BOOK REVIEW: Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux

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

Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux is a Regency Romance homage to Shakespeare, and particularly to Much Ado About Nothing. The main characters, Margaret Arden and Bridger Fletcher, resemble Beatrice and Benedick. The main trope is enemies to lovers.

Margaret has wanted all her life to write novels. After her father’s death, she becomes more frantically determined to be published. She needs money. As the eldest daughter and with two younger sisters and a mother to support, she is being coerced by her aunts to marry soon and well. She wants to do right by her sisters, but not at the cost of sacrificing herself. She has a manuscript that she knows will succeed, but when she sends it to a publisher, it is ignored. And when she thrusts a copy into the hands of the publisher at a party, he pushes it back and insults not only the book, but female authors in general. The publisher is Bridger Fletcher.

Shortly, they meet again at Margaret’s cousin’s wedding. The cousin is Bridger’s closest friend. Bridger is dealing with troubles of his own, a dying demon of a father and an alcoholic older brother bent on ruin. All three men have terrible tempers, which partly explains Bridger’s cruel response to Margaret. However, Margaret’s manuscript is accidently scattered by the wind, and Bridger finds a few pages. He discovers he was horribly wrong about the book, and wants to publish it after all. Can Margaret forgive him for his initial rudeness? 

Likely, yes. Especially since they are both strongly physically attracted to one another and both share a love of literature. Unfortunately, they are surrounded by ill-intentioned family, friends, and ex-fiancees and a wedding drama that plays with plot themes from Shakespeare’s play.

It’s an interesting premise and fun to pick out where the plot might reference Shakespeare. However, I wasn’t caught up by any chemistry between the hero and heroine, primarily, I think, because of the dialogues, which didn’t ring true for me.

BOOK REVIEW: The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I felt the urge to read a classic, and chose F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and the Damned. What a gorgeous and depressing book.

Of course, the prose is lush. Oddly, the normal narrative is interrupted from time to time by scenes written as though for a screenplay. And that works, because the characters are acting their way through life. They are the shallowest protagonists to ever compel me to read over 120,000 words spanning just under a decade of their lives. They are not likeable. They aren’t even pitiable. And yet, I couldn’t walk away from the train wreck of their lives.

Anthony Patch is a young man, recently graduated from Yale, with no ambition and no direction. He inherited from his mother enough money to live on, just enough to maintain an indolent lifestyle. When he falls into debt, he sells off his principal, without much awareness of the fact that his income is thus going to fall. He isn’t much concerned, at any rate, because he has a fabulously wealthy grandfather and considers himself the man’s only heir. Never mind that he can scarcely bear the old man’s company. Grandfather Patch made his fortune in the usual unscrupulous ways, then settled into a life of pious judgmentalism. The grandfather doesn’t like Anthony any more than Anthony likes him. The rare times Anthony visits his sole remaining relative, he is always asked what his plans are. When is he going to work?

Anthony drifts along in his semi-sleepwalking state, accompanied by his best friend Maury, who also doesn’t have to earn a living. They drink a lot and have conversations that are as witty and deep as any drunk college kids. They have a third friend, Dick, who wants to be a writer. They are scornful of Dick, who talks of nothing but his work-in-progress, both because of his specific ambition, writing a novel, but also for having any ambition at all.

And then along comes Dick’s cousin, Gloria Gilbert. She is beautiful. She’s also self-centered, selfish, and a siren. Every man she meets falls for her. Her beauty and her charisma stem from her youth and her indifference. She needs to be the center of attention, and she is.

Anthony falls hard for her. And then, she falls hard for Anthony. They then proceed to bring out the worst in each other. Partying hard. Drinking far too much. Living beyond their means. Growing bored with one another. Waiting for Anthony’s grandfather to die.

The timeline carries them through WWI, which almost touches them, but not quite. Their ultimate downfall is always on the horizon, but the pace of their deterioration picks up as Anthony descends farther and farther into alcoholism. It’s brutal.

The novel is not as tightly plotted as The Great Gatsby. And it is far less emotionally compelling than Tender is the Night, my favorite Fitzgerald work thus far. But after reading it, I’m more determined to work my way through all of Fitzgerald’s novels.

BOOK REVIEW: The Modern Art Invasion: Picasso, Duchamp, and the 1913 Armory Show That Scandalized America by Elizabeth Lunday

I know next to nothing about art/art history. But I became intrigued by a reference to the 1913 Armory Show and wanted to learn more about it. Modern Art had been dribbling across the Atlantic from Paris to New York thanks to a few intrepid collectors and artists. Yet the U.S. was mostly isolated from European influences: impressionism, cubism, fauvism, etc. It took the determination of a small group of artists who were dissatisfied with the grip held over American art by the ultra-conservative National Academy of Design to break that grip. They decided to put together an art show that encouraged young American artists and exposed the U.S. to new ways of thinking about art. The Armory Show took America (or at least New York) by storm.

The Modern Art Invasion: Picasso, Duchamp, and the 1913 Armory Show That Scandalized America by Elizabeth Lunday is a quick-paced introduction to twentieth-century art history. Focusing on the personalities of the organizers and their detractors, the author gives a concise (and a bit whirlwind) tour through art of the time. Not long after the show closed in the U.S., Europe was engulfed by war. Yet the impulse to create new art, to challenge assumptions about art, to question even what constitutes art, survived the war and came surging back when it ended. 

This is a fascinating and informative book with an extensive bibliography for those who want to delve deeper. Highly recommended!

BOOK REVIEW: In France Profound: The Long History of a House, a Mountain Town, and a People by T. D. Allman

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

So who doesn’t want to buy a centuries-old mansion on a picturesque hilltop in the south of France, fix it up, befriend your neighbors, and spend years soaking up the culture and history of the region? Also, eat the food and drink the wine? T.D. Allman, an award-winning American foreign correspondent, did just that. And then, when he realized he was now the most senior resident in Lauzerte, he wrote a memoir-like history of the town, the region, his house, and his place in it.

