BOOK REVIEW: Maurice by E.M. Forster

I read Howards End by E. M. Forster many years ago, and always planned to read more of his work. Finally, finally, I took out Maurice from the library. This is a quietly moving, beautiful, psychological novel that completely drew me in.

Maurice Hall is, in all outward respects, a “normal” character, almost too simple a protagonist for fiction. He goes to a local boys’ school, graduates to Cambridge University, and finally, as a young man, takes over his deceased father’s place in business. To others, he seems a regular fellow, a middle class snob, self-absorbed and disinterested in the things that consume most of his peers: work, politics, religion, gossip. But it is what is going on internally that makes him a richly portrayed, unforgettable protagonist.

Maurice is gay. In his young life, he is simply confused. At Cambridge, he’s even more confused, often angry, and sometimes has bright flashes of joy. He meets a fellow Cambridge student, Clive Durham, who is a step above him on the social scale. They have some deep conversations of the college-kid type. And they fall in love. It is a romantic but platonic love, although Maurice yearns for more.

They experience a few years of joyful, extreme friendship, until abruptly, Clive falls out of love. Maurice has to work through grief and come to grips with the fact that he is a lover of men and can’t change that about himself. In Edwardian England, this is regarded as perverse and criminal, and makes navigating the social world a sometimes dangerous challenge.

I don’t want to give away any more of the plot, because while the beauty of this novel is in Forster’s exquisite prose, Maurice’s journey is what makes it so compelling. Highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti

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

Alexandra Vasti, author of Ne’er Duke Well, has a new book out today in the Belvoir series, Earl Crush. This is an entertaining romp of a Regency Romance, a fine follow-up to the first.

Lydia Hope-Wallace is intelligent, beautiful, and passionate about social justice. Unfortunately, she suffers from an almost crippling social anxiety. This leaves her unable to attract a husband in the usual way. So she focuses her attention on the cause of equality for all. Men and women. She writes inflammatory pamphlets that are published and distributed by her friend Selena (who readers will have met in book 1, the owner of Belvoir library and publishers.) She signs the pamphlets only as “H.”

One of her readers has written back to her, repeatedly, through her publisher. They discovered a true meeting of the minds. This reader signed his letters as Lord Strathrannoch, an impoverished Scottish earl. Lydia, the possessor of a substantial dowry, decides to go to Scotland and propose. Unfortunately, when she arrives, the earl has no idea who she is. He didn’t write the letters. That was his brother, assuming his identity.

Arthur Baird, the Fifth Earl of Strathrannoch, is a gentle giant of a man. He’s very conscientious, caring for his tenants, but a recluse. He hasn’t been looking for a wife. Arthur is also an inventor. And one of his inventions was recently stolen by the same brother who has been writing to Lydia and using his name.

The two join forces to track down this brother. During their adventures, they find themselves lusting after one another increasingly. However, Lydia can’t forget that Arthur rejected her when she first proposed marriage. And Arthur can’t forget that Lydia proposed to him thinking that he was his brother. The steaminess of the novel soon ratchets up to high, especially after they have to pretend to be man and wife.

Readers know they’ll end up together, but there are plenty of surprises along the way. The novel stands alone, but book one will introduce you to Belvoir and to Lydia’s female friends, and they are not to be missed!

BOOK REVIEW: Ana Maria and The Fox by Liana de la Rosa

Ana Maria and The Fox by Liana de la Rosa is an adventurous Victorian Romance, the first in the series, A Luna Sisters Novel. It’s a slow-burn, but ends high-steam.

Set in 1863, Ana Maria and her two sisters are Mexican heiresses, sent to London for safety when France occupies Mexico, forcing her parents into hiding. Ana Maria’s father is a high official in the resisting Mexican government. Because of her father’s status, Ana Maria has spent her life being a perfect daughter, and suffers because of the impossibility of pleasing him. 

The novel turns the trope of the American “dollar princess” on its head.

In London, under the protection of their uncle, the three wealthy sisters are encouraged to disobey their father’s instruction to keep a low profile. Their uncle is an ambassador, and he sees the beautiful, vibrant sisters as perfect representatives for their country. Hoping they will win British sympathy for the Mexican cause, he gives them license to burst onto the scene and captivate the ton. Which they do.

One of the first people captivated by Ana Maria is Gideon Fox, an MP. Gideon is the grandson of an enslaved woman. His all-consuming goal is to win Britain over to complete abolition of slavery throughout their empire, throughout the world. He devotes all his time and passion to this cause. 

