Category Archives: Historical Fiction

October 30, 2023 · 12:58 pm

Weyward – Emilia Hart

Weyward – Emilia Hart

I can’t remember where I first heard about this novel. I reserved the audible version from the library – it took a while to be available, so it must be popular.

Here’s the blurb …

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

I enjoyed listening to this, it was narrated by three different actresses, portraying Altha, Violet and Kate. I enjoyed all of their stories. The settings and characters were well-written; particularly all of the nature (and insect) descriptions. I particularly enjoyed Violet’s revenge. It’s historical fiction with a bit of magical realism mixed in.

A review

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October 29, 2023 · 2:36 pm

The Offing – Benjamin Myers

The Offing – Benjamin Myers

I have heard quite a bit about Cuddy, but this was the only novel my library stocked.

Here’s the blurb …

After all, there are only a few things truly worth fighting for: freedom, of course, and all that it brings with it. Poetry, perhaps, and a good glass of wine. A nice meal. Nature. Love, if you’re lucky.

One summer following the Second World War, Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham village. Sixteen and the son of a coal miner, he makes his way across the northern countryside until he reaches the former smuggling village of Robin Hood’s Bay. There he meets Dulcie, an eccentric, worldly, older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage facing out to sea.

Staying with Dulcie, Robert’s life opens into one of rich food, sea-swimming, sunburn and poetry. The two come from different worlds, yet as the summer months pass, they form an unlikely friendship that will profoundly alter their futures.

From the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Gallows Pole comes a powerful new novel about an unlikely friendship between a young man and an older woman, set in the former smuggling village of Robin Hood’s Bay in the aftermath of the Second World War.

This was lovely and it had beautiful descriptions of nature and food. It is a quiet story about human connection, coming of age, surviving (and thriving) after terrible loss and reading (and how reading can set you free).

A review

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October 28, 2023 · 5:12 pm

Homecoming – Kate Morton

Homecoming – Kate Morton

I have read The Forgotten Garden and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t think I would read any more of her work. However, a friend (with similar tastes to me) recommended it, so I reserved it at Borrowbox and listened to the audio version.

Here’s the blurb …

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of the grand and mysterious mansion, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia.

Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital.

Nora has always been a vibrant and strong presence: decisive, encouraging, young despite her years. When Jess visits her in the hospital, she is alarmed to find her grandmother frail and confused. It’s even more alarming to hear from Nora’s housekeeper that Nora had been distracted in the weeks before her accident and had fallen on the steps to the attic—the one place Jess was forbidden from playing in when she was small.

At loose ends in Nora’s house, Jess does some digging of her own. In Nora’s bedroom, she discovers a true crime book, chronicling the police investigation into a long-buried tragedy: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the book that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous crime—a crime that has never been resolved satisfactorily. And for a journalist without a story, a cold case might be the best distraction she can find…

An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, and how we protect the lies we tell. It explores the power of motherhood, the corrosive effects of tightly held secrets, and the healing nature of truth. Above all, it is a beguiling and immensely satisfying novel from one of the finest writers working today.

This novel was fascinating and there were enough twists and turns to keep me interested. I enjoyed all of the various settings and the characters were well-written and sympathetic.

A review.

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October 27, 2023 · 8:11 pm

Horse – Geraldine Brooks

Horse – Geraldine Brooks

I wasn’t all that keen to read this one and then a friend recommended it very highly and I listened to an interview with Geraldine Brooks, Pip Williams and Sally Colin-James, which made me keen to read all three of their novels. Plus I had recently listened to A Year of Wonders.

Here’s the blurb…

A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history

Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.

New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.

Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse–one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.

Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.

This was fabulous, how can anyone be so talented? To write from so many different perspectives? From a young enslaved black man, a 21st century scientist, a 19th century painter, a 20th century art collector, etc. Extraordinary. I am not interested in horses at all, but I found this story compelling and I can now appreciate what other people see in horses.

A review

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October 3, 2023 · 12:30 pm

Once Upon A River – Dianne Setterfield

Once Upon a River – Dianne Setterfield

I have a kindle version of this novel, but in the end I listened to the Audible version (narrated by Juliet Stevens). I have read The Thirteenth Tale, which I really enjoyed, but I think this one might be my favourite.

Here’s the blurb …

On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed.

Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential questions: Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless.

Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son’s secret liaison, stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson’s housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone’s. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known.

Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth. Suspenseful, romantic, and richly atmospheric, the beginning of this novel will sweep you away on a powerful current of storytelling, transporting you through worlds both real and imagined, to the triumphant conclusion whose depths will continue to give up their treasures long after the last page is turned.

I was very invested in all of the characters (maybe not Victor Nash), but all of the other characters; Rita and Mr Daunt, Mr Armstrong and Bess, Margo and Joe (and the little Margos), Helena, etc. The writing is lovely, the characters are generous and kind (most of them). It has the feel of a folk tale with Quietly punting on the river, the child that died and then lived, the magic lantern show and Robert Armstrong talking to his animals.

This is one of my favourite reads of the year.

A review

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October 2, 2023 · 8:38 pm

One Illumined Thread – Sally Colin-James

One Illumined Thread – Sally Colin-James

I listened to an interview on the Book Show (or the Book Shelf) with Sally Colin-James, Geraldine Brooks and Pip Williams, which made me super keen to read all three of their new novels (I have The Bookbinder of Jericho in my TBR.

