Wow. This started off reading like a fairly straightforward novelization of The Fall of the House of Usher and then veered off in a direction I TOTALLWow. This started off reading like a fairly straightforward novelization of The Fall of the House of Usher and then veered off in a direction I TOTALLY was not expecting. It's certainly more of an explanation than Poe gave in his original story, hah.
There are some other interesting differences here: more characters, including a non-binary narrator with an intriguing background and unusual personal pronouns (which pronouns actually comes into play in a surprising way much later in the story), a mushroom scholar and artist who appears to be Beatrix Potter's maiden aunt, and the narrator's horse who has personality to spare. Madeleine Usher is a more fully developed character, which is all to the good. And there's a tarn around the Usher mansion with odd lights in the water ...
Excellently creepy.
Full RTC! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC....more
I picked up this book up on a Kindle sale because I've been on a bit of a Susanna Kearsley binge lately. She wrote the first of this set of four interI picked up this book up on a Kindle sale because I've been on a bit of a Susanna Kearsley binge lately. She wrote the first of this set of four interlocking novellas, by four different historical fiction authors, about the long history of a magnificent but cursed gold watch and the people who come into contact with it over the centuries.
The watch's story begins (at least for the reader) in 1733 Italy, in Kearsley’s story “Weapon of Choice,” which I was delighted to find out has two couples from prior Kearsley novels as its main characters, Anna and Edmund from The Firebird and Mary and Hugh from A Desperate Fortune, along with a political assassin whose plot the four of them are trying to foil. Lots of fun.
The second novella jumps to Edinburgh in 1830, where Lady Darby (the main character in a long-running mystery series by Anna Lee Huber) tries to figure out if the watch is responsible for an outbreak of disease in the city. Meh. I was a little bored.
Then we go to 1870 for the third novella, where the watch is implicated in a series of violent murders in a well-to-do area of London. Violet Harper, an undertaker (from another series by Christine Trent), unfortunately dug up the watch from where Lady Darby had thrown it in a grave many years before, when moving a body to a new grave. Violet gets involved in trying to figure out why the watch temporarily stops (!) an hour before each of these murders. Fairly interesting novella.
We finally end up in a small English village during WWII, where the watch may be the object of a search by a murderous Nazi spy. A former Spitfire pilot, now with MI5, reluctantly joins forces with a local gentlewoman, Rachel Townsend-Smythe, to investigate. This fourth novella, by C.S. Harris, felt a bit rushed at novella length, but it was well-written and makes me inclined to go read more by Harris.
The first and last novellas are definitely a step above the middle two in writing style, for my money. But it was worth the price for those two stories, and for the chance to meet up with Anna and Edmund from The Firebird later in their lives.
3.5 stars. I've read most of Susanna Kearsley's recent books, but I've bought a lot of her older ones on Kindle sales over the years that I still need3.5 stars. I've read most of Susanna Kearsley's recent books, but I've bought a lot of her older ones on Kindle sales over the years that I still need to read. This is one of those and, while I really liked parts of it, in other ways it shows its age (written about 30 years ago). Kearsley's definitely grown as an author since then.
The main character, 29 year old Julia Beckett, has been inexplicably and powerfully drawn to a historic home, called Greywethers, in an English village since she first saw it as a child. When it goes up for sale years later, she snaps it up. And immediately starts experiencing these odd events where she's reliving events in the life of Mariana, a young woman who lived in 1665, the plague year in England.
Mariana is forced to leave London when her mother's death from the plague leaves her as an orphan, and she moves into Greywethers with her self-righteous, abusive uncle, his downtrodden wife, their baby, and the wife's younger sister, who becomes Mariana's friend and confidante. Mariana also meets the local lord, Richard de Mornay, who is violently hated by her uncle, but Richard is clearly very interested in Mariana. Meanwhile, back in the present, a descendant of Richard's family is also very interested in Julia.
In Mariana Kearsley uses her patented dual-timeline approach, with one plotline set in our modern times and the other in a historical period (usually the late 1600's/early 1700's, which really seems to draw Kearsley). There's usually a paranormal element tying the two time periods together, and here it's **possibly a spoiler if you're particularly sensitive about these things, though it's disclosed pretty early in the book** (view spoiler)[straightforward reincarnation (hide spoiler)]. At least for me, that didn't work as well as the various other methods Kearsley has used in other books. (view spoiler)[ It was kind of odd when the heroine was reliving episodes in Mariana's life, because her body is walking around the town in modern times but her mind is back in the past. So kind of like sleepwalking? (hide spoiler)] There's also a lot of smoking by one of the main characters, which doesn't read so well for me in a 90's era romantic novel. Also: VERY abrupt ending. It's not terrible, but I would've liked a little more detail on how everything worked out.
YMMV. I thought this was a reasonably good book, but not one of Kearsley's best. I'd recommend The Winter Sea, The Firebird and The Rose Garden over this one. But if you're a Kearsley fan, it's worth a read....more
Madeleine Brent retro romantic suspense time again! A GR friend reminded me of this one a few days ago, and I was all, oh yeah, that one I read half oMadeleine Brent retro romantic suspense time again! A GR friend reminded me of this one a few days ago, and I was all, oh yeah, that one I read half of and then got distracted and ... never finished? Maybe I'd better fix that! So even though I have a bunch of ARCs I should be reading, here we are.
I enjoyed this one a lot! Chantal is a young woman who's a reasonably good trapeze artist with a mid-sized traveling circus, back around the late 1800s or early 1900s, with a very complicated past personal history. She was raised as a spoiled orphaned heiress through age 13, when her wealthy British family found out that there was a baby switch and her heartless uncle tossed her out. Before she could land in the orphanage they intended for her, she ran away to this circus that happened to be in the area, and they took her in.
Now she's about 17/18 and realizes that her time with the circus will be ending soon. Chantal has plans and hopes for medical school, but things are interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious stranger, a near-death experience for Chantal on the high bar (looks like someone was trying to kill her ...), and two more strangers who whip Chantal away to a brand new genteel British family. Where more drama ensues.
