Susan Appleyard's Blog, page 6

The Unwanted Dead by Yorgos Pratanos

Set in Germany and Greece in 1957, the story of Nikos Kazantzakis is told through the eyes of an ambitious young reporter Freddie Germanos, who is collecting information on the great man’s life, and the reminiscences of his wife Helen and her friend Agnes. Poet, novelist, essayist, philosopher, playwright, journalist – Kazantzakis is perhaps best known for writing Zorba which was later made into a movie.

Greece has vilified him and denied his greatness. Nor has his native Crete honoured its most famous citizen. The Church has attempted to excommunicate him. He has been nominated 9 times for a Nobel Award, but his enemies and critics, including Queen Frederika have thwarted him. He has been persecuted and disparaged in his own country for his socialism and questioning of Christian beliefs, while being widely admired in the English speaking world.

The story focusses on Helen and her friends’ struggle to find a worthy burial place for the great man on the island of his birth. Their efforts are hampered by malicious members of the Church, both the hierarchy and the lower orders as well as the government. The book is not a compelling read but it is interesting to learn about the struggle of a grieving widow to overcome the prejudice of those who would like see her beloved husband relegated to the mists of obscurity, and give him the funeral he deserves.

****  

The Flower Boat Girl by Larry Feign

I was reluctant to review this book because I know very little about Chinese history and I have never been attracted to it. I am so glad I stepped outside my comfort zone because this is an extraordinary story.

Set in China in the early 19th century, this epic story revolves around Shek Yang, and the main man in her life, Cheng Yat. Shek Yang was bartered by her father as a child and scrapes a living as a prostitute on a dilapidated boat from the men in the nearby village. One day pirates raid the village when she happens to be there and she is carried off to become a slave. Despite her fighting hard enough to do him an injury, the pirate captain likes her spirit and forcefully makes her his wife. He is taciturn, rough and free with his blows. This is not a love match, but it is a delight to watch these two tough people learn to respect and trust each other.

There is more to Shek Yang than first meets the eye. She knows nothing about piracy or seafaring, but she has an instinctive knowledge of leadership and also knows a thing or two about manipulating men. After she forms a partnership with Cheng, both transcend their humble beginnings and plan to rule the China coast.

A bevy of other pirates and their leaders populate the book and they come in all different shapes, sizes and sorts – a poet among them. All are hard-core, not only fighting for plunder but intriguing against each other. To say it’s a cut-throat world is rather to state the obvious. The pages are packed with action, but the reader gets a breathing space while Shek Yang and Cheng Yat fight each other.

Kudos to the author for research. It can’t have been easy getting information on 19th century pirates and actually getting in their skin the way he has. He has not softened his pirates. They are authentic and yet we can still cheer them on. I even came to like Cheng Yat.

Violence, sexuality and obscenities are part of the package, but I highly recommended it especially for readers who want something different.

*****

Lotharingia by Lara Byrne

Lotharingia by Lara Byrne

Three women are the focus of this story:  Beatrice, Margravine of Tuscany, her daughter Matilde, Countess of Canossa, and Agnes, Dowager Holy Roman Empress and mother of the Heinrich, King of the Germans. All are powerful, transcend the limits imposed on women, and influence the politics of the day. It is a time in Europe when the sacred and the secular mingle. The women are surrounded by calculating churchmen, some good, some not so good. The story demonstrates how closely marriage and politics were intertwined and how even the most powerful had little choice when it came to marriage.

The possession of certain relics; the marriage of Matilde to her cruel step-brother, much against her will; her love affair with King Heinrich; Beatrice’s possession of a prophesy, the last words of her ancestor, Charlemagne; and Heinrich’s ambition to become Holy Roman Emperor like his father and grandfather; these are the things that move the plot along. The author does a creditable job of laying out a complicated story – the research cannot have been easy. It is likely to be a little confusing for someone unfamiliar with the politics and personalities of the period, like me. I had difficulty keeping track of the churchmen, especially as the author sometimes used first names and sometimes titles. Fortunately a list of characters at the beginning of the book helped. Also there is a brief summary of the characters at the back of the book.

There are some anachronisms – scenario/chuffed/stash/and others – and also occasions when pronouns were used when proper names would have been more appropriate. A proofreader would help.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the book and suspect there may be another about Matilde. The tidbits concerning what went on before the opening scene led me to think a prequel would be in order.

