THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS is a re-telling of THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES. Set in a place which sounds vaguely German in a time that sounds vaguely likTHE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS is a re-telling of THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES. Set in a place which sounds vaguely German in a time that sounds vaguely like the Middle Ages, we meet Zita, the charming and delightful heroine of this tale. Red-haired Zita is the youngest (and 13th) daughter of the King. But he banishes his daughter to the kitchens because her birth caused the death of his beloved wife. Zita toils in the kitchens, learning to cook, and learning to hunt for plants that she needs for the dishes that Cook makes. Gradually, over the years, she learns that she is indeed a princess and sneaks visits to her 12 sisters, who allow her to sleep with them in their chamber.
In early adolescence she meets a boy of around her age, and a witch. At around this time, her twelve sisters begin to ail. They become pale, their slippers are in tatters and they sink into a near-coma. Zita is at her wit’s end. But with her courage and determination and the help of her friends everything ends on a mostly happy note.
Although the book has some weaknesses – the twelve princesses are almost identical and the ending is a bit perfunctory – nevertheless this is a fast, easy read that is sure to delight young girls. Four Stars....more
THE MIDNIGHT DANCERS is a retelling of THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES set in contemporary times. Paul is a soldier who saves an older man’s life in a sTHE MIDNIGHT DANCERS is a retelling of THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES set in contemporary times. Paul is a soldier who saves an older man’s life in a situation that sounds just like the recent war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Grateful, the older man asks him to come visit whenever he is in town. He reveals that he has six daughters and six step-daughters, and is worried about them. He wonders whether Paul, a young man, would be willing to help. Paul makes a promise to do what he can.
The rest of the story is told from the point-of-view of Rachel, the eldest daughter. We see 17-year-old Rachel cooking and cleaning, child-minding, aided by her sisters and step-sisters. The parents are religious and strict and every day disappears into a sea of domestic chores. Of course, the girls feel restless. Of course, they would like some fun.
Things begin to happen when one of the sisters discovers a secret passageway that leads to some stairs descending to a private beach. From there, the sister see an enticing island. They manage to persuade some local boys to bring them over in boats, where they meet a mysterious young man named Michael. But what does Michael want?
And that is as far as I will go with the plot, so as not to spoil it for everyone. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this story, because the beginning of it is cluttered up with everyday triviality which makes it seem superficial. In fact, this novel has unexpected depths to it, so if the beginning puts you off, my advice is to persevere. You won’t be disappointed. 4 stars.
Author Shauna Roberts knows how to tell a story. Within pages we meet the two protagonists (Princess Nindalla and farm-boy Ur-Sag-Enki) and know that Author Shauna Roberts knows how to tell a story. Within pages we meet the two protagonists (Princess Nindalla and farm-boy Ur-Sag-Enki) and know that these two strangers will become important to one another one day. Fast forward 15 years to the beginning of Chapter Two and Ms. Roberts’ powerful writing puts us into the sounds, smells and sights of the Akkadian army taking the city of Susa. We see Princess Nindalla about to give birth as the army breaches the walls and enters. Within her birthing hut, she has only a dim idea of what is happening. Everyone has deserted her, until a young man walks in. This is shocking as traditionally men were not allowed to be present while women give birth. But there is no-one else to help, and so he does.
Thus do Princess Nindalla and Ur-Sag-Enki finally meet.
What follows is a completely engrossing tale about the life and times of Ancient Sumeria during the period of Sargon of Akkad (aka Sargon the Great) circa 2334 BCE. Highly recommended. Five Stars....more
As in the last book, THE GRAVE’S A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE, Flavia is growing up. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) this means that she is not quite the As in the last book, THE GRAVE’S A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE, Flavia is growing up. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) this means that she is not quite the smarty-pants of yore, learning to shut her mouth and acquire a demure shield, behind which she can hide her “wicked” thoughts. Some readers will find this disappointing. They also might find her very evident crush on Dogger irritating and disappointing. But you can’t write about teens without having surging hormones making their appearance.
In this volume, eldest sister Ophelia/Feely is finally getting married. Middle sister Daphne is hiding in a book. So the only one to provide any kind of foil to Flavia (apart from Dogger) is little cousin Undine (Miss de Luce The Younger, as Flavia calls her.) Of course, Undine is exactly like Flavia, or as Flavia was when younger, and provides some of the humor of the book. But somehow the bite of the earlier volumes is gone. Flavia is now only 14 (or 12) and there are many more years to go before she finally reaches her maturity. Does that mean that every volume from now on will include crushes on Dogger, Cynthia Richardson (the vicar’s wife) and Antigone?
As so many readers do, I love Flavia, so was very happy to get hold of this volume. I heard it on audiobook, so my experiences may have been a little As so many readers do, I love Flavia, so was very happy to get hold of this volume. I heard it on audiobook, so my experiences may have been a little different from those who actually read a hard copy. I agree the plot was a bit thin at times, and yes, it made no sense that Mr. Nightingale (the undertaker) would actually murder Orlando because his funeral business was going bust. Especially as he really didn’t need to. From what I was able to glean, Orlando had come back to the riverbank, to the place where he’d tipped the poisoned chalice into the river two years before. Finally feeling remorse at his responsibility for the deaths of four people (including his father, who probably knew what was going on, and sacrificed himself to the hangman’s noose to save his irresponsible and feckless son) Orlando actually swallowed the cyanide BEFORE Nightingale pushed him into the river, causing him to drown (as the cyanide had not yet taken effect.)
