Beyond the Ghetto Gates - A Novel by Michelle Cameron

Beyond the Ghetto Gates: A Novel. Michelle Cameron. She Writes Press. April 7, 2020. pb, 456 pp.; ISBN #: 9781631528507

The ghetto isn’t any nicer in the late 19^th century than it was later on.  This is the time when Napoleon’s French troops have invaded the Italian city of Ancona.  They’ve taken down the wall that separates Jews from Christian, but that’s about it.  Mirelle is the heroine of this novel and she’s got to make a decision that will have life changing ramifications. She’s a talented woman who is gifted in her father’s business.  But now she is told that she should not be working there because she’s a woman. Should she marry the older man who can give her everything or marry the Christian soldier who has made such a dashing appearance. 

There’s a picture of Mary that’s become everything to Italians.  It has been seen to be weeping, smiling, and when its gazing at Napoleon scowling.  Francesco, the wife of a man who is murdered for his hatred of Jews, is determined to steal the statue and blame them. What does it mean, vowing to stand by the theft of this picture?

Mirelle is a normal human being who loves being outside, who is happy being outside where she can smell the sea nearby.  But all of that changes when her father dies.  Her home is no longer hers but her aunt who hates her and her work.  How will she move past this barrier and both marry for love and keep her passion for business?

Beyond The Ghetto Gates is a book for women.  It raises this problem about woman in an age when things were mired in tradition.  Read it and celebrate! 

This is historical fiction that is memorable and life-changing!  It’s about the love that goes beyond words to bring change that is meaningful!

The Prisoner's Wife: A Novel by Maggie Brookes

The Prisoner’s Wife: A Novel. Maggie Brookes. Penguin Publishing Group. May 2020. pb, 400 pp.; ISBN: 9780593197752

A Czech farm girl, Isabel, meets a British Prisoner of War, Billy and it’s love sparked from the first look and touch.  Billy is a prisoner and they have to keep their love secret or the German guards would exact a horrible retribution on both of the lovers.  Isabel’s father and brother were taken away by the Germans and she is the only one to help her mother on the farm.  Billy begins to help her in so many ways but they know their relationship must change and it can’t be in their present conditions. However, they eventually escape and trek their way from the countryside until they are finally caught by the Nazis.  Isabel cuts her hair and dresses like a boy.  She acts as a mute would and they tell the soldiers that she was suffering from the results of a horrific battle at Tobruk. 

This novel is more than just a litany of horrendous prisoner of war conditions which are almost beyond belief.  Starvation, sickness, lice, and cruelty by captors are more than enough to break and even destroy the prisoners.  What truly stands out in this account, however, are the tremendous traits of compassion, loyalty and kindness by which men are bound and which they exert to protect Isabel’s female status.  Indeed, one of the men will die to protect Isabel’s life.  Billy sings and shares his musical harmonica talent to lift up the spirits of the suffering men. 

As the end of the war approaches, conditions begin to change as the Nazi soldiers fear retaliation if they are exposed to the Allies.  Billy and Isabel, however, are united in honoring and respecting men who treasured and shared books, meager portions of food and medical care, minimum as it was.  They all dream of returning to home and a decent meal.  One mourns as his fiancé married his brother but he still finds courage to go on for this loving prisoner couple.

War often shows the world the worst in human beings but in Maggie Brookes’ novel it also shows the best human and superhuman qualities operating in the worst of wartime stress and difficulties.  Remarkable historical fiction that is a phenomenal read and highly recommended.  You won’t forget this novel for a very long time!

Above the Bay of Angels by Rhy Bowen

Above the Bay of Angels. Rhys Bowen. Amazon Publishing. February 11, 2020. pb, 348 pp.; ISBN #: 9781542008259.

Queen Victoria is older and Albert has died.  Isabelle Waverly’s father life is slowly dulling because he drinks too much.  His two daughters will be all right; one will marry and the other one has unbelievable luck.  For she sees a woman die from being hit by a truck and she assumes the identity of this woman who has been invited to Buckingham Palace.  She has the background and becomes Helen Barton.

The position is hers and she works so very hard at becoming a junior cook.  Luck seems to follow her.  Despite the mockery of Roland Barton, she gets him a job as a follower of the Queen’s son.  Others try to push her but she holds off many, telling each she will not bed them as she is committed to honesty and integrity that go with marriage.  This makes for many tight moments!

Then one year the Queen decides to go to Nice in France!  There she pleases the Queen with her scones and her honesty.  The beauty and food of this locale please Helen and she learns to cook them via the French chef who becomes a friend.  She is challenged by the death of a German prince and is judged guilty of murdering him with a mushroom.  She manages to find the guilty party who did commit this horrendous crime and in so doing earns the care of her peers. 

Thus she agrees to marry the French chef, Jean-Paul Lepin and open their own French restaurant.  Alive and moving beyond its borders, this novel will satisfy you and also satisfy the mystery.  It’s a tale told in simplicity and honesty. 

It’s good, solid historical fiction that this reviewer highly recommends!