Also, very cheaply priced.

****

The Mortality in Lies by Scott Gibson

Set in the late 19th century, this is a fictitious story built around the infamous Dreyfus Affair and a land grab in Africa. Captain Alfred Dreyfus has been accused of selling secrets to the Germans. A Court Marshall finds him guilty and sentences him to a life term on Devil’s Island. The entire business is shrouded in mystery. He is tried in secret and no evidence has been revealed against him. His wife and brother are firm in their conviction of his innocence and are supported by Georges Seigneur and her father, who is a lawyer. Georges works with Percival Welles, a reporter, who is in Paris to start a news service. This is just a front. Unbeknownst to George, Percy is a go-between, passing on secrets from French spy Count Esterhazy to a British spy agency. Having fallen in love with Georges, Percy finds himself drawn into the Dreyfus Affair, which puts him in an impossible position – trying to prove the innocence of one accused spy while shielding the identity of another, and at the same time keeping from the woman he loves what he is up to.

The writer weaves together two parallel stories. The other concerns an intrepid band of Frenchmen who set out on a four thousand mile trek into the heart of Africa, a trip that is likely to take months and put them in dangerous situations. Where are they going? Why are they making this dangerous journey? And what does it have to do with Dreyfus?

Much of the African trip is told through the journal of Andre Durand. Like Percy, he does things which he regrets. Both men suffer crises of conscience and feel compelled to put things right. Georges is an independent woman with a mind of her own and an eccentric streak. At first glance, she is feisty, fearless, and passionate, with a sharp wit, (the first meeting between her and Percy is terrific). She makes a perfect foil for the rather sober Englishman.

The book has a broad scope, touching upon scandals in the French government and army, and the struggle for supremacy in Africa. The author keeps it simple, does not allow these aspects to overwhelm the human elements.

I do have a couple of little grumbles. I feel the character Georges fails to live up to the first impression and becomes more predictable and much less interesting. Then there is that cover. An uninteresting picture of the Eiffel Tower tells us nothing of what lies behind it.

On the whole it is an enjoyable combination of history/mystery. ****

At the Stroke of Nine O’clock by Jane Davis

There are, three protagonists in this book, three disparate women with different background and lifestyles. Each is facing a crisis in her life. All three are distinct characters with their own voices.

Caroline is a naïve seventeen-year-old, fresh off the bus from Sussex and alone in London. With the death of her father, her mother is counting on her to make a living and send money home. She manages to get a job as a hostess in a gentlemen’s club, which entails persuading the members to buy food and drinks – lots of drinks. Anything beyond that is entirely up to her, but the owner wants a cut.

Ursula is a popular movie star returned to London after a time in Hollywood. She has left her husband and is pregnant and about to marry the father, a Hollywood director, when she learns he has spent the night with his ex-wife who delights in telling her that she too is pregnant. Alone and pursued by a gossip-hungry press, Ursula struggles to form a relationship with her ten-year-old daughter who she left behind in order to pursue her career.

Patrice is a socialite, married to a duke who is both difficult and a drunk. It is a marriage of money and title. The duke is also a gambler and makes fraudulent use of Patrice’s signature, putting at risk her beloved ancestral home and her entire future. 

By accident the three come together at the club where Caroline works and form a compassionate friendship. As they struggle with their own crises, they become involved in the real life story of Ruth Ellis, who is sentenced to death for the slaying of a brutal boyfriend. There are contemporary issues here relating to the death penalty, women’s rights, spousal abuse, and a harassing press, and we can see that the answers to the problems these characters encountered are still eluding us today.  

The author is really good at creating and developing characters. With their individual personalities, even the lesser characters refuse to sit in the background. From Caroline in the smoky gentleman’s club, to the glamorous actress, to the wealthy duchess, and the people they interact with, we see life in the post-war years on many levels. I thoroughly enjoyed this well-told story of the struggles of women to survive, to surmount the obstacles placed in their path, of endurance, and of friendship between women who on the face of it have nothing in common, but who come together to help each other and to try to save another who none of them know.

Excellent read. Highly recommended.

I realise it is a cliché but I’m going to write it anyway. I think this book would make a good movie. A bonus is the 99c price of the Kindle version.

