Difference between revisions of "Newest Historical Fiction Reviews"
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| + | |title=Wake | ||
| + | |author=Anna Hope | ||
| + | |rating=3.5 | ||
| + | |genre=Historical Fiction | ||
| + | |summary=Wake: | ||
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| + | 1 Emerge or cause to emerge from sleep<br> | ||
| + | 2 Ritual for the dead<br> | ||
| + | 3 Consequence or aftermath | ||
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| + | We often hear the term ''Broken Britain'' in reference to modern society, but the Britain presented in ''Wake'' epitomises the term completely. This is a country reeling from the aftermath of the Great War. Unemployment is rife, food scarce and every family has been touched and scarred forever by the events of the preceding years. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857521942</amazonuk> | ||
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|summary=Landish Druken is a great hulk of a man who lumbers through his hometown of St John's, Newfoundland. Although he thinks of himself as a writer, he has never written a word he didn't feel compelled to burn, and everyone knows him as the wayward son of accomplished sealing captain Abram Druken. Landish escaped to study literature at Princeton, where he met best friend Padgett 'Van' Vanderluyden, the 'dud' son of an industrial tycoon and a rumoured homosexual, but he broke his promise to join his father's sealing empire on his return in 1893, and now lives in poverty and disgrace. | |summary=Landish Druken is a great hulk of a man who lumbers through his hometown of St John's, Newfoundland. Although he thinks of himself as a writer, he has never written a word he didn't feel compelled to burn, and everyone knows him as the wayward son of accomplished sealing captain Abram Druken. Landish escaped to study literature at Princeton, where he met best friend Padgett 'Van' Vanderluyden, the 'dud' son of an industrial tycoon and a rumoured homosexual, but he broke his promise to join his father's sealing empire on his return in 1893, and now lives in poverty and disgrace. | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099572036</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099572036</amazonuk> | ||
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Revision as of 12:44, 15 January 2014
Wake by Anna Hope
Wake:
1 Emerge or cause to emerge from sleep
2 Ritual for the dead
3 Consequence or aftermath
We often hear the term Broken Britain in reference to modern society, but the Britain presented in Wake epitomises the term completely. This is a country reeling from the aftermath of the Great War. Unemployment is rife, food scarce and every family has been touched and scarred forever by the events of the preceding years. Full review...
Keane's Company by Iain Gale
There is one fictionalised character that straddles recent historic fiction set during the Napoleonic Wars like a Colossus and that man is Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe. To take on this level of success is no easy task, but with Sharpe books no longer being released, there is room for a new man. Is that man James Keane, star of Iain Gale’s ‘Keane’s Company’? This is a book that forgoes some of the deeper literary elements in favour of action and thrills. Full review...
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Henry 'The Onion' Shackleford lives as Henrietta (or just plain Onion) until he's 17 due to a misunderstanding that may prove too dangerous for him to correct. The reason is that the person under this misapprehension is the fiercely well-meaning slavery abolitionist (with the emphasis on the 'fiercely') John Brown. As Onion accompanies him on his quest to free every slave they encounter, he discovers that Brown's philanthropy only stretches so far. Meanwhile it's that time of the 19th century when a shadow spreads over America, one that will cause a historic scar almost as great as that of slavery but Brown is oblivious to this. He doesn't; want to start a civil war, just an armed slave revolt. Full review...
Custard Tarts and Broken Hearts by Mary Gibson
In the tinder-dry summer of 1911 the factory workers of Bermondsey are about to ignite the flame of change, leading to the great Summer of Unrest. Inspired by the dock workers’ strike, scores of dissatisfied female workers take to the streets in protest, demanding better working conditions and equal pay. Nellie Clark, who works in Duff’s custard factory, is entranced by the charismatic revolutionary Ted Bosher and is swept along in the fervour, enthusiastically joining her workmates in the protest. When the heat of the day dies down, however, she is reminded of the stark reality that her wages are needed to feed her starving siblings. How will her drunken, violent father react when he finds out what she has done? Full review...
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
On her 11th birthday Sarah Grimké is given a special present. It walks towards her decorated with a purple ribbon for 'it' is Hetty, Sarah's new personal slave. They grow up together on the Grimkés' Charleston plantation separated by conventions thought to be set in stone. However each in their own way will rebel; Hetty empowered by her seamstress mother's ancient African tales of resistance and Sarah (alongside her sister Angelina) empowered by defiant dreams. Full review...