And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis by Stephanie Marie Thornton

And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Stephanie Marie Thornton. Penguin Publishing Group. March 2020. pb, 480 pp.; ISBN #: 9780451490926.

Welcome to the world of Jack and Jackie – a romance beyond romance!  It’s a world where we see Jackie’s sense of humor and mostly grit.  She knew what she was marrying into but she married Jack Kennedy anyway. She knew he was a womanizer but he swore she was his only woman and proved it. It reads like an intimate memoir.  It brings the reader to share in her tears and deepest fears.

She met his family and got along with everyone of them.  She had miscarriages and trials but kept her chin up until she had her children, Caroline and John.   When she drives through Texas with Jack, we know how mind-numbing his assassination is and what it does to her.  It takes her to levels of grief and yet it is her family and his that offer the support that keeps her going.  Yes, it is Bobby who is there for her and gives her strength that she takes time to turn into her own.  From then on, her stoicism guides her through the tragedy of Bobby’s assassination. 

From then on, she gets to raise her children and decides to travel to Greece.  There she eventually marries Aristotle much to the chagrin of the Kennedy clan and Aristotle’s children.  She does this for her children’s safety and it works.  But marriage to Ari isn’t what she had hoped and she is hopelessly entangled in a stay at home, European style marriage and it isn’t until his death that she feels free. 

She then has the money and the dreams to become an editor, a successful one at that.  Jackie has been married three times and spends the rest of her life doing what she loves.  Throughout the book she shares her love of poetry and prose in small ways with each of her families, but only after life has taught her through joys,  pain and trials does she celebrate her literary life with the world.

Many readers do not know Jackie’s life but now they can get to know her intimately in a way that gives her reality a way to remember the days of Camelot – and beyond.  Wonderful historical fiction!

A Murderous Relation: A Veronica Speedwell Mystery #5 by Deanna Raybourne

A Murderous Relation: A Veronica Speedwell Mystery #5. Deanna Raybourn. Penguin Publishing Group. March 2020. pb, 320 pp.; ISBN #: 9780451490766.

Veronica Speedwell is asked to recover a beautiful piece of jewelry that has been given to a rich courtesan in a high-class bordello for the aristocracy.  The jewelry is to be used to unite a Prince of the British Kingdom to a woman he admires.  However, the Royal Family has other plans for his future marriage.  Left alone the passing of this jewelry will cause a scandal that would destroy the monarchy.  Veronica, as the unrecognized daughter of the ruling Prince, agrees to carry out this task.  She protects the Kingdom even if her shameful status remains unacknowledged.

The pages that follow will put the life of Stoker, a natural history colleague, and Veronica at risk since they are kidnapped as part of a plot to remove the remaining Germanic people from the Royal Family and begin a new reign supposedly ruled by Veronica but in reality dictated by a failing police officer and an anarchist. 

In the process readers will meet some of Stoker’s dead animals ready to be mounted, will see how Stoker and Veronica will survive being wounded several times, and will meet Eddy, a Prince, who is spoiled but wants to leave a good mark on the people of his Kingdom but is clearly unprepared to do any ruling. 

Meanwhile Veronica has finally realized how much she loves Stoker and is resolved to be united with him but is stymied by circumstances which leave the two closer to dead than alive and passionately connected.  However, determination may eventually pay off which would definitely change the nature of their future sleuthing activities.

You will also meet a journalist and the head of police who care about the poor and homeless individuals who wind up in lives of prostitutes and thieves.  The social connection is touching although these characters seem powerless to change the lives of those they most pity.  This situation makes the Jack the Ripper murders to which their plight is connected all the more devastating!

A Murderous Relation… is a fun read, full of adventure, danger, mystery and passion! Enjoy the great read!

Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow by Rashi Rohatgi

Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow. Rashi Rohatgi. Galaxy Galloper Press, LLC. March 2020. pb, 270 pp.; ISBN #: 9781733233293.

In 1905 Nash returns home to India after having spent time studying engineering in Japan, which has just won a war against Russia.  India is now feeling they will unite and so have Great Britain leave their country.  So it’s a time for protests and petitions to local and national politicians to win battles against segregation. Nash asks his fiancé Leela to get signatures for the petition ending segregation in Chadrapur’s local schools, Leela needs to take time to process such an action.  She is definitely for the old ways and somewhat up for change into new ways.  For now she is obsessed with her love for Nash and how his occasional kisses spark her love and desire for more.  She wonders how such changes will affect families.

Things, however, are complicated.  Nash and Leela are expected to marry and live in Nash’s small village.  Nash however now wants to become a lawyer and not an engineer.  Leela’s sister, Maya, has fallen in love with a Muslim, a union that would be forbidden and ostracized by their present neighbors.  Maya believes that such a change must happen along with all of the other changes that are hopefully looming in the near future.  Love to Maya is stronger than prejudice and segregation of religions.

There are multiple scenes where Leela, Maya and their father meet with Nash’s family.  During these visits, much is mentioned that gives Leela and Maya food for thought and discussion.  However, discussions never seem to resolve in a shared agreement about the future.  Leela and Maya read many books as they prepare to teach in a local school.  However, no one fully expects them to teach once they are married for social norms put marriage and becoming a parent over and above being a working woman. 