It's a fun read if not terribly deep. As I've said before, Madeleine Brent/Peter O'Donnell is a pretty talented storyteller if not a Great Author. Yes, it's still that same formula that Madeleine Brent books follow over and over: intrepid young British woman in exotic places and deadly peril, and usually two men who are pursuing her romantically. One of them is true love and the other is secretly a dastardly villain, but the author tries very hard to hide the ball on which man is which.
I don't think it's a coincidence that my favorite Brent books were the two I read first, before I started seeing all the plot similarities in these books. But they're quite fun reads when you're looking for a beach book kind of thing, and this one is up there with the better ones of Brent's. ...more
4.5 stars. Wow, this one really got me in the feels! It was good but a little slow for a long while, but the plot got really exciting toward the end, 4.5 stars. Wow, this one really got me in the feels! It was good but a little slow for a long while, but the plot got really exciting toward the end, when all the pieces started falling into place.
The Vanished Days is set in Scotland during the late 1600's/early 1700's. Kearsley includes a dual timeline plot again, but a much tighter one, only 10-25 years apart. In the later timeline, Sergeant Adam Williamson is unexpectedly pulled into an investigation of a woman's claim that she was married to a man who has died and is entitled to inherit some money as a result. The earlier timeline follows the often traumatic childhood and young womanhood of this woman, Lily Aitcheson.
This novel weaves in some characters and plot threads with Kearsley's other excellent books, The Winter Sea and its sequel, The Firebird. The other two books both involve a paranormal element, but not this one. The Vanished Days can be read stand-alone, but reading all three books definitely helps familiarize you with the background and characters and get invested. I thought at first this one was a prequel, but it's actually set at the same time period as The Winter Sea, just with different main characters (some of the Winter Sea characters are mentioned or appear as minor characters).
It's a very rich setting in the Jacobean era. Kearsley has done a ton of research, and that definitely shows.
Full review to come. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!
Initial post: YAY! I got a last-minute NetGalley approval for the latest Susanna Kearsley book coming out … tomorrow. ...more
A friend gave me a whole set of Madeleine Brent's old historical romantic suspense novels a few years ago, and I've been gradually going through them.A friend gave me a whole set of Madeleine Brent's old historical romantic suspense novels a few years ago, and I've been gradually going through them. They invariably involve a plucky young British woman of genteel birth who finds herself either in an exotic foreign country or a highly unusual career, along with a large side helping of mystery, suspense and romance (which guy is the good guy who truly loves her and who is the secret murderer???).
In this version of Brent's formula, we have Bridget (Bridie) Chance, whose entire placid, proper Victorian life is upended when her father is killed in France in the course of trying to steal some valuable jewels. Bridie Cannot. Believe. what her father has been accused of, but no one else seems to have that trouble. And now there are detectives as well as other less savory sorts sniffing around for her father's jewel stash (there's gotta be one, right?). Bridie and her younger sister Kate are also now entirely destitute and thrown on the mercy of the world and a few unexpected friends.
The author made a weird big thing out of Bridie's overly expressive, mobile face — I'm picturing kind of a female Jim Carrey here — and so it wasn't surprising that she finds a job that takes advantage of that. It's certainly not a "proper" job for a Victorian lady, but it did make for some interesting reading.
Brent takes entirely too long to get to the exciting part of the story in this novel, but once the plot finally kicked into gear it was a very hard book to put down. In fact, I didn't put it down and whipped through it in one evening. Brent (a pseudonym of author Peter O'Donnell) isn't really a great author, but is a very competent storyteller. A reasonably fun read if you like old-fashioned romantic suspense novels....more
I can’t tell you how excited I was that Amor Towles came out with a new book! And it’s a road trip!! [image] The historic Lincoln Highway
It's 1954, and I can’t tell you how excited I was that Amor Towles came out with a new book! And it’s a road trip!! [image] The historic Lincoln Highway
It's 1954, and 18 year old Emmett Watson has just finished serving time at a Kansas juvenile work farm for accidentally killing a boy who was bullying him. His mother abandoned their family years ago, and his father, a man haunted by his failure at farming, has just died, and the bank is poised to foreclose. Emmett doesn't mind losing his home because he's got a plan: pack up his 8 y.o. brother Billy and start a new life in Texas. But "California," says Billy, certain that's where their long-lost mother is living. They can drive the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco and be there by the 4th of July.
But as it turns out, neither Texas nor California is in their immediate future. Two of Emmett's friend from the work farm, Duchess and Woolly, broke out of the facility early and propose going the opposite way, to New York City, where Woolly's large inheritance is hidden in a family safe. If Emmett takes them there, Woolly will split the cash between the four of them.
Emmett is determined to stay on the right side of the law and wants nothing to do with this plan, but things happen. Well, mostly Duchess — a clever, charming and utterly self-centered young man — happens. Duchess and Woolly take off to New York with Emmett's car (not to mention Emmett's cash hidden in the trunk), and Emmett, now destitute, decides to chase them down the only way he can think of. He and Billy stow away in an empty car of a freight train heading to New York City. Their adventure is just beginning.
The Lincoln Highway is one of those books that got better and better the further I got into it. Amor Towles' (author of A Gentleman in Moscow) take on mid-20th century road trip is given such an original twist here, and Towles' gift for writing shines through and takes this novel to a whole new level. The boys' adventures are related with sympathy and insight.
- Questions can be so tricky, he said, like forks in the road. You can be having such a nice conversation and someone will raise a question, and the next thing you know you’re headed off in a whole new direction. In all probability, this new road will lead you to places that are perfectly agreeable, but sometimes you just want to go in the direction you were already headed.
The characters are also fascinating (with the possible exception of Woolly, who never felt quite real for me). I especially like — and hated — Duchess, an unreliable narrator whose charming exterior hides a darker core, and I loved Billy, a bright and occasionally unworldly boy (I think he may be on the moderate side of the spectrum, though it's never explicitly said).
One of my favorite subplots of the book involves Billy's favorite book, Professor Abacus Abernathe's Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers and Other Intrepid Travelers. When Billy meets a black wanderer named Ulysses, it feels fateful, and Billy's love for literature and faith in Ulysses' story help change the paths of several lives, including that of the book's author.
