Category Archives: Historical Fiction

August 19, 2024 · 8:46 pm

The Glassmaker – Tracy Chevalier

The Glassmaker – Tracy Chevalier

I am always going to buy Tracy Chevalier’s novels. My favourite is still A Single Thread, but I have liked them all.

Here’s the blurb …

Venice, 1486. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here – like the glass the island’s maestros spend their lives learning to handle.

Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin. She works in secret, knowing her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men. But perfection may take a lifetime.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola as she hones her craft through war and plague, tragedy and triumph, love and loss.

The beads she creates will adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans from Paris to Vienna – but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her?

This had an interesting structure with time. Chevalier used the metaphor of skipping a stone over water to explain the way time worked in this novel. The rest of the world might skip 100 years, but Orsola and the people close to her only aged 8 years. In this way, we could witness the evolution of glassmaking from the 1400s to now.

I enjoyed this novel, but the end felt quite melancholic. Orsola was grappling with ideas of Tourism and Making. Is she adding to the world’s problems by making things that no one really needs? But surely there is a place for beautiful things? And tourism? Good or bad? All that air travel?

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August 11, 2024 · 12:53 pm

Enlightenment – Sarah Perry

Enlightenment – Sarah Perry

This is my favourite novel (so far) this year. I am glad it has been long-listed for the Booker Prize. I have read other Sarah Perry novels – The Essex Serpent (which I loved and the TV series), After Me Comes the Flood (not my favourite), and Melmoth.

Here is the blurb …

Thomas Hart and Grace Macauley are fellow worshippers at the Bethesda Baptist chapel in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits – torn between their commitment to religion and their desire for more. But their friendship is threatened by the arrival of love. Thomas falls for James Bower, who runs the local museum. Together they develop an obsession with the vanished nineteenth-century female astronomer Maria Veduva, said to haunt a nearby manor, and whose startling astronomical discoveries may never have been acknowledged. Inspired by Maria, and the dawning realisation James may not reciprocate his feelings, Thomas finds solace studying the night skies. Could astronomy offer as much wonder as divine or earthly love? Meanwhile Grace meets Nathan, a fellow sixth former who represents a different, wilder kind of life. They are drawn passionately together, but quickly pulled apart, casting Grace into the wider world and far away from Thomas. In time, the mysteries of Aldleigh are revealed, bringing Thomas and Grace back to each other and to a richer understanding of love, of the nature of the world, and the sheer miracle of being alive.

I loved this book. The talk of physics and comets, but also God and grace, the nature of time, and human connection. It is beautifully written and the descriptions are superb – I could see Grace’s outfits, and the comet dress, and the little church (with the sea drenched Harmonium). The characters were complex and their situations intriguing.

Some of my favourite quotes…

Everything still happens within me – how else can I make sense of time? How else can I explain that I am lonely, and never lonely – that I despise my friend and miss her – that James Bower causes me the worst pain I ever knew, and no pain at all?

It was small, strange, curtailed and poor, but every day made new by the beauty she detected in torn table linen, dying stems of forecourt carnations, silk ribbons sold for a pound in charity shop baskets: she was free to think as she liked, to say what she liked, to do as she pleased…

I have lived. I have felt everything available to me: I’ve been faithless, devout, indifferent, ardent, diligent and careless; full of hope and disappointment, bewildered by time and fate or comforted by providence – and all of it ticking through me while the pendulum of my life loses amplitude by the hour.

A review.

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August 8, 2024 · 2:47 pm

The Glovemaker – Ann Weisgarber

The Glovemaker – Ann Weisgarber

My mother-in-law lent me this one (we often exchange books). Here’s the blurb …

In the inhospitable lands of the Utah Territory, during the winter of 1888, thirty-seven-year-old Deborah Tyler waits for her husband, Samuel, to return home from his travels as a wheelwright. It is now the depths of winter, Samuel is weeks overdue, and Deborah is getting worried.

Deborah lives in Junction, a tiny town of seven Mormon families scattered along the floor of a canyon, and she earns her living by tending orchards and making work gloves. Isolated by the red-rock cliffs that surround the town, she and her neighbors live apart from the outside world, even regarded with suspicion by the Mormon faithful who question the depth of their belief.

When a desperate stranger who is pursued by a Federal Marshal shows up on her doorstep seeking refuge, it sets in motion a chain of events that will turn her life upside down. The man, a devout Mormon, is on the run from the US government, which has ruled the practice of polygamy to be a felony. Although Deborah is not devout and doesn’t subscribe to polygamy, she is distrustful of non-Mormons with their long tradition of persecuting believers of her wider faith.

But all is not what it seems, and when the Marshal is critically injured, Deborah and her husband’s best friend, Nels Anderson, are faced with life and death decisions that question their faith, humanity, and both of their futures.

I really enjoyed this novel and, unusually, I didn’t think it needed editing. For me, it was about moral dilemmas and what to do when neither outcome is good, but one outcome is slightly better for you, but much worse for the other party? What makes a person good?

I also enjoyed learning a bit about the Mormons in Utah, how they moved around to avoid persecution, but also, for some, to avoid the domination of the church in their lives.