This is a novel about the journey to change.  Leela will commit an act at the end that totally changes her world and mandates she must embrace change even if she acts like it is all accidental and not part of a revolutionary plot.  Reference is made to Buddhism and the beginning teachings of Gandhi. 

Interesting historical read that contemplates how change demands different thought, feelings and actions in the midst of a traditional society.  Fascinating reading!

Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau

Dreamland. Nancy Bilyeau. Endeavour Media Ltd. January 2020. pb, 386 pp.; ISBN: 9781911445968

In 1911 Peggy Batternberg spends a summer at Coney Island, one of the world’s favorite playgrounds, a method her famous, rich family is using to curb her lower class desires and dreams.  Up to that summer she was allowed to work in a bookstore, a job she loved because it opened up her world to famous books, art and people who have global perspectives and style.  She was to marry but her almost fiancé turned out to be out of Peggy’s taste.  Later she will be proven correct in her estimation.  Her family’s Jewish heritage is problematic at times but doesn’t stop them from flaunting their wealth and gaining what they want, including what is shameful.

At Coney Island, she breaks away from her family one late afternoon and meets a young, talented artist whose taste in art moves Peggy to tears.  Soon she realizes that she loves this Serbian artist, Stefan.  The author is adept at catching every tantalizing look, smell, taste and touch to do with Coney Island, including the famous exhibit called “Dreamland.”  However, the law is not so admiring of immigrant artists and have investigated Stefan, believing he is an anarchist come to America to bring violence and trouble. He therefore is considered worthy of watching especially in light of the death of two young women right on the beach. 

During this time, Peggy will discover some real culprits who are guilty of criminal acts.  The ending of this book may not satisfy everyone but reflects a reality where the world characterized and judged those in different classes; the reader becomes exposed to more like the true reality in and around Peggy Batternberg’s family and neighborhood.

Coney Island was famous for Nathan’s hot dogs, freak shows, ice cream, lemonade and cotton candy  In every “fun” spot are some shadows, however, and Nancy Bilyeau is to be commendable to show the famous, loved spot in all of its shapes, shades, illusions and realities.  Great historical fiction and a great read!!!

The Girl in the White Gloves: A Novel of Grace Kelly by Kerri Maher

The Girl in the White Gloves: A Novel of Grace Kelly. Kerri Maher. Penguin Publishing Group. February 2020. pb, 384pp.; ISBN #: 9780451492074.

“And someday you’ll realize that what you’ve got isn’t worth trading. I think I’m starting to see your point, she thought. I just hope it’s not too late.”  Grace Kelly’s dream was to become a Broadway actress. Then she learned about the power of Hollywood.  In the early stages of her career, her parents were not supportive.  Criticism was the norm but Grace’s love of acting overcame the fiercest opposition from family and critics.  Her physical appearance made her the white-gloved Cinderella model in acting.  However, she possessed characteristics that called for grit to survive the rougher aspects of her chosen career.

Maher loosely depicts the love affairs Grace had in her rise to success – Don Richardson, Alfred Hitchcock, Oleg Cassini, Clark Gable and others – momentary flings that failed to satisfy that empty yearning she so frequently knew.  What truly thrilled her was totally immersing her in someone else’s character.  In a world where Grace takes pride in her independence and strength, where can she turn when others expect her to be meek and obedient?  

The narrative plot of Grace’s life story cascades back and forth between her youth and her final years in Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier.  The reader will frequently question whether all the glitz and glamour are worth the sacrifices that were mandatory in the world of acting with its ever-present high expectations. It is fascinating to see the relationship she formed with directors, agents and producers in the trade.

At the same time one can sense her star-struck haze when she finally is awarded an Academy Award.

Overall, however, this account is a glitzy account of Grace Kelly’s life.  Insecurity and a yearning for approval dominate most of her thoughts, feelings and relationships. Her marriage contract paralleled her demanding Hollywood contracts. Her marriage to Prince Rainier is ultimately disappointing and full of mainly the “image” royalty was bound to present to Monaco and global subjects.  Her rise to the life of a Princess was costly indeed, including a diminishing role as a mother of lovely children whose father vied for the children’s attention and love.

Kerri Maher provides a realistic, stark portrayal of the life and times of Hollywood actors and actresses, Broadway shows, movies and their effect on the public audience who never stop craving more of stars’ “stage life.” 

Fascinating historical fiction recommended as an intriguing and wonder-full read!

A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel by Isabel Allende

A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel by Isabel Allende. Random House Publishing Group. January 2020. pb, 336 pp.; ISBN #: 9781984820150.

Roser and Victor Dalmau agree to marry in Spain after General Franco wins control of the government over the Republicans in the late 1930’s.  Roser’s husband died during that conflict and his brother Victor, who learned to be a doctor during the Civil War, is determined to get them out of Spain as Franco’s government is tyrannical and devastating to millions.  This novel is their story.  What starts as a brother-sister relationship will develop into a phenomenal, glorious love.