He too had watched as the outer limits of his life had narrowed from the world at large, to the island of Manhattan, to that book-lined office in which he awaited with a philosophical resignation the closing of the finger and thumb. And then this . . . This! This extraordinary turn of events. A little boy from Nebraska appears at his doorstep with a gentle demeanor and a fantastical tale. A tale not from a leather-bound tome, mind you . . . But from life itself. How easily we forget—we in the business of storytelling — that life was the point all along.
Highly recommended!
Bonus material: Towles talks about this book here on his website and gives some fascinating insights into the plot, why he chose this particular time in history for the setting, and the book's structure, including the reason why the book's sections count down for each day rather than usual method of counting up.
Original post: I'm very proud of myself for catching this one on my library's online catalog before it was even on the shelf and putting in a hold. It's now in my hands! Hoping I'll love it as much as I did A Gentleman in Moscow....more
Thoughtful, introspective and slow-paced story of the middle Bennet sister, Mary, who’s studious and priggish in Pride and Prejudice. She’s a lot moreThoughtful, introspective and slow-paced story of the middle Bennet sister, Mary, who’s studious and priggish in Pride and Prejudice. She’s a lot more nuanced and complex in this novel, which begins some time before P&P and ends a few years after.
With some help from Mrs Gardiner and others, Mary begins to find herself and develop self-confidence, and possibly find some romance along the way. Her time staying at Longbourne with Mr Collins and his wife Charlotte was one of the more intriguing interludes in this novel.
It’s interesting, reasonably well-written, and pretty true to the Regency era, but slow-moving. It has some amusing callbacks to the original story. Recommended mostly for Jane Austen fans who want to revisit that world. ...more
This 1930 British novel is a witty and often very insightful story, somewhat a coming-of-age novel about a young woman, Ann Laventie. Ann is from an iThis 1930 British novel is a witty and often very insightful story, somewhat a coming-of-age novel about a young woman, Ann Laventie. Ann is from an intellectual, snobbish and rather pretentious family, just wealthy enough to consider themselves above all of their neighbors in Sussex. Ann is the youngest and doesn't quite fit the family mold. She's more down to earth and caring about others' feelings than her siblings and father (her mother is an invalid and pretty much a non-entity; until the very end you have very few clues as to what's going on in her head).
The question is whether she'll break the mold completely or be fully absorbed into the family's social sphere and way of life.
[image] The rhododendron pie of the title is a great symbol: Ann's family’s tradition is to have a birthday pie filled with fresh flowers instead of fruit. Beautiful but inedible. Everyone loves it except poor Ann, who's just dying for a good old apple pie.
There is a little romance here, but it's a minor element. Mostly it's about social standing and the way people view and treat each other. That may sound simple, but Margery Sharp had a gift with words that made this a joy to read even when events were rather slow-moving and (seemingly, at least) mundane. It's very self-assured for a first novel, and well worth reading if you enjoy this type of historical, personality-driven novel, especially for the $2.99 Kindle price.
May 2021 group read with the Retro Reads group....more
The adventures of Robin Hood’s three children continue in The Heirs of Locksley, the second4+ stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
The adventures of Robin Hood’s three children continue in The Heirs of Locksley, the second novella in Carrie Vaughn‘s ROBIN HOOD STORIES series. It takes a unexpected four-year leap forward from The Ghosts of Sherwood. The eldest, Mary, is now aged twenty and still hasn’t met the young man she’s semi-betrothed to, and her feelings have shifted from fear and uncertainty to irritation that William de Ros still hasn’t bothered to come meet her; in fact, she’s beginning to wonder if he even exists. John (named after Little John) is in his later teens now, and the youngest, Eleanor, is thirteen.
Robin’s old enemy King John died a few years ago, and his thirteen-year-old son Henry is having his second coronation, which historically occurred in May of 1220. Vaughn sets this story in the midst of this actual event, when the nobility have gathered in London for the coronation. Young King Henry III takes a shine to the Locksley children when they’re presented to him, and impulsively announces an archery contest. John and Mary, both excellent archers (especially Mary) who are well-taught by their father, decide, in for a penny, in for a pound, and dress in Lincoln green for the contest.
Friends are made, but also some enemies (not everyone approves of women archers in the thirteenth century). Robin encourages his son John to befriend the lonely young king, and John decides what Henry really needs is to get into some mild mischief. Specifically, he weasels his way into Henry’s chambers late in the evening and suggests that they sneak outside so Henry can try climbing a tree for the first time in his life. While hidden in the tree, Henry and John overhear and see dangerous goings-on that they weren’t intended to. It all gets complicated from there, and great fun.
The Heirs of Locksley, like the first book, is a quick, light read, but it felt more fully fleshed-out than The Ghosts of Sherwood. Vaughn tells a straightforward tale that isn’t particularly complex, but I found it highly entertaining — enough to turn back to the start and reread most of it immediately after I finished. It includes a couple of diverting and rather meta scenes that underscore how Robin Hood is already becoming a legend.
Those who watched King Henry’s coronation archery tournament thought it was a joke at first, the two fresh-faced archers from Nottinghamshire acting like Robin Hood’s heirs, making jokes about shooting Normans … It must have been a joke. Robin Hood was only a story.
The characters continue to grow on me, and Vaughn offers insights into their thoughts and motivations that help bring them to life. Robin still has a wicked grin and a rather rebellious soul, but having children has made him realize that it’s more useful to have royal favor than to be sworn enemies of the king. Mary hopes to find love, or at least a man whose character she can admire, but the practical reality of arranged marriages at this time in England still needs to be dealt with.
Vaughn comments in her author’s note at the end that the legends of Robin Hood don’t really fit into actual history — there were no friars in England during King John’s lifetime, for example — so all of the Robin Hood stories are essentially fanfiction. (It’s reminiscent of Robin McKinley’s afterword in her comparable novel The Outlaws of Sherwood, in which McKinley pointed out the scant historical evidence for longbows in England at this time.) But being brave and honorable, fighting against corruption, helping others: that’s the kind of fanfic we need.
