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: Miss Morton Takes the Waters by Catherine Lloyd

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

Miss Morton Takes the Waters is the fifth book in the Miss Morton Mysteries series. If you like cozy historical mysteries, or think you might, these novels are must reads. Although the mysteries stand alone, you should start with book one, Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder, to fully appreciate the relationships between the characters.

Miss Caroline Morton is a gentlewoman by birth, but upon her father’s death, she was shocked to learn of his financial misdealings which left her penniless. Her fiancé dropped her. Aristocratic friends turned their backs. Caroline, very practically, went to work. She found employment as a companion to a very wealthy but lowborn woman in trade, Mrs. Frogerton. Mrs. Frogerton is a courageous, nosy, businesswoman who appreciates Caroline’s good sense. In each of the novels, they come across murders and solve them.

The relationship between the two sets the tone. However, as Caroline is a young, unmarried, pretty woman, she attracts male attention, and by this novel, she has collected two suitors. One is a gruff physician who has helped with her solving cases in the past. The other is a highborn second son who works as an inspector, who has joined in the detecting from the professional side.

However, in this novel, Mrs. Frogerton is recuperating from the frightening and disheartening events of book 4. Concerned for her health, Caroline accompanies her to Bath, where they are to take the waters. They soon meet Bath regulars who are eager for new people and who are great gossips. While some are pleasant, there are also two older women who treat their servants badly and cause a good deal of general misery. At one get together, one of these women brings up “poisoned pen letters.” These are letters written to various members of their social circle threatening to expose something scandalous in their past. This is disturbing enough. Then, shortly, one of these women is found dead.

With a mystery to solve, Mrs. Frogerton perks up. This time, without the help of either Dr. Harris or Inspector Ross, Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton set to work.

These novels are well-paced, well-plotted murder mysteries. I look forward to each new release. Highly recommended!

BOOK REVIEW: Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

I love older books. My toppling-over TBR pile is crowded with new releases and books that were new releases but haven’t been read yet, but that doesn’t stop me from reaching for something timeless.

Which brings me to Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women. I’ve read a couple of her books in the past. They are quiet, charming, and funny. 

Excellent Women focuses narrowly on the first-person narrator, Mildred Lathbury. It is early in the post-WWII period. (The novel was written in 1952.) Mildred is a clergyman’s daughter who kept house for her father after her mother’s death. After his death, she moved to a small flat in Pimlico and attached herself to the Anglican church parish there. She is close friends with her neighbors, Father Julian Malory and his sister, Winifred, and very involved with the church. She also has a part-time job with the Society for Distressed Gentlewomen (or something like that.) She has an old school chum who she sees from time to time, who lives outside the city. And she is content with her peaceful yet busy life.

This is upended when new people intrude. First, Mrs. Napier moves into the empty flat in Mildred’s building. Mrs. Napier is the wife of a lieutenant currently stationed in Italy who is expected back in London soon. But Mrs. Napier is also an anthropologist who is enamored of another anthropologist, Everard Bone. The man comes and goes from her flat at odd hours, and Mildred hears sounds of argument that are unsettling. Even more unsettling is the husband’s return. Rockingham (Rocky) is handsome and charming, and turns Mildred’s head even as she recognizes that his charm is superficial and a weapon he uses on everyone. Everard is sincere but not at all charming. Mildred is drawn into the messy lives of this trio.

At the same time, the Malorys take a border, Mrs. Gray, a clergyman’s widow. She is a beautiful, take-charge type of woman who quickly catches Julian’s heart. When they become engaged, Mildred discovers herself pitied by the other church members as a rejected woman, even though she insists she’d never considered a match between her and Julian. It’s even worse for Winifred, who it appears will be relegated to an unwelcome third wheel.

As lives grow more complicated around her, Mildred considers the mysteries of love and attraction, but from a detached, lightly ironic perspective. She’s tired of being the person always relied upon to tidy the dishes of others and stand by with a ready cup of hot tea. On the other hand, this is who she is. She can’t help herself.

In the end, she misses her comfortable solitude. Spinsterhood is apparently not the tragedy it’s made out to be.

The novel is a delight.