Their journey will take them to France, Chile and Venezuela.  Governments in those countries were also in flux.  Before they get there, Victor has a brief fling with a spoiled, aristocratic Spanish woman.  She has a child who is given up for adoption, a fact Victor never learns until he is much older. Victor becomes a good friend of Pablo Neruda the poet, who writes a poem about Chile, written on the ship called “Winnipeg” that gives this novel its title.  Pablo is a Socialist and becomes persecuted and hunted because of his political beliefs; but it turns out he is mainly concerned with the love of people and freedom.  He is responsible for two thousand refuges being allowed to emigrate from Spain to Chile.  These refugees soon develop a fine reputation for being responsible families who improve conditions in Chile.

This is a family saga about those who face constant trials but do their best to work hard and avoid controversy.  Their debacle in each of these countries is heartbreaking.  Victor becomes a tough man as he experiences the horrors of war which he experienced as a medic and later as a doctor in Chile.  Allende’s earlier novels are more about the Pinochet government in Chile but here we also get a glimmer of the military horrors creating suffering and death for far too many. 

Victor earns a reputation as an intelligent, capable and kind cardiologist. Rosa is pragmatic, hard-working and loyally protective of Victor.  His vanity is shattered when his love Rosa becomes terminally ill.

What is unique about this family saga is how positive these characters are even in the face of the most daunting challenges.  It’s a beautiful tribute to the power of love and loyalty, faith and hope in mankind no matter what the prevailing political challenges and, like the title poem, a tribute to beautiful people and lands prevailing in victory even when caught in the prevailing tides and currents testing the mettle of those riding the formidable journey into a more hopeful existence.

A Midwife's Song of Freedom: Oh Freedom! (Hope River Novel #4) by Patricia Harman

A Midwife’s Song of Freedom: Oh Freedom! (Hope River Novel #4) by Patricia Harman. Flying Squirrel Publishing. November 2019. pb, 478 pp.; ISBN-13: 978-1702575003.

In 1956 the Civil Rights movement is beginning to pick up steam as well as the threats from America’s Cold War with Russia.  Patience and her dear friend Bitsy share the unfolding events, both decrying their ancestral memories of slavery and freedom as well as current events that threaten the stability they have come to know.  Their work as midwives has slowed but is now gaining prominence as the new “painless” childbirth methods often are nothing but drugs and more forceful ways of helping mothers give birth such as the use of forceps to rush delivery of newborn infants.  Women are learning that childbirth may be better when occurring naturally, but the fear of things going wrong gives some expectant mothers trepidation and fear to try the natural method.

While sharing their story, someone drops off on Patience’s porch some journals of Grace Potts, a “white slave” who chronicles her realization that she is owned chattel and her journey to freedom through the Underground Railroad throughout America and into Canada.  It’s an emotionally devastating tale and some of the scenes are sure to haunt readers, but the scenes that she and Bitsy read are real and remind them of the cost of freedom that only fuels their Civil Rights protests and fervor.

However, their children have new problems for the new century.  Patience’s daughter becomes pregnant outside of marriage and her son drinks too much.  Bitsy’s son comes home from the Korean War emotionally hurting.  Both mothers have to and will learn to let their children go to a new freedom where things heal beyond parental patterns and dominance.

So what does one do when freedom is looming on the horizon?  One sings and many of the Civil Rights freedom songs are written, sung and shared by all who yearn for the change of true freedom.  Freedom began in the 19^th century but still has fulfillment to attain. Patricia Harman has deftly and ably presented that journey in a way that is readable, exciting, emotionally riveting and memorable!  Enjoy and look forward to more novels in the Hope River series – both past and those to come soon!  Recommended historical fiction books!!!

The Giver of Stars: A Novel by Jojo Moyes

The Giver of Stars: A Novel. Jojo Moyes. Penguin Publishing Group. October 2019. pb, 400 pp.; ISBN #: 9780399562488.

Kentucky in the Appalachian Mountains is a gorgeous gem of nature.  However, during the Depression years, families suffered from poor mining conditions and they were hamstrung by ignorance.  However, Eleanor Roosevelt began the project of traveling libraries, and this novel is about the five women known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.  Initially, they are composed of a motley crew of women.

Meet Alice Van Cleve, an English woman who married Bennet Van Cleve so that she would escape the stifling existence of British life and wound up strangled from the worse situation she was living in, with her father-in-law cruelly stifling her husband’s romantic expression.  Then meet Margery, a single woman with a hugely independent streak, who always did the right thing and couldn’t care less what anybody else thought about it.  She was loved by a young man but wouldn’t marry him because she wanted to maintain that independent status.  Then there is a gal with a physical injury who thought she had nothing to give life but turned out to have a gorgeous voice.  And meet Sophie, an African-American woman who has all the skills of a professional librarian; nothing will stop her although the racists of the area certainly have their say to try to stifle her presence.