So the cause of Orlando’s death was unnecessarily silly. OTOH, I liked the fact that Flavia is beginning to grow up, and I also liked Dogger’s character development. It made absolute sense to me that with the death of his old master (Flavia’s father) to whom he acted as valet, he should now embark on a more interesting phase of his life. I loved the idea of the detective agency, and thought it was marvelous that Flavia generously included all her relatives in the enterprise, except for eldest sister Ophelia/Feely, who is leaving home to become a married lady.
As this volume gave me several enjoyable hours, I would rate it at four stars....more
I don’t know when I first started reading the Kinsey Millhone series, but I was hooked by A IS FOR ALIBI, and have enjoyed the subsequent series enormI don’t know when I first started reading the Kinsey Millhone series, but I was hooked by A IS FOR ALIBI, and have enjoyed the subsequent series enormously. It takes a lot of work and talent to write one successful book. But to have produced twenty-six really good reads is amazing.
I hadn’t read Sue Grafton for a long time, but I happened to be in a doctor’s office recently when I noticed U IS FOR UNDERTOW sitting on the floor under a chair. I picked it up and was immediately hooked. For those of you reading this now who want to be writers, pick up this book and read the beginning, then study it. It is a prefect example of how to hook a reader.
Now I am not really a reader of mysteries, but I left my doctor’s appointment dying to know what happened next, so I immediately bought it on Amazon and read it in about a day. This novel is about a character who may be suffering from an implanted memory. Or he might be telling the truth. At the beginning, it’s really not clear which, but Kinsey Millhone is determined to find out, and there is a very dramatic scene at the end in which she saves someone’s life. Which I won’t say more about so as not to spoil the story.
In any event, because the protagonist of this story is so unreliable, Ms. Grafton has to layer in other people’s points of view, so that the reader can make sense of what is going on. Again, if you want to write yourself, study these passage carefully as they are a good example of how to use this technique successfully. (Many new writers find this hard to do right).
If you love mysteries, read this book! Five stars....more
Before I review Jodi Picoult’s sixth novel, I want to register a COMPLAINT with RECORDED BOOKS. It simply ISN’T right to cut the tape in such a way thBefore I review Jodi Picoult’s sixth novel, I want to register a COMPLAINT with RECORDED BOOKS. It simply ISN’T right to cut the tape in such a way that there is NO SPACE between chapters. It ISN’T right to LURCH the reader from one experience to another so that we CANNOT process what we have just heard, and we feel JARRED and SHAKEN UP. It ISN’T right to MUTILATE an author’s work in such a fashion.
PEOPLE PAY GOOD MONEY FOR YOUR PRODUCTS SO I DEMAND THAT YOU TAKE ALL OF THE AUDIO FILES YOU’VE MADE OF JODI PICOULT’S books and REDO by ADDING SPACE between chapters. (Occasionally there is TOO MUCH space. THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED ALSO.)
Okay, end of rant. Now about Jodi Picoult and her sixth novel KEEPING FAITH. Most readers will find much of this book hard to believe, but if you are able to suspend belief, I think you will enjoy this piece. Jodi Picoult writes with her usual empathy and her descriptions of Mariah White and her interactions with her daughter Faith are moving and compelling.
Like MERCY and THE PACT, this novel also ends up in the courtroom, so you could say that what Jodi Picoult is doing at this phase of her career is writing courtroom dramas. However, if you enjoy that sort of thing, this novel is for you. Five stars.
Like MERCY, Jodi Picoult’s fourth novel, THE PACT, her fifth, is about a vulnerable man who kills the woman he loves at her request. Unlike MERCY, ChrLike MERCY, Jodi Picoult’s fourth novel, THE PACT, her fifth, is about a vulnerable man who kills the woman he loves at her request. Unlike MERCY, Chris Harte in THE PACT has no clan leader to protect him. Instead, he finds himself dropped into the tank on his eighteenth birthday and forced to endure the hardships of the lockup while his lawyer devises a plan to save him.
THE PACT takes on a different social issue than MERCY. This time, we are experiencing the fallout from teen suicide, rather than the difficulties associated with euthanasia. As usual, Jodi Picoult explores another painful issue with heart, emotion and empathy.
In this fifth novel, the author hits her stride. Gone are the supernatural elements, which some readers found distracting and off-putting. Also gone are competing stories. Unlike MERCY, where the story of the Chief Police’s affair collided with the story of his cousin who euthanized his wife, THE PACT has a laser-sharp focus on 18-year-old Chris Harte, his close-knit extended family which includes the Golds who live next-door, and his best-friend/girlfriend 17-year-old Emily Gold, who wants to die.
Because of the lack of distraction, both supernatural and otherwise, this novel packed a more powerful punch than the first four.
The only problem I had with this novel, which was produced by Recorded Books, was the shoddy editing of the audio version. Far too often the listener experienced no space between one section and another, which was jarring, off-putting and confusing. I really wish Recorded Books would do a quality-control check of the audio files to ensure that the listener has time to process what happened before moving on. (This is not the only Jodi Picoult novel with this problem. I experienced similar unpleasant lurches while listening to MERCY and PICTURE PERFECT.)
However, this is not the author’s fault. Five stars....more
I agree with most readers that MERCY is not Jodi Picoult at her best. Unlike some, I didn’t mind the Scottish clan stuff as I felt it helped to raise I agree with most readers that MERCY is not Jodi Picoult at her best. Unlike some, I didn’t mind the Scottish clan stuff as I felt it helped to raise the stakes and explain Police Chief Cameron MacDonald’s (aka Cam) elevated standing in the small town of Wheelock Massachusetts, as he is not only the Police Chief but actually the Laird of a community that decamped from Kirriemuir Scotland.
This also explains the first important plot point: Why did Cam’s cousin Jamie MacDonald kill his wife in Wheelock, and then immediately seek out Police Chief Cam? Many readers said they found this puzzling, but the reason is because Cameron MacDonald is Jamie’s clan leader, and as such, is expected to protect his cousin from the consequences of the law.
