Susan Appleyard's Blog, page 8

La Luministe by Paula Butterfield

A fictionalized biography set in mid to late 19th century France.

When the story opens, Berthe Morisot is a young girl who, along with her sister Edma, is allowed by their parents to study painting prior to the inevitable marriage. While Edma makes a suitable marriage, Berthe refuses the role society and parents have assigned her and hopes to make a career as a serious artist. Such a career for a respectable woman was unthinkable in those days. When she meets the great Édouard Manet and falls under his spell, her desire to enter and conquer his world becomes her overriding passion.

This book is not a page turner. Nor is it a conventional romance. It is a detailed and fascinating look at Paris at a time after the Franco-Prussian War when the city was undergoing great changes; a time when the new boulevards were being laid out; when artists well-known today were struggling to make names for themselves and impressionism was a new movement setting itself against the constraints of the staid Salon. Mostly it’s about Berthe and her fraught relationship with Manet as she struggles to find herself as artist, lover, and woman. She’s a very nuanced character. We see her in moments of weakness, despair, envy, and self-doubt, but she never let’s go of her vision, and we have to root for her. And it’s also about Manet, a libertine who loves life and lives it to the fullest. There is also a supporting cast of famous names.

The writer goes deeply into the complex love affair between Berthe and Manet. The prose is excellent. The book is a sensual delight that must be not just read but experienced. It’s always a pleasure to rub shoulders, in a manner of speaking, with the good and the great of the art world. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend it for anyone who likes literary fiction, but it is a must for those interested in art history.

My review of Sheriff and Priest by Nicky Moxey

Set in 12th century England, the book describes the rise of a Saxon peasant to become, as the title tells us, a priest and sheriff. I have to question whether in the period of the book, starting in 1143 almost 80 years after the Conquest, there was still such a division between Normans and Saxons that the latter were looked upon as second class citizens. I would think they were integrated by then. I also wonder how Wimer, a peasant who worked on the family farm, learned to speak a little French, read, do math, and recite the Lord’s Prayer – not bad for a nine-year-old.

There, that’s the criticism out of the way. If you can suspend your disbelief past this point, it is a good story, and Wimer who did exist is a likeable character, modest and devout, although far more suited to his role as priest than sheriff.

I would urge the reader to read the notes at the end of the book to learn the fascinating details of the story and Ms Moxey’s amazing and often successful pursuit of ancient artefacts.

I have a particular aversion to books that do not tell the full story but leave the reader with a cliff-hanger. This book, however, does have a cliff-hanger of which I fully approve. In the author’s notes we learn there will be a second book that relates how and why the priory founded by Wimer was moved, lock, stock, and barrel, to another location. So intriguing.

 

 

A new book, the coronavirus and me

I am sure I’m not alone in having plans disrupted by the pandemic. Even, perhaps among writers, my situation wasn’t unique. However, it’s worth a blog post so here goes.

My husband and I spent the months of November through February at our house near Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, having a wonderful time and with not a care in the world. It was sometime in early March that news of the pandemic started filtering into our little corner of paradise. At first, it didn’t seem to impact Mexico very much. We were not due to leave until late in April and we thought we could just ride it out. Who wouldn’t rather spend isolation time in Mexico than Ontario in March? But then I started wondering if the government was telling the truth and why El Presidente Lopez Obrador had adopted such a nonchalant response to the crisis. Also a concern was the number of people on the beaches. I suspected the reason for all this was the tourist dollars spent during Spring Break and Easter.

The talk at Happy Hour or lounging in the pool was all about coronavirus. No one wanted to go home early but when Westjet cancelled their regular flights, our friends from Western Canada began to fear that they might be stranded. I cannot begin to describe the panicked scramble for replacement flights. One couple got themselves onto three standby lists, intending to take the first one with available seats. Another couple booked a flight but when another came available just one day earlier, they booked that one as well. Two couples had to take separate flights from their partners because only 1 seat was available.

In the midst of all this panic, I was dealing with a book launch. I had scheduled the launch for April 1st. (In retrospect, that wasn’t the best choice.) I was determined to do it with all the fanfare I could muster from my second home. Not that we had to deal with the flight fiasco, because we drive to Mexico. (Yes, it’s a long, long journey, 4,400k from Toronto to Puerto Vallarta, but we can now do it in only 3 nights on the road.) I did manage a ‘cover reveal’ and a little pre-virus promotion. But in late March we decided we had better get out of Mexico. Packed the car. Closed up the house. Prepared lunch and a cold chicken dinner for two days on the road. On the other two days, we bought take-out and ate in the car.

Interestingly, when we stopped for the night at a hotel in Mexico, the bellman took our temperatures with a laser device and there were 2 bottles of hand sanitizer on the desk. There was nothing like that at the 2 hotels in the U.S.

When you do a preorder, Amazon requires that you post the manuscript a minimum of 3 days before the launch date. I arrived home on March 28th, the very last day to post. Even then, I had to wait a couple of days longer before we got internet back. Surprisingly, Amazon was very understanding when I told them my sob story and allowed the launch to go ahead. A little late, but as sob stories go at this time, it’s not too terrible.

Stay safe and don’t forget to laugh.

 

The War King by Eric Schumacher

Set in 10th century Norway, this is the third book in the saga of Hakon the Good. I haven’t read the first two, but I had no difficulty reading this one and understanding what went before. Hakon took the kingdom into his own hands after the death of the previous ruler and exiled his sons instead of killing them as he was urged to do. (Maybe that was why he was called The Good). There was a price to be paid for such clemency. Battle scenes dominate as Hakon fights to maintain his position against the dispossessed sons supported by the Danes. Descriptions of wounds inflicted by various weapons in various ways are not for the faint-hearted.