You will find people falling in love with fairy tales, comics, romances, adventure stories, Bible stories and even a book about romantic sex.  Little by little the rural readers are reading and passing along more books than the Packhorse Librarians can handle.  Others begin to help them. 

Two marriages will fall apart, two new marriages will eventually happen, a woman will be physically battered, a woman will be charged with murder, and a family is disgraced for their brutal treatment of miners and their families.

This is a gorgeous, lovely novel readers will love!  It covers just about every form of virtue and vice, beauty and ugliness, defeat and victory that the imagination can consider.  It’s about victory, friendship, loyalty, honesty, truth and love in the worst of circumstances!  It’s joy-full.  Highly recommended historical fiction!

The Son of York: A Novel by Anne Easter Smith

This Son of York: A Novel. Anne Easter Smith. Bellastoria Press Llp. November 2019. pb, 506 pp.; ISBN: 9781942209638.

“Loyalty binds me” was King Richard III’s motto in the late 1490s in England.  Anne Easter Smith presents the life of Richard in a fairly even-handed manner, using multiple accepted sources as well as the DNA and anatomy studies from King Richard’s corpse found under a car park in Leicester, Great Britain.

Readers cannot help but recognize that Richard lived a very difficult life with most of it spent trying to repel the Tudor traitors from reigning, an endless enmity between the Lancaster and York families.  As a young boy, his brother Clarence demeaned Richard, calling him “runt” because of his smaller size.  Clarence was always the charmer around adults but his true mean streak often fell on Richard.  His brother Edward, the King, knew Richard was the serious moral son and acknowledged it in admiration but also in jest.  Richard begins to earn some self-respect when he is being prepared to be knighted under Warwick (“the Kingmaker”) and serve the King. 

Richard is late to experience romance but when he falls in love with Kate Haute, a commoner, he exhibits faithfulness and truly loving dedication to her for life.  She will have several children who receive life-long financial support, even after Richard marries Anne, Warwick’s daughter.  From this point, a series of disasters follow in which Richard is responsible for or connected with the death of King Henry VII, the two sons of King Henry VII, and several traitors including his brother Clarence.  Add to that his loss of his son Ned and his wife Anne and readers understand how Richard is afflicted by guilt and depression.

The War of the Roses is the main plot of this novel, with Yorkist kings for the most part accused of too much drinking, injustice, poor leadership, etc.  King Richard III actually only rules for two years before he is killed in the Battle of Bosworth. This story also deals with the scoliosis back problem that plagued Richard’s life.  The author does a superb job of creating a complex character who is credible and doubtful, proud but plagued by self-doubt, compassionate but formidably harsh.

The Son of York is a momentous work of historical fiction sure to garner praise, questions and avid commentary.  It deserves high praise for its excellent writing, characterization, depiction of setting and presentation of complex mysteries and challenges regarding 15^th Century English history. Kudos to Anne Easter Smith for this highly recommended read!

The Fire and the Light: A Novel of the Cathars and the Lost Teachings of Christ by Glen Craney

The Fire and the Light: A Novel of the Cathars and the Lost Teachings of Christ. Glen Craney. Brigid’s Fire Press/Amazon Digital Services. September 2013 (second edition). pb, 505 pp.; ASIN: B00F8KTR5Q.

In researching this subject, the author had a dream in which Esclarmonde de Foix appeared to him and asked him to tell her story.  This extensive, multilayered story tells the story of the lost teachings of Christ that were passed down from Akhenaten to Moses, the Essenes, early Christians, Bogomils and Cathars.  It is about alternative teachings of the gnostic Cathars that deny the traditional Gospels and Pauline letters, the former speaking of the Light of Christ and God stemming from within each follower.  It’s a religious point of view that is deeply spiritual.  It began in what is now the southern part of France in Occitania and ends in Baragoza, Aragon in the 13^th Century (1194 to 1250). It’s about the wild and passionate determination of Cistercian and Dominican clergy to quash these teachings and the Cathar believers.

This is history, romance, adventure, spirituality, theological debates and history told about a conflict that finally ended in disastrous massacre at Montsegur.  These are the teachings of the Essenes later taught by the dynamic female leader Esclarmonde de Foix who renounced physical love that her whole being might be attuned to the Divine Light. She is an aggregate of several real women but no less credible and compelling through the poetic license taken by the author to present her character.  The teachings suggest that those who practice violence will be doomed to be reborn into the same life and level of violence.  If so, there are dozens of characters in these pages who make torture, persecution and death into a level of violence that at times is beyond endurable.

At the same time, it casts doubt on teachings like Purgatory, hell, and salvation that sound more like condemnation than the love of a merciful, loving God.  Besides being a great story, in these pages is found several theological debates that will leave readers thinking and pondering personal beliefs.

There are Courts of Love begun by Eleanor of Aquitaine in which troubadours vie with each other to compose and sing of the ways of love, claiming them as a model of chivalric living and loving that all true knights and princes must follow.  Ironically, these sayings are also a mirror for the love of God, to be followed by those who claim to be Christian.  However, most of these same knights, princes, and clerical leaders manifest the exact opposite in their mission to destroy every Cathar follower, no matter their social and economic status.