Robin Hood and Marian, 16 years later! Plus three kids. (They got busy!) Add kidnappers (who are maybe in a little over their heads). Review first posRobin Hood and Marian, 16 years later! Plus three kids. (They got busy!) Add kidnappers (who are maybe in a little over their heads). Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In The Ghosts of Sherwood, the first of Carrie Vaughn’s two recent Robin Hood novellas, Vaughn revisits the lives of Robin of Locksley and Marian, some eighteen or twenty years after King Richard the Lionheart typically brings about the end of Robin Hood’s merrie (and highly illegal) adventures in Sherwood Forest. King John, for better or worse, has held the throne of England for many years now, and Robin and other barons have successfully pressed for the legal reforms that led to the signing of the Magna Carta. There are divisions between the nobles, however, and Robin of Locksley still has many enemies.
After an absence of many months, Robin and Marian are returning home to their three children: Mary, about age sixteen and a gifted archer; John, a few years younger, and Eleanor, about age nine, who is mute. The family is delighted to be reunited, though Mary and John have a habit of spatting and Marian is annoyed with Robin for arranging a marriage for Mary without consulting either her or Mary first, though Robin protests that he won’t force Mary’s hand. But the dust hasn’t even had time to settle before the three Locksley children are kidnapped.
The Ghosts of Sherwood is a light, quick read that captures the adventurous spirit of the classic Robin Hood tales, while adding some depth to the characters. Vaughn writes primarily from Marian’s and her daughter Mary’s points of view, splitting her time fairly equally between the two generations. She delves into the hearts of her characters, bringing them to life as they interact with each other and deal with the concerns of life in early thirteenth century England, and with the changes and new priorities that age and experience and family life bring.
Twenty years ago Robin would have taken up the bow and shot the man’s cap off. Marian felt him tense beside her. Gathering up his civility like scattered coins. For a moment, she had no idea what he was going to do.
The Ghosts of Sherwood is similar in style to Robin McKinley’s 1988 novel The Outlaws of Sherwood, if rather less harrowing in the climactic scene. In her blog, Vaughn comments: “it’s fun. It’s light. Robin and Marian get to keep their happy ending, they love and support their children. It’s about friends and family and standing together against the world … No matter how dark things get, Robin still has hope and still fights.” That sense of hopefulness and togetherness permeate the pages of this novella. It’s escapist, but it also suggests that loyalty, courage and love go a long way toward combatting the evils of this world.
The Ghosts of Sherwood is over too soon: it feels more like the first several chapters of a longer work, than a stand-alone novella. And in fact, Vaughn has just published a second book in this ROBIN HOOD STORIES series, The Heirs of Locksley, which I dove into immediately upon finishing this one. Hopefully there will be more Locksley family stories to come!
3.5 stars, more if you're a fan of cozy, old-timey family dramas with a little romance. If you've read any other D.E. Stevensen novels, this is fairly3.5 stars, more if you're a fan of cozy, old-timey family dramas with a little romance. If you've read any other D.E. Stevensen novels, this is fairly typical of her work: small English town life in the mid-20th century, often with WWII as a backdrop.
Caroline Dering is a charming, rather quiet widow, about 40 years old, who's juggling the lives of her three children, tight finances, and village life in Ashbridge in the post-WWII years, where everyone knows everyone else's business. Her son James is still far away with the British military; she also has two teenage daughters, one of whom (Leda, age 19) is in love with Derek, the rather aimless son of the local squire. Derek is in law school but isn't doing well and doesn't like it (not that he likes much of anything involving hard work).
Caroline meets a kind, attractive widower, Robert Shepperton, who's moved to the town to recuperate from his war experiences and the loss of his wife in the London bombings. Just when Caroline is starting to get emotionally involved with Robert, her younger sister Harriet, a beautiful and vivacious actress, comes into town and hits it off with Robert as well. Additional drama is supplied by Leda's troubled relationship with Derek.
Stevenson frequently used the "sisters fall in love with the same guy" trope but I appreciated that it played out differently here than in a couple of her other books, where it annoyed me a lot more. Harriet is a goodhearted person, not a wench trying to steal the affections of her sister's guy. The story and plot are very straightforward, but occasionally Stevenson hits you with a bit of humorous writing ("Joss [their dog] was an enigma. This was a breed unknown to the villagers, of course.") or an insight that makes you stop and think.
"Selfish people are nearly always unhappy," explained Harriet, taking a brown silk frock out of the wardrobe and examining it carefully before laying it over a chair. "Sometimes they go on for quite a long time before Nemesis descends upon them and knocks them flat, but Nemesis always gets them in the end. I'm sorry for you, Leda."
The ending was too abrupt - that's another frequent thing with Stevenson - but there's always the sequels to assuage my curiosity, if I decide to pursue this series further. (I'm open to it, but it's not super-high on my priority list.)
Vittoria Cottage isn't one of my favorites of Stevenson's books (that would be Miss Buncle's Book, with honorable mentions to Amberwell and Celia's House) but it was an enjoyable read that kept me engaged and turning the pages quickly to find out what happened.
4.5 stars! Dark waters indeed. This ship carries a cargo of murder and greed. [image] The 17th century Dutch galleon Batavia
Review first posted on Fant4.5 stars! Dark waters indeed. This ship carries a cargo of murder and greed. [image] The 17th century Dutch galleon Batavia
Stuart Turton’s debut novel, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, was one of my favorite reads of 2018, a compulsively readable and wildly original murder mystery, an homage to Agatha Christie, with a science fictional wrapper. Turton’s second novel, The Devil and the Dark Water, is a highly twisty and eerie Sherlockian mystery, set in the seventeenth century on a large ship traveling from Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) to Amsterdam. At first glance it’s not much at all like 7½ Deaths, except in the intricacy of the plot … and the way it mixes together different genres, and the vivid and complex characters who are far more than they first appear, and the insightful and subtle writing … well, perhaps his two books have more in common than I first thought.
The noble passengers who board the Saardam in Batavia in 1634 include Governor General Jan Haan, a ruthless leader who has been called back to Amsterdam to join the wealthy Dutch East India Company’s ruling body, the “Gentleman 17.” Haan’s entourage includes his deeply dissatisfied wife Sara Wessel, their bright young teenage daughter Lia, and Haan’s lovely and accomplished mistress Creesjie. Haan is also bringing along a manacled prisoner, a renowned and brilliant detective named Samuel Pipps, together with Pipps’ assistant and sometimes bodyguard Arent Hayes. Pipps is under sentence of death, to be carried out once they reach Amsterdam, though Pipps swears he has no idea why, and Haan isn’t saying. Haan is also packing a large, heavy box on the trip, holding something mysterious and extremely valuable, described only as the Folly.
