful, humane novel narrates the violent years of the Albigensian Crusade through the perspective of three characters—a gently-born lawyer and his chivalrous illegitimate son who both love Marsal, a brilliant “Good Christian” woman who loves the mountain beauty of the Languedoc region in which the story takes place.

Both men strive in their own ways to keep Marsal safe from the Inquisition as well as free to make her own choice between them, and at times seem a bit modern in their emotions, but Bonavist clearly intends to present a morally nuanced portrait of the times, with most of the conflict internal rather than external. The exposition is occasionally labored, especially in the first few chapters, but the patient reader will be rewarded with a richly detailed depiction of everyday medieval life, of the generosity of Cathar theology, and of a memorable heroine whose fierce devotion brings her both tragedy and triumph.

Kristen McDermott

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THE HIGHLANDER’S RUNAWAY BRIDE 13th Century — 15th Century

Terri Brisbin, Harlequin Historical, 2016, $6.50/ C$7.25/£4.99, pb, 288pp, 9780373298747 In the medieval Scottish Highlands, Robert Mackintosh must make a dutiful, arranged marriage to benefit his clan. He travels to collect his affianced bride, but finds that she has run away.

Eva MacKay is the victim of an abusive father and of the heartbreak caused by an earlier relationship.

She has secrets to keep—secrets that would harm another if they became known. Robbie finds Eva, nurses her back to health, and takes her home to Drumlui Keep. Her apprehensions continue, although Robbie and the clan cherish and support her.

This spicy, emotional page-turner will keep readers enthralled and near tears at times. A happy ending seems impossible, but if anyone can pull it off, Robbie Mackintosh can. Pages will be turned compulsively as readers discover whether Robbie and Eva can find their happily ever after without damaging someone else. Fans of sexy Scotsmen in kilts will enjoy this second book in the Highland Feuding series. Brisbin is an awardwinning, bestselling author of over 34 historical and paranormal romances.

Elizabeth Knowles A PILGRIMAGE TO MURDER Paul Doherty, Severn House, 2017, $29.99/£20.99, hb, 224pp, 9781780290966 England, summer 1381. The Peasants’ Revolt has been put down, and at every crossroads are gibbets whereon hang the bodies of the losers gathered in the mop-up operations. Our sleuth, Dominican friar Athelstan, and London’s coroner Sir John Cranston are among the first on the scene of a triple murder in the home of a Chancery clerk and his two servants. The victims are skillfully garroted without a trace of struggle. More bodies follow, preceded by ominous threats.

Our heroes’ investigations come in the midst of a capital trying to find its way back to a new normal, but with underground rebels attempting desperate retaliation almost daily. A possessed man seeks sanctuary in Athelstan’s Cheapside parish; intrigue stews between the Castilians and John of Gaunt, whose victorious Lancastrians have their eyes on the young King Richard II’s throne. And Athelstan is about to lead most of his parish full of poor sinners to Canterbury on a summer outing happily like Chaucer’s pilgrims. Suddenly all the suspects and investigators find themselves in need of a trip to the martyred Becket for the good of their souls.

I found the read a little slow at first, and then thrilling action scenes happened off stage when I would have liked to see them close up. But in general, this is a satisfying mystery by one of the masters of the medieval, with well-described street and inn scenes.

Ann Chamberlin MY HIGHLAND REBEL: Highlander Trouble Amanda Forester, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2017, pb, 416pp, $7.99/C$10.99/£6.50, 9781492605461 In the Scottish Highlands in 1362, Lady Jyne

Campbell, the youngest girl of 15 children, seeks the independence and adventure she never had growing up. Cormac MacLean, the only son of notorious Highland warlord Red Rex, is an enormous disappointment to his father, who would rather Cormac’s attentions shift from books to plunder. Lady Jyne and Cormac cross paths when his men lay siege to the castle where she is tending the downtrodden. Cormac ends up playing two roles to hide his true identity, but his ruse cannot last as he and Jyne fall in love. Jyne and Core fill the standard roles that you’d find in any other Highland romance, but they share a tenderness that is charming. Secondary characters Breanna and Luke added a different dimension to the tale—I only wish they had been used more.

A reader won’t find much in the way of historical detail or plot twists, but fans looking for a reliable romance to read by a fire will not disappointed.

Rebecca Henderson Palmer THE HEART REMEMBERS Margaret Redfern, Honno/Trafalgar Square, 2016, $16.95/C$19.95/£8.99, pb, 324pp, 9781909983328 This gentle but absorbing novel is the third in a series that began with Redfern’s criticallyacclaimed Flint and continued with The Storyteller’s Granddaughter. Told from several perspectives, the band of good-hearted characters who came together in an epic trek from 14th-century Anatolia (Turkey) to Venice in the second novel continue on their various personal quests, encountering helpers and antagonists in roughly equal measure along the way.

The central story is of Kazan, the Turkishborn, red-haired granddaughter of the Welsh bard Will whose story was told in the first novel.

She continues her quest across Europe to Wales, hoping to reunite with her grandfather in Wales, aided by the self-sacrificing Welshman Dai, who has saved her life on several occasions and has come to realize that he loves her.

Readers who want complex character relationships and suspense should read the previous novel first, as this one (after a tense series of events in Venice that separate the loving band of friends again) is focused mainly on bringing its characters—their loves and losses already established—to their hearts’ desires. This novel is at its best when it focuses on the efforts of one character, Edgar, to establish an ideal manor community in Lincolnshire. The wealth of detail about medieval domestic life makes for a comforting read, although the political complexities of the time are far-off and inconsequential to the characters.

Overall, the lack of plot is balanced by the grace of Redfern’s narrative style and her deep knowledge of the time period.

Kristen McDermott

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A TALE OF TWO MAIDENS: A Medieval French Story of Fate, Adventure, and the HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 21

Hundred Years’ War Anne Echols, Bagwyn, 2016, $14.95, pb, 248pp, 9780866988094 The history of Jehanne la Pucelle, or Joan of Arc, is often told, but Echols has chosen a fresh perspective in her narrator, a brave apprentice scribe who follows The Maid’s fortunes across France during the two-year rebellion she led against the combined forces of Burgundy and England at the outset of the Hundred Years’ War. After the death of her beloved older sister, Felise, she struggles to hold on to her commitment to a life as a femme sole, a professional woman making her own way in the world. Her long-absent father’s shady business dealings leave her vulnerable to fortune hunters and extortionists, so she takes on a boy’s disguise and escapes to find shelter as a scribe to Joan and the Dauphin. Joan is rendered compellingly, as Felise’s own romantic illusions about the young visionary come up against the ruthlessness with which The Maid sacrifices men and women to her cause. Most of the remaining characters are thinly drawn, many of Felise’s adventures and escapes rely heavily on coincidence and luck, and her thoughts fit the mold a little too neatly of the “plucky” romantic heroine.

However, Echols’ historical details are seamlessly worked into the narrative, and the pace carries the reader along in spite of the less-than-compelling inner lives of the characters.

Kristen McDermott FIRST OF THE TUDORS Joanna Hickson, HarperCollins, 2016, £7.99/$14.99, pb, 495pp, 9780008139704 It is no surprise that Wars of the Roses novelists are drawn to Jasper Tudor, for while his life story is dominated by a romantic and unwavering loyalty to the Lancastrian cause, at the same time there are enough unknowns for an author to have lots of fun filling them. It also helps that his surname is instantly recognisable, and his first name is achingly 2016-hipster-cool. Joanna Hickson’s novel takes us from Jasper’s youth to the Readeption of Henry VI, with the usual colourful cast of Wars of the Roses figures making their standard appearances.

The tone is romantic and sweeping, and the author has an experienced eye for the two or three period details that will evoke a scene, rather than swamping the reader with her extensive research.

Hickson’s Jasper is honest, steadfast, and dutiful—all admirable qualities, but some readers may yearn for more dramatic tension. For example, Hickson chooses to give Jasper a leading role at the crucial battle of St. Albans (which is perfectly plausible), but then skims over the affair in the space of a few pages. The most memorable scenes in the novel are those where lovers meet in a moonlit vale, or watch from a cliff as the sun sets over the Welsh sea. Readers already familiar with the period will not find much new here, save for one startlingly bold exception. Hickson delves deeply into the relationship that both Tudor brothers ( Jasper and Edmund) have with Edmund’s childbride, Margaret Beaufort, and portrays it by turns to have been chivalrous, selfish, emotional, and sexual. These parts of the novel are uncomfortable and challenging, and will make readers reflect on 22 | Reviews |

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many aspects of our modern society. That is an impressive achievement for a tale set in the 15th century.

Tom Graham WONDERS WILL NEVER CEASE Robert Irwin, Dedalus, 2016, £9.99, pb, 391pp, 9781910213476 Acclaimed by A. S. Byatt as one of the UK’s greatest living novelists, Robert Irwin has produced his first novel in seventeen years. Wonders Will Never Cease departs from his usual territory of writing about Arab culture to recount the story of Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales. Having been killed at the Battle of Towton in 1461, he finds himself to be still alive and, following a series of strange visions and otherworldly experiences, is sent reluctantly on a quest to find and return a gerfalcon to King Edward’s court. Thus ensues a series of adventures, where he encounters ghostly apparitions, demons and seductions. Woodville’s state of whether he is alive or dead is constantly questioned, even by himself.

This is, however, only one of the many storylines and plots in this very dense novel. Meticulously and exquisitely researched, in astonishing detail, the book is soaked through with myths, legends and folklore from that time period. It is more a book on medieval storytelling and how reality is created. There are tales within tales, yarns within yarns, mainly woven by the alchemist, Ripley, who intends to create a heroic persona for Woodville, much to his disdain. It is this blurred line between what is true and what is not that leads to inevitable conclusions for the “hero”.

It is not surprising that Irwin is the recipient of praise from Byatt, as readers will find familiar storytelling modes, including women born of faery folk, werewolves and ghosts. Told in the present tense, with past tense for the distant past, the prose is beautifully lyrical and completely captures the reader as they wind through the many threads within. Highly recommended.

Linda Sever

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FIRE OF THE WORD Carol Pratt Bradley, WiDo, 2016, $16.95, pb, 256pp, 9781937178789 Sixteenth-century England is in turmoil. In London, Henry VIII has declared himself as head of the church, and Catholics are punished if they don’t acknowledge him as such. Meanwhile, Protestants are also being punished if they don’t follow the Catholic doctrine.

In Lincolnshire, Anne Ayscough is preparing to say goodbye to her sister, who will soon leave home to be wed. Anne never could have imagined that her sister would catch fever and depart from their home in death. Nor could she have guessed that her father would force 15-year-old Anne to take her sister’s place in the marriage. Making matters worse, her betrothed’s family is Catholic and strongly against the Protestant Reformation,

of which her family are followers. Anne quickly finds herself an outcast in her new family’s house.

She tries to follow the examples of her heroes in the Bible. She starts a school to teach children to read and is a giver at heart. Despite her gentle ways, terrible events befall her. As new religious ideas clash against old traditions, Anne is forced to choose between renouncing her faith and being sentenced to a fiery death.

The book’s warring factions are rather black and white: one side is bad (and intolerant) and the other is good. However, Bradley establishes early on who her target audience is. While the Protestantsided viewpoint does not surprise, a few neutral characters would have expanded the story’s depth.

Based on the true life of Anne Ayscough (Anne Askew), this well-researched story is about a young woman forced into difficult choices. Characters are brought to life sympathetically through a thoughtful and lyrical narrative. With few legal rights for women, Anne’s story is both moving and relevant. An emotional journey recommended to those who enjoy stories about this time period and/or about women of faith.

J. Lynn Else THE HERETIC’S CREED Fiona Buckley, Crème de la Crime, 2017, $28.99/£20.99, hb, 224pp, 9781780290911 In this 14th book of the Ursula Blanchard Elizabethan mysteries, the year is 1577. Ursula is again given a secret assignment from her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth. As always, she has both personal and political reasons for doing Elizabeth’s bidding. This time, she and her faithful companions, Brockley, Dale, and Sybil, take a seemingly innocent journey to Edinburgh.

The assignment is straightforward: hand-carry a secret letter from the Queen to a Scottish contact, assuring him that Elizabeth does not intend to release Mary Queen of Scots from imprisonment.

An uncomplicated task—except that two men have already disappeared while trying to deliver this information. There is another job to do, too, as Ursula is requested to obtain a valuable medieval book from a quasi-religious community of women living in a large, isolated, stone manor. Queen Elizabeth’s advisor John Dee, a learned man and noted scientist, wishes to examine the book. These errands appear uncomplicated enough, but Ursula and her friends are soon embroiled in an intricate story of intrigue and superstition during a cold northern winter.

It’s difficult to discuss plot points without giving too much away, but Ursula’s fans will enjoy her latest escapades and will sympathize as she starts to realize she is aging. There are glimpses into the long back story, but the book does stand alone. New readers might enjoy starting at the beginning of this engaging, well-written series and following the illegitimate, fictitious Ursula all the way through. She is more interesting than some of the real Tudors.

Elizabeth Knowles

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THE ENGLISH AGENT Phillip DePoy, Minotaur, 2017, $26.99/C$37.99, 15th Century — 16th Century

hb, 320pp, 1250058430 I’ve often found that when I inadvertently pick up a book that is later in a series, I have a difficult time getting interested in the characters or plot.

That was not at all the case with The English Agent, second in DePoy’s Elizabethan England/Christopher Marlowe mystery series.

Immediately, I was intrigued by the plot, which revolves around the infamous Babington Plot to murder Queen Elizabeth in which Marlowe played a role. DePoy uses the Marlowe angle and his suspected involvement as a secret agent in the employ of Sir Francis Walsingham and puts them to good use in a storyline that twists and turns throughout. It is fast-paced and fun, even for those of us well-versed in Tudor history.

DePoy’s writing is a genuine delight. In the space of a single page, I found myself laughing at a witty line, choked up at a poignant comment, and tense with excitement. His fictional characters are just as well developed as Marlowe, Dr. Lopez, Walsingham and Philip Sidney, and I found myself caring particularly about one of them. Dialogue moves smoothly, as did the general narration. I appreciated also how DePoy sprinkles into the characters’ conversations fragments of Elizabethan poetry from Marlowe, Shakespeare, Sidney, and Kyd, easily and without pretension. It suits the novel very well. Very highly recommended.

Kristen McQuinn IN THE NAME OF THE FAMILY Sarah Dunant, Random House, 2017, $28, hb, 480pp, 9780812996975 / Virago, 2017, £16.99, hb, 464pp, 9781844087464 Sarah Dunant is obsessed with the Borgias. But it’s a good obsession.

The Borgias are the family we love to hate.

They’re manipulative, vindictive, lustful, passionate, and brutal. But in the cutthroat world of early 16thcentury Rome, they’re the family in charge. Have they just gotten bad PR for the last 600 years? Or were they really as bad as their reputation? Dunant would say yes and no respectively.

Originally from Spain, the Borgias consist of Rodrigo, the powerful patriarch who is now on the papal throne as Pope Alexander VI, and his illegitimate children: Cesare, the leader of a mercenary army, and Lucrezia, the family marriage pawn. To maintain the Borgia dynasty and increase their fortune, they live in a world of constant intrigue. Bribery, nepotism, and treachery are their family values. Shifting allies in surrounding Italian city-states are their political bedfellows—and enemies. Yet such is Dunant’s talent as a writer that when the House of Borgia falls, we feel sympathy for the family, especially the grasping patriarch Pope Alexander, whose dynasty is doomed.

In the Name of the Family is her follow-up to the first Borgia book, Blood & Beauty, but this second 16th Century

novel can be read on its own. Rather than focus on the notorious nature of the Borgias, Dunant explores their motivations and their humanness.

She brings to life the real Borgias, writing them as fully rounded characters rather than caricatures.

The novel is filled with rich detail, the fruit of deep research into every aspect of Renaissance Italy, although sometimes an abundance of factual details bogs down the narrative. Readers who like to delve into the more salacious legends about the Borgias, e.g., prostitutes, poisonings, and all-night orgies, will be disappointed. But for readers who like their historical fiction to be erudite as well as entertaining, In the Name of the Family is top choice.

Lorraine Norwood FALLING POMEGRANATE SEEDS: The Duty of Daughters Wendy J. Dunn, MadeGlobal, 2016, $14.99/£11.99, pb, 291pp, 9788494489396 Falling Pomegranate Seeds, volume one of the Katherine of Aragon Story by Australian author Wendy J. Dunn, offers original insight into the future Queen of England’s youthful upbringing by her two formidable parents in the unified courts of Aragon and Castile. As told effectively through the eyes of her tutor, Beatriz Galindo, Katherine (Catalina) and her friend Maria de Salinas are not only educated in letters and religion but in matters of life, war and social turbulence. Catalina is an eager student, and she is reared by her mother, Queen Isabella, to marry, rule, and know when best to display her intelligence. Still, there is mischief, light, and girlish charm to remind us just how young the girls are. These contrasting moments are pivotal, as they bring depth and insight to Dunn’s characters.

Dunn tells a story that is fresh and invigorating, a fascinating conveyance of humanity bound to religion and cultural racism. The worlds of adults and children are separate at times, although when they mix, such as during Isabella’s removal of the Jews, the story offers up soul- searching questions for Beatriz, Catalina, and Maria.

This is a captivating read, written with heart, significance and sensibility. Dunn is a careful writer. She doesn’t exploit her characters; rather, she explores them and brings us along for the journey. This is a novel researched with integrity, and Dunn reaches out and lands beautifully in the winner’s circle.

Wendy A. Zollo AN UNJUST JUDGE Cora Harrison, Severn House, 2017, $28.99/£20.99, hb, 224pp, 9780727886729 This is the fourteenth Burren mystery, set in western Ireland during the reign of Henry VIII. It features as sleuth Mara, the Brehon of the Burren.

Now in late middle age, Mara continues to serve as a judge dispensing justice under Brehonic law and also solving mysteries. A new judge metes out unduly harsh sentences to five miscreants and is then found gruesomely and creatively murdered.

Naturally the five offenders are suspects, as is a very young widow, and others who have motives. Mara must investigate the crime, although it has taken

place outside her usual jurisdiction.

As she sifts through too many suspects, the reader may discover the murderer early on, but Harrison is an expert at laying false trails, and the true resolution isn’t revealed until the end of the book. There is a really dramatic seacoast scene that will leave readers reluctant to dip a toe in the Atlantic ever again. As usual with this series, the scenic Burren and adjacent areas are characters in themselves. The story stands alone, but readers may want to obtain earlier titles to follow the characters’ back stories.

Elizabeth Knowles DEATH AT ST. VEDAST: A Bianca Goddard Mystery Mary Lawrence, Kensington, 2017, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 304pp, 9781617737145 The latest Bianca Goddard mystery begins with a startling discovery: the corpse of a pregnant woman who fell from the bell tower of St. Vedast Church.

Before moving her crates of alchemy supplies and herbal remedies into her new residence, Bianca hastens to examine the body. A rhyme the woman was heard reciting may offer the only other clues.

Within days, the wealthy French widow Odile, who has just married a master silversmith named Boisvert, collapses and dies during their wedding reception. Boisvert is summarily imprisoned for her murder and faces almost certain death, although no evidence supports the charge against him.

John, Bianca’s husband, an apprentice of the accused, desperately wants to save the master silversmith’s life. Not allowed to pursue her usual alchemical experiments while they live in a house Boisvert owns, Bianca turns her knowledge of disease symptoms and her sharp, rational mind to discovering what ailment caused the bride’s strange demise and whether or not it was murder.

Several characters have a past connection to Odile and might have been driven by greed or passion to kill. Together, Bianca and John determine the motivations of these potential culprits in 1540s London and journey to an unfamiliar country town to investigate the origin of a similar fatal malady that struck there.

This book’s complex plot unfolds during the reign of Henry VIII against such relevant backdrops as a plundered, declining Catholic parish church, a disbanded monastery, and the machinations of powerful guilds vying for preeminence. Realistic historical details and dialogue bring the setting to life.

Cynthia Slocum INCENDIUM A.D. Swanston, Bantam Press, 2017, £16.99, hb, 412pp, 9780593076248 Fire, fear, and rebellion—first in France, then in England, aimed at the deposition of Queen Elizabeth, and the restoration of Catholic Queen Mary. Ex-teacher and lawyer Dr Christopher Radcliff, in the employ of the Earl of Leicester, is charged with finding the plotters and dismantling the plot.

The setting of this book is beautifully done.

All the sights, sounds and smells of Elizabethan HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 23

England are there, along with an intriguing range of characters, from whores and sodomites to Jewish goldsmiths and Guild Masters. Some scenes are not for the squeamish, but the violence is entirely consistent with 16th-century London. Only one event caused me to raise my eyebrows, and that was when the protagonist tossed a groat to a beggar, on the occasion we first meet him. Later in the book, he’s dispensing far more realistic farthings!

Uncommon generosity aside, I quickly grew to like Christopher, who remains undefeated by his crusty and overbearing employer, a suspicious ladylove, and a series of mishaps and misdirections that bring his continued employment as an intelligencer into severe doubt until the very end.

The plot has plenty of believable twists and turns, and the pace is nicely varied; it’s an enjoyable and fast-paced read. Christopher Radcliff is clearly destined to appear in future books, and I think he’s likely to gain some loyal fans. I may buy the next book myself!

Nicky Moxey JANE THE QUENE Janet Wertman, 2016, $11.99, pb, 280pp, 9780997133813 This first volume in Janet Wertman’s projected trilogy about the famous Seymour clan of Tudor times focuses on the most famous of them all: the 27-year-old daughter of the family, Jane, who in 1535 seemed destined to a life at Court serving as lady-in-waiting and eventually marrying some minor nobleman to further the family’s ambitions.

But as all Tudor enthusiasts know, lucky timing and a certain tasteful amount of conniving were on Jane Seymour’s side: by the time Henry turns his attention to her, he’s already divorced his Queen Catherine and is rapidly souring on Anne Boleyn as his desperation for a male heir grows more intense. Jane will provide that male heir, the luckless Edward VI, but Wertman’s spirited and sensitive novel concentrates on the heartfelt and surprisingly simple affection that grows up between Henry and the woman who will become his third wife. The larger, louder world of the Tudor court— where Thomas Cromwell and Jane’s own brothers scheme and plot—is shut out in favor of intimate and winningly human scenes between Henry and Jane. A touching and insightful reading experience.

Steve Donoghue THE DEVIL’S CHALICE D. K. Wilson, MadeGlobal, 2016, $18.99/£12.99, pb, 282pp, 9788494489389 In 1549 London, goldsmith Thomas Treviot is asked to look into the circumstances of a young man accused of attempted murder. At the same time, Treviot’s son has left school at Cambridge to join up with the common people in a protest at Norwich. Political unrest sweeps the country as peasants challenge landholders and leading nobles jockey for position to influence the young King Edward. Religious changes begun under Henry VIII and intensified in the new regime create uncertainty, changing the very landscape of the countryside and opening up space for magicians to prey. Treviot must get to the bottom of mysteries 24 | Reviews |

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and conspiracies large and small, reaching from the heart of his own household to international concerns.

The Devil’s Chalice is third in a series in which Treviot gets drawn into actual unsolved mysteries in Tudor England. While fictional characters carry the heart of the novel, using real crimes and documents offers a fascinating opportunity for those who like their historical fiction on the factual side. At the same time, readers who don’t already know a bit about the issues and personalities may find themselves a bit lost in differentiating between various nobles and their interests and networks.

In addition, period vocabulary and phrasing often come across as self-conscious and quaint rather than creating the desired atmosphere.

Martha Hoffman

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THE POPISH MIDWIFE: A Tale of High Treason, Prejudice and Betrayal Annelisa Christensen, The Conrad Press, 2016, $7.99, ebook, 454pp, B01IIQNWOI The Popish Midwife is a fact-based historical novel about the life of Elizabeth Cellier, focusing on the years of the Popish Plot when Londoners were gripped by panic, believing in a Catholic plot to invade the country and murder Charles II. Cellier is certainly a remarkable character—a midwife, a writer, an activist for prison reform as well as a wife and mother. Initially intending to record and reveal the torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners in Newgate Prison, Cellier gradually becomes more involved in attempts to disprove the Popish Plot, as revealed to parliament by Titus Oates, and finds herself on trial as a result.

This is a complex period of English history, and the Plot involves many characters, acts of perjury, false accusations and the execution of innocents.

Christensen does a fine job of re-imagining London in the 1670s, bringing the smells and filth of the streets to vivid life. She also captures the anti-Catholic hysteria and violence particularly well. Having read this as an e-book, I missed being able to flip back and forth to check on some of the names of plotters and accusers (of which there are many). A note on historical accuracy and sources would also be a great addition. Overall, this reads as a very authentic portrait of a complex era.

Kate Braithwaite A RUSTLE OF SILK: A Gabriel Taverner Mystery Alys Clare, Severn House, 2017, $29.99/£20.99, hb, 256pp, 9780727886569 Queen Elizabeth has just died, and Gabriel Taverner, former naval surgeon, hangs out his shingle on land in rural Devon. Not everyone seems happy to have a new physician in the village: unpleasant “gifts” show up on his doorstep. When a decomposed body is discovered at a nearby quay and the husband of Taverner’s beloved sister disappears, matters hit even closer to home.

Clare, known for two successful medieval

mystery series, has here chosen the later setting of the reign of King James I. The doctor as a sort of precursor to forensic scientist is a familiar device; Taverner is teamed up with the local coroner in what looks to be an ongoing partnership. While there are some grisly descriptions and a body that hangs around unburied for far too long, this is not a stomach-turning forensic thriller. The focus is on character introduction and development, especially as this is the debut novel for a new series. Certain aspects of the plotting are telegraphed in ways that may mitigate the suspense, but the mystery element is competently handled and the setting convincing. Fans of character-centered mysteries will find much that appeals in this promising series debut by a well-established author.

Bethany Latham THE RED SPHINX Alexandre Dumas (trans. Lawrence Ellsworth), Pegasus, 2017, $26.95, hb, 824pp, 9781681772974 Richelieu without Musketeers? Inconceivable!

But seriously, you won’t miss them in this labyrinthine romp through 1630s France. Cardinal Richelieu, whom we learned to hate in The Three Musketeers, becomes the leading character in The Red Sphinx, which begins shortly after Musketeers ends. Still scheming for the good of his beloved France, Richelieu’s goal is to see France as the superpower of Europe, and woe to anyone or anything standing in the way of this amiable hobby.

Red Sphinx is wonderful. It contains a huge cast of characters, most of them historical, including Father Joseph, Richelieu’s most important agent—the man who gave us the term éminence grise. Louis XIII is here, still heirless, and his queen, Anne of Austria, still pining over the English Duke of Buckingham. Here as well is Louis’s half-brother the Comte de Moret (Dumas also provides a fictional love-interest for the dashing Comte, but she’s really dull). There’s plot and counter-plot, duels, passion, murder, romance, disguises, poets and assassins. While the novel’s main plot mostly involves the French campaigns (i.e., Richelieu’s campaigns) against Piedmont and Savoy, it was hard to care much about that when so much delightful intrigue was going on, including Anne of Austria’s pathetic attempts to interest her husband in begetting an heir (Louis XIII is just about as gloomy as Eeyore).

Another plus is Ellsworth’s translation, which is readable and compelling. Unfortunately for the reader, Red Sphinx ends in the middle of a scene—and such a scene, too! I knew the novel was unfinished (at over 800 pages, yes, it’s still unfinished), but couldn’t Dumas have managed just a few more pages?

India Edghill

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NZINGA: African Warrior Queen Moses L. Howard, Jugum, 2016, $16.99, pb, 308pp, 9781939423405 From 1583 to 1663, Nzinga watched, listened and grew into her final role as Ngola, or Queen of Angola. Her father, the elder Ngola or King, was a wise ruler who practiced fairness unless he was opposed by rebellious chiefs. Even then, he exerted 16th Century — 17th Century

justice that would influence a return to loyalty and obedience; when that failed, he would mercilessly destroy his enemies. Nzinga sat quietly in the back of his audience room, listening to him respond to the needs of his subjects. When she wasn’t doing that, she would be listening to the reports of the women who were part of his extensive spy system both within his kingdom and as far away as Luanda, the base of invading Portuguese soldiers and traders. The old Ngola had high hopes that his son would succeed him, but Mbande showed passion only for hunting and feasting. Mbande will inherit the role, but it would be his mother, Kaningwa, who ruled and did everything in her power to prevent Nzinga’s rise to power. Nzinga trained as a warrior and possessed a wisdom for strategy and justice beyond her father or any other chief ’s capabilities.

The amazing essence of this novel, however, concerns the communication of the women around Nzinga, their sharing of joys and sorrows, their ability to feast, work, and strategize with perfect balance.

Their world is depicted as a celebration of life and a supernatural belief fleshed out in their devotion to each other and their Ngola. Formidable as the Portuguese might have been, they didn’t have a chance against the woman destined to become the first African Warrior Queen and her retinue. Stunning, beautiful and outstanding historical fiction, and highly recommended reading!

Viviane Crystal

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TREASON James Jackson, Zaffre, 2016, £12.99, hb, 320pp, 9781785761157 The story begins in the Azores in 1591. It then moves into the 17th century and, with the death of Elizabeth I, James VI of Scotland ascends the throne as King James I of England.

Religious turmoil still abounds, but with the advance of Protestantism, it is the Catholics who are hounded and punished severely if they do not recant and accept the Protestant faith. The unrest grows with a plan to blow up Westminster on the opening of Parliament, with the King and royal family present when it meets on November 5th 1605. The date, of course, has never been forgotten and is still remembered and its failure celebrated today.

The story is well known, the names of those involved almost as familiar as our own, but it is told 17th Century — 18th Century

again here from the point of view of the plotters.

The Gunpowder Plot, as it came to be known, was many months in the planning. The gunpowder itself had to be surreptitiously acquired and stored safely. Men had to be recruited, and against this Robert Cecil and his spies had to prevent it happening and apprehend those guilty of plotting it all.

I found this an excellent read. Although I knew what the outcome would be, the pages kept turning, and it was hard to put down. The fictitious agents on both sides merged seamlessly with the people of the day, and the tension was maintained throughout. James Jackson has been likened to Bernard Cornwell and Conn Iggulden, and the dustcover carries a favourable comment by Frederick Forsyth. This was the first book I have read by this author, but it won’t be the last.

Marilyn Sherlock THE PLAGUE ROAD L. C. Tyler, Constable, 2016, £19.99, hb, 365pp, 9781472122858 This novel is the third in the series following the fortunes and tribulations of John Grey, the first novel being A Cruel Necessity. Grey, now a wellknown lawyer, is embroiled again in the political machinations endemic at the time. The year is 1665, and Grey’s life and that of many others are further complicated by the arrival of the Plague. All those who can flee London have done so, but travel has been made more difficult by the suspicion and fear of those desperate to avoid this deadly disease.

The plot centres on a mysterious letter for which various people are prepared to pay a high price, or if all else fails, kill.

Real people such as Pepys and Lord Arlington pop up, and fictional and true facts are enmeshed to create an entertaining and tense yet humorous tale.

In particular, Tyler’s one-liners are very droll, and serve to highlight the absurdity of many situations the hapless hero finds himself in, in his attempts to convey the letter, and also a man with a secret, to his employer. Grey is accompanied in his quest by his childhood friend Aminta, and their bickering adds to the fun, as do the various twists and turns, betrayals and double-crossing. Fans of Tyler will be very happy with this latest instalment, and readers new to this author are in for a treat. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward very much to the next.

Ann Northfield

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THE THIEF’S DAUGHTER Victoria Cornwall, Choc Lit, 2016, £2.99, ebook, 9781781893180 Cornwall, England, in the 1700s is a dreary, impoverished, and tough place to live. When Jenna was a child, she had an experience that remains one of the most terrible memories of her life, one that made her resolve to remain honest no matter what circumstances arose. The thief-taker came to arrest members of her family, who were never to be seen again because they were executed. Now Jenna’s

only brother, Silas, and his wife and children are in debtor’s prison, and the only way Jenna can save them is by getting into the black market business.

Jenna, therefore, first tries to hire herself out as a maid. Her service is bought by Jack Penhale, a thief-taker out for his own revenge. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

What is so striking about this novel is the ageold question, “Should a thief be punished if he or she is stealing to avoid dying from starvation?”

Why did the Crown spend so much money finding and executing smugglers instead of helping poor people to find a job that would enable them to live above subsistence level? Cornish life is hard but perhaps is made somewhat easier for those in love. The Thief ’s Daughter is a simple story that has more romance, adventure and mystery than history within its tense, plot-driven pages. The plight of those forced to participate in the black trade is a dire situation carefully and potently portrayed by Victoria Cornwall.

Viviane Crystal AN ALMOND FOR A PARROT Wray Delaney, HQ, 2016, £12.99, hb, 413pp, 9780008182540 / MIRA, 2017, $26.99/C$29.99, hb, 348pp, 9780778330158 In Newgate Prison, courtesan and arbiter of fashion Tully Truegood awaits trial for murder and passes the time writing her memoirs. She has a rollicking and deliciously naughty tale to tell, of her progress from neglected daughter of a drinker and gambler to wealthy landowner and darling of the pleasure gardens of Enlightenment London.

While luck plays its part in her story, it is her twin skills in sex and magic which are the main drivers of her success. Under the guidance of the madam of the notorious Fairy House and her magician paramour, Tully becomes the darling of London society, courted even by minor royalty for the services of her pearl hand (whose skills you may imagine, dear reader), but falls from grace for true love.

This book has been compared to Fanny Hill, and its roots are firmly in the tradition of the 18thcentury picaresque novel. However, Wray Delaney is the pen name of children’s author, Sally Gardner, and she brings to her erotic romp a terrific sense of playfulness and anarchy, eschewing any of the heavy-handed moralising which characterises many of those earlier works. Although not perfect—I could not, for example, see the point of the recipes which preface some chapters – this is a skilfully executed erotic novel and hugely enjoyable.

Highly recommended for bedtime reading.

Sarah Bower A MOONBOW NIGHT Laura Frantz, Revell, 2017, $14.99, pb, 384pp, 9780800726621 This story opens in 1777 near the scenic Cumberland Falls in what is now the state of Kentucky. It takes settler Temperance Tucker and frontiersman Sion Morgan on a journey of hardship, danger, and emotional pain. As swarms of pioneers push through the Cumberland Gap into Native American lands, the Indians push back.

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Sion and Tempe both have experienced tragedy in the past, suffering greatly due to Indian activity.

Tempe guides Sion and his surveyors through beautiful, treacherous lands to the Green River country. Facing peril all the way, the two fall in love, but are haunted by their pasts. Even more harrowing problems loom in the wilderness as cultures clash.

It is doubtful whether Sion and Tempe can even survive, much less work through their individual traumas well enough to build a life together. This is a Christian book, although not a “preachy” one, and the characters’ faith supports them throughout their distressing frontier experiences.

Laura Frantz is a Kentuckian who lives in a log cabin. Her writing portrays a gritty, rooted reality that helps bring three-dimensional texture to the story. Recommended.

Elizabeth Knowles SUMMER’S GRACE Vanessa Hannam, Quartet, 2016, £12, pb, 248pp, 9780704374218 1740. Commodore George Anson sets off on his hazardous voyage to the New World with orders to capture the annual Spanish treasure galleon in Panama—an almost impossible task with the unseaworthy vessels and unfit crews the Admiralty have given him. He leaves behind his exotic mistress, Consuelo, and her black page, Pepe.

Captain Matthew Lively also sails with Anson, leaving his long-suffering wife and three children.

Mrs Lively is in despair; who knows when, or if, Matthew will come back, and, meanwhile, their sons have to be set up in the world, and what will become of her lovely musical daughter, Grace?

When Consuelo befriends Grace, and introduces her to King George II’s court, both the King and Mr Handel are impressed by her musicality. There is much to learn about court ways, and at first, Grace struggles, but when she meets the handsome young harpsichord-maker, Peter Zuleikom, it seems as if her future may be a bright one. But the court is a dangerous place for an innocent young girl, and well-wishers are not always what they seem.

Summer’s Grace is a well-researched and enjoyable book about a little-explored historical period. I liked the details of court life: the bickering factions, the social intrigues, the preposterous costumes (Grace can hardly sit down, she is so corseted), and the importance of music to the Hanoverian court. However, there was too much of the authorial voice telling us what the various characters were thinking and explaining their motivation. I wanted scenes where I could hear the characters for myself and see the main protagonists being tested on stage. As a result, they were never quite three-dimensional for me. And there were multiple mistakes of ‘discrete’ for ‘discreet’, and ‘affect’ for ‘effect’. Still, a very enjoyable read.

