BOOK REVIEW: My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Isabel Allende has a new book coming out in May, My Name is Emilia del Valle. I’ve only read one other book by this author, Violeta, and this one reminds me of that. Both books are set largely in Chile and are structured with a feisty female protagonist looking back and recounting her life story. I had a similar reaction to this story as to the last. It’s a fascinating tale, giving me insight into a period of time and a country that I know next to nothing about. The prose is lovely, especially when describing the beauty of Chile. However, I feel distanced from the narrative. I’m interested in what is going on, but don’t ever feel emotionally drawn in by the characters.

Emilia is brought up in San Francisco in the post- Civil War years. She is the illegitimate daughter of an Irish almost-nun and a Chilean playboy. He abandons mother and child. Emilia’s mother marries a teacher who showers them both with kindness and love.

Emilia wants to be a writer. She moves from writing dime novels under a male pseudonym to journalism, although the editor of the newspaper only wants her to write human interest stories. She is befriended by another staff writer, Eric, who helps her learn the ropes and supports her as she branches out into more substantive journalism. When the Chilean civil war breaks out, she and Eric are sent to Chile. She is to write about the government’s stance, and Eric is to write about the rebels.

The novel takes us deep into the politics and violence of the civil war of 1891. By showing both sides, through what Emilia and Eric discover, each with their own bias, the reader gets a more multidimensional view of what took place–in all its seeming futility.

At the same time, Emilia hunts down her birth father and her extended family in Chile. Emilia learns about family, identity, and love in the midst of and in the aftermath of the brutal conflict.

BOOK REVIEW: Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Fagin the Thief is Allison Epstein’s third novel and, for me, she is three for three. Her historical novels are all quite different, but all insanely good. (A Tip for the Hangman and Let the Dead Bury the Dead are must-reads.) 

Fagin the Thief is a retelling of Dickens’ Oliver Twist, primarily from the viewpoint of Fagin, though we also get peeks into the psyches of Bill Sykes and Nan. Full disclosure: I’ve never read Oliver Twist. What I know of the story comes from the musical Oliver! and from popular references. But you don’t need to know anything about Oliver Twist to appreciate Fagin the Thief. Oliver, the poor orphan, is hardly present in this novel, but he serves as the catalyst for the culminating events.

Jacob Fagin was orphaned at a young age. His father had been hanged as a thief, and Jacob’s main goal in life (other than staying alive in general) is not to die the way his father did. But a boy has to eat, and Fagin doesn’t see any palatable options for a fatherless, impoverished Jewish boy other than thievery. With the aid of a skilled pickpocket, he learns to provide for himself. And as he grows older (and ages) he becomes a teacher to other young boys who are as desperate and bold as he once was. Yes, he is raising them up into a life of crime, but he feeds them, houses them, teaches them a skill, and cares for them.

Epstein portrays the grit, hunger, and desperation of London’s slums with such realism that the reader can empathize not just with Fagin, but also with the true villain of the piece, Bill Sykes. Once one of Fagin’s trainees, Sykes is not satisfied with the takings available to a pickpocket. And Fagin has to watch as the crimes escalate and Sykes becomes crueler and ever more violent.

This is a novel full of morally ambiguous characters who are shaped by their environment as well as their personal demons. The true evils in the book are poverty and prejudice. There is a message in the book, but it doesn’t stoop to preachiness. It takes the reader right into the lives of people who are so downtrodden that to be taken in by a master thief could be seen as a blessing.

Not only that, but the writing is superb.  Highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone

Many years ago, my mom passed along to me a book she’d read by Irving Stone. I believe it was Those Who Love, about Abigail and John Adams. I devoured it, and then read several of his other novels. I became hooked not only on Irving Stone, but on biographical fiction in general.

Recently, I’ve been taking some online Great Books classes that have included The Iliad and The Odyssey, and it brought to mind one of the Irving Stone books that I loved, The Greek Treasure. This is a dual biographical novel of Sophia and Henry Schliemann, amateur archeologists who are known for tenacious excavations at Troy and Mycenae. And while most of Schliemann’s conclusions (many controversial at the time) subsequently proved false, he generated excitement about the rewards of archeology in the late 1800s, and reawakened debates about the historicity of Homer’s great epics. (Schliemann was pro-Homer as a factual historian.)