And so, in this fourth Jodi Picoult novel (I am reading them ALL in order) we have our social issue, that of mercy killing or euthanasia, in the setting of 1990s New England where most people were generally very uncomfortable about this issue, if not dead set against it.
So much for Story One. As most have pointed out, there is another story, which I’ll call Story Two, as it is the more traditional story of the Unfaithful Jerk of a Husband carrying on with wife’s BFF (in this case, a stunning assistant called Mia, whom Cam’s wife Allie helps.) Many readers disliked this story, on the grounds of unbelievability, but I rather enjoyed it. I could empathize with Allie’s infatuation with husband Cam (the Police Chief/Laird,) and her subsequent bitterness as the facts of his betrayal became clear to her. I enjoyed the way that she doled out his comeuppance. But I also agree that Jodi Picoult missed an opportunity to ratchet up the tension by neglecting to tell us more about Mia, who mysteriously appears and vanishes. I was dying to know who she really was, and how she acquired her magical powers. It would have been so neat to have her not only take over Allie’s place at the flower shop, but also as her mother-in-law’s confidant and mixer-of-potions. Four stars.
Perhaps we should get the meaning of the title over with first. For the bewildered reader who is wondering where Little Dribbling is, especially as itPerhaps we should get the meaning of the title over with first. For the bewildered reader who is wondering where Little Dribbling is, especially as it is not actually mentioned in this volume, it is, of course, a joke. It could refer to any number of things: the British propensity to live in villages with silly names, such as Little Snoring in Norfolk where Bryson lived for a while. (BTW, there is also a Great Snoring.) Or it could be a parody of T.S. Eliot’s Little Gidding, an allusion to George Orwell’s THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER, dribbling in Soccer, or something less salubrious. In any event, the title is a JOKE.
Having cleared that up, I (like other readers) found this book to be a bit of a disappointment. Bryson’s writing is wonderful, as always, but this volume lacks the energy and curiosity of his earlier work NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND, about a trip around the UK that he took in 1995. To be fair to the author, this trip, taken twenty years later, is NOT just a re-run of his previous trip. He finds new places to go and new observations to make. So why does he sound so grumpy?
I was really struck by this, by his rather frequent use of the term “idiot” as well as his propensity to drop the F-bomb a bit too often for my taste. As an expatriate Brit living in the US, it occurred to me that perhaps Bryson had imbibed too much of the British tendency to be too negative, a quality thankfully lacking in the US of A. Or perhaps it was because the “perfect” country he encountered in the 1970s when he first moved there is long gone.
Whatever the reason, it IS true (to be fair to him again) that Britain has lost much of its charm in the past 40-50 years. People are not nearly as polite as they used to be. They don’t have that ingrained sense of duty that was dinned into me as a young person growing up in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s. The country is a LOT more crowded, particularly London, which on an average day feels more like New York City. Politics have become way more polarized (the Brexit disaster.) And so on. Maybe the author does have a reason to feel grumpy, and to express his dismay about a country with such natural richnesses as its wonderful, varied countryside, which sadly, too many people don’t seem to care about as they dump their crisp packets and cigarettes here and there, in a typically thoughtless fashion.
I know this is going to make me sound like an old fogey (I turn 60 this year) but when I was a child growing up in Britain, if I dropped a sweet wrapper in the street, an older woman (who always seemed to be attired in a hat and coat) would accost me. Not only did I have to pick up my rubbish while she looked on, I was expected to apologize to her for my thoughtlessness.
Sadly, those days are long gone. However, if you are a homesick Brit stuck thousands of miles away, or an American (Australian, Canadian, South African, New Zealander) who has always wanted to visit the UK, this book is for you. Four stars....more
Despite its jokey title and a few quips, this is NOT a funny book. So if you are looking for Brysonian humor, you will be disappointed. It is, howeverDespite its jokey title and a few quips, this is NOT a funny book. So if you are looking for Brysonian humor, you will be disappointed. It is, however, very interesting. Bill Bryson takes us on a tour of our own bodies, using his wonderful prose style with its clever analogies, to make the machinery of our bodies come alive.
Some people will find the avalanche of facts off-putting. Others will be grateful that Bryson doesn’t repeat clichés and medical myths mindlessly, but does his own research.
The result is a tour de force of our bodies, that is so much more entertaining (as well as cheaper) than the average medical textbook. Five stars....more
This is the final volume of the TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES series. Like Volume 2, which was a blend of the 12 dancing princesses fairy tale with CinderThis is the final volume of the TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES series. Like Volume 2, which was a blend of the 12 dancing princesses fairy tale with Cinderella, this is a blend of the 12 dancing princesses fairy tale with Little Red Riding Hood. This novel revolves around the youngest sister, Princess Petunia, who briefly plays the role of Little Red Riding Hood.
As in Volume 2, where the Cinderella story was not given center stage, the Little Red Riding Hood story in this volume was also not given center stage. Instead, the emotional heart of this novel was how the growing number of young men in this story (husbands and suitors of the various princesses) banded together to set their wives (& sweethearts) free from King Under-Stone, the wraith-King who forced his 12 nearly-dead sons onto the princesses as dancing partners in Volume 1.
This story is perfect for those of us who love fairy tales, and appreciate clever new versions with well-drawn characters. Four stars....more
To say that Jessica Day George’s PRINCESS OF GLASS is yet another retelling of the Cinderella fairytale would be to mislead the reader, as neither CinTo say that Jessica Day George’s PRINCESS OF GLASS is yet another retelling of the Cinderella fairytale would be to mislead the reader, as neither Cinderella (named Eleanora/Ellen in this volume) nor that story is the focus here. Eleanora (who hides behind the plainer name of Ellen) is not the protagonist of this story, and the Cinderella plot-line is incidental to other considerations.