Elizabeth Hawksley THE STAR IN THE MEADOW Carla Kelly, Camel, 2017, $14.95, pb, 256pp, 9781603819923 Fernando Ygnacio and his daughter, Catalina, are auditors who make sure, for tax purposes, that 26 | Reviews |

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the records of New Mexican ranchers match the government’s records during the Seven Year Audit of 1784. The reality, however, is that Fernando was accused of a theft and served five years in prison.

That experience has left him a broken man, and it is his daughter who does the auditing. On this new job, Catalina overhears a conversation indicating future danger. Coming to the Double Cross Ranch owned by Marco Mondragon and his wife, Paloma, however, is like relaxing into a sea of healing love that changes everyone there.

All of the characters must be wise and alert to the machinations of their far-reaching neighbors as well as members of the roaming Comanche tribe, who are hesitantly discussing terms of peace with the ranchers and New Mexican government after years of war. The novel is filled with joy in its descriptions of newborn children; fear and delight during the telling of harrowing Mexican stories; terror during a kidnapping; and charm as a possible romance between two unlikely partners unfolds. The characters’ loyalty and honesty are remarkable because these qualities are coupled with pragmatism, hard work, expectations of cooperation from everyone, and the determination to snuff out all enemies. The Star in the Meadow is classic Western fiction, a terrific yarn that is somewhat contrived but will be treasured for its carefully measured, shifting tones long after the last page is turned. Fine historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal THE LADY OF THE LAKES: The True Love Story of Sir Walter Scott Josi S. Kilpack, Shadow Mountain, 2017, $15.99, pb, 337pp, 9781629722269 Edinburgh, 1790s: Walter Scott, a young man with a romantic temperament, falls deeply in love with a young girl, Mina, from the very first day he spies her at church. He walks her home from chapel, and over the next several years they correspond and see each other regularly. Walter is convinced that Mina is the love of his life, but Mina, under considerable pressure from her parents, is perhaps not so certain of this attachment. Scott swears he will love no other woman than Mina. If he loses her he will never love again.

Meanwhile, in England, a young refugee from France, Charlotte Carpenter, grows to maturity.

Fate eventually throws Charlotte together with Walter Scott, challenging both their preconceptions of the future.

This true story of the romantic triangle between Mina Belsches, Sir Walter Scott, and Charlotte Carpenter will intrigue lovers of Scott’s work, as well as lovers of inspirational historical romance.

Kilpack provides a bibliography, timeline, and detailed notes for readers who may wish to investigate the story more deeply. Firmly grounded in historical fact, the book poses a question many have struggled with. Is one’s first love always the best love? A sweet love story, sweetly told.

Susan McDuffie WILD WICKED SCOT Julia London, HQN, 2016, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 378pp, 9780373789665

This novel’s title reveals its genre. A rougharound-the-edges Scottish laird marries a delicate English lady at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion.

Their turbulent relationship is complicated by the possibility that her father is using the marriage in some political or financial scheme of his own.

After a few weeks young Lady Margot abandons her passionate husband and returns to her family home. However, she is persuaded by her father to return to her laird and his castle in the Scottish wilderness to monitor his possibly traitorous connections with France.

The couple easily resumes their passionate lovemaking but struggles to develop a fuller, trusting relationship, as each suspects the other of using the marriage for their own dubious purposes.

The climax sees the ultimate betrayal at Lady Margot’s home back in England.

The title of this book is a little misleading. It is stretching a point to say that the Scotsman —the laird Arran Mackenzie—is either wicked or wild.

However, both he and Lady Margot are engagingly vulnerable at a time when forces beyond their control seem to direct their lives. Can they together overcome the fate that awaits them in England? A pleasant read, with many plot twists.

Val Adolph THE SCARLET WIDOW Graham Masterton, Head of Zeus/Trafalgar Square, 2016, $29.95/£18.99, hb, 400pp, 9781784976293 After being orphaned at 16, in the year 1750, Beatrice is sent to live with her aunt. She then marries a preacher named Francis Scarlet, who is bound for America. They settle in New Hampshire. When odd events begin happening, the townsfolk suspect witchcraft. Soon, Bea notices a mysterious brown-cloaked stranger watching her house. Additionally, a sinister man arrives in town and offers to negotiate with the demon plaguing the people and prevent further torment… but at a heavy price. Bea uses the alchemist’s knowledge she learned from her father to uncover the true devil.

I liked Bea’s analytical thinking (reading about intelligent, resourceful historical women who stretch beyond socially acceptable gender confines is my favorite), Masterton’s unpredictable plotline, the diverse characters, and the masterfully detailed historical setting. However, the main characters and their relationships show a lack of emotional depth, and there are too many references to women needing a “good beating to keep them in line” along with a graphic rape scene.

The book’s time period and mindset are superbly realized. However, Masterton goes a step too far at times, regarding both slavery and women. During sex scenes, Beatrice pretends to be sleeping while her husband begins fondling her. Eventually, Bea decides to be a good wife and relents to his needs.

Why are these scenes even part of the story?

Masterton’s grisly rape scene is in no way necessary, since it doesn’t affect character motivation or the movement of the story. The entire book was ruined for me at that point, leaving me upset, disturbed, and not at all interested in a follow-up novel. It also made me wonder what 18th Century

Masterton’s target audience is.

J. Lynn Else

TWO EMPRESSES Brandy Purdy, Kensington, 2017, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 304pp, 9780758288936 Multiple vivid worlds exist within this story that begins on Martinique, the lush tropical island home of cousins Rose and Aimee, who are both young daughters of French plantation owners.

Despite their quite different personalities, destiny looms large for each of them. The voodoo priestess they sneak out in the middle of the night to visit, reads their palms and presages that each girl will be an empress and live in a magnificent palace. Rose giddily embraces the prophecy and dismisses the warnings of sadness and despair that accompanied it, while Aimee disregards the fortune telling entirely.

The action moves to a wintery Paris when Rose arrives there for an arranged marriage with a handsome aristocrat. After he leaves her, Rose, reckless and spendthrift, shifts for herself in high society as a courtesan. Her star rises and falls with a series of lovers. However, even in prison during the French Revolution, she clings to believing she will be an empress. The reign of terror ends, and circumstances propel Rose toward her destiny through an introduction to Napoleon Bonaparte, who loves her obsessively and changes her name to Josephine.

Aimee, the younger cousin, attends convent school in Paris without ever seeing Rose. And when the revolution begins her worried parents insist she return home; her ship never reaches port. Instead, she ends up in Constantinople living in the exotic and treacherous environment of the Sultan of Turkey’s harem. Once she understands her circumstances, Aimee reflects on the prophecy, which manifests in a curious way when she becomes Nakshidil.

First-person narrative captures the dramatic whirl of activity and emotions that Josephine experiences, and conveys Nakshidil’s less impulsive but equally intense thoughts and feelings. This lavish, engrossing yarn embraces legend as well as fact.

Cynthia Slocum

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THE MAURICEWOOD DEVILS Dorothy Alexander, Freight/Trafalgar Square, 2016, $14.95/£8.99, pb, 225pp, 9781910449660 In 1889, a coal pit fire broke out in the Mauricewood Colliery in Scotland. As the fire spread, over 60 of the 70 men in the coal pit tragically died. Presumably this isn’t a disaster familiar to many outside of Scotland, and to my knowledge, it is not frequently written about.

The Mauricewood Colliery fire is the backdrop to Dorothy Alexander’s debut novel.

The story begins with Martha, daughter of one of the men who perished in the coal pit. Her mother died in childbirth, and now she and her 19th Century

sister, Helen, have to live with their grandparents.

Jess, their stepmother, unable to adopt the girls on her own, also has a story to tell, and the book alternates between their perspectives, showing the reader the different ways these characters deal with the tragedy—Martha, through a series of dreams and waking fantasies about when she heard about the coal pit fire and the different possible outcomes; and Jess, whose grief is shown through real documents and primary sources the author researched in building her characters As someone who did not know anything previously about this cataclysmic event, the subsequent reclamation of the bodies, or the legal battle that took place following the fire, Alexander’s novel provided all of the necessary information without detracting from the story itself. It’s a sad story, made more so by the knowledge that it’s based on true events. I would have liked more detail about Scotland in the late 19th century than was provided, but I had no issues becoming involved in the characters’ lives. The experimental way in which Alexander chose to write her novel may be non-traditional, but it works exceptionally well; I look forward to reading more of Alexander’s work in the future.

Elicia Parkinson LORD SEBASTIAN’S SECRET: The Duke’s Sons Jane Ashford, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2017, $7.99/C$10.99, pb, 352pp, 9781492621621 Lord Sebastian Gresham and his fiancée, Lady Georgina Stane, are very much in love. He admires her wit and intelligence, she his genuine interest in and appreciation of her, and both share a passionate physical attraction. Nevertheless, they view their approaching wedding with trepidation.

He worries that she will reject him as stupid when she learns he cannot read; she fears his reaction to her highly eccentric family when he comes to visit.

And eccentric they are.

Her father, the marquess, is preoccupied with local history, and seeks to prove that in an earlier incarnation he was Offa, an Anglo-Saxon ruler; her mother breeds spoiled pugs with embarrassing habits; and her two disconcertingly precocious younger sisters are determined to live with them once they marry. Fortunately, Sebastian remains steadfast and courteous despite all provocations, and when he confesses his secret, Georgina is both understanding and supportive. He has proved his worth and won the lady.

This, third in the Duke’s Sons Regency series, offers sympathetic insight into the embarrassment created by dyslexia and by the unconventional behavior of others in one’s family. It is, moreover, a comic delight. Highly recommended to Regency lovers.

Ray Thompson

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DAYS WITHOUT END Sebastian Barry, Viking, 2016, $26.00, hb, 259pp, 9780525427360 / Faber & Faber, 2016, hb, £17.99, hb, 272pp, 9780571277001 Thomas McNulty, an 11-year-old survivor of Ireland’s Great Famine, and 14-year-old John Cole,

who fled his father’s played-out New England farm, meet under a Missouri hedge. The ragged boys quickly find a job at a saloon where, surprisingly comely in dresses and makeup, they dance with miners who haven’t seen a proper woman in months. After two years the saloon keeper kicks Tom and John out, saying they “aren’t kids no more,” so they join the Army in 1851.

The gold rush is on in California, and miners are complaining about the Yurok Indians they are shouldering aside. They want them routed out, so the cavalry is dispatched. When Tom and John are ordered to rush Indian villages and slaughter the occupants, they follow orders.

Orders take them back east to defend the Oregon Trail’s migrants from Indian attacks, but they take it hard when a Sioux warrior’s wives and children are slaughtered in an attempt to kill the chief.

John is 28 when he is dismissed for illness. Tom accompanies him, along with an eight-year old Sioux girl, Winona, who took a shine to Tom. They return to entertaining at saloons and put Winona to learning her letters, but then the Civil War rears up and the Army beckons again.

Days Without End, by the prize-winning Sebastian Barry, is a western novel beyond compare. Mr. Barry’s beautifully fluid first-person narrative takes readers on a lush but unsparing tour of the long-vanished Native Americans’ world and Civil War battlefields. At the same time we bear witness to the endurance of Tom, John, and Winona’s makeshift, but loving family. I couldn’t recommend Days Without End more Jo Ann Butler

THE BLACK ORCHID: A Lady Jane Mystery Annis Bell (trans. Edwin Miles), AmazonCrossing, 2016, $14.95, pb, 352pp, 9781503952751 Holmes and Watson, make way for wife-andhusband team Lady Jane and Captain David Prescott, amateur detectives intent on solving two ghastly murders—the brutal bludgeoning of a maid on a remote Northumberland estate, and the throttling of an employee at Veitch & Sons, London’s famous purveyor of botanic specimens.

These deaths are connected and lead the couple into the underworld of Victorian orchid hunters and growers, who risk everything in order to acquire the prized plants—if necessary, by force.

This is 1860s England, when orchids have replaced tulips as the flower of the moment and fetch huge fortunes in the overheated marketplace. The most coveted variety is the black orchid, for which the desperate search rages half a world away. When its ‘discoverer’ arrives from Colombia and turns up at the same manor house where Lady Jane stays with a friend, she and the Captain uncover why the atmosphere at Winton Hall is unbearable. The owner, Sir Frederick Helston, is in a consistent bad temper, and his wife, Charlotte, a hysterical wreck, is unable to control her servants. The mystery HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 27

solved, the Prescotts return home to Cornwall to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Translated from the German by Edwin Miles, the second installment of Annis Bell’s Lady Jane Mysteries may be enjoyed independently of its predecessor, The Girl at Rosewood Hall. The narrative style is compelling and entertaining; the descriptions of St. Giles and the Victorian demimonde etch themselves into the reader’s memory with Dickensian clarity.

Elisabeth Lenckos THE LUCKY HAT MINE J. v. L. Bell, Hansen, 2016, $16.00, pb, 304pp, 9781601823342 New Orleans, 1863. Millie Virginia, an orphan, sees an advertisement: “Wanted: a wife. Prospector ... Idaho Springs.” At 23, Millie has few prospects in the occupied city, so she gets engaged to the prospector, Drouillard. He sends tickets and travel money and also deeds his cabin and gold mine to her. After a perilous journey, the mail-order bride arrives in Idaho Springs in Colorado Territory to face a remorseful crowd—and her fiancé in a pine box. Allegedly he died in a mining accident. There’s a line-up of suitors for goldmine owner Millie, but she prefers to live alone. Then Drouillard’s uncouth brother arrives. Convinced Drouillard was murdered, he seeks the killer and woos Millie.

Luckily, they find a hat and more.

J. v. L. Bell has written an unusual murder mystery with a romance angle set during the Civil War period. The dialogue and narrative, which is humorous at times (includes a fainting goat), fittingly captures life in a gold mining town. The inclusion of strong female characters, such as a freedwoman, adds to the appeal of the story. Although the plot requires suspension of disbelief (uninterrupted postal service between Idaho Springs and New Orleans during the war, and a Southern belle travelling the Great Plains unescorted), the novel is an entertaining read.

Waheed Rabbani ORPHANS OF THE CARNIVAL Carol Birch, Doubleday, 2016, $27.95, hb, 335pp, 9780385541527 / Canongate, 2016, £14.99, hb, 352pp, 9781782116547 Julia Pastrana, born in 1834, is painfully aware that she is unique. As a little girl in a Sinaloa orphanage, she imagines that Mexico’s mountains are full of women like her, with hairy faces and protruding teeth. However, Julia hears of other human freaks in New Orleans—perhaps one is like her! Besides, she is assured that their differences earn them good money. So, in 1854 Julia veils her shocking face and buys a train ticket to New Orleans.

Contemporary doctors declare that Julia is the result of a human mating with an orangutan or a bear, or perhaps she is a species unto herself. Her hypertrichosis is actually a mutation, but the cause matters little. The jarring combination of Julia’s angelic voice and graceful dancing, paired with her bestial appearance, makes her a sensation wherever she appears. Then Theodore Lent, a charming opportunist, sees Julia on stage in New York. He 28 | Reviews |

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promises her that she would become rich and famous performing in Europe. Lent lures her away from her manager, and off they go.

Carol Birch’s Orphans of the Carnival is an extraordinarily sensitive fictionalization of Julia Pastrana’s life. The poor woman was simultaneously lauded and reviled, and Ms. Birch does a terrific job of portraying the young woman’s ambivalence and inserting readers into Julia’s double life. What of Theo Lent? Does he love Julia, or is it a marriage of convenience with Lent as a well-compensated manager for life? I highly recommend that you read Orphans of the Carnival and find out for yourself.

Jo Ann Butler THE BLACKSTRAP STATION Alaric Bond, Old Salt Press, 2016, $15.50, pb, 300pp, 9781943404117 Alaric Bond’s ninth entry in the Fighting Sail series (after HMS Prometheus, HNR May ´16) follows the remnant of that doomed ship’s crew in enemy (French) territory from the winter of 1803 through the summer of 1804. Through both stealth and luck they manage to evade capture on land, seize a French corvette (with assistance from another British warship’s boarding party), and commit themselves well in a second encounter with a notorious French ship of the line. The story features a choleric Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and alludes to, but doesn’t yet meet up with, Nelson’s Mediterranean fleet.

Despite this being my first read of Bond’s nautical adventures, I didn’t feel lost, though keeping track of 48 named characters on three ships was daunting at first. I was disconcerted though when, after nine chapters of minute-byminute narrative, we jump six months forward and tell the next three chapters in flashback. Yet Bond’s true strength as a storyteller is characterization, and you can’t help cheering for the underdog and seething against the success of the bully.

Be prepared for an onslaught of nautical terms that even Bond’s 11-page glossary comes up a dozen or so words short of covering completely.

Despite the title, “blackstrap” is mentioned only once and has no plot consequence. Nevertheless, this book remains a commendable maritime tale of survival under the direst of circumstances.

Tom Vallar NEW ALBION Dwayne Brenna, Coteau, 2016, C$19.95, pb, 224pp, 9781550506778 The New Albion theater is, to put it kindly, one of London’s lesser theaters in one of London’s seedier neighborhoods, attracting audiences more likely to throw rotten produce than to applaud and call “Bravo!” at the end of a performance.

Widower and father Emlyn Swithen Phillips is the stage manager of the New Albion, having left his family’s furniture-making factory for more creative endeavors, and this delightful read is his diary of the life, and lives, of the New Albion during the fall and early winter of 1850-1851.

The theater is home to a Dickensian cast of characters (and, for one performance, Dickens himself ), with varied levels of acting talent, as

well as resident playwright Ned Farquar Pratt, an often-drunk and unstable spirit tasked with providing the cast with new material to perform.

The Christmas pantomime, or panto, is Pratt’s current project, and when it becomes clear he can’t deliver, theater owner Thomas Wilton brings in Colin Tyrone as an apprentice playwright. Phillips chronicles the shenanigans—some funny, some tragic—that ensue over the next few months which both pull the cast members apart and bring them closer together.

The situations are classic Victorian: the precarious lives and squalid living conditions of the underclass, be they playwrights or street thugs; the threat of censorship from the Lord Chamberlain’s office; and the clash of entertainment vs society’s supposed high moral standards. Characters are colorful and true to the time, and readers are afforded a glimpse into the backstage lives of performers and theater staff that show the resilience, and the weaknesses, of human nature.

Brenna’s writing is engaging, and his tale brief enough to hold the attention of today’s readers with shorter attention spans. New Albion could be the gateway story for a new generation to discover the longer Victorian classics.

Helene Williams

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HIS BLOODY PROJECT: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae Graeme Macrae Burnet, Skyhorse, 2016, $24.99, hb, 290pp, 9781510719217 / Contraband, 2016, £12.99, hb, 292pp, 9781910192719 When one thinks “literary,” this isn’t the type of work that comes to mind—it’s a compulsively readable, immersive, darn good story, which snobbish critics are happy to note was shortlisted for the Man Booker “despite the handicap of being a genre novel.” It overcomes its “handicap” primarily through a clever structure, convincing narrative voice, and expert evocation of the crofting culture of the Scottish Highlands in the 1860s.

The conceit: the novel is presented as true crime, a collection of documents unearthed by the author while researching an ancestor. In 1869, teenager Roderick Macrae of the remote farming community of Culduie blithely bids good day to neighbors as he sets off down the village with a croman (a kind of hoe for digging potatoes) and flaughter (a sharp spade for cutting peat)… which he uses to commit a gruesome triple-murder. The novel is made up of Roderick’s handwritten account, police statements from Culduie’s inhabitants, journalistic trial coverage, scholarly excerpts from medical treatises, and “notes” by the author. The crime is never in doubt; backstory, motives, and subtler nuances are what must be untangled from subjective and unreliable narrators.

The characterization here is truly outstanding, 19th Century

as is the author’s ability to conjure the sense of place and everything that comes with it, from the grudging Presbyterian acceptance of a Providence that never sends anything positive, to the terrible disdain of the laird and cityfolk for the Highlander way of life. The author never condescends to his readers: I was thankful for the included glossary, since I certainly had to consult it (even Google has a hard time describing a croman). There are some exceptional pieces of dialogue, literary references that are more playful than pretentious, and pacing that is adept. This novel strikes the perfect balance of literary, historical, and thriller. Highly recommended.

Bethany Latham THE DEVIL’S FEAST M. J. Carter, Fig Tree, 2016, £14.99, hb, 368pp, 9780241146361 / Putnam, 2017, $26, hb, 432pp, 9780399171697 It is 1842, and in this third outing for William Avery, late of the East India Company Army, and Jeremiah Blake, special inquiry agent, they have only a few days to find out how and why a poisoner is apparently targeting diners at the Liberal bastion of London’s Reform Club. We learn much of the endemic problem of food adulteration, and the easy availability of arsenic and other deadly poisons, and their commonplace use in everything from pest-control to pick-me-up tonics.

In spite of this theme, The Devil’s Feast is not a book to sit down to while hungry, with its lavish descriptions of meals, both great and small, cooked up by the Reform’s flamboyant “celebrity chef ”, Alexis Soyer. Avery and Blake are such a good team, and their characters spark against and alongside each other so well, that I found the opening chapters, where Blake is “unavoidably detained” elsewhere, rather slow-moving. Much is made of their previous adventures in The Strangler Vine (HNR 71) and The Infidel Stain (HNR 73) and it would benefit the reader to be familiar with both books to appreciate fully the relationships between Blake and Avery and some of the other major characters here.

Mary Fisk

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A DROP OF INK Megan Chance, Lake Union, 2017, $14.95, pb, 473pp, 9781503940994 In 1874, two American sisters, Adelaide and Louisa Wentworth, together with Adelaide’s lover, the atheist poet Julian Estes, flee from scandal and arrive at the Villa Diodati near Geneva, the place that, 60 years earlier, inspired the writing of Frankenstein.

The villa is now the home of the celebrity author Bayard Sonnier, Louisa’s lover. Adelaide hopes Bayard will help Julian advance in his career. She is convinced he is a genius, although unappreciated because 19th Century

of his unconventional lifestyle. Also at the villa is Giovanni Calina, Bayard’s secretary, who has ambitions to become an author. Soon Bayard and his guests hold a contest similar to the one that led to the writing of Frankenstein. Adelaide, no longer content to be Julian’s muse, decides to write a story of her own, and, as she and Giovanni turn to each other for help in their writing, they discover an attraction. Will Adelaide’s talent come to light, in spite of Julian’s efforts to suppress it? And will Giovanni always be in Bayard’s shadow, or will he emerge as a talent on his own?

Chance weaves a complex web of relationships among her characters, with all their secrets and jealousies. Adelaide and Giovanni narrate, in alternating chapters, and it is fascinating to see the characters from these two different points of view. The reader often sees more of the picture than any individual character does. Readers familiar with the lives of Lord Byron and the Shelleys will see how they inspired Chance’s characters. All the characters are complex, and even the two narrators have deep flaws. But Chance draws you so deeply into their lives that you come to care about them.

Some turns in the story will take your breath away.

This is an outstanding novel; one of the best I’ve read all year.

Vicki Kondelik THE LOST SKETCHBOOK OF EDGAR DEGAS Harriet Scott Chessman, Outpost19, 2017, $16.00, pb, 164pp, 9781944853136 Artist Edgar Degas spent the winter of 187273 with his brother’s family in New Orleans. No sketchbook of his time there has been found. This much is fact, as is the art world’s surprise that an artist so prolific would appear not to have produced work during that period. Chessman builds this novel on the premise that the sketchbook was not lost but had been hidden. Its discovery leads to revelations about his perception of each individual and the family.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Degas’ sister-in-law and cousin, Tell (Estelle), who is blind. It opens as she greets her charming husband, Rene, who is returning from Paris and bringing his brother Edgar. Throughout his stay with the family, Edgar Degas spends much of his time sketching them – the three sisters, all their children, the servants, and even the dog. The sisters describe the sketches to Tell, and they are not complimentary about them. The faces are blurred, they say, the colors are muddy, people in them are looking away or half-hidden. Why couldn’t Edgar have made more attractive sketches?

But this is a novel about perception at various levels, or the lack of it. Tell’s blindness—her inability to appreciate the art firsthand—leads her to question others both at the time of Degas’ visit and much later, when her marriage has fallen apart and the secret of the sketchbook is partly revealed. By careful questioning, she discovers layers of insight about her family—their strengths and weaknesses, but mostly their loves. All of this has been laid bare in the sketchbook art Tell understands but has never seen. Tell learns also her

daughter’s secret, and her own buried feelings.

I found this a perceptive book about the artistic expression of perception.

Val Adolph HUCK OUT WEST Robert Coover, W.W. Norton, 2016, $26.95/£20, hb, 320pp, 9780393608441 Who hasn’t heard of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, those loveable scapegraces who pursued adventures in a Missouri cavern and along the Mississippi’s riverbanks in the 1840s? Mark Twain’s works were among my childhood favorites, and gave me a taste for droll irony. At the end of Huckleberry Finn, Huck decides to light out for the Territory to avoid becoming “sivilized,” but what happens next?

Robert Coover richly imagines just that in his far-ranging Huck Out West. Tom Sawyer, with his big plans and love of adventure, comes up with the perfect job for them both: Pony Express riders.

However, the Express folds after only 19 months, and it’s not much longer before Tom goes back east to take civilization by the horns and make his fortune.

Huck says that he got used to the Territories and they got used to him, so he stays on. After all, there are plenty of ways to make a living, including scouting for General George A. Custer’s cavalry.

He still feels guilty about he and Tom selling Jim, the runaway slave who came west with them, to a bunch of Cherokees, and sets about righting that wrong. When the Lakota finds Huck deathly ill from snakebite and cures the poisoned wound, he stays on with them.

I’m happy to say that Huck lives up to this Twainiac’s hopes. It’s not easy to write in vernacular without cloying or sounding forced, but Mr. Coover handles it deftly. He does equally well with portraying Twain’s beloved Huck, Tom, and even Becky Thatcher as believable adults. If you love Mark Twain or frontier tales, try a Western adventure with Huck.

Jo Ann Butler A TREACHEROUS COAST David Donachie, Allison & Busby, 2016, £19.99/$25, hb, 352pp, 9780749020521 Our hero, John Pearce, is in the tradition of Sharpe and many other 19th-century military heroes: he has risen from the ranks by dint of obvious heroism, but he has little time for his superiors, and they have little time for him. He joined the Navy as a pressed man and is now a lieutenant on board one of the vessels blockading the Italian coast as the Directory invades Italy. Yes, Napoleon has yet to dominate French politics, and we’re already thirteen volumes in. This is set to be a long series. The opening chapter provides a detailed historical background, though tighter editing may have improved it. We are also given some background on the complex feuds in Pearce’s back story, but even Pearce admits that he no longer knows exactly why some people are so determined to see him done down, so I think a new reader will struggle to follow this detail.

Fortunately, we soon abandon the background HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 29

exposition and get on with the business of killing Frenchmen. It is once Donachie takes us into the thick of the action that his style comes alive, and it is clear why fans keep coming back for more. Gun emplacements are blown up, merchant convoys are captured, and shore parties are ambushed.

Historical figures (Nelson pops up quite a lot) appear alongside our hero, and the action carries you along quite easily. The breaks in maritime adventuring when Pearce tries to deal with the demons from his past are not so successful if you are unfamiliar with the previous volumes, and the romantic interest does not fare well out of that context.

Overall, this is not the place to start with John Pearce. The books have a lot to offer those who enjoy a rollicking nautical adventure, but readers would be better starting twelve volumes earlier.

Tom Williams COLLISION OF THE HEART Laurie Alice Eakes, Waterfall, 2016, $12.95, pb, 195pp, 9781503936287 This title was formerly published as The Professor’s Heart, with authorial and editorial changes made from the original (notification from the author’s website). Mia Roper is on a collision course with disaster: first the train wreck upon her arrival in the hometown she swore never to return to, and then her frequent encounters with her former beau, Ayden Goswell, who has made it clear he’s moved on from their broken romance. Mia, a budding journalist, seizes upon the crash as the opportunity to get ahead, just as Ayden looks to secure his future with an advantageous match. Will they both sacrifice love in the name of security, or can their derailed romance get back on track?

Eakes, a Michigan native and best known for her Regency-era novels, explores the antebellum period in small-town Hillsdale, Michigan, and the growing struggle of the career-minded woman to balance personal achievement and security with societal expectations and the demands of the heart.

A toddler separated from his family adds a mystery subplot. With a likeable supporting cast including the Goswell family and the local townspeople, a future trip to Hillsdale would be welcome.

Lauren Miller THE WHOLE ART OF DETECTION: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes Lyndsay Faye, Mysterious Press, 2017, $25/ C$36.50, hb, 368pp, 9780802125927 Sherlock Holmes, that fascinating detective born from Conan Doyle’s pen in the late Victorian era, still captivates readers and viewers today.

Currently, PBS offers specials about Holmes and his friend and biographer, Dr. John Watson; a weekly series about a modern-day Holmes runs on CBS; and authors continue to try their hand at resurrecting the world’s greatest sleuth.

Faye presents us with a credible job of telling stories about Holmes and Watson. Of course, no one but Conan Doyle can do it with perfect authenticity. The book begins with Holmes regaling Watson with stories from his earliest days of solving mysteries. Then come The Early Years, 30 | Reviews |

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The Return and The Later Years. Most of the stories have been published previously in Strand Magazine, the publication which also published the first Sherlock Holmes tales.

The mysteries are satisfying and the writing an approximation of Doyle’s, though not quite as formal in language, which is probably a good thing for modern readers. Overall, a fun read and another incarnation of the incomparable Sherlock Holmes.

Anne Clinard Barnhill VICTORIA Daisy Goodwin, St. Martin’s, 2016, $26.99/ C$37.99, hb, 384pp, 9781250045461 / Headline Review, 2016, £8.99, pb, 464pp, 9780755396115 The early reign of Great Britain’s Queen Victoria is recounted in this multi-view narrative replete with rich characterization and political intrigue.

Among George III’s prolific progeny, Princess Alexandrina, as his fourth son’s only child, was the heir presumptive to the throne—much to her uncle Cumberland’s disgust. She spent an unhappy childhood guarded in the depths of Kensington Palace, where she was under the thumb of her overbearing mother and the vile John Conroy, a self-serving comptroller of the household.

When she ascended the throne, blessedly of an age to reign without a regent, she shed the hated nickname, Drina, and embraced the mantle of Queen Victoria. Strong-willed and ever ready to defy her mother and Conroy, she chose to align herself with the country’s somewhat scandalous Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, whose hold on the Whig government was at the time precarious.

Victoria became dependent on her Lord M over the next year, and when pressed to marry her Coburg cousin, Albert, was reluctant to entertain the idea of transferring her power—not to mention her newly found affections.

This is an interesting look at a young monarch unsure of herself, yet too stubborn to accept advice at times. The reader at once admires her determination and cringes at some of her rather ill-informed decisions. Lord Melbourne is a true anti-hero, being the supposed defeated and aging politician on his way out, but he is utterly charming in demeanor. Prince Albert, in this rendering, has few redeeming qualities, yet the reader knows from history that Victoria chose him and was genuinely happy. How the scenario of mentor versus love interest plays out is the author’s unique concept, and it is accomplished with deft characterization and an easy flowing storyline. It is highly recommended for readers of royalty fiction.

Arleigh Johnson OF ASHES AND DUST Marc Graham, Five Star, 2017, $25.95, hb, 336pp, 978432833930 Debut author Marc Graham has skillfully composed an exceptional historical novel of love, family, war and the adventurous taming of two emerging continent-sized nations in the 1800s. Jim Robbins, born to a poor country family in Arkansas of the 1840s, endures an explosive moment, and his whole life is relived through a series of captivating flashbacks. Jim is a proud white Southerner but

still a friend to the local slaves. His hardscrabble family arranges for him to be sent away to stay with well-off friends and learn to be a blacksmith.

Unknown to any of them, he has already assisted escaping slaves in their quest for freedom. While mastering the trade, he comes to fall in love, develops a disdain for abolitionists, and ultimately joins the Confederate army. He experiences the hell of war as a junior artillery officer, seemingly loses his first love and moves west to become an Indian fighter and railroad surveyor.

After yet another heartbreaking event, Jim departs in misery once more, moving on to work the expanding railroad system in Australia, along with a Yankee friend he met during the war. It is here the novel comes to a strange but life-affirming conclusion.

This is an epic and sweeping novel, masterfully covering monumental events. Having spent two years in a howitzer battalion, I considered Graham’s superb account of Jim’s Civil War counter-battery combat chillingly realistic. The various regional dialects are rendered with charm in fast-moving dialogue. However, I found the various ritualistic Masonic interludes and chats with ghosts to be a slight distraction, along with straining credibility.

Nevertheless, Of Ashes and Dust is a glorious, uplifting and rewarding read which I certainly recommend.

Thomas J. Howley SILVER CITY Jeff Guinn, Putnam, 2017, $27.00/C$36.00, hb, 400pp, 9780399165436 It’s 1874 as Cash McLendon arrives in Mountain View, a silver mining town in northeast Arizona Territory. He’s finally tracked down his lost love, Gabrielle Tirrito, a woman he hopes will finally decide to marry him. On Cash’s trail is Patrick Brautigan, also known as “Killer Boots” for his method of dispatching those he killed. Cash feels safe from Brautigan because he has cleverly covered his movements since he left the town of Glorious two years ago. Cash must convince Gabrielle to wed him instead of former Glorious sheriff Joe Saint, who is teaching school in Mountain View.

Heartbroken over her treatment by Cash when they both lived in St. Louis, she doesn’t make an immediate choice, but he hopes she decides soon, before Killer Boots finds him.

I’ve read the previous two books in the series, and this latest entry did not disappoint. The steady unraveling of the plot is genuinely exciting. Killer Boots is a devious killer, and when Cash convinces Gabrielle to move to California with him, their whole world spins out of control. I suggest reading the first two novels first to learn about the background of the main characters, but I highly recommend this book and the series as a whole.

Jeff Westerhoff

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GOOD TIME COMING: A Novel of the American Civil War C. S. Harris, Severn House, 2016, $29.99/£$20.99, hb, 320pp, 9780727886491 Already addicted to Harris’s St. Cyr Regency mysteries, I couldn’t help but jump on the 19th Century

opportunity to review her new entry, a Civil Warera novel. I simply wasn’t prepared for this book, though.

We meet Amrie (Anne Marie) at age 12 during the spring of 1862. Louisiana is a hotbed of ConfederateFederal battles, and Amrie soon learns that her sleepy little Mississippi River town, St. Francisville, is not immune from the devastation of the war. Her mother—an herbalist, nurse, midwife, and sometime physician (duties frowned upon by those in “decent” society, but clearly a woman whose value is immeasurable in that day and age)—is Amrie’s rock. But it is Amrie’s encounter with a young, blond Federal that alters her perceptions of her insulated little world and nearly destroys her family and neighbors. Her innocence and belief in the decency of humanity shed, Amrie must begin to face the evil that resides in all of us.

The intensity of the Mississippi River battles, and the horrors experienced by the wives, mothers, and children of the men who have gone off to serve, are simply unimaginable. Harris, whose St. Cyr mysteries I gobble up, has become another writer here: a vigilant observer of the inhumanity of otherwise decent folk, a purveyor of uncomfortable truths, her perspective on this world the lens through which northerners like me are forced to deal with the unspeakable violence and rapacious behavior of Union soldiers against their own brothers and countrymen. Is freeing slaves the reason for the war? Not likely, when the Federals conscript black slaves to do their dirty work, their dam building, their heavy lifting. Lincoln, too, becomes less the Great Emancipator than the Civil War’s victors have been led to believe.

I am blown away. This is a must-read for anyone who believes that right and wrong are so easily teased apart.

Ilysa M. Magnus NO PITY FOR THE DEAD: A Mystery of Old San Francisco Nancy Herriman, NAL, 2016, $15/C$20, pb, 354pp, 9780451474902 This novel is Victorian-era historical fiction set in San Francisco, so I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered No Pity for the Dead. The story is intricately woven into the city’s rich history, so much so that after I finished the book I had to go look into the historical controversy of hill flattening.

Celia Davies is a nurse who operates her own women’s clinic in the post-Civil War era. A modern woman, she finds herself investigating the appearance of a dead body in the cellar of Martin and Company, a powerful real estate development group. The more she digs, the more the evidence points to Frank Hutchinson, her best friend’s husband. Meanwhile Detective Nick Greaves 19th Century

is trying to conduct his own investigation while maneuvering around the interfering Mrs. Davies as the ghosts from his wartime past resurface. Both are supported by a rich cast of characters that round out the novel.

What I liked most about the book was Celia Davies. She’s like Sherlock, but without all the annoying sexism. Refreshingly, the story centers on figuring out how a man died rather than romantic entanglements. There is a bit of romance, but it is in no way central to the plot. The more important relationships are those of Celia and her niece and her friendships.