Irving Stone’s novel is seen through the eyes of Sophia, a Greek girl from a family facing impoverishment, who, at 17 or 18, was given in marriage to Henry, who was 47 at the time. Recently divorced, he wanted a Greek wife for inspiration as he embarked on his excavations at Hisarlik, his presumed site of Troy. Henry was a fabulously wealthy German, who had risen from poverty by shady means, and then devoted his life and fortune to his archeological pursuits.

I think when I first read this novel, I was more impressed with Schliemann and his findings, as well as Sophia’s growth and participation in the digs. However, reading it again, I am more appalled by Henry’s megalomania and his treatment of his wife. The author does an excellent job of showing the nuances of Sophia’s relationship to her husband. Her subjugation was typical of her culture and the times. In a way, she was given a good deal of freedom and her life was enriched by the education he afforded her and the opportunity to take part in the digs. But these were crumbs he threw her way, so long as she toed the line, lavished him with praise, and kept her doubts and disappointments to herself.

The novel is meticulously detailed. The excitement of discovery comes through, as does the difficulty of the process. But I confess that I was often driven to skimming over the laundry lists of the gold and bronze items pulled from the earth. And I found myself weighing in on the side of Henry’s antagonists. His justifications for stealing artifacts (LOTS of artifacts) rang hollow.

Irving Stone’s books are not as readily available as they used to be, especially the more obscure ones. I found The Greek Treasure in my local university library. And while the writing style is a tad ponderous, the novel is still a compelling read. I expect now that I know where to go to look for Stone’s novels, I’ll be re-reading more of them.

BOOK REVIEW: Daniel Coit Gilman and the Birth of the American Research University by Michael T. Benson

Something completely different!

I have an interest in the early history of Johns Hopkins University and Hospital (which will be on display in my forthcoming historical novel, Till Taught by Pain, to be published by Regal House in November, 2025). I’m also interested in early U.S. university presidents (such as Robert M. Hutchins, a character in my work-in-progress). So I knew I had to read this biography of the first president of Johns Hopkins, who helped build the university, medical school, and hospital from scratch. The author gave a talk at our local library, which made me even more determined. However, it took two long car rides back and forth to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving before I finally moved it to the top of my TBR pile and read it.

Daniel Coit Gilman and the Birth of the American Research University by Michael T. Benson is an interesting account of Gilman’s life. It centers on his work, without touching upon his private life except to mention that he was married, widowered, remarried, and had two daughters. 

Born in 1831, Gilman devoted his life to the study of education, utilizing (as a young man) a position as an attaché to the ambassador to Russia to tour Europe and Russia and investigate universities there. His interest always seemed to lie more with administration than with teaching. He returned to various positions at Yale before being hired as the president of the University of California as it was getting started. (There is an analysis of the Morrill Act, the government program of land grants for education purposes; both Yale and the University of California made use of such grants.) Although Gilman accomplished a good deal in California, it wasn’t a great fit. (Disgruntled faculty members caused some problems.)

Back in the east, in Baltimore, the Trustees of the board administering the bequests of railroad tycoon Johns Hopkins were tasked with founding a new university. They took their responsibility seriously. Interviewing other educators and university presidents provided the unanimous recommendation of Gilman to head up this new endeavor. Gilman was promised almost complete control over building a true research-oriented university from the ground up. It was an opportunity he couldn’t resist.

This new biography delves into the nitty-gritty of Gilman’s process, the vision he had and the men he hired to bring his vision to life. It goes beyond the founding of Johns Hopkins. Gilman had his finger in many pies, all related to education.

It’s not an adventure-filled story, or even one rife with conflict, but it does bring notice back to the life of this remarkable man. It also shows the reader something of the state of higher education in the mid-to-late eighteen hundreds and the central role of Johns Hopkins University as a premier example of what academic research could become in the U.S.

BOOK REVIEW: The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli by Richard Aldous

After reading a biography of Benjamin Disraeli, I thought I should read one about his nemesis, William Gladstone. Instead, I chose a dual biography that focused on the rivalry between them, The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli by Richard Aldous.