BOOK REVIEW: Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath

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

 Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath is the third book in the Miss Prentice’s Protegées series. In these novels, deserving young women are taught how to behave in society so that they can make more or less decent wages as ladies’ maids, chaperones, or governesses to aristocrats. Portia Kendall is one of these women. However, although she makes use of the skills she has learned, Portia has always been infuriated by injustice and has become a determined reformer. She dislikes aristocrats as a matter of course.

 It is now 1821, and Portia has moved to Bath to take on the role of assistant editor for a reformist newspaper, Equitas. It’s a position that excites her, as she has a way with words and a devastating pen, and she can’t wait to do her part for the cause. Unfortunately, when she arrives at the newspaper office, which is discreetly hidden away from the authorities, she learns that it is an unpaid position. In order to support herself, she must take another job working for the enemy.

Leo, the duke of Debden, is a handsome, 30-year-old duke with two exasperating sisters who seem determined to run headlong into scandal. He has brought them to Bath where he thinks he can better control them, but soon finds he needs help. When Miss Kendall applies for the position of chaperone, he is impressed enough to hire her. (Unfortunately, he is one of the authorities the reformers are hiding from.)

Portia is certain that the duke of Debden is just another entitled, overbearing aristocrat. His overprotectiveness with his sisters and quick temper convince her she is right. But she soon discovers he’s politically liberal, and they are on the same side of most issues. Moreover, they are intensely attracted to one another. Can two people from such wildly different backgrounds make a relationship work?

Pride Comes Before a Fall is an enjoyable romance that also delves into class differences in the mid-1800s and the struggle for equality. The protagonists are a likeable pair who deserve their happily-ever-after.

BOOK REVIEW: The Eights by Joanna Miller

If you’re looking for a moving story of women’s friendship, The Eights by Joanna Miller is the book for you!

Set in 1920, with England (and the world) still reeling from WWI, this novel takes us to Oxford, where women are finally being officially admitted to the university. (While women had attended in the past, they were denied degrees, no matter that they had earned them.) 

The novel follows the first year of four women whose bedsits (dorm rooms) were in the eighth corridor (so they were “the eights.”) These women, Marianne, Dora, Otto, and Beatrice, are as different as people can be, except that they are all dealing with war wounds of their own. They bond on the first day, and rely on each other for support, fun, and friendship throughout the year, gradually opening up and trusting one another with their secrets.

A quiet novel, it is beautifully written, showing not only what college life was like for women at the time, but also dipping back into the war years to show how women contributed and how they suffered. The war cast a long shadow. Moreover, just because women are now official members of the university community doesn’t mean they are universally welcome. They still have to deal with the prejudices of those who would prefer Oxford to remain exclusively male.

If you enjoy historical fiction, women’s fiction, stories of college life, or stories of the toll taken by WWI, you’ll love The Eights.

BOOK REVIEW: Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung

Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung is the next book pick for our historical fiction/history book club. Based on the life of the author’s grandmother, it takes the reader into the mid-20th-century world of the Chinese civil war, during the Communist takeover.

The protagonist, Hai, is the eldest daughter in the wealthy, rural, land-owning Ang family, in a world where daughters are considered worse than useless. They are a drain on the family finances and are treated as such. Because Hai’s mother has birthed only daughters, the matriarch of the family, the brutal Nai Nai, treats her with contempt, forcing her to do hard labor and using physical punishment for any perceived infraction. Nai Nai is so monstrous as to seem inhuman. Hai’s spineless father is scarcely any better and is more of a nonentity.

As the Communist army approaches the Angs’ rural town, the family flees to safety, leaving Hai, her sisters, and her mother behind “to guard the family home.” As if the presence of a woman and a couple of girls could stop the army. Given the awfulness of Hai’s family and the disregard of the Angs for the peasants they have exploited and practically starved, it’s difficult to tell who the real villains are. But it is clear that Hai’s mother was good to the peasant farmers, and that helps protect the Hai women from worse as they are thrown off the land. (Although first, Hai is tortured in her father’s stead.)

A story of resilience in the face of grinding poverty and loss follows, as Hai and her mother and sisters make their way to the big city where they hope to be anonymous, then to refugee camps in Hong Kong, and finally to Taiwan. The novel delves into Chinese culture and 20th-century history, and so was an interesting look at those topics. It reminded me in some ways of The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, being as infuriating as it was fascinating.