In France Profound: The Long History of a House, a Mountain Town, and a People is an engrossing history of France Profonde, the southern part of France geographically distant from the capital, culturally distinct, and yet never quite able to escape Paris’ influence.

The timeline proceeds mostly chronologically from the Middle Ages to the present. Allman gives emphasis to history-changing people and events–those that are important to the story he’s telling. He centers the tale on what was formerly known as the province of Quercy, but is now the department of Lot and part of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It’s fascinating to see the history of France unfolding from the perspective of this off-the-beaten-track part of the country. Most interesting to me were the chapters on Count Raymond VI and Count Raymond VII of Toulouse and the Albigensian Crusade. Allman’s agnostic view of the various religious wars makes a case for their pointlessness. But the long history of the region’s involvement in all the successive wars showed the importance of the area in all major European conflicts.

The author uses his 800-year-old house as a metaphor for the timelessness and the changes of the area. Initially, the town was isolated and known for its beautiful medieval appearance. Allman points out that the medieval touches were recent, which is disillusioning. But the geography and culture of the region were more resistant to change and to fashion. I think I was as sorrowful as he was to watch the life of the town move down the mountain (in order to provide for more convenient car parks) and suffer the influx of chain stores and fast food places. 

Looking up the author when I finished the book, I was sad to see he died in May. This book was published posthumously. But what an incredibly full life he led!

For fans of memoir, French history, and France in general, this book is recommended. It’s a bit lengthy and I found some of the digressions slow-going, but overall, it’s a beautiful book.

BOOK REVIEW: The Captain's Old Love by Mary Lancaster

The Captain’s Old Love by Mary Lancaster is a lovely regency romance by one of my go-to historical romance authors.

Captain Sir Julius Vale has just retired from the Royal Navy in order to care for his younger siblings after the death of his father. (There are a lot of them!) Julius has lost an eye and injured his leg in the war against France, but he would still be sailing in spite of these maladies if not for his obligations at home. The familial solicitousness is not all one-sided. His siblings are equally worried about him. They want to see him happy. They want to see him married. But Julius is not looking for a wife. Years ago, he was jilted by a lady he loved desperately. He has never gotten over her, and he carries a grudge.

Antonia Temple is the lady. Julius has the misfortune (or good fortune?) of coming across her at the first ball he attends back in Blackhaven (the town where his home and family are located.) She is as stunned to see him as he is to see her. And she gives every appearance of being as hurt and as resentful.

Who jilted whom?

Julius and Antonia are delightfully level-headed and quick to seek out the truth rather than wallowing in self-pity and anger. They might be able to find their way back to one another if they can hold onto a tenuous trust. But whoever was responsible for their earlier estrangement is still determined to keep them apart. And tenuous trust might not be enough.

The hero and heroine make this an entertaining read. The villain is a bit over the top, but needs to be if he’s going to be able to drive a wedge between a pair so right for one another. This is book 1 in the One Night in Blackhaven series, and I have book 2 queued up on my kindle!

BOOK REVIEW: Rock Bottom, Tennessee and Rock Bottom Rising by Kimberly Nixon

I just about never read a series out of order, but this time, I did. Reading the sequel made me determined to read book one.

(Book one) Rock Bottom, Tennessee by Kimberly Nixon is a poignant story of poverty and loss set in the Appalachian mountains in the early 1900s. In the argument between nature and nurture, the story comes down squarely on the side of nurture. The protagonist, Ruby Sullivan, was a sweet little girl, but she is subjected to a painfully hard life. Her father died the night she was born, her mother abandoned her, her brothers left home as soon as they were able, and she was brought up by her resentful grandparents. She grew up with very low self esteem and an underdeveloped sense of right and wrong.

Ruby is beautiful. She’s gifted with intelligence and a will to succeed, but little opportunity to do so. During her childhood, she excelled at schoolwork, but was often pulled from class to help on her grandparents’ farm. She had one friend, Leon, a similarly disadvantaged boy who worked part-time for her grandfather. And she had one supporter, Joseph MacCallum, the schoolteacher, who first comes to admire her smarts and her resilience, and then, falls in love with her.

Readers will sympathize with Ruby’s plight, her grasp at stability, and her inability to accept love that’s freely given. When tragedy strikes, Ruby throws caution to the wind and reaches for excitement and happiness in a self-destructive way, piling up one poor choice after another.

Based on the life-story of the author’s grandmother, Rock Bottom, Tennessee fits the story into its setting in a way that draws you in, and then tugs at your heartstrings.

The sequel, Rock Bottom Rising, is what I read first, and I highly recommend it also. Here’s my review:

Prepare to be inspired by this Depression-Era-to-WWII novel based on the adventures of the author's fascinating grandmother. Ruby Sullivan Ross, a resilient woman haunted by her past mistakes, must continually reinvent herself as she journeys from poverty, poor decisions, and dependence on crooked men to a promising life of self-sufficiency and self-respect. In Rock Bottom Rising, Nixon brings us a powerful tale of sacrifice, regret, and the redemptive power of forgiveness. Readers will feel Ruby's pain and root for her rise.

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 Governess Should Never Tempt a Prizefighter by Emily Windsor

A Governess Should Never Tempt a Prizefighter by Emily Windsor is an engaging (and steamy) romp through the world of prize fighting in the Regency Era.

Mathilda Griffin is a young lady in trouble. Her parents are dead and her guardian means to marry her off to an elderly lecher. Although her life up till now has been sheltered, she has the gumption to run away to save herself from a miserable future. She applies for the position of governess to the 13-year-old daughter of a famous prizefighter.

Seth Hawkins is a self-made man who climbed out of the Rookery by means of prizefighting. He was a renowned champion, so when he opens a boxing academy he has no trouble attracting members from up and down the social scale, even including a number of dukes. Despite the violence of his younger days and his profession, he’s a soft-hearted man, particularly when it comes to his daughter. And when Miss Griffin confesses the real reason she’s applying for the position of governess, he can’t help hiring her. (Her physical attractiveness is another reason.)