This monograph very nicely lays out the political questions of the time (in superficial detail) and delves into the positions and personalities of the two prime ministers of late 19th century Britain. The two men were supposedly both brilliant orators, but apparently that meant they could speak for 4 or 5 hours at a stretch and lard their speeches with witty (or what passed for witty at the time) invective.

It seems as though the two began their political lives on roughly the same side of issues, with slight differences of opinion, but as their ambitions grew, their rivalry increased, and they began staking out more extreme positions. Disraeli became more reactionary. Gladstone became the leader of the Liberals. At times, they borrowed policies from one another with minimal deviations, more concerned with scoring political points for their parties than with actually achieving effective change. (Disraeli seems more guilty of this.) It’s unclear how strongly they believed in the principles they espoused.

Clearly, to better understand their roles in guiding British politics, I’d need to read something that gets more into the weeds. I was left with the impression that they were captains of the ship (alternating captaincy) at a time when Britain was undergoing great upheavals (industrialization, increased colonialism, etc.), but although they are each considered among the great Prime Ministers, I’m not all that clear on whether their incessant bickering actually steered the ship or just rocked it back and forth.

BOOK REVIEW: Disraeli: The Victorian Dandy Who Became Prime Minister by Christopher Hibbert

 Here is an example of how I tend to over-research. I’m thinking of setting my next historical romance in the late Victorian era rather than Regency England. I’ve been reading about customs, dress, etc. It’s a very broad time period (1837-1901) with a lot of world-changing events and technological advances. A while ago, I read Victorious Century: The United Kingdom, 1800-1906 by David Cannadine, which gave an overview, primarily of the political history. But now I wanted to zero in and focus more on the years around 1875.

So, I decided to read the relevant sections of Disraeli: The Victorian Dandy Who Became Prime Minister by Christopher Hibbert, a biography of Benjamin Disraeli. But I’m rarely ever able to read relevant sections. I need all the context to understand what’s going on. I ended up reading the whole thing.

The book is an interesting take on the prime minister, focusing more on his life than on his politics. Disraeli was supposedly a brilliant speaker and a clever politician. He was also a novelist. Hibbert quotes extensively from Disraeli’s letters, and I got the sense that Disraeli was more convinced of his own brilliance and eloquence than others were. Except for Queen Victoria, who he flattered shamelessly until he became a favorite.

He really sounds insufferable in his early life. By the time he was middle-aged, he’d lost much of his flamboyance and settled into more of a statesmanlike lifestyle. I didn’t get much of a sense of his politics, but that could be because his political aims were power for himself rather than any principled stance on issues. At least, that is the impression from this biography. Rather than outlining his politics, Hibbert quotes letters that list the country houses he visited and the dinner parties he attended. Which ladies he favored. And what a fine impression he was sure that he’d made. 

It isn’t what I was expecting from a biography, but it was nevertheless fascinating. It didn’t inspire me to dig up Disraeli’s novels, but it does make me want to read a biography of his arch-nemesis, Gladstone. 

BOOK REVIEW: A Perfect Match by Margaux Thorne

A Perfect Match by Margaux Thorne is the first book in a new Historical Romance series, The Cricket Club.

Myfanwy Wright is the orphaned daughter of a viscount. She lives for cricket. And for an injured, reluctantly retired cricketer, Samuel Everett. Myfanwy has been watching Samuel on the field since she was ten years old and has been infatuated with him for just as long.

The viscount’s will named Samuel as Myfanwy’s guardian. This is just for a few months until she reaches her majority. Then, she intends to buy a cottage and enough property for her own cricket field, where she can gather together her single ladies’ cricket club, the only “family” she has anymore. Until then, she is determined to have an affair with Samuel.

This steamy Victorian-era Romance plays with tropes of love between a gentlewoman and a commoner, and between a guardian and his ward. There is a touch of grumpy-sunshine. What gives this romance its entertaining kick is the way these tropes incorporate cricket. An underdog team must fight its way to the top. It will take the combined talents of Samuel and Myfanwy to win the big game, and the combined determination of both to win each other’s hearts.