BOOK REVIEW: Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

I was curious about steam levels in historical romances from the past. (Not way in the past, but recent past, like the 1990s. I can’t believe that was 30+ years ago!) I was reading romance back then, but not as often, and whatever the steam levels were did not stick in my mind.

So I read Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, published in 1995, and based on this limited sample, I think steamy then is essentially the same as steamy now. Tropes, too, are familiar. This novel has an emotionally wounded MMC (Dain) who was shunned by his father and abandoned by his mother as a child. As an adult, he has made tons of money, but has lost himself in debauchery, convinced he is unworthy of love. His friends are all blackguards, and aristocratic society views him as the devil himself. The FMC (Jessica) is smart and determined, and refuses to be taken advantage of. But their desire for each other is instant and overpowering, and after a public indiscretion, they end up in a forced marriage. The storyline follows their road from lust to love.

There is wonderful emotional depth to the protagonists. Jessica, in particular, is a calm, pragmatic, take-charge kind of lady (even when she is shooting Dain.) Her responses to his cutting remarks are admirable, and her self-confidence make her the perfect foil for a man who lashes out to protect his own heart.

Loretta Chase is a USA Today Bestselling Author, and it’s easy to see why.

BOOK REVIEW: Isabella’s Rake by June Calvin

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

Isabella’s Rake by June Calvin is a closed-door Regency Romance adventure that will have you rooting for the strong-willed heroine and the infatuated rake.

Isabella is the granddaughter of a duchess who is determined to see her married well. Meaning to a respectable peer. But Isabella is a talented artist who wants to be mentored by someone who can teach her to do more than ladylike watercolors. She wants to paint bold landscapes. She enlists a new friend to help her dress as a boy to present herself to a famous London painter who takes students. That artist sees through her disguise and refuses to help, but another of his students, Harrison Curzon, a gentleman of the ton, is present at the encounter and agrees to take on the challenge. He understands her passion for painting despite the censure of high society because he suffers from society’s strictures as well. A gentleman might paint for entertainment, but not seriously, and definitely not to sell his artwork. Isabella comes up with a scheme so that they can meet in secret, but there is another problem: Curzon is a notorious rake. To be caught with him would be ruinous, even if painting is their most scandalous activity–and it might not be.

This delightfully entertaining novel was originally released in 1997, but has been updated for re-release on July 21. If you’re looking for a story with passion but no steam, have a look at Isabella’s Rake.

BOOK REVIEW: Lady Ferocity by Kate Archer

Lady Ferocity by Kate Archer is the first in a 7-book closed-door Regency Romance series, featuring the seven daughters of the Duke of Pelham, an eccentric nobleman living in the Yorkshire Dales. He has a poor reputation among his peers, who see him as something of a madman, which may be why he hasn’t gone to London in a long while. However, his eldest daughter is of an age to marry, and his sister, Lady Marchfield, has dragged the whole family to the city for Felicity’s season. Felicity is a naive, lovely young lady who does her best to be good-natured but is known, in her family, for having a quick temper. At her first social event, she is smitten by the handsome Earl of Rustmont and she decides he must woo her.

Mr. Percy Stratton is the only son of a newly-created viscount. His father wants him to marry  well to protect their new status. Percy, at 24 years old, sees no reason to marry any time soon. He hatches a scheme to court a lady who will soundly reject him. Hearing rumors that Pelham is “unhinged” and the daughters may be also, he resolves to make a pretense of courting Felicity. (His father will be appalled, given that the viscount cannot stand the duke.)  Seeing that she is taken with Rustmont, Percy offers to help her make the earl jealous by following her around like a lovesick swain.

Of course, readers know how the fake courtship trope turns out. But in this madcap rom-com, the journey is more than half the fun. There is a lovely supportive cast of sisters, who will each get their own stories. And there is a subplot involving their housekeeper, Mrs. Right, who rules the Pelham roost through farcical schemes of her own. There is also an encounter with a tiger!

This is a fun book, and I hope to read more in the series!

BOOK REVIEW: Corpse in the Canal by Mary Lancaster

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

I’m an avid follower of Mary Lancaster’s historical mystery series, Silver and Grey. The latest release, Corpse in the Canal, continues the storyline of Constance Silver and Sebastian Grey, now a happily married couple, who investigate crimes in Regency England. Each story delves into different, evolving aspects of their relationship, and also brings in the love stories of some of the more peripheral characters. The emotional deep dives pull the plots along as much as the mystery.