Emma by Linda Mitchelmore
Emma Le Goff was determined that she and her childhood sweetheart, Seth Jago, would get married but the vicar seemed strangely reluctant to oblige. Their pasts were against them. Seth’s brother had been hung and his father and brother were in prison. No one could - or would - quite believe that Seth had kept himself above the criminality. Then there were the deaths of Emma’s mother and brother, which might not have been an accident. To top it all Emma had lived with Matthew Caunter - the vicar wasn’t prepared to accept that she was simply his housekeeper. No - there was no question of his marrying them, but Emma came up with a novel solution to the problem. Full review...
The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
Adeliza Golding is comfortably off by Victorian standards. She lives in a not insignificant house, her parents can afford servants, Liza's father owns and runs a hop farm, but... The but is considerable as Liza is different from most: she's deaf/blind and isolated from the world with only 'the visitors' for company and communication in her mind. Almost in desperation when Liza is six, her father calls on Charlotte Crowe for help. Lottie penetrates Liza's lonely world by teaching her finger writing. However, in doing so she unlocks revelations that Lottie would rather be kept secret. For not everything changes; the visitors remain, whoever they are and whatever they want. Full review...
The Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Pride and Prejudice Novel by Pamela Mingle
Mary Bennet seems to have a serious case of 'middle child syndrome'. The third of five sisters, she has always been isolated, lacking the close bonds formed between her older and younger siblings. As a result, Mary has become bookish, withdrawn and socially awkward. Full review...
Imperial Fire by Robert Lyndon
Nine years after his return from the perilous trek to the Middle East, Frankish mercenary Vallon is now a general in the Byzantine army. He leads the 'Outlanders', a Babel of a mercenary force from every corner of the known world fighting those threatening the Empire. However, The Emperor has plans for them. On hearing about the Hawk Quest expedition, the Emperor wants to send Vallon and his men on a more challenging trip: to bring a new wonder weapon back from far off China. The good news is that this 'fire drug' is more destructive than anything they already have. The bad news is that they could be away for at least 3 years and that Lucas, a young stranger accompanying them, has a secret that could prove as dangerous as the journey. Full review...
The Empress by Meg Clothier
It's 1179 and Agnes, daughter of King Louis VII is sent to Byzantium to marry the young son and heir of the Emperor. However the chap in question, young Alexios, is more a drip than a chip off his father's block. This leaves Agnes to work on her own strategy for survival. For this is a world where everyone is paranoid, and with good reason as everyone is a target and Agnes isn't just a woman, she's a stepping stone to power. Full review...
The Web and the Wing by Teresa Raftery
I love a good family saga, don't you? The Web and the Wing begins at the end of World War I. Claire returns to her pre-war job as a maid at Ardleagh Hall, home of the Earl of Eglinton. But Claire wants more than a life in service. She wants education and independence. And she wants away from Ardleagh for another reason too - rigid social rules mean that she can never declare her love for James, heir to the Eglinton title. James feels the same about Claire but he too has personal reasons for wanting to escape - his father will not countenance his musical ambitions. After the disastrous miners' strike of 1926, James leaves for Berlin to become a concert pianist. From here, he observes the rise of Hitler with mounting concern. Full review...
Colossus by Alexander Cole
I would not want to be in the front line of any army, but one that is facing a row of battle worn elephants must be the worst These huge beasts, that don’t smell particularly nice, are charging towards you, their tusks tipped in armour. You’ll find me cowering somewhere near the baggage train. Not Gajendra, he is an ambitious young man in Alexander’s all conquering army. He has a special relationship with the largest elephant in Alex’s army, Colossus. This close relationship between man and beast will lead Gajendra to a higher level than he could ever have imagined for a poor boy from India. Full review...
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
Theodora Atwell is torn away from her much-loved brother at the age of 15, to be sent far from her home in Florida to Yonahlossee, where she's to have a fresh start after a mysterious event she blames herself for. Set in the 1930s to the backdrop of the Depression, we follow Thea as she tries to navigate her new surroundings and come to terms with the damage she's caused to her family. Full review...
Lionheart by Stewart Binns
Richard the First. Richard the Lionheart.
Even those of us who didn't pay attention much in history lessons, those of us who are pretty dodgy on which King came when, will be familiar with some of them and be able to put them more or less in their time context. We know William the Conqueror, we know Henry the Eighth…
… and, up to a point, we know about the Lionheart. Full review...