This is a novel that will haunt readers long after the last pages are read. The author is to be commended for the creation of this passionate depiction of true history and spirituality which has been hidden and denied for far too long.  Highly recommended historical fiction superbly created and presented!

A Bottle of Rum: A Spider John Mystery by Steven Goble

A Bottle of Rum: A Spider John Mystery. Steven Goble. Seventh Street Books.  November 2019. pb, 264 pp.; ISBN: 9781645060031.

Spider John Rush appears in this third pirate novel by Steven Goble.  Spider has had enough of the dangers of pirating, never knowing whether he will be caught, tortured and/or hung.  He longs to return to Nantucket to live with his wife Em and his son Johnny whom he has not seen since he was a baby.  For now he’s sitting in a tavern with his friend Odin when trouble brews.  The owner of the tavern does little work and it’s his wife who carries the burden.  The night when Spider is having a drink is the one in which the owner of the tavern is murdered.  Spider promises to find the killer or killers.  He just can’t seem to escape trouble wherever he goes. For the knife sticking out of the neck of the tavern owner is the one Spider had made and given to his pirate friend Hob.  So now Spider is determined to find Hob as well as the murderer(s).

Spider and Odin are led down a trail of smugglers and attacking knaves to a madhouse being run by some land-lubbered former pirates.  A young woman challenges them and it is clear she is suffering from some form of madness as she’s totally obsessed with death and torture.  Experiments are being conducted on the patients in the madhouse, ones that frequently wind up in the death of those patients.  Is it from poison, amputations or some other evil?  Hints are later given that the experimenter is trying to locate the “soul” of individuals.  The story will develop to the point where Spider and Odin find Hobs but must make a dangerous escape.  The mystery will be solved but not until Spider and Odin have been treated as spies and traitors, thereby earning multiple attacks and wounds that were just as horrible as what they had suffered when out at sea as pirates.  It’s still a hard and dangerous life they are living but they are now seeking justice and mercy out of compassion and not crime.

Spider is at heart a funny, wise and caring individual whose personality is depicted in a way that immediately engages the reader.  One wonders why there’s a touch of evil and insanity in former pirates but recognizes that there are some good souls among them worthy of admiring and rooting for.  Taverns are not only sources of satisfying drinks but also unexpected but probable fights.

A Bottle of Rum is a fascinating tale that puts a new twist on Spider John and his friends and enemies.  Nicely crafted, Steve Goble!

Love is Blind: The Rapture of Brodie Moncur by William Boyd

Love is Blind: The Rapture of Brodie Moncur. William Boyd. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.  October 2019. pb, 384 pp.; ISBN: 9780525655268.

Falling in love is so much more than just physical lust.  Brodie Moncur becomes a highly killed and popular piano tuner.  His past is fraught with the unexplained hatred by his father who considers Brodie a blackguard and many other curse words.  But due to the financial support of a beloved neighbor, Brodie is able to get a decent education and a successful job with a company that produces Channon pianos. 

For now, Brodie is tuning the piano of a performer Kilbarron and accompanying him on his tour of performances.  Kilbarron is known as “the Irish Liszt.”  His partner is Lida or Lika Blum and Brodie falls completely in love with her on their first meeting.  This is a passion that is beyond words and it’s not long before she responds in the same way.  So grows Brodie’s reliance on the family for employment and on his soaring passion for Lika. 

Brodie in the middle of his soaring success suffers a frightening consumption attack which will haunt him for the rest of his life and force him to take convalescent breaks to restore his health to a semblance of normalcy.  Eventually he is forced out of the Channon company but finds another concert pianist to accompany on tours.  During these years Brodie and Lika meet in secret at hotels and elsewhere throughout Europe.  So proceeds the path of “the cuckold, the lover and the mistress” although there is a surprise later added about these relationships.

The title of the novel refers to Lika’s statement that Brodie’s idea of love is blind, that he only sees the good in her and not the negative.  But isn’t that frequently so in all love relationships?  They will eventually be separated because of a secret fact unknown to Brodie but his reflections and descriptions of their love and union are so realistic and the European scenes so beautifully described that the reader feels a part of the whole story, including the evils trying to destroy Brodie’s success. 

The life of Brodie Moncur is indeed a rapture despite all the conflicts that beset him.  This is a lovely historical work of fiction that truly reveals the beauty of the late 19^th and early 20^th Century Europe and two of its characters who parallel that beauty and passion! Remarkable and realistic story!

The Art of Theft: Lady Sherlock #4 by Sherry Thomas

The Art of Theft: Lady Sherlock #4. Sherry Thomas. Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright 2019. Pb. 304 pp.; ISBN: 9780451492470

Lady Charlotte, a/k/a Lady Sherlock, has a new mystery to solve which involves adventure and romance.  A Maharani from India visits Lady Charlotte and at first decides she will not allow Lady Charlotte to help her because the Indian royalty does not believe Sherlock exists.  Over a brief time, however, after the visits of Lord  Ingram (who yearns for Charlotte as a lover) and Mr. Marbleton, who wants to court Livia, Livia’s sister, the plot is revealed.  It turns out the Maharani has a weak son who rules but has made a serious mistake that if revealed could make them lose the support of the ruling British. 