In this novel, Silver and Grey are asked to look into the disappearance of the adult son of a wealthy gentleman from Buckinghamshire. The young man has not been gone long, but his father believes he is being lured into a relationship with a widow of whom the father (and mother) do not approve. The detecting duo are inclined to believe this is the son’s own business, but there is a suspicion of foul play and some urgency, so they agree to look into it. 

What they discover is that the young man is an awful person, with many enemies. He has left London to return home, so Silver and Grey also go to Buckinghamshire. There they find the young man has been murdered. Now, there is a true mystery to solve.

This series does not disappoint! I do recommend starting with book 1. The mysteries stand alone, but the relationship development is best understood by reading the novels in order.

BOOK REVIEW: Margery & Me by Maryka Biaggio

Where do you stand on the supernatural, the occult? Did you ever play with a Ouija board as a kid? Ever get a shiver of fear about a ghost nearby, even though you don’t believe in ghosts? What about communication with the dead?

Margery & Me by Maryka Biaggio takes us right to the heart of turn-of-the-20th-century Spiritualism, when séances conducted by mediums were all the rage, and their veracity was hotly debated. This novel tells the story of Margery (Mina) Crandon, a Boston native, who was considered one of the most convincing mediums of her day. Along with her husband, Dr. Roy Crandon, she performed séances for years, subjecting herself to intense scrutiny by scientists, journalists, believers, and unbelievers, who consistently failed to find proof-positive evidence of fraud. Her greatest nemesis was Harry Houdini, who was determined to expose her. (Whether he succeeded or not is the question.)

Biaggio cleverly sidesteps the natural skepticism of readers by having the narrator be Margery’s deceased older brother, Walter. It is Walter’s desire to contact Margery that sets in motion her foray into Spiritualism. He is the one who takes charge during the séances and who supports her against the bullying of her husband and those who would discredit her powers.

It’s a fast-paced read with a sympathetic but imperfect protagonist. And while I remain a skeptic, as long as I was in Margery and Walter’s world, I wanted to believe.

BOOK REVIEW: Loot by Tania James

For my next read, I dove into my TBR pile and pulled out Loot by Tania James, purchased in 2023 at a local indie bookstore’s signing event.

Set largely in 18th-century India, during the reign of Tipu Sultan of Mysore, it tells the story of an automaton (which did actually exist) representing a tiger mauling an Englishman. In the novel, the automaton, commissioned by Tipu, is built by a local young woodcarver/toy maker (Abbas) and a French expat clock maker (Lucien Du Leze.) When the British attack Mysore and overthrow Tipu, the automaton is seized as spoils of war and taken to an English estate where it joins a collector’s host of artifacts from the empire.

Abbas leaves Mysore to follow Du Leze, hoping to learn more about clock- and automaton-making. The journey is more difficult than he anticipated, and the unexpected awaits him, forcing him down a different path. (I’m going for no spoilers here.)

This is an interesting novel that took me to places I’d never been before. It is told from different character viewpoints, and some of the characters appear and disappear to move the plot along, without leaving much of an emotional trace. The central characters, Abbas and Du Leze, are more deeply explored. The novel picks up at the end with a love story, the seeds of which had been planted early on.

This novel is recommended for those interested in the complex and untoward ripple effects of British colonialism.

BOOK REVIEW: A Bitter Cut by Anna Lee Huber

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

The latest book (book 14, including a novella) in Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby Mysteries series is A Bitter Cut. Huber continues to serve up tightly plotted murder mysteries to be solved by the clever Lady Darby and her handsome husband, Sebastian Gage. And there are intricate family dynamics to navigate along the way.

In this book, Kiera (Lady Darby) and Gage are hosting a house party alongside Sebastian’s father, Lord Gage. There is to be a gathering of family and politically minded friends and acquaintances. For Kiera, the most critical partygoers are her brother Trevor, the young heiresss–Matilda Birnam--he hopes to wed, and Matilda’s parents. The parents, unfortunately, are nightmares. Not only are they commoners, but Mr. Birnam is pressing an unpopular political stance: allowing his factories to continue to exploit child labor. He dominates every table conversation despite the obvious distaste of his fellow diners. His wife, Mrs. Birnam, is a haughty, complaining shrew. If that isn’t bad enough, Mr. Birnam has brought along his secretary, a pretty young woman, whose presence he insists upon during social functions, despite the fact that this just isn’t done. (Is she his mistress, being foisted upon them all? Kiera is horrified.)