Instead, we have a story about Princess Poppy, the sixth sister of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, who has been sent abroad as part of an exchange program to find friends (and possibly a husband) for herself and her country. Three years have passed since PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL ended happily, with the eldest (Princess Rose) marrying Galen the gallant gardener, and her No. 2 sister (Princess Lily) marrying his cousin Heinrich.
Sixteen-year-old Princess Poppy is the sort of heroine everyone will love, as she is far from ladylike, smart as a whip, opinionated, bold, a whiz at cards and a crack shot.
If you loved the first volume in this series, you really should read this one. But as I said, it is really NOT about Cinderella. Five Stars....more
I loved this retelling of the TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES. Jessica Day George adds some features that fill in the spaces and add logical sense to the gaI loved this retelling of the TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES. Jessica Day George adds some features that fill in the spaces and add logical sense to the gaps in the tale. We learn why there are twelve princesses, and why the Underworld King’s twelve sons dance with them each night. We learn much more detail about the exact nature of the curse and how to foil it. And we learn who the old woman (who helps the soldier at the beginning of the tale) might be.
It is hard to write a novel with so many characters, and I thought Ms. George did a good job of bringing out the different personalities of each princess in a convincing way. There were many charming details, such as when Pansy, one of the youngest, believes she is talking to a good spirit, who is in reality the young man who is saving the princesses, hidden behind an invisibility cloak. Five stars.
PRIESTESS OF AVALON is the tale of Julia Coelia Helena, daughter of Julius Coelius, a Roman nobleman, and Rian, a Pagan woman associated with the priePRIESTESS OF AVALON is the tale of Julia Coelia Helena, daughter of Julius Coelius, a Roman nobleman, and Rian, a Pagan woman associated with the priestesses of Avalon. Rian calls her daughter Eilan. And so we have the tale of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, renowned for her Christian faith, and her influence over her son which caused him to make the whole Roman Empire Christian. But in this telling, her faith is more complex and never far away from the Pagan roots of the Goddess.
If you love reading well-known tales told from the unusual perspective of the women involved, you will enjoy this story. Five stars....more
This novel is three stories in one, and serves to bridge the time period between FOREST HOUSE which takes place from 86 to 96 CE, to 452 CE when ViviaThis novel is three stories in one, and serves to bridge the time period between FOREST HOUSE which takes place from 86 to 96 CE, to 452 CE when Viviane takes over as Lady of Avalon at the age of 26.
Part One (THE WISEWOMAN) takes place from 96 to 118 CE. It is the story of what happens to Caillean and Gawen after the destruction of the Forest House when Eilen and her lover Gaius/Gawen are sacrificed. Caillean, a senior priestess from the Forest House has founded a daughter cell at Avalon (near Glastonbury Tor) and flees there with 10-year-old Gawen, the son of Eilen and Gaius/Gawen at the beginning of this story. Gawen is trained as a Druid, but like many such characters in this saga he feels torn between his mother’s British heritage and his father’s Roman heritage. Things are complicated when he becomes friends with kindly Father Joseph (Joseph of Arimathea) and becomes drawn to the teachings of Christianity. When Father Joseph dies, he decides to leave Avalon and seek his Roman grandfather.
For some reason, the Faerie Queen (the wisewoman) has decided to entrust her daughter Sianna to the priestesses of Avalon, and she is groomed to be High Priestess. Naturally, when Gawen returns to Avalon from his stint in the Roman army, they fall in love. Gawen is initiated into the Druids and becomes the Pendragon, the Head of the Dragon. At the Beltane fires, Gawen and Sianna become Lord and Lady, but the celebrations are interrupted by the monks from the nearby priory desecrating the stone circle on the Tor. Gawen dies trying to defend the sacred stones, leaving Sianna pregnant. And High Priestess Caillean calls down the mists to protect Avalon from the outside world.
Part Two (THE HIGH PRIESTESS) takes place from 285 to 293 CE. Dierna, who can trace her descent through seven generations to Sianna, is now High Priestess of Avalon. At the beginning of this story, Dierna is visiting Eidden Mynoc, the Prince of the Durotriges (a tribe that inhabited the area that is now Dorset in south-western England) in order to take his daughter, 18-year-old Teleri, as a novice priestess to Avalon. On their way to Avalon, their party is ambushed by a group of Anglo-Saxons and Teleri would have been raped, were it not for Dierna’s magic.
Time passes, and Teleri is chosen to escort Dierna to Venta Belgarum (Winchester) because her father has decided that she should leave Avalon and marry Marcus Aurelius Musaeus Carausius, the Admiral of the Britannic fleet (which patrols the coast of southern Britain to fend off hordes of Saxons who are trying to cross the water to settle in Britain.) Teleri, of course, is given no choice in the matter, and Dierna is reluctant to see her go, and only does so because she has a vision that this will come to pass.
Naturally, Teleri never comes to love her husband (who eventually becomes Emperor of Britannia.) Instead, she falls in love with a young Roman officer in his train, Allectus. When Allectus rises up against the rule of Carausius, both men die, and Teleri flees to Avalon, where she is welcomed as the next Lady of Avalon.
Part Three (DAUGHTER OF AVALON) takes place from 440 to 452 CE, at a time when the Romans are abandoning Britain to the Saxon hordes. This story deals with the girlhood of Viviane, her prickly relationship with her mother Ana (the Lady of Avalon,) her training as a priestess of Avalon, and her initiation as High Priestess at the age of 26 on the death of her mother.