Mathilda is thrilled by the introduction to the world Seth inhabits, which is nothing at all like the world she comes from. Seth is enchanted by her enthusiasm. The reader is also introduced to a side of Regency London that is not usually seen in Regency Romance.

The protagonists progress from intense physical attraction to an appreciation of each other’s other qualities. And when Mathilda’s guardian finds her, Mathilda and Seth have to band together to protect each other and the love they have found.

This is an interesting take on the trope of “falling for the governess.” Generally, the MMC is a lord and the governess is either a commoner or a lady down on her luck. A male protagonist from the Rookery finding love with an impoverished gentlewoman is a fun twist.

BOOK REVIEW: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Our book group’s next pick is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. 

The novel begins with a prologue set in 1972, when a skeleton and a mezuzah are found in a well – a murder mystery. But then Hurricane Agnes hits, any possible additional evidence is destroyed, and any possible witnesses scatter.

The novel then begins again, about 50 years earlier. A story is told about the inhabitants of Chicken Hill, a poor neighborhood of Pottstown, PA. It is a community of Black and Jewish residents, primarily Jewish immigrants. Most of the earlier Jewish residents have moved down the hill into Pottstown to be more “American.” The people largely self-segregate, but there is a connection between the two groups. Moshe owns a dance and music hall and often brings in Black musicians. He hires Black workers. But the main point of connection is Moshe’s wife, Chona, who runs The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, endlessly extending goodwill and credit. Everyone loves Chona.

The plot loosely revolves around a teenage boy who was deafened in an accident in his home. His mother has recently died, and he has gone to live with his Uncle Nate and Aunt Addie. Nate does odd jobs and works for Moshe (and he has a secret past). Because the boy is deaf, he no longer goes to school. Presumably, this is how he was reported to the government. Now, the government keeps sending men to carry him off to Pennhurst, which everyone knows is a horrific institution. The Chicken Hill community bind together to, first, hide him, and then, rescue him. 

Along the way, the reader is introduced to a whole host of characters. New characters keep coming out of the woodwork, bringing in their involved backstories to help explain their roles in the increasingly complicated narrative. At times, it reads as a string of character sketches in search of a plot. Nevertheless, McBride ties it all together in the end as the murder victim and murderer are revealed. The murder mystery is the framework, but it is the character sketches that are the heart and soul of the work, showing the full range of human goodness, flaws, and evil.

BOOK REVIEW: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

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

Elizabeth Strout always digs deep into the hearts of her characters. They lead messy lives. They are flawed. But she portrays them and their situations with such compassion and realism that I’m always entranced. In her latest novel, Tell Me Everything, Strout returns to small-town Maine for a reunion of sorts with Olive Kitteridge, Lucy Barton, Bob Burgess, and a host of other familiar characters. Their lives are now intertwined. It is a post-pandemic world (though Covid is not entirely gone.) They’ve aged. They are, to some extent, taking stock of their lives. But they are also continuing to live those lives, encountering new dilemmas that must be resolved. There are new losses that must be adapted to. New friendships develop.

The novel dances around a murder mystery, but this is kept largely in the background. It’s not a detective story. Rather, the murder allows a more in-depth look at the type of person Bob Burgess is, as he takes on the defense of the main suspect.

More than this, the novel is about stories. Strout’s novels are always stories of people’s lives, but this book takes that one step further. Olive has heard of Lucy from Bob, and sends word that she would like to meet her to tell her a story, thinking she might be able to use it in her writing. (Lucy is a novelist.) They meet. Olive tells Lucy the story of her mother’s first love. This sets off a chain where the two meet and tell each other stories of “unrecorded lives.” The point being: everyone has a story.

The point is not an original one, but Strout does a superb job of showing the truth in this simple statement with a series of stories within the story. As always, this is a quiet book. Quietly intense. If you haven’t read Strout before, I’d recommend starting with an earlier book so that you can follow the lives of these people as they grow.

BOOK REVIEW: The Deserted Heart by Mary Lancaster

I took a dive into Mary Lancaster’s backlist and read The Deserted Heart, book 1 in her series, The Unmarriageable.

In this case, the “unmarriageable” is Charlotte, the second daughter of the Earl of Overton. Sandwiched between two very beautiful sisters, Charlotte is also disadvantaged by a small limp acquired during an illness, and a very slight stammer, that she is generally now able to control. However, she has gotten used to the idea that these deficits mean no man will pursue her, primarily because her parents and sisters constantly drive the point home. She is relegated to caring for her younger brothers, wearing hand-me-downs, and awaiting the day when she will be the spinster caring for her parents. Despite all this, she is good-natured, fun-loving, and devoted to her family.

The Overtons had been living abroad, but returned to London to salvage their poor financial state. The family is relying on the eldest daughter, Thomasina, a renowned beauty, to marry well and rescue them. Thomasina is prepared to do so, but none of her suitors has come up to scratch. Until, finally, the aloof Duke of Alvan makes his interest known. He is coming to the Overtons home to visit – and everyone knows what that means.

Alvan and Charlotte are both on their way to the Overton estate. They meet at an inn, under unusual circumstances, and find themselves confronting a mystery: the inn is entirely deserted. The staff has disappeared. They are unable to solve the mystery in their short time at the inn. But when Alvan later turns up at Charlotte’s family home to woo Thomasina, he is drawn instead to Charlotte. 

The two protagonists are genuinely interested in the mystery, but continuing to investigate also affords them an excuse to spend time together. Soon, Alvan is ready to offer for Charlotte, but she refuses him out of loyalty to her sister. Alvan leaves, devastated. He and Charlotte must then find their way back to each other.The protagonists make a great pair, and it’s a joy to see them solve the mystery and overcome the barriers keeping them apart. I’m going to have to keep going with this series!

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: Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party by Edward Dolnick

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

Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party by Edward Dolnick sets out to answer the question: When did we learn that dinosaurs existed?