Likewise, don’t let the fact that this is the second book in a series (after No Comfort for the Lost) deter you. I didn’t realize it was a second book until the third chapter, so it is fairly easy to jump into the story. There is just enough back story to help you get up to speed, but not so much that you’ll feel bogged down.

Diana Tierney A SHILLING FOR A WIFE Emma Hornby, Bantam, 2016, £18.99, hb, 438pp, 9780593077528 In the 1850s, Sally, a workhouse orphan, is sold for one shilling to Joseph Goden to be his wife, and so Sally’s already unhappy life descends into hell. A drunk and a bully, Joseph uses Sally for sex and as an unpaid skivvy, daily beating her so badly she dares not show her face in the village. When he attempts to rape her while she is in labour, Ivy, a miner’s wife, rescues her. The baby is born in safety at Ivy’s. Joseph disappears, but even so, Sally knows she must move away to Manchester.

There, despite finding family, friends and work she lives in constant fear that Joseph might track her down and reclaim his lawful wife. With her child to protect, Sally grows in courage and determination but, although she is still a married woman, she has fallen in love with the wrong man.

This first novel is based on the author’s own family history in the Lancashire slums, which gives the story a particular power: the filth, the cold and the grinding poverty are painfully real. Without work, it is starvation in the gutter or the workhouse.

Although carefully balancing brutality with acts of kindness, her characters, if often stereotypes, can also be realistically unpredictable, reacting to events and strict moral standards in ways that give them a strong 19th-century validity. Manchester and the mining village are drawn with grim realism.

Hornby’s excellent use of Lancashire dialect is rich and colourful but, mercifully, comprehensible. The story is gripping and the action well-paced. There are clichés and the ending is a little too facile, but these are minor points in an impressive debut and an enjoyable, if sometimes harrowing, read.

Lynn Guest THE CORONER’S DAUGHTER Andrew Hughes, Doubleday Ireland, 2017, £12.99, pb, 334pp, 9781781620175 / Pegasus, 2017, $25.95, hb, 304pp, 9781681774114 Andrew Hughes’ second novel returns to the Dublin setting of his first (The Convictions of John Delahunt) but earlier in the century, to the summer

of 1816 when northern Europe was engulfed in a wintry fog which perplexed scientists and caused much proclamation about the end of the world from religious fanatics. It was known as the year without a summer. The young lady of the title is Abigail Lawless, 18 years old, a budding scientist full of curiosity and passion for learning. When a young nursemaid in the house of a neighbouring family apparently murders her newborn, Abigail cannot help being intrigued about the young woman’s circumstances. She discovers a message from the young maid’s lover and is soon embroiled in an investigation into the fanatical religious sect known as The Brethren and their bitter rivals, the rationalist Royal Astronomer Professor Reeves and his followers.

Abigail is clever, defiant and resourceful. Her father has provided a thorough scientific education, and while he is aware of her intelligence he is also aware of the restrictions society imposes on her as a woman, and there are a number of clashes between father and daughter. Andrew Hughes is a wonderfully talented author, bringing Dublin and its surroundings to life with deft characterizations, detailed but never laboured descriptions, and a plot which will have readers racing through the pages. An utterly transporting book and highly recommended.

Lisa Redmond THE CARROLL FARM FIGHT Greg Hunt, Five Star, 2017, $25.95, hb, 212pp, 9781432833077 During the American Civil War, young Mel Carroll lives on a small, isolated Missouri farm which is taken over by Confederate troops from Arkansas. While they await the approaching Union Army, his farm is transformed into a fortified camp. Carroll is witness to the fighting between both armies. Mistaken for a Confederate soldier and captured by the Union, he manages to escape.

Carroll then begins to travel overland through the rugged Ozark Mountains to the Adderly farm and the home of his girlfriend, Rochelle.

What he finds upon his arrival will change his life. Covering a fictional Civil War skirmish in the Ozark Mountains, the novel describes the effects of war on the non-belligerent local people, as well as the cruelty inflicted upon them. I found the novel an entertaining read. Unfortunately there is little character development, although this did not take away from enjoying the book. I recommend it for Civil War junkies who like a story with plenty of action and suspense.

Jeff Westerhoff ROBERT B. PARKER’S REVELATION Robert Knott, Putnam, 2017, hb, $27.00, 336pp, 9780399575340 Near the turn of the 19th century, U.S. Marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch live in Appaloosa, located near the Rio Blanco River west of the Mississippi. They learn by telegraph of a jailbreak at the Cibola Penal Institution about 200 miles from Appaloosa, and of a shootout in the town of Yaqui that may be related to the prison break. Both soon saddle up and head west to try and capture HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 31

several of the outlaws and then hook up with the posse.

Unbeknownst to them, Augustus Nobel Driggs and a young woman arrive in Appaloosa. A coldblooded killer, Driggs is on a secret mission.

Meanwhile, the marshals are after another of the escapees, a ruthless killer who leaves murder and mutilation in his path.

This novel written is the latest in the continuing series created by Robert B. Parker, who died in 2010. The rapid-fire dialog and quick-paced action again dominate the story. The main characters continue to be entertaining, while the outlaws seem to have become even nastier in this novel. A good read for those interested in fast-paced westerns.

Jeff Westerhoff THE MURMUR OF MASKS Catherine Kullmann, CreateSpace, 2016, £9.99, pb, 364pp, 9781534697362 The theme of Catherine Kullmann’s debut Regency novel is ‘Marry in haste, repent at leisure’.

Olivia Frobisher’s comfortable life is thrown into sudden disarray, and in response she opts for the safety of an arranged marriage. She soon learns that her sacrifice is more than she had guessed.

But how can she have a second chance at love while retaining her morality and her self-respect?

This tale is told from Olivia’s viewpoint, but also several others, including that of her husband, Jack, and her lover, Luke. There is no suspense, therefore, in the story of the marriage: the reader knows it is doomed long before the protagonist does. Nor is there any mystery in the romance: we know early on that true love has blossomed.

Structurally I think this is a mistake, as it slows the pace and distances us from Olivia. However, it also allows for some very touching scenes that a more formulaic romance would struggle to achieve. The letters between the couple were a high point for me, as were the set-piece descriptions at Waterloo and its aftermath. I also liked that where Jack, initially, is the principal barrier to the plot’s denouement, in the end it is his and Olivia’s children who prove a much truer and more nuanced problem.

Richard Lee THE CIRCLE OF SAPPHO David Lassman and Terence James, The Mystery Press/Trafalgar Square, 2016, $16.95/ C$22.95/£8.99, pb, 246pp, 9780750962964 The Circle of Sappho is Lassman’s and James’s second Regency mystery featuring detective Jack Swann. Their first, The Regency Detective, introduced Swann as the protégé of an upper-class family that adopted him after his father was killed defending them. He has tracked the killer to Bath, where both stories are set.

Swann’s personal pursuit is interrupted when Lady Harriet, his benefactor’s sister, asks him to investigate a seemingly clear-cut case of murdersuicide. He feels he cannot refuse and thus heads out to the exclusive girls’ school where a popular French teacher, Miss Leigh, and her favorite pupil, Grace, were found dead on an uninhabited island just a short boat ride from the school. Did Miss Leigh stab Grace and in a struggle, did Grace 32 | Reviews |

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fatally strike Miss Leigh in the head with a rock?

Everyone thinks so. Grace was scheduled to leave the school, and Miss Leigh perhaps could not bear their parting. However, there is another story playing out at the same time, one more complicated and more dangerous than this dramatic tragedy— which is what makes The Circle of Sappho so much more interesting.

Both stories are good mysteries. Each is wellpaced with a surprising and interesting ending.

There is a fine sense of place with lots of detail and description. One thing troubled me, however: the lack of response to Miss Leigh’s sexual relationship with Grace. There is pedophilic grooming and a graphic seduction scene, in case anyone had doubts. But no one expresses dismay or even surprise when it is discovered. I cannot think that this was acceptable even in the 19th century. Putting this aside, however, I can recommend The Circle of Sappho as a very good winter’s read.

Lucille Cormier LORD OF THE PRIVATEERS: The Adventurers Quartet, Volume 4 Stephanie Laurens, MIRA, 2016, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 503pp. 9780778319733 / HQ, 2016, £8.99, pb, 512pp, 9781848456570 The year is 1824, and Royd Frobisher, the Lord of the Privateers, has been summoned from Aberdeen by the English spymaster to undertake a rescue mission in Africa. Insisting on going along with him on the long voyage is Isobel Carmichael, whose cousin is among the hostages to be rescued.

Royd and Isobel had been handfasted eight years ago and expected to marry, but Royd had left on a mission without word to her, and she had borne his son alone.

Despite the tension between them, Isobel contrives to accompany Royd not only on the voyage, but also on the rescue mission to a diamond mine in the African jungle. Successful after dangerous fighting, they return to London still needing to discover the instigators of the hostage-taking. Together they devise a strategy to entrap them.

This is not a typical swashbuckling romance.

The meticulous detail about life aboard a sailing ship, strategies when attacking a strongly defended encampment, and social life in late Georgian London all lift it out of the usual. The care taken to explore the deeper aspects of developing a loving relationship also contributes to make this an unusually interesting novel of romance and adventure.

Val Adolph THE HIDDEN PEOPLE Alison Littlewood, Jo Fletcher, 2016, £14.99, hb, 388pp, 9781848669901 / also $26.99, hb, 368pp, 9781681442938 England in the 1860s. Albie Millards, a rather pompous and earnest clerk in his father’s London business, travels to a small village, Halfoak, in Yorkshire to investigate the macabre death of his cousin Elizabeth Higgs. She was killed by her husband, who had reportedly suspected that she had been turned into a changeling by the faeries, and

was severely burned to recover her soul, resulting in her untimely death. In Halfoak, Albie is shocked to find that no one wants to take responsibility for the body of the unfortunate Elizabeth, and thus he arranges her funeral, which is also ignored by the locals. Helena, Albie’s wife, unexpectedly arrives and announces that she is pregnant with their first child. Albie decides that he has to stay on to look further into his cousin’s death, and to discover who else in the village might be to blame. They stay in Elizabeth Higgs’ vacant cottage (her husband is in prison awaiting trial), and some very strange things start to happen. Helena’s character changes, and she becomes hostile and distant towards her husband. Halfoak is immersed in an unrelentingly hot summer, and our seemingly rational narrator, and the reader, begins to wonder just where the truth lies: how much is caused by supernatural belief, and how much just by the mendacity of human behaviour.

The story is narrated in an excellent Victorian voice; Albie’s determination to maintain standards of propriety and rationality in the face of the weird events are admirably described in the first person. About two-thirds of the way through the novel, the story seems to become a little stuck, with the characters repeating their actions without a sense of forward movement. Nevertheless, it is an excellent and engaging read, moving to an absorbing conclusion.

Douglas Kemp DEATH COMES TO THE FAIR Catherine Lloyd, Kensington, 2016, $25, hb, 304pp, 9781496702043 Catherine Lloyd’s Death Comes to the Fair is a pseudo-historical detective story, a sort of ‘village Agatha Christie in costume.’ Bland and derivative, it could be set in any historical period, and the historical details of Regency England, of which there are almost none, have no function in the plot. This concerns the death of Mr Thurrock, the unpopular verger of the parish church. Soon after being awarded too many prizes for his vegetables at the harvest festival, he is fatally crowned by a falling gargoyle. Rumour has it that he has been murdered because of his unjustified horticultural success.

The detective, Lucy Harrington, is a spinster of uncertain years who is betrothed to and assisted by the local lord of the manor, Major Sir Robert Kurland, a curmudgeonly, retired soldier.

The mystery revolves around the murder-bygargoyle and a missing Kurland estate land deed.

Among the suspects are the verger’s brother, Nathaniel; two local female herbalists, suspected of witchcraft; and an assortment of locals and relatives who might have been motivated to cause the verger’s death, or may be benefiting from the disappearance of the missing deed that records the sale of a piece of Kurland land. The plot is so slight that to help it along it requires either a great deal of clever comic writing or some delightfully unusual and eccentric characters. Sadly, it has neither. Death Comes to the Fair is the fourth in a series, so there is, presumably, a loyal readership for this type of book.

Ken Methold

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THE WITCHES OF NEW YORK Ami McKay, Orion, 2016, £13.99, pb, 506pp, 9781409143512 / HarperPerennial, 2017, $15.99, pb, 560pp, 9780062359926 The Witches of New York is the third novel from bestselling author Ami McKay. While the new novel sees the return of Moth from her previous novel, The Virgin Cure, it can be read as a standalone.

The story opens in New York in September 1880 with Moth, now Adelaide, and her dear friend Eleanor, who have opened Tea & Sympathy, a tea shop where they offer spells, remedies and advice to the well-heeled ladies of Manhattan.

While Eleanor is the expert on remedies and tea, Adelaide is a talented seer and happy to proclaim herself a witch. Having lost an eye to an acid attack from a jealous rival, she revels in her witchy appearance.

The ladies’ workload has increased, and so Adelaide places an advert seeking an apprentice, and Beatrice comes into their lives. Beatrice has travelled from small-town upstate New York seeking adventure and magic, and she is a wonderful addition to the store, but it soon becomes obvious that she has incredible magical abilities. While Eleanor wants to help the girl to develop at her own pace, Adelaide wants to test out Beatrice’s abilities, and before long Beatrice disappears. Has she run away? Or has she been taken? Because in a society that condemns women, is it ever safe to be a witch?

The growth of Beatrice’s character is skillfully woven throughout the novel as she turns from country girl to a young woman in charge of her own destiny. This is a beautiful novel, impeccably researched, powerfully plotted and packed with intriguing characters. Carefully blending fantasy, crime and historical fiction, this is a charming and atmospheric read perfect for fans of Sophia Tobin, Susan Hill and Essie Fox. Lisa Redmond

romantic elements, this is a mystery with enough playful banter and bumbling, indiscreet moments to make you laugh and keep your heart racing, and enough plot twists to keep it complicated. Themes of being haunted by past memories and learning to open up and trust again lend a touching element of heart. This is a charming addition to the Seduction Diaries series.

Lauren Miller

THE PERKS OF LOVING A SCOUNDREL Jennifer McQuiston, Avon, 2016, $7.99, pb, 384pp, 9780062335142 Victorian London is no place for a bookish spinster like Miss Mary Channing, who lands herself in a conundrum when she becomes entangled with Geoffrey Westmore, who is by all accounts an irredeemable scoundrel. Westmore, a former soldier, has no room in his life for an inexperienced Society miss, but when she’s compromised during an overheard assassination plot, it’ll behoove him to do the honourable thing before Channing gets them both killed. The fate of the British Empire is in the hands of two unlikely heroes.

McQuiston’s newest romantic mystery features the Westmore clan with an engaging story, comfortable pace, and an original plot that is well thought out. While there are some steamy

THE COMING David Osborne, Bloomsbury, 2017, $30.00/ C$40.00/£18.99, hb, 528pp, 9781632863850 Much has been written about the Lewis and Clark expedition to the uncharted territories of America’s Northwest, including biographies of Sacajawea, the young Indian woman who served as a scout for the Corps of Discovery. Along the way, the expedition leaders made friends with the Nez Perce people, a friendship that both sides believed would be everlasting. A little-known, but factual, result of this friendship was the birth of a boy to William Clark and an unidentified Nez Perce woman. The boy was named Daytime Smoke.

He grew up with the Nez Perce when his father’s expedition left the area and headed back east.

As more whites move northwest, Smoke is torn between his white and Nez Perce identities, spending several years trying to live as a soyappo—a

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ART LOVE FORGERY Carolyn Morgan, Flanker, 2016, $19.95/C$19.95, pb, 228pp, 9781771175791 Morgan has based her novel on a true event that took place in 1880s St. John’s, Newfoundland.

A Polish immigrant, Alexander Pindikowsky, is arrested for check forgery and sentenced.

Pindikowsky is a talented fresco painter. When this is brought to the attention of the Governor and penitentiary authorities, it is decided that his skills could be put to use in exchange for a reduced sentence.

While painting the frescoes in St. John’s Government House, he meets one of the maids, Ellen Dormody, and a romance develops. Because of small-town gossip, Alexander and Ellen meet secretly until he is eventually released from prison.

Shortly after, they marry and have a daughter. As a free man, Alexander acquires more commissions painting frescoes in other churches, government buildings, and stately homes, but his opportunities are limited. The family immigrates to America, where he can continue the work he loves.

There is not much more historically known about Pindikowsky, and the author doesn’t take fictional license to add other plotlines or round out the characters to enrich the story. Morgan has written a one-dimensional novel with lifeless characters facing no real conflict. The writing is overly simple, with some poor descriptions. A love scene with “their hands scrambling like spiders to remove clothing” feels creepy and certainly doesn’t enhance the story. I was hoping to get lost in a different time and place and to live through the characters in 19th-century Newfoundland, but this book was a disappointment.

Janice Ottersberg

white—until disease and killings and treaties that are always broken, push him squarely into the Nez Perce camp.

This debut novel imagines the life of Smoke and accurately chronicles the relationship between the U.S. government and the Native peoples of the Northwest, particularly the Nez Perce. Osborne says the novel was ten years in the making, and the deep level of his research is obvious in this richly detailed story. Biographical information about Smoke is almost nonexistent, but the author weaves his imagined life effortlessly into the lives of the other characters, almost all of whom are reallife figures, to create an exciting and engrossing story.

The novel, mirroring U.S.-Native relations over the centuries, is often horrifying and heartbreaking.

Yet there are many lessons to be learned here, not the least of which is about acceptance and tolerance of the Other. This novel is a must-read for those interested in Native American history.

John Kachuba SOLDIER, SPY, HEROINE: Based on a True Story of the Civil War Debra Ann Pawlak and Cheryl DuBois, Yucca, 2017, $24.99, hb, 256pp, 9781631581038 Gender crossover is a maturing but still exciting trend in modern literature. The theme is never more compelling than when based on historical events. Such is the case with Sarah Emma Edmonds, a 19th-century woman who dreams of doing things only then done by men. When her abusive and overbearing father trades her hand in marriage for a few head of livestock, she flees the family farm with the help of her mother. Upon her father’s discovery of her location, she is forced to take on the identity of traveling salesman Franklin Thompson, eventually settling in Flint, Michigan.

There, as Thompson, she joins Company F of the Second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, becoming a genuine Civil War hero while serving her country in her male guise.

The true story of Sarah Emma Edmonds, as Thompson, approaches the incredible.

She acts as nurse during the First Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Yorktown, the Battle of Williamsburg, and the Battle of Fair Oaks/ Seven Pines, and later is recruited as a Union spy.

For purposes of espionage, she uses a number of unique disguises, including a black slave and an Irish peddler woman. A few trusted friends know her secret, but eventually she must desert the Union Army to avoid official discovery of her deception. The full truth does not come out until she is married and seeks to obtain her pension and clear her name for an honorable discharge.

The story is rich in historical detail, but reads at times like a series of penny legend episodes.

The reader hungers for a bit more depth of insight into the character, motives and personality of this complex, extraordinary woman well beyond her time.

Jackie Drohan THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PERSIMMON WILSON HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 33

Nancy Peacock, Atria, 2017, $25.00, hb 336pp, 9781501116353 Persimmon “Persy” Wilson, a former slave, has only a short time to live before his hanging. Tried and convicted of killing his former master and kidnapping and raping his former master’s wife, Persy wants to make sure his side of the story is known, even if no one reads it until after his death.

He begins penning the story of his life as a slave, and then later as a free man, and his long journey to reunite with the only woman he ever loved.

Persy and several other slaves are purchased by a Louisiana sugar plantation owner, Master Wilson.

Among the new additions to the plantation is Chloe, whose light skin ensures she will work in the house instead of the fields. Persy and Chloe fall in love during their brief chances to be together, and they plan an escape. Before they can leave, however, the Union army is set to attack New Orleans and, fearing he will lose all his slaves, Master Wilson packs them up to head to Texas. During a fight that ensues, Persy is shot by his master and left for dead. When he recovers, Persy is determined to find Chloe and live out the life they dreamed. His journey leads him across the harsh Texas landscape and into the hands of the warring Comanche, who take him as a captive, but nothing can deter his search.

Peacock’s story is unflinching and, at times, brutally violent. Persy and the characters he meets during his travels are compelling and multifaceted, with the unfortunate exception of Chloe, who is given very little backstory. The slave narrative aspect of the novel is engaging, particularly the description of Persy’s experience living with the Comanche. Less successful is the romantic element, since Persy and Chloe’s relationship feels underdeveloped.

Janice Derr

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UNDER A POLE STAR Stef Penney, Quercus, 2016, £18.99, hb, 598pp, 9781786481160 This book has the makings of a five-star screen weepy in the vein of M. L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans.

Flora Mackie, daughter of a Dundee whaling captain, first crosses the Arctic Circle in 1883 at the age of twelve. The land and its people enchant her, and she determines to become a scientist and explorer. Despite her struggle to be taken seriously, chance returns her to northern Greenland at the head of a British expedition. She is 20 years old. Impulsive, elusive geologist Jakob de Beyn, raised in Manhattan by stern Lutheran uncle Seppe, first discovers ice at the age of six in the water barrel for morning ablutions. Twenty years later, weary of surveying the mountains of Wyoming and Montana, he joins a polar expedition led by ruthless Lester Armitage the same year as Flora sets out. The reader is drawn 34 | Reviews |

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in, carried along, certain Jakob and Flora are going to meet and that it will be significant. They do, on page 192. And it is, eventually.

Yet, the book is so much more than this. The land of the Eskimos is evoked until it becomes a character: a place of violent extremes, the timeless beauty of frozen seas and coastal summer meadows, of perpetual night and endless day, where pack ice can crush a ship like an eggshell. The author’s use of language is exquisite in its description of colour, texture, and the play of light on surfaces. The book studies the dark side of the so-called golden age of polar exploration, the corrosive power of ambition, and a mystery that Flora—returning one last time to the pole in her seventies—will finally lay to rest.

Beautifully done.

Janet Hancock A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING Deanna Raybourn, Berkley, 2017, $26.00, hb, 352pp, 9780451476159 / Titan, 2017, £7.99, pb, 320pp, 9781785650505 Thanks to the clamor of readers following her debut (A Curious Beginning), Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell is back, mixing butterflyhunting and murder. It’s 1887 London, and Miles Ramsforth, a well-known patron of the arts, is about to be hanged for the murder of his artist mistress. But a member of no less than the royal family believes him innocent, and so asks Veronica to find the truth. Enter her stalwart champion and natural historian colleague Stoker, and the game’s afoot. The team has a week before the hanging.

They accomplish their task, of course, winding through the world of both bohemian and uppercrust society on their way to unmask the murderer.

They have help from quarters as various as an undertaker with a weakness for opium, a sculptor with secrets, a cheeky maid named Cherry, and Sir Hugo, head of Special Branch of the Metropolitan Police, and by turns tormentor and savior.

A fine combination of detective story and character study, A Perilous Undertaking is sure to interest mystery lovers and Anglophiles alike.

Although the details are full of well-researched tidbits, some readers may find at times they get in the way of the forward momentum of the story. But clever plotting and explorations in the relationship between Veronica and her equally mysterious and passionate partner Stoker are always a source of delight.

Eileen Charbonneau THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY Susan Rivers, Algonquin, 2017, $25.95/£18.99, hb, 272pp, 9781616205812 The Second Mrs. Hockaday is Susan Rivers’ debut novel, but she is no stranger to writing, as she was once a playwright and now teaches collegelevel English. Perhaps it is these influences that led her to write this novel, which is dramatized in the form of letters, diary entries, and court records.

Set during the American Civil War, The Second Mrs. Hockaday follows Placidia, the child bride of the much older Gryffth Hockaday. Hastily married, the two are separated when Gryffth must return to his regiment, leaving Placidia alone on his

South Carolina farm with the responsibilities of caring for his young son. When Hockaday returns home after the war, he finds that Placidia has borne and murdered a child. So what happened during his time away?

The Second Mrs. Hockaday is an enthralling read and a welcome change in a market dominated with European-set historicals. The premise of the novel is compelling and does not skimp on period details. Rivers’ portrayal of the tragedy that was the American Civil War will pull on readers’ heartstrings. Everyone was affected, from the soldiers in the field to the women and children on the home front. Complex and morally ambiguous decisions had to be made in order to survive.

This novel will appeal to readers of historical mysteries, but also to those who like to delve into the social constructs of a time period. However, due to the novel’s epistolary nature, some readers may find difficulty in identifying with the vast cast of characters. Additionally, the various communiqués are authored by different characters, so it can be hard to keep track of events. Nonetheless, The Second Mrs. Hockaday is a wonderful debut that should not be missed.

Caroline Wilson THE RIPPER’S SHADOW Laura Joh Rowland, Crooked Lane, 2017, $25.99, hb, 368pp, 9781683310051 Sarah Bain, taught by her now-missing activist father, is a photographer in Whitechapel, London, in 1888. Struggling in her profession, she takes erotic photos of prostitutes—which sell well—and lives an isolated existence. Since a child, her mother warned her never to trust anyone, especially men. After two of her models are found brutally murdered, Sarah is afraid the killer saw her photos and seeks these women out for torture. Sarah feels responsible to track down the perpetrator, now called the Ripper. By chance she meets a handsome nobleman and a street urchin with their own troubles, but they team up to protect the prostitutes and stop the Ripper. A constable, who Sarah is attracted to, is set on sidelining her investigation.

Sarah is an interesting and determined character. Scarred by her childhood, she finally flourishes with her newfound friends, who include a Jewish couple and an actress—a disparate group whose members learn to care about each other.

Author Rowland speculates on the identity of Jack the Ripper, which keeps the tale intriguing.

Customs of the Victorian era ground the reader in place. One suspect spills information to strangers, and in front of women, too easily for this time period. The escapades through London can get madcap and melodramatic, but that doesn’t deter from the story. It’s hard to believe this professed shy woman jumps into danger so quickly, but I’m glad she does. The novel moves at a fast pace, and mystery fans will enjoy the ride.

Diane Scott Lewis MARIA INES Anne Schroeder, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 230pp, 9781432832773 19th Century

The first half of the 19th century is the setting for this tracing of the life of a native (Salinan people) woman born into the mission society founded

by Father Serra up and down the California coast. Her loving parents are short-lived due to the cruelty and disease visited upon them. Maria Ines serves the mission from age ten and tries to live a life of service as the constant invasion of Spanish, Mexican and American forces swirls around her. She is witness to changes from the padres to Fremont. She finds love and a treasured child but is separated from her son until time and circumstances combine for a reunion. Rich in incident and relentless in its depiction of hunger, hardship and exploitation, Maria Ines’s survival is a welcome conclusion. But she is a figure more acted upon than acting, and the narrative tells but does not show much of her inner life as it unfolds.

Eileen Charbonneau THE ROYAL GHOST Linda Stratmann, The Mystery Press/Trafalgar Square, 2016, £8.99/$16.95, pb, 313pp, 978075096690 This is an intriguing book set in Victorian times.

It is well worth reading the historical notes at the end before reading the book itself, as so much then falls into place within the story.

The Royal Pavilion in Brighton, originally built for The Prince Regent, later to become George IV, had been acquired on his death by the local Council and was opened to the public. Two sisters claimed to have got lost among its many rooms and passages and had seen the ghosts of George, when he was Prince Regent and his lover, Mrs. Fitzherbert. They wrote a book on their experiences called An Encounter, which became the talk of the town and one which ‘no respectable lady’ would dream of reading, although at least one copy was found beneath a pillow! Séances were popular, and many were taken in by the so-called mediums who claimed to receive messages from loved ones who had passed to the other side. Our heroine, Mina Scarletti, has a friend who was robbed of a considerable amount of money by this practice and sets out to prove the frauds that were, and are, being perpetrated.

I found this tale totally different from the usual Victorian melodramas, as it was firmly based on fact and the beliefs of the time. The pace is good, the characters believable and the style of writing suits the time in which it is set without going over the top. I enjoyed it very much.

Marilyn Sherlock MORTIMER BLAKELY IS MISSING Amanda Taylor, Northern Heritage, 2016 (c2013), £7.99, pb, 317pp, 9781906600938 This is the second in Taylor’s series about James Cairn, a barrister in York, England, at the turn of the last century. It has had good reviews on Amazon, with readers enjoying the historical and geographical detail. Personally I found they held up the story and were so numerous that it was difficult to uncover the essential elements of the plot. Every time something new (including at one point a particular cheese) was referred to, the author gave 19th Century

us its historical background in some detail.

The plot revolves around the Rev. Hobb, who is arrested in York wearing a woman’s dress and is accused of soliciting, an obviously trumped-up charge. James Cairn agrees to take his case, and as a result of this and a sub-plot involving political sects, finds himself travelling to London, the Isle of Wight, and Amsterdam. As Hobb had nothing to do with these sects, I found it difficult to unite the two plots.

I also found it difficult to raise an interest in any of the characters and found the hero too good to be true: he is very modern in his outlook on homosexuality, what we now call cross-dressing, and racism. The world was changing in its attitude towards these in 1899, but I question whether Cairn would be quite so liberal in his views.

I never really got into this novel, until the trial scene in the last 64 pages, which was well-written and full of tension. jay Dixon

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THE VANISHING Sophia Tobin, Simon & Schuster, 2017, £12.99, hb, 388pp, 9781471151606 Sophia Tobin’s third novel is a gothic thriller with shades of Jane Eyre, Jamaica Inn and Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith. Annaleigh has accepted the position of housekeeper at White Windows in Yorkshire. Determined to begin anew, she is shocked to discover that White Windows is much more remote than she had anticipated, that the servants are truculent and the owners mysterious. Brought up in bustling Victorian London, Annaleigh was a foundling raised by a painter and his wife. She had anticipated a different life, believing herself to be part of Mr Calvert’s family, but when love seemed to blossom between his stepson and his adopted daughter, Mr Calvert was happy to have Annaleigh move away. Brokenhearted and apparently without family, Annaleigh quickly becomes fascinated by her darkly mysterious new employer, Mr Twentyman.

The parallels between The Vanishing and Jane Eyre are obvious: the educated young woman fallen on hard times, the brooding hero, the gothic setting of the big house and the remoteness of the Yorkshire Moors, but what could easily be a pastiche becomes in the careful hands of a skilful writer a wonderful homage and a clever reworking.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, Sophia Tobin has addressed the issue of women’s lack of rights in the period and the power and manipulation that men wielded to control them. Either as daughters, wives, or servants, women were essentially property without rights to their own bodies, their belongings or their children.

A fast-paced and wonderfully written gothic thriller which will appeal to Brontë fans and anyone who enjoys Victorian mysteries, this clever

and insightful book should bring Sophia Tobin to both literary and popular acclaim.

Lisa Redmond

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TO NAME THOSE LOST Rohan Wilson, Europa, 2017, $17.00/C$23.00, pb, 272pp, 9781609453497 In the city of Launceston on the island of Tasmania in 1874, 12-year-old William Toosey has lived his young life in extreme poverty.

His father Thomas abandoned the family for the life of a lawless and drunk wanderer.

When his mother dies suddenly, William is left homeless, starving, and struggling to survive the brutal streets on his own. As soon as Thomas becomes aware of his son’s plight, he starts the journey back to Launceston. In Thomas’s past he was a convict transported to Australia and earned his freedom by joining a roving party whose sole purpose was to search out and murder Aborigines.

He has always lived a brutal and murderous life in a very violent and lawless land. As Thomas makes his way to William, he is being tracked by the Irishman Fitheal Flynn and his mysterious hooded companion. William robbed the pair of all their money and they are out for revenge. But this revenge goes far beyond just recovering their money; they are out for blood.

On the surface, this sounds like a dark and depressing book, but looking deeper, it is really about loss, and the love and connections that remain long after a loved one is gone. The plotline and characters in this award-winning Australian novel are unforgettable. The plot moves along quickly with good pacing. The reason behind the Irishman and his hooded companion’s hunger for revenge are slowly revealed with perfect timing in the hands of an expert writer. Wilson’s beautiful writing stands out in harsh contrast to the world of violence, heartache, and human suffering he depicts. This wonderful quote towards the end of the book says it all: “And the sound of love is to name those lost who lived for others.” I loved this book, and I’m so glad to discover Rohan Wilson.

Janice Ottersberg THE WOMAN WHO BREATHED TWO WORLDS Selina Siak Chin Yoke, AmazonCrossing, 2016, $14.95, pb, 474pp, 9781503939349 In 1878 in a small Malay village, little Chye Hoon, a Nyonya (Malaysian of Chinese descent), is visiting a temple. Chye tries to shake a lit jos-stick in her hand, but it flies out, landing on the Goddess of Mercy’s marble forehead. She is punished and told that it’s because she is a Tiger Girl (born in the Year of the Tiger). Several other incidents follow, such as her throwing a wooden clog at a rude shopkeeper. These reinforce her reputation of being ill-tempered.

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While she wants to go to school with her brother, she is instead taught to cook, like other girls. Although Chye’s sisters are wed, and her friend marries a “white-devil,” Chye has difficulty finding a suitor, which worries her mother.

Eventually a matchmaker arranges her marriage to Peng, a Chinese immigrant. They lead a good life and have ten children. But when Peng returns to China, Chye is left alone to raise her large family and provide for them in ingenious ways.

Selina Siak Chin Yoke acknowledges that this story is inspired by her great-grandmother’s life and times, as told to her by her mother and other family elders. However, it seems that Yoke has included too much factual information, which makes this novel read more like a biography. While there are many detailed descriptions of the Malaysian people, land, cuisine, and British influence in the pre-WWII years, which would be of great interest to those researching that period, they tend to slow down the story. The plot is also somewhat obscure, and some storylines are not fully resolved. However, the narrative is well written. The technique used to write the characters’ dialogue, some in broken and some in perfect English, differentiates their social status perfectly. The novel’s open ending indicates that a sequel will follow.

Waheed Rabbani

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STOLEN BEAUTY Laurie Lico Albanese, Atria, 2017, $26.00/ C$35.00, hb, 320pp, 9781501131981 Vienna at the turn of the 20th century was a hotbed for modern thinkers, artists, and supporters of the arts.

One of the local society leaders was Adele Bloch-Bauer, who held salons in her home, inviting luminaries such as noted anatomy professor Emil Zuckerkandl and his wife, the forward-thinking writer Berta, art historian Franz Wickhoff, and Secessionist artist Gustav Klimt. While these discussions fed her mind, there has been much speculation on the close relationship between Bloch-Bauer and Klimt; Albanese’s book recreates their world, and convincingly portrays an intimate involvement between the two.

Bloch-Bauer was the model for two of Klimt’s masterpieces, Judith I and Woman in Gold— scandalous at the time both for their extravagance and because Bloch-Bauer was Jewish. Bloch-Bauer then sat for Klimt again for a more sedate portrait commissioned by her philanthropist husband.

The portraits disappeared during World War II, when Bloch-Bauer’s niece, Maria Altmann, and her generation were besieged by the Nazi invasion of Austria.

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Chapters alternate between Adele’s story of love, light, and learning, and Maria’s desperate fight against hatred and darkness. Both women are smart, strong, and determined, and both are real: Albanese researched the lives and connections of aunt and niece, following Maria beyond the war as she rebuilt her life and her family. That family pursues the Klimt paintings, which themselves become characters in this narrative. Readers will be swept away by the depth of feeling and sensuous writing; whether depicting the salons of Vienna or its slums, the ballroom dances of debutantes or the takeover of a textile factory by German troops, Klimt fervently sketching, or the relaxed atmosphere of a coffee house, Albanese’s prose brings the people and the times to life. This novel is a bonanza of information about art history, philosophy, feminism, war, and love.

Helene Williams THE MAGDALEN GIRLS V. S. Alexander, Kensington, 2017, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 304pp, 9781496706126 The Sisters of the Holy Redemption. A sweetsounding place that hides a troubling secret: it is one of the many Magdalen laundries of the Catholic Church, places of abuse, neglect and sadness, all in the name of reforming their charges.

Teagan is a typical 1960s Dublin girl: she thinks about clothes, her future and, of course, boys. But a mistakenly innocent encounter with a priest gets her sentenced to the laundry. There she meets an orphaned girl, Lea, who rarely speaks, has a unique gift, and seems resigned to life within the convent.

Not long after Teagan’s arrival comes Nora, a feisty dreamer who hails from the tenements and only wants to run away with her boyfriend and live a life away from Dublin.

In the laundry, the girls become close friends.

They pledge to look out for one another and escape together. Alexander’s research of the treatment within the convent is clear and true; the girls suffer, and suffer in silence. Their personal narratives are told through wonderful prose, although I would like to have had one main protagonist. Their life inside the convent is as honest to reality as one can get without living it personally. Their individual escapes highlight Catholic Dublin’s attitudes toward these girls, and Nora’s escape is especially troubling, though a little glossed over. What hinder this book from truly shining are the subplots of Lea, a clairvoyant martyr, and the cruel Mother Superior Sister Anne, a masochist with a secret connection with one of the Magdalens.