Before the Saardam even sets sail, a shocking event occurs: a leper loudly warns the passengers and crew that the devil will also be sailing with them, and that the ship will never reach Amsterdam. When the leper perishes in flames and examination of the dying man discloses that his tongue was cut out, suspicion and fear begin to percolate and spread. Samuel Pipps is interested in solving this apparent murder, but since he’s locked in a tiny, foul cell on the ship, he’ll need the help of Arent to do it. Arent fears that he isn’t cut out for this work, but finds help from an unexpected person. They’re a rare source of light and good on a cursed ship where the crew is vicious, the passengers untrustworthy, and the devil “Old Tom” appears to hold sway.
For much of The Devil and the Dark Water, it’s unclear whether this is a supernatural fantasy or a secular whodunit, or both. Inexplicable events occur, Old Tom whispers enticingly to passengers to assist in his evil plans, and it’s easy for the characters and the reader to believe that something wicked and unworldly is at work.
But Turton takes his time weaving this story, pulling in characters’ backstories that both illuminate and mystify, and twining in social issue threads of inequality, sexism, and capitalistic greed.
The rich mistakenly believed their wealth was a servant, delivering them whatever they wanted.
They were wrong.
Wealth was their master, and it was the only voice they heeded. Friendships were sacrificed at its behest, principles trampled to protect it. No matter how much they had, it was never enough. They went mad chasing more until they sat lonely atop their hoard, despised and afraid.
The pacing bogs down at times with all the details and complexities, but Turton’s skillful writing pulls the reader into this tale. He gives clever nods to Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Treasure Island, and many other tropes of various genres, while breathing fresh life into them. With all the horror, greed, vengefulness and general darkness that haunts the ship and the people aboard it, they — and we — can still find reasons to hope for something better. It’s a marvelous story.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC for review!
Author Jojo Moyes, of Me Before You fame, tries her hand at something a little different here.
[image] Pack Horse librarians in the 1940s
It was hard to Author Jojo Moyes, of Me Before You fame, tries her hand at something a little different here.
[image] Pack Horse librarians in the 1940s
It was hard to put this one down! It's set in depression-era rural Kentucky, where an intelligent (if somewhat clueless, at least at first) English girl moves after a whirlwind romance and marriage to a handsome guy who's the son of the local bigwig and mine owner. Everything - including the marriage, for very good Reasons - is working out to be a huge disappointment for Alice, so when a lady in a town meeting asks for women to deliver library books by horse to the locals, Alice impulsively volunteers, to the dismay of her husband and the anger of her father-in-law.
The Giver of Stars is a well-written historical drama, focusing on the relationships of Alice with the people around her, and spiced up by a murder investigation and trial. Despite the trials and tribulations of Alice and her friends, I'd say this book is ultimately on the lighter side of historic fiction, especially where Jojo Moyes wraps everything up in the end with a nice feel-good bow. But if you like books like Where the Crawdads Sing, I think this one is fairly similar in style.
And I’d love to know more about the actual history of the Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky!
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I’ve looked into the plagiarism claims relating to similarities between this book and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I have to say I’m not convinced at all ... and I’m an IP lawyer. Most of the limited similarities can be explained by coincidence and current trends in historic literature (there's an inescapable logic in having a smart black woman character be part of the packhorse librarians, even though there's no actual history supporting that, or having an uncouth mountain man accost and threaten one of the librarians). The timelines of the novels coming out are awfully close for any copying, even if Moyes did see an ARC (which she asserts she didn't). But I’ll reserve final judgment until I actually read Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (ETA: which may never happen at this rate, oh well)....more
4.5 stars. A cozy, heartwarming tale set in a small English village during WWII, about the daughters of Mr. Grace, the local vicar, and their relation4.5 stars. A cozy, heartwarming tale set in a small English village during WWII, about the daughters of Mr. Grace, the local vicar, and their relationships with each other and others (including a little romance). This book was just what I needed tonight.
3.5 stars. This is the first book in the Mrs. Tim series, a novel in the form of journal entries written by the wife of a career British military offi3.5 stars. This is the first book in the Mrs. Tim series, a novel in the form of journal entries written by the wife of a career British military officer, Mrs. Tim Christie. D.E. Stevenson, who wrote this book in 1932, was herself a military wife, and based much of this book on her own real-life journal, so there's definitely a realistic take on the ups and downs of British military life in between the world wars.
The first half is best viewed as an immersion into Hester Christie's day-to-day life. It doesn't really have much of a plot, but she has a wry sense of humor and tells some interesting stories. The second half is more novel-like, as Hester visits a well-to-do friend in Scotland for a few weeks' vacation and there's lots of interpersonal drama, including her friend's son falling in love with the Wrong Girl and a Major Tony Morley (who works closely with Hester's husband Tim) who follows Hester around and has fallen in love with her ... which Hester utterly fails to realize because she's "hedged about with innocence," in Tony's words. Her obliviousness to his love for her never really worked for me, since Hester is otherwise quite observant, but maybe this is what readers in the 30s expected where one of the parties was married? In any case, even though Tim isn't around for most of the book, Hester is unswervingly devoted to him. And Tony, questionable though his motives may be, is a hilarious guy who always brightens up the pages when he appears.
It's a cozy read, definitely of its time in terms of social attitudes and unexamined classism, but that generally comes with the territory in older books. This isn't my favorite book by D.E. Stevenson (that would be Miss Buncle's Book) but I did enjoy getting a glimpse of another, bygone world through Hester Christie's eyes.
These books were very popular in their day (Stevenson wrote three more Mrs. Tim books) but I may or may not ever get around to reading them. I did read her book The Four Graces last week, which I'd recommend more than this one for people who like old-fashioned romances....more
3.5 stars. Sarah Eden, a well-known author of clean historical romances, shifts gears in this unusual twist on the genre: a cat-and-mouse game between3.5 stars. Sarah Eden, a well-known author of clean historical romances, shifts gears in this unusual twist on the genre: a cat-and-mouse game between Elizabeth Black and Fletcher Walker, two Victorian era authors of “penny dreadful” novels.