To my surprise, the answer (according to Dolnick) is 1802, when the first dinosaur tracks were discovered by a 12-year-old boy while plowing his father’s Massachusetts fields. Of course, the story is more complicated than that. No one knew what the tracks were. Dinosaur bones had to be found and studied; skeletons had to be imagined and reconstructed. The creatures had to be named and categorized. And finally, they had to be classified as “dinosaurs,” a word that did not exist before 1842.

Dolnick takes the reader on a trek through 19th century natural science (in England, primarily, but also in America), showing how well religion and science coexisted until Darwin took the stage. Men and women were enthusiastic fossil hunters. In fact, one of the foremost fossil-finders of the day was a young, impoverished Englishwoman, Mary Annings. While she was recognized by the great scientists of the day, she was not recognized as a great scientist. The occasional  cooperation and more frequent competition among the great scientists makes for entertaining reading.

Of course, gigantic bones were discovered prior to 1802. But although these were eventually found to be prehistoric, they are practically modern-day compared to dinosaurs. Dolnick steps back in time to acquaint the reader with those spectacular finds as well.

This delightful and informative book does a wonderful job of placing the natural science debates of the Victorian age within the context of its time. It poses another question as well: What do you do when faced with the unimaginable?

BOOK REVIEW: Robert Maynard Hutchins: A Memoir by Milton Mayer

I’m oddly fascinated by Robert Maynard Hutchins (one-time president of the University of Chicago) and his wife Maude Phelps McVeigh (a sculptress and author.)  See previous reviews: A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books by Alex Beam and An Aristocracy of Critics: Luce, Hutchins, Niebuhr, and the Committee that Redefined Freedom of the Press by Stephen Bates.

Robert Maynard Hutchins: A Memoir by Milton Mayer is a biography of Hutchins, written by his friend and aide. (Even Mayer had a hard time explaining what he actually did as Hutchins’ aide.) The book does a good job of taking the reader through Hutchins’ professional life and gives a half-hearted nod to his private life. He uses quotes extensively, showing the convictions and contradictions of his subject. And he gives his own interpretation of Hutchins, which varies from fawning to disappointed and sour.

I can recommend this book for its facts, but it’s a slog to read. The prose is turgid. And when Mayer tries to be coy, he’s obtuse. There is humor, but it’s all Hutchins’. I have another biography on my shelf, Unseasonable Truths: The Life of Robert Maynard Hutchins by Harry S. Ashmore, that I’ll try next.

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: Georgette Heyer by Jennifer Kloester

I’ve been slipping biographies of writers into my reading list, most recently George Eliot (The Marriage Question: George Eliot’s Double Life by Clare Carlisle) and John Donne (Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell.) This time, I turned my attention to the Queen of Regency Romance, Georgette Heyer, one of my favorite authors. (Heyer was born in 1902 and died in 1974.)

Georgette Heyer by Jennifer Kloester is a meticulously researched biography of this talented and fiercely private writer. Like many comprehensive biographies, the book begins even before her birth, with an overview of her parents and grandparents. We learn about her early life, particularly the influence of her father. For my part, I found the childhood portion of the book to be a little too detailed and lengthy. It was slow going at first, but grew more interesting when Georgette reached adulthood and her writing took off.

And take off it did. From her very first published work, The Black Moth, written while she was still a teenager, Heyer found an eager audience. However, it took a long while for her to settle in to writing what she wrote best. She wanted to be taken seriously, and to write big books. (She did write a few non-Romance historical novels.) Moreover, she wrote constantly to keep the wolf from her door. She could turn out short stories with ease. And she wrote a slew of detective novels (contemporary at the time, but that now also read as historical.) These all sold well, but her romances were what her fans clamored for most. It is said that she essentially invented the Regency Romance genre.

The biography focuses a good deal on Heyer’s worries over money. After her father died, she was financially responsible for her widowed mother and, for a long time, her two younger brothers. She also supported her husband until he got his legal career off the ground. They had one son, and during his childhood, Georgette was primary (and at times, only) breadwinner. And yet, the biography makes clear that it wasn’t that her income was insufficient, but rather that she and her husband spent themselves into a financial hole and had a hard time climbing out. This was good news for her fans, since it spurred her to write romance after romance.

It was interesting to see the life circumstances surrounding each of Heyer’s novels. She lived through both World Wars. Family members fought in WWII, a great source of anxiety. There was also a paper shortage. Rationing meant limiting the number of books that could be released and printing them smaller. (Heyer’s books got top priority because they sold so well.)

The biography quotes many of her letters and some of the responses. We peer into her relationships with her agents and publishers. It isn’t always pretty. She was rather thin-skinned, and the impression I got from the book was that she tended to drop people when they were no longer useful to her. She was also a product of her time and her upbringing, which meant she was a bit of a snob and a bigot. We want better from our idols, but they are human. And Kloester’s biography does a great job of revealing Georgette Heyer, warts and all.

Book Review: Miss Morton and the Deadly Inheritance by Catherine Lloyd

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

I love Catherine Lloyd’s historical mysteries. Her new series is the Miss Morton Mysteries. You can see my reviews for book 1: Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder and book 2: Miss Morton and the Spirits of the Underworld, which were both thoroughly enjoyable. I’ve been looking forward to book 3: Miss Morton and the Deadly Inheritance, and was not disappointed.

Miss Caroline Morton was the daughter of a peer, but he gambled away the family fortune then killed himself rather than face the shame of bankruptcy. That left Caroline and her younger sister Susan in the lurch, dependent on the charity of relatives. Caroline took matters into her own hands and found a position as a companion to a wealthy businesswoman (a commoner), Mrs. Frogerton.

Mrs. Frogerton is a no-nonsense, outspoken woman who hired Caroline not only as a companion, but also to help launch her daughter into Society. Miss Frogerton is determined to snare herself a titled gentleman. Caroline’s connections and advice are invaluable.

Unfortunately, Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton keep stumbling upon murder victims and becoming embroiled in solving the who-dunnits.

