BOOK REVIEW: Death at Villa de Lacey by Aviva Orr

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

Death at Villa De Lacey by Aviva Orr is the first book in a new Regency mystery series with a budding romance between the sleuths.

Bridget De Lacey has just lost her father in the worst way possible. He took his own life because of insurmountable gambling debts, including the loss of the house in the Lake District where Bridget lives with her aunt. Now they can do nothing but wait until the home is claimed by the man who beat him at cards.

Nate Squires, younger brother of Edward, the Earl of Westerly, has been living a dissolute life, largely to spite his controlling brother. When he refuses to marry the lady of Edward’s choice, his brother threatens to cut off his allowance and strip him of his London home. The only alternative Edward offers is for Nate to leave London to reside in the Lake District villa that he (Edward) won gambling. Resentfully, Nate goes. It isn’t until he arrives at Villa De Lacey that he learns the house is occupied. He isn’t heartless enough to cast out two grieving women, but what is he to do with them?

Bridget suggests a plan. They should renovate the large home into an upscale inn. (Wordsworth’s travel guide to the Lake District has made it a popular spot for tourists.) She will act as hostess to earn her keep.

Unfortunately, the first guests include a few of Nate’s disreputable friends, a couple of nasty, controlling older women, and the young lady Edward wanted Nate to wed. Another guest is an actress/courtesan who is definitely not the type of upscale patron they want at their inn. When it seems things could not be worse, one of the guests is found dead. Was it an accident? Or murder?

As Bridget and Nate join forces to investigate, danger closes in around them.

This is a fine addition to the Regency Mystery genre with a slowly developing romance. It’s a quick read with likable protagonists and an unexpected villain. A wonderful set-up for the series.

BOOK REVIEW: The Sailor without a Sweetheart by Katherine Grant

Katherine Grant’s The Sailor without a Sweetheart is an angsty, steamy, second-chance Regency Romance set within the context of Britain’s (half-hearted?) attempts to end the slave trade.

Nate Preston is a captain in the Royal Navy whose remit is to capture foreign ships transporting enslaved people and free them. However, he is back on land, waiting for a court martial trial for being too vigorous in the pursuit of such ships.

Amy Lampugh is a twenty-eight year old gentlewoman seen by one and all as a spinster, destined to serve as nanny/governess to her younger sister’s children. She suffers from a goiter (enlarged thyroid and symptoms of hyperthyroidism) that has left her feeling older than her age and afraid she looks older too. 

Six years earlier, Nate and Amy (pre-illness) were in love. When Amy’s father refused permission for them to marry, they decided to elope. But on the night that they’d planned to run away together, Amy didn’t show up, breaking Nate’s heart. Knowing Nate would be away at sea for months at a time, she realized she had no resources to fall back on if her father disowned her, which he certainly would.

Now, Amy and Nate find themselves thrown together at her sister’s house, an estate near Portsmouth. Nate and his uncle are in Portsmouth to await Nate’s trial. This unexpected reunion forces them to confront the fact that they still have strong feelings for one another. But with so much heartbreak in their past, with Amy’s chronic illness, and with Nate’s career hanging in the balance, can they find their way back to one another?

This is the fifth book in The Prestons series, following The Charmer without a Cause. This is a delightful series with historical depth!

BOOK REVIEW: Flight of the Wild Swan by Melissa Pritchard

I remember reading, as a kid, those biographies for middle schoolers of important women in history: Jane Addams, Clara Barton, and, of course, Florence Nightingale. The name Florence Nightingale is particularly enduring, and I’ve read other novels where she is sometimes a prominent figure and sometimes mentioned off-handedly. But what they all had in common was the focus on or recognition of her service in the Crimean War and the way she made nursing a respectable occupation for women. A profession.

Flight of the Wild Swan by Melissa Pritchard digs deeper. This biographical novel tells a more nuanced and complete story of the life of the woman. Beginning in her childhood, one of two daughters born into wealth and privilege, Florence felt called by God to help the less fortunate. Her own comfort distressed her. Watching the way her mother (and others) dispensed insufficient charity made her yearn to do more.

The novel takes us through Florence’s early years and the struggles she underwent in order to be allowed to learn nursing, to which she then added an innate ability for administration and the social status to forge connections in high political circles. A lot went into the shaping of Florence Nightingale before she ever sailed off to Scutari.

The novel shows how she found purpose in Crimea, which gave her the strength to work relentlessly and show unceasing compassion for the suffering soldiers. The book dives deep into the horrors of the war compounded by the inefficiencies of the War Department and the resistance of some of the military doctors who didn’t want women around. 

Told as a series of vignettes, the novel beautifully expands on the life story of Florence Nightingale, so that we see her not only as the legendary heroine we recognize, but as a complicated, intelligent, three-dimensional woman, who sacrificed much to answer God’s call.