There’s also a bit of a woman question – if women don’t have children, then what is their purpose?

A review

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July 30, 2024 · 2:15 pm

Essex Dogs, and The Wolves of Winter – Dan Jones

Essex Dogs, and Wolves of Winter – Dan Jones

I listened to these one after another (narrated by Ben Miles – such a nice voice). I received Essex Dogs for my birthday (possibly more than 2 years ago) and then it came up on Borrowbox and I decided it was time.

Here’s the blurb to Wolves of Winter

The epic sequel to Essex Dogs, continuing the New York Times bestselling historian’s trilogy of novels following the fortunes of ten ordinary soldiers during the Hundred Years’ War.

For the Dogs, the war has only just begun. Caught up in the siege of Calais, in the midst of a brutal eleven-month blockade of a small port on the French coast, the band of brothers known as the Essex Dogs are no longer blindly walking into the unknown. But the men still have more questions than answers about what faces them – and why.

What are they really fighting for? And why does the king care so much about taking such a small French town?

Soon, their journey will reveal who really wants this war to last for a hundred years. And as the battle rages, they hear the first, faint, chesty rattle of a natural disaster that is sweeping towards the Dogs and their world . . .

Spanning the siege city built outside Calais’ walls, to the pirate ships patrolling the harbour, and into the dark corners of oligarchs’ houses, where the deals that shape—and end—lives are made, this captivating and brutal story brings the 1300s effortlessly to life.

I have one of Dan Jones’s history books (Power and Thrones), which I enjoyed and as I really like historical fiction, and medieval history these two novels were perfect for me.

The world did come alive – in all of its filth, illness and violence, I had no idea Prince Edward was such a knob. I had quite a romantised idea of the Black Prince. The writing is engaging with lots to hold your interest and the characters are well-written. It’s witty and moving and made me think about how these big battles are mostly forgotten. And there is the money men behind the power manipulating everything (some things never change). I am looking forward to the third novel.

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July 29, 2024 · 2:37 pm

The Group – Mary McCarthy

The Group – Mary McCarthy

I bought this novel in London – Waterstones Piccadilly maybe? I do like a story about young women set in New York in the 20th Century (Rules of Civility, The Best of Everything)

Here’s the blurb …

Written with a trenchant, sardonic edge, The Group is a dazzlingly outspoken novel and a captivating look at the social history of America between two world wars. “Juicy, shocking, witty, and almost continually brilliant.”–CosmopolitanAward-winning Mary McCarthy’s most celebrated novel follows the lives of eight Vassar graduates, known simply to their classmates as “the group.” An eclectic mix of personalities and upbringings, they meet a week after graduation to watch Kay Strong get married. After the ceremony, the women begin their adult lives — traveling to Europe, tackling the worlds of nursing and publishing, and finding love and heartbreak in the streets of New York City. Through the years, some of the friends grow apart and some become entangled in each other’s affairs, but all vow not to become like their mothers and fathers. It is only when one of them passes away that they all come back together again to mourn the loss of a friend, a confidante, and most importantly, a member of the group.

This novel was published in 1963 (and was on the New York Times best seller list for almost two years). It must have created buzz or a bit of a scandal – there was pre-marital sex, affairs (apparently it was banned in Australia). I found it fascinating.

The Guardian has a fabulous review with quotes from various women writers (AS Byatt, Claire Tomalin, Hilary Mantel) with their thoughts on The Group.

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July 28, 2024 · 12:15 pm

Long Island – Colm Toibin

Long Island – Colm Toibin

I really enjoyed Brooklyn, so I was keen to read this sequel.

Here’s the blurb …

Long Island is Colm Tóibín’s an exquisite, exhilarating novel that asks whether it is possible to truly return to the past and renew the great love that seemed gone forever. The sequel to Colm Tóibín’s prize-winning, bestselling novel Brooklyn.

A man with an Irish accent knocks on Eilis Fiorello’s door on Long Island and in that moment everything changes. Eilis and Tony have built a secure, happy life here since leaving Brooklyn – perhaps a little stifled by the in-laws so close, but twenty years married and with two children looking towards a good future.

And yet this stranger will reveal something that will make Eilis question the life she has created. For the first time in years she suddenly feels very far from home and the revelation will see her turn towards Ireland once again. Back to her mother. Back to the town and the people she had chosen to leave behind. Did she make the wrong choice marrying Tony all those years ago? Is it too late now to take a different path?

Once again the writing is beautiful, and it covers the anxiety people living far from home feel. Is this the right place for me?, where do I fit?, did I make the right choice? All of the main characters from Brooklyn are here and we see what has happened to them during the 20 years. When I read Brooklyn, I liked Tony, so I was very disappointed to hear what he had done. This has clouded my thoughts about this novel. I don’t like it as much as I probably should.

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July 26, 2024 · 2:57 pm

The Dream Stitcher – Deborah Gaal

The Dream Stitcher – Deborah Gaal

I went to Bayeux to see the Bayeux Tapestry. While in Bayeux, I went on a tour of the Normandy beach landings (Omaha and Juno). And on my tour were four women who were part of a book club. They had come to Bayeux because they had read this book. Obviously as someone obsessed by the tapestry, I had to read it.