In the current novel, Miss Morton and the Deadly Inheritance, Caroline learns that she and her sister have inherited tidy sums from her aunt (a fact which makes her sister prey to an unscrupulous relative) and that her father may have made a second will before he died. Although Caroline believes he had nothing to bequeath, others are far more interested in what the will has to say. The plot thickens when the clerk making a copy of the will is murdered. Caroline has another mystery to solve – with the help of Mrs. Frogerton and two men who have aided her in the past, Inspector Ross and Dr. Harris.

Both the Inspector and Dr. Harris are drawn to Caroline, but show their interest in very different ways, and I’m curious to see who (if either of them) will eventually win her. A third man enters the picture, Mr. DeBloom, who pays her aggressive attention, trying to win her over by confiding that his mother swindled Caroline’s father, and he is determined to repay her. And then, a fourth man shows up, Mrs. Frogerton’s son, who shares his mother’s bluntness, and also her commonsense – once he convinces himself that Caroline is not out to swindle his mother.

In addition to the murder, Caroline’s sister goes missing, and it is all-hands-on-deck to find and retrieve her.

The plotting is complex, but the story moves right along. The characters are well-drawn. The resolution is satisfying. And the ending sets us up for book four!

BOOK REVIEW: Jackie by Dawn Tripp

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

I was not particularly interested in Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I knew who she was and I knew a little of her life’s timeline. But the era she lived in is recent enough that the thought of a novel centered on her life didn’t quite grab me the way historical fiction set farther in the past does. However, I had read author Dawn Tripp’s wonderful novel of Georgia O’Keefe, Georgia, so when I saw Jackie on Netgalley I thought I’d give it a try.

This fictional biography is told mainly from a first person perspective, and it takes the reader deep into the mind and heart of this extraordinary woman. Occasional chapters are told in the third person from JFK’s perspective. There is a whole lot going on in the world during their courtship, marriage, and Kennedy’s rise to the presidency. The 1950s-1960s were tumultuous, world-changing decades, and the history drew me in more than I expected.

Even so, the novel keeps a tight focus on the relationship, the love story between “Jack” and “Jackie,” while the chaos of the era swirls around them. Jackie is intelligent, witty, charming, and independent—perhaps more so than her husband. He sees everything through the lens of his political ambition, even calculating when and who he should marry. Jackie knows this, just as she knows he is a philanderer. It’s painful to watch her draw back from love to protect herself from his casual cruelty, even while remaining unstinting in her support. The author’s ability to show us Jackie’s strength and vulnerability all at the same time makes this novel compelling. 

Jackie’s commitment to what is right, rather than simply politically expedient, helps guide Jack’s public policy, particularly in civil rights. Her moral courage pulls JFK into taking more daring positions. And then, of course, comes the assassination. Readers watch Jackie come apart. And then, put herself back together again.

The novel is relatively long, reaching about 500 pages, and there were times when it FELT long, because the relationship was static for a time. But enough history is pulled in to keep the narrative interesting. And Jackie’s second marriage takes her and the reader in a whole new direction.

While this is a novel, and novels always require the author’s imagination, the research is meticulous and the writing so beautiful that the story is entirely credible as Jackie’s story. The heartbreak feels real.

BOOK REVIEW: The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff is an entertaining revenge fantasy that is simultaneously amusing and disturbing. Set in an unnamed rural village in India, the novel incorporates tropes and truths of poverty, the caste system, male privilege and oppression of females, alcoholism, domestic abuse, rape, and governmental corruption. 

Geeta, the protagonist, is an outcast. Five years ago, her husband disappeared. Everyone assumes she killed him. Even those who don’t believe it pretend to, and she is feared and mocked as a churel, a witch-figure. Since her husband’s disappearance, Geeta has supported herself by jewelry making – her entrepreneurship aided by a government micro-loan. The loan is not to her as an individual, but to a group of five women, who must meet weekly to make payments to a loan officer. The women are not her friends (though one of them used to be her best friend) but they are bound to each other by economic necessity. It’s a lonely life, but aloneness has its advantages.

Her life changes when one of the women comes to her for a favor. Farah wants to kill her own abusive husband and needs help. Geeta reluctantly helps her, and before long, she is the go-to murder consultant.

It’s a novel of female friendship, or at least, solidarity. The plot, however, requires a good deal of female cattiness and backstabbing before friendships are cemented. It’s a fast-paced book with numerous plot twists, some of which surprise and some of which are predictable. The pacing of the book is aided by easy-to-read “familiar” language. There is a good deal of snark. The women’s dialogues and Geeta’s inner monologues sound like young Americans talking (“yeah, right,” the verbal tic “like,” “screw it” etc) – but I have no knowledge of, so can’t claim to judge, whether this jargon is realistic in translation or a sort-of Americanized style of speech adopted so readers can be in on the jokes. The over-the-top violence, particularly at the story’s climax, is interwoven with a cartoonish bumbling to counteract the darkness of what is going on. The ending gets preachy. Nevertheless, it’s a page-turner. And readers will want the women to prevail.

BOOK REVIEW: Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England: How Our Ancestors Lived Two Centuries Ago by Roy and Lesley Adkins

For readers interested in the social history of England in Jane Austen’s time, or for Regency Romance readers and writers who want to plump up their lore packets with information on the everyday lives of the not-so-rich-and-famous citizens, Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England: How Our Ancestors Lived Two Centuries Ago by Roy and Lesley Adkins is a perfect choice. 

The book uses not only quotes from Austen but also excerpts from letters and diaries of lesser known men and women to explore marriage, child-bearing and rearing, modes of transportation, what people ate and wore, where they worked and how they played. Although the prose is somewhat dry, there is a wealth of information to be found. Maps, a time-line, and an extensive bibliography provide an additional bonus. (This book is also sold under the name Jane Austen’s England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods.) It’s a book I’ll likely refer back to again and again.

BOOK REVIEW: All About Genevieve by Shana Galen

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the newly released All About Genevieve, the third book in the Misfortune’s Favorites Series by Shana Galen. This Regency Romance series follow three lords, the closest of friends, as they find their true loves. (Book One is The King and Vi and Book Two is My Fair Katie.) The storyline unfolds best if the books are read in order.