BOOK REVIEW: A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín

A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín is another example of his beautiful writing about loss. In this novella, he follows a young man from the mountains of the Catalan Pyrenees who returns to his family after 2 years of compulsory military service. Although Miquel would love to settle back into the life he’d left, it’s impossible. For one thing, his younger brother will be leaving in a week for his service. And more, he finds his mother changed. It doesn’t take long for Miquel to realize she is drinking heavily. Miquel has no idea how to respond to this. When his father tries denying her access to alcohol, she leaves, sneaking away while Miquel and his father are working about the farm.

This desertion occurs as a blizzard descends. They learn, from neighbors who saw her walking away, that she took a path that would lead back to her natal village. They set out to find her, but too late. The cold, the snow, and the treacherous terrain make it impossible for her to have survived, and impossible for Miquel, his father, and others from their village to find her body until the spring thaw.

It’s a quiet story that focuses on Miquel’s loss and disillusionment, his guilt, and his frustration with his father. His father begins to move on, while Miquel cannot, not until his mother is found.

I’m continuing my march through Colm Tóibín’s fiction, and haven’t been disappointed yet!

BOOK REVIEW: Inês by Catherine Mathis

I’m excited to follow up my recent medieval historical read, Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards, with Inês by Catherine Mathis. This novel swept me away to a time and place I haven’t visited in fiction before, 14th century Portugal, introducing me to fascinating new-to-me historical events.

The novel is based on the legend of Inês, the crowned queen of Portugal, second wife of King Pedro. What makes her story unique is that she was crowned six years after her death.

Pedro is the only surviving son of King Afonso, and he dutifully marries the royal Lady Constanza as per his father’s wish. However, he is infatuated with Constanza’s lady-in-waiting and close friend, Inês. Inês does have royal blood, but since she is illegitimate, she’s considered unsuitable to be Pedro’s wife. Her devotion to Constanza means she will not be Pedro’s mistress. Inês’ beauty also attracts the notice of King Afonso’s most trusted advisor, Gonçalves. When she rebuffs his attentions, Gonçalves is insulted and swears vengeance.

Pedro is physically faithful to Constanza, but falls deeper and deeper in love with Inês, a love that is returned. After Constanza’s death, Pedro and Inês are married, quickly and secretly, against the wishes of Pedro’s father, the king. Afonso refuses to believe in the legitimacy of the marriage, setting the stage for the violence to come.

The novel brings these characters vividly to life, wrapping the love story in the politics, upheavals, wars, and plagues of the period. Readers will sympathize with the star-crossed lovers, (known as Portugal’s Rome and Juliet) and will find grim satisfaction with the revenge-laced outcome.

This is the first book in a Queens of Portugal Trilogy and promises well for the two to come!

BOOK REVIEW: Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards

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

Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards is a newly-released historical novel set in Bruges in the late 13th century. If you like medieval history with a healthy dose of religion, mysticism, and female solidarity, this beautifully written novel is for you. It will transport you back in time.

The novel begins with Aleys as a 13-year-old girl entranced by a psalter which her mother uses to tell Bible stories. From a young age, Aleys burns with religious fervor. When her father arranges a marriage for her that would be beneficial to the family, Aleys flees to the Franciscan friars. Lukas, the head of the friars in Bruges, sees in her deep devotion something that he yearns for himself. Of course, he can’t allow her to stay within his brotherhood, but believes that in time, she will recruit enough women to the Franciscans that they can have a religious house of their own, affiliated with his men. In the meantime, he takes her to the Beguines, an autonomous group of religious women who do not take vows and who are not nuns, yet live lives of pious simplicity. Although Aleys resists at first, she does find safety and purpose with the Beguines.

But it isn’t enough. Aleys is always struggling to grow closer to God. She uses the language of bride and groom, an ecstatic form of love. This leads her to visions, and eventually, possibly, to performing healing miracles.

However, Bruges is in an unsettled state. Its bishop, who happens to be Friar Lukas’ older brother, is an ambitious man who is in the Church for his own gain. He no longer believes in God, at least not a God who actually cares for the people he created. This man, Jann, is a political creature, whose most prominent attribute is his hypocrisy. His only redeeming feature is that he does love his younger brother, even if he’s constantly annoyed by him.

Aleys’s search for God, her desperate seeking, leads her eventually (as is shown in the prologue, so not a spoiler) to martyrdom. It’s that tension that drives the plot.

The novel shows medieval Bruges in all its mercantile splendor. And it shows Aleys’s visions in otherworldly detail. The characters are well-drawn and deeply introspective. The pace is slow in parts, as there is a lot to absorb, and Jann’s cynical scheming gets a bit tiresome, but overall, it’s an interesting tale of a young woman seeking communion with God. 

BOOK REVIEW: Where Kindness Lives: A Women's Fiction Anthology

If you'd like to take a deep dive into kindness this holiday season, try this collection of short stories. Nine women's fiction writers present tales of warmth, connection, love, and most of all, kindness.