It is interesting that authors Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diane L. Paxson decided to wedge three stories into one book, instead of making a trilogy out of them. However, the book doesn’t seem to suffer from this, and this volume provides a most interesting prequel to THE MISTS OF AVALON. Five stars.
It is around 86 CE. Eilan, a 14-year-old grand-daughter of Ardanos, the Arch-Druid of Britannia, can already see visions and hears the call of the GodIt is around 86 CE. Eilan, a 14-year-old grand-daughter of Ardanos, the Arch-Druid of Britannia, can already see visions and hears the call of the Goddess. All might have gone smoothly with her initiation into the Priestesses of the Forest House, had the Chief Priestess Lhiannon not mistakenly thrown her cloak over her close friend Dieda, thus claiming Dieda as a priestess for the Forest House, instead of Eilan.
Dieda is the youngest daughter of Eilan’s grandfather Ardanos, but she is a similar age to Eilan (perhaps 15 or 16) and looks uncannily like her. Thus the two girls are often confused, one with another, causing a critical plot-twist to this novel. But Dieda doesn’t have visions, nor does she seem particularly drawn to the Forest House. Instead she considers herself to be betrothed to a young man named Cynric. It is thus a tragedy for her when Lhiannon inadvertently claims her for the priestesshood, rather than Eilan
It is near the fires of Beltane (30 April in our calendar) when this community discovers a boy injured in a boar pit. They take him in and heal his injuries, most not realizing that he is in fact Roman (except for Ardanos.) But he is of mixed blood. His mother was British and called him Gawen. His father is Gaius Macellius Severus, a Roman Army Officer. His Roman name is Gaius Macellius Severus Siluricus, to honor the fact that his mother came from the tribe of the Silures.
Unfortunately, Gaius and Eilan fall in love and their love and the dire consequences of their coming together to fashion a son, named Gawen after his father, leads to the magnificent and tragic climax of this novel.
Although this novel appears to have nothing to do with THE MISTS OF AVALON, it is well worth reading, if only to get some wonderful descriptions of the rites and customs of the Druids, before they lost their power. Five Stars....more
To many, three is a sacred number. It is the sign of the Trinity. Three Norns twine the threads of Fate. And in this re-telling of the King Arthur LegTo many, three is a sacred number. It is the sign of the Trinity. Three Norns twine the threads of Fate. And in this re-telling of the King Arthur Legend (told from the women’s point of view) we have three sisters. The eldest, Viviane, is the Priestess of Avalon, the Holy Island of Apples dedicated to the Goddess. Igraine, is the High Queen, mother of Morgaine and Arthur. Then there is Morgause, the jealous youngest sister.
However, it is Morgaine who is the protagonist, Morgaine, who becomes the last Priestess of Avalon, who witnesses the destruction of Camelot, the death of the Goddess, and the rise of Christianity.
If you only know about King Arthur through Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, the stories of the Knights of the Round Table, or T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, then you should experience this wonderful book. It will give you a completely different perspective on this well-known legend. Five stars....more
ENTWINED is author Heather Dixon’s retelling of the twelve dancing princesses set in a castle in the nineteenth century. At the beginning, the eleven ENTWINED is author Heather Dixon’s retelling of the twelve dancing princesses set in a castle in the nineteenth century. At the beginning, the eleven sisters are faced with a double tragedy, the death of a beloved mother when the twelfth sister is born, and the absence of their seemingly cold & callous father.
The rest of this volume takes place over the ensuing year as their father decrees a year of mourning for their mother, before he leaves.
The princesses, now abandoned, have nothing to relieve their grief, until the day the eldest princess, Azalea, rubs her mother’s handkerchief, turning a fireplace into a door.
The rest of the story has all the elements of the traditional Twelve Dancing Princesses story, except that in this version, the sisters dance by themselves, without any princes, except for poor Princess Azalea, who is partnered by the sinister (& devilishly handsome) Keeper.
There were several wonderful touches to this story. I enjoyed the alphabetical naming of the princesses: Azalea, Bramble, Clover, Delphinium, (Primrose) Eve, Flora, Goldenrod, Hollyhock, Ivy, Jessamine, Kale and baby Lily. But it was also a treat to read so much about dancing. On the frontispiece of this volume, is a description of a dance called the The Entwine, which involves a long sash and a waltz. As someone who loves to dance myself, I enjoyed all the talk of dancing.
This tale has a dark underlay to it that balances out all the froth (unavoidable if you are talking about 12 sisters.) If you or a young lady that you know enjoys reading something that is a blend of historical fiction, fantasy, faery and fairy tale, this is the perfect book. Five stars....more
Although this novel got off to a slow start, I loved discovering the courage, heroism and leadership of a couple of characters I had never heard of beAlthough this novel got off to a slow start, I loved discovering the courage, heroism and leadership of a couple of characters I had never heard of before. King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, born in 1161, succeeded to the throne on the death of his father in 1174 when he was 13. In 1177, at the age of 16, he won an unexpected victory against Saladin (Salah ad-Din) at the Battle of Montgisard. He continued to weld his fractious nobles together and keep Saladin at bay until his tragic death at the too-early age of 23 or 24 on 16 March 1185. This is all the more remarkable given that he contracted leprosy at the age of 10, the disease which killed him.
His achievement is all the more glorious set against what happened after his death. Under the inept leadership of Guy de Lusignan (husband of Baldwin’s sister Sybilla) it took only 30 months for Jerusalem to fall to Saladin in October 1187, following his victory at the Battle of the Horns of Hattin on 4 July 1187.
Hattin decimated the native-born Frankish ruling class of Outremer, who had town-houses in Jerusalem, and country estates in what is now Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Syria. They were unable to put up much of a fight when Saladin appeared 3 months later with a large army outside Jerusalem.