A well-written look at a wretched history within the Catholic Church.

Bryan Dumas THE IDOL OF MOMBASA Annamaria Alfieri, Felony & Mayhem, 2016, $14.95/C$18.95, pb, 264pp, 9781631941009 In 1912, newlyweds Vera and Justin Tolliver return to the British Protectorate of East Africa, where they met in Strange Gods, first in this mystery series. He is an idealistic young English police officer; she was raised in the highlands of the interior as the daughter of Scottish missionaries.

Tolliver, however, is now posted to the coast at the port of Mombasa, while the Grand Mufti is visiting from Egypt. When first an African and then an Arab are found murdered, the investigations are hindered by wider political considerations. There are suspicions that the illegal slave trade is involved; but although banned throughout the British Empire, slave-holding has long been a custom in Arab households, and authorities are reluctant to stir up unrest among the Moslem community in a zone still under the nominal sovereignty of the Sultan of Zanzibar.

In many ways, the mystery is overshadowed by the cultural and political currents that the investigators must navigate. Customs differ among the African tribes; tensions exist between the different ethnic groups, European and Asian, Arab and African; religious beliefs are a source of simmering conflict, particularly between devout Moslems and Christian missionaries; class distinctions and snobbery, both between and within the ethnic groups, is rampant; attitudes towards women are condescending and repressive.

Alfieri has clearly done her homework.

Stylistically, the writing can be awkward, and the shifting points of view, not only from Vera and Tolliver, but from his sergeant Kwai Libazo and others, make for a disjointed narrative. This does, nonetheless, reflect the confusion created by so many unfamiliar cultural attitudes. The novel offers an intriguing glimpse into life in an obscure but colorful corner of the British Empire that was destined to gain some notoriety as the century progressed.

Ray Thompson A DEATH BY ANY OTHER NAME Tessa Arlen, Minotaur, 2017, $25.99/C36.99, hb, 336pp, 9781250101426 Building on the success of the two previous installments of the Lady Montfort mystery series, Arlen reintroduces us to the elegant Lady Montfort and her housekeeper, Edith Jackson, who investigate a murder in a group of amateur rosarians. When the cook at Hyde Castle is accused of poisoning a guest of the Hyde Rose Society, Lady Montfort promises to help clear the woman’s name.

She contrives an invitation to Hyde Castle, where the Rose Society is meeting with renowned garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. However, there is more going on with the rose enthusiasts than discussions of black spot and pruning; secret desires and concealed passions are blooming as well. While Lady Montfort and Jackson unravel the whodunit, the winds of war are gathering across the English Channel. The continuing conflict in Prussia and the assassination of the heir to the Austrian Empire act as background to the numerous clues and suspects uncovered.

Arlen’s delightful mix of upstairs and downstairs conveys the complexities of a hidebound class system on the verge of change. The nouveau-riche is exemplified by the owner of Hyde Castle— Mr. Roger Haldane, manufacturer of Haldane’s Hearty Stew and his long-suffering wife, Maud, chairwoman of the Hyde Rose Society. The narrative is helped along by a slew of red herrings, 20th Century

a fast-moving plot, and fine descriptive passages.

A thorn in an otherwise excellent book is the dialogue, often stiff and overly abundant. It’s a small complaint, but some judicious pruning would have helped.

Lorraine Norwood WAVES OF MERCY Lynn Austin, Bethany House, 2016, $15.99, pb, 376pp, 9780764217616 With her usual flair for historical detail and intricate storytelling, Austin weaves a fascinating tale of two women in Waves of Mercy. In 1897, Anna Nicholson flees from Chicago to the Hotel Ottawa in Holland, Michigan in order to escape society after a broken engagement. There, she is haunted by nightmares that seem more like memories, which cause her to question her past (she was adopted) as well as her faith. Befriending Derk Vander Veen, a hotel worker who plans to enter the ministry, helps Anna begin to heal and also figure out the mysteries of her dreams.

Derk, meanwhile, is also healing from a broken relationship and questioning his future. He turns to his favorite neighbor, elderly Geesje de Jonge, for support and guidance. Geesje’s story is equally fascinating. She left the Netherlands more than 50 years ago, and she begins to reflect on her past, writing her story down for an upcoming celebration of their settlement. Her story helps Derk with his own love quandary, and eventually Anna.

I’m a huge fan of Lynn Austin, and like her others, this story does not disappoint. Geesje’s story of hardship, love, and faith is enchanting. Anna and Derk’s story is equally intriguing. Austin meshes past and present into an unforgettable novel about love and faith. Disappointingly, though, the book ends without closure, and I hope this means that Austin plans to write a sequel. Nevertheless, this is worth a read. Highly recommended.

Rebecca Cochran IN THE SHADOW OF LAKECREST Elizabeth Blackwell, Lake Union, 2017, $14.95, pb, 301pp, 9781503941847 Kate Moore had a rough, violent, and deprived childhood. Now, as an adult, she desperately wants to find a way out of her current situation as a mere governess. So, when she meets dashing, rich, Matthew Lemont, in 1928, she leaps at the chance to become a member of the famous Chicago Lemonts. She soon realizes that her hasty marriage, however, is not without issues and surprises. Her mother-in-law is domineering, controlling, and frightening. Her new husband is haunted by his past, and there are many family secrets buried deep in the house. Matthew’s twin sister is also a bit too close to her brother, which hints at debauchery and incest. Kate becomes intrigued, and soon obsessed by the Lemonts and their secrets, including the mysterious disappearance of Aunt Cecily many years ago. She begins to think that Matthew’s nightmares and troubles began the night his aunt disappeared. Digging deeper, though, draws her into more disturbing family secrets and lies.

This story is reminiscent of Du Maurier’s Rebecca. It even begins in a similar fashion with the 20th Century

heroine dreaming of the house, and then leading into a flashback narrative. Like Rebecca, Lakecrest is a spooky story with a gothic feel and deep, shadowy secrets that come trickling out of the floorboards.

It takes a long time for Kate to gather courage to act on her beliefs and stand up for herself, which at times is a bit exasperating. It’s a bit shocking, though, when Kate finally takes action and acts like a “true” Lemont. This is very different from Blackwell’s other novels, but it’s an excellent mystery and gothic story well worth a read.

Rebecca Cochran

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A THIN BRIGHT LINE Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Univ. of Wisconsin, 2016, $26.95, hb, 323pp, 9780299309305 Lucybelle Bledsoe is an assistant editor at the Geological Society of America. She’s well-educated, having passed the Arkansas bar exam without ever going to law school; she understands science as well as scientists, and is able to create readable reports and articles from masses of data and notes that the male researchers dump on her desk. She’s also gay, and in 1956, New York City is one of the most exciting, and safe, cities for her to live.

When Lucybelle gets dumped by her girlfriend, she finds herself accepting a government job to work in the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment lab outside of Chicago. The classified-level work again means translating arrogant scientists’ notes into meaningful prose, and in the Cold War, that research—about ice cores in the Arctic—has political implications.

Lucybelle’s security clearance comes at a cost: she must not act on her “inclinations,” meaning she has to stay out of gay bars, not get arrested, and not be in relationships with women.

The story of Lucybelle’s work with the SIPRE group, and tantalizing pieces of her personal history, are based in fact, though Lucybelle died in 1966, leaving very little evidence behind. Author Bledsoe, Lucybelle’s niece and namesake, spent years researching Lucybelle’s professional work to document her career, then painstakingly created a full personal life. However imaginary, it reflects the spirit of the times: a segregated America that has yet to come to terms with strong women in the workforce, sexual attraction between women, and love between women of different colors.

There’s much in this outstanding book for readers to enjoy, from the flowing narrative to the wellwoven subplots to the approachable science and discussions about early climate research. The younger Bledsoe has done justice in bringing her aunt’s story—professional and personal—to life.

Helene Williams HAND OF GLORY Susan Boulton, Penmore, 2016, $19.50, pb, 299pp, 9781942756804

Captain Giles Hardy narrowly escapes death in Passchendaele and eventually returns home to Stafford, England, haunted by what he witnessed in the Great War. Another survivor of the same action, Archie Hawkins, is likewise tortured by the conflict and the memory of his brother’s death.

Hawkins goes AWOL after exacting revenge for the death of his beloved brother on the officer he believes responsible. Coming from a long line of thieves, he also takes advantage of the situation to arm himself with the mythical “Hand of Glory,” a macabre device that guarantees success in illicit ventures.

The paths of Hardy and Hawkins cross again several years after the end of the Great War when Archie arrives in Stafford, looking for more revenge.

Meanwhile Hardy assists a local detective in his investigation of a series of mysterious robberies. In the end Hardy, aided by the intrepid nurse Agnes Reed, faces foes even more formidable than those he battled in the trenches.

This book vividly brings to life both the horrors of the Great War and the scars it left on the survivors of the conflict. The setting is somewhat reminiscent of the Charles Todd novels, while the intriguing paranormal twists in the book set it apart from others in the genre. Well-drawn characters and a quickly moving plot make this novel a good read.

Susan McDuffie IN FARLEIGH FIELD Rhys Bowen, Lake Union, 2017, $24.95, hb, 396pp, 9781477818299 When a soldier with a failed parachute falls to his death at Farleigh Place, the estate of Lord Westerham and his five daughters, questions are raised about the man’s lack of identification, his uniform, and his possessions. No one knows who he is, and none of the service branches can claim him, so MI5 assigns Ben Cresswell, a local boy and family friend who is secretly in love with Pamela Westerham, to discover the soldier’s identity. Ben welcomes the assignment as a chance to spend time near Pamela, but she has a secret of her own: she’s taken a job at Britain’s codebreaking facility. While Ben untangles a web of lies and spies, he discovers that people he knows and trusts may be working to betray everything and everyone he loves. Will he, with Pamela’s help, be able to stop the traitorous plot before it’s too late?

Although I hate to admit it, In Farleigh Field is the first Rhys Bowen book I’ve read. But it won’t be the last. This WWII thriller is a well-plotted and thoroughly entertaining read that kept me up way past my bedtime. With characters who are so fully fleshed out, you can imagine meeting them on the street—if you lived in war-torn Britain, that is—and descriptions of the setting are so realistic that I could practically breathe in the smells of the countryside. Indeed, I felt like every chapter was another scene from a BBC period drama.

Recommended.

Kristina Blank Makansi A DEATH IN THE DALES: A Kate Shackleton Mystery HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 37

Frances Brody, Minotaur, 2017, $25.99/C$36.99, hb, 384pp, 9781250098825 / Piatkus, 2015, £8.99, pb, 384pp, 9780349406565 This, the seventh in Brody’s Kate Shackleton series, offers classic, English-countryside, cozymystery enjoyment. Kate, WWI widow and enquiry agent, aims for a holiday with her niece in a Yorkshire village in 1926. A kind doctor, Lucian Simonson, courts Kate. He offers the house he’s inherited from his Aunt Freda. But Freda has left Kate a request: clear the name of a man hanged for murder ten years before. Lucian opposes Kate’s involvement—intimation that all may not be right between them—but Kate is driven to uncover the truth.

Plot layers intriguingly pile up when a young man disappears, a local man dies mysteriously, an illicit love affair threatens a powerful family, and a good supply of suspicious characters reveal themselves to Kate. Brody puts us in the landscape and the language of this place. For example, a young woman knows her landlady’s sad history, “having earwigged when her elders did their whispering.”

Brody vividly portrays village life, with its narrowmindedness and willingness to hide unpleasant truths, and ties up the many strands in a surprising, satisfying way.

Judith Starkston

sister, Louisa, resents her sister for reasons that Margaret can’t fathom. Her father, Jim, is busy with his law practice and leaves the rearing of his daughters to their great-aunt Maggie and their black housekeeper, Ida. In fact, Ida’s daughter, Lily Mae, is more like a sister to Margaret than Louisa has been. What should be a comfortable, secure life is beset by insecurities and secrets—no one talks about Margaret’s late mother, Weezie, though her absence is felt daily.

Margaret finds comfort in her art and hopes that her father will deliver on his promise to enroll her in art lessons. When she ultimately does begin art lessons, the teacher turns out to be her mother’s old friend, who begins, bit by bit, to dole out precious information about Weezie. When Margaret sees a painting of her mother dressed as a nymph, she begins to put together the pieces of her mother’s life and to answer some questions that have plagued her since she was born.

The book evokes a bygone time and place, dropping the reader squarely in 1940s Georgia.

Though Margaret is growing up during a time of depression, war, and racial tensions, she is a typical teenage girl who is an engaging protagonist.

The book flows seamlessly, as it tackles themes of identity and family.

Hilary Daninhirsch

CAKEWALK Rita Mae Brown, Bantam, 2016, $27, hb, 301pp, 9780553392654 Cakewalk is the long-awaited addition to Ms. Brown’s highly popular Runnymede Series. Set against the backdrop of the ending of WWI, Cakewalk follows the escapades of the colorful townsfolk of Runnymede, Maryland. The location is a unique town that straddles the Mason-Dixon Line and is home to such opposing groups as the Sisters of Gettysburg and the Daughters of the Confederacy.

Runnymede is also home to the irrepressible Hunsenmier sisters, Louise and Julia, better known as Weezie and Juts, and their wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Louise, not quite nineteen, is falling in love with a returning soldier. Julia, at not quite fifteen, is waging war against her nemesis, Dimps Jr. Then there is the well-to-do Chalfonte family with secrets of their own, who actually center the story. And it is Fannie and Fairy, Celeste Chalfonte’s ever-faithful comrades, who provide testimony to the meaning of lifelong friendships.

Basing her novel on the town where her mother and aunts grew up, Ms. Brown has provided the reader with a delightful romp through small-town America, with all of its gossips and laughs, passions and rivalries, and through it all the importance of the thread of family. A delightful read.

Linda Harris Sittig

THE RETURN OF THE RAVEN MOCKER Donis Casey, Poisoned Pen Press, 2017, $26.95, hb, 226pp, 9781464207549 In 1918, Alafair Tucker moves to Boynton, Oklahoma, to care for her daughter and sonin-law, both incapacitated by the Spanish flu pandemic sweeping the town. Although Alafair’s husband and younger children are safely out of Boynton, Alafair worries about her older sons and sons-in-law serving in WWI in Europe. She helps out using her country remedies, complementing a new doctor’s modern methods. With people succumbing all over town from influenza, the deaths of Alafair’s two neighbors, a mother and son, should not seem unusual, but something about them raises Alafair’s suspicions.

While this is Donis Casey’s ninth Alafair Tucker mystery, it reads like a standalone. Keeping track of the Tuckers’ large extended family and the extensive cast of characters might have been problematic, but Casey has thoughtfully provided a helpful dramatis personae. The murder mystery plot is thickened by references to an evil Cherokee spirit who might be hunting for victims. Alafair’s use of old Cherokee folk medicine adds to the flair of the well-written story. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani

CARDINAL HILL Mary Anna Bryan, Mercer Univ. Press, 2016, $18, pb, 304pp, 9780881465730 Cardinal Hill is a thoughtful coming-of-age novel set in the Deep South in the 1930s and ´40s. Margaret Norman barely remembers her mother, who died just after her birth. Margaret’s 38 | Reviews |

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DRAGON SPRINGS ROAD Janie Chang, William Morrow, 2017, $15.99/ C$22.99, pb, 400pp, 9780062388957 Left to fend for herself until her mother returns, seven-year-old Jialing stays hidden in the Western Residence, a dilapidated wing of a centuries-old rural estate not far from Shanghai, and occasionally peeks over the wall of the courtyard at the outside world on Dragon Springs Road. She has no idea how completely her life is about to change. Before

going away, her mother prayed at the altar of a Fox spirit in their secluded dwelling, soft prayers that Jialing didn’t quite hear. Days later, when she fears her mother is not coming back, the Fox spirit appears in animal form to guide and protect her.

Taking place from 1908 to 1920, the story reflects an era of major social and political upheaval in China. Its protagonist, an illegitimate Eurasian girl, finds herself shunned by most Chinese and generally unaccepted among the foreigners who have flooded into Shanghai. She must adapt to being a bond-servant, until the opportunity suddenly arises to attend a Christian missionary school for orphans.

Via the Fox character’s mystical abilities and point of view, Jialing and the reader gain a window into rich folklore and glimpse life in earlier centuries on Dragon Springs Road, as well as vistas of other regions in China during the book’s time period.

Fox, however, will not respond to Jialing’s abiding questions about why she was abandoned and what became of her mother. After graduation, Jialing’s plans go awry, and her search to find her mother appears fruitless. She unwittingly has an encounter with political intrigue that puts her life in jeopardy.

And on the verge of losing Fox’s protection, she makes a crucial choice.

This novel melds history, fiction, and fantasy into a very engaging tale.

Cynthia Slocum ABOVE THE REICH David Chaundy-Smart, Imaginary Mountain Surveyors, 2016, $19.95, pb, 232pp, 9780991807673 Germany, 1918. Lukas Eichel is dropped off at an orphanage by his widowed mother. There, he is set upon by the houseboy and future antagonist, Heinrich Rosenfeld, and Lukas is forced to clean the kitchens. His love for mountaineering is born when he finds trading cards of famous alpinists and their routes, from discarded packages of meat extracts, lying on the kitchen floor. At the orphanage, Lukas and the other boys are cared for

by Dr. Franz von Wolayer, who immediately shows his leanings toward future Nazism by telling Lukas that he has pure blood and that the mountains are the truest test of a man and a symbol of pride for Germany. The story quickly shifts to Lukas as an adult, as he continues to foster his love of climbing (under the scrutiny of Wolayer), reluctantly joins the Nazi army, fights, and is wounded. He is taken prisoner and sent, by Heinrich—now a Communist Russian—to a camp in Siberia.

Eventually, Lukas is freed and finally gets to prove himself on a Himalayan climb.

Chaundy-Smart (founding editor of Gripped magazine) deftly weaves a book of mountaineering into the history of the era. Above the Reich is a look at how fascism became interwoven in the German interwar pastime of alpinism. In Lukas, Smart crafts a climber who climbs for himself when others do it for the Führer, and the consequences of those decisions resonate throughout the book. It’s not quite Seven Years in Tibet, but a worthy addition to the look at mountaineering and Nazism.

Bryan Dumas 20th Century

THE SCENT OF LILACS Haydn Corper, Silverwood, 2016, £4.99, ebook, 469pp, 9781781325179 During the last days of Berlin, 1945, we follow five different people, each with different loyalties and different roles in this tense story: Tanya, a Russian with German nationality; John Marlow, an Englishman fighting the Reds for a Finnish outfit; Walter, a young German aspiring to the Hitler Youth; and the brothers Leonid and Cheslav, soldiers in the advancing Red Army.

This is not a military war book, but an examination of people, their feelings and reactions to the events that unfold around them. It is not an action novel, apart from a number of sporadic skirmishes, but the tension builds up slowly and menacingly through the author’s craft of description and observations—and this is masterfully done— all characters and the settings are totally believable.

We are left at the end wondering as to the exact fate of each major character, as the author leaves us with a number of options.

Recommended for those who enjoy a human study rather than an all-out, action-packed war story.

Richard Tearle A NIGHTINGALE CHRISTMAS CAROL Donna Douglas, Arrow, 2016, £5.99, pb, 375pp, 97817847500015 Towards the end of 1944, the East End of London had suffered huge devastation from the blitz, leaving a landscape devoid of many landmarks and a population suffering difficulties of daily life as well as the horrors of war. The Nightingale Hospital had taken the brunt of many attacks, resulting in the facilities available and staffing levels being hugely decreased.

Staff Nurse Dora Riley is working in the basement Casualty ward, and when the hospital board have to accept the transfer of a group of German Prisoners of War one of the wards is re-commissioned for them, Riley is transferred there as the nurse in charge. Other hospital staff find accepting these foreign patients goes against their principles and refuse to treat them. Major Von Mundel’s selection as interpreter causes further angst, not only as a result of his privileged position and lofty demeanour, but being a surgeon places him in a role where the inexperience of the hospital’s own medical team are exposed more than once, resulting in prisoners dying unnecessarily.

A rift develops between the rest of the hospital staff and those who are in daily contact with the Germans, as the consensus sees these incomers are dangerous and that they shouldn’t be cared for next door to the British military patients.

In an easy and quick read, Douglas gives good insight into the challenges and difficulties during this period of history. The medical content is accurately portrayed, and the novel provides an excellent account of the difficulties of working in such a pressured environment in times of war.

Cathy Kemp

20th Century

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LONDON LIES BENEATH Stella Duffy, Virago, 2016, £16.99, hb, 309pp, 9780349007847 The year is 1912, and three young friends join the 2nd Walworth Scouts in search of adventures beyond the East End of London: Tom, whose mother sells medicines and good-luck charms from her barrow, “dispensing hope and maybe”; his cousin Jimmy, son of a loud father and a gently persuasive mother; and Itzhak, for whom London is home but whose family stories are of Latvia. The planned adventure does not end in the way anyone had hoped, and each family struggles in its own way to come to terms with what has happened.

The novel neatly weaves its way through many stories: it brings to life a real but littleremembered incident, it gives intimate glimpses into individual families, and it’s also a rich evocation of East End life before the First World War. It is deeply moving without being sentimental, and it offers a compelling portrayal of how families survive, and of how people in a close community try to find ways to support each other. Although the main characters appear to be fictional, this story does what historical fiction at its best can do: it brings an event vividly to life for modern readers and bears eloquent testimony to the stories of the real people involved. London Lies Beneath is one of the most memorable books I read in 2016, and I recommend it highly.

Ruth Downie

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THEIR FINEST (US) / THEIR FINEST HOUR AND A HALF (UK) Lissa Evans, Harper Perennial, 2017, $15.99/ C$19.99, pb, 464pp, 9780062414915 / Black Swan, 2010, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9780552774710 Their Finest, coming to the U.S. after an Orange Prize nomination and with a forthcoming film adaptation, brings humor, heartbreak, and more than one awkward romance to the familiar British WWII home front novel.

Junior copywriter Catrin Cole, adept at writing women’s dialogue, is tapped by the Ministry of Information to bring a much-needed female perspective to their propaganda film scripts. Their latest project is a melodramatic tale of rescue at Dunkirk, flimsily based on a true story. With many of the British film industry’s best and brightest off doing war work of grave importance, the Ministry is left with the dregs, so to speak. A cynical writer who hides behind his sarcasm. A has-been matinee idol from the ´20s who refuses to be relegated to

the ghastly “Character Actors” page of Spotlight.

A toothy American pilot mistakenly classed as an actor. A nervous caterer-turned-soldier, fresh from the real Dunkirk, brought in as Special Military Advisor. A seamstress used to dressing wax celebrities at Madame Tussaud’s hired as studio costumer. As the members of this strange and varied company try to find steady ground in the uncertainty of wartime, Catrin hopes to write the kind of heroine that the country needs.

From beginning to end, Their Finest is a delight.

Its characters are replete with rough edges and misplaced hopes, but their flaws endear. They bristle, they doubt, they complain, yet they always persevere. Evans’s prose is beautifully sharp, begging to be reread for a second laugh or to savor a particularly delicious turn of phrase. The reader is lulled into thinking this is a novel that doesn’t take itself seriously, only to be walloped with the occasionally unforeseen emotional punch. Highly recommended.

Jessica Brockmole THE INVITATION Lucy Foley, Little, Brown, 2016, $26, 422pp, 9780316273473 / HarperCollins UK, 2016, £12.99, hb, 432pp, 9780007575367 Cruising along the Italian Riviera in the 1950s sounds like a luxurious experience, and this feeling is conveyed to readers of Lucy Foley’s second novel. For the lovers at its center, the journey also entails revisiting their hidden pasts. Journalist Hal Jacobs first meets the glamorous Stella at an Italian contessa’s party in Rome in 1951. Escaping the crowds in a rooftop garden, these lonely strangers form a connection and later spend a single, memorable night together.

They encounter each other again two years later. Both are invited by the Contessa along on a publicity tour via yacht from Liguria to Cannes to promote a film based on her sea-captain ancestor’s diary. Hal is hired to document the trip for an Italian magazine, while Stella is married to the film’s major funder. Hal is dismayed not only by this unpleasant revelation but also because Stella appears diminished in her wealthy husband’s presence. As she and Hal are drawn together amid the high-profile social circle aboard ship, he yearns for her true personality to emerge—and to recapture their lost intimacy.

Stella’s traumatic history unfolds in steady flashbacks to the Spanish Civil War, while a painful episode in Hal’s past is revealed much later, with dramatic impact. Hal’s reading of the diary, which he recasts in narrative form, strangely seems to parallel what he sees. Among the stylish secondary characters who accompany and observe the couple—many have hidden pasts of their own—the elegant Contessa stands out for her understanding wisdom.

Each scene in this lyrically written novel is laden with emotion, and although the story glides along leisurely, the details are worth savoring.

The Invitation is a perfect read for those who love traveling via fiction. Foley evokes the character of each city and village along the sun-drenched voyage, from the contrasting decadence and HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 39

industrial grime of Genoa to the verdant cliffs of Cervo and beyond.

Sarah Johnson

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THE LIBERATION Kate Furnivall, Simon & Schuster, 2016, £7.99, pb, 553pp, 9781471155550 A frightening encounter with the street children of bomb-damaged Naples in 1945 brings Caterina Lombardi in contact with the aloof Major Jake Parr, an American policeman-turnedsoldier charged with safeguarding Italy’s treasures against looting and the black market. Caterina, a skilled wood-inlay worker from nearby Sorrento, is the sole provider for her blind grandfather and 11-yearold brother Luca, since her mother abandoned them years ago and her father was killed during the war. So when Major Parr makes accusations of criminal activity against her beloved father, Caterina is determined to clear his name, unaware of how much danger her quest will lead her into.

This is a terrific historical thriller. Caterina is a multifaceted heroine: principled, brave almost to the point of recklessness, fiercely protective of her family, but also vulnerable and still longing for her mother, despite knowing intellectually that her mother, Lucia, is selfish, manipulative, and incapable of giving her and Luca the love and stability they crave. The other characters are equally well-developed, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged until the end.

The scenery is vividly evoked, from the bombedout, shabby glamour of Naples to the narrower streets of Sorrento, from the chilly elegance of an aristocratic villa on the island of Capri to the tunnels that honeycomb the rock beneath the foundations of Naples itself. Indeed, I could easily see this novel being turned into a film or a TV serial in the style of The Night Manager. This was my first Kate Furnivall novel, but it definitely won’t be my last. Highly recommended.

Jasmina Svenne A VERY PUKKA MURDER: The First Maharajah Mystery Arjun Raj Gaind, Poisoned Pen Press, 2016, $26.95, hb, 338pp, 9781464206436 / also $15.95, pb, 338pp, 9781464206450 On January 1, 1909, in Rajpore, India, His Highness Maharaja Sikander Singh is woken at noon in his ostentatious palace, following the overnight revelries. Sikander is only the titular king of the princely state, which is governed by the British Resident. Sikander is informed of the Resident’s mysterious death, and he immediately dashes off in his Rolls to the Residency. Educated in Europe, Sikander considers himself an amateur sleuth and wants to get in early in the investigation.

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but Sikander has reasons to believe it to be poisoning. He perseveres, much like Sherlock Holmes, to identify the perpetrator by investigating a list of suspects.

The novel is a British-style murder mystery but written by a non-Brit. Arjun Gaind has not only captured that era’s details remarkably well but also describes English and native mannerisms perfectly. Bachelor Sikandar is a complex character, which makes him appealing. While he’s a classic playboy maharaja living a lavish lifestyle, Sikander is intelligent and athletic, despite his excesses. The detailed narrative might bore those readers already familiar with that period, but it’s an entertaining read nonetheless. A mature maharaja who’s still unmarried is surprising, but Sikander might find a soulmate in the sequels to follow.

Waheed Rabbani A DECLINE IN PROPHETS: A Rowland Sinclair Mystery Sulari Gentill, Poisoned Pen Press, 2016, $26.95, hb, 332pp, 9781464206818 In the first-class dining room of the luxury ship Aquitania, “Death wore a dinner suit.” Also on board are moneyed Rowland Sinclair and his group of bohemian friends, including the attractive Edna, a sculptress. He’d taken them along from Sydney, Australia, on a European holiday for the better part of 1932. Now returning home, they socialize with other passengers en route: Annie Besant, president of the Theosophical movement; Krishnamurti, an Indian mystic; Orville, an Englishman; and an Irish Catholic bishop and his entourage, including the lovely Isobel. Rowland objects to Orville’s amorous advances on Edna. Later, Orville is found stabbed to death by Rowland’s cane. As other murders occur, Rowland is implicated and he has to expose the killer.

Sulari Gentill has penned this appealing whodunit in the classic style, but with an Australian twist. The unique setting of a luxury liner, instead of the more usual drawing rooms or train, adds to the novel’s appeal. Gentill describes the passengers’ social class differences effectively in this mystery.

The well-narrated scenes and the introduction of some real-life characters take us back to the preWWII era. Although this is second in a series after A Few Right-Thinking Men, it can be read as a standalone. Readers will look forward to the next installment.

Waheed Rabbani NOBODY’S CHILD Elizabeth Gill, Quercus, 2016, £19.99, hb, 388pp, 9781784298968 It is Christmastime, and two young sisters are ripped from their travelling life when their mother dies and their father runs off and leaves them.

As gypsies, they are not accepted by the small colliery-town community in which they have been abandoned, and with no one to turn to, they have to fend for themselves in what seems a very cold and hostile world. Forced apart by circumstances, Kath and Ella survive as best they can, but they never give up hope of finding one another again.

Set between the wars, Nobody’s Child follows the

fortunes of Kath and Ella as they battle to survive hardship and poverty, helped or hindered by an entertaining host of well-drawn characters. The story touches on the problems faced by those who have survived the Great War during a time when everyone has to change or adapt to survive. There is grit here, and tragedy, but there is also warmth and humanity, too, as Kath and Ella find their way. Elizabeth Gill is a natural story-teller and evokes the harsh realities of life in the North East of England with skill and affection. Fans of Dilly Court and Catherine Cookson will thoroughly enjoy this.

Melinda Hammond BEULAH’S HOUSE OF PRAYER Cynthia A. Graham, Brick Mantel, 2016, $16.95, pb, 224pp, 9781941799338 The Oklahoma Dust Bowl during the Depression years is the stark background against which this slim but charming novel is set. Sugar Watson has much in common with Barmy, Oklahoma—both girl and the town have fallen on hard times. After being dropped off in Barmy, Sugar, a trapeze artist who hails from Chicago, is out of money and is forced to wait for her employer to pick her back up the next time the train comes through.

Although she plans to skedaddle out of this nothing town at the earliest opportunity and return to her former life, Sugar’s life becomes entwined with Marigold, a widow nursing a broken heart; Beulah Clinton, a female preacher who provides shelter; and Homer, the troubled son of the town drunk. Each of these colorful characters plays a major role in Sugar’s life, eventually working their way into her heart. When the train does come back through, Sugar must make the biggest decision of her life.

Sugar’s unnamed daughter narrates the book, telling the stories she had heard about her parents’ romance. The setting is almost as important as the characters, as the barren, dusty Oklahoma landscape figures prominently in this sweetly appealing novel. Add in a love story or two, some magical realism, and quirky characters, and you have a winner of a book.

Hilary Daninhirsch

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THE DARK CIRCLE Linda Grant, Vertigo, 2016, £16.99, hb, 318pp, 9780349006758 Post-war austerity London in 1949, and feisty East-ender brother and sister twins Lenny and Miriam Lenskey are shocked when they are both diagnosed with tuberculosis.

They are sent, courtesy of the new National Health Service, to stay at a well-appointed sanatorium, known as the Gwendo, in rural Kent. The regime of passive rest, very often in the 20th Century

open air, comes as a shock to them both, as well as having to be in close confinement with both the staff and their fellow patients. The promised panacea of the streptomycin injections (which did eventually banish the worst threat of TB as a very often fatal disease) is frustratingly just around the corner. The twins accept that ideas of a quick return to London are not realistic, and they are sucked into the passive routines of the institution as well as their deteriorating health. But when a dynamic young American, Arthur Persky, arrives, he shakes matters up for Lenny and Miriam and the other patients. The establishment of the NHS also shakes affairs up for the medical director and staff of the Gwendo: no longer is it solely an elite establishment for the wealthy. All classes of British post war society are eligible for treatment there.

This is a superbly well-narrated story of a time in British society that is not all that long ago, but now seems an eon past. It is rooted in the conventions and culture of those days, and is entertaining, occasionally amusing and thought-provoking.

Douglas Kemp THE WHITE CAMELLIA Juliet Greenwood, Honno, 2016, £8.99, pb, 349pp, 9781909983502 Set during the Edwardian Era, The White Camellia is a beautifully written novel that moves between London and Cornwall, encompassing the suffrage movement, a ghostly country house, and a treacherous mine with hidden secrets, and which is peopled with a cast of interesting characters who quickly draw the reader into the story.

Characterisation is this novel’s greatest strength.

Bea, the main protagonist, must leave her beloved Tresillion House when her family is ruined. The mystery of how and why is revealed bit by bit as the narrative progresses. Sybil, a self-made businesswoman with questionable motives and a shadowy past, moves in, determined to reopen an abandoned mine on her new property. The house casts a spell on Sybil as she struggles to come to terms with her past. Meanwhile in London, Bea determines to escape marriage with cousin Jonathan, who is not all he seems. Soon she begins to find purpose in an impoverished situation, new friends, independence through work and a calling as she is drawn into the suffrage movement, bravely hoping to become a photo-journalist, a male occupation. The White Camellia, a café where suffragettes meet, links story lines and themes whilst Bea’s and Sybil’s narratives intersect through a masterful plot with believable characters.

These characters represent various themes. The stiffness of Edwardian social mores is portrayed through Bea’s mother; changing times for women are apparent through Bea and Sybil and their supporting female cast; the hypocrisy of some men as well as the enlightened sensibility of others are both vividly represented. There is also a delicious romantic element.

The White Camellia has much to recommend it.

The suffrage movement is thoroughly researched and intelligently integrated into a clever, exciting and informative page-turning narrative.

Carol McGrath 20th Century

CURTAIN OF DEATH: A Clandestine Operation Novel W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV, Putnam, 2016, $29.00/C$39.00, hb, 480pp, 9780399176739 In this 3rd installment of the Clandestine Operation series, James Cronley, the Director of Central Intelligence Europe, has a new problem.

One of his WACs—Claudette Colbert, no, not the actress—shoots and kills three would-be kidnappers and wounds a fourth. He now must find out who might want to kidnap someone working for the Central Intelligence group (DCI) all the while trying to fight for the survival of his fledgling agency against a bureaucracy determined to wrest control away from him and into their own agencies.

The plot of this book can be broken down into this simple formula: A woman is almost kidnapped; she wounds one. A U.S. officer is kidnapped. A trade for prisoners is conducted.

What happens in the other 440 pages? Meetings, some subvert and others overt. People get together to talk about what they know about the formation of the DCI, what they know about Cronley’s past, and try to figure out what they should know about the U.S. intelligence machinery post-WWII. There are some meetings where Cronley tries to sort out a plan for dealing with their would-be kidnapper, a plot to overthrow the Nazi ratline called Odessa, and how to get the kidnapped Colonel back from the NKGB. While this may sound like incredible drudgery, Griffin and Butterworth turn these into tense, page-turning scenes pitting rival agencies against one another against the veil of secrecy in dealing with former Nazis. A few plot holes left me wondering, especially why General Gehen didn’t have a look at their prisoner until the last couple pages—but then again, if he had, the book would have been over at the start.

Burdened with a plot, the book really shines in its interpretations of the power struggles that accompanied the birth of the CIA and how the United States handled both former Nazis and the rise of the KGB. Bryan Dumas A PLACE FOR MEI LIN Harlan Hague, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 212pp, 9781432832742 Caleb Willis is a loner. A Virginian, he moved to Idaho after losing his family to illness. He takes up gold dredging in the Stanley Basin in the early 1900s. Although he shuns companionship, he still does his drinking in public at the Rat Trap, a saloon and whorehouse in Boise. There he rescues Mei Lin, a Chinese prostitute, from some rough customers. His protective instinct coming to the fore, he takes her home, and although they live platonically for a time, they end up falling in love.

Hague intersperses the love story with Caleb’s attempts at gold dredging, a competitive business in Idaho. A ruthless adversary threatens their livelihood and Mei Lin’s rights are endangered.

The author captures the early 20th-century Western attitude: risk-taking and lawlessness,

discrimination, and yet something of a brave new world. Caleb and Mei Lin take refuge in Seattle, where they see other interracial couples and Mei Lin isn’t the only Asian.