[image] Victorian-era penny dreadful novel
They really were a penny! And in all likelihood the writing was dreadful too, although I understand the dreadful part is actually referring to the scary villains and monsters that usually populated these thriller-type books. :)
Fletcher is trying to unearth the identity of a “Mr. King,” who’s overtaken Fletcher as the best-selling author of penny dreadful novels. It’s not just pride; Fletcher, who was once a street orphan himself, needs the money to help fund his secret organization of men committed to helping rescue and educate London’s street children. (What exactly Fletcher and this organization plan to do about Mr. King, other than maybe ask him to join their group, isn't entirely clear. It sort of seems like they have something ominous in mind but ... maybe not?)
Anyway, Fletcher asks Miss Elizabeth Black, headmistress of a respectable girl’s school and author of “silver-fork” novels, to help him track down Mr. King - never dreaming that Elizabeth IS Mr. King. Besides the socially-approved silver-fork novels, she has a fondness for writing the more sensational penny dreadful novels ... and plus they make her way more money, which she ALSO needs to help fund her girl's school. Elizabeth, determined to keep her secret from him - it would ruin her socially and professionally if it became known - agrees to “help” Fletcher, really intending to mislead him. Hah!
There's a subplot about people devoted to trying to improve the lot of poor children and teens in London (spoiler alert: the villains who prey on the poor take exception to having their schemes interfered with) and just a little romance, complete with the trope (view spoiler)["I'll resist falling in love with you and hurt your feelings by avoiding you with no explanation, because I'm not good enough for you" (hide spoiler)].
These chapters about Fletcher and Elizabeth alternate with chapters from the pulpy novels that the two of them are currently writing, in which monsters of various types abound. It’s occasionally a bit slow, the main characters are almost too altruistic to be true, and the other characters are pretty one-dimensional, but overall it’s a fun and quite different kind of book if you like light historical romances. I enjoyed seeing how the chapters from Fletcher’s and Elizabeth’s penny dreadful novels tied into the main plot ... especially when it happened on purpose. :)
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Thank you!...more
Sam Kean, who wrote the delightfully informative Caesar’s Last Breath in 2017 about the topic of gases, inclReview first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Sam Kean, who wrote the delightfully informative Caesar’s Last Breath in 2017 about the topic of gases, including a section on nuclear bombs, delves more deeply into the history of the atomic bomb in The Bastard Brigade. Though the subtitle might lead one to presume that it focuses solely on the Allies’ Alsos mission, the group charged with thwarting Nazi Germany’s development of the atomic bomb, this book is much more wide-ranging in its topics. The Bastard Brigade is a sweeping account of the development of nuclear physics prior to and during WWII, the race to develop a working atomic bomb, and finally the Alsos mission itself.
Part I, set during the prewar years to 1939, introduces readers to the various personalities who will be significant to this slice of history, along with some of the physics discoveries of the time. In particular, we meet Moe Berg, a Jewish major league baseball player from Newark who found he had a taste for international intrigue; the French wife-husband scientist team of Irène (daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie) and Frederic Joliot-Curie; and Boris Pash (originally Pashkovsky), a refugee from the Russian Revolution who became a high school P.E. and science teacher and, eventually, the leader of the Alsos mission. There are many more scientists, including Werner Heisenberg, Enrico Fermi, and Samuel Goudsmit (who later becomes part of Alsos). And, I suspect just because his name and story are so recognizable, there’s also Joe Kennedy Jr., JFK’s older brother who was (according to Kean) obsessed with proving himself a war hero and outshining his younger brother.
With Part II we launch into the WWII years, with a focus on the groundbreaking physics discoveries of many different scientists around the world. The Germans got off to a substantial head start in nuclear weapons research and development, enough to deeply alarm the Allies, who soon threw tremendous resources into their own nuclear programs. At the same time America was working on developing the atomic bomb, it was also assembling a group of scientists, soldiers and spies and sending them on missions in Nazi territory aimed at scuttling Germany’s nuclear program, whether by stealing uranium, sabotaging manufacturing facilities, trying to convince German scientists to defect, or other efforts.
The Alsos mission wasn’t created until late 1943. This part of the story begins at the end of Part IV, on page 253, more than halfway through the book, although there are several prior missions against Germany’s nuclear bomb program. The most intriguing of these are the British and Norwegian operations in 1942 and 1943 aimed at sabotaging a Nazi-held heavy water plant in Vemork, Norway ― a deadly mission for many men.
Kean relates these and other events in an informal, accessible way, focusing on the most interesting events and the personalities of the various players. Though there’s a detailed index and list of sources, this is not a scholarly text. I did sometimes wonder about Kean’s blithe recreation of long-ago conversations and his conclusions about personal motivations, like Joe Kennedy Jr.’s supposed obsession with outdoing his younger brother’s heroics. Though The Bastard Brigade’s subtitle suggests (a) that this book is all about Alsos, and (b) that Alsos actually did sabotage Germany’s atomic bomb, the book’s scope is far broader than that, and the actual degree of success of the sabotage efforts (and their significance with respect to the end result of the German nuclear program) is much more nuanced. The subtitle is a bit misleading, is what I guess I’m saying.
The Bastard Brigade is more in the nature of a traditional historical book than Kean’s previously-published popular science books. Personally I didn’t find it quite as appealing as Caesar’s Last Breath, but it was informative and kept my attention. I’d give this book a strong thumbs up for readers who are interested in learning more about the development of nuclear physics and bomb technology, and about Germany’s WWII atomic bomb program and the Allied efforts to sabotage it.
Initial post: Woohoo, I just got a hardback ARC! Sam Kean wrote the amazing Caesar's Last Breath and I was absolutely delighted when the publisher offered me his latest book!
Now I just have to keep my husband (a WWII buff) from stealing this one until I'm done. :)...more
This 1952 book by Nevil Shute (author of A Town Like Alice and On the Beach) contrasts the bleakness of post-war London and Great Britain, especially This 1952 book by Nevil Shute (author of A Town Like Alice and On the Beach) contrasts the bleakness of post-war London and Great Britain, especially the ongoing food rationing and general lack of prosperity, with the bright, roomy country of Australia, where massive meals are the order of the day, everyone (almost) has financial security, and the landscape is awe-inspiring.