Here’s the blurb …

The Dream Stitcher’s story moves eloquently between two time periods and places, America in 2008 and World War II Poland. Hard times are forcing Maude Fields to take in her estranged mother, Bea, whose secrets date to World War II. Bea arrives with a hand-embroidered recreation of La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde, the iconic 11th century Bayeux Tapestry. The replica contains clues to the identity of Maude’s father and the mythical Dream Stitcher, Goldye, a Jewish freedom fighter who helped launch the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. With the help of her pregnant daughter Rosie, Maude is determined to unravel decades of family deception to learn the truth about her parentage. With Poland on the brink of invasion by Nazi Germany, Goldye discovers—with the guidance of imaginary friend Queen Mathilda—that she can embroider dreams that come true. She becomes an apprentice at Kaminski Fine Fabrics, where she gains a reputation for creating wedding dresses for Aryan brides that bring their dreams to reality. She becomes known as the Dream Stitcher. Goldye meets and falls in love with Lev, a freedom fighter who wants to unite Jews and Poles to fight the Germans. Goldye sews images to help him. And she creates a powerful symbol for the resistance of the common a stitched hummingbird that spreads hope. Goldye leaves the ghetto to live with her sewing mentor, Jan Kaminski, who gains identity papers for Goldye as his Aryan niece. A Nazi commandant takes Jan and Goldye on a dangerous trip to France to decipher the symbols in The Bayeux Tapestry. The Nazis hope images in the Bayeux will reinforce Germany’s right to world domination. In California, Maude’s quest for the truth leads to family she didn’t know she had, and perhaps, love.

I loved this book. I enjoyed all of the references to stitching and embroidery. Plus I knew nothing about Poland during World War 2, so I learnt about that as well. It has a different theory about the creation of the Bayeux Tapestry than the one that is currently popular, but not unheard off. And it serves the story well.

A review.

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July 22, 2024 · 3:13 pm

O Caledonia – Elspeth Barker

O Caledonia – Elspeth Barker

This is another of my scottish reads. I first heard about this novel from the Backlisted podcast and it was mentioned on the latest Slightly Foxed podcast.

Here’s the blurb …

In the tradition of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a darkly humorous modern classic of Scottish literature about a doomed adolescent growing up in the mid-20th century—featuring a new introduction by Maggie O’Farrell, award-winning author of Hamnet.

Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, attired in her mother’s black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw…

?Author Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the harsh climate of Scotland in this atmospheric gothic tale that has been compared to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey. Immersed in a world of isolation and loneliness, Barker’s ill-fated young heroine Janet turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila, who offers brief flashes of respite in an otherwise foreboding life. People, birds, and beasts move through the background in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family’s motto—Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered)—is a well-suited epitaph for wild and courageous Janet, whose fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.

Janet is a fabulous character. Strong willed, curious, and very intelligent. The writing is beautiful. It reminded me of I Capture the Castle (although a lot more gothic). I think this is my favourite novel so far this year.

A review.

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July 20, 2024 · 3:55 pm

The Edinburgh Skating Club – Michelle Sloan

The Edinburgh Skating Club – Michelle Sloan

Back to my Scottish reading. I had seen this book in various book stores and then I went to the National Gallery and saw the painting. So I decided I had to read it.

Here’s the blurb …

When you look at a painting, what do you really see?

When eighteenth-century poet Alison Cockburn accepts a light-hearted challenge from her good friend Katherine Hume to live as a man, in order to infiltrate the infamous Edinburgh Skating Club, little do they both realise how her new identity will shape their futures. Together they navigate their way through the sights, sounds and faces of Enlightenment Edinburgh, from Old Town to New Town and from joyous friendship to a deep affection.

In twenty-first-century Edinburgh, art historian Claire Sharp receives a mysterious request: to settle once and for all the true provenance of the iconic painting The Skating Minister. But when she and friend Jen Brodie dig deeper, they discover the incredible truth behind the painting and two extraordinary women Enlightenment Edinburgh forgot.

This was a great story – I would love it to be true. I do like a novel about art – The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, Goldfinch, One Illumined Thread, etc. Like many of these novels we have two time periods; contemporary and the time when the painting was painted. I think it brings Edinburgh in the 18th century vividly to life. The characters are well-written and the plot hums along nicely. It was a charming, warm and interesting novel. And I particularly liked the ending of the narrative from the past.

A review.

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July 18, 2024 · 10:47 am

Table for Two – Amor Towles

Table for Two – Amor Towles

I like Towles, my favourite is Rules of Civility, but I have read all of his novels. Table for Two is short stories and I listened to it (this version)

Here’s the blurb …

From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a richly detailed and sharply drawn collection of stories set in New York and Los Angeles.

The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise which operate at the heart of modern marriages.

In Towles’s novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September, 1938, with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in the midst of Hollywood’s golden age.

Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next.

Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction.

I really enjoyed these stories – in particular Eve in Hollywood (it is a continuation of Rules of Civility). All of the stories are beautifully written. Sometimes witty, sometimes poignant, always clever and sometimes a bit sneaky.

A review.

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