Caleb and Mei Lin are interesting protagonists, who are more equals than the circumstances indicate. Mei Lin’s dialogue skirts close to Pidgin English, a challenge with any novel with a nonnative English speaker, but this approach is one I hope authors abandon. It’s a disturbing stereotype that distracts from an otherwise strong narrative.

Ellen Keith MAIDEN FLIGHT Harry Haskell, Chicago Review, 2016, $15.99/ C$21.99, pb, 272pp, 9781613736371 This story highlights the unique contributions that Katherine Wright made in the lives of her more famous brothers, Wilbur and Orville. Told in a three-person narrative, each scene is portrayed through the eyes of Katherine, her brother Orville, and her husband, Harry Haskell.

While there were five surviving Wright children, only the three youngest—Wilbur, Orville, and Katherine—have found their way into the history books. When Katherine was 15, her mother died and her father put Katherine in charge of the family’s finance-keeping. Perhaps this heavy responsibility paved the way for Katherine’s decision later in life to take care of her two youngest, unmarried brothers.

Since Wilbur and Orville were more concerned with their invention of an aeroplane than appearing in public, it was Katherine who shepherded them through all their public appearances. When Wilbur became deathly ill, it was Katherine who became his nurse, and when Orville was hurt in a catastrophic accident, it was Katherine who stayed by his side in the hospital.

However, Cupid’s arrow found her late in life, and she became engaged and married to a man she had loved since her college days at Oberlin, Harry Haskell. By this time, Wilbur had died, and Orville never forgave her for abandoning him and choosing a husband instead.

At times the narratives seem a bit slow, but the story of the Wright siblings is quite interesting, as was the Smithsonian controversy that waged for years about the Wright Brothers having invented and flown the first successful airplane.

Linda Harris Sittig

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LIGHTNINGSTRUCK Ashley Mace Havird, Mercer Univ. Press, 2016, $16, pb, 249pp, 9780881465969 “It seemed as if the things I’d witnessed—Brad and Brenda, those bullies, trying to pick a fight at the drugstore sit-in, the fear seizing the grownups’ faces, Lamar Scurlock’s scrawny hand slapping Aubrey—all that ugliness was seared into the horse.”

In the spring of 1964, Etta McDaniel’s horse is struck by lightning on the family’s South Carolina tobacco farm. Knocked unconscious, Troy miraculously survives, his left eye blind and his left side seared, a living testament to life after death, a “hant horse” reminiscent of the spirits that haunt Cleo, the family’s African American housemaid HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 41

and Etta’s constant companion.

A bright girl who aspires to become an archeologist, elevenyear-old Etta has long searched for buried treasure and artifacts.

But the lightning strike that turned Troy’s eye inward seems to catalyze Etta’s coming-of-age as she too begins to see things differently: she comes to realize, for instance, that the young people who work on her family’s farm are forbidden to order a Coke at the drugstore counter; she learns that her family had long ago committed deeds she now sees as abhorrent; and as her awareness of the Civil Rights Movement grows, her friendship with an activist— the widow of a Mohawk chief, an old woman deemed “a strange bird”—brings her face to face with the Ku Klux Klan.

Some of our greatest novelists are poets, writers with the eye and the ear—and the chops—to summon the precise image to convey place, era, character, and import; to meld that image with sensation and emotion; and to translate this amalgam into metaphor that sears the reader with story. I did not have to read Ashley Mace Havird’s bio to know that she was one such writer. Her award-winning debut novel, Lightningstruck, is highly recommended.

Rebecca Kightlinger SLEEPING ABOVE CHAOS Ann Hite, Mercer Univ. Press, 2016, $17, pb, 309pp, 9870881465846 Ann Hite’s fourth Black Mountain novel is one fine read. It takes place before, during and after WWII, and Hite addresses issues of race, culture and tradition in ways that resonate with current events. And, though our country has been through the Civil Rights Movement and has made some progress in race relations, in too many ways, we remain mired in our prejudices. Hite’s story of two brothers and their divergent lives brings to light the injustices suffered by those whose skin is not white.

Set in the small town of Swannanoa Gap, Ella Ruth Allen, born on Black Mountain, meets Buster Wright, son of the local sheriff. Buster is on the wild side, always pulling pranks of one kind or another. His older brother, Lee, is different—a deeper thinker. And it’s Lee who is involved with Lacy, a black girl who works for the Wrights.

When the war breaks out, both boys join up to serve their country. And both are damaged by their experience.

Lee has run away from Swannanoa Gap before he enlisted, leaving a pregnant Lacy behind. As a result, tragedy ensues for Lacy. Buster comes back badly wounded, losing part of his foot. He finds comfort in God and becomes a preacher, leaving his wife, Ella Ruth, to herself. Ella Ruth, raised by her grandparents under mysterious circumstances, longs to pursue her art. However, Buster wants her to be a proper preacher’s wife, not some Bohemian 42 | Reviews |

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artist. When Lee finally returns to visit Swannanoa, he understands Ella Ruth’s desires and they seem to communicate almost without words.

Filled with a strong sense of place, a few useful ghosts, passion and compassion, Hite’s novel deserves a wide readership.

Anne Clinard Barnhill THE MIDWIVES OF RAGLAN ROAD Jenny Holmes, Corgi, 2016, £5.99, pb, 446pp, 9780552171519 Following the current media interest in midwifery in the post-war years, the author has chosen to focus on the impact of a newly qualified independent midwife during the mid-1930s on a working-class area of Yorkshire. Hazel Price has the unenviable task of convincing the local mums-to-be that a professionally trained midwife is a much safer option for the delivery of their next baby than the long-held custom of using an untrained local woman that results in a then-50 percent mortality rate of both babies and mothers.

Fortunately, the GP for the area, Dr David Bell, is sufficiently enlightened to want to start an antenatal clinic at his surgery, with Hazel leading the service. Persuading her clientele to transition to modern methods of care proves to be very challenging, and when a young mother and baby die tragically due to an undiagnosed complication in late pregnancy, accusations start to fly with Hazel as the prime target, though she was not caring for the woman until after complications arose. Her reputation is seen to be vulnerable, compounded by the developing relationship with the bereaved husband, who appears to absolve her of any blame.

In developing a story around the difficulties associated with childbirth, Jenny Holmes has brought in elements of other key factors relating to women’s lives in this period, including access to abortions and mixed-race births. The desire to gain independence as a single person was a challenge for young women. Holmes has addressed it thoughtfully in this story, developing believable characters and an interesting narrative to draw the reader into their lives.

Cathy Kemp MAGPIE MURDERS Anthony Horowitz, Orion, 2016, £18.99, hb, 464pp, 9781409158363 / Harper, 2017, $27.99, hb, 464pp, 9780062645227 Much of the book is taken up by a conventional murder mystery set in 1955 in the quaint village of Saxby-on-Avon in the south-west of England.

But the story is an unfinished manuscript by the successful writer Alan Conway, the ninth in the Atticus Pünd detection series. The story begins with Conway’s editor, Susan Ryeland, about to read the typescript, with the death of Mary Blakiston, apparently having fallen down the stairs of the large house Pye Hall. But there are many in the village who have good reasons for not regretting her death. Then there is another murder, and time for Herr Pünd to get involved. Given that the name of characters include a Magnus Pye (magpie) and we also have a Dr Redwing and a Joy Sanderling,

then the reader soon gets the idea that there is element of tongue-in-cheek—indeed it can be seen as an homage to the traditional English cosy village murder mystery that Agatha Christie did so well.

But when Susan Ryeland sees that the manuscript is not complete, events take a sudden, surprising turn, and she gets involved in her very own mystery as she attempts to uncover the puzzle of Alan Conway.

The story by Alan Conway is printed in a font that I presume is designed to look like typescript, and seems unnecessarily irritating, given that it takes up around half of the book. There are some errors in text of the novel, but in this odd metafiction way, the reader cannot be sure if they are deliberately placed there by Anthony Horowitz or, are, indeed, just a mistake. For example, a character refers to beatniks, yet the term was not in use in the UK at all until the later 1950s.

Nevertheless, this is an eminently readable and thoroughly entertaining novel, very much part of the golden age tradition.

Douglas Kemp

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THE EVENING ROAD Laird Hunt, Little, Brown, 2017, $26.00/C$34.00, hb, 272pp, 9780316391283 / Chatto & Windus, 2017, £14.99, hb, 288pp, 9781784740856 This is a gem of a book about race and entitlement, deftly and beautifully told. Ottie Lee Henshaw, a white woman in rural Indiana during the 1920s, joins her husband and her boss on a road trip to the nearby town of Marvel to witness a “lynching” of African-American men accused of raping white women. But the men are in no hurry to get there, making Ottie Lee’s story more about the journey than the destination as she encounters racism, hatred, and white supremacy. Midway through the novel, the point of view switches to that of Calla Destry, a young black woman who ends up in Marvel during the hanging, and dares to make a protest that endangers her life, sending her into a desperate flight away from the town. When their paths collide, the result is powerful.

One of the geniuses of The Evening Road is Hunt’s juxtaposition of the twin protagonists, which allows the reader to see their similarities as well as their differences. Close in age, poor, and naive about the evils that men do, each loses her innocence that night. But while Ottie is just along for the ride—passive, drunken, observing, as though in a dream—Calla is behind the wheel, active, protesting, fleeing. In the end, each learns lessons that will resonate beyond that evening, but the book’s ambiguous ending seems to say that how it will all turn out is up to us.

Sherry Jones WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES Georgia Hunter, Viking, 2017, $27/C$36, hb, 20th Century

416pp, 9780399563089 / Allison & Busby, 2017, £12.99, hb, 350pp, 9780749021566 This debut novel recounts not only one but multiple harrowing tales of unlikely survival. It’s also an amazing piece of historical reconstruction, expertly translated into fiction. As Hunter reveals at the start, fewer than 300 of the 30,000-plus Jewish residents of Radom, Poland, remained alive after WWII. Her grandfather and his four siblings were among them. Learning about her family’s Holocaust past as a teenager, she set out to uncover their stories: interviewing older relatives, tracing their paths across Europe and elsewhere, poring through archives for relevant facts.

Knowing the ultimate outcome, one may wonder whether the novel offers any suspense. In short, yes. The circumstances her characters endure are excruciatingly traumatic; that they manage to survive is thanks to a combination of resourceful planning, split-second decisions made under tremendous pressure, and random luck. Also, there are numerous other people they care deeply about, and readers will anxiously hope that they survive as well. Many chapters end with a minicliffhanger, which seems over-the-top initially but does heighten tension.

The story has impressive breadth, spanning over six years and many countries around the globe as the Kurcs pursue separate quests for safety through a Nazi-darkened world. One can sense the terror faced by Mila, forced to hide her twoyear-old daughter, Felicia, in a paper sack of fabric scraps when the Gestapo invades the factory where she works—and feel Felicia’s claustrophobic fear as well. Genek and his wife Herta endure nearfrozen conditions in a Siberian gulag, where their baby son is born. The author’s grandfather, Addy, an affable, talented musician, leaves Paris early on, but his planned voyage to Brazil is held up, and he remains consumed by worry over his family. The novel is full of tangible details but has thriller-style pacing. Reading it is a consuming experience.

Sarah Johnson SAY GOODBYE FOR NOW Catherine Ryan Hyde, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 382pp, 9781503939448 Texas during the Civil Rights era, 1959 to 1967, is the setting for this heartwarming tale of a blended family in the making. Doctor Lucy lives in an inherited house that she’s turned into a home for abandoned animals. She’s a recluse after personal tragedy and has little use for human beings, except for the occasional shady ones who come to her for help when they have to steer clear of society. Into her life drops Pete Solomon, an abused 12-year-old with a soft heart for an injured wolf/dog hybrid.

Pete makes a forbidden friendship with Justin Bell and his father Calvin, African Americans from Philadelphia who are new in town. Violence ensues for Pete and his new friends. Their need for physical healing engages Lucy; her need for emotional connection begins to bind them to each other.

The prolific Hyde (Pay It Forward) makes a specialty of crusty, good-hearted people trying to make their way in an unjust world. Told in the 20th Century

alternating points of view of Lucy and young Pete, who begins the thaw of her heart, Say Goodbye for Now rewards readers with moving characterization of both two- and four-legged varieties, and the deep rewards of courage and kindness.

Eileen Charbonneau ANNIE LAURA’S TRIUMPH Milinda Jay, Mercer Univ. Press, 2016, $16.00, pb, 186pp, 9780881465952 In Florida’s Panhandle, it’s 1915, and Annie Laura struggles to confront her past. Her firstborn, Viola Lee, was the product of rape, given up to a childless couple to raise in exchange for land. Now Viola Lee is about to be married, and Annie Laura wants to get to know her daughter. On the ferry to meet her, Annie Laura runs into Walter Blakeley, the man who raped her. He insinuates that Viola Lee’s fiancé, James, is also his child, which means she would be marrying her brother. While trying to discover the truth, Annie Laura must also deal with her husband Leonard’s fondness for the bottle and protect their children from his rages. As the wedding approaches, James does not return from a lumber camp where he was trying to earn some much-needed money. Annie Laura takes action, determined to protect Viola Lee. My Florida relatives live in a city that didn’t exist before the 1970s, and when I visit them I get no sense of history in that area. So I was glad to read a book set in Florida that brings some of the history of the state to life. I hadn’t known about the dire conditions for men working in the lumber camps, for example, or what it was like to scratch out a living on a Florida farm.

This is a university press title, but the novel could have been published by a Christian fiction house, though the religious content is not heavy.

Except for the villain, Blakeley, the characters are multi-dimensional, and Annie Laura as a heroine has strength of character while still being true to the period. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Florida history, and inspirational fiction fans will also enjoy it.

B.J. Sedlock THE ORPHAN’S TALE Pam Jenoff, MIRA, 2017, $15.99/C$18.99, pb, 369pp, 9780778319818 / HQ, 2017, £7.99, pb, 384pp, 9781848455368 One of the last circuses operating in Europe in 1944, the Neuhoff Circus travels by rail across German-occupied territory, where hiring Jews is illegal. As Herr Neuhoff, the circus owner, prepares for what may be his last tour, he is forced to decide the fate of Jews hiding on his train.

Astrid, renounced for being Jewish by her German husband, begs Herr Neuhoff, who knows she was once a trapeze artist, to hide her. Then Noa is found half-frozen in the snow, cradling a Jewish infant. Unable to protect them if German police inspect the train, Herr Neuhoff decides to hide the two women in plain sight: Astrid, 28, must teach Noa the trapeze well enough to convince an audience. Noa, 19, is terrified. She doesn’t trust Astrid to catch her. But Astrid can’t teach Noa if she won’t let go. Noa and Astrid work on the

trapeze every spare minute, Noa hating it, Astrid losing patience. Astrid has a lover on board, which encourages lonely Noa to risk involvement with a mayor’s son. What if he betrays them to the authorities? The train is full of frightened people.

Is the circus manager harboring other Jews?

Although Astrid and Noa, as women, share the constant danger they are destined for very different fates—unless Noa learns to fly.

Jenoff (The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, 2015) has created characters—a Dutch teenager and a young Jewish woman—who approach a dangerous challenge from very different perspectives.

Alternating chapters narrated by Noa and Astrid adds another layer of suspense to the plot. Fans of romantic suspense or European circus history will enjoy The Orphan’s Tale.

Jeanne Greene THE EASTERN SHORE Ward Just, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $25.00, hb, 208pp, 9780544746527 This slow-moving story features Ned Ayres, a man who has grown up to become a newspaper editor, a profession his father does not approve of.

As a child, Ned learns the important lesson that not all stories are factual, regardless of how fantastic or interesting or well-meaning they may seem.

This founding principle follows Ned through his adulthood in the choices he makes in his business, the stories he tells through the newspaper, and the stories he allows to be shared. The past follows him throughout the novel, and the reader learns about his life through reflections of his childhood and family in small-town, mid-20th-century Herman, Indiana.

Though Ned does eventually leave Herman, causing even more of a rift in his immediate family, his past continues to haunt him. It affects everything he does in his work, in his relationships with partners and his family. There’s a low hum throughout the text that the decisions one makes in life will always be carried along, no matter how much time, space, or distance occurs.

Ward Just’s writing is simple but complex; there are, for example, no quotes around dialogue.

Although I appreciated the slow unfolding of Ned’s tale, it occasionally became too plodding, too distant. The lack of emotional connection to Ned, in spite of his touching earlier memories, made it hard for me to connect to the story overall.

However, despite its brevity, there is substantial American history from the mid-to-late 20th century that is revealed through Ned’s newspaper experience Readers of Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, and other mid-century writers will likely better appreciate the effort Ward Just puts forth in this slim novel.

Elicia Parkinson FIRE ANGELS Elizabeth Kern, Academy Chicago, 2016, $14.99/ C$19.99, pb, 314pp, 9781613736296 On December 1, 1958, a fire devastated Our Lady of Angels elementary school on Chicago’s northwest side. Kern’s novel covers the event HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 43

from multiple perspectives—nuns, students, the student arsonist, and the fire itself. The school conditions were ripe for the havoc wreaked by the fire. Classrooms were overcrowded; the building was grandfathered into the fire codes without actually being in compliance; the gates were locked, preventing the fire department from immediate access. Ninety-two children and three nuns died, and multiple children were injured jumping from the second floor, where the fire was concentrated.

This cold Chicago winter in a working-class immigrant neighborhood is quite vivid. Brief vignettes give students and nuns their due; making them people the reader will mourn.

Kern takes the risk of antagonizing the reader by anthropomorphizing the fire. She opens the book from the fire’s perspective, meeting the future arsonist in 1953 when he’s five, setting the tone for his home life (illegitimate child of a single mother, unpopular with other children) and his obsession with fire. The risk pays off, however. The fire shows more remorse than the church officials who gather at the lavishly appointed archbishop’s mansion in the Gold Coast to discuss how to downplay the tragedy.

The fire was a pivotal moment in Chicago history. It exposed, although did not entirely correct, hazardous conditions in buildings and overcrowding in schools. The tragedy drove the close-knit community from the neighborhood, losing the immigrant enclave, and as with so many Catholic schools, enrollment steadily declined at Our Lady of Angels. It closed in the 1990s. Kern treats all involved with respect, making this a worthy addition to the writings on this topic.

Ellen Keith THE AFTERLIFE OF STARS Josef Kertes, Little, Brown, 2017, $26.00/£19.99, hb, 256pp, 978316308113 Budapest, 1956. The childhood of Robert Beck ends abruptly when the Hungarian Revolution is crushed and his family forced to flee to Paris.

Finding refuge in the home of his exquisite, maimed Aunt Hermina, the young man soon realizes that the journey west is not one towards safety, but rather towards self-recognition.

Accompanied by his older, wise-beyond-his-years brother Attila, he sets out to discover the reason why their father’s cousin, Paul Beck, a Resistance fighter, disappeared after the liberation. Paul had helped the Swedish humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg save the lives of countless Jews during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. The quest takes them into the underbelly of Paris, where the two boys encounter the darkness that lies at the heart of a culture admired for its enlightened values. In the end, though, Robert comes to understand that individual responsibility cannot be divorced from historical calamity—and that his family, too, hides a terrible secret. This raises the question whether we are, or even can be, our brother’s keepers?

Part coming-of-age story, part philosophical novel, The Afterlife of Stars is a lyrical tour de force.

The inimitable voice of nine-year-old Robert Beck, whose precociousness summons thoughts of Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger, haunts the reader long 44 | Reviews |

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after finishing. This is a moving foray into the inner life of a perceptive young soul in quest of home.

Elisabeth Lenckos DANCE OF THE JAKARANDA Peter Kimani, Akashic, 2017, $15.95, pb, 320pp, 9781617754968 In 1901, a train chugs along Kenya’s Rift Valley on the newly laid tracks from Mombasa to Port Victoria. Seated in the first-class cabin, conversing amiably, are Ian McDonald (“Master”), the railway superintendent, and Reverend Turnbull. As the train passes through a township, Master recalls that this was where they’d left their technician Babu, the Indian “f— bastard,” and Turnbull acknowledges that he is now raising that man’s allegedly illegitimate daughter. Master receives land near Lake Nakuru and builds a mansion especially for his wife, but she refuses to reside there. Following its operation as a farm and a hunting lodge, it’s turned into the Jakaranda Hotel. In 1963, Babu’s grandson, Rajan, makes his living singing in the hotel’s dance band. One evening, during a dance at the Jakaranda, a power outage occurs, and a mysterious girl kisses Rajan and disappears. He cannot forget the taste of her lavender-flavored lips and, searching for her, he learns about something from the shadowy past.

Peter Kimani, an acclaimed writer and poet, has brilliantly constructed this novel’s plot by weaving parallel storylines about McDonald, Turnbull, and Babu, which intersect years later with Rajan’s story. Kenya’s pre- and post-colonial era, interracial relationships, and railroad building provide an appealing backdrop for his chronicle. Kimani’s lyrical prose, such as portraying the train as “a massive snakelike creature,” and his breathtaking descriptions of “God’s country” bring the beauty of the land before our eyes. The literary allusions also help to smooth the racially charged scenes.

However, the novel is told mostly in the African storytelling tradition, and some readers might find the narrative excessively descriptive, although the expertly written dialogue and natives’ observations can make the story lively. This is an important novel to come out of Africa, and it does much to assist in our understanding of that region.

Waheed Rabbani THE ECHO OF TWILIGHT Judith Kinghorn, Berkley, 2017, $16/C$22, pb, 400pp, 9780451472106 Shortly before WWI, a working-class Englishwoman accepts a position as personal maid to a titled lady. The two become friends but, like the world of upper-class privilege they share, the friendship cannot survive.

Pearl Gibson knows little about her father; her mother died the day Pearl was born. Pearl grows up lonely but self-sufficient and, although war with Germany seems certain, she readily agrees to accompany her employer, Lady Ottoline Campbell, to her summer home in Scotland. August is a beautiful but stressful month for Pearl as she gets to know the lovely, eccentric Ottoline; her oftenabsent husband, their two handsome sons; Ralph, Ottoline’s cousin (and maybe lover); and household

staff. Pearl is even falling in love—and then war is declared. The men are called away one by one, leaving Pearl and Ottoline in Scotland. Isolated and virtually alone, they forget class differences to save each other from harm, share each other’s grief, and keep each other’s secrets. However, competition makes friendship impossible.

Television has made it difficult to write an original novel about a British lady’s maid during WWI. Kinghorn’s characters all seem familiar— except Pearl. The protagonist of The Echo of Twilight is strong enough to make readers care what happens to her and read until the last page. And isn’t that the definition of a good book? Those who agree will also enjoy Kinghorn’s backlist, which includes The Last Summer (2015).

Jeanne Greene A QUIET LIFE IN THE COUNTRY T. E. Kinsey, Thomas & Mercer, 2016, $15.95, pb, 250pp, 9781503938267 “Tiny servant” and “ageing employer” are how Lady Emily Hardcastle and her maid Florence Armstrong address each other in the first few pages of this delightful mystery, quickly establishing that their relationship is more affectionate equals than servant and employer. Lady Hardcastle and Flo have just moved to the country from London.

Allusions to escapades abroad, including the murder of Lady Hardcastle’s husband, make it clear that the two are looking for a quieter life.

Alas, there is to be no peace in Chipping Bevington in 1908, when they find a body in the woods. It looks like suicide, but Lady Hardcastle deduces that it’s murder, and she and Flo seek to uncover the perpetrator when the local inspector detains a suspect whom they deem innocent. An additional mystery is brought to them when a family friend begs Lady Hardcastle to recover a valuable jewel stolen at a party.

Flo and Lady Hardcastle handle the multiple mysteries with aplomb and the help of a blackboard on which they sketch out clues. They’re a formidable team as Flo snoops behind the scenes while Lady Hardcastle ferrets out information from the guests. And in a twist, the local inspector proves to appreciate their contributions rather than scorning them.

The charm of the book is in the give and take between Flo and Lady Hardcastle. The reader gets hints of their past—Flo’s family was in the circus before she went into service, and Lady Hardcastle studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge before women were allowed to get degrees. Although Flo is an employee, she is treated more like family, and it’s clear the author has fun upending the servantemployer relationship in front of others. There’s at least one more book in this series, and I eagerly await it.

Ellen Keith MOOREND FARM Gwen Kirkwood, Robert Hale, 2016, £19.99, hb, 222pp, 9780719818981 Gwen Kirkwood’s latest novel continues the story of William and Emma begun in Moorland Mist, and sees the young couple settling and raising 20th Century

a family at Moorend Farm in North Yorkshire. This is well-told saga of farming and family life on both sides of the English/ Scottish border at the turn of the 20th century. The characters are well drawn and the story telling is engaging and emotional.

Having made a success of the farm, and with a large family to fill the farmhouse, the Sinclairs are finally beginning to feel part of the community when news arrives that Emma’s mother in Scotland is gravely ill. Returning to visit her with her eldest two children, Jamie and Meg, and newborn Peter, Emma hopes to reconcile past rifts in the family.

However, William’s mother, Grandmother Sinclair, upsets young Jamie with her coldness and refusal to acknowledge him, sowing the seeds of doubt in the young boy. This leads to Jamie becoming restless and unsettled and making some reckless decisions in the following years. Hidden secrets come home to roost following Grandmother Sinclair’s outburst.

This is a page-turning tale full of realism and fantastic detail about the realities of life on a country farm where the passing of time is marked not by the grand sweep of history (the death of King Edward VII is mentioned in passing) but rather by the cycles of nature. Although the book is a sequel, it can easily be read as a standalone.

Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Gill and Anna Jacobs.

Lisa Redmond

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A PIECE OF THE WORLD Christina Baker Kline, William Morrow, 2017, $27.99/C$34.99, hb, 320pp, 9780062356260 / The Borough Press, 2017, £14.99, hb, 328pp, 9780008220068 When young Andrew Wyeth first met Christina Olson at the door of her Maine farmhouse in 1939, she was a middle-aged spinster suffering from a debilitating, probably hereditary, neuropathological disease that alternately numbed and pained her limbs, and grievously compromised and eventually eroded her mobility, but never daunted her mettle.

Over a decade of summers, the increasingly confident artist sketched her wasting form in an attempt to capture her brave spirit. In 1948 (and on the final three epiphanic pages of the novel) Wyeth unveiled to Olson the celebrated painting we know as Christina’s World.

Author of the bestselling Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline frames her novel as Christina’s memoir.

Advanced billing misleadingly depicts the novel as the story of the relationship of Wyeth and Olson. Not really. “Andy” is merely a seasonal summer guest whose sporadic appearances deftly juxtapose the pair’s psychic affinities and social distances. His presence— though catalytic—is not central to Christina’s preoccupations. Emily Dickinson’s life and poetry, for example, loom larger in her imagination that the gift of Wyeth’s compassionate but occasional 20th Century

visitations.

As with most fictional memoirs, this is a psychological novel, a tale of Christina’s dealing with her degenerative disease, ancestral ghosts, proximate family, romantic disappointment, social dislocation, witch’s curse, and the sustaining burden of memory. Kline weaves these realisms with a magical thread.

Wyeth wrote retrospectively that his challenge in rendering the iconic portrait “was to do justice to [Christina’s] extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless.” Christina Baker Kline has met this challenge literarily. With delicate palette, stark images, subtle tones, nuanced brushstrokes, and consummate craftsmanship, Christina Baker Kline has written this novel the way Andrew Wyeth painted the canvas. It is a masterpiece.

John O’Donnell IN OUR TIME Paul Joseph Lederer, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 338pp, 9781432832766 The living conditions in the Cherokee Nation are difficult for the Adair family during the summer of 1916. The future holds little hope for the children, as the family ekes out a living in Oklahoma Territory. The changing times bring new inventions like the automobile and the telephone, while racial prejudice is present throughout the American West. Meanwhile, the Great War continues in Europe. The Adair children begin to see opportunities outside the reservation: Shanna, the oldest daughter, runs off to Hollywood in search of fame, 17-year-old Tom is reckless and heads for the Army, while level-headed Elizabeth is studious and tries to use her education to promote a better life for her family and the Cherokee. I found this tale plausible in its descriptions of the Native Americans’ plight during these changing times, when life became more difficult for those who only wished for something better. Many of the trials faced by the Cherokee were identical to those felt by many Americans throughout the country, especially the poor. The life, culture and times of the Cherokee are vividly portrayed in a fascinating story.

Jeff Westerhoff PACHINKO Min Jin Lee, Grand Central, 2017, $27.00/ C$35.00, hb, 481pp, 9781455563937 / Apollo, 2017, £18.99, hb, 480pp, 9781786691354 An ambitious multigenerational family saga evocative of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, Lee’s second novel, Pachinko, is engaging, complex, and highly relevant to the modern immigration experience. The main protagonist is Sunja, daughter of a poor Korean tenant farmer born just after the turn of the century. At first, the novel strikes us as economical in description, but the bleakness of Korean life before WWII is masterfully conveyed in Lee’s spare style.

After the death of her father, the untimely demise of good men being a major theme, Sunja’s mother takes in boarders to make ends meet during the worsening pre-war economy. At 15, Sunja’s

world is turned suddenly and forever upside down by the love of a fascinating older man who is rich, powerful, and the harbinger of secrets. The child she bears him, and her prideful refusal to become his mistress, are decisions that will determine not only Sunja’s own fate, but that of her family for generations to come.

Lee’s stoic style continues to suit her subject matter, as surviving in Japanese-occupied Korea becomes more difficult and Sunja moves to Japan with her new husband, a frail young Christian minister who married her to save her honor. But life for a Korean immigrant in Osaka proves no easier.

Despite its starkness, there is a chaotic intimacy to the story which makes it seem more of a personal testament, somewhat robbing it of the universal message the reader buys in for. The novel’s unabashed ethnic pride also plays a role, Koreans as unfailingly steadfast in their cultural morality despite universal victimization by the Japanese.

Perhaps this may be forgiven Lee given the novel’s realism, but the hurried tone of the final chapters of the saga, and the bleak conclusion, leaves the reader with few other takeaways. A gripping read overall.

Jackie Drohan

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YOU’RE THE CREAM IN MY COFFEE Jennifer Lamont Leo, Smitten Historical Romance, 2016, $7.95, pb, 292pp, 9781938499074 When mysterious fainting spells send smalltown girl Marjorie Corrigan to big-city Chicago for medical tests, she has no idea her life is about to take a crazy turn—one that may alter her future forever. A chance encounter with a man who is the spitting image of the love she lost to WWI makes Marjorie question her traditional life choices and sends her on an adventure in which she’s either chasing destiny or a ghost, leading her to question her own sanity. But in the process, she discovers her true identity, embraces both independence and faith, and learns that what people say is the right way to live your life may not be what’s right for you.

I really adored this book! It’s cute, light and fun, a breath of fresh air from how serious historical fiction can be.

Though it’s set in the 1920s and does have elements of flapper life, it isn’t your typical i n n o ce nt - g i rl - g e t s ruined-by-the-big-city story, which was a welcome relief. Leo vividly paints both the oppressiveness of the heroine’s hometown and the glitz and glamour of Chicago—complete with just the right sprinkling of period slang—without going over the top as many writers in this time period do. I appreciated that its inspirational elements are drawn with a light touch (that does get heavier toward the end), making it a story that will appeal to those who don’t typically read inspirational fiction. While parts of the ending are predictable, there is a twist HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 45

that I didn’t see coming. Part historical, part chick lit, part romance, part mystery, this book has something for everyone. Very highly recommended, and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Nicole Evelina THE MAYAKOVSKY TAPES Robert Littell, St. Martin’s, 2016, $25.99, hb, 256pp, 9781250100566 In 2012, the celebrated spy-thriller novelist Littell published Young Philby, a deftly complex story about “Kim” Philby, the most notorious espionage agent of the 20th century. Littell told the tale by means of some 20 portrayals of the spy by his handlers, associates, paramours, friends and foes. The technique of multiple perspectives in the hands of so capable an author parsed the autonomous identity of subject with the ambiguity of predicates.

This novel returns to the same format, or perhaps begins there. Vladimir Mayakovsky—the idolized, censured, resurrected, forgotten and reresurrected Russian poet—put a bullet through his heart in 1930. Twenty-three years later—in the novel—four women meet in Moscow’s Metropole Hotel to reminisce about their shared lover, clearly a sex addict and a showman. The poet was their vector, the intersection of their lives. The novel basically is a caddy, competitive conversation of surviving lovers about their sex lives and attitudes toward Stalinism.

The transcript of this meeting is preserved— and this is the conceit—because one of the ladies implausibly invites a young American exchange student, R. Litsky (read: Littell) to preserve the interchange on his smuggled wire recorder. Years later Litsky finds the recordings in his attic and decides to publish them. The ladies talk about sex and about Soviet propaganda, and then hear on the radio that Stalin has died and go down to the bar for a drink. End of story.

If it was a story. I cannot help thinking that Littell found in his “attic” an early manuscript that he felt could be only now published given his deserved literary reputation. The characters are cardboard; the dialogue, stilted; the action, nonexistent. This novel should not define him.

John O’Donnell TROUBLE AT ZERO HOUR Rob Lofthouse, Heron, 2016, £13.99, pb, 392pp, 9781784299354 Written by a retired British soldier, the novel is a trilogy dramatizing three key Allied operations in the Second World War. The three stories are separate and yet flow together to form a seamless narrative which begins with D-Day, moves on to Operation Market Garden, and ends with the final push to victory over the Third Reich. Robbie Stokes is a recent recruit to the 2nd Battalion, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

His first experience of war was to be landed by glider to capture and defend a bridge behind Sword Beach. Ten months later finds him in Germany a battle-hardened veteran.

This is a remarkable story of warfare, which is well researched. The author uses his own military 46 | Reviews |

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knowledge and experience to write an exciting account of war, which takes the reader into the hearts and minds of the men who fought. The battle scenes, which naturally form a major part of the novel, are graphic and heart-stopping without being gratuitous. This is a first rate addition to the many books which have been written about WW2.

This will appeal to both fans of Andy McNab and those with a general interest in the genre.

Recommended.

Mike Ashworth THE ENEMY WITHIN Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2016, £19.99/$25, hb, 384pp 9780749020538 During the Great War, in London, a dangerous arsonist manages to escape from Pentonville prison, and Inspector Marmion, the arresting officer, is given the task to re-capture him. While Marmion shrugs off the threats he received when in court, he cannot ignore the possibility that Wally Hubbard intends to kill Croft, the man who was the target of the original fire.

Assisted by his Sergeant Keedy, Marmion finds that tracking down Croft is as hard as finding the escapee. When a murdered down-and-out is found in a Salvation Army hostel, with documents belonging to the potential victim, the waters are very muddy indeed! The police suspect Hubbard is being assisted by his two close friends—a girlfriend and a shady property speculator—but would they help him kill? And, in the background of it all, Marmion is struggling to help his wife cope with his son who is suffering from shell shock and whose behaviour is becoming increasingly outrageous and violent.

In this sixth in the “Home Front Detective” series, Marston paints involving scenes in civilian life coping during the Great War. Crime goes on, despite the wholesale carnage in Europe, and the portrayal of policing in the period is almost refreshing. The plotline is very well paced, as expected from a prolific author. The characters are three-dimensional and believable and behave in perfectly understandable ways.

Alan Cassady-Bishop A PINCH OF POISON: A Lady and A Lady’s Maid Mystery Alyssa Maxwell, Kensington, 2017, $25.00/ C$27.95, hb, 304pp, 9781617738340 The students of Haverleigh School for Young Ladies are being prepared to be wives who will raise fine families, support their esteemed husbands, and do charitable works for the needy, who live and suffer outside the fringes of this upper-class world. So the girls are proud at the luncheon they have prepared to reward those who have donated clothing, money and other useful gifts to the wounded veterans of WWI. Their joy and excitement are banished when their headmistress, Miss Finch, collapses immediately after tucking into the magnificent Madeira cake made by one of the students, Lady Zara Worthington. Miss Finch almost immediately dies, and the remainder of the story concerns finding out who poisoned her.

The mystery centers on Lady Phoebe and her

maid, Eva, who assist the law in investigating the case. Possible suspects include the assistant headmistress, the school nurse, and any one of the students. Another mystery involving a young mentally challenged man is connected to a past death, which ultimately leads to his present arrest for assault.

The context of this account is social satire, but it also concentrates on the new world arising out of the ashes of the Great War, a society in which upper-class women would become useful in very different ways. It also concerns men and women who have been emotionally wounded in that same war and need to be defended and supported as they seek healing and purpose over time. A Pinch of Poison is a superb mystery that moves beyond stereotypical plots to highlight the dignity of men and women of all classes. A highly enjoyable historical mystery.

Viviane Crystal ONE GOOD MAMA BONE Bren McClain, Story River, 2017, $27.99, hb, 280pp, 9781611177466 In rural South Carolina in the 1950s, Sarah Creamer, through unforeseen circumstances, ends up raising the son born from an affair between her husband and best friend. Sarah’s own mother was short on love and long on criticism, repeatedly telling her daughter that she did not have “one good mama bone” in her entire body. Though her confidence wavered frequently, Sarah set about to prove her mother wrong.