[image] Merrijig, Australia
Against that backdrop, we have the adventures and romance between Jennifer Morton, a British young woman visiting her relatives in Australia and deciding whether to make her life there, and Carl Zlinter, a Czech doctor who's working as a lumberman in Australia and loves the country ... even though he's not (because of laws) allowed to practice medicine there. But in the lumber camps there's often a need for first aid, and people turn a blind eye when he performs minor surgeries. And then one day there's a major accident ...
The story begins with some scenes from the life of Jack and Jane Dorman, a couple in their 50s who moved to Australia many years ago. Jane, a British woman from an upper class family, married Jack years ago against her parents' wishes.
She was too young, too immature to be able to stand up and state her conviction that there was solid stuff in this young man, the substance for a happy and enduring marriage; she felt that very strongly, but she could never get it out in words.
Jane's Aunt Ethel was her sole supporter. Now, after many years of financial struggles on their Australian sheep ranch, Jack and Jane finally are making a lot of money. Jane, reading between the lines of Ethel's latest letters, gets worried and decides to send Aunt Ethel a gift of ₤500. Meanwhile, back in Great Britain, Ethel's granddaughter Jennifer gets an emergency call about Ethel, and rushes to her home.
Carl is an unusual character for the love interest, with a thick accent and a somewhat timid manner with Jennifer. He's a good guy and a talented surgeon, though, and I ended up really liking him. Ethel was a distinctive character as well, a relic of a bygone era with pride and a deep wish not to be a burden or charity case. Compared to these two, Jennifer is somewhat less memorable, though appealing; a plucky British young woman.
Nevil Shute has a lot to say about the relative merits of post-war England vs. Australia, and it's clear on which side of the fence he stands. I don't know how accurate his portrayal of these countries in the early fifties is, but he does draw Australia as kind of the Promised Land, a place of great opportunity for people both rich and poor. There were a lot of European refugees who emigrated to Australia in the aftermath of WWII, called the "New Australians," and this book talks quite a bit about the Australian immigration program and the work requirements for immigrants. Interesting stuff. Shute's views on colonialism are dated, though that's understandable for a book that's nearly 70 years old.
The Far Country isn't as memorable as A Town Like Alice, one of my favorite comfort reads, and the ending left too many loose threads for my taste. I really wanted an epilogue or a few more chapters! But I enjoyed it and downed the whole thing in one evening.
June 2019 buddy read with the Retro Reads group....more
99c Kindle sale, June 3, 2019. If you like sweet historical romances, a Kindle sale on a Sarah Eden novel is definitely worth taking note of. It’s par99c Kindle sale, June 3, 2019. If you like sweet historical romances, a Kindle sale on a Sarah Eden novel is definitely worth taking note of. It’s part of a series, but readable on a stand-alone basis (which is what I did).
Set in a small Wyoming town in the late 1800s, this novel deals with some serious themes, the difficulties of going blind and the historic hatred and prejudice between the Irish and the English. It lightens that with a good dose of humorous banter and the importance of family. And I have to admit it brought tears to my eyes a couple of times. 😭 In a good way....more
An older woman looks back on her life, thinks about her family, and tries to decide what to do with a valuable painting that she's inherited from her An older woman looks back on her life, thinks about her family, and tries to decide what to do with a valuable painting that she's inherited from her father, an artist.
I read this back in the day and honestly don't remember any of the details, but I do remember enjoying this read. ...more
A lost girl, about four years old, turns up at the ancient Swan inn and tavern by the Thames River in 1887, Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
A lost girl, about four years old, turns up at the ancient Swan inn and tavern by the Thames River in 1887, on the night of the winter solstice. An injured man staggers into the inn, holding the apparently drowned girl in his arms, and promptly collapses. When the local midwife and nurse, Rita, arrives, she privately confirms that the girl is not breathing and has no pulse, though she mysteriously has no sign of drowning or other injury. But a few minutes later the girl suddenly lives and breathes again, stunning Rita and the others at the inn.
The girl is wordless, and it’s soon discovered that she doesn’t belong to Daunt, the man who carried her into the inn. Who, then, does she belong to? Several people raise a claim: Robin Armstrong, the wastrel oldest son of a black gentleman farmer, Robert, claims her as his lost daughter Alice. Lily White, an abused woman whose younger sister may have died many years ago, insists (against all evidence) that the girl is her little sister Ann. Helena and Anthony Vaughan, a couple whose two-year old daughter was kidnapped two years ago, claim the girl as their daughter Amelia, although it soon becomes clear that Anthony has grave doubts, though those are undermined by Helena’s passionate conviction and her joy after two years of inconsolable grief.
These and others are unique, interesting characters with strong backstories that flow like tributaries into the main river of the tale. The Swan inn is a place that specializes in storytelling, and the river that runs past the inn and flows in an out of the story throughout the novel, carries its own stories ― particularly Quietly the mythic ferryman, a gaunt figure who appears to those who are in trouble on the water, helping them either to life and safety or to “another shore.” A diverse cast of unusual characters, some tragedy, a mystery or three, a challenging romance, and a little magical realism spice up the plot of Once Upon a River.
Water flows throughout the tale, a potent symbol that Diane Setterfield, for the most part, uses effectively (I did find the closing paragraph too pat). Everyone’s life has been touched by the river to one degree or another. Daunt is a photographer who’s endlessly fascinated by the river. Rita was born to a despairing mother who threw herself into the river, dying just after giving birth to Rita. Helena has always loved boating on the river, until her daughter’s kidnapping and disappearance two years ago.
It had seemed then that her daughter’s absence had flooded Helena, flooded them both, and that with their words they were trying to bail themselves out. But the words were eggcups, and what they were describing was an ocean of absence, too vast to be contained in such modest vessels. She bailed and she bailed, but no matter how often she repeated the effort, she could not get to the end of it.
Setterfield’s language is lovely and her storytelling is beautiful, with depths to it that most fantasy authors don’t aspire to. I also admire her ability to develop multi-layered characters and build a world that I felt wholly immersed in.