BOOK REVIEW: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I just finished reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky for a class. I’m glad it was assigned or I likely never would have read it. Long, heavy, Russian literature in translation intimidates me. But this is a remarkably readable book, despite its length and depressing themes. 

Crime and Punishment is one of those classics where it is obvious why it is a classic. Even in translation, it is beautifully written, thematically complex, and surprisingly gripping. I was surprised to find it gripping because much of the book comprises interior and somewhat repetitive suffering. But the character’s suffering is distant from the reader. We can understand it without feeling it ourselves.

Raskolnikov, the main protagonist, commits a premeditated murder, compounded by an impulsive one. He was obsessed with the act before committing it, and he wallows in guilt and attempted self-justification afterward. He is surrounded by people who love him or don’t, who suspect him of the crime or don’t, and he scorns them all and tries to drive them away. He also seeks them out. He’s terrified of being caught, but also ruminates over turning himself in. He has grand theories, and delusions of grandeur. Is he insane? Or is that just an easy explanation for modern readers?

The author dives deeply into the viewpoints of several characters, not just Raskolnikov. Their motivations are as clear to the reader as they are to the characters themselves, which often means they are obscure. It’s a book to linger over, and to read more than once. It helped to read it in a class!

BOOK REVIEW: Lady Ambition's Dilemma by Jane Steen

Lady Ambition’s Dilemma is the third book in Jane Steen’s superb late 19th century mystery series, The Scott-De Quincy Mysteries. Read them from the beginning to best enjoy the series progression. (Lady Helena Investigates and Lady Odelia’s Secret are the first two books.)

The stories center on the large, aristocratic Scott-de Quincy family, particularly on the youngest sibling, Lady Helena, who was widowed in book one. With the help of a French physician newly arrived in the area, Armand Fourtier, she set out to solve her husband’s murder. In book two, Helena gets to know one of her much older sisters better. Lady Odelia is an artist involved in a scandal who needs some support. When another murder occurs, Helena must solve it as well, with help from Armand.

Now, Helena has emerged from mourning. As a wealthy young widow, she is looking forward to more society. She is particularly looking forward to Armand’s return from France. However, she is sought out by her snobbish older sister, Blanche, a marquess, also a widow, who has a pressing problem. Her son Dederick needs help finding a wealthy wife. He runs with a fast set, gambles, spends money profligately, and drinks far too much. Yet these are minor concerns. His real problem is that he engaged in a love affair with Lord Arthur, another young aristocrat, a man who is now threatening him with exposure. Helena’s help is enlisted once more.

Helena tries. She writes a gentle letter to Lord Arthur; she speaks to Dederick; and she lends Blanche money to lease a country house to let Dederick rusticate for a while. Unfortunately, Dederick embarks on a hunting trip with his set, a set that includes Lord Arthur. During the train ride to reach the site of the party, Lord Arthur falls, or jumps, or is pushed from the train to his death. When murder becomes the most likely scenario, Dederick is the main suspect, and Helena’s investigating skills are called into play. 

Steen’s novels are tightly plotted murder mysteries, but they are also explorations of family dynamics and there is a slow burn romance. A smattering of political intrigue is woven in as well. For historical mystery fans, I can’t recommend this series highly enough. 

BOOK REVIEW: A Deceptive Composition by Anna Lee Huber

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

A Deceptive Composition is the twelfth book in Anna Lee Huber’s historical mystery series, Lady Darby Mysteries. It continues the sleuthing careers of Kiera Gage (the one-time Lady Darby) and her husband Sebastian Gage, an inquiry officer for the King. Included now in their team is Kiera’s irascible father-in-law, Lord Gage.

The trio are summoned to Roscarrock, in Cornwall, Lord Gage’s childhood home. The summoner was Lord Gage’s Aunt Amelia, who requested help with the investigation of the murder of her brother Branok. Lord Gage is loath to go. He left Cornwall at age 11, after being embroiled in the family’s smuggling operation. He and his best friend were caught. His best friend was killed. And Lord Gage was sent off to the Navy. He has never forgiven his family for dragging him into the illegal business and for abandoning him when he was caught. However, Sebastian and Kiera feel that, after fifty years, it’s time for reconciliation. Sebastian has always been curious about his Cornwall relations. Moreover, they can’t refuse to help investigate a murder in the family.