The questions are many.  What written secrets are hidden in the back of a painting about to be auctioned and perhaps sold at a ball being held in Paris, France.  The Maharani’s son had contacts with Prussia in which the latter promised to militarily help against the British.  But what’s on the papers is in code.  Her son is now in ill health due to this international communication gone nowhere and these paper machinations may be very dangerous if recovered by the wrong people.

Nevertheless, Lady Charlotte, with the help of Lord Ingram, Mr. Marbleton, and Livia set out to recover the papers.  This involves learning more about the price of art, those who attend the ball and will auction after much eating and drinking.  Does such partying increase the value and worth of famous and valuable paintings? 

Of course, danger lurks in their pursuit.  Lord Ingram and Mr. Marbleton are almost drowned in the grounds of the site of the castle where the ball will be held.  Meanwhile, romantic ideas increase as the characters discover what their intended lovers are really like in peaceful and chaotic times. It all proceeds even to the very cliff-hanger style ending which leaves the reader anxious to read more of this group’s daring adventures and hope that these romantic plans will become serious.  For those who love a good mystery with lots of riddles and threats, this is your next read. Although this is the fourth novel in a series, it’s also an enticing stand-alone novel. Nicely crafted, indeed, Sherry Thomas!  More please!

The Secrets We Kept: A Novel by Lara Prescott

The Secrets We Kept: A Novel. Lara Prescott. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.  September 2019. pb, 368 pp.; ISBN: 9780525656159.

Secrets are held to protect individuals, groups, and nations.  Our story begins with a group of typists working for the CIA who are told to type but not think about what they are typing and to forget what they are typing.  Slowly but surely, however, they realize that certain typists are being pulled from their work to do more for the CIA, then known as the OSS.  They are actually spies trained to deliver messages, packages and sensitive material.  Irina Drozdova is the daughter of a Russian seamstress and a man who died under interrogation as they were leaving Russia.  She is now a typist and she now has a reason to serve America in order to punish Russia for the loss of her father.

The novel alternates between these ladies and spies and the world of the famous Boris Pasternak, his wife and his mistress Olga Ivinskiya.  Olga supports her lover while he is inspired by the Muse to create Dr. Zhivago for which he will one day be awarded the Novel Prize in Literature.  Olga serves three years in a Russian Gulag and knows she has sacrificed her children and life for Boris; she has lived as the Lara in her lover’s novel.

The spies become messengers to deliver the Pasternak novel which is banned in Russia. They evolve into women and men with alternative lives.  Sally Forrester and Irina become lovers in a very intense but brief affair, given that homosexuality is illegal in these times.  Their separation becomes like a crushing loss like that of death.  Because of their work they will never know love or solid relationships as all who marry are dismissed by the CIA.

Espionage and literature are forces that change the world, often with a very heavy cost to those carrying out the spying or writing.  They are ready to kill or be killed to see it accomplished.  This story is also about repression and exposure, a celebration of true liberty achieved through agony and ecstasy.  Divided into alternate sections of “East” and “West,” the publication of the famous novel is charted from its original publication to its gradual spread throughout Europe and Russia itself.  Olga suffers the result after the death of her love.

The Secrets We Kept… is an exciting, reflective, poetic and adventuresome read – marvelous, memorable historical fiction – highly recommended reading! Finely crafted, Lara Prescott!!!

Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution's Women by Kate Quinn et al

Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution’s Women. Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb and E. Knight. William Morrow/Harper Collins.  October 2019. pb, 560 pp.; ISBN: 9780062916075.

Six dynamic women’s part in the French Revolution is depicted in this historical novel by six very talented, skilled writers, ensuring that every aspect of the Revolution is covered. The terrible fears, passionate hopes and dreams, debilitating confusion, truthful and lying promises, and torturous resignations are vividly described as the life-changing reality of true revolution.

Sophie de Grouchy is the voice behind her husband, the Marquis de Condorcet.  She believed that royalists and commoners were working toward the same end – a better world.  Bread is up to fourteen sous a loaf and France waits for King Louis XVI to call the Estates General which will guarantee a place in government for all economic and social classes.  Even the poor believe the Condorcet family is denying rights to those not so fortunate such as fruit-seller Louise Audu who learns to read in one of Sophie’s saloniere gatherings. 

Louise is the Revolutionary, leading the people in the streets to join the National Assembly where they will present their demands for liberty, equality and fraternity in practical ways that will hopefully remove their dire, starving conditions. Louise’s primary goal is vengeance. This results in the storming of the Bastille, with resultant bloodshed and chaos as well as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.  They now avidly own and present their “Pride, Purpose and Passion” in their demanded rights.