*****

All that Shines and Whispers by Jennifer Craven

This book could be the sequel to a beloved movie. It is 1940 and the Weiss family escapes Austria after their country is annexed by the Nazis. We meet them when they are settled in Switzerland: parents Gerald and Marlene and seven children. On the face of it, they are a happy family except for the eldest daughter Lara, who has left behind a boy she loves. He is associated with the Nazi party. She possesses a secret that if discovered could ruin the family’s future.

The foreshadowing is terrific and the plot is laid out like a rope, drawing us in a little at a time, never slacking.

Marlene Weiss is tender-hearted, understand, patient and always upbeat, and she needs these qualities. Having married a widower, she is an instant-mother of seven children. Husband Gerald is less patient, but when danger threatens his family he shows himself to be strong and resourceful.

This book is not so much a historical novel as a family drama. If it has a fault at all it is that the Weisses are a little too perfect.

An easy and enjoyable read.

****

An Independent Heart by Elizabeth Grant.

            When Claire Lyster and Captain Justin Sumners meet, they agree to a marriage of convenience to help forward Claire’s brother obtain a seat in Parliament. By tacit consent, there will be no consummation. The ‘arranged marriage’ is a bit of a trope in historical fiction/romance. What makes this story different is that the principals like each other from first meeting.

            Justin is the heir to Hawksfield Manor. Claire goes to live at the manor with her four sisters, and the couple is soon engaged in a local dispute with her brother about enclosing common land. This is not a plot-driven story, but rather about the development from mere liking to respect and love by two very sympathetic characters. The dialogue, the settings and those little details that make a story authentic to its period are all well done, and the narrative is an easy read.

To round out the cast of characters, Justin’s father is a martinet; his cousin and dearest friend has a heavy cross to bear; and the four sisters are delightful, each with her own personality and add to the engaging dialogue. (I do wonder if these girls are going to provide the stories for a series.)

            I have a couple of quibbles about the Justin character. He’s a little saccharin. He was a soldier in the Peninsular War and should have picked up some bad habits or not so perfect qualities. Also, I find it hard to accept the notion of an unconsummated marriage in this case. I do understand why this is important to the story – in fact, central to the romance part of it – but the captain was a nobleman, heir to an estate. We don’t know his age but I would expect such a man to be keen on getting an heir of his own as soon as possible. And why, really, would Claire allow him to make such a sacrifice?

            If the reader can get past these quibbles, they will enjoy this book, particularly those who love Jane Austen. I did and I am not a romance enthusiast.

            Finally, the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

****

Money, Blood and Conscience by David Steinman

Money, Blood and Conscience by David Steinman

Set in California and Ethiopia. Dissatisfied with the trivialities of his job and the emptiness of his personal life, television producer Buddy Schwartz founds ‘Help Ethiopia’ to raise millions of dollars to feed Ethiopians starving under the government-induced famine to wipe out unwanted populations. In Ethiopia, he meets and befriends the rebel leader, Meles Zenawi and falls in love with the enigmatic Hanna.

When Meles takes control, Buddy, struggling to stay out of politics, has to face the unpalatable truth that the aid he is delivering to the hungry is freeing up more of the government’s money to spend on repressive policies. His wife Hanna leaves him to join the new opposition.

The three main characters, Buddy, Hanna and Meles, are very human. All are idealistic, although their idealism takes them in different directions. The evolving relationships between them is developed well.

This book is aptly named. It is an engrossing story that uses fiction and fictional character to relate a true and horrific episode in the history of Ethiopia in the context of the continent’s struggle to emerge from its dark past. The decisions that face Buddy and Hanna and even Meles show how good people are sometimes forced to make bad choices because sometimes there are no good choices. It is an epic story that shines a light on another genocide of our time. It is not light reading, but there is a section I found hilarious: when Buddy gets married, Ethiopian style.

I do enjoy a historical novel that informs as it entertains.