They would have been unable to put up any fight at all, were it not for the second character I so enjoyed reading about, Balian d’Ibelin, a Frankish noble born in Outremer (the land beyond the sea) in the 1140s, who somehow managed to persuade Maria Comnena (the widowed Queen of Baldwin IV’s father) to become his wife. Balian was a native-born lord of Outremer, (not a “foreigner” from France) and so he was thoroughly acculturated to that interesting blend of French and Arabic cultures that existed in Outremer (the Crusader States) in the 1100s. He spoke Arabic well, which was useful when he had to negotiate terms with Saladin, who wanted to enslave 33,000 of the poorer inhabitants of Jerusalem. Somehow, Balian d’Ibelin managed to convince him not to do that, but to allow everyone to leave peacefully and re-settle in the Christian territories of Tripoli and Antioch.
How inspiring to read about two men who used their gifts to help their people and do the right thing! If the coronavirus is making you depressed, I suggest you reach for this novel. Five stars....more
Ben Hubbard knows how to tell a good story, and starting his book about MBS (Mohammed bin Salman, the current Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia) by conveyiBen Hubbard knows how to tell a good story, and starting his book about MBS (Mohammed bin Salman, the current Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia) by conveying his tutor’s impressions of him when he was still a boy is a very good way of beginning to understand the charismatic, charming and cruel man we in the West refer to as MBS.
MBS always had natural leadership abilities. Yet he was the sixth son of King Salman (the eldest son of his third wife.) And King Salman himself was the 25th son (roughly) of King Abdulazziz.
Of course luck played its part in Salman becoming King. And luck was also behind the demise of two of Salman’s sons by his first wife. However, that still left MBS in 4th position, behind his four older brothers.
So, how did MBS pull off the remarkable feat of becoming Crown Prince? This well-researched, well-told book tells you exactly how.
I won’t say more so as not to spoil it for those of you who have not read it, but if you are interested in the current state of affairs in Saudi Arabia, you should read this book. Five stars.
It is easy to see that Lawrence Durrell started life as a poet, for his prose is magnificent. But his strongest suit is his brilliant evocation of timIt is easy to see that Lawrence Durrell started life as a poet, for his prose is magnificent. But his strongest suit is his brilliant evocation of time and place, in recreating the alien landscape of Egyptian Alexandria in the late 1930s and 1940s, during World War Two. And his characters are marvelous: Nessim and Justine, Darley and Melissa, Mountolive and Leila, and Balthazar and Pombal, all quirky, all seeming to fit perfectly into a strange place which is an interesting blend of East and West.
This is NOT to say that THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET doesn’t have its flaws. Those of you who haven’t read these volumes and dive into JUSTINE (the first volume) should be warned that this is Durrell’s most experimental novel. After some wonderful brush-strokes that delineate Alexandria and environs, he plunges us in. The experience is rather like going through an elderly relative’s papers, all spread out over the desk in no particular order, and it is our job to make sense of it. JUSTINE places quite a burden on the reader by the formlessness of its structure. The novel is in four parts, but there are no chapters. Instead, when Durrell runs out of steam, we hit these abrupt breaks, and just as abruptly start up with something else. This can be irksome for the reader, with all these starts and stops, because just as we’re getting into something, we have to drop it and pay attention to something else. Accordingly, JUSTINE has a cloudy quality to it, like an undeveloped photograph, and the only clear thing that emerges is how obsessed the narrator is by Justine– the mysterious, elegant, beautiful, sensual wife of wealthy banker Nessim Hosnani.
The narrator of JUSTINE is un-named, and we don’t actually find out that his name is LG Darley until the end of BALTHAZAR. Of course LG Darley is a dead-ringer for Lawrence George Durrell, the author himself. When we first meet the narrator in JUSTINE, he is a Brit living in Alexandria who has a modest teaching job. One day, Justine accosts him after a lecture and takes him home to meet husband Nessim. And thus the machinery of the novel is set into motion (on page 29.)
Who is Balthazar? He is a close friend of Justine’s who holds weekly meetings, referred to by narrator L. G. Darley as the “Cabal.” Of course, he is a well-known member of the Jewish Community in Alexandria. If JUSTINE was incoherent, then BALTHAZAR is a more coherent version of the same story, told by the same narrator (L.G. Darley), with some extra background details that help us to make sense of the narrative, and chapters (!), which help with the flow of information.
By far my favorite of the four novels is MOUNTOLIVE, the story of a junior officer of exceptional promise at the Foreign Office, who scales the heights of the Diplomatic Services to become Ambassador. In Durrell’s hands it becomes much more than this, since these four novels are meditations and reflections on modern love. Of course MOUNTOLIVE provides all the juicy details about his personal life, as well as the office politics and intrigues of the British Embassy in Cairo and the British Consulate in Alexandria. The reason why this novel is my favorite is because it is the only one to have a coherent structure. All the anecdotes, digressions, free-associations and blind alleys are knitted together by having as a spine the story of Mountolive’s life and career. The other thing that is superb about this novel is the different perspective it gives on the story of the Hosnanis and their friends, which we have heard twice now, once in JUSTINE and once in BALTHAZAR.
CLÉA is the last novel, and not nearly as strong as MOUNTOLIVE. At least it actually has chapters, which give the narrative flow some shape. But like BALTHAZAR (and JUSTINE) there are too many rambles into the weeds for my taste. So much of these three novels (JUSTINE, BALTHAZAR and CLÉA) have a post-prandial air to them. They sound like someone who has just dined on French cuisine accompanied by exquisite wines. Slightly drunk, this raconteur is holding a brandy in one hand and a cigar in the other, telling one bizarre anecdote after another. Very entertaining if you are Durrell’s guest. But for a novel? Not so much. Three Stars....more
As a professional writer myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the way that Jodi Picoult began this tale. What better way to introduce a character and her situAs a professional writer myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the way that Jodi Picoult began this tale. What better way to introduce a character and her situation by having her lose her memory? And so the novel opens in a provocative way, with an unknown, unnamed woman waking up by a gravestone with no memory of who she is or what she is doing there. She is fortunate enough to meet a kind-hearted cop who takes her home and looks after her while he puts out a call for a missing woman.