Lord Gage warns them that the people in Roscarrock are shifty and untrustworthy. And that they are still smugglers. Nevertheless, they set off. Their company includes the men’s valets, Kiera’s maid, their baby daughter, Emma, and Emma’s nurse. The whole crew becomes involved in untangling the mystery, which includes murder, deceit, and a missing treasure.

Once again, the series delivers a compelling mystery and a deep dive into family bonds and family dysfunction. The Lady Darby Mysteries continue to engage!

BOOK REVIEW: James by Percival Everett

 I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

I love re-imaginings of classic stories, and have been excited to read James by Percival Everett, which will be released on March 19. This is a re-imagined Huckleberry Finn, told from the viewpoint of Jim.

Jim is an enslaved man with secrets. He is self-educated (highly educated) and devoted to his wife and daughter. He is also entangled with Huck (as in Twain’s novel.)

Jim learns that he is going to be sold, separated from his family, so he runs off to a nearby island to hide. There, he meets up with Huck, who has just faked his own death to escape from his cruel drunkard of a father. Now Jim knows he will likely be charged not only with running away, but also with killing Huck. The two flee the island.

Jim’s goal is to find a way to earn money to purchase his wife and daughter. Huck’s goal is adventure. While roughly following the timeline of Huckleberry Finn, this novel follows Jim rather than Huck. His adventures and close calls are even more compelling than Huck’s.

The novel shows the agency of enslaved people and the secretly subversive ways they undermine the institution of slavery. It also shows the fear and loss that are embedded in their daily existence. One of their tools is language. Whenever around Whites, they speak “slave,’ but among themselves, they speak in an educated, grammatical way that allows them to mock the ignorance of Whites. One of the most unsettling and even frightening things that Jim can do is to speak “correctly” to a White man. Language is power. Liberation will ultimately require choosing/claiming his own name, James.

This is a powerful novel that turns Mark Twain’s classic on its head. Highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: Wellington’s Doctors. The British Army Medical Services in the Napoleonic Wars by Dr. Martin Howard

I just finished one of my Christmas presents, part of my research into the Regency Era and the Napoleonic Wars: Wellington’s Doctors. The British Army Medical Services in the Napoleonic Wars by Dr. Martin Howard. 

The title gives away the content. It’s a study of how medical and surgical services were provided to soldiers during the wars. It’s a fascinating and well-researched look at the state of medicine and surgery at the time, the politics of supplying these services, the increasing respect accorded these providers over time (starting from a very low bar), and the way these medical officers and their assistants lived while on campaign. The information is a mixture of anecdotes and statistics, and while the statistics are likely approximations, they still provide a good picture of the care available. One of the most damning conclusions is that doctors probably harmed more than they helped.

The book has a narrow focus, but covers the material in this niche of the Napoleonic Wars quite well. For those more interested in the French side of things, the author has written a companion book, Napoleon’s Doctors.

BOOK REVIEW: The Bereaved by Julia Park Tracey

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Bereaved by Julia Park Tracey, based on the author’s own family history, tells the story of “the orphan train” from the viewpoint not of orphaned children, but of a grieving mother.

Martha Lozier (once orphaned herself and farmed out to relatives) had found happiness as the wife of a prosperous farmer. Unfortunately, he dies suddenly, leaving her a widow with four children, one still a baby. The farm goes to Martha’s brother-in-law, and she is left without resources. Her children are put under the guardianship of a local lawyer, known by Martha (from personal circumstance) to be a dirty old man. His first act is to assault Martha’s teenage daughter. Knowing she has to keep her children safe, Martha steals them away to the city.