Bill’s (my co-review at Fantasy Literature) primary complaint is that Once Upon a River becomes too concrete and obvious in its symbolism, structure and plot. That wasn’t an aspect that bothered me; I’m generally just happy to see symbolism make an appearance at all (I strongly suspect that my literary tastes aren’t as exacting as Bill’s). What did vex me was that the pacing of the novel was so languid until it finally picked up in the final third. But then it was fascinating to see all the various tributaries (plot threads) of the story come together, although Setterfield makes a little too much use of coincidence in tying the threads together and wrapping up her story. Though perhaps one might call those coincidences fate, or Providence, or even Quietly the ferryman watching over the river and the people whose lives are touched by it.
Like the river that is the fluid, adaptable symbol for this Victorian-era story, Once Upon a River meanders at first, but gains force as it flows toward a compelling conclusion. It’s a profound and meaningful voyage that I enjoyed and would recommend to readers who enjoy thoughtful historic tales with a dash of fantasy.
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for the review copy!...more
4+ stars. This historical novel of WWII focuses on an unusual aspect of the war: the British women who were deployed to France under Britain's Special4+ stars. This historical novel of WWII focuses on an unusual aspect of the war: the British women who were deployed to France under Britain's Special Operations Executive or SOE program to work with the Resistance as radio operators, saboteurs, and couriers.
[image] Real-life SOE agent Christine Granville with members of the French Resistance in 1944
Most of the reason for this dangerous venture is that most men were too suspiciously visible in France (since most men were off at war). It was a highly perilous job for these women.
"You're transmitting in Occupied France and the Germans will do anything to stop you." Then her expression grew serious. "Six weeks."
"Excuse me?"
"That's the average life expectancy of a radio operator in France. Six weeks."
We follow this group of women - especially Marie, a young single mother - as they are recruited, go through intensive training, and then are sent over to France ... fully prepared or not.
This is also a dual timeline novel, but not quite like any I've ever read before. The secondary timeline is only a couple of years later, in 1946, when Grace Healey, a young American war widow, finds an abandoned suitcase in Grand Central Terminal in NYC, and impulsively takes a set of a dozen photographs of women from the suitcase. When she tries to return the photos later, the suitcase is gone, and this sends her on a search for the owner of the suitcase and the story behind the women in the photos.
Excellent but heart-wrenching historical fiction. I recommend it.
Bonus material: There's an excellent web page, The Female Spies of the SOE, that tells the true stories of several of the 55 women who served as SOE agents, including Noor Inayat Khan, who was executed in Dachau after being captured and betrayed, and Nancy Grace August Wake, given the nickname “the white mouse” by the Gestapo "because of her uncanny ability to evade capture. When she learned one of the resistance groups no longer had a radio for communication, she rode almost 300 kilometers on a bicycle to make radio contact with the SEO headquarters and arrange for an equipment drop. Despite many close calls, Wake survived the war."
I received a free copy of this book for review from the publisher. Thank you!!
Content notes: wartime violence and death. Otherwise this is pretty much clean....more
The Overstory is a powerful, literary novel, shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. It sings, in part, a paean to the wonders of trees and the multitude of wonders that old-growth forests and a variety of trees brings to our world. It also mourns a tragedy: how humans relentlessly annihilate these priceless resources, and what drives some people to eco-terrorism.
The Overstory is brilliantly organized in a form that reflects an actual tree. It begins with a section aptly titled “Roots,” a set of eight apparently unconnected stories in which we meet nine disparate characters: An artist whose family home in Iowa boasts one of the last healthy American chestnut trees. The engineer daughter of a Chinese immigrant. An odd, unmotivated teenager inspired by a book about human behavior and psychology. An intellectual property attorney who falls in love with an unconventional stenographer. A Vietnam veteran who stumbles into a job planting seedlings to replace mature trees that have been cut down. A brilliant computer programmer, permanently disabled by a fall from a tree. A postdoc, hearing- and speech-impaired woman who studies trees, discovering that they communicate with each other, and is ridiculed for her conclusions. And a beautiful, careless college undergrad who dies from an accidental electrocution and returns to life with a vision and a purpose. And all of these characters have been deeply affected by trees, in one way or another.
Richard Powers traces the lives of these nine people ― often back to their childhood or even their ancestors ― to explore how they have developed into the people they are. These introductory stories of their lives are excellent and insightful; good enough that they could stand alone as individual short stories. But Powers is just getting started.
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In the next section, “Trunk,” their lives come together and begin to affect each other. Four of them become eco-warriors, part of the tree-hugging movement whose proponents will do almost anything to stop the logging and stripping of irreplaceable mature redwoods and old-growth forests. “Trunk” culminates in a terrible, unexpected event that will change their lives forever. And so we proceed to “Crown” and then the shorter, final section, “Seeds.”
The Overstory is a little bit magical realism, with messages being shared with some of the characters by some mystical source, and a little bit science fiction, as the genius computer programmer develops video games that turn into a type of artificial intelligence. But mostly Richard Powers is trying to convince us, as readers, of the wondrous nature of trees, and to treat trees, and our world generally, with deeper respect. The novel shifts its focus somewhat in the final section, with a somewhat cryptic hint that trees may well outlast humanity.
Parts of The Overstory rate five stars, easily, but personally I hit a bit of a wall with the lengthy middle section, “Trunk.” As brilliantly written as the book is, it’s also sometimes slow-paced, repetitious and didactic, as Powers delves into the evils of the corporations and groups who are indiscriminately cutting down trees and eliminating forests, and the worst of the tactics they use against those who try to oppose them. I think this novel would have benefited by being edited down by about a hundred pages and by being less overtly preachy. But Powers is clearly angry, and wants us to share that anger and be moved to take action. It may be message fiction, but this is potent stuff. Also, as Powers points out more than once, trees live very slowly compared to humans, and that is echoed in the deliberate pacing of The Overstory.
For readers already of the view that humans are doing profound damage to the ecology of our world, The Overstory will give you additional arguments and inspiration. For those more skeptical, it may cause you to reexamine some of your views. The Overstory isn’t an easy read, but it’s a powerful and persuasive work of art.
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I received a free copy from the publisher for review. Thank you!
Content notes: some, very limited adult content (language, violence, sexual situations). This isn’t a book for younger readers in any case.
Initial post: This hefty, literary book looks a little intimidating, but interesting. The Secret Life of Trees. Off we go!...more
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