Her life comes into sharper focus when her husband shows up, flying all the way from Scotland to retrieve her at a police station in Los Angeles. Turns out that the husband is Hollywood’s hottest actor – Alex Rivers – and the unnamed Jane Doe is Cassie Barrett, an up-and-coming-star in the field of Anthropology.
How such an unlikely couple met and married is narrated just after the point where Cassie discovers who she is and why she fled her husband’s Bel-Air mansion. As the narration continues, the dark underbelly of this marriage emerges, ratcheting up the tension as the reader wonders what is going to happen to Cassie now that she has “done” something her husband is violently against, and now that she has fled a second time.
How will she hide? What will he do when he discovers her gone?
This is the first novel by Jodi Picoult to explore a social issue, in this case domestic abuse. I found her take on it completely absorbing. Five stars....more
Author Jodi Picoult writes with such empathy and this novel was well supported by Cassandra Campbell’s superb narration. Here is the tale of a young wAuthor Jodi Picoult writes with such empathy and this novel was well supported by Cassandra Campbell’s superb narration. Here is the tale of a young woman who marries up into a family so wealthy it is beyond her wildest imaginings. But she marries fast after a whirlwind courtship at the age of 19, with no family to sustain her. She is semi-estranged from her father, and her mother disappeared when she was five. At age 19, she wants to go to college, to art school. But a tragedy and the ensuing guilt cause her to leave her home in Chicago for Cambridge Massachusetts. To make ends meet, she waitresses in a restaurant, where she meets Nicholas, the only child of wealth, and an incredibly driven young man who wants to be a heart surgeon.
Women who live this Cinderella story have to cope with the aftermath of trying to fit into a new culture they do not understand, and perhaps dislike. And people tend not to be kind, especially if one is young, beautiful and has snapped up a powerful handsome man that other women tend to swoon over.
Her account of Paige O’Toole’s efforts to fit in with her husband’s colleagues and their snobbish wives brought back memories of my own, when I had to spend my twenties (I married at 21) adjusting to a different country, different climate, different cuisine, different expectations and people who were twenty years older than myself.
Of course Jodi Picoult’s second novel has its flaws, and several readers have complained about Paige’s behavior and a couple of plot twists they found implausible. But her characters Paige, husband Nicholas, in-laws Astrid & Robert, parents Patrick & May (Lila) are so well-drawn, that I sat up into the wee hours last night so that I could finish it. Five stars....more
Jodi Picoult’s debut novel is not a particularly easy read. It doesn’t help that we have FIVE point-of-view characters, and that one of those characteJodi Picoult’s debut novel is not a particularly easy read. It doesn’t help that we have FIVE point-of-view characters, and that one of those characters – teenager Rebecca Jones – is telling the story BACKWARDS!!
The worst part about this technique is that we learn about Rebecca’s boyfriend’s death very early in the novel, but the placing of this incident (which should be the top of the narrative arc as it is the most important thing to happen to ALL of the characters) is (a) way too early, thus destroying any tension associated with it, and (b) placed in a random fashion, just after we’ve settled down on the Quest/Journey part of the story.
Thirty-five-year-old Jane Jones has an absent famous husband (Oliver Jones.) After fifteen years of suffering (mostly) silently, she explodes, leaves and takes their 14-year-old daughter Rebecca from San Diego to Massachusetts to go stay with her brother Joley, with whom she is very close.
Joley leads her to him with a series of letters that begin as a meditation on their lives as abused children, and end with directions (“take Route 8 to Gila Bend.”) The point of view narratives are rotated amongst the five characters – Oliver Jones (absent husband) Jane Jones (frustrated mother) Rebecca Jones (their teenaged daughter) Joley Lipton (Jane’s brother) and (eventually) Sam Hanson (Joley’s boss.) Unfortunately, just as we arrive in Salt Lake City (the second stop on this journey) Rebecca suddenly chimes in with a description of her boyfriend’s death, which is so bizarre as to throw you off completely. (I was fortunate in having the audiobook at hand with five talented actors playing the five POV characters, which helped somewhat. Liz Morton played Rebecca, Carol Monda played Jane, Jonathan Davis was Oliver, James Colby was Sam and Chris Sorenson was Joley.)
The other thing that indicates this is a debut novel is that poor Jane never catches a break. After being abused by her father, she has a scream-inducing nightmare on the eve of her marriage to Oliver. A bad fight with her husband early on in their marriage, leads her to putting three-year-old Rebecca onto a plane back to her father, only to have that plane crash and the child nearly die. Finally, just as she is finding some happiness herself, she inadvertently causes daughter Rebecca unbearable pain.
Lastly, the title is NOT helpful. SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE doesn’t get at the theme of this story, which is about broken lives, broken marriages, broken families. A far better title would have been BROKEN HOMES, or even just BROKEN. (SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE makes you feel as if you’re JUST going out on a boat with a marine biologist, when the novel is about so much more.)
Jodi Picoult is such a talented writer, and I have never seen her make these mistakes before. What a pity that her editor at the time wasn’t more helpful. Having said that, this is an interesting read, as you can see the talent in this early novel behind the mistakes. My favorite scene is where Oliver is attempting to write a research paper, only to be interrupted constantly by the voice in his head. That scene shines with Jodi Picoult’s talent. Four stars.