After she is left on her own when her son, Emerson Bridge, is still small, she channels all her strength to ensure her son’s needs are met, despite their poverty. As Emerson Bridge grows, he decides he wants to raise a steer with the intention of winning a large cash prize to help his mother.

Despite knowing virtually nothing about steer nor of the consequences of winning, Sarah manages to secure a young steer for him.

Sarah and Emerson’s lives are intertwined with their wealthy neighbors, the Dobbins family. Sarah makes clothes for the wife while Emerson befriends their young son. The book often shifts perspective to Luther Dobbins as he grapples internally with the face he feels he must show to society and the fractured relationship he has with his son.

The mothering instincts of the cow figure prominently, especially as the mother cow’s thoughts about motherhood parallel Sarah’s own, while Sarah tries to understand what the cow is feeling.

This quirky novel took me completely out of my comfort zone, with its scenes viewed from the cow’s perspective and overly detailed descriptions of rearing steer and the agricultural setting.

However, the universal theme of parental love, along with the good writing and interesting plot twists, was enough to override these aspects of the book. Sarah’s journey from poverty-stricken widow raising her husband’s child, to her relative success and confidence made the story more relatable.

Hilary Daninhirsch LEOPARD AT THE DOOR 20th Century

Jennifer McVeigh, Putnam, 2017, $26.00/ C$35.00, hb, 400pp, 978039915825 In 1952, 18-year-old Rachel returns to sunlit Kenya after six years of dreary schooling in England. Rachel is eager to reclaim her place on her father’s farm, her childhood home, the land of her heart. But things have changed in Kenya.

Rumors of disturbances reach her father’s isolated holding, and her father’s new lover—a woman totally different from Rachel’s deceased mother— now rules the roost there. The idyllic colony Rachel remembers has also transformed; political unrest sweeps the country and endangers Rachel, her family and their neighbors. Rachel strives to find a place in this new world, and, as the Mau Mau gain strength, Rachel makes a choice. Rooted in past conflicts, Rachel’s actions have major consequences, both for her, and for her family.

Colonial Kenya in the early 1950s is vividly evoked in this book. Written in the present tense, Rachel’s return to Kenya transports the reader to the past. We witness the turmoil as the native population of Kenya struggles against British power, and colonists fight to maintain their way of life against these new threats. These battles spring to life in this book, and, as all good historical fiction does, this novel enriches our understanding of today’s world and the human spirit.

Susan McDuffie THE FIRE BY NIGHT Teresa Messineo, William Morrow, 2017, $26.99/ C$33.50/£18.99, hb, 320pp, 9780062459107 WWII on both the European and Pacific fronts is the setting for this harrowing account of two women committed to nursing the wounded on the front lines. Jo is an Italian Irish Brooklynite, Kay a small-town girl from Pennsylvania. They meet and seal their sisterhood in nursing school over the first of many brutal encounters that each endures.

Kay spends most of the war serving in a Japanese POW camp in Manila. Jo gets trapped in a freezing tent near the front lines with six wounded soldiers who cannot be moved and who have only her keeping them from death’s door.

Both women live in both their fraught-with-danger present and their memories—of each other, better times, and past loves, like Kay’s romance with an airman before the events at Pearl Harbor, and Jo’s growing attraction to one of her patients. But time and conditions take their toll on both women— their health, their sprit, and their ability to carry on when peace finally comes.

The violent grit of wartime is relentless in The Fire by Night via both the narrative and the lucid and graphic writing style. Some readers might feel pushed beyond their own endurance by its intensity. But memory, healing, and friendship provide saving graces throughout this powerful debut novel.

Eileen Charbonneau RENTING SILENCE Mary Miley, Severn House, 2016, $28.99/£20.99, hb, 240pp, 9780727886538 Miley’s third Roaring ´20s mystery delivers more zippy entertainment that taps into the spirit 20th Century

of the time when Hollywood’s silent film stars had audiences swooning and vaudeville acts traversed the country via rail. Fresh from her previous investigation, Jessie Beckett, assistant script girl at Pickford-Fairbanks Studios, gets asked to solve another Hollywood murder. It seems an open-andshut case: in her dying moments, Lila Walker had pointed twice to her friend, actress Ruby Glynn, who was found clutching a bloody knife.

However, Ruby insists on her innocence.

A studio cameraman who sat on the jury that condemned her to death regrets his vote. Observing his tormented conscience, Mary Pickford asks Jessie to look further into Ruby’s situation, because the police won’t. Jessie can’t refuse her longtime idol, so she gathers her street-smarts and ingenuity and delves into Lila’s background. What she uncovers sends her back to her old haunts, on the vaudeville circuit across the Midwest, where she meets a variety of talented performers, shadows from her own family’s past, and hateful prejudice in the form of the KKK. Jessie also worries that her lover, David Carr, has returned to his old bootlegging habits.

Renting Silence makes good use of historical characters, from Miss Pickford and her debonair husband to the young Leslie Hope, a former amateur boxer turned song-and-dance man who debates changing his name to something more American-sounding, like Bill or Bob. Jessie’s travels bring to life the fascinating, vanished world of vaudeville, and it’s a lot of fun, but the investigation driving Jessie is quite serious and dangerous. The title refers to blackmail; as one person tells Jessie, “But you don’t buy silence. You only rent it. And the rent kept going up.” The novel makes plain how much people stand to lose if they don’t fit society’s norms.

Sarah Johnson THE HOARSE OATHS OF FIFE Chris Moore, Universe Press, 2017, £10.99, hb, 224pp, 9781910500293 This book is divided into two halves. It begins in 1965, with two teenage boys going to Scotland to work as potato roguers on a farm during the summer holidays. This involves inspecting the potato fields and weeding out any that are diseased or of a different variety from the main, planted crop. Our two heroes are of mixed race, resulting from affiliations made during the Great War: one half-Pakistani, nicknamed College because of his university education, and the other Italian, known as Fredo. Their boss is Kenny Roberts, who served in France and Belgium during WWI and at Loos, in France, in 1915 in particular. The second half of the book follows a journey made by Kenny, accompanied by College, back to Loos.

This is an interesting story which reflects attitudes toward race and colour in the 1960s while taking the reader back to WWI and the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Although I would not expect the vocabulary used to reflect the Queen’s English, I did find the constant use of the f-word irritating. The characterisation is good, and the pace moves quite well. The book has been shortlisted for the debut novel prize from the

Historical Writers’ Association.

Marilyn Sherlock

VALIANT GENTLEMEN Sabina Murray, Grove, 2016, $25/C$38.95, hb, 489pp, 9780802125453 In 1889, Roger Casement and Herbert Ward are employed by a British expedition in the Congo and their friendship is forged, differences overlooked.

Ward is a patriotic Englishman. Casement, Irishborn but raised in England, is ambivalent about his Englishness. Casement is homosexual, and his preference is illegal in England. Ward neither shares nor questions Casement’s choices.

Ward parleys his knowledge of Africa into speaking tours, but when he draws the interest of Sarita Sanford, a wealthy American, and they marry, he is freed to become a sculptor in a happy relationship. Casement is welcome in their home—until the “Irish question” drives a wedge between them. With a European war impending, Parliament delays Irish Home Rule indefinitely.

Casement ultimately turns on England, but why?

A lifetime of compromises? The need to salvage his Irish heritage? Casement is tried and convicted of treason. When Ward authenticates excerpts from Casement’s leaked diaries which reveal his “sexual degeneracy,” petitions for clemency fail, and Casement is hanged for treason in 1916.

Murray writes with such conviction and compassion that it is hard to imagine another outcome. Reconstructing the lives of two extraordinary men and a remarkable woman in brilliant prose, she makes sense of their decadeslong friendship and why it was fated to break apart on the eve of Irish revolution. Highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER Mary Nichols, Allison & Busby, 2016, £7.99, pb, 384pp, 9780749019990 Set in June 1944 in an East Anglian farming community, this novel describes the struggles of Jean to keep the family farm going after her father suffers a stroke. Her brother Gordon, a pilot, has been shot down and is a prisoner of war in Germany. When she gets the chance to take on a German POW as a farm worker, Jean jumps at it. They get Karl, who is from a farming family in eastern Germany, which has been taken over by the Russian Red Army in the last years of the war. The book compares the struggles of both sides and explains the different categories of German prisoners, the prejudices that they had to deal with and their worries about their own families back in Germany. As Jean and Carl become closer, Jean has to deal with the displeasure of the local man that everyone assumes she will marry. Fraternisation between the British people and German POWS is forbidden at this time. Day-to-day life on the farm is well described, as are life in the POW camp and the problems that Karl has to contend with there.

The book emphasises the similarities between Jean and Karl’s families during the war rather than the differences. An approachable, but compelling, read which raises some interesting moral issues about HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 47

wartime relationships. Sadly, Mary Nichols, who wrote many books in the historical romance and family saga genres, died in 2016.

Julie Parker MODERN CRIMES: A WPC Lottie Armstrong Mystery Chris Nickson, The Mystery Press/Trafalgar Square, 2016, £8.99/$15.95, pb, 287pp, 9780750969833 On one level this is a short police/crime novel in which the police crack the case and the criminals get their deserts. However, there are three distinctive features.

Firstly, the police who break the case are not detectives, but two police constables ‘on the beat’ who outsmart their superiors, not always to their personal advantage. Secondly, this is 1924, and the two constables are policewomen, novelties only grudgingly accepted by many of their colleagues.

Finally, this is not London but a northern provincial city, Leeds. Scotland Yard gets only a passing mention.

I have a feeling that the main purpose of the book is to tell us about everyday policing in a provincial city in the aftermath of the First World War, with a focus on the emerging role of policewomen— no ‘glass ceiling’ for them, just a brick wall. Chris Nickson clearly loves Leeds, and he gives us a lot of topographical detail, as well as dialogue which catches perfectly the cadences of Yorkshire English without resorting to unusual spellings and speech marks. A well-crafted work with an unexpected ending.

Edward James THE PARADISE GHETTO Fergus O’Connell, Accent, 2016, £8.99, pb, 462pp, 9781786150431 This story starts in a rather shocking way with one of the central characters, Julia, and her unusual job. Betrayed by a fellow worker, Julia is discovered to be a Jew and as it is the middle of the Second World War, she is shipped off to prison.

As a privileged Jew, she is sent to the comparatively pleasant “paradise ghetto” at Theresienstadt, where she meets Suzanne, a seemingly delicate and fragile woman who was betrayed from her secret hiding place in someone’s attic. Together, they decide to write a book about women seeking revenge, as an outlet for their inner anger and frustration, and set their scene in an appropriate era. It is a salutary reminder just how many time periods there are to choose from, a demonstration of man’s inhumanity to man.

They finally begin to write about Roman Britain. Birkita’s village is destroyed by Romans, and she is sold into sexual slavery in Pompeii. Her escape plans and plot to revenge herself upon the murderers of her family and friends form the most exciting part of the novel. Julia and Suzanne use the book they are writing to communicate their feelings to each other and also to escape the situation they are in. Prison life, in contrast, is quite dull. The tensest moments come from wondering who will end up on the next transport to a mysterious, but unlikely to be good, destination. This serves 48 | Reviews |

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as a constant reminder as to how precarious and arbitrary survival was during this time, totally dependent on the whim of others. The love affair which grows and develops between the two women reminds the reader how love can be found in the most unlikely situations and places. Overall, this is an interesting and quite unusual novel based on real-life events.

Ann Northfield

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UNDER THE UDALA TREES Chinelo Okparanta, Mariner, 2016, $14.95, pb, 323pp, 9780544811799 / Granta, 2016, £12.99, hb, 336pp, 9781847088369 This novel is a gorgeously written homage to love set against the background of Nigeria during a time of civil unrest in the late 1960s.

Ijeoma is on the cusp of becoming a teenager when her father dies in a bombing. With no means to support her daughter, Ijeoma’s mother reluctantly sends her away to be a housegirl at an old friend’s house, while she moves away to try to get settled.

While staying in a shack on the friend’s property, Ijeoma meets a homeless girl, Amina, whose family was lost in the war. What starts out as innocent friendship between two girls blossoms into something more. When the girls are discovered, Ijeoma’s mother quickly returns for her daughter, trying to “heal” her via intense prayers. But as she grows older, she realizes that she is not meant for marriage to a man and embarks on another romantic relationship with a woman, one that she is more careful to keep hidden. Despite her suspicions, Ijeoma’s mother turns a blind eye to her daughter’s propensities, forcing a traditional marriage upon her. As Ijeoma begins a life that is contrary to her heart, she is confronted with a decision that will forever affect her life and the life of those she loves.

Incorporating Nigerian folktales, the author weaves a lush coming-of-age tale of forbidden love but also of strength and resilience. The book is narrated by a grown Ijeoma, ending in the year 2014, the year Nigeria officially outlawed samesex relationships, imposing very harsh criminal penalties. The vivid imagery of the bloody civil war and the stark Nigerian post-war landscape complements the sumptuous prose. This book has universal appeal.

Hilary Daninhirsch THE LONELY HEARTS HOTEL Heather O’Neill, Riverhead, $27.00/ C$32.99/£16.99, hb, 400pp, 9780735213739 Spanning from WWI to the start of WWII, The Lonely Hearts Hotel is the story of Rose and Pierrot, two orphans who meet in an orphanage in Montreal. Pierrot is a genius on the piano, and Rose is a born comedic actress. The orphans perform for

the wealthy, fall in love, and make dreams together, but they are torn apart by a depraved nun. Turned out into the real world that is being rocked by the Great Depression, and desperate to survive, they are caught up in the lives of gangsters, eccentric philanthropists, pornography, drugs, and crime.

When they finally reunite, they begin to realize their shared dream of a musical act, only to discover that their experiences and the circumstances of their world have changed them. What they had always wanted for each other is not what they want now.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel is sad but absorbing.

Whereas Pierrot, the dreamer, self-destructs, Rose, the calculating brains of the two, adapts and becomes empowered. Heather O’Neill’s writing pulls the reader in but is unflinching and unrelenting. She writes Rose’s and Pierrot’s stories, along with those of several other major characters, without emotion, leaving readers to decide how they want to feel and to make their own judgment calls. O’Neill, however, does end some passages with analogies that illustrate her own perspective.

The novel is not light. All the characters and their stories are disturbing, and hope is hard to find.

Francesca Pelaccia JUDAS Amos Oz (trans. Nicholas de Lange), Chatto & Windus, 2016, £18.99, hb, 282pp, 9781784740504 / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $25, hb, 320pp, 9780544464049 Jerusalem in the winter of 1959-1960, and Shmuel Ash drops out of his postgraduate university studies with his life in a mess: his parents can no longer financially support him, and his girlfriend has given up on him and married her previous boyfriend. He sees an advertisement for a paid companion and is employed to sit and talk with the elderly and crippled Gershom Wald for five hours each evening. Ash, an atheist and pacifist/socialist, has an attic room at the top of the house and the rest of the time is his own. Wald lives with his former daughter-in-law, the widow Atalia Abravanel, in whom Ash develops a keen romantic interest, even though she is much older than he is.

It is a house of bereavement and loneliness.

Wald delivers erudite homilies on a wide variety of topics, in particular on Ash’s specialist academic subject—the Jewish knowledge and assessment of Jesus as a historical figure. They engage in some keen debates, the symbolism of which touches upon the very existence of the new country of Israel, the threat to its borders from surrounding Arab countries and the ethics surrounding the establishment of this new state within hitherto Arab lands. Ash’s theory is that Judas, contrary to the conventional Christian assessment, was the most fanatical of Jesus’s supporters, and if it were not for Judas, then the crucifixion and the subsequent establishment of Christianity would not have occurred in the West and much of the rest of the world.

This is not a long novel, but it has depth and profundity. There is much repetition in the descriptions of daily behaviour, reflecting how much of routine life constantly recurs. By no means 20th Century

a potboiler, but it is intelligent and thoughtful fiction.

Douglas Kemp THIN AIR: A Ghost Story Michelle Paver, Orion, 2016, £12.99, hb, 240pp, 9781409163343 1935 in the Himalayas, and Dr. Stephen Pearce is part of a small party of climbers that are to attempt the hitherto unscaled mountain of Kanchenjunga, the third highest summit in the world. They are following in the footsteps of a notorious failed attempt of 1906, led by Edmund Lyell, and which resulted in the deaths of most of the party. Whilst in Darjeeling Stephen Pearce meets a member of that 1906 climb, Charles Tennant, a curiously irascible, but frightened old man, who lives in constant sight of the mountain that caused him to lose both of his feet to frostbite.

Pearce is escaping from a broken engagement in London, and has been invited to form part of the expedition by his older brother Kits as the medical officer. While Stephen Pearce climbed the Alps in his youth, he is certainly not sufficiently acclimatised to tackle such a testing peak.

The climb is indeed an immense challenge, fraught with danger and difficulties, and the breathtaking beauties and associated horrors of the mountainous range are superbly described by the author. Pearce begins to notice some rather unusual things, but he (and the reader) cannot be sure if these unaccountable phenomena are caused by altitude sickness, or by something more malevolent and frightening. The sense of menace builds nicely to an agreeably shocking climax.

The author provides lots of useful background information, to make for a most delightful, wellwritten and entertaining read.

Douglas Kemp THE SHIPYARD GIRLS Nancy Revell, Arrow, 2016, £5.99, pb, 364pp, 9781784754631 1940, and Britain is at war and the majority of young adult men are off fighting, creating a shortage of skilled labour. The obvious solution is to co-opt women into the factories. Huge numbers duly “did their bit”, at the same time becoming the vanguard of female entry into traditional male workplaces.

This is the story of a group of such women becoming welders in a (fictional) Tyneside shipyard. This is an interesting backdrop, and it could have been very insightful, but unfortunately, it comes over as window dressing. The novel instead concentrates pretty much exclusively on the women’s assorted personal relationships, and soon degenerates into stock romantic fiction, in which the clichés of the genre are well represented.

This is disappointing, as the early fears of Luftwaffe visits and the descriptions of the art of welding are well done, giving a good flavour without swamping the reader with too much detail. In short, although I can see why women would want to read this, it could have been a much better story than it actually is.

Martin Bourne

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THE GARDENS OF CONSOLATION Parisa Reza (trans. Adriana Hunter), Europa, 2016, $16.00/C$24.00, pb, 260pp, 9781609453503 In her debut novel, Parisa Reza presents a simple, beautiful story of two Iranian peasants, Sardar and his wife, Talla, who leave their secure village—a paradise—for the wider world. As they make their way across the mountains, they suffer many hardships, including the loss of two children. Talla wants nothing more than to settle down to a place she can call home, and Sardar is determined to provide such a place for his greeneyed and lovely wife.

Set in the 1920s, the novel follows this couple through the rise of Reza Shah Pahlavi and the forced adaptation toWestern culture. Though Talla must trade her chador for more modern clothes, she remains in her heart a very traditional Iranian woman.

This novel is reminiscent of Steinbeck’s The Pearl with its fable-like quality and beautiful writing. Reza presents to the reader a very different view of Iran than that reported by newspapers and magazines. Though Reza left the country when she was 17, the land has made an indelible mark on her.

Her love for the struggling shepherds and farmers is palpable. As a result, The Gardens of Consolation is a lovely book filled with both heartbreak and hope.

Anne Clinard Barnhill A PROMISE BETWEEN FRIENDS Carol Rivers, Simon & Schuster, 2016, £7.99, pb, 359 pp, 9781471153174 A saga set in the 1950s, this tells the story of Ruby, an attractive but naive young girl from an East End family whose life has been overshadowed by the suicide of her much-loved brother. Keen to seek independence, she moves in with her friend, Kath, and her brother, Bernie. Her path crosses that of the glamorous Anna, who offers her a dream job as a model, and she meets the older, worldlier Nick.

Dazzled by their lifestyle, she moves away from her old friends and her job in a poodle parlour to a more complex and often shadier world.

Ruby has her trials and tribulations and is often a poor judge of character but in the end realises the importance of family and friendships to win a happy ending. For me, the whole plot was a bit predictable, but the book is a pleasant and undemanding read. Carol Rivers evokes the morals and lifestyle of the Fifties with some skill. I am sure that her many fans will be delighted by the book.

Maggi De Rozario BEAUTY AND ATTENTION Liz Rosenberg, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 224pp, 9781503940635 In 1954 Rochester, New York, Libby Archer,

whose parents have both died, is sorting through items in her home with her friend Henrietta. Most of Libby’s well-meaning friends, and her suitor, Casper, expect she will now marry. Instead, Libby decides to take an extended visit to her wealthy aunt and uncle’s country estate, Gardencourt, in Ireland. There Libby is entertained and charmed by her invalid cousin, Lazarus, as well as his friend Lord Warburton. Although Lord Warburton proposes to Libby, she turns him down, favoring a trip to the Continent with her aunt. In Paris she meets another socialite, Madame Merle.

Libby’s terminally ill uncle dies shortly after but mysteriously bequeaths Libby a large fortune. In Rome, Madame Merle introduces Libby—now a rich lady—to a struggling artist, Gilbert Osmond.

He is a widower with a young daughter. Libby’s independence takes a turn, but not in the direction she wishes. She has to struggle out of the devious bonds that entangle her.

As acknowledged in the author’s note, many readers will recognize that this story is based on Henry James’s classic The Portrait of a Lady, from the plot and similarity of characters’ names.

Rosenberg has closely followed James’s writing style, including his refined prose and use of ellipses.

Although James had captured the norms of 1860s Victorian society, the transporting of some of these to this novel’s setting of the 1950s seems odd, such as when Libby’s aunt doesn’t permit her to socialize in the drawing room in the late evenings with Lord Warburton and even her cousin Lazarus present.

Nevertheless, the perils to women are still real today. An enjoyable read even for those unfamiliar with James’s novel.

Waheed Rabbani THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR Jennifer Ryan, Crown, 2017, $26/C$33, hb, 368pp, 9781101906750 / The Borough Press, 2017, £12.99, hb, 464pp, 9780008163709 “There’s something bolstering about singing together.” Jennifer Ryan’s charming debut interweaves many women’s voices to create a strong chorus that rings out with heart and the celebration of life. The story spans barely five months in 1940, but it’s an eventful time for Chilbury, a small Kentish village seven miles from England’s coast.

With most men off at war, the vicar disbands the choir, but as with so many other home front duties, Chilbury’s women take up the reins. Their female-only singing ensemble, daring for its time, is successful in more ways than one.

Their stories are told through their writings, and each woman’s account echoes her personality.

There’s Mrs. Tilling, a timid widow and nurse worried about her only son in France; Venetia Winthrop of Chilbury Manor, a sophisticated flirt; Kitty, her attention-hungry younger sister; and Edwina Paltry, a conniving midwife. Kitty’s diary entries are fun, since they burst with enthusiasm and teenage melodrama as she dreams about her sister’s longtime suitor and reacts to her changing world. In letters to her Londonbased friend, Venetia reveals how her affair with a mysterious artist turns into something more, to her astonishment. Mrs. Tilling’s growing courage HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 49

to stand up for herself and others will have readers cheering, as will her growing closeness to the burly colonel billeted with her. Edwina’s involvement in a greedy baby-swapping scheme gets soap-opera silly, but her audaciousness never fails to entertain.

The fifth and softest voice is that of Sylvie, a Czech Jewish evacuee.

As the village intrigues play out and the Nazi threat reaches England, shattering buildings and lives, shadowy men skulk about in the woods, and the women draw strength from their togetherness.

Fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the TV series Home Fires should put this uplifting, absorbing novel high on their reading lists.

Sarah Johnson

THE SIGN OF FEAR Robert Ryan, Simon & Schuster, 2016, £7.99, pb, 436pp, 9781471135125 It is 1917, and the ageing Sherlock Holmes has retired to the countryside, while Dr Watson, back from the war, is attending to the wounded in London. Their detective days are behind them, until Watson finds himself embroiled in a number of mysteries, including some particularly gruesome kidnappings. He and Holmes are gradually drawn into a world of danger and intrigue, where their adversaries might be German spies, jewel thieves or enemies closer to home.

The Sign of Fear is one of a series based on the adventures of Holmes and Watson during the First World War, but it can be read as a standalone novel. Devotees of Sherlock Holmes might find these books grittier and more hard-hitting than the originals; perhaps this is to be expected, as the War replaced all earlier certainties. I enjoyed the historical background: the book was populated with real people and explored the realities of wartime London. It shows how war can be used as a cover for crime, personal ambition and brutality, and how it can bring out the best—but more often the worst—in people. The story is fast-paced and intriguing, and I can recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical thrillers.

Karen Warren

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TWO SHE-BEARS Meir Shalev (trans. Stuart Schoffman), Schocken, 2016, $26.95/C$35.95, hb, 301pp, 9780805243292 In 1930, before the founding of the state of Israel, Ze’ev Tavori settles in a new cooperative agricultural moshav. His parents send him an ox, a blanket, a gun, and a wife to start his new life, which his granddaughter Ruta, in her older years, describes to a much younger woman who has come to learn about the history of the settlement. Less than about the settlement, Ruta’s story is about her family: 50 | Reviews |

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different, keepers of a nursery of native plants in the midst of the rest of the moshav’s production of “industrial quantities of boys for all sorts of elite combat units.” Her tale comes in vivid scenes that seem disjointed, meandering, telling rather than showing, out of chronology and hard to follow at first, but which come together so brilliantly at the end, as revenge and then forgiveness and redemption triumph, that the reader can’t imagine any other way the tale might have been told.

Meir Shalev is known for eschewing politics in his novels. It is refreshing to see, from this early time, how trusted Bedouin midwives arrive and how settlers sit down with their Arab farmer neighbors, but how the laws between Jewish settlers are as self-made as in the American Old West. The character that has many attributes that remind us of Moshe Dayan, nevertheless lost his eye to his wife’s fury, wears a patch embroidered with flowers, and redeems himself in a way we could not think possible, and which surely would not have happened had he entered the national scene. Because Ruta is also the moshav’s secular teacher of Bible studies, her layers of meaning, her parsing of the sacred text in daily life all around her, beautiful and powerful, give the novel depth and universalism that tales created in the newsettled land of America cannot accomplish. This is Abraham and Isaac, Ruth and Boaz made almostmodern and of breathing flesh and blood.

Ann Chamberlin IF YOU ARE THERE Susan Sherman, Counterpoint, 2017, $26.00/ C$37.50, hb, 368pp, 9781619028456 In 1901, Lucia Rutkowski is destined for poverty and millwork in a Warsaw ghetto when she flees that fate for domestic service in Paris. Her great risk pays off. She hones her culinary gift, and with luck and pluck lands a position with another Polish immigrant: the great physicist Marie Curie.

Obsessed with their work, Marie and Pierre Curie desperately need Lucia’s domestic skills. Here, Lucia’s story takes an unexpected turn. Parallel to exacting scientific research in radiation, the Curies are drawn to other mysterious, unseen forces: contact beyond the grave and the spectacular séances performed by the exotic, enterprising Italian medium, Eusapia Palladino. Lucia moves between the worlds of faith and science, grounded by intense devotion to Marie Curie. While Palladino’s spectacular effects were revealed as hoaxes and chicanery by Houdini and many others, the austere and famously agnostic Curies’ mysterious attraction to Palladino is one of the most fascinating elements of this novel.

Multiple points of view and Lucia’s ambiguous relationship with an awkwardly appealing investigative reporter add layers to her story, while Lucia herself remains largely an observer, her own psyche relatively unexamined.

Readers interested in the Curies, in the tense interplay of faith, showmanship, and science, and the vibrant expatriate world of 20th-century Europe will enjoy this latest offering by Susan Sherman, author of The Little Russian, her acclaimed debut novel.

Pamela Schoenewaldt

HOME SWEET HOME April Smith, Knopf, 2017, $26.95, hb, 384pp, 9781101874219 This page-turner about a liberal New York City family that leaves the rat race for a simple life in South Dakota in 1950 is not only entertaining but also thought-provoking. Its depiction of the conspiracy-riddled McCarthy era reminds us that fear-mongering, propaganda, and hatred are not new in American life.

Cal Kusek, a WWII pilot, and his wife Betsy, expect culture shock when they arrive in rural Rapid City with their daughter and son, Jo and Lance—but it doesn’t fully hit until more than a decade later, when Cal, now a successful attorney, runs for the U.S. Senate. His opponent, a popular, ultra-conservative talk-show host, learns about Betsy’s short-lived experiment with Communism many years before, and uses it to his advantage, embarking on a smear campaign that turns most of the community against the entire family.

The story rings all too familiarly with anyone following the news today, and highlights how little we’ve learned, or grown, in America over the last 65 years. Smith tells the story skillfully, although her writing is not as sophisticated or as finely tuned as one wishes: at times, she tells too much instead of trusting the reader’s discernment. She also uses a distracting and, it turns out, unnecessary framing device: an attack on a family member in the present time. She seems to be trying to inject a “whodunit” and will-they-live suspense into the story, but this book would be stronger without it. Overall, though, it’s an engrossing read with valuable lessons for our time. Recommended.

Sherry Jones THE KILL FEE: Poppy Denby Investigates Fiona Veitch Smith, Lion Hudson, 2016, $14.99/£7.99, pb, 331pp, 9781782642183 It’s October 1920 in London, and young reporter Poppy Denby finds herself in the midst of murder, Bolshevik intrigue, stolen Faberge eggs, and aristocratic Russian princess actresses. Poppy is only slightly distracted by her beau, widowed Daniel Rokeby, who is more ready than Poppy to move their relationship along. It’s up to Poppy to get ahead of the detectives investigating the murders and thefts, not only to see justice done but also to get the scoop on competing newspapers.

This is a light, fast read, well-written and with plenty of twists and eccentric characters— including playwright George Bernard Shaw, Rasputin assassin Prince Felix Yusopov, and even the Tsar and Tsarina—for there are episodes in the book that skip back in time. (The Romanovs, the wealthiest family in the world at the time, had been murdered in 1918.)

Smith warns readers about how complex the political scene was between the Russian Whites (supporters of the old order, or at least enemies of communism) and all the Red factions. No need to worry; she does a fine job of telling her story without political confusion, mostly by staying clear of politics. The confusion comes from the glut of characters, but again, not to worry. Smith helpfully offers an index of fictional and historical characters.

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There’s also a fine map of 1920 London at the front of the book.

All in all, an entertaining romp with nonstop action, a perky heroine, and quirky characters.

Kristen Hannum THE GIRL FROM VENICE Martin Cruz Smith, Simon & Schuster, 2016, $27.00/C$36.00, hb, 305pp, 9781439140239 / Simon & Schuster UK, 2016, £12.99, hb, 320pp, 9781849838146 Smith sets his latest novel in 1945, when the last European battles of WWII are being fought on Italian soil. While the Allies are advancing on Milan, Mussolini, abandoned by the Germans, falls into partisan hands, which leads to his execution.

Venice alone remains untouched.

Cenzo, a 28-year-old Venetian fisherman, takes his boat out every day and brings back his catch without ever seeing a soldier. Well-traveled, well-read, and a former soldier, Cenzo could find other ways to earn a living, but his joy comes from knowing the sea. An unfamiliar shape in the water turns out to be a young woman’s body; when he pulls it into his boat, Cenzo finds her alive. Giulia is Jewish. German soldiers are looking for her, but why? The Axis has been defeated; the war in Europe is almost over. Cenzo kills a German, hides Giulia, but she disappears. Cenzo tracks her to the mainland, where he is drawn into partisan violence, German double-crosses, and expatriate infighting as getting out of Italy becomes increasingly difficult.

Cenzo doubles for his brother, a handsome actor, and with a stolen gun and a borrowed plane, attempts to find Giulia to see her safely back to Venice. There is a great deal of explaining to do, but Cenzo’s good at that, too.

An Italy bereft of dreams makes an outstanding setting. Cenzo, who is touched by the plight of any woman while respecting her abilities, is an appealing protagonist. The sharp dialogue, complicated but undemanding plot, and the touching, if unlikely, romance will make a good movie. But you don’t have to wait for the film treatment: The Girl from Venice is fun to read.

Jeanne Greene THE MURDER OF WILLIE LINCOLN Burt Solomon, St. Martin’s, 2017, $25.99/ C$36.99, hb, 301pp, 9780765385833 The winter of 1862 in Washington, DC is no time or place for the weak, certainly not for young John Hay, personal secretary to President Lincoln.

Hay must open, sort, and respond to most of the White House mail while the Confederate army and navy sit not far away, and traitors lurk in every alley and storage room. On top of that, typhus has struck two of the three Lincoln sons. The middle son, Willie, succumbs to it. But Willie may not have died of natural causes. Subtle and not-sosubtle clues suggest human error by nurses or doctors, perhaps even murder. Lincoln asks Hay to learn what he can.

Hay, a recently admitted lawyer, sometime poet, man of letters and books but also a superb amateur pugilist, takes to the task. He searches out leads that go nowhere, tries to find and question the 20th Century

many who had access to the boy, tries to learn their history and deeper motives.

Solomon brings to life the blunt-force medical practices of that time, early tests for poisons, the sordid and convoluted relationships among slave owners and slaves, President Lincoln’s keen intellect and quiet strength, the brash but effective detective Allan Pinkerton, and other characters out of our history books. Civil War-era readers will enjoy Solomon’s details of the nation’s capital, his portraits of people in mansions and shacks, the worrisome and celebratory reports from the war front, and Hay’s journey to the jaw-dropping ending.

G. J. Berger THE AWARD Danielle Steel, Delacorte, 2016, $28.99/C$37.00, hb, 336pp, 9781101883853 / Bantam, 2016, £18.99, hb, 336pp, 9780593068960 On New Year’s Day in contemporary Paris, a Frenchwoman combs through pages of Le Figaro to find the name of her 95-year-old grandmother, Gaëlle de Barbet, who is finally listed as a recipient of the Légion d’Honneur. Until then, Gaëlle had gone unrecognized for her heroic efforts in occupied France.

In 1940 Lyon, 16-year-old Gaëlle, a Catholic, experiences a defining moment when she sees her best friend, a Jewish girl, and all her family being taken away. She decides to help in the Huguenots’ efforts to conceal Jewish children in safe homes.

Three years later, Gaëlle faces another turning point in her life when she agrees to assist the local German commandant in another surreptitious activity which, although not immoral, is perceived as such. Soon, Gaëlle pays for it by having her hair shorn and experiences other indecent acts perpetrated by the locals. Arriving alone in Paris, she is hired on the spot as a model by Dior.

Although Gaëlle finds love, fame, and fortune in America, and eventually returns to France, she longs for a bond with her daughter.

This is Danielle Steel’s latest fictional drama about love, family, tragedy, and interpersonal relationships. The WWII settings in the early part of the novel are evocative and add to its allure. The author has researched the period extensively; it had also figured in some of her previous works, such as Jewels (1992). While most of the characters are well developed, it seems strange that an attractive young Frenchwoman doesn’t find love at all during the war years. Somewhat disappointingly, the novel’s post-WWII plotline reverts to a formulaic story about the lavish lives of the rich and famous.

However, while some may find the narrative heavy on exposition, the dialogue is impeccable. An entertaining novel to read by the fireplace.

Waheed Rabbani THE PINCH Steve Stern, Graywolf, 2016, $16.00/C$22.99, pb, 348pp, 9781555977528 If you look carefully at the cover, you will see that The Pinch is considered simultaneously “a history” and “a novel,” which definitely piqued my interest. This causes Lenny Sklarew—the gangly,

drug-selling bookstore assistant who discovers the book—some consternation as he tries to determine where he should shelve it. Additionally perplexing to him is that as he holds the book in 1968, he flips through the pages and discovers his own name as a character in the book, which was written in 1952.

“The Pinch” refers to a once-burgeoning Jewish community in Memphis, Tennessee, of which, in the 1968 timeline, Lenny is one of the last people living in the now fallen and decrepit neighborhood.

He decides to read the book to better understand himself and the history of his environment through the story, and in the process, we readers learn about Memphis in various points on the timeline as well.

While the characters are a vital part of the timelines, the Pinch district itself is the central, silent character, from its beginning stages to its glory days and its subsequent downfall.

This is a fun and fascinating metafictional story with just enough myth and folklore to be truly magical. All the while, it brings to life the history of the late 19th century (as the history of the Pinch begins, according to the book Lenny discovers in his bookstore) and of 1968, during the height of the Civil Rights movement and the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike.

Elicia Parkinson

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DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING Madeleine Thien, W.W. Norton, 2016, $26.95, hb, 480pp, 9780393609882 / Knopf Canada, 2016, C$35, hb, 480pp, 9780345810427 / Granta, 2016, £12.99, hb, 480pp, 9781783782666 “In a single year, my father left us twice.