Martha is a skilled seamstress, but, taking refuge in a tenement, she can find only piecework. (Prostitution is the only other option.) Living hand-to-mouth, working from dawn to dusk at jobs that are not steadily available, unable to have her children educated, watching the older two reduced to menial work as well, all while slowly starving, makes Martha desperate. When two of her boys stumble across a “Home for the Friendless,” a religious set-up for orphans that was a front for child theft, where they find warmth and abundant food, she goes to see it for herself. Because it promises education, cleanliness, warmth, and nutrition, Martha agrees to put her two boys into the home. She signs papers “surrendering” them, little realizing the surrender is permanent. A few months later, in still more desperate straits, she surrenders her daughter and baby.

It isn’t until she begins to find her footing, and tries to retrieve her children, that she discovers they have been sent away on the orphan trains to be adopted or indentured. Now Martha begins to struggle to get them back.

This is a moving story of a woman fighting against almost insurmountable odds. While she is a sympathetic character, it’s hard to find anyone else in the novel (at least the first 80% or so of it) who isn’t either cold and unfeeling or downright evil. It probably wasn’t the best choice for a holiday-week read because, although ultimately redemptive, much of the book is a misery-fest.

Well-written, grounded in the historical context, and steadily paced, this is a convincing and unsettling look at how society treated women without power, and how families were torn apart when mothers and children fell through the cracks. It’s pretty scary to think we are going down the same broken path.

BOOK REVIEW: Send it by Semaphore: The Old Telegraphs During the Wars with France by Howard Mallinson

Send it by Semaphore: The Old Telegraphs During the Wars with France by Howard Mallinson is a gem of a monograph placing emerging communications technology at the center of the Napoleonic Wars. Who knew?

Before Morse code and the electric telegraph (but not all that long before), the importance of swift communication to aid in warfare was recognized. Various methods were attempted, all requiring transmission of signals along lines of sight. Flags, bars, and balls in differing combinations were either used to convey a limited number of set messages or represent a distinct, useful, but far from comprehensive vocabulary, or to mimic the alphabet and spell out precise messages. France had the more advanced system, which was critical for the micro-manager Napoleon to be able to administer his empire while fighting on multiple fronts. England began with ship-to-ship or ship-to-shore signaling, before recognizing the value of sending information across land at a speed faster than that of a horse. However, all the sight-based systems were highly dependent on weather, daylight, high ground, and sufficient support from the occupants of that high ground. (Guerrillas, particularly in Spain, often destroyed towers.)

The prose in this book is sometimes convoluted, but it is chockful of detail about the groundwork necessary for success, the creators of the various techniques, the difficulties encountered, the successes and failures. The book builds a very convincing argument for the importance of fast communication and the significance of this precursor stage.

BOOK REVIEW: Red Clay, Running Waters by Leslie K. Simmons

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

New Release! Red Clay, Running Waters by Leslie K. Simmons is a biographical novel of John Ridge, a Cherokee leader in the years running up to the Trail of Tears.

John Ridge is a fascinating, complicated character. The son of a wealthy, respected Cherokee man, John was sent to a missionary school in New England for an education. His brilliance was readily evident, as was his pride in his heritage and reluctance to completely embrace Christianity if it meant giving up his own religion. While at school, he fell in love with Sarah Northrop, the daughter of the school’s steward. Despite the public outcry, they were married and returned to the Cherokee nation in Georgia, where John took up his life’s work, defending the rights of his people.

This is a heartbreaking story. The deck was stacked against him from the beginning. Readers know how the story will end for the Cherokee of the time. But this meticulously researched novel takes the reader deep into the process, bringing home the cruelty of the Georgia government and the hypocrisy and indifference of the national government. (Not to mention the nastiness and duplicity of Andrew Jackson.)

The novel is long, and although steadily paced, it isn’t a quick read or an easy one. The issue of injustice against the Native Americans is intertwined with that of slavery. There is not only oppression of the Cherokee by Whites, but also internecine disputes among the Cherokee. The love between John and Sarah gives them both strength to deal with tribulation and disappointment, but also serves as another struggle for John as he fears he has not given Sarah the comfortable life he’d wanted to provide.

Fans of historical fiction, biographical fiction, and Native American fiction should enjoy this impressive debut. 