Before Kiera can get too worked up about the impropriety, the woman asks her to meet someplace private, at midnight, because she is frightened and has something to confess. When Kiera goes to meet her, she finds that the woman has been murdered. By way of an acid attack.

Once again, Kiera and Gage are called upon to solve what at first seems an unsolvable murder. What makes it even more difficult is the fact that the Birnams (who might possibly be future in-laws) and even her beloved brother Trevor are all hiding something.

Alongside the mystery, the novel delves into issues of inequality and child labor in mid-1800s England. As always, the Lady Darby Mysteries spin a fine tale.

BOOK REVIEW: The Daffodil Days by Helen Bain

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

I was interested in this novel when I read that it was about Sylvia Plath. It wasn’t because I am a particular Plath fan, but more that I like stories about writers in general. My knowledge of Plath (what I thought I knew) was that she was a poet and novelist, with a husband, Ted Hughes, who was also a poet, who was possibly a philanderer, but who was definitely jealous of her talent and was not supportive of her work. And I knew she took her own life while still quite young.

The Daffodil Days by Helen Bain takes the reader to the English countryside, to the small rural village of North Tawton, where Sylvia and Ted bought a farmhouse and a couple of acres to escape the hustle and bustle of London. (This is true.) They renovated the house and, with help, raised bees and played at being countryfolk.

What makes this story interesting is that it is not told from either Sylvia’s or Ted’s viewpoint. Instead, it is a stitched-together quilt introducing the reader to the residents of North Tawton, as well as to a few of Sylvia’s and Ted’s London friends who come to visit. These characters all share their impressions of Sylvia with the reader and with each other. It’s a gossipy book. But the portrayal of Sylvia, her charm, her brittleness, her scattered interests, her determination to have people see her as a writer equal in talent to her husband (who at that time was the more famous) is all the more intense and realistic because of the way very different people see her. There is wonder and a sympathy for her, but the reader does get the sense that there is something a little bit off about her. (And knowing her future makes this all the more poignant.) It also shows Ted as supportive, caring, but maybe a bit out of his depth in trying to help Sylvia as she pulls people in, then pushes them away.

I was a few chapters in before I realized something else. The story is told in reverse. It starts in December, 1962, after Sylvia and Ted have left the farmhouse. Then the chapters unfold in reverse chronological order to their purchase of the house in July, 1961. And so, we see the gossip about events before seeing the actual events.

This structure works exquisitely. This is a beautiful novel, highly recommended whether you are a Sylvia Plath fan or not.

BOOK REVIEW: Fables and Lies by Elisabeth Storrs

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

Another WWII novel? This time, my excuse is that Fables and Lies was written by an author whose work I enjoy, Elisabeth Storrs. (Here are reviews of The Wedding Shroud, The Golden Dice, and Call to Juno, set in Ancient Rome and Etruria.)

This time, Storrs places her characters in Berlin during WWII. The story, based on real life events, focuses on Freya Bremer, an Aryan beauty brought up under a broken education system that emphasized Germany’s preeminent place in Western civilization. Her indoctrination into National Socialist ideology is nearly complete. Freya is intelligent, but naive. She has a secretarial job in a Berlin archeological museum, the one holding Heinrich Schleimann’s treasures from Troy, and dreams of one day taking part in excavations herself. But with the coming of the war, her job, along with others at the museum, becomes one of protecting Germany’s treasures (many of which were looted from other countries.) Throughout the war, with (or despite) the massive bombing campaign against Berlin, she strives to help save these ancient relics.

This is not a WWII tale of heroic resistance fighters, daring spies, or of Germans of conscience hiding Jews in their basements. It’s a story of sadistic, seemingly deranged Nazis, drunk with power, and of everyday citizens accommodating the evil in their midst in order to live their lives. The risks and fear are very real. Storrs does a fine job of showing how trapped many felt, and, realistically, how increasingly difficult it was to fight against the Nazi regime.