At first, Ana Maria and Gideon resist their strong attraction, each thinking that a romance will hurt the other’s cause and their own. (Plus, Ana is engaged to wed a man of her father’s choice back home.) However, their paths keep crossing and their interest in each other grows. At a house party in the countryside, a villainous nobleman with completely opposing political goals enters the scene—and Ana Maria and Gideon have to join forces for the protection of the Luna sisters. This is where things get steamy.

This is an interesting romance that incorporates diversity and more than the usual amount of history into more typical romance tropes. Readers will root not only for Ana Maria but for all three of the sisters. We can already see where Isabel and Gabriela’s romantic interests are likely to lie in books two and three, with heroes as interesting as Gideon.

ANNOUNCEMENT: MY NEW READER/WRITER NEWSLETTER

 

I'm launching a newsletter to share reviews of my favorite books, talk about my writing progress (or lack thereof), host some giveaways, and hopefully interview other authors. The sign-up button is at the top of my sidebar. I'd love for you to sign up -- and share the link!

HISTORICAL FICTION READING CHALLENGE 2025

It's a new year! Which means it's time for a new historical fiction challenge, hosted by The Intrepid Reader and Baker. The sign-up is here for anyone who wants to join in!

I didn't make my goal last year.  I aimed for 50+ and read 42. I haven't looked at my own stats, but my gut feeling is that I was reading more nonfiction, mostly for research for my own historical novels. And I was writing, writing, writing...

So, this year, I'm shooting for the Ancient History level of 25+ books and hoping to exceed it. Links will be posted below.

1. Ana Maria and the Fox by Liana de la Rosa

2. Remember When by Mary Balogh

3. To Carve Identity by Susan Steggall

4. Mrs. Lowe-Porter by Jo Salas

5. Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti

6. Maurice by E. M. Forster

BOOK REVIEW: The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides

My history/historical fiction book club is meeting this weekend. Our book is The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides. I wasn’t particularly excited by the choice, never having had an interest in Cook’s explorations, but I was encouraged by the great reviews.

And the great reviews are valid. This is a very readable account of Cook’s last voyage, drawing on diaries, published accounts, and oral histories passed down through generations. Cook was lionized in his own time, and is often vilified in ours, because of the short and long-term consequences of his voyages. This book is a balanced account that brings out Cook’s impressive skills and unusual methods, while not shying away from the devastating impact of first contact and colonialism. The author also muses over Cook’s seeming change in personality in this, his final voyage, and how that might have contributed to his violent end. 

In addition, the book tells the story of Mai, a Tahitian man who had been brought to England, immersed in the British culture, and then taken home. His story is tragically symbolic of the psychological confusion resulting from trying to live in or meld the cultures of two very different worlds.

For me, one of the more rewarding aspects of the book is the geography lesson underpinning the narrative. My knowledge of geography is pretty pathetic, but in following the map of Cook’s voyage, I had to picture the route (the map helps), and I finished the book with a more comprehensive image of the globe.

Whether you are interested in Captain Cook or not, this is a compelling book. Highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: Remember When by Mary Balogh

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

Remember When by Mary Balogh is the latest novel in The Ravenswood series. This warm, lovely Regency Romance is told in the signature Balogh style.

Clarissa Ware is the Dowager Countess of Stratton (met before in books 1-3). She has been a dutiful loving mother and had been a supportive wife up until her husband’s demise a few years earlier. She loved her husband despite his faults—which included serial infidelity. Now, at fifty, with her children grown, and for the most part, married off or otherwise settled, she wants time alone to rediscover herself. Who is she, besides a widow and mother?

She returns alone to Ravenwood, the estate where she was once the countess, a title that now belongs to her beloved daughter-in-law. She intends to enjoy her solitude. But one thing she is determined to do is to visit her old and once very dear friend, Matthew Taylor. They were children together and the most devoted of friends. They were both the offspring of respectable gentry, though Clarissa’s connections and expectations were somewhat better than Matthew’s, particularly since he was a second son. When she was 17, and Matthew 18, as the first sparks of possible romance were appearing between them, Clarissa had an offer of marriage from the Earl of Stratton. Excited by the possibilities and awed by the earl, she said yes. 

Matthew Taylor was a difficult child, understood only by Clarissa. When she wed the earl, he lost not just a woman he had begun to love, but also his only true friend. In quick fashion, he married another, but she died in childbirth. Matthew took himself away from the village and wandered (readers will discover where and why) for a decade, before returning to the village near Ravenswood to make his living as a carpenter and artist in wood.

Clarissa and Matthew renew their friendship. And despite their advanced ages (50! 51!) they discover their feelings go beyond platonic friendship. The problem is, now as it always was, Clarissa is socially above him. And much more so now. Moreover, they both value the lives they are leading, and aren’t sure what they are willing to risk.