Hakon is a Christian with his own priest and has to walk a careful path between his own beliefs and those of his pagan followers. Juxtaposed against gory battle scenes is a later-life love affair that blooms between him and Deidre, the daughter of one of his chiefs.

The book doesn’t spare us the violence of those days but I would have liked to see a little more detail about Viking ‘life’. However, I am sure it will appeal to those interested in Norse sagas and war in general.

I wrote this review for Discovering Diamonds.

A word about my new book

Prompted by the murder of his legate, in 1209 Pope Innocent III launches a crusade – not against the infidels of the East, but against fellow Christians living peaceably in the south of France. They are the Cathars, regarded as heretics by the Roman Church, and the sect is flourishing. Thousands of knights, landless younger sons, mercenaries and assorted riff-raff pour south with Christian zeal to exterminate men, women and children because they have different beliefs. A dilemma soon arose: How to tell a Cathar from an orthodox Catholic?

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Lovers Bräida and Jourdan are torn apart when Carcassonne falls to the crusaders. Jourdan joins the resistance while Bräida flees with her family to the relative safety of the Pyrenees, neither knowing if they will see one another again. But Bräida is not safe in her mountain retreat, because the Church has found an answer to its dilemma – the creation of the Inquisition. No one can escape its diabolical clutches.

This is a story of faith, endurance and the love of liberty in a time of unimaginable cruelty.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1005022

My book is also available on Amazon. It will come as no surprise to the reader that Amazon is screwing around. If I try to add the link to .com it goes to .ca – Canada. If I try to add the link to .co.uk it goes to .com.mx – Mexico. These are the two countries where I live, but since I published at .com I ought to be able to link to my book there. Apparently, Amazon has decided I can’t! I am beginning to wish I had published with Ingramspark.

My Swan Song

Prompted by the murder of his legate, in 1209 Pope Innocent III launches a crusade – not against the infidels of the East, but against fellow Christians living peaceably in the south of France. They are the Cathars, regarded as heretics by the Roman Church, and the sect is flourishing. Thousands of knights, landless younger sons, mercenaries and assorted riff-raff pour south with Christian zeal to exterminate men, women and children of the same country. A dilemma soon arose: How to tell a Cathar from an orthodox Catholic?

Lovers Bräida and Jourdan are torn apart when Carcassonne falls to the crusaders. Jourdan joins the resistance while Bräida flees with her family to the relative safety of the Pyrenees, neither knowing if they will see one another again. But Bräida is not safe in her mountain retreat, because the Church has found an answer to its dilemma – the creation of the Inquisition. No one can escape its diabolical clutches.

This is a story of faith, endurance and the love of liberty in a time of unimaginable cruelty.

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Cover release

This amazing cover was made for me by Elle at http://www.evernightdesigns .com. The book will be available at retailers soon.

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Dear Blog

I know I have neglected you recently, and I am very sorry. This is no excuse, but I am presently in Mexico for my extended winter holiday and, I’m sorry to say, the lifestyle down here trespasses mightily on the time I spend in my room huddled over my computer. Yes, I see you shaking your head. You have every right to be disappointed in me. However, I have spent the time huddled over my computer very productively and can now tell you that I have crossed the t’s and dotted the i’s of my latest book. Yes, job done. Ready for market. I can lay down my burden. Are you pleased with me now? Am I forgiven?

From now on, I promise you won’t be neglected. I shall have much more time to spend with you. In fact, you may be over-burdened. Very shortly, I will show you my new cover, designed by the very talented Elle at http://www.evernightdesigns.com.

In a Gilded Cage

I am thrilled to announce that In a Gilded Cage has received a Premier Readers’ Award from Pauline Barclay of Chill with a Book.

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And as if that’s not exciting enough Elle, my wonderful cover designer has won Cover of the Month from Chill. You can find her here:

https://www.evernightdesigns.com/

 

La Luministe by Paula Butterfield

A fictionalised biography set in France in the mid to late 19th century

When the story opens, Berthe Morisot is a young girl who, along with her sister Edma, is allowed by their parents to study painting prior to the inevitable marriage. While Edma makes a suitable marriage, Berthe refuses the role society and parents have assigned her and hopes to make a career as a serious artist. Such a career for a respectable woman was unthinkable in those days. When she meets the great Édouard Manet and falls under his spell, her desire to enter and conquer his world becomes her overriding passion.

This book is not a page-turner. Nor is it a conventional romance. It is a detailed and fascinating look at Paris at a time after the Franco-Prussian War when the city was undergoing great changes; a time when the new boulevards were being laid out; when artists well-known today were struggling to make names for themselves and impressionism was a new movement setting itself against the constraints of the staid Salon. Mostly it’s about Berthe and her fraught relationship with Manet as she struggles to find herself as artist, lover, and woman. She’s a very nuanced character. We see her in moments of weakness, despair, envy, and self-doubt, but she never let’s go of her vision, and we have to root for her. And it’s also about Manet, a libertine who loves life and lives it to the fullest. There is also a supporting cast of famous names.

The writer goes deep into the complex love affair between Berthe and Manet. The prose is excellent. The book is a sensual delight that must be not just read but experienced. It’s always a pleasure to rub shoulders, in a manner of speaking, with the good and the great of the art world. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend it for anyone who likes literary fiction, but It is a must for those interested in art history.

I wrote this review for Discovering Diamonds.