Black Venus by James MacManus
Anyone familiar with the numerous biographies of Charles Baudelaire will know there is an absence in the middle of his life: Jeanne Duval. The facts about this mysterious woman are rather sparse, although it is commonly agreed that she was a Haitian cabaret singer - and Baudelaire's perennial muse. And it is Baudelaire's fascination with Duval that continues to haunt the books published by his critics and admirers alike: just what, they ask themselves, was the great man's obsession with the woman he dubbed his Black Venus? But if there's little more to say on the biographical front, what about in the realms of fiction? What about using the scattered facts to build a three-dimensional Duval, one with a backstory, hopes, and feelings? If you think this is a bad idea, then you're too late, because this is the 'eureka!' moment that spawned James MacManus's exasperating new novel, Black Venus. Full review...
Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks
Bertie Wooster had a glorious time in Cannes, not least because of the presence of Georgiana Meadowes. He wondered if she should be allowed out at all, 'such a hazard did she pose to male shipping' - and that was before he'd experienced her driving. But, being a gentleman, Wooster's hands were tied: Georgiana is soon to become engaged to another. The two would meet again before too long as Wooster, along with his gentleman's gentleman, were invited to stay at the home of Georgiana's uncle - but, for reasons which you'll need to read for yourself, Jeeves was there as a member of the aristocracy and Wooster was his gentleman's gentleman. Confused? Oh, excellent! Full review...
The Purchase by Linda Spalding
1798: Daniel Dickinson moves his five children and 15-year-old second wife away from the Pennsylvanian Quaker community he used to call home, towards Virginia. While on an equipment-buying trip he comes across a slave auction and decides to be true to his abolitionist beliefs in an unusual way. He buys Onesimus, a young slave boy, in order to change the lad's life, intending to offer him a home and fairness in place of captivity. However, reality is more difficult and the Dickinsons find that their new servant will actually change their lives instead. Full review...
The Blood of Heaven by Kent Wascom
1799 in America and Angel Woolsack is the son of an itinerant preacher, travelling around Louisiana. Life isn't easy as Angel is torn between the puritanical fire and brimstone upbringing of Preacher-Father and his desire to be a normal young man within the confines of a religious community. Eventually Angel's desire to express himself leads to tragedy and, with his only friend Samuel Kemper for company, he is cast out by those he loves. Angel and Samuel decide to search for Samuel's elder brother, Reuben, and thus begins the adventure that will take them to Florida, bring Angel a feisty bride and provide a place in the history books for the Kemper brothers as they grapple for land against the Spanish. Full review...
The Ice-Cold Heaven by Mirko Bonne
They say that if you fall off a horse you should get back on one right away, but even so… I don't think many people who had only just left their first love – a shopgirl in their village – for their second – exploring the world on sailing cargo ships – would leap to a further voyage having been wrecked and stranded off the coast of South America for well over a week. But Merce here does – he wants to follow his best friend on to a ship called The Endurance and head with Shackleton to the Antarctic. But Merce is only seventeen, and is rejected – causing him to stow away onto one of the world's worst ever journeys. Full review...
The Reluctant Bride by Beverly Eikli
Scarred soldier Major Angus McCartney cuts a lonely figure as he rides toward Micklen House bearing tragic news. He knows that his presence will be unwelcome and that the report he must deliver will devastate the entire household, especially the beautiful, unobtainable daughter of the family whom he has secretly been in love with for many years. Surely she will forever associate him with the bombshell that brought her world crashing down. There seems no way that she could ever love him the way that he loves her. Full review...
Wars of the Roses: Stormbird (Wars of the Roses 1) by Conn Iggulden
England in 1437: Henry VI is now old enough to take the throne after the untimely death of his father 15 years earlier. However 'The Lamb' (as young Henry is known) doesn't take after his robust, dominant father as enemies and allies alike are wont to mention. Religiously devout, peace-loving and often ill, Henry VI relies on his right-hand men to take the load. While a privileged role for people like William de la Pole (Duke of Suffolk) and spymaster Derry Brewster, it's also very dangerous. They're the final line of defence before the King can be toppled and not all the malevolent powers are beyond the English Channel. A lot of hope is pinned on Henry's marriage to Margaret of Anjou healing the rifts but unfortunately there are unforeseen effects. Full review...
A Different Sun: A Novel of Africa by Elaine Neil Orr
Emma Davis, daughter of a Georgian plantation owner has never been happy about the slave system. People just shouldn't be owned like merchandise. Whenever possible she slinks away to hear African stories from elderly slave Uncle Eli, sparking her imagination and love for a far off continent about which she's determined to do more than dream. Emma is going to theological college and she will be a missionary out there. Her resolve pays off when she meets and marries Henry, clergyman and missionary to Yoruba. Once there Emma discovers a local culture richer and more rewarding than she imagined, but, then again, so is the cost. Full review...