The first time, to end his marriage, and the second, when he took his own life. I was ten years old.” Thus begins one of the most brilliant books published in 2016—and one of the most challenging.

Winner of the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize, finalist for the 2016 Man Booker Prize, Do Not Say We Have Nothing brings Madeleine Thien to the world spotlight, revealing what Canadians have always known—she’s a major writer with incredible talent.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing is a sweeping exploration of history, music, family, and trauma in the face of brutal political repression in China. The story is told through the lives of two successive generations: those who lived through Mao’s Cultural Revolution, and their children who became the students protesting in Tiananmen Square. It is rich with details of Chinese life, and replete with references to music, ideograms, and literature.

At the heart of the book is the epic story of two young women, Marie and Ai-Ming, whose musician fathers, along with a violin prodigy named Zhuli, maneuver through a paranoid world of totalitarianism—their music conservatory targeted for “revolutionary” leanings, their pianos destroyed, and their favorite works of Bach and HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 51

Beethoven forbidden.

Thien’s writing style, though exceptional, is demanding, as is the format of the book. It asks a lot of the reader. You have to work to read it. You have to pay attention. It dazzles with brilliancy and infuriates with its ponderousness. Don’t give up on it. Put it away for a rest if you must. But finish it.

The world we live in today requires that we know this story.

Lorraine Norwood THE UNDESIRABLES Chad Thumann, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 359pp, 9781503939967 This WWII novel takes place in the winter of 1941-42 around the Nazi siege of Leningrad. It is a story of love, endurance and desperation under extreme war conditions. Karen must leave America to accompany her father to Leningrad, where he collaborates with a Russian composer. She leaves behind her fiancé, Bobby. Karen and her father have an opportunity to flee Leningrad before the Nazis arrive, but her father refuses. He is immersed in his music and blind to events taking place. The Nazis surround Leningrad and cut off all food, supplies, and communications. Letters between Karen and Bobby are also cut off. As food becomes scarcer, people throughout the city die and many are left frozen on the streets. Soon, the desperate even begin cannibalizing the dead. Karen’s father dies, and she is left to her own resources and tenacity to survive and escape.

On her own in the vast, frozen countryside, she meets Petr and his military-trained dog, Duck. Petr is a Russian soldier whose unit has been destroyed.

They make a treacherous journey together—Karen to make her way to the city and then to America, Petr to be reassigned to another unit. The three form a strong bond of trust and love while facing extreme danger and many obstacles. Eventually, Karen must make the difficult choice between Bobby and Petr, between America or Russia, between certain life or possible death.

The author’s research into this time and place, as well as descriptions of military tactics, is impressive.

I felt the suffering of the Leningrad residents and appreciated the strength and ingenuity Thumann built into the characters of Karen and Petr. The pacing was spot-on and kept me turning pages.

Most endearing was the dog Duck, with his intelligence and bravery. This is a worthwhile and recommended read for its characters, historic detail of a city under siege, and a people’s will to survive.

Janice Ottersberg NO MAN’S LAND Simon Tolkien, HarperCollins, 2016, £20.00, hb, 566pp, 9780008100469 / Nan A. Talese, 2017, $27.95, hb, 592pp, 9780385541978 Simon Tolkien’s No Man’s Land is the story of Adam Raine, a poor London boy who moves first to Scarsdale, a northern coal-mining town, and then out to the trenches of the First World War. Tolkien has clearly done his research, and he is keen to communicate that research to his readers. Adam sees the Kaiser, watches his unionist father lead and manage strikes, and fights in the trenches, all 52 | Reviews |

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described in great detail. Unfortunately that detail is this book’s downfall. Actions are followed almost immediately by an explanation of the character’s motivation. As a result, I found the characters dull and lifeless. Tolkien used to be a barrister, and the book reminded me of a court document, laying out every fact clearly in order to draw the reader to one inevitable conclusion. But novels are not meant to be statements of claim. As the novel progressed, I felt Tolkien had no faith in my ability to intuit meaning, and reading became a chore rather than a voyage of discovery.

No Man’s Land reminded me of school history books, where the everyday lives of named, fictionalized characters of the relevant period are described to provide interest and context. It will probably appeal most to readers who are looking for a fictionalised account of the period between 1900 and 1918 to supplement their knowledge, rather than to those who are looking for literary dexterity or a good read.

Laura Shepperson-Smith WRITING TO SAVE A LIFE: The Louis Till File John Edgar Wideman, Scribner, 2016, $25.00, hb, 224pp, 9781501147289 In 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black teenager from Chicago visiting family in Mississippi, allegedly whistled at a white woman.

For this “crime,” he was abducted, brutally tortured, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River. The lynching of Emmett Till, his mother’s insistence on an open casket to expose the mutilated body, the lax prosecution of the murderers, and intense national focus on the story helped propel the American Civil Rights movement.

From here, Wideman circles out to the lesser known but equally disturbing story of Emmett Till’s father, Louis Till, an American soldier in WWII, who was found guilty by a military court of the rape and murder of an Italian woman, hanged, and dishonorably buried. Wideman’s meticulous research makes a compelling case that Louis Till was framed, and both Tills were victims of a deeply racist society and complicit judiciary.

Equally suspect, Wideman maintains, was the use of Louis Till’s story in the aftermath of Emmett’s murder.

Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File interweaves the Till stories with reflections on absent fathers in African-American families and Wideman’s own, conflicted relationship with his father. The author’s extended search for Louis Till’s grave in a French cemetery veers further, to Wideman’s marriage, relations with contemporary French artists, his own research process, and search for closure.

Readers should expect disturbing subject matter and explicit racial and sexual expression. In weaving multiple stories, Writing to Save a Life often uses sudden shifts of focus and elliptical, near streamof-conscious passages which sometimes dull the narrative. However, the sobering truth is that in the decades since the deaths of Louis and Emmett Till, racism is still deeply ingrained in American culture and the judicial system, making this work a timely,

disturbing exploration of history’s grim repetitions.

Pamela Schoenewaldt IF I COULD TELL YOU Elizabeth Wilhide, Penguin, 2017, $16.00, pb, 312pp, 9780143130437 / Fig Tree, 2016, £8.99, pb, 320pp, 9780241209615 Does war unravel the fabric of traditional society or merely highlight the pre-existing tears in an already frail material? When Julia Compton, the wife of a small-town lawyer and loving mother of an only son, meets the WWII documentary filmmaker Doug Birdsall, she realizes the full extent of her handsome husband’s dullness and risks her well-ordered existence in order to embark on a passionate love affair that eventually threatens to destroy her. However, Julia Compton is no Anna Karenina, the tragic heroine of Tolstoy’s masterpiece referenced in If I Could Tell You. Rather, she conjures up Marian Forrester in Willa Cather’s A Lost Lady, who struggles valiantly to find meaning and redemption in a changing world. Transported from the English seaside into bohemian London, Julia overcomes her initial culture shock—a gifted pianist, she has never kept house or held a regular job—by aiding the war effort and facing the greatest challenge of all; putting her life together after a devastating catastrophe. If I Could Tell You is a beautifully composed work of historical fiction, its atmospheric lyricism a testimony to the obvious skills of the author, who evokes Britain’s past with honesty and feeling.

Elisabeth Lenckos THE WICKED CITY Beatriz Williams, William Morrow, 2016, $26.99/ C$33.50, hb, 384pp, 9780062405029 Two young women find love in the face of disaster in the same shabby-chic Greenwich Village apartment: Ella in 1998 and Ginger in 1924. Strains of ghostly jazz from the basement prompt Ella to distract herself from the pain of her ex-husband’s infidelities by investigating the history of her new home’s former tenant, a wisecracking flapper with the voice of Dorothy Parker’s kid sister and a penchant for tangling with Prohibition agents and rum-running crooks. The novel focuses most of its attention on Ginger’s daring adventures, the tragic Appalachian past she tries to escape, and the choice she is forced to make between two lovers: a doting Princeton lad and a dour, straight-arrow Fed. Fans of Williams’ previous bestseller, A Certain Age, will welcome the return of some familiar characters (and their favorite speakeasy), but the novel is most delightful when we are in Ginger’s spitfire company. The present-day scenes in which Ella timidly learns to regain the confidence she lost with her marriage in the arms of a new man (who seems much too good to be true) pale in comparison. Overall, though, the pace is sure and the atmosphere divine. This is such a breezy read that you might not realize how well-researched it is, and although its characters’ voices and emotions are rather theatrical, their story manages to be quite moving as the plot builds to a truly nail-biting conclusion. Recommended, even for readers who 20th Century

don’t usually pick up historical romances.

Kristen McDermott SHOW ME A MOUNTAIN Kerry Young, Bloomsbury, 2016, $27.00/£16.99, hb, 400pp, 9781408869550 Fay Wong is a naïve young woman living in Kingston, Jamaica, during the 1950s and 1960s, before and after the British gave Jamaica its independence. Fay’s father is Chinese and her mother is of African heritage, the latter ignoring her background and living like an entitled British lady. For some unexplained, secret reason, Fay’s mother constantly preaches a fundamental-style Christianity to her daughter in a tone filled with derision and condemnation. Beatings accompany these tirades.

As Fay gets older, she becomes hardened and highly observant of the lifestyle lived outside of her nightmarish home environment. At first she escapes through a set of very rich friends until one of her friends is forced to quickly grow up. Fay’s naïveté evolves into a hungry curiosity about all experiences, specifically a criminal side of Kingston involving her father, her brother, a black friend, a Chinese prostitute, Fay’s husband Yang Pao, and a Catholic priest.

What appears to be a simple plot becomes more complex, as with every new experience comes violent and vicious trouble for all involved.

Fay’s knowledge drives her to know more, while the reader also learns about a complex criminal underside of Jamaica that requires momentous sacrifices from all its participants. A question develops in the reader’s mind about the culpability of Fay’s father, whose loving and supportive manner never changes and never adequately warns Fay of the troubles she keeps creating. Growing up this way becomes a traumatic conundrum for Fay, perhaps a microcosm for the evolution of the people of Jamaica doing what they must to gain independence. Highly recommended, shocking, complex and riveting historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal

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THE BISHOP’S GIRL Rebecca Burns, Odyssey, 2016, A$26.95, pb, 396pp, 9781922200648 / $5.99, ebook, 416pp, 9781922200655 Outside a French village after the First World War, workers open a grave, intent on sending its occupant home to York. Inside is Bishop Shacklock, but another body rests on top of his.

The body is that of a young woman, and yet no one knows who she is or why she’s there. In presentday York, Jessica is a researcher who has spent most of the last six years trying to uncover the woman’s identity. DNA tests suggest the young woman was Shacklock’s daughter, but no other evidence exists.

Jessica diligently slogs through the archives to identify the girl. Meanwhile, Jess battles her own issues both at home and at work.

This book is much less about the mystery of Multi-period

the female skeleton than it is about the characters.

All the heroines—Jess in the present and Allegra and Violet in the past—face difficult realities in both their personal and professional lives. While this novel doesn’t have the same raw emotional pull as the stories in Ms. Burns’ Settling Earth, it is remarkable how the women’s lives parallel one another, even though their lives are separated by 100 years.

Rebecca Henderson Palmer THE LOST CIVILIZATION OF SUOLUCIDIR Susan Daitch, City Lights, 2016, $16.95, pb, 310pp, 9780872867000 Somewhere in the area where Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan converge, there are the remnants of a mysterious, enticing and magnificent ancient city-state. Or maybe not! The book relates the stories of three different but tangentially related archeological hunts which occur over many years.

The reader must follow the various trails, which occur within a constantly changing milieu of British imperialism, Soviet and Nazi intrigue, and Iranian fundamentalism. To add to the tale, a search for the lost tribes of Israel also finds its way into the plot.

The reader may have difficulty determining whether the novel is satire, social commentary, or allegory. There are multiple pages of expository writing with only occasional dialogue. Sometimes this is in the first person, but more commonly it is in the form of long letters to various recipients by different authors. Yet these letters all seem stylistically the same. A strangely scripted and lengthy Iranian police report interestingly provides a welcome break. There is a large amount of wellresearched Jewish “inside baseball.” There are frequent font changes and a number of apparent misspellings here and there. The book features no memorable characters, because most have exotic names and pseudonyms, and they all flit in and out capriciously. To use a line from the author, there is “lots of going off into side alleys.” This book may perhaps appeal to readers who are attracted to the cerebral and introspective. Those looking for a fast-paced, Indiana Jones-type historical adventure should try elsewhere.

Thomas J. Howley THE FORTUNES Peter Ho Davies, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $27.00, hb, 268pp, 9780544263703 / Sceptre, 2016, £16.99, hb, 288pp, 9780340980231 This four-part literary blend of fact and fiction powerfully lays out the Chinese-American experience. In the 1860s, Ah Ling, son of a “ghost” (white man) and Chinese prostitute, is sent off to California. Starting as a laundry worker, he rises to head valet for a railroad baron, then becomes an expert in construction site explosives and a grave digger to unearth the bones of dead countrymen and send their remains home.

In the era that straddles the making of silent films and major Hollywood productions, Anna May Wong becomes the first Chinese Hollywood film star, but she has to watch white actresses land

parts that would have been perfect for her and is never allowed to kiss a white man on screen.

Vincent Chin, a true-life American track star, is murdered by two auto workers who mistake him for Japanese at a time when waves of Japanese auto imports rout those coming out of Detroit.

Part IV tells the modern-day story of John Ling Smith (half-Chinese) and his American wife, Nola, picking up their adopted baby from an orphanage in China. They do not speak Chinese, and this is their first trip to China.

Davies blends the larger themes of race bias and capitalistic oppression with intense details—spittle for spray starch while ironing, a baby girl grabbing Nola’s finger, thereby charmingly selecting the couple the baby wants to adopt her. Davies’ prose often deserves to be read out loud and slowly. While each of its four parts could be developed into a fuller stand-alone novel or historical narrative, The Fortunes will grab most readers and hold onto them long after they have turned the last page.

G. J. Berger

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THE LAST GODS OF INDOCHINE Samuel Ferrer, Signal 8, 2016, $18.95, pb, 422pp, 9789881219886 In the 19th century, French explorer and naturalist Henri Mohout brought attention to the Western world of Angkor Wat, the temple ruins in Cambodia. The start of this novel features him as far as his death from malaria, although his role throughout the rest of the book is via his granddaughter, Jacquie, who had an interest in exploration and travel as well. Inspired by his journals, she sets out to follow his footsteps to Indochine in 1921. Along the way, she begins to keep a journal, though her writing more involves her dreams. These dreams, which follow her through her travels, primarily involve Paaku, a young man living towards the end of the 13th century who may very well be the incarnation of a god.

Samuel Ferrer allows the reader as much time with Paaku and his life during the Khmer Empire as he does with Jacquie in the 1920s. Both are very rich characters with experiences that drive their motivations and make them well-rounded and believable. While Henri Mohout was a real and living person, the character of his granddaughter, Jacquie, is fully fictional, though it does not read that way at all. She works with L’École Française d’Extrême Orient with real people from history, and it is hard at times to remember that she was fabricated for the purpose of this book.

Upon arrival in Indochine, Jacquie realizes that she and Paaku are connected in ways she could never have imagined; their stories unfold before the reader in an enjoyable, enthralling, and fascinating way. Not only was I entertained throughout the reading, I learned quite a bit about the Khmer Empire, Hinduism and Buddhism, mythology, HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 53

and Cambodian history. This is an impressive first novel, and Ferrer is the first non-Asian to be nominated for the Man Asian Literary Prize.

Highly recommended.

Elicia Parkinson THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING Fannie Flagg, Random House, 2016, $28.00, hb, 410pp, 9781400065950 In 1880 Lordor Nordstrom is 28 when he hears of cheap American farmland for sale. He has little chance of owning a farm in Sweden, so he buys a tract of rich Missouri prairie and advertises in Swedish-American newspapers to attract other young farmers. A decade later, Lordor has not yet found a wife, so he again turns to the newspaper.

Katrina Olsen is a maidservant in Chicago, sent to America by her mother in hopes of bringing the rest of the family over. When Katrina reads, “Swedish man of 37 years looking for Swedish lady for marriage. I have a house and cows,” her hope rises. Despite her friends’ fears of wild Indians, bears, or even a mean and ugly husband, Katrina and Lordor exchange cautious letters and swap photographs. Lordor sends Katrina a train ticket, and the match is made.

In this manner, Elmwood Springs, Missouri attracts residents, a preacher and a store keeper.

Lordor donates land for a cemetery, but when deceased residents take their final resting places on Still Meadows hilltop, they learn that something very mysterious is going on there.

Fannie Flagg’s name on a novel’s cover serves as a notice: prepare yourself for a satisfying visit with a cast of complex, yet down-to-earth people. The Whole Town’s Talking is no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed the story from the start, but it took a while for Ms. Flagg’s wide-ranging tale to reveal that it has an ultimate destination. Be patient, and wait for the mystery-within-a-mystery to serve as final garnish on a delicious read. Both thumbs up!

Jo Ann Butler TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD Eowyn Ivey, Little, Brown, 2016, $26, hb, 432pp, 9780316242851 / Tinder, 2016, £16.99, hb, 480pp, 9781472208606 This novel is an epistolary novel with four principal characters: one pair, husband and wife, live in 1885, and the other pair are contemporary.

The main story is set in Alaska during the winter of 1885. A decorated war hero, Colonel Allen Forrester, leads a small expedition up the Wolverine River into the unknown. Not even the Russians, who had ceded the vast territory in 1867, knew much about this immensity that they owned.

The Colonel keeps a private journal which he addresses to his pregnant wife, now left behind on the edge of civilization. He hopes that someday she may read it, whether he comes home or not. His wife, Sophie, is a thoughtful Yankee spinster who is bored by the company of the frivolous, uneducated officer’s wives. To fill her time, she begins a study of the new science of photography. This creates a small scandal, because women aren’t supposed to engage in “manly” pursuits.

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an elder, who becomes heir to some of Forrester’s documents, and a younger degreed native of this same land, who works for the state maintaining a small museum. This is the lesser story, perhaps, but it’s important too, as some boundaries—age and ethnicity—are crossed on the way to friendship.

The story of the 1885 expedition wanders into country we moderns have never seen. In that uncharted country, the Colonel enters a mythic world stalked by starvation but framed in absolute grandeur. To the Bright Edge of the World is drenched in the icy presence of that other time and place. The writer’s language is supple, strong, and, above all, luminous.

Juliet Waldron THE DRESSMAKER’S DOWRY Meredith Jaeger, William Morrow, 2017, $15.99/£8.99, pb, 346pp, 9780062469830 In her first novel, Meredith Jaeger links a present-day San Francisco career woman with two immigrant dressmakers from the mid-19th century. They are connected through the affluent Havensworth family, whose handsome sons play major roles in both stories.

Sarah Havensworth is the contemporary narrator. A journalist working on a novel, she has married into the Havensworth family but doesn’t feel like she belongs. In researching her novel, she uncovers newspaper accounts of the two missing dressmakers, which sets in motion her search for the truth of what happened to the young women.

Her discoveries bring to life the unique character of post-Gold Rush San Francisco.

Hanna Schaeffer, the protagonist from 1867, is shown in the third person. Her adventures carry the main thrust of the plot as she desperately tries to find her missing friend and fellow seamstress, Margaret, an enigmatic young Irishwoman.

Hanna’s search leads her to experience the lives of the Irish living and working dockside in San Francisco—and also to a romance with a man of undreamed-of wealth who is eager to share his life and lifestyle with her.

The characterizations of the Havensworth men are flat and formulaic, but the two heroines are well-realized. However, their contrasting viewpoints make the transitions between the two eras unnecessarily jarring. The author vividly presents the poverty of many immigrants in midVictorian San Francisco and the prejudices they faced. The novel has elements of romance in both the historical and modern stories and is a quick and easy read.

Val Adolph THE LOST BOOK OF THE GRAIL Charlie Lovett, Viking, 2017, $26/C$35, hb, 336pp, 9780399562518 / Alma, 2017, £8.99, pb, 336pp, 9781846884214 Arthur Prescott’s life follows highly predictable rhythms: some irritating, some stimulating, some soothing. A junior lecturer at Barchester (yes, that Barchester) University, he is more comfortable in the nearby cathedral, attending the traditional services and conducting research among old books and manuscripts in its library for a new guidebook.

He is also a Grail hunter, but has little expectation of success.

His cozy world is disrupted by the arrival of an American scholar to digitize the manuscripts.

Bethany Davis is not only young, beautiful, and vibrant, but possessed of a keen mind and, despite their differing views on the value of modern technology, many shared interests, including the Grail. Unsurprisingly, he falls in love, and they become companions in the search for not only the Grail but a mysterious, missing manuscript.

This is an involving and intricately structured novel. Each chapter is comprised of three linked sections: an introductory passage from the cathedral guidebook; a short scene set at a crucial point in the past (compilation of the original 7th-century manuscript, through the arrival of a treasure to be concealed, the Normans, the Reformation, the Civil War, World War II); before focusing on the developing relationship of Arthur and Bethany as they conduct their search.

It is all rather complicated, appropriately enough given the obstacles they encounter, but Bethany is a delightful character, practical yet kind-hearted, perceptive yet easily distracted, and her lively presence illuminates the story and gives it focus.

Everyone loves her, though why she should fall for a repressed bibliophile is less clear. Still, many men are blessed with partners beyond their deserving (and the author is an antiquarian).

There is much here for those interested in church history and music, the challenge of preserving written records, and of course Arthurian and Grail legend. Definitely recommended.

Ray Thompson THE LAST NIGHT Cesca Major, Corvus, 2016, £12.99, pb, 358pp, 9781782395713 In August 1952 a flash flood swept away the tourist village of Lynmouth in north Devon. All the bodies which were recovered after the disaster were identified and claimed by their families except for one, a woman in her early twenties. Her grave is still marked ‘unknown’. This unknown woman inspired this story.

Cesca Major is drawn to small communities on the brink of catastrophe: we know the outcome, they don’t! Her previous book, The Silent Hours, is about Oradour, the village in France destroyed by the SS in 1944. She delights in lingering descriptions of people and landscapes, which creates a sense of place and foreboding. However, I must confess that at times I became impatient to get on with the story.

The story is told in two time streams, one in Lynmouth in 1952 and the other largely in an antique shop in Brighton in 2016, where a furniture restorer finds a secret drawer in a writing-desk she is renovating. This sets her on the trail to resolving the mystery, which is essentially a love story. The author’s vivid description of the flood shows that she can also handle violence.

Edward James ON SACKVILLE STREET A. O’Connor, Poolbeg, 2016, £12.99, pb, 514pp, Multi-period

9781781998939 1869. Milandra Carter, a wealthy widow with a mysterious past, arrives in Dublin and instantly raises hackles. She won’t wear mourning, and she insists on running the family wine business herself, instead of allowing a man to run it for her, as is seemly. And her secret ambition is to marry Nicholas Fontenoy, who is already engaged to Bishop Staffordshire’s daughter. Milandra will stop at nothing to get her way in both love and business; and she is ruthless when crossed. Just how far will her determination go? Could it include murder?

1916, and Dublin explodes into violence in the Easter Rising. Milandra, now an old woman still living in her home in Sackville Street, is right on the front line. Events swiftly unfold which begin to uncover dark secrets she thought would remain hidden forever.

On Sackville Street is a real page-turner which had me gripped from page one. I enjoyed her portrayal of 1860s Dublin with its elegant Georgian houses and well-to-do people living the high life at its centre, and the poverty-stricken underbelly with its drunkenness, ragged children and near famine in the slums not a stone’s throw away. The events of the Easter Rising are skilfully woven in with the British Empire’s involvement in World War One, and their determination to crush the Rising before it can spread. And we can see all too clearly exactly why there is trouble brewing as the disaffected poor begin to demand the right to rule themselves.

My one niggle is that the author allows the upper classes to be on first-name terms almost instantly, even between men and women, which just wouldn’t have happened at that date. She should read Mrs Oliphant, an excellent observer of 19th century social mores, to see exactly how the social system worked.

Elizabeth Hawksley VIVIAN IN RED Kristina Riggle, Polis, 2016, $25.95, hb, 337pp, 9781943818167 Milo Short made his name in the 1930s as a young Broadway lyricist favorably compared with Cole Porter. At the age of 88, he no longer heads his production company, but still goes to the office every day. Then, on a steamy summer afternoon, he sees a woman who had disappeared from his life 60 years before, wearing her trademark red lipstick, and looking as impossibly young as the day that they parted. Seeing Vivian again is so shocking that Milo suffers a stroke which robs him of speech and writing.

Though Milo’s granddaughter Eleanor is going through a heartrending breakup, she proceeds with her grandfather’s biography, thinking that the stimulation will help Milo recover. His aphasia prevents him from helping, so Eleanor turns to his memorabilia, hoping to discover why Milo would never discuss his biggest hit, “Love Me, I Guess,” or why he and his longtime collaborator, Bernie Allen, broke up. Eleanor learns of Vivian, but if she was merely Milo’s office assistant, why are lyrics to his famous song written in Vivian’s hand? In the meanwhile, Vivian keeps appearing to Milo, telling him, “I just want to be heard.”

Multi-period

Kristina Riggle’s Vivian in Red is a tangled love story spanning generations, and a multifaceted mystery which keeps you guessing until the final pages. Theater lovers will relish this story’s atmosphere, but it’s an enjoyable read for all.

Jo Ann Butler DESIRE FOR CHOCOLATE Care Santos (trans. Julie Wark), Alma, 2016, $15.00/C$20.00/£7.99, pb, 448pp, 9781846883941 Desire for Chocolate comes to American readers with international accolades, and it’s certainly an ambitious book. Rather than being about a character, it’s about an 18th-century chocolate pot.

Readers follow the bone-china pot backwards through the centuries via a series of vignettes.

We meet Sara, the last in a line of Barcelonan chocolatiers, who adheres more closely to tradition in her chocolate-making than in her personal life.

In the 19th century, the pot passes through the hands of Aurora, the maid to a wealthy family, and, in the 18th, Victor, a love-struck French secretary, gifts the pot to a chocolatier who has invented a mechanized chocolate mill. Through these stories, we learn the origin of every chip and crack and come closer to discovering the beginning of its story.

In the pot’s journey, we trace the history of chocolate in Europe, from liquid chocolate made from hand-ground beans to blocks of solid milk chocolate to bitter chocolate truffles. Though Santos writes so that the reader can practically smell the cocoa bean, the book’s strength doesn’t come from detail, as in much historical fiction, but rather from the narration and the sense of past that it evokes.

This isn’t a novel by any conventional definition. It isn’t even, in this reader’s opinion, an interconnected set of novellas. The narration of each is distinct—Sara’s is told in a crisp third person, present-tense, Aurora’s in a somewhat melodramatic second person, and Victor in an entertaining first person epistolary voice—and reminiscent of their own era’s literature. This difference in narration can lead to a disconnected feeling overall, but each part, when appreciated on its own, is impressive. Recommended to those who read to appreciate prose and history.

Jessica Brockmole

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THE COMET SEEKERS Helen Sedgwick, Harper, 2016, $25.99, hb, 304pp, 9780062448767 / Harvill Secker, 2016, £12.99, hb, 304pp, 9781910701737 This spellbinding debut novel encompasses the past, present and future of two unexpected lovers whose lives and relationships are intertwined with the passing of great comets overhead. The characters’ complexity and the connections

in their lives build as the book slowly gets to its climax.

The two primary characters first meet on a snowy white expanse of modern Antarctica and are immediately drawn to each other, knowing everything will change for them. They are completely different in personality and past. Older by a few years, scientist Róisín grew up in a tiny village in Ireland with her astronomer father. She is passionate and well suited for surviving and working on the remote base station. François, the chef for the base, has left his birthplace in Bayeux, France, never having been away from home before.

They are each longing for a fresh start, their respective reasons for leaving home each tied to tragedy.

Time and its complexity are the book’s most magical elements. The destinies of the two lovers are shown by the glimpses of the past and future, the celestial visitation of comets, and the ghostly, almost watchful presence of their ancestors. The novel’s main story is contemporary, but each chapter provides a historical vignette going back as early as the 11th century.

Sedgwick’s style is demonstrative and tactile, with the sweet, casual poeticism of haiku. A skillfully crafted, and emotionally perceptive novel that gives the reader a chance to explore the choices we make, the connections we miss, and the ties that inextricably join our fates.

Jackie Drohan A TAPESTRY OF SECRETS Sarah Loudin Thomas, Bethany House, 2016, $14.99, pb, 296pp, 9780764212277 Perla Phillips has kept a secret for decades: the identity of the father of the child she had out of wedlock back in the 1940s. Just as she resolves to tell Sadie about her father, Perla suffers a stroke and has great difficulty speaking. Perla’s textile artist granddaughter Ella helps care for her while suffering from a broken engagement, leaving Ella unsure what path her life should take. She feels some attraction for the new minister, Richard, but also discovers feelings for Seth, a handyman who helps her parents. Matters get more complicated when Ella’s ex-fiancé Mark turns up. On top of the romantic dilemma, Ella is distressed about a developer purchasing the land where their historic Appalachian church sits, and wants to see it preserved.

This is the third book in a series (after Miracle in a Dry Season and Until the Harvest) following the same family. The story travels back and forth between 1948, when Perla met Sadie’s father, and 2008, though most of the narrative is set in the latter. The religious content is heavy. Mild suspense runs along three fronts: Will Perla be able to tell Sadie about her origins? Which suitor would be best for Ella? And, will development break up the local church congregation? There are many Christian fiction fans who prefer gentle stories like this one, so they will not mind the low-key conflict.

The family’s dynamic is interesting, with loving yet flawed people who must learn to deal with each other’s faults.

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THE FORTUNATE ONES Ellen Umansky, William Morrow, 2017, $26.99/£16.99, hb, 336pp, 9780062382504 In Vienna, Austria in 1939, Rose and her brother Gerhard are put upon a train (Kindertransport) and sent to England to live with other families to protect them from the impending dangers of the Second World War. In Los Angeles in 2005, Lizzie buries her father and mourns his death.

The stories of Rose and Lizzie are brought together by a single painting by the Jewish painter Chaim Soutine. The painting, The Bellhop, was in Rose’s family prior to the war but disappeared in the ensuing chaos. The same painting made its way into Lizzie’s family, but during her teenage years the painting went missing from her home as well.

This painting brings Rose and Lizzie together, though their lives are on different geographical and generational paths.

Umansky’s debut novel tells of the life and fears of a young woman in Europe during the war and the desire to return to her home and her comforts, as well as writing a mostly believable character living in the 21st century. Their stories might be different on the outside, but their struggles and desires are similar as they both try to find the painting that played such an integral part in their childhoods.

Aside from a strange fixation on fertility throughout the story, this is a touching novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy historical drama with a mystery that spans the years.

Elicia Parkinson

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timeslip

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THE CHRONOCAR Steve Bellinger, Barking Rain, 2015, $12.95, pb, 148pp, 9781941295182 This multi-time science fiction novel begins in 1888, as the son of slaves in the Jim Crow South makes a daring escape to achieve his heart’s desire: a higher education at Tuskegee Institute. Simmie Johnson achieves his dream and more. Borrowing from Newton, Einstein and Tesla, he writes a paper outlining a theory of time travel, including plans for a time machine, the “Chronocar” of the title.

He manages to have his paper published in a small black science journal.

In 2015, young Illinois Tech student Tony Carpenter finds the paper, figures out that the missing component of the Chronocar is a computer, and begins to build it. The first trip he wants to take is to 1919 Chicago, so he can tell the now mature Dr. Johnson that his idea works.

While there he falls in love with Dr. Johnson’s daughter, Olivia. But when he tries to enjoy being a tourist in another century, he helps trip off a race riot. Every time he pushes back time to try and fix history, fate intervenes for the worse.

Mr. Bellinger sets up his premise well, and the characterization is solid. The consequences of not thinking actions through become heartbreaking.

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and tragedy.

Eileen Charbonneau

THE BONES YOU HAVE CAST DOWN Jean Huets, Gertrude M. Books/Circling Rivers, 2016, $15.99, pb, 255pp, 9781939530929 Set in 1447 Milan, The Bones You Have Cast Down is the story of 17-year-old Taria, who is removed from an orphanage by the Duchess of Milan to become part of her retinue. While in the duchess’s home, Taria comes into possession of a small painting of Guglielma, who appears to be a female pope. When Taria holds the painting, she is transported 150 years into the past, to the time when Guglielma was revered. The duchess wants to discover whether the woman in the painting should be recognized as a saint, and why her notoriety and the adoration for her died, and assigns Taria the task.

The Bones You Have Cast Down has an interesting premise, but it gets lost in subplots about love interests, political conflicts, the attention of the duchess’s husband, and tarot cards, all of which do very little to support the main storyline.

They actually work against it, since they lengthen the time from when Taria originally goes back into the past and then is given permission by the duchess to learn about Guglielma. Some scenes are underdeveloped as well. I sometimes found myself wondering what their meaning was and hoped they would be made clear as I continued reading. The writing immersed me in the religious fervor of the medieval town and the duchess’s court, but it could either have been tightened considerably or the subplots developed to support the main plot.

Francesca Pelaccia

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historical fantasy

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THE APOTHECARY’S CURSE Barbara Barnett, Pyr, 2016, $17.00/C$18.00, pb, 340pp, 9781633882331 In Victorian England, apothecary Gaelan Erceldoune, whose knowledge comes from a mysterious manuscript passed down through his family for generations, is viewed with the usual skepticism reserved for members of his profession.

His friendship with Dr. Simon Bell leads him to make a tonic to cure Bell’s wife of cancer when Bell begs him for help. Through a mishap, the elixir is ruined, Bell’s wife dies, and Bell, seeking to commit suicide, drinks the leftovers, only to discover that they made him immortal instead. Over the years, he and Gaelan learn that they both share immortality.

They join forces to recover Gaelan’s lost manuscript so that they can reverse the effects of the elixir and release themselves from never-ending life.

The novel seamlessly weaves dual timelines together, shifting from Victorian England to modern-day America. In each, Simon and Gaelan work to hide their immortality while either striving to evade “mad doctors,” recover the missing manuscript and keep it (and themselves) out of the

hands of unethical pharmaceutical researchers, and unlock the modern marvels of genetics.

I loved this book. I thought at first that it took too long for the modern-day geneticist, Anne Shawe, to make her appearance, but upon consideration, it seemed a very deliberate choice on Barnett’s part. Delaying the love interest’s appearance, then making her immediately interesting and invaluable, gives readers a sense of what it might be like to live forever, want to die, and then be faced with something worth living for. I also loved that the novel touched on many facets of medical ethics. It highlights a lot of things we need to discuss within the medical community. I don’t know if Barnett did that intentionally or not, but it was nicely done all the same, and goes to show that sci-fi/fantasy is an ideal medium in which to discuss some heavy topics.

Kristen McQuinn ASSASSIN’S CREED: Heresy Christie Golden, Ubisoft, 2016, $16, pb, 320pp, 9781945210020 Assassin’s Creed is a series of video games from which has spun several print and graphic novels as well as a newly released movie. Heresy is the newest Assassin’s Creed print novel. The series is built around a fictional battle between Templars and Assassins where both have clandestinely opposed each other for millennia. The battle is over how to achieve peace: through free choice (Assassins) or via control (Templars).

In Heresy the conflict is set in present-day London with time-slips to 15th-century France.

The main character is Simon Hathaway, director of historical research for Abstergo Industries, a cover company for covert Templar projects. He is a Templar and direct descendant of the 15thcentury Templar, Gabriel Laxart. The story begins with Simon proposing a new project for Abstergo, namely to tap into their employees’ genetic memories to gain valuable historical information.

Abstergo can do this using their “animus” device, which allows a person to inhabit their ancestor’s body as a kind of second consciousness of which the ancestor is unaware.

Simon volunteers himself as the first candidate.

He proposes to follow Gabriel as he fights alongside Joan of Arc and to find Joan’s sword, a supernaturally powerful weapon. Obstacles arise—seemingly from Abstergo itself. Not to spoil the ending, but Simon does succeed in a nicely surprising way.

It helps a lot to know that the story is based on a video game, making it easier to roll with the fantasy and science fiction. It is decidedly a fun read, plus the history around Joan of Arc’s battles and trial is impressively detailed. The only problem I see is that if a reader doesn’t know the history ahead of time, it will be hard to separate truth from fiction.

But as a light and imaginative tale, Heresy is perfect.

Lucille Cormier THE ADVERSARIES David Hair, Jo Fletcher, 2016, £8.99, pb, 368pp, 9780857053619 In the latter half of the 12th century, Ravindra, Multi-period — Historical Fantasy

the Great Enemy, is gathering strength. Soon he will appear in all his hideous might and unequalled powers of sorcery. In a vast sub-continent of warring kings, he will make use of battle-trained young noblemen until it is drowning in blood, but his main intent is protracted torment and eventual obliteration of those who kept him helpless for centuries. His revenge will be terrible, beyond imagining. How can a few young people dare to resist this monstrous nightmare creature whose pastime is fiendish cruelty? Are they aware of their own previous lives of doomed love?