Freya is married to an abusive SS officer, Kaspar, who gives her and her family some protection, even some privilege. But she is in love with another man, Darien Lessing. Darien is an archeologist whom she met at the museum. Darien disabuses her of her naive assumptions of Aryan supremacy and opens her eyes to the abuses of the Nazis. And yet, he too is trapped by the system.

It is a painful book to read. Parallels with current day authoritarianism and Nazism show the slippery slope between looking the other way and complicity. It shows the level of denial when atrocities are taking place, even as the evidence becomes impossible to ignore.

The details of life in Berlin during the bombings and of how precious artifacts were given priority make this novel unique. Storrs’ meticulous research and powerful storytelling make it worthwhile.

BOOK REVIEW: The Lilac People by Milo Todd

I keep thinking no more WWII historical fiction because I’ve read so much of it. But then another comes along that I want to read. What is especially compelling is a word-of-mouth recommendation from a friend. So I added The Lilac People by Milo Todd to my TBR-pile.

This is a powerful and important novel that, in the current climate, hits very hard. In the immediate pre-WWII era, Berlin was a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. They had a vibrant nightlife. But even more critically, there was an Institute of Sexual Science, led by Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, where all facets of human sexuality were studied. (Unfortunately, this also led to the creation of a registry of “third sex” members of the community, which was a bonanza for the Nazis when they set out to exterminate these vulnerable people.)

The book uses the language of the times, when transgender people were called transvestites, which is not an acceptable term today. The protagonist of the novel, Bertie, is a trangender man, who works at the Institute as a clerk and sometimes tour guide. The book goes back and forth between 1945, the immediate aftermath of the war, and 1932-33, when queer people were targeted, killed in the streets, or rounded up to be sent to concentration camps. Bertie witnesses the violence, but is able to escape with his girlfriend to a farm out in the countryside when the parents of a friend take them in. The friend, Gert, was supposed to meet them there, but didn’t, and part of the heart of the book is the question of what happened to him. Was he killed? Sent to a concentration camp? Or might he have escaped to America?

The tension in the chapters sent in the early 30s is intense. Readers know what is coming under Hitler, while those living through it are blinded by a belief that things can’t get that bad, until they do. Then it’s too late.

But even more horrifying is the aftermath. I didn’t know that when the camps were liberated by the Allies, the prisoners were freed EXCEPT for those wearing pink or black triangles. LGBTQ+ prisoners were pulled aside and sent on to other prisons – by the Allies – for being “convicted criminals.”

Bertie learns this when he finds a half-dead Dachau escapee collapsed in his garden. Karl, a trans man, had been imprisoned at Dachau and managed to run when he saw fellow queer prisoners being segregated out for further incarceration. Bertie knows now they are still not safe.

At the same time, the Allies are determined to punish the German population for their crimes. By virtue of the fact that Bertie and his girlfriend, Sophia, had not been imprisoned, they are now under suspicion as being Nazis. The American soldiers are rounding up German civilians to transport them to work camps. Bertie is between a rock and a hard place.

The novel is heart-rending. At times, it does get a bit preachy and teachy, when one or another character monologues to get the message across. But it’s an important message, well worth spelling out. This novel is highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: The Dove and the Rogue by Harper St. George

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

The Dove and the Rogue is the third book in Harper St. George’s The Doves of New York series, but it can also be read as a standalone.

The Dove sisters are three American heiresses who, by the terms of their father’s will, can only receive their inheritances if they marry into Britain’s aristocracy. Although the requirement is inconvenient, Jenny Dove, the middle sister, is less interested in the inheritance than in making her own way as an opera singer. However, her younger sister has fallen in love with a commoner and needs the money. Jenny feels if she fulfils the requirement, she can convince their guardian to release their inheritances.

Jenny has just the aristocrat in mind. Lord David, who is heir to a dukedom, is the worst rake in the ton. He has been flirting with her outrageously ever since she and her sisters arrived. So she offers him a deal. If he marries her, she’ll grant him one night in her bed. Then she’ll go off to Paris to star in a new opera, and he can continue living his life as he always has. In a short period of time, they’ll divorce, so that he will be free to marry someone more suitable for a future duke.

Lord David, who has grown obsessed with Jenny, agrees. But one passionate night together is not enough. Is it just lust they feel for one another, or something more?