Three men, the Marquess of Kingston (King), the Duke of Carlisle (Henry), and Emory Lumley, the Duke of Tralee (Rory), were all neglected and abused as children. Strong-willed and angry, they were sent to a boys’ school in Scotland to have their spirits broken. Instead, they continued to raise hell and rebel against mistreatment. One stormy night, they conspired to steal a keg of whiskey from two impoverished sisters who lived near their school. The theft went awry, and they ended up cursed by the elder sister–a very real witch. The curse stated they would lose what they loved most on their thirtieth birthdays.

By the time they reach thirty, they have mostly forgotten about the witch and the curse, until it comes true.

In Rory’s case, a carriage accident claims the life of his wife and infant son on his thirtieth birthday. Grieving and full of guilt, he spends the next several months on the continent, carousing with undesirable fellows. When he finally returns home, he is confronted with the fact that he has a seven-year-old daughter, Frances, whom he barely knows. (He and his wife were estranged, so he never spent any time with the girl.) Frances acts out (in the same way Rory used to) to such a degree that he decides at once to hire a governess who can control her. 

Genevieve Brooking has been a governess for many years (though she is still a young woman.) She presents herself as a candidate for the job and proves so competent she is hired on the spot. Genevieve can handle any crisis having to do with children. She can also handle Rory’s outbursts and missteps. But she has a harder time with her own reaction to Rory’s extreme handsomeness and the way his heart is quickly softened by Frances.

The novel is a lovely example of the lord-falling-for-the-governess trope. The story is unique in that Frances’ viewpoint is also shown in some of the chapters. And the real twist is the witch’s curse. Rory and his friends have been promised a chance to reverse the curse, but to do so, they must return to where it all began to confront the witch.

After following the series, I was looking forward to the reunion of these three men and seeing how/if the curse would be lifted. The stories walk a fine line between credible and infused with the supernatural, but it’s a Romance. Go ahead and suspend disbelief. The novels are fun!

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: Ne’er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

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

Ne’er Duke Well is a recently released Regency Romance by Alexandra Vasti, a new-to-me author.

The hero, Peter Kent, had been abandoned by his father, a duke, and raised in Louisiana, far from the entanglements of London Society. However, two years earlier, upon discovering that he was the heir presumptive to the dukedom, he returned to England to learn the ropes. Now, he is the Duke of Stanhope. He wants to use his position for good. He has liberal ideas and is not hesitant to proclaim them. But there is a problem. He has two young half-siblings, Freddie and Lu, and he is determined to take custody of them and raise them in a caring environment. Unfortunately, he has made a bad impression on the judge who will rule on his case. Peter needs help.

The heroine, Lady Selena Ravenscroft, wants to provide that help. They are friends of a sort. She thinks his suit will be aided by his taking a wife with an impeccable pedigree. The children need a mother, after all. She has a few ladies in mind. But not herself. Definitely not. Because she has a secret that she knows will come out one day, and the scandal would be ruinous to her and to Peter’s chances. Selena is part owner of a well-known publishing company. The company is especially successful because of its “Venus” line, racy novels for ladies to help them learn a little of the world so they won’t be so disadvantaged when dealing with men.

Whenever one member of a pair in a Romance tries to help the other find a perfect match, readers know what to expect. But the journey to love—how they get to the point of realizing they are meant to be together—is what makes the novels fun. Peter and Selena are well suited, and the obstacle is a formidable one, making this a very enjoyable read.

This is a charming, moderately steamy Romance with likeable protagonists and a well-constructed plot. It’s a standalone novel, as far as I can tell, but I look forward to more from this author.

BOOK REVIEW: Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner

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

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner continues in the post-WWII setting of her previous novels, The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls. The current protagonist Vivien Lowry was one of the bookshop girls we met in book two, a writer with a tragic past. Her fiancé, David St. Vincent, the heir to an earldom, had been killed in the war.

When Vivien’s stage play flops in London, she escapes to Rome where she has been offered a job as a script doctor for a floundering movie at the Cinecittà studio. This world-famous studio was created by Mussolini as a propaganda machine and was then taken over by the Nazis. Now, in 1955, the studio is reviving, producing commercial films to international acclaim. A large number of American ex-pats, Hollywood-types escaping the restrictions and dangers of McCarthyism, have come to Rome to work at Cinecittà. Vivien is eager to work with these creative men and women.

She has another reason to come to Rome. She has just learned from her deceased fiancé’s sister that David did not die in a crash in Italy. He was reported missing in action and was likely a prisoner of war. At least for a little while. Vivien is certain he’s not still alive; he would have made his way home to her. But she’s desperate to learn the truth of what happened to him, and thinks she might discover more if she is physically in Italy rather than London.

While in Italy, she makes new friends, has a love affair, and struggles with the restrictions placed on moviemakers by the all-powerful Catholic Church. She also pulls strings to learn about David’s captivity.

Vivien’s story is interspersed with chapters about La Scolaretta, “the Schoolgirl,” a member of the Italian Resistance and a very successful assassin. 

The storylines merge in a poignant way. Fans of Jenner’s historical women’s fiction, especially those wondering “what next?” for the Bloomsbury Girls, should love this novel. I particularly enjoyed the atmosphere – post-WWII Italy is an unusual setting for me and Jenner does a great job of immersing the reader in the time and place.

BOOK REVIEW: Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor

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

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor is a heartbreaking literary historical novel. Set in 1938, on a fictional island off the coast of Wales, the story is narrated by an 18-year-old island woman named Manod.

Manod is intelligent and caring. She’s attuned to the rhythms of island life, but yearns to expand her horizons. Many of the younger islanders have already moved to the mainland in search of better opportunities, and Manod hopes to do so also, but it’s unclear whether their lives improve or if what they sacrifice in leaving is too great a price to pay.