The story moves to October and November 2010, where modern-day life is presented in a revival of the ancient Swamavaya, and men compete for the hand in marriage of the most beautiful woman. In this life, she is Sunita, the dazzling pride of Bollywood.

Burial alive in a coffin with a cobra (also alive) is only one small incident in this sumptuous novel of India’s past and present, but that one does linger in the mind. Riches and poverty are powerfully contrasted, and the smells are everywhere, from the heavenly to the horrible.

Nancy Henshaw THE LUNAR CATS Lynne Truss, Century, 2016, £9.99, pb, 298pp, 9781780896724 This is a novel about the fight between good and evil, of well-meaning retired librarians and adorable demon kittens. Alec Charlesworth, exlibrarian, occasional historical researcher and sometime fighter of Evil Talking Cats (or ETCs, as we should properly call them), just wants a quiet life. But there are odd stories of giant cats in a graveyard in Bromley, a mysterious client who wants him to research the feline element of Captain Cook’s voyages, and, to top it all off, a tiny abandoned kitten in the snow. Thankfully, he has a group of 18th-century amateur scientists to help him (yes, they’re cats too). And his dog (who isn’t). So begins the wonderfully entertaining new novel from Lynne Truss, a follow-up to her 2014 Cat Out of Hell, although you don’t need to have read the previous book to enjoy The Lunar Cats.

It is a glorious pastiche of 18th-century conceits (scientific societies focused on the obscure and the bizarre, casual misogyny and dry-as-dust travel journals) and of the modern thriller (will the stewscented Demon Kitten’s Henchwoman subject poor Watson The Dog to unknown tortures if Alec doesn’t sign his soul away to The Devil?)

This book is laugh-out-loud funny, clever and joyous. To my mind, it was absolutely purr-fect (many apologies, but I couldn’t resist).

Charlotte Wightwick

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children & young adult

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THE SHIP TO NOWHERE: On Board the Exodus Rona Arato, Second Story, 2016, $14.95, pb, Children & YA

144pp, 9781772600186 Written for middle-grade readers and set in 1947, this is the true story of eleven-year-old Rachel Landesman and the other 4500 Jewish refugees on the ill-fated journey of the Exodus 1947. Having already lost her father in the Holocaust, Rachel, her mother, and sister cram onto a dilapidated ship in a desperate attempt to reach their biblical homeland. But the British, who control Palestine, do not want the Jews to land. After the ship is rammed, boarded, and severely damaged by the British, Rachel and the other passengers are forced onto transport ships and sent to a refugee camp in British-occupied Germany—the country they were desperate to escape in the first place.

Although country after country denies the refugees entry, the passengers never give up hope. Neither do the reporters covering the treatment of the refugees and the deplorable conditions in which they are held. As world-wide attention is raised of the plight of the Exodus, the UN is forced to vote in favor of the creation of the State of Israel.

In this timely tale, Rona Arato fuses the stories of real-life passengers with fictitious characters to create the fear, strength, and determination of refugees already devastated by war yet continuing to fight for freedom. It is easy to forgive the occasional forced dialogue, for the story is written with emotion and simplicity, which makes the difficult topic accessible. Arato uses historical photographs and sidebars to provide more historical context. This book is an excellent starting point for discussions regarding the Holocaust, racism, and refugees; topics which are, sadly, still in the headlines today.

Meg Wiviott THE MAKING OF MOLLIE Anna Carey, O’Brien Press, 2016, £6.99, pb, 303pp, 9781847178473 I was immediately drawn into this story by the easy tone of 14-year-old Mollie writing to her friend at boarding school. The book is set in Dublin, 1912, when Home Rule was being lobbied for. Another struggle was surfacing, too, not universally welcomed; women were arguing that the new parliamentary vote should be for all, and not just half, the population. We soon learn through Mollie’s letters that her older sister has a secret: Phyllis is a suffragette!

The plot revolves around the irrepressible Mollie becoming both politically aware and active.

At first, she notices that her brother gets the best bits of chicken at supper. And he is allowed to relax afterwards while she and her sisters have to do the darning. From such gentle observations, Anna Carey builds up a kind of Girls’ Own picture of the unequal status of women. The family servant, Maggie tartly sums up her own shaky existence, ‘I may very well be part of the family, but it’s a part that can be sent packing without a reference.’

As well as this wonderful humour, Carey makes excellent use of sources. Heckles at one of the rallies Mollie sneaks off to are quotations from contemporary news reports. The slang used is drawn from yearbooks of the (actual) school that Mollie attends. And Mollie’s final act of daring is

rooted in the court records of the day.

My one reservation is that the plot tension is not strong, mainly arising from Mollie’s attempts to keep her political activities secret. Being Mollie, of course, she is largely successful. However, if you approach this as the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft sung to the tune of Malory Towers it works quite delightfully. I, for one, curled up on the couch and did not put it down.

Marion Rose A MOST MAGICAL GIRL Karen Foxlee, Piccadilly, 2016, £10.99, hb, 296pp, 9781848125742 Twelve-year-old Annabel Grey is sent to stay with two great-aunts after her mother unexpectedly leaves home to go travelling. The old women are witches, and they tell Annabel that an evil wizard, Mr Angel, is about to attack and destroy London.

With the help of wild, magical Kitty, an enchanted broomstick and a troll girl, Annabel sets out to fulfil her destiny as the only one who can defeat Mr Angel; she is, her aunts tell her, A Most Magical Girl.

This is a fantasy story, set in Victorian London, but it is not a historical novel as such; the period details are loosely sketched and form an atmospheric backdrop to this tale of friendship and bravery. Annabel goes from being the perfectly brought up young lady to a girl discovering her previously unsuspected magical powers and heritage. The search for the Morever wand takes Annabel and Kitty through the Otherworld realm of Underneath London in a lively and imaginative adventure. There are dark edges to the story, such as Mr Angel’s sinister army of shadowlings, but no graphic horror. It would suit readers of 10 and over, who like well written adventures full of magic and enchantment.

Pat Walsh THE DARK DAYS PACT Alison Goodman, Viking, 2017, $18.99, hb, 496pp, 9780670785483 / Razorbill Canada, 2017, C$23.99, hb, 496pp, 9780670067541 / Walker, 2017, £7.99, pb, 496pp, 9781406358971 Picking up the narrative in 1812, just a few weeks after the end of the preceding book, The Dark Days Pact jumps right back into the action with Lady Helen Wrexhall and Lord Carlston. Now removed to Brighton in disgrace, Lady Helen begins her Reclaimer training in earnest with Carlston and his Terrene (a sort of supernatural bodyguard), Quinn, learning about her new abilities to fight the Deceivers and keep them from overrunning England. At the same time, Carlston seems to be getting overwhelmed with the Reclaimer vestige, the residual dark energy all Reclaimers retain over time from killing Deceivers and which, if ignored, will render him insane. Adding to Helen’s burden, Lord Pike, the odious bureaucrat in charge of the Dark Days Club, has tasked her with a secret mission to track down a lost journal written by a renegade Reclaimer which has the power to destroy all Deceivers or Reclaimers. And Duke Selburn just doesn’t know how to take no for an answer to his marriage proposals…

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Sequels often have a hard time living up to the hype. Many times they do not compare in quality to the first book of a series, or are not as fun or well-written or any number of other sins. Such is definitely not the case with The Dark Days Pact. Goodman keeps the pace going strongly throughout while still generating a lot of terrific character development along the way. And the ending! I am not sure I will be able to stand the wait until the third book in the series. Hugely fun, highly recommended.

Kristen McQuinn HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE NORTH Luke Healy, Nobrow, 2016, $22.95/ C$33.50/£15.99, 192pp, 9781910620069 Written in graphic novel format and based on the true story of Ada Blackjack—an Inuk woman who survived a disastrous expedition in the Arctic—this colorful, eye-catching adaptation, geared toward middle-graders, is a split narration between a modern teacher’s struggle with a midlife crisis, Robert Bartlett’s 1913 doomed Arctic voyage, and Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson’s illfated attempt to claim Wrangel Island off the coast of Siberia.

Sully Barnaby (a fictitious character) is an educator at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where Stefansson’s personal papers and artifacts are housed and available to the public.

Sully, attempting to escape a damaging situation he got himself into with a student, discovers the Arctic stories and the not-so-flattering portrayal of Stefansson—a man who won many awards and is credited with various discoveries. Finding some salvation in the parallels between their situations, Sully is able to come to terms with his mistakes and make a positive decision for his future.

This book serves as a nice introduction into Arctic exploration of the early 20th century, providing enticement for young readers to research further. It covers both the 1913 fateful voyage of the Karluk and Stefansson’s 1921 “experiment,” which included Ada. Aesthetically, the colors are pleasing with panels in pink, aqua, and yellow. The text is rather small and may be a problem for some readers. The author has provided an introduction, epilogue, and an after note regarding the character’s later adventures.

Arleigh Johnson MAD MISS MIMIC Sarah Henstra, Razorbill Canada, 2017, $9.99/ C$13.99, pb, 272pp, 9781770496057 1872. Leonora Somerville is an heiress with a stutter. The only time she can talk without stuttering is when she mimics others, something she seems to have no control over. Her strange outbursts have caused havoc, scaring away female friends and male suitors. Thus, Leo mostly stays silent. Leo lives in London with her sister, Christabel, who is possibly addicted to the special laudanum potion her husband, Dr. Dewhurst, makes. Christabel is a social climber now trying to find a husband for Leo. The rich and handsome Francis Thornfax begins courting Leo; he is not put off by Leo’s silence or stuttering. Nor is Tom, the clever assistant to Dr. Dewhurst who pops in and out of Leo’s life. London quakes in fear of the 58 | Reviews |

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violent Black Glove, an organization apparently opposed to the opium trade. Thornfax, Dr. Dewhurst, Tom, and Leo’s journalist cousin all seem somehow linked to the deadly group.

Henstra is effective in evoking the world of Victorian England. Leo is a dynamic character.

Lacking self-confidence at the beginning, Leo’s strong sense of right and wrong causes her to step forward when needed. Clues enabled me to guess what was happening with the black glove, the opium trade, and the men involved before Leo, but I didn’t know what she would do or how it would all play out. The climax is exciting, and the romance satisfying. Leo is seventeen, and the book is apparently targeted at the young adult audience. This surprised me, not because it would be inappropriate for teens, but because it is just the sort of adult historical novel I seek and enjoy.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt

half-brother, Henghist, and her full brother, Horsa.

Aficionados of the Arthurian myths will recognize these names as the Saxon wolves who firstly fought as mercenaries for the post-Roman leaders, but who subsequently carved out their own kingdom in Kent. In quick succession, Henghist shows his cruelty, Anya is betrothed against her will to Vortigern, captured by Irish pirates and washed up on the shores of Tintagel following a shipwreck, where she meets Silvanus, heir apparent to a dying king.

This adventure captures the chaos left in the wake of the Roman departure from Britain, with petty kings fighting amongst themselves for overall supremacy. It might perhaps have featured the Saxon wolves of the title more strongly, but it is well-written and researched, and very well presented. A sequel is planned.

Richard Tearle

SHIELD MAIDEN Stuart Hill, Bloomsbury, 2016, £5.99, pb, 238pp, 9781472918628 When King Alfred’s stronghold at Chippenham is invaded by the Danish Great Army led by Guthrum in 876, Alfred and his royal Saxon household escape into the countryside to end up in a makeshift camp in the Somerset marshes.

Here Alfred gathers his loyal forces and plans his revenge. Witness to this is his eldest child, a fearless girl called Aethelflaed who recounts the story of her father’s ultimate comeback and the establishment of his dynasty, the Cerdingas, as rulers of southern England.

Aethelflead is an engaging heroine, and, with her brother Edward, future king of Alfred’s territories, the two are a sparky, sometimes squabbling and believable pair in their early teens. Competitive and courageous, they train with the militia for the day when they will be expected to fight the Danes in hand-to-hand combat and Aethelflaed dreams of becoming a shield maiden alongside the men.

We know the story of how Alfred draws together a fiercely loyal army, how the West Saxons defeat the brutal Ubba and then join Alfred’s forces to repel the invaders and bring Guthrum to the peace table, but Stuart Hill gives events an intriguing slant by showing this from Aethelflaed’s point of view. This is very welcome, as we’re rather bored with historical novels obsessed with spilled guts every seven pages where women are mostly invisible. That it is a true story also adds to its interest. Aethelflaed went on to become the famous and venerated Lady of the Mercians, one of the great commanders of the era. Good minor characters such as Alfred’s queen, the more-thannursemaid Ara, and the commander of guards, Cerdic, flesh out the story and, as a bonus, there is a useful historical note, a glossary and some questions to consider at the back. Good stuff. A sequel, please.

Cassandra Clark

MAGICAL CELTIC TALES Una Leavy, illus. Fergal O’Connor, O’Brien Press, 2016, £10.99, hb, 96pp, 9781847175465 I’ve always loved folk tales, especially ones from our Celtic past. Una Leavy’s nine tales come from Brittany, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. They tell of the bravery of heroes; the woman’s world, which demands cunning as well as weaving skills; of dragons and selkies, giants and fairies. These stories have survived because they tap into something very deep within us: the importance of doing the right thing.

Take the Scottish tale: The Seal Catcher’s Story.

Poverty-stricken Hamish decides to sell seal skins, which are much prized. His family is aghast; it’s bad luck to kill seals, for some of them are selkies and can become human. Hamish takes no notice until he is tricked and thrown into the sea. There, he meets a selkie he wounded and must cure; only then will he be released. He must learn to respect his fellow creatures and vow never to hunt them again.

This story is about your place in the world and your responsibilities to others, be they human or animal.

The Magic Pail is a Cornish story, which explores another truth. Here, Jenny and her husband are given an elf-child in a magic pail by an old woman, who sings: Sometimes it’s better/ to give back a treasure. The pail captures a skylark’s song, which delights Jenny, and she vows to keep it. But the elfchild pleads that the skylark needs his song to find a mate. Jenny remembers the old woman’s saying and returns the skylark’s song.

This story looks at that difficult lesson: you cannot chain someone you love. You must learn to let them go.

These stories, evocatively illustrated by Fergal O’Connor, are both about everyday Bronze Age life, and about the problems of being human.

Recommended for all ages. Elizabeth Hawksley

THE SAXON WOLVES Penny Ingham, Nerthus, 2016, £7.99, pb, 402pp, 97809955034032 Anya is both princess and priestess in Germania, but she is exiled for questioning the High Priest’s decisions and ordered to travel to Britain with her

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ANTON AND CECIL: Cats Aloft Lisa Martin and Valerie Martin, Algonquin, 2016, $16.95/C$22.95, hb, 272pp, 9781616204594 Cat brothers Anton and Cecil are headed home after an adventure involving a missing mouse, when they arrive in Chicago during the World’s Fair of 1893. In a busy train station, the brothers take council with the mouse network sworn to aid them regarding the right train to carry them onward toward their home in the direction of the rising sun. After a confused parlay with the mice, Anton and Cecil meet Ruby, a bloodhound on a case of missing puppies with her policeman partner. Curious to see the sights at the Fair where the dog-nappings are taking place, the cat brothers join Ruby in her investigation of the disappearance of little white dogs.

The action of the story takes place against a colorful backdrop of the World’s Fair and a traveling circus. Cecil is the bolder brother, delighting in a ride on a Ferris wheel, and eventually going aloft in a balloon that takes him from the Fair to a circus outside of town. The more thoughtful Anton suffers most when his brother is borne away in the balloon. The separation of the cat brothers introduces much needed tension, and the circus scenes allow the appearance of a diversity of animal characters—a tiger, monkey, horses, and rats—that enliven the story. With a number of illustrations and a map, Cats Aloft is a fun and enjoyable book.

Eva Ulett

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DREAMING THE ENEMY David Metzenthen, Allen & Unwin, 2016, £7.99, pb, 293pp, 9781743368749 Dreaming the Enemy starts when 19-year-old Johnny Shoebridge, an Australian country boy from a hard-working, traditional community, returns from Vietnam.

A damaged soul, and aged beyond his years by his experiences, he attempts to carve out a possible future for himself. This emotional journey takes him away from civilisation and to the edge of the Australian bush.

Here, to ease his conscience for the lives he’s taken and the friends he was unable to save, he dreams up an alter ego, Khan. This gives him an extraordinary insight into what the fighting and living through the war would have been for the other side, providing the reader with an unexpected human side to the brutal Vietcong. The story slips back and forth in time, from present day to flashbacks of the action in Vietnam, as well as to Johnny “floating”, ghost-like, over Khan and his life as Johnny imagines it to be now; in many ways not so different from his own. His own pain and that of his alter ego is palpable.

Most stories of returning Vietnam veterans are about Americans, and it was interesting to read an Australian perspective. The novel carries a strong anti-war message, questioning the morality of Australia’s participation in the Vietnam War, but this is done with the lightest of touches. The truth Children & YA

is highlighted to Johnny—and to the reader—that those he perceives as the enemy also see him as an enemy, and even more so because he’s an invader.

Despite the complex structure and the difficulty in knowing what’s real and what’s imagined, this is lyrical, suspenseful and evocative story-telling at its best, almost spiritual in its lovely, unusual descriptions, and the most beautiful book I’ve read in a long time. Suitable for teenagers aged 17+.

Henriette Gyland TYRANTS AND TRAITORS Joshua McHenry Miller, Blue Ink Press, 2016, $14.95, pb, 286pp, 9780996867320 Niklas is a teenage Israeli shepherd who runs afoul of the wretched Philistines. Before long he finds a daunting destiny laid at his feet. He must tread carefully lest everyone he loves be killed.

If all this sounds somewhat Biblically familiar, there’s a good reason for that. This book, the first one of The Lion’s Dynasty series, was inspired by the story of David in the Bible. That’s about where the similarity to the Bible ends, however. Although the novel is supposed to take place in ancient Israel, there is little to indicate that setting. The story is told from Niklas’s point of view, in the first person, and his voice is unrelentingly irritating, not to mention quite modern-sounding. An example of both situations is included in this paragraph: “I reached the man mere seconds before the Philistines, calling out loudly. ‘Grandpa, I hate to interrupt your little pow-wow with the guy upstairs, but we’re about to be overrun by Philistines. A little less prayer and a bit more situational awareness is probably appropriate.”

Any kind of historical setting is ruined by the mention of seconds (unmeasurable until the age of the watch), pow-wows (from Native American societies), and situational awareness (a concept that is modern, to say the least).

I imagine that the book’s selling point is that it takes familiar Bible stories and lends a fresh, new air to them. And, indeed, it does provide an unusual take. Despite the obnoxious nature of the protagonist, there are moments of humor that may resonate with some readers. And a fantasy-like epic based on Bible stories is an intriguing idea.

Your mileage may vary, but this reviewer could not identify enough with the trouble-making hero to overlook his personality.

Xina Marie Uhl THE LOST GIRL OF ASTOR STREET Stephanie Morrill, Blink, 2017, $17.99, hb, 352pp, 9780310758389 When Piper Sail’s best friend, Lydia, goes missing in 1920s Chicago, Piper refuses to leave the investigation entirely in the hands of the local police, despite their protests otherwise.

Eventually aided by the young and handsome detective Mariano, Piper sets off to break society’s expectations of a lady and uncover the truth, even when it leads back to her own neighborhood.

After a slower start, albeit with a twist, this is a fairly quick read with plenty of intrigue to draw the reader along. Rich in period details, we get a glimpse of the darker side of 1920s Chicago, with gangsters and rebellion against Prohibition, along with a taste of finer society. Piper is fabulously

headstrong, but not overtly so, and makes for a dedicated heroine in search of her best friend.

The people around Piper—parents, friends, detectives—tend to coddle and treat her as much younger than I think she’s intended to be—a young woman with spirit and the capacity to fall in love. I definitely had characters I was rooting for over others because of this, and I was not disappointed in the end. My main critique would be that at some moments the writing feels a touch too contemporary, which may simply be a matter of taste. Overall, an entertaining young adult read that will keep you guessing.

Holly Faur ESCAPE FROM THE PAST: At Witches’ End Annette Oppenlander, Lodestone, 2016, $12.95/ C$16.95/£7.99, pb, 312pp, 9781785354267 Imagine playing a virtual computer game in which once you clicked on “Master Level,” you would instantly be transported to the past. The only way in which you could return would be if you were wearing the exact clothing and accessories worn when you were first drawn back in time. So, Max Nerd, for the second time, decides to return to Germany in the year 1473. Why? He has a quest to finish: to free his friend Karl, who is imprisoned in the dungeon of the evil Lord Schwarzburg. He also wants to continue his plan to woo the Lady Juliana and to see his friend Bero.

Now he finds challengers anew: Juliana is dying, Bero is initially hostile to Max, and there are secrets to be revealed from the elderly healer, Luander.

Misunderstandings abound, and several times Max himself winds up a prisoner in a dungeon, a deadly environment where starvation and disease may rapidly follow. If he is successful, he must return to the present and destroy the deadly game and its crazed programmer.

The Escape from the Past young adult novels are fast-paced, plot-driven stories filled with adrenaline-pumping scene after scene. Max is able to use his contemporary knowledge of herbs to heal those ill or wounded but fails to initially adapt to the medieval rule of changing rulers and harsh, primitive living. One particularly enchanting scene depicts a bard singing the ancient German tale, The Nibelungenlied, which describes the valor of Siegfried and his followers. Overall, Oppenlander’s tale is guaranteed to please readers who love plenty of adventures, battles and love trysts. It is highly recommended YA historical fiction.

Viviane Crystal KINGS OF THE BOYNE Nicola Pierce, O’Brien Press, 2016, £6.99, pb, 336pp, 9781847176271 I have to confess that before reading this story I knew nothing of the events it re-tells—but I decided to leave things that way and see if I could follow it. I’m pleased to report that I could and am now much better informed about the late 17th century in Ireland.

Nicola Pierce gives an overview of the battle, the events leading up to it, the outcome, and its meaning and impact for all concerned, while homing in on the detail as it affected the ordinary soldier and citizen. She does this by focusing mainly on the experiences of two teenagers—Protestant Daniel HNR Issue 79, February 2017 | Reviews | 59

from Derry, and Gerald, the son of an aristocratic Catholic family. Interspersed with their personal stories and those of their companions are chapters that focus on each of the two kings—James II of England and Louis XIV of France—and their feelings and engagement with the struggle.

As the battle draws closer, tension rises. There is terror, death and grief, and the full horror and waste of war is revealed. As a historical reenactment, seen from all sides with realism and compassion, this book is masterly. However, the disadvantage of this method is that the reader has constantly to switch from one character’s viewpoint to another. My only criticism would be that I sometimes wanted to spend more time with the teenage characters than there was room for. I found Gerald particularly appealing and would have liked to know more about him and what happened to him afterwards. Another book, perhaps?

Ann Turnbull BOOK OF THE NIGHT: The Black Musketeers Oliver Pötzsch (trans. Lee Chadeayne), AmazonCrossing, 2016, $14.95, pb, 304pp, 9781503938427 In what is sure to be the first installment of a new series, Oliver Pötzsch takes readers on a wild adventure with a group of young boys who become embroiled in war and magic and who eventually join up with the famed Black Musketeers. With war on the horizon and Inquisitors searching for witches throughout Bavaria, 13-year-old Lukas von Lohenfels, a young nobleman trained by his famous Musketeer father to be an expert swordsman, wakes one morning only to watch disaster strike his family. With his life on the line, he is forced to flee his home, leaving his mother and little sister, Elsa, in the hands of the enemy. While hiding in the woods, Lukas comes across dangerous and fascinating characters and eventually encounters the three other young swordsmen with whom he joins forces. As he continues his search for his sister, he learns about a powerful magical book and realizes there is more to his family history than he thought imaginable.

Written for teens, Book of the Night offers a good tale for diehard sword-and-sorcery fans of all ages. I found the language to be somewhat too modern at times—perhaps this was a result of the translation—but that did not hinder my enjoyment. I also enjoyed reading a story set in Germany, and the descriptions of the setting and the well-fleshed out and wide variety of characters enriched the tale. Basically a coming-of-age story filled with magic and mayhem, this is a good book to get boys hooked on historical fiction.

Kristina Blank Makansi

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LOVING VS. VIRGINIA Patricia Hruby Powell (illus Shadra Strickland), Chronicle, 2017, $21.99, hb, 260pp, 9781452125909 Racial relations in the United States are fraught today, but segregation experienced by African Americans in the not-so-distant past was both harsh and often mandated by law. Race mixing— marriage and procreation between whites and 60 | Reviews |

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blacks—was illegal in many states. Virginia was no different, and when the 1954 school desegregation law fanned the flames of opposition, county officials closed public schools rather than integrate.

However, it is hard to deny love. Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter, white and black teenagers, fall in love despite public disapproval and the county sheriffs’ vigilance. They marry in nearby Washington, DC, where mixed marriages are legal, but when the sheriff finds Millie and Richard together, they are jailed. The couple is sentenced to banishment from their Virginia home.

They are referred to the ACLU in 1963, and Loving vs. Virginia becomes a test case of the 14th Amendment, leading to the overturn of antimarriage laws nationwide.

Patricia Hruby Powell’s YA novel, Loving vs.

Virginia, embraces the landmark civil rights case.

It is also a beautifully portrayed love story written in free verse, interspersed with documents and images from the Civil Rights struggle. I’m not usually a fan of verse, but the award-winning Ms. Powell’s conversational style is both natural and dramatic, and she completely won me over. Shadra Strickland’s delicate illustrations also deserve admiring mention. 2017 is the 50th anniversary of the landmark Loving vs. Virginia case, and Ms. Powell’s eponymous book is a tremendous asset for bringing Millie and Richard Loving’s determined battle against injustice and prejudice to young and mature readers alike. Highly recommended.

Jo Ann Butler ANNA AND THE SWALLOW MAN Gavriel Savit, Penguin, 2017, £7.99, hb, 240pp, 9780141376646 This is the author’s first book. Anna and the Swallow Man is a dark and beautiful novel about the complexities of mankind and the terrors of war.

The story begins in 1939 Kraków and follows seven-year-old Anna Lania’s journey after her beloved father is ‘found’ forever by the Nazis. Anna befriends a multilingual and mysterious man, who can speak to birds: the Swallow Man. He guides her through battered Poland armed with a pocket knife, a fair few secrets and a strict set of rules to navigate their perilous landscape.

Gavriel Savit gives Anna and her Swallow Man the metaphorical and literal superpower of language and stories to fool the German (‘Wolves’) and Russian (‘Bears’) soldiers who are out to catch them. Savit’s prose is enigmatic and subtle but in places can seem laboured. However, he handles difficult subjects such as mental illness, death and the holocaust elegantly and with appropriate gravity whilst making them understandable to young readers. This is done through Anna’s eyes, and Savit’s protagonist is smart and resourceful but realistically trustful of the adults around her.

The book has many difficult scenes in

it but has a bright, hopeful ending and is moving and educational throughout. Anna and the Swallow Man would be a great story for readers age thirteen plus, and would deliver great insight to kids on the complexity of the human condition and the benefits of mutual friendship.

Jane Burke ESFIR IS ALIVE Andrea Simon, Bink Books/Bedazzled Ink, 2016, $13.95/C$16.95, pb, 276pp, 9781943837601 Esfir Manevich, a pre-teen child, lives in Kobrin (then in Poland, now Belarus) in 1936. When she is bullied in school for being Jewish, her parents send her to live with her aunt Perl in Brest. She makes friends with her fellow boarders, but finds that being in Brest doesn’t mean escaping harassment.

Esfir learns about the Bundists, Zionists, and various political movements among the Jews. She makes a friend of a Polish Catholic girl when Esfir attends a Christian school for a time. Her family is happy when they receive word that her brother Velvel has successfully emigrated to Palestine, but Esfir’s father’s death from a heart attack foreshadows the coming heartbreak. Pogroms and violence begin to grow, and eventually the family is stripped of belongings and forced into a ghetto.

In 1942, they are herded at dog and gunpoint onto cattle cars for an unknown destination.

Because of the choice of title, I’m not giving a spoiler by stating that the story was inspired by an account of one of the few survivors of the Brona Gora executions. Told in the first person, the majority of the book takes place before the family is forced into the ghetto, and vivid details give an absorbing picture of Jewish life in Polish towns in the late ´30s. Some of the minor characters were drawn from the author’s own family. Esfir is under 10 years old when the book opens, but young readers attracted by a story about a girl of similar age might need help grasping the numerous historical details. A Yiddish glossary and other supplements are provided. The story didn’t leave me with as strong an emotional impact as some other Holocaust novels, but I was glad to learn about a facet of the Shoah I knew little about.

B. J. Sedlock CLOVER MOON Jacqueline Wilson, Doubleday, 2016, £12.99, hb, 386pp, 9780857532732 Eleven-year-old Clover Moon lives in a back street slum in Victorian London with her six siblings and her put-upon father. Mildred, her unpleasant step-mother, beats her and won’t let her go to school. Clover loves drawing and has a lively imagination, and she tries to find some joy in life— so long as Mildred doesn’t know. One day, while with her doll-maker friend, Clover meets someone who might just be able to help her. Perhaps there’s a chance for her in life, after all?

Jacqueline Wilson is very good at getting across the harshness of life for the urban poor without losing touch with her characters’ humanity. She doesn’t pull her punches but shows the reader that something positive can come out of even the most heart-rending situations.

Clover is a real heroine: clever, brave and Children & YA

resourceful—and with a fiery temper. Jacqueline Wilson doesn’t shy away from brutality, grief and loss and we on Clover’s side as she struggles to cope with the blows that fate deals her. I admit I found the unrelenting grimness of Clover’s life in the first half of the book somewhat overwhelming. I was relieved when she finally escaped—even though it, too, had its own dangers. At least she could be proactive and find a way to move forward. For girls, age ten plus.

Elizabeth Hawksley I learnt a lot from this book; I didn’t know that children were beaten in Victorian times. Poor Clover had a horrible step-mother who hit her and wouldn’t let her go to her little sister’s funeral.

It made me cry. (Me too --EH) I love Clover’s character. She is a very cheeky and daring girl. She also has a knack with small children and is very kind to them. The book was very long; I think it should be shorter.

Rose Abulafia, Age 9 THE MYSTERY OF THE JEWELED MOTH Katherine Woodfine (illus. Júlia Sardà), Kane Miller, 2016, $8.95/£6.99, pb, 314pp, 9781610674386 / Egmont, 2016, £6.99, pb, 352pp, 9781405276184 This is a whimsical middle-grade story involving mystery, theft, high society, and even murder, in which four friends attempt to find a missing jeweled moth. In this second book in the Sinclair Mystery series set in the Edwardian period, Sophie Taylor and Lilian Rose are teenagers working at Sinclair’s Department Store. They are approached by a young debutante who read about their earlier detective work and enlists their help recovering a missing item: a jeweled brooch in the shape of a moth. She fears anyone discovering the pin is missing—it was a gift from a gentleman—and hopes the girls can recover the item before her coming-out ball. But as the four friends follow the curious trail leading up to the brooch’s disappearance, they learn the criminal mastermind they crossed in Book 1 may be involved in a more sinister plot. Then the friends meet a girl from China Town who has a secret about the moonstone diamond set in the brooch’s center—it carries a curse!

This is a fun tale with great historical details and characters. Everything is plausible and wellplotted. There were only a few things I did not like.

First, the illustrations, particularly those of people, look they belonged in a children’s coloring book.

While the front cover is great, the pictures inside are too immature for this story. Second, the year is never mentioned.

All in all, this is a fun, fast-paced story with enjoyable characters and a delightful mystery. I would definitely read more of this series. Even though I did not read Book 1, I had no trouble enjoying this book. I would recommend it for readers young and old!

J. Lynn Else

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THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE: A Story of Germany Thomas Harding, William Heinemann, 2016, £20, hb, 464pp, 9780434023226 The eponymous house is a small wooden cottage located on the banks of Groß Glienicke Lake to the west of Berlin. It was built in 1927 by the author’s great-grandfather, who wanted a summer retreat for his family away from the heat and bustle of Germany’s capital. But Alfred and his family were Jewish, and thus the rise to power of the NSDAP led to the departure of the family to England.

The house was bought very cheaply by a music impresario and his actress wife, and after the end of the Second World War, the house was located on the very border between what became the state of East Germany and West Berlin. In 2013, Thomas Harding goes to the now-ramshackle house and traces its history. He uses the house as a leitmotif for the troubled history of Germany during the Nazi era, the divided Cold War period and then the uncertainties of reunification that followed, concluding on a note of harmony and optimism.

This is an absorbing and enjoyable narrative, with my only criticism being the existence of references at the back of the book, which I only found after completing the text.

Douglas Kemp MARGARET POLE: The Countess in the Tower Susan Higginbotham, Amberley, 2016, $34.95/£16.99, hb, 214pp, 9781445635941 Higginbotham, a prolific author of Englishfocused historicals, gives us an excellent non-fiction retelling of the sad life and horrific death of Countess Margaret Pole, the daughter of an attainted traitor, the niece of Richard III, the mother of Cardinal Reginald Pole, and a loyal servant of the Tudors.

Higginbotham approaches her subject with excellent research and the use of both primary and secondary sources, and reconstructs the life of this accomplished woman, the last of the Plantagenet line, who was a peer in her own right. Appointed the governess to Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s oldest child, Margaret became a close friend to Catherine of Aragon and her staunch defender when Henry took up with Anne Boleyn. Ultimately, Margaret, at age 67, was judicially murdered by that same king, who feared her claim to England’s throne during a time of religious unrest. Her execution at the hands of an axeman, who hacked her head and shoulders to pieces, was one of the most brutal in English history, especially considering her gender.

In 1886, Pope Leo XIII beatified Margaret Pole as one of the 54 English martyrs of the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. This fascinating book is both enlightening and entertaining. Very highly recommended.

Monica E. Spence REJECTED PRINCESSES: Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions & Heretics Jason Porath, Dey Street Books, 2016, $26.99/ C$33.50/£18.99, hb, 384pp, 9780062405371 From 1500 BCE to the 20th century, this compendium is packed with famous as well as lesser-known women of history who, in the

animator-turned-author’s view, would not have made the cut in the film industry for various reasons. There are fairytale legends, empresses, actresses, women of the Bible, slaves, revolutionists, warriors, and even a few real princesses.

With much humor, the author introduces readers to 100 women who made their mark in history, but would not be the best on-screen heroines for children. Since historical fact is sketchy when it comes to women’s history, the author outlines the likely fanciful details and includes footnotes where needed.

The artwork is in a modern cartoonist style– Porath worked for DreamWorks Animation—with Art Notes and Trivia at the end of most chapters.

This is a bulky, though well-made hardcover, with sleek pages and content organization that is pleasing to the eye. Though young readers may be drawn to its attractive appearance, it is recommended and, in fact, color-coded for PG through R ratings due to content with violence, abuse, sex, rape and selfharm. It makes an enjoyable read for those who like to delve into unremarked collections of history.

Arleigh Johnson CAUGHT IN THE REVOLUTION: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 – A World on the Edge Helen Rappaport, St. Martin’s, 2017, $27.95/ C$38.99, hb, 464pp, 9781250056641 / Hutchinson, 2016, £25, hb, 464pp, 9780091958954 Rappaport tells the story of the Russian Revolution through a different perspective: that of the foreigners residing in or visiting St. Petersburg (renamed Petrograd when Russia went to war with Germany) in the fateful year of 1917.

Drawing from letters, diaries, newspaper accounts and memoirs by an array of diplomats, servants, journalists, political activists, socialites, and businessmen—some well-known, some now so obscure that the author was unable to trace their later careers—Rappaport gives an engrossing and fast-paced account of the events that terrified some of her observers, gave others a sense of hope, and left all in a perpetual state of suspense.

We meet people such as Phil Jordan, chauffeur to the American ambassador, British ambassador Sir George Buchanan and his formidable wife, the American journalistic duo of writer Florence Thompson and photographer Donald Thompson, and suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. We catch glimpses of author Somerset Maugham, sent on a spy mission to Petrograd by the British Secret Intelligence Service, and the American-born Princess Cantacuzène-Speranksy, a granddaughter of Ulysses S Grant. Through their eyes we see the irritations of the revolution, as accommodations and good food become scarce, and its horrors, as when the posh Hotel Astoria is attacked by a mob.

It’s a cliché to say that Rappaport makes revolutionary Russia come alive, but this book does just that. I recommend it highly.

Susan Higginbotham

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© 2017, The Historical Novel Society ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 79, February 2017