*****

EO-N by Dave Mason

EO-N by Dave Mason

I don’t usually read books about the World Wars, but I agreed to review this one and I’m glad I did. This book grabbed me in the best way from page one. In each successive chapter the author unwound just enough of the plot to keep me reading. It began with a boy and his dog finding a scrap of metal buried in a glacier in Norway. Legible information on the metal identifies it as likely from a plane. A team of scientists converge and dig down very carefully. The first find is a bone, identified later as a child’s finger bone. Eventually the nose of a plane that disappeared in 1945 is chiselled from the ice. Meanwhile, in Seattle, thirty-something bio-tech executive Alison Wiley is at the end of her tether in her chosen profession when she is contacted by Scott Wilcox, a government agent. The plane found in Norway might have been flown by her grandfather, Jack Barton, who was declared missing in action toward the end of WWII. Alison jumps at the chance to accompany Scott to Norway to help with the investigation.

As the ice gives up more of its secrets, human remains are found that appear to belong to a German pilot. That information is very disappointing for Alison, but the mystery deepens. What is a German pilot doing in the plane known to have been last flown by Alison’s grandfather? What did happen to Jack Barton, and who does the finger bone belong to? A slow-burn romance develops between Scott and Alison as they try to unravel the mystery.

The best character, and the most compelling part of the story, is provided by Major Gunther Graf, a disillusioned Luftwaffe pilot who is heart-sick because of the atrocities he has committed from the air. He is sent to an installation to recuperate and there encounters evil beyond anything he has done, which gives him the chance to redeem himself even at the cost of his life.

This is a truly well-crafted story, a story of good and evil, courage and unspeakable cruelty. It confirms that our links to the past are never so badly broken that they can’t be resurrected by a small chance. However, there is a distinctly evil aspect which might be unsettling to some readers.

A couple of small niggles. The title EO-N, while being enigmatic, tells us nothing about the book. The author has passed up one of the most obvious and important opportunities to grab readers’ interest. Also, I think the cover would benefit from a little more drama. WWII stories are popular right now, which means there is a ton of them. This cover is very bland and the pale writing is almost invisible as a thumbprint, not to mention indecipherable.

It’s hard to believe this is the author’s debut novel. I’m sure he has more excellent stories to come. I have no hesitation recommending this book and giving it:

*****   

Hotel Sacher by Rodica Doehnert

Set in Austria & Germany at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

In the exclusive Hotel Sacher in Vienna, the proprietor Eduard Sacher is dying. His wife Anna is doing what she sees as her wifely duty by checking on her husband from time to time and seeing that the hotel is running as smoothly as the guests expect. She hopes to continue managing the hotel after her husband’s passing and feels she is fully capable of doing so. Her father-in-law who is in retirement, arrives and tells her he has other plans. He wants to sell the hotel, and cannot imagine that Anna – a woman and mother of young children – can run the hotel properly.

Two couples arrive that same night. Maximilian and Martha Aderhold from Berlin are on their honeymoon. They have come to Vienna to find authors for their new publishing house. The second couple is Prince Georg von Traunstein and Princess Konstanze. Their six-month-old marriage is not a love match but one of mutual benefit, she having Money and he having a Name. These two couples along with the disappearance of a young employee of the hotel provide a web of plots that are intertwined. The Sacher Hotel is the hub against which the pivotal events of their lives are played out.

Two other unusual characters deserve a mention: Love and Death. As soon as I read in the prologue of Love taking a seat in the foyer and Death climbing a rear wall of the hotel, I was hooked. And inevitably I said to myself: I wish I had thought of that.

Through the author’s deft writing we see romance, politics, war, infidelity, tragedy, some happy endings, some not so happy. We see women’s tottering steps at self-reliance and the tremendous strength it takes to remain independent and the many aspects of love. The plot is character-driven and the characters are believable, true to themselves. The author plays out the story line skilfully and subtly. To summarize, the book is brim-full of interest.

I have one caveat. There is quite a long list of characters, and the narrative hopped about between them in, sometimes, short segments. Since most of the characters are fictional, I think some of these sections could have been combined in a longer sequence. It would have made the story flow better.

Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, one of the best I have read in a long time, and I recommend it for anyone who fancies something different.

Anna Sacher and her children were real people, and the Sacher Hotel still exists today. I was in Vienna five years ago on one of those self-indulgent/research jaunts, but I never saw the hotel. If I had, I might have popped in for a cup of tea and a slice of the famous Sachertorte, a chocolate cake created by Anna’s father-in-law. There is a recipe for it at the beginning of the book.

****