The story begins with two arrivals. The first is a dead whale that washes ashore. As it slowly decomposes, it becomes part of the island, incorporated into children’s games and adult rituals. The second is an invasion by two English ethnographers, who are eager to record the culture of the islanders before it disappears. They enlist Manod’s help as an interpreter/transcriber. She begins to see them as the means for her escape. Yet her admiration for them slides into disillusionment as she discovers how they manipulate their observations to tell the story they want to tell.

As expected, the ethnographers are more interested in creating a compelling story for the book they are writing than in presenting a realistic picture of the people and their customs. In the act of “preserving” the culture, they are instrumental in distorting it.

The language is spare. The pace of the novel is slow, but there is a tension in it that held my interest – a sense of impending doom. The whale is potentially an evil omen. The ethnographers are unprincipled. The culture is slowly dying. And WWII is approaching. This is not exactly an enjoyable novel, but it will make you think.

BOOK REVIEW: Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women (multi-authored)

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

Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women is a multi-authored collection of 23 short stories featuring fictional women throughout history, from medieval times to the 1970s. It’s not a book that I can sit and read cover-to-cover, but it’s great fun to dip into. Pick a theme (Gambling with the Unknown; Dangerous Deeds; Moral Combat; or Defying Domestic Authority) and enjoy! There is something here for everyone!

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: Long Island by Colm Tóibín

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

I love Colm Tóibín’s novels. I recently read Brooklyn in preparation for his newest release, Long Island. The new book continues the story of Eilis Lacey, an Irish immigrant to New York, who married an Italian plumber, Tony Fiorello, and thus became part of a large Italian-American family. Now the mother of two teenagers, she has adapted to a life in Long Island, but she has never quite fit in. She hasn’t been back to Ireland in over 20 years, and feels disconnected from both her old family and her new.

The vague dissatisfaction she feels with her life worsens to a crisis when a strange man shows up at her door. He claims his wife is pregnant with Tony’s baby. And when the baby is born, he intends to leave it on the Fiorello doorstep because he doesn’t want it in his house. Eilis doesn’t want it in her house either. Although she makes her wishes clear, the Fiorellos make plans behind her back to take the baby in.

While Eilis’ position may seem harsh, the utter disregard for her feelings highlights her isolation. When she decides to go back to Ireland for her mother’s 80th birthday, it is clear to Tony and everyone else that she might not return.

As Eilis is dealing with this, the novel turns to two of the people she left behind in Ireland. Her one-time best friend Nancy, who is now a widow, and Jim Farrell. Jim owns and runs a tavern. Twenty-years ago, he and Eilis had a summer romance (unconsummated), back when Eilis was newly married to Tony. One can imagine Eilis and Jim picking up where they left off, except for one complication. Jim and Nancy are now involved, and secretly engaged.

Tóibín is able to crawl inside these characters’ heads, making them all tragically sympathetic to start. (At least the three protagonists. It’s difficult to feel sympathy for Tony.)  It is impossible to resolve the triangle without a great deal of heartache. I read along, hurting for the characters, unable to guess how it was going to work out, completely engrossed.

While I think Long Island is the better book, I recommend reading Brooklyn first. It’s also superb and will set the stage for the emotionally compelling sequel. 

BOOK REVIEW: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

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

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is a new release from Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. Set in the summer of 1919, in a British seaside resort town, it explores the alteration of British lives in the aftermath of WWI and the Spanish flu.

Constance Haverhill is a young woman who has lost both her parents and now her job and home. During the war, she helped run the estate of old family friends. But with the return of men from the war, women were booted back to traditional female roles so that men could have jobs, no matter if the women (and their children) had no means of support. For this summer, Constance is serving as a companion to Mrs. Fog, the widowed mother of Lady Mercer (whose estate Constance had been overseeing.) Fortunately for Constance, Mrs. Fog is a kind woman who allows her a good bit of autonomy. (Mrs. Fog has interests on the side that she doesn’t want her daughter to know about.)

While at the hotel, Constance is befriended by Poppy Wirrall, a feisty girl of her own age who runs a motorcycle taxi and delivery service, staffed by women. Poppy takes Constance for a ride, and Constance is hooked. Poppy also introduces her to her mother, widow of a local baronet and a force in the community. And Constance meets Poppy’s brother, Harris, a sour-faced and angry war veteran, a pilot, whose leg had been amputated after a crash. Harris has means to live an idle life, but he wants to fly again, to be treated as the man he has always been, not be shunted aside as damaged goods.

While Constance is enjoying this time with new friends, abuzz with activity, she is acutely aware of the difference between her social class (and some of Poppy’s employees/friends) and that of Poppy and her society friends. Moreover, Constance is pressed by the passage of time to look for employment. The summer will not last forever, and Mrs. Fog will be returning home to her daughter. She will have no further need for a companion. Constance hopes for a bookkeeping job, but fears those jobs will go to men and she will end up a governess.

The plight of women cast adrift in the aftermath of the war is beautifully shown, as is the upheaval in the lives of veterans. Nevertheless, despite the potentially heavy subject matter, this is a light, charming read thanks to the good-heartedness of the protagonists and their enjoyment of what the summer has to offer.

BOOK REVIEW: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

They say you never get over your first love. Lara Nelson, the protagonist and narrator of Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake, believes that this is not true. Lara’s first love was Peter Duke, a handsome, young, charismatic actor at the beginning of his career. They met at a summer stock theater in Michigan, at a place called Tom Lake. Lara was twenty-four and also an up-and-coming actress. The play was Our Town. Lara starred as Emily Webb. Although brilliant as Emily, she soon discovered it was the only role she could play well. In contrast, Peter Duke was a huge talent who went on to movie stardom.

It is now a pandemic spring. Lara, her husband, and their three adult daughters are in their bubble at the family cherry orchard in Michigan. They are spending long hours every day harvesting the cherries, because someone has to and workers are hard to come by. While they work, the girls ask their mother to tell them the story of her summer at Tom Lake and her love affair with the famous Peter Duke.