Here’s the blurb …

In Judea, under the brutal rule of King Herod, a woman yearns for a child but is outcast when she does not fall pregnant. Against all convention, she masters the art of glassblowing, a creative act she believes will keep her dream of motherhood alive. In Renaissance Florence, a young wife is left penniless by her hopelessly unfaithful husband, and struggles to find a way to support herself and her young son. And in contemporary Australia, a talented textile conservator, devastated by loss, is desperate to regain control of her life. Each woman wants something that seems unattainable, and it will take all their courage, creativity and determination to achieve it.

A stunning, sweeping historical novel spanning two thousand years, One Illumined Thread celebrates the power and creative spirit of the female heart, as each woman finds freedom through an extraordinary connection.

I really enjoyed this novel; particularly the references to glass blowing, making paint and embroidering (or conserving embroidery). It is beautifully written, clearly a lot of care and attention went into the research and the writing.

I would have liked more of the contemporary story (perhaps that would have made the novel too long?).

It’s about women finding ways to do things in a patriarchal (and brutal) society, and it’s about mothers and daughters, female friendships, mothers and sons, female independence, and pursuing a craft or skill.

A review.

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September 21, 2023 · 5:43 pm

A Year of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks

A Year of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks

I read this years ago – probably when it was first released – and I know I enjoyed it and I consider it to be my favourite Geraldine Brooks novel. When I saw it as an audio book (read by the author) on Borrowbox, I had to re-visit it.

Here’s the blurb …

An unforgettable tale, set  in 17th century England,  of a village that quarantines itself to arrest the spread of the plague, from the author The Secret Chord  and of March , winner of the Pulitzer Prize 

When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna’s eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a “year of wonders.”

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England,  Year of Wonders  is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing “an inspiring heroine” ( The Wall Street Journal ), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.

It’s extraordinary how little of this novel I remembered. It is also very interesting to read this in a Covid (post-covid) world. This village isolates itself so as not to spread the plague, they move church services to outside and stand at a distance from each other – that’s all very familiar.

It’s beautifully written with lots of lovely period detail (but blended into the story). I particularly enjoyed all of the domestic details and the herb remedies. There is also a lot of death (from the plague and otherwise), religion ( was the plague god’s judgement for their sins), selfishness and superstitions.

A review

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September 2, 2023 · 3:17 pm

The Unknown Ajax – Georgette Heyer

The Unknown Ajax – Georgette Heyer

I love Georgette Heyer’s regency romances and this might be my favourite one.

Here’s the blurb …

Miles from anywhere, Darracott Place is presided over by elderly Lord Darracott. Irascible Lord Darracott rules his barony with a firm hand. The tragic accident that killed his eldest son by drowning has done nothing to improve his temper. For now, he must send for the next heir apparent–the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family is never permitted to mention. He also summons his bickering descendants to the rundown family estate. Yet none of that beleaguered family are prepared for the arrival of the weaver’s brat and heir apparent…

This was a lot of fun with all of the usual Heyerisms – lots of cant terms, silly young man, sensible (not to mention wealthy) slightly older man, a bit of action and amazing historical research. And the ending is particularly clever and inventive.

Here’s a fabulous article from Jennifer Kloester (she wrote a biography of Heyer).

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August 19, 2023 · 4:04 pm

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies – Alison Goodman

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies – Alison Goodman

Miss A, who works in a book store, told me all of the ‘Old Ladies’ were buying this book and she thought I might like it. She was right.

Here’s the blurb …

A high society amateur detective at the heart of Regency London uses her wits and invisibility as an ‘old maid’ to protect other women in a new and fiercely feminist historical mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Alison Goodman.

Lady Augusta Colebrook, “Gus,” is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.

The sisters set out to Caroline’s country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots and injures the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan.

Back in London, Gus can’t stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need—society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins.

This is part regency romance and part action and adventure. Our heroines Augusta and Julia are mature – 42 (no less), which I think is a good thing. Think of the novels of Georgette Heyer mixed with an adventure story (where things don’t always go to plan) and along the way we learn some history – most of it quite awful (the virgin cure? mental asylums for women – locked up because their guardians (husbands, brothers, fathers) found them annoying). Our hero, Lord Evan, is on the run after returning to England before completing his sentence for killing someone in a duel (I am sure there will be more about that in a later novel). The way they all meet is brilliant, but no spoilers here. The language is very heyeresque and the world building (creating regency England) is well done.

This is a fun, fast-paced romp.

A review

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August 1, 2023 · 6:21 am

The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese

The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese

I had about this novel at book club and I bought a copy as a gift, which came back to me so I could read it too – perfect gift.

Here’s the blurb …

A stunning and magisterial new epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. The family is part of a Christian community that traces itself to the time of the apostles, but times are shifting, and the matriarch of this family, known as Big Ammachi—literally “Big Mother”—will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life. All of Verghese’s great gifts are on display in this new work: there are astonishing scenes of medical ingenuity, fantastic moments of humor, a surprising and deeply moving story, and characters imbued with the essence of life.

A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

I read Cutting for Stone – a few years ago and enjoyed it, so I was keen to read this one. It is quite the epic, over 700 pages, but, unusually, I didn’t think it could do with some editing. It’s beautifully evocative. The settings, the characters, the family “condition” where every generation someone (or multiple people) drown were intriguing and compelling. At its heart it’s about love and family.

A review

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