BOOK REVIEW: Boy by Nicole Galland

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

I’ve been wanting to read one of Nicole Galland’s historical novels for a long time, but never got around to it. So I was pleased to review an e-galley for Boy.

Set in Elizabethan England and intermingling the worlds of the theater, the queen’s court and courtiers, and the scientists of the day, Galland centers the story around two gender-bending protagonists.

Alexander Cooke (Sander) is an apprentice actor at the Globe Playhouse and a city-wide celebrity. Slender, pretty, and coquettish, he stars in the female roles of Shakespeare’s great plays and is admired wherever he goes. Much of that admiration, particularly among the highborn and/or well-to-do, is due to his powerful sex appeal, making him a favorite of both women and men. Sander loves the attention. And the sex.

However, he’s getting older and the term of his apprenticeship is coming to an end. Sander knows he is outgrowing the female leads without growing into male roles. He isn’t interested in taking on a more managerial role. He wants to act. And if he cannot act, he needs a new “career.” He wants to be a courtier with a patron.

Joan Buckler is Sander’s oldest friend. They grew up together and know each other’s deepest secrets. However, while Sander is not particularly bright (except for a phenomenal memory), Joan is exceptionally smart. She wants to be a natural philosopher. Her problem is that she is female, with no hope of studying such things with the masters.

The crux of the novel focuses first on the budding physical attraction between these longtime friends, and then its blossoming into romantic love and strong sexual desire. Sander, in an effort to do something to please Joan, utilizes his acquaintance with Sir Francis Bacon to introduce Joan (who is masquerading as “Jack”) to Bacon’s circle and his ideas of inductive logic.

While Joan is furthering her education, Sander seeks patronage. This is even more important now that he wants to be able to support Joan as his wife. Unfortunately, he is fixed upon joining the circle around the earl of Essex, who was once one of the queen’s favorites but is now very much on the outs.

Galland does a lovely job of bringing young Sander and Joan to life. Sander is a complicated (if shallow) character who is redeemed by his love for his soul mate. Joan is bright, loyal, and brave. The London of the Elizabethan era is described in detail as the two make their way around in it. And the intrigue of Queen Elizabeth’s court is shown through the efforts of rivals for influence as they work to manipulate the queen’s favor.

This all requires a lot of set-up. The story ultimately reaches a satisfying conclusion; however, much of the book is slow as all the pieces must be maneuvered into position. I found my engagement with the story waxed and waned throughout. It’s definitely a worthwhile read for fans of historical fiction and the time of Shakespeare, but for a 350-page book, it read longer. 

BOOK REVIEW: Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BOOK REVIEW: The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone

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

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

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

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

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

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