BOOK REVIEW: The Firing: Eleanor Coade and her Remarkable Stone by Theresa Shiban

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

The Firing: Eleanor Coade and her Remarkable Stone by Theresa Shiban is a beautifully written biographical novel telling the life story of the eighteenth-to-early-nineteenth century British businesswoman, Eleanor Coade.

Eleanor’s first passion was not business, but sculpture. A skilled sculptress in her own right, it took her father’s bankruptcy, and her desire to support herself and her beloved consumptive younger sister, to inspire her remarkable talent for business. Her success was unusual for a woman of the time. Infuriatingly, the law of the land entitled the men in women’s lives to claim all their earnings for themselves. This law, and Eleanor’s father’s willingness to exploit it for his own benefit, provides much of the conflict in the story.

Eleanor made her first fortune as a linen draper, and this allowed her to return to sculpture. She eventually bought a failing factory that made “artificial stone.” The product was of poor quality, but Eleanor saw its potential. With her workers, she perfected the formula for a mixture of clay and stone that could be molded into statuary and architectural adornments, and it is largely for this that she became famous and very wealthy.

The blending of Eleanor’s personal life and professional achievements drive this novel along. It’s an engrossing story of a woman who deserves to be better remembered. Biographical fiction at its finest!

BOOK REVIEW: The Case of the Curate by Mary Lancaster

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

Mary Lancaster has a new Regency Mystery series, The Irreverent Clergyman. And while I’ll miss the previous series, Silver and Grey, I’m excited for this one. Book 1 is off to an excellent start.

The Case of the Curate introduces the intrepid Lady Ambrose (Kate) and a more-or-less reformed rake, now a curate, Mr. Rupert Grande. Kate is married to Sir Gilbert Ambrose, an up-and-coming Member of Parliament. She has been sent by him to the country-house party of Lord Chadbon, which is not so much a party as a gathering of politically active men, to use her charm to further his cause and that of her host. (He is unable to attend.) While there, she is surprised and delighted to discover her childhood friend, Rupert, in attendance. (He is only a substitute curate while the local vicar is ill.)

There is another woman present, an exceptionally pretty housemaid, who once had a fling with Rupert back in London. She’s in trouble, pregnant by a man who is too far above her to even consider marrying her. Rupert has promised to help her. But before he can, the maid is brutally murdered. Rupert is a relative stranger in town, whose aristocratic connections are not known. (He’s the son of a marquis, serving incognito.) So he rapidly becomes the prime suspect and is promptly arrested. Only Kate knows he could not possibly be guilty. She sets out to find the true murderer, which is much riskier than she anticipates.

These are two appealing protagonists, whose relationship is affectionate, nostalgic, and perhaps more. Lancaster brings them to life with her careful character development and credible relationship. The mystery is engrossing. I look forward to more in this series!

BOOK REVIEW: Switzy by Emma Cline

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

Switzy by Emma Cline is a gripping novel by the author of The Guest. Like The Guest, Switzy is unsettling. Readers with loved ones who suffer or suffered from dementia may find it triggering.

Cline is able to get inside the failing brain of David, a wealthy businessman who was once highly respected and an asset to an unnamed company. He was an important person. But now, he is necessarily accompanied everywhere by a hired male companion/keeper who navigates his memory lapses, wandering, and irrational flashes of irritability, anger, and paranoia with patience and understanding.

The pain in this extraordinary novel comes from David’s awareness of his advancing dementia and his efforts to say his last goodbyes to people to whom he was once close. But he finds he may not have been as significant to them as he thought. Did he lead a worthwhile life–this important person? Or not?

Cline does a remarkably empathetic job exploring the broken thoughts of a dementia sufferer in a way that is believable, beautifully written, heart-breaking, and terrifying. Highly recommended.