This is an extra-steamy Victorian romance with the marriage of convenience and reformed rake tropes that should appeal to romance readers who like their stories hot. 

BOOK REVIEW: Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières

Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières is a historical novel published in 1994 that I recall having had on my TBR list at one point, until it got lost in the shuffle. About a month ago, I saw an instagram post praising the book that reignited my interest, so I took it out of the library. Then, before I had a chance to read it, my husband and I went on a cruise. Our first. We went to Istanbul, then Troy, then Ephesus, Crete, and Rhodes. The cruise ended  in Athens. It was thrilling to see all the ancient sites, but I had a nagging sense of guilt for not knowing anything about modern Greek history. (By modern, I mean anything later than Alexander the Great.)

When we got home, I picked up Corelli’s Mandolin, not knowing that it was set on the Greek island of Cephallonia. (Cephalonia. Kefalonia). I was pleasantly surprised, and then, immediately immersed.

The novel takes place largely during WWII, when the island is invaded and occupied by Italian and German forces. The main characters are Dr. Iannis, his daughter Pelagia, a local fisherman named Mandras who becomes engaged to Pelagia before going off to fight, and Captain Corelli. Corelli is a mandolin player who joined the Italian army during peacetime and is now an officer in the Italian garrison on the island, billeted with Dr. Iannis and Pelagia. (Corelli and Pelagia fall deeply in love, despite the fact that this is essentially collaboration with the enemy.) But these are not the only characters. We are introduced to a large number of the island’s inhabitants and soldiers, and even given a disturbing insight into the mind of megalomaniac Mussolini. Dr. Iannnis is not only a doctor, but also a historian, spending long hours writing and rewriting the history of his island, and by extension, of Greece, a labor of love that is moving to read.

The story begins before the war touches the island, takes us through the war, and continues through the bittersweet aftermath to more modern times when it is tourists invading the island.

This is an extraordinary book. I couldn’t put it down. It coincidentally provided me with a history lesson that I had felt was lacking on my cruise. But more than that, it was a moving story of love (in many forms) and of the confusion, stupidity, barbarism, and occasional heroism of war. It shows how people can succumb to the brutality and become brutal themselves, or else rise above it. It’s heartbreaking and beautifully written. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

BOOK REVIEW: To Capture a Rebel's Heart by Madelyn Grey

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

To be released on April 23! To Capture a Rebel’s Heart by Madelyn Grey is the first book in a new historical romance series, Heart’s Rebellion.

This novel caught my attention because it is set not in Georgian, Regency, or Victorian England but in Revolutionary War-era New York. The war, with its neighbor-against-neighbor strife and family divisions, makes for an adventure-filled background to the romance and for a nice change of pace for historical romance fans.

Benjamin Hoskins is a young patriot eager to avenge the death of his older brother who was hanged as a rebel and traitor by the British forces. When he learns his brother had been a spy, Benjamin is willing to step into his shoes, even though spying is considered a dishonorable business. His task is to infiltrate the home of a wealthy Tory family, pretend to be a loyalist, and ferret out as much information as he can.

Clara Boyd is the beautiful redheaded middle daughter in that Tory family. Clara has always been the black sheep, and has a reputation for having loose morals, a reputation she plays up in her desperate attempts for attention. Her elder sister is the family favorite, but she is away in Philadelphia where she has met the man she wants to marry, Philip Ashby. When a handsome stranger appears at the Boyds’ home, Clara and her younger sister assume he is Ashby, coming to request their sister’s hand.

Benjamin had a different alias in mind when he came to call on the Boyds, but being mistaken for Ashby works just as well. He is invited to stay with them and gets down to business. The only problem is Miss Clara Boyd, who seems determined to scandalize him with her boldness and frank allusions to sex. His attraction to her makes it difficult to pretend to be her sister’s fiancé. And her guilty attraction to him causes her to run hot and cold.

Clara is a loyalist, and Benjamin a rebel spy. Being on opposite sides of the struggle, they cannot truly confide in or to trust one another. And yet, the attraction between them makes it impossible to keep apart. As he gathers and passes along secret information, the war heats up around them and sparks fly between them. But things really take off when Clara finds out that Benjamin is not who he claims to be. Furious, she agrees to help the British side. And then, Benjamin is captured...

This steamy romance will delight readers of historical romance looking for something a little different.