BOOK REVIEW: The Last Gypsy Queen by Linda Paul

The Last Gypsy Queen by Linda Paul is a poignant story of star-crossed lovers set in WWII Ohio. Marisol Mazaria is an eighteen-year-old Romani woman who longs to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps and become a physician, but who is constrained by traditional cultural roles. She is working as a tarot card reader at a summertime lakeside amusement park when she meets Will Worthington, a college student who comes to have his fortune told. Will also struggles to defy family expectations. Rather than take over his father’s business, he hopes to be a pilot and join the war effort. Over the course of one too-short summer, a romance blooms, one they must hide because of deep-rooted prejudice in both of their communities. This beautifully written novel is perfect for book clubs with its prime-for-debate mix of love against the odds, a strong female protagonist, the fascinating weaving in of tarot card reading, and themes of identity and cultural bias.

BOOK REVIEW: Cutie Pies by the Slice by Kimberly Nixon

Cutie Pies by the Slice is a new historical novel by Kimberly Nixon, author of Rock Bottom, Tennessee and Rock Bottom Rising. It is a heartwarming, found-family story set during Prohibition.

The protagonist, Lila Young, begins her journey as an insecure young woman who has just lost her mother and must now make her own way in the world. Her father is out of the picture, and her older brother, Earl, wants to help her but is more wrapped up in his own nuclear family, and often falls short.

She moves to be closer to Earl, who helps her find work with the telephone company. She lives in a boarding house where she forges strong bonds with other women who become a second family. The author brings these minor characters fully to life as well-rounded, interesting women with distinct personalities. But it is Lila who truly shines, befriending and supporting them all. (Everyone needs a friend like Lila!) Even so, Lila still yearns for a husband, children, and a family of her own. 

When the effects of the Great Depression rock Lila’s community, she loses her job and needs to try something else.

 Lila’s main inheritance is a strong work ethic and her mother’s pie recipes. She opens a pie shop that sells pie by the slice. A very good businesswoman, she builds her shop little by little. BUT, this is during Prohibition, and mob influence (speakeasies and running liquor illegally) permeates Lila’s environment, involving (and threatening) her family and friends.

Lila’s resilience, big-heartedness, and loyalty carry her through the various setbacks and tragedies of her life. Readers will be behind her, rooting for her success all the way.

BOOK REVIEW: The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon

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

Have you ever heard of the Irish folk hero Grace O’Malley? I had not, until reading The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon (author of The Frozen River). Now, I’m fascinated by her.

A contemporary of Queen Elizabeth, Grace was the daughter of an Irish chieftain who took over his fleet after his death, and continued his warlike and pirating ways. She expanded her sphere of influence through war and marriage (not always her choice) until she was one of the most powerful leaders in Ireland. Unfortunately, not only was she beset by rival clans, but also beleaguered by the grasping English.

The novel brings her story to life in a nonlinear way, moving back and forth through time, highlighting the big events, of which there were many. This works surprisingly well, keeping the pace taut and the interest level high. Each chapter has a heading stating the year and Grace’s age, so the reader never gets lost when the timeframe switches.

Grace is a strong woman, who manages to rise above the limitations placed on her by others because of her sex. She develops a devoted following. After a disastrous first marriage, she eventually finds love.

Fans of historical fiction featuring true-life, strong, female protagonists, and fans of swashbuckling adventure, will find much to love in Lawhon’s new novel.

BOOK REVIEW: The Farther Shore by Seth Fleisher

 I received a free e-galley of this novel from the publisher. That did not influence this review.

For me, one of the best ways to learn something about a historical time period, place, or event that I know little to nothing about, is to read a biography, or even better, a well-researched biographical novel, about a person living through it.

I’ve mentioned before my love for biographical novels, so when offered the chance to read The Farther Shore by Seth Fleisher, I jumped at it, despite my promise to myself that I wouldn’t add more books to my TBR pile until I had read a bunch that are already on it.

The Farther Shore is a dual biographical novel, primarily exploring the life of Eugène Marais (1871-1936), who was one of southern Africa’s leading academic lights. As a devoted Afrikaner, he was involved with the politics of his day. He was a journalist and poet. He was a determined preservationist of the Afrikaans language. He also studied law, medicine, and science (naturalism with its implications for anthropology). This was at the time of the Boer War (about which I’d known nothing except that it happened) and rampant British colonialism. Nowadays, in the post-apartheid era, it is difficult to read about the difficult life of a privileged, white man in this geographical setting without getting a bit of an icky, “yes, but…”  feeling; and yet, this is one of the reasons I found the book powerful. It took me back in time to prewar southern Africa, before the development of apartheid as an all-encompassing legal/political system of oppression (which came about only after WWII.) That is not to say there was no racial discrimination before that. There most certainly was, and Marais was guilty of racism, classism, and some horrifying acts of dehumanization of aboriginals. The man himself was a morally gray character, but the novel shows his multiple facets, and makes him fascinating. (He was also a morphine addict, so there is that to grapple with.)

I said it was a dual biographical novel. The other protagonist is his son, Charles Marais. Charles definitely existed. And he was abandoned by his father after the death of his mother from puerperal sepsis. But that is the extent of the factual information underlying the fictional creation of this man. In the novel, Charles does counterbalance some of the moral grayness of his father, by being (at least becoming) staunchly anti-Nazi and anti-racist in the years leading up to WWII. And there is a love story woven into this part of the narrative. 

The Farther Shore is beautifully written and emotionally complex. Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction and biographical fiction.