Close to the Wind by Zana Bell
Georgiana da Silva seems to have everything to look forward to; an engagement to her dashing cousin Jasper will finally allow her to escape the clutches of her oppressive aunt and open up the opportunity for her to travel the world, broadening her horizons considerably. Unfortunately, when she overhears a conversation between Jasper and the duplicitous Lord Walsingham, she realises that her engagement is a sham and that her brother’s life is in danger from a ruthless assassin. Can she reach her brother in New Zealand before the assassin has time to strike? The scene is set for an exciting cross-continental race against time which will pitch Georgiana headlong into a world of deceit, intrigue and adventure. Full review...
The Pagan Lord (Warrior Chronicles 7) by Bernard Cornwell
Lord Uhtred is outlawed and evicted from his land as he continues to niggle the Saxon clergy. However this time it's in a big way: he murders an abbot while trying to reclaim his eldest son. As a punishment he's evicted from his land so Uhtred does the only thing he can: he follows his destiny and travels north to reclaim Bebbanburg (Bamburgh) from his usurping uncle, Aelfric. There's a chasm between his dream and reality, but Uhtred is determined. Perhaps it's just as well because his choice of strategy will shape a nation. Full review...
The Night Flower by Sarah Stovell
Fourteen-year-old Miriam Booth is a Romany gypsy from the Newcastle slums who, like the titular waif in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, is an orphan who lives by her wits but becomes drawn into a ring of house-breaking crime. In 1842 she is caught and sentenced to seven years' transportation to a convict colony in Australia. Full review...
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
In 1845 ex-slave, black American Frederick Douglass visits Ireland for a lecture tour about freedom and emancipation only to discover he's not preaching to the converted after all. In 1919 Alcock and Brown climb into a rickety aircraft to fly the Atlantic and land in Limerick. In 1994 Senator George Mitchell also travels to Ireland watched by a world that's about to see a miracle of negotiation. Meanwhile through it all Lily and her descendants are also there, not only watching history but living it on both sides of the Atlantic. Full review...
Sisters of the East End by Helen Batten
Katie Crisp had never intended to become a nun. Raised by non-religious parents, her family frowned upon organised religion and when Katie started secretly going to church, they strongly disapproved. When Katie ran to the aid of a stroke victim, she had a vision that changed her life. She saw herself dressed as a nun with a large silver cross hanging from her neck. She decided to follow her calling and join the community of St John the Divine, a group of Anglican nuns dedicated to nursing and midwifery. She thus shed her old identity and became known as Sister Catherine Mary. Full review...
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries is set in the New Zealand gold rush of the late 1860s. It's a story about greed, power, gold, dreams, opium, secrets, betrayal and identity, but most of all, it's a celebration of the art of story telling, both in terms of Catton's book and the stories her characters have to tell. It's the kind of book that is perfect escapism and which wraps you up in its world. If you like big, chunky books that you can get lost in for hours, then this is one for you. Full review...
Unexploded by Alison MacLeod
It's 1940 and Britain lives in fear of a Nazi invasion that could happen any day. In case the worst happens, Evelyn's husband Geoffrey has buried a little something for her and their young son Philip in the garden. He tells her the tin contains a bit of money and his favourite photo of them. As she digs it up from impulse rather than necessity, she discovers that there's no photo but what there is instead makes Evelyn doubt that she knows the man she married. The events that follow make Evelyn realise that indeed she doesn't. Meanwhile the war continues and a German does invade their lives, but not in the way that either of them could envisage. Full review...
The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier
Quaker girl Honor Bright is seeking escape from a failed relationship. Leaving quiet Dorset for America, a developing country about which she knows little, she hopes that accompanying her sister to the US will mean a new start within the American Quaker community. But Honor soon discovers the differences between America and England – not just in terms of weather and landscape, but also in the American culture of slave keeping. Full review...
A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnston
Landish Druken is a great hulk of a man who lumbers through his hometown of St John's, Newfoundland. Although he thinks of himself as a writer, he has never written a word he didn't feel compelled to burn, and everyone knows him as the wayward son of accomplished sealing captain Abram Druken. Landish escaped to study literature at Princeton, where he met best friend Padgett 'Van' Vanderluyden, the 'dud' son of an industrial tycoon and a rumoured homosexual, but he broke his promise to join his father's sealing empire on his return in 1893, and now lives in poverty and disgrace. Full review...