BOOK REVIEW: The Horrible Peace: British Veterans and the End of the Napoleonic Wars by Evan Wilson

The Horrible Peace: British Veterans and the End of the Napoleonic Wars by Evan Wilson is a fascinating, meticulously researched exploration of the lives of British sailors and soldiers (officers and rank-and-file) after Waterloo. (It begins in the waning years of the wars for context.) It covers both the politics and economic circumstances in Britain that led to the drastic demobilization and resulted from it. It also looks at the social history of these sailors and soldiers – what happened to them in the following years. Wilson includes both statistics and individual accounts. I don’t think there were any surprises. Life is always difficult, in one way or another, for veterans. There was a pension system of sorts in Britain, but it was wholly inadequate. And wealthy or well-connected veterans landed in much better positions than did the poor. But the granular analysis of this demobilization makes for very interesting reading. The book is recommended for those who want to know more about the Napoleonic War period, since the historical significance of these wars did not end with Waterloo.

BOOK REVIEW: The General and Julia by Jon Clinch

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Ulysses S. Grant is at the end of his life, dying of throat cancer. His last task on earth is to finish his memoirs in order that the proceeds will provide for his beloved wife as well as his children and grandchildren. Otherwise, the family will be left destitute–a situation he sees as largely his own fault. How did such a thing come to pass for the hero of the American Civil War and one-time president?

The General and Julia by Jon Clinch explores Grant’s life through his own memories as he writes his memoirs, sometimes with surprising clarity and ofttimes in a drug/pain/sleep-induced haze. It is a beautiful, contemplative novel that focuses on the man himself rather than his achievements. Given the circumstances in which he finds himself and his own…humility, Grant seems more consumed by regrets and guilt than by pride or self-satisfaction.

I knew next to nothing about Grant. I thought of him as a brutally efficient Civil War general who became an unmemorable president. Maybe some financial scandal attached? And weren’t there rumors he was an alcoholic?

This fictionalized version sweeps that image away, replacing it with one that is much more rounded. Grant was a devoted husband and father. The fact that his beloved wife, Julia, who came from a Missouri slave-holding family, kept “her girl” Jule into the early days of the war until the woman escaped is one of the incongruities in his life. Grant makes excuses for slaveholding even as he is leading the Union forces. Those excuses, and the failure of the war to make the difference he’d hoped for, haunt him throughout his life. The war years are lightly remembered even though, as a general, he was most in his element. Likewise, he does not delve into the politics of his presidential years. He does ruminate over the scandal that left him financially ruined. Interestingly, here he portrays himself as a victim of his own naivete and gullibility: he is such a good man that he is unable to see evil in others. 

Like any biographical novel, there are certainly elements of imaginative license mixed in with the historical facts. Clinch does a superb job of immersing the reader into Grant’s mind-set, so that it all seems believable – or at least, we can believe that it is what Grant believed. And Grant is now, in my mind, an admirable and sympathetic human being.

Highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: Let the Dead Bury the Dead by Allison Epstein

 I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Allison Epstein is now a must-read author for me. I loved her debut, A Tip for the Hangman, so I was eager to read her newest release, Let the Dead Bury the Dead.

Let the Dead Bury the Dead is an alternate history, so although the characters are all fictional, the story is placed in a historical context (Russia, 1812, just after Napoleon has been chased away) where it feels as if the events could be real. (Except, for the vila, the witch…) Slavic folklore is woven into the tale adding magical realism to the mix. I am not, in general, a fan of magical realism. And I admit that the first time Sofia turned into an owl, I was a bit put off. And yet, the characters were so compelling, the writing so beautiful, and the folk tales so perfectly adapted to fit in with the story, that it all worked to create a novel I couldn’t put down.

In the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat in Russia, the tsar wants to consolidate his power at home. If this means crushing the life out of his own people, the very people who supported his army and country, giving their all, so be it. The tsar and his family live in obscene luxury while the common people, pretty much everyone else, starve. The tsar’s second son, Felix, the Grand Duke, dared once to speak up for the people and found himself banished to a palace 15 miles from St. Petersburg where he has given himself over to idle hedonism.