The love story develops at a slow but steady pace, although it gets rather repetitive at times. There are no villains in this story, and in fact, little conflict, as everyone involved truly just wants what is best for the pair. It’s a soothing and angst free tale. The two deserve their happily ever after. 

BOOK REVIEW: To Carve Identity by Susan Steggall

To Carve Identity by Susan Steggall is the story of a resilient, determined sculptress with feet in both Scotland and Australia, who struggles to find work/life balance in the post WWII years.

Ellie Gilmartin had a difficult youth, yet manages to make a start as a sculptress in Glasgow. While ferreting out painful family secrets in Australia, she meets Jim Blackwood, a solicitor, who helps her cope with what she learned, but their budding relationship is put on pause when she returns home.

Back in Glasgow, she gets back to her artist’s life, missing Jim and wondering if there might be a future with him, when he appears at her studio and asks her to marry him. 

Jim has his own troubled past. He’d been in the Australian army during WWII, was captured, and suffered as a POW in New Guinea. Now, he is trying to lay his own demons to rest by helping other traumatized veterans, a tactic that is only partly successful.

Ellie and Jim enjoy an enchanted honeymoon period, deepening their love for and understanding of one another. They intend to return to Australia one day, but that day comes sooner than they’d anticipated when Jim’s father falls ill.

The story shifts to Australia, where the pregnant Ellie must learn how to be a wife and mother while following her passion for art away from the supportive environment of Glasgow and London. There are family obstacles, health crises, and the push-and-pull of world events, but Ellie perseveres.

To Carve Identity succeeds beautifully in immersing the reader in the modern art of the time, while also following the life of a woman who, though she loves, cherishes, and supports her husband, children, and friends, nevertheless refuses to give up her artistic career.

BOOK REVIEW: Mrs. Lowe-Porter by Jo Salas

Mrs. Lowe-Porter by Jo Salas  is a gorgeous, moving, and infuriating biographical novel, telling the story of Helen Lowe-Porter, the first English translator of Thomas Mann’s monumental works.

I’ve read Buddenbrooks and Joseph and His Brothers, and am awed. I also read Colm Toibin’s biographical novel of Mann, The Magician, which made me determined to read all of Toibin’s novels. So when I saw a review of Mrs. Lowe-Porter, it caught my attention. I’m so glad it did.

Helen Porter was a brilliant, ambitious, creative woman, who struggled against the obstacles women faced in her time (and still do today)—including the necessity of always taking a backseat to men. Despite her many talents, she fell into the trap of deferring to the men in her life and apologizing for the space she wanted to carve out for herself. Helen yearned to be a writer. She was warned by her maiden aunt that, to succeed, she’d have to forego marriage and all the distractions that drained away women’s focus and energy. And yet, she fell in love.

Elias Loew (later Lowe, to hide his Jewish ancestry) was a confident, charming, ambitious academician, a friend of her sister’s, living in Germany. When Helen came to Munich as a long-term tourist, Elias showed her around the city. They became friends. He treated her as one of the guys, until he seduced her. Apparently, he loved her, at least as well as an ego-centric, self-absorbed, condescending jerk could love. His needs, his career, everything about him, always came first. Also, as he explained to her after sleeping with her, sex was a life force. This force was stronger in men than in women. And in him, it was stronger than in other men. So he had to be unfaithful to her. And she had to be understanding.

Yech!

While Elias struggled to get his academic career off the ground, applying for grant after grant with no success, and with a baby on the way, Helen was fortunate enough to get work translating German writings into English. Her big break (or life-crushing event) was being asked by the Knopfs to translate Buddenbrooks.

For most of the rest of her life, she was Mann’s translator. And while she was pleased to do it, recognizing the author’s brilliance and feeling privileged to be trusted with his work, it was nevertheless a thankless job that sapped her creative energy. For all her devotion, meticulousness, and creativity in bringing Mann’s work to an English-speaking audience, she was dismissed as a mere clerk.

The novel is told through short chapters, each an episode in Helen’s life, generally in her viewpoint but sometimes in Elias’, or rarely in their daughter’s or granddaughter’s. The episodes are not strictly chronological. Chapters dated 1963, when Helen is in a nursing home/dementia unit, are interspersed with chapters taking us through her life. The “1963" chapters are particularly heartbreaking. This woman who gave herself so freely to two men, Elias and Thomas Mann, ended up with nothing for herself. 

This is a lyrical, literary novel that will give you a great appreciation for Helen Lowe-Porter, and an urge to track down one of Mann’s masterpieces translated by this remarkable woman.