The story alternates between the farm/current day and Tom Lake more than 30 years before. Lara thoughtfully relates the story, a compelling story of youth, ambition, innocence, and innocence lost. Lara also narrates the current day, where her love for her family and contentment with the way her life has unfolded shine through.

The book is also an homage to Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, a play I never liked much but now have a greater appreciation for.

This is a beautiful, poignant, and affirming novel. I have to read more by Ann Patchett. 

BOOK REVIEW: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

I heard good things about The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, and bumped it to the top of my TBR pile. This is a historical mystery that definitely lives up to its hype.

The novel is inspired by the story of Martha Ballard, a late-eighteenth century midwife in Maine, who kept a daily journal of her work. I read about this fascinating woman decades ago in the award winning biography A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, based on her diary, 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. That nonfiction account puts Martha’s life in the context of the time. I still recommend it all these years later.

In this novel, Lawhon breathes new life into the story by focusing on diary entries recording the rape of one of the townswomen, Rebecca Foster. She named the local judge as one of the rapists. Although The Frozen River is fictional, truthful (painfully true) elements seep through. (Be sure to read the author’s note at the end!)

I don’t want to give away the plot(s). So I’ll just say the writing is superb. The questions that are raised throughout, the desire to see justice done, and the fear that it won’t be, makes this a book that is difficult to put down. The love story between Martha and her husband Ephraim gives the book a soothing, hopeful core while corruption, male privilege, rape, and murder swirl around them. This novel is highly recommended as a must-read for fans of historical fiction.

BOOK REVIEW: My Fair Katie by Shana Galen

My Fair Katie by Shana Galen is the second book in the Misfortune’s Favorites Regency Romance series. The first book, The King and Vi, was so much fun that I pre-ordered book two.

The set-up in this novel is the same as the first. Three 13-year-old sons of peers were sent to boarding school in Scotland after being kicked out of the usual boys’ schools for misbehaving. One night, the three (King, Henry, and Rory) decide to steal a barrel of whiskey from two impoverished sisters who live near the school. Making and selling whiskey is how they survive. The entitled brats take the whiskey and then drop the barrel as they are making their getaway. The sisters (known locally as “witches”) catch them. In convincing witchlike fashion, one of the sisters calls down a curse that when they are thirty years old, they will lose everything that they love.

The curse has seemingly come true for King in book one, and for Rory, who we will see in book three. But now, it’s Henry’s turn.

Henry is now a duke, but is already on the road to losing everything he loves. He is a compulsive gambler. What he loves most, it seems, is the thrill of the cards or dice. He has already gambled away his country home. On his thirtieth birthday, he loses his London townhouse in another unwise bet. Just as he is doing so, he sees an image of the witch from his past and recalls the curse.

Now, Henry is impoverished and disgraced. The winner of both bets (and new owner of both houses) is the vile Marquess of Shrewsbury, who seems determined to ruin Henry, though Henry has no idea why.

Katie (Lady Katherine Malfort) is the daughter of the marquess. He has sent her away to the country home he won from Henry, partly as punishment for showing a burst of independence, but also to hide her away. She has a port wine stain on her face that the marquess is ashamed of. He has convinced her she is ugly and marred and that no man will ever want her.

With nowhere else to go, Henry hies off to his mother’s home – the dower house on the property of the country home now occupied by Katie. The two meet. Sparks fly.

However, there are obstacles to their getting together. Henry is suffering from withdrawal from his gambling addiction. (This is realistically portrayed.) And Katie is convinced no man could ever love her because of her birthmark. Still they team up to figure out why the marquess hates Henry’s family so much.

This is a medium-steam romance with likeable protagonists. They earn their HEA, but there is still more to come. Henry, like King, is still under a curse. Book three promises a resolution, and I’ve already pre-ordered the novel!

BOOK REVIEW: Death on the Tiber by Lindsey Davis

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

I’ve been following the Flavia Albia Roman mystery series since Book 1, The Ides of April. And before that, I read all of Lindsey Davis’ Falco series. So I was eager to read the latest, Death on the Tiber. While the mystery is very clearly Albia’s to solve, Falco and his friend Petronius Longus jump in to help – and it is a delight to meet up with them again.

The tale begins when the corpse of a woman is dredged up from the Tiber, and identified as Claudia Deiana, from Britain. She was the mistress of a well-known Roman gangster named Florius. Albia is determined to find out why the woman had come to Rome. And why she was killed. Albia feels a sense of duty to the unfortunate victim because she, too, originally came from Britain. Moreover, she knew Florius. He ran a crime ring in Londinium, centered on brothels. When Albia was a young orphan, he trapped her, raped her, and tried to install her in one of the brothels. Fortunately for Albia, she was rescued by Falco, adopted, and brought to Rome. Florius is back in Rome, and Albia has a score to settle.

The novel starts slowly as the backstory is established. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, most of whom were seen in previous books, so it does all fall into place. A list of the cast is given at the beginning of the story to help. It’s probably best to have read earlier books to get the full impact of this one.

The mystery of the dead woman is just a small part of the story. Albia finds herself back investigating the dangerous gangs warring for primacy in Rome. One of the main patriarchs has just died, so there is a good deal of jockeying for power (think The Godfather), and all this violence muddies the waters.

Albia is supported by her father (Falco), her uncle (Petronius), her long-suffering husband (Tiberius), and some high-up muckety-muck who appears in deus-ex-machina style to help her sort things out. I feel like this guy must have figured in one of the previous books, but couldn’t place him – one of the disadvantages of having so many characters to keep track of over so many books. For me, the story would have been more satisfying without this secret character. He goes only by a pseudonym, Titus, and his position, Princeps Peregrinorum, and it was a bit frustrating to have them chat so coyly together and not be able to place who he was and why he and Albia were so cozy. Other longtime fans will likely have a better memory than me.

Albia does her usual grand job of gathering information, working in tandem with the authorities, and chasing down her suspects. Her voice, cynical, snarky, intelligent, funny, and at times, loving, make it fun to follow her along as she investigates.