Felix’s lover, the soldier Sasha, has now returned from the war. On his way to find Felix, he comes across a woman of unearthly beauty (Sofia) nearly dead from the cold, lying in the forest. He rescues her. This is something he quickly comes to regret. Sasha comes from the poor peasantry and was raised on the old stories. He recognizes a witch when he sees one.

Sofia plays on Felix’s ambition to convince him he is the leader the people need, setting things in motion and tearing the two lovers apart. 

At the same time, Marya, a young woman involved with a group of revolutionaries and the right hand of the group’s leader, Isaak, is busily helping to organize a general strike. It’s exceptionally dangerous as the tsar will certainly crack down at the merest hint of dissent. Nevertheless, Marya has faith that good can come out of a popular revolt. It’s necessary. Sofia works her magic on Marya also, convincing her that she has more to offer than simply following Isaak’s lead.

The novel works so well because of its moral ambiguity. Each of the main characters is partly right and very much wrong. The world is overwhelmingly against them and no simple solutions are available. Good can’t conquer evil when there is no pure good and no pure evil. (Although Sofia certainly comes close to pure evil, even she makes some good points. The tsar is evil, but evil in the commonplace cruel dictator way, and eliminating him will solve nothing.)

If you want to lose yourself in a beautiful historical fairy tale, I can’t recommend Let the Dead Bury the Dead highly enough.

BOOK REVIEW: The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann by Virginia Pye

 I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann by Virginia Pye is the story of a woman author’s triumph in Gilded Age Boston.

Victoria Meeks is an enormously successful Romance-Adventure author, writing under the pen-name Victoria Swann and living a hidden and unhappy life as Mrs. Byrne. She’s at a crossroads. Her marriage is a diaster. She has grown bored with writing romance and wants to create something serious. And her publisher has just been bought out and is soon to go under. She desperately needs a change.

While any one of her many, many readers would imagine Victoria’s life to be a series of exciting adventures taking place all over the world, in truth Victoria has never traveled anywhere. She loves writing but hates being forced to churn out very similar novels one after another, along with a series of shorter penny-dreadfuls, and writing (or at least putting her name on) an advice column for troubled young women. She’s worn down. While it’s true she has made a fair amount of money, her publisher has made a huge fortune off of her, something Victoria is only beginning to understand. When she tries to tell her editor that she wants to stop writing her popular series and try something grittier and true-to-life, he tells her no. She cannot. She has to write what sells.

But Victoria knows her own mind. In the face of numerous challenges, she reinvents herself.

The novel is both a critique and a defense of romance literature. But it is a very definite critique of the way men have looked down on women’s literature while reaping the profits of women writers and a female readership. This is an enjoyable peek into the world of the late 1800s in Boston. Victoria’s difficulties seemed a little too easily resolved at times, but she is a feisty heroine and easy to root for.

BOOK REVIEW: Chenneville by Paulette Jiles

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

If you loved News of the World by Paulette Jiles, you’ll love her new book, Chenneville. Set in the Southwest in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War, the novel follows the determined path of John Chenneville, a Union veteran bent on revenge.

Amnesia stories are tricky things, best avoided, unless undertaken with a hand as deft as Jiles’. The story opens with Chenneville awakening from a coma to find himself in a field hospital following a head injury. The war has ended, but his nightmare is just beginning.

Regaining his strength and his memory little by little, Chenneville is finally discharged to home. But home is not the same. His father has passed; his mother is traumatized and mute; the family tobacco fields and orchards are in ruins. Worst of all, he receives the news that his beloved little sister was murdered, along with her husband and one-year-old baby. The authorities refuse to do anything about it. Chenneville must take justice into his own hands. He has nothing to go on but a name, Dodd.

Chenneville has little to tie himself to his past life and no hope for the future. So the thought of murdering a man and suffering the consequences means little to him. But as he progresses in his odyssey, he recovers more and more of himself. He’s a good man in an impossible situation. He leaves a string of good deeds in his wake and allows himself to dream of better things. But only to dream. He can’t give up his hunt for Dodd. (To make things worse, he discovers Dodd is a serial killer.)

The rich detail of Chenneville’s trek will carry the reader alongside him. You’ll find yourself hoping for justice and redemption. And Jiles knows how to deliver both.