I don’t normally read non-fiction, but my husband raved about this book and so I picked it up. It was absolutely fascinating. Mr. Woodard’s thesis is I don’t normally read non-fiction, but my husband raved about this book and so I picked it up. It was absolutely fascinating. Mr. Woodard’s thesis is that far from being a confederation of 50 states, the USA is actually a collection of 11 nations. In this book he traces the origins and history of each of these nations. In order of arrival they are:
El Norte, the Spanish speaking part of the USA originally belonged to the Habsburg empire, and comprised southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, parts of Texas, Colorado and Wyoming. Today, it is the fastest-growing nation in the Union. The El Norte nation also consists of the Northern states of Mexico. New France came from Quebec and spread to New Orleans New Amsterdam flourished in New York City and stayed there. Yankeedom originated in Massachusetts & Connecticut spread its culture over the northern Mid-West into the coastal areas of Northern California, Oregon & Washington. Tidewater sprung from the Chesapeake region of Washington DC, Northern Virginia, coastal Maryland & Delaware, and stayed there. Appalachia originated in the mountains of Pennsylvania, spread down the Appalachian spine to West Virginia and North Carolina and then sprouted west to parts of Texas and beyond. The Midlands started in Western Pennsylvania and spread west to the Midwest. The Deep South originated on the sugar-plantation-growing island of Barbados, spread first to Charleston South Carolina, and then wound its way through Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. The Left Coast emerged in the 19th century and became a stalwart ally of Yankeedom, principally because the Yankees imported their culture successfully to that area (the coastal areas of Northern California, Oregon and Washington, including the cities of San Francisco, Portland Oregon and Seattle Washington.) This Nation is also to be found in parts of Canada, in the cities of Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. The Far West erupted in the 19th century also. Originally a dependency of the Federal Government, due to its remote location (it comprises the interior areas of California, Oregon, Washington, as well as the states of Nevada and Utah) it came to life in the 20th century during the Second World War, when the Federal Government built highways, airports and factories. The eleventh nation, the First Nation is newly emerging in the 21st century, in Canada, in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Nunavut and in the Northwest Territories, where the original inhabitants of Canada are buying back their land and applying ancient techniques to save it for future generations. If you want to know why this land of ours is so divisive, why it seems that Republicans and Democrats can never ever agree on anything, read this book. You will find it illuminating. Five Stars....more
As many have noted, HAMLET’S MILL is not an easy read. It is written by scholars who are fluent in many languages (French, German, Latin and Greek) anAs many have noted, HAMLET’S MILL is not an easy read. It is written by scholars who are fluent in many languages (French, German, Latin and Greek) and because this was published in 1969, they don’t always translate remarks made in these languages into English.
As such, this book is really for dipping, NOT for reading from cover to cover, unless you happen to be looking for something specific (as I was.)
Having said all that, I found this book fascinating. What particularly struck me was how Ancient people envisioned the earth. If you ask most people nowadays what they mean by “the earth,” they will tell you about our spinning orb, with its ocean and mountains, its flora & fauna, its orbit around sun and moon.
But that is NOT what the Ancients meant by that term. They meant celestial happenings in the sky, which impacted their lives on earth. Sometimes these phenomena were real, such as comets and the precession of the North Pole. Sometimes these phenomena were symbolic, where gods were associated with planets and Saturn was the First King of the Golden Age.
The take-home message for me is that when encountering Ancient myths, we have to ask ourselves whether the geography of the myth really takes place down here on earth, or up in the heavens.
If you are interested in the origins of myth, and you wish to read something that has strong academic credentials behind it, then this book is for you. Five stars....more
Did the familiar children’s fairytales of today exist in the ancient world? Were there ancient Cinderellas, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Sleeping BeautiDid the familiar children’s fairytales of today exist in the ancient world? Were there ancient Cinderellas, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Sleeping Beauties and Pusses in Boots?
The answer: Maybe.
In FAIRYTALE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, Graham Anderson gives a scholarly account of the parallels between ancient myth and fairy tale.
Let us take the tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. The King, their father, discovers one day that their slippers are worn to pieces, as if they have been dancing all night. He invites the young men of the kingdom to find out. The successful candidate will marry the eldest princess. But if they fail, the penalty is death.
The one who eventually succeeds follows the princesses through a trap door, and down down to a forest, where they pass through a grove of jeweled trees to a lake, where twelve boats are waiting. Each princess is rowed across the lake by a waiting prince, and they arrive at a castle where a ball is being held. There, they dance the night away, returning just before dawn.
The illustrations usually show pretty young people dressed either in the fashions of the fifteenth century – with those tall conical head-dresses and floating veils – or in the fashions of the eighteenth, with those enormous hair styles, and flouncy dresses.
In any event, the whole thing has a medieval European feel to it. So how could it possibly be connected to an ancient Empire of the Middle East?
The first clue is the jeweled trees, a feature of an ancient tale about Gilgamesh, that also occurs between a dark tunnel and a lake of death.
The second clue is the lake that they are rowed across, which is very reminiscent of the River Styx, and it’s shadowy boatmen Charon who rows the souls of the recent dead across it.
Then there is the Aeneid, where Aeneus has to pluck the Golden Bough to follow the aged Sibyl across the Styx. Once there, he finds lost women who are dead heroines.
The princesses have to descend downwards to get to their destination, which is reminiscent of the capture of Persephone by Pluto.
Lastly, those slippers. Were those princesses merely dancing courtly dances at a ball, or were they in the grip of some uncontrollable frenzy?
If this sort of thing fascinates you, then you should read this book. Graham Anderson is Professor of Classics at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Five stars....more
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