Princess Elizabeth, the King’s sister, is depicted as a true royalist.  Loving her brother as blood family as well as the man appointed by God to rule, Elizabeth also has a compassionate heart that reaches out to those suffering in France.  Such loyalty will not save her eventually, but she naively hopes against hope when her family attempts to escape Paris only to be brought back and imprisoned. She fails to acknowledge her brother’s responsibility for the horrible state of affairs in France.  She, however, does foresee that those who sow violence now will later be “eaten up” by it.

Manon Roland, the wife of writer Jean-Marie Roland, is a complex woman.  She is a woman who suffered sexual trauma when younger but now is an author who assists her husband in writing revolutionary pamphlets and attempts to fend off a lover.  Those who now screech counterrevolutionary terror are Robespierre, Danton and Marat, leaders who are after the Girondists, those who suggest less violent government and methodology.  Her confession of past and present thoughts will prove to be her undoing. Political involvement is her end when she announces, “Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name?”

Charlotte Corday comes to Paris to assassinate Marat and becomes infamous as the “Angel of Assassination, a murderous harlot from Caen.”  Her motivation is to end the betrayal of the revolution for love of country. Her acquaintance, Pauline, fights for women’s rights but then loses them because of “lust and weakness.”

Finally, when Robespierre’s power is unassailable, terror reigns.  Citizeness de Ainte-Amaranthe or Emilie de Sartine, renowned for her beauty, becomes the object of Robespierre’s lustful admiration and then his destructive power.  She is the last victim of “our revolution…a great wheel of torture upon which women have been broken and silenced.”  

So many more scenes and discussions are presented that readers will never forget, all dramatically told.  We share their powerful, poignant and comprehensive thoughts and feelings which are unspoken but lie behind their words and deeds in public.  We see France ripped apart, citizens destroying each other in partisan bickering and violence.  If fervor were a virtue, all these women and the people associated with them would be canonized.  Instead, their futile efforts turn to mourning but still leave hope, prayers and dreams for a better future, including the Declaration of the Rights of Women.

This is stunning historical fiction which is highly recommended reading!

Blackbird Blues by Jean K. Carney

Blackbird Blues. Jean K. Carney. Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company.  October 2019. pb, 218 pp.; ISBN: 978-1949290226.

Mary Kay O” Donnell lives a life parallel to a masterful jazz performance.  She’s an aspiring jazz singer who initially has to decide whether she will enter a convent in Chicago.  Then she has to make a decision about an unwanted pregnancy.  During this time, she is mourning the death of a nun, Sister Michaeline, who as Mary Kay’s mentor.  Sister Michaeline was a nun who always responded out of the box but who guided Mary Kay with advice that built up Mary Kay’s positive self-image.  The loss is so huge and the pain staggering.

At the same time Mary Kay’s neighbor introduces her to the literary works of James Baldwin and the other nuns to the growing civil rights movement.  Then Mary Kay finds herself wrapped up in the world of an African-American Lucius who is a jazz performer.  He also gives Mary Kay the diary of Sister Michaeline which was written during her early years as a nun.  The excerpts have a major impact on Mary Kay as do the singing lessons from Lucius.  They also make visits to local art museums and galleries and they visit jazz clubs that are popular in the African-American world.

Mary Kay’s decision about her pregnancy provides a devastating chapter, a time she will forever mourn.  During this period, she discovers things about Sister Michaeline that are shocking and which Mary Kay understands from her present feelings for Lucius.

This is remarkable historical fiction that is poignant and mind-blowing in intensity. The greatest jazz pieces are depicted as swirling bands of rising and falling notes that sometimes spin out of control and then develop into a harmonious sound that is unpredictable.  That is also Mary Kay’s life during the turbulent 1960s, a time in which change is feared, misunderstood, delighted in and held close.  Jean Carney is a talented writer who has penned an unforgettable story that reflects a time of change and emergence into new culture and form.  It holds parallels with our present age! Delightful and highly recommended read!

Where the Light Enters: A Novel by Sara Donati

Where the Light Enters: A Novel. Sara Donati. Penguin Publishing Group.  September 2019. hb, 672 pp.; ISBN: 9780425271827.

Dr. Sophie Savard and Dr. Anna Savard, Sophie’s cousin and best friend, want to start a medical school and hospital for disadvantaged women in the 1800s.  Both doctors are women of color and have had their past experiences of prejudice and suspicion.  Now, Dr. Sophie’s husband has died of tuberculosis in Europe and she has returned to New York.  She’s had plenty of condolences and her own memories in grief to now process.  But activities in the city quickly garner her interest and involvement. 

A number of deaths have occurred to women who were pregnant, went to a criminal doctor who punished them with surgery, infection and eventual death.  But now that doctor is gone and there are still problems.  The wife of a reputable banker has disappeared and another woman is found dead by very suspicious wounds which lead the investigators to believe the same type of murder has again occurred.  Dr. Anna’s husband, Detective-Sergeant Jack Mezzanotte, asks the cousins to consult on the investigation.  They agree to consult and gradually the story unfolds to show who the captors or kidnappers are and who has once again murdered.

This is a tough and tender story that will grip every reader who is interested in both medicine and crime.  The main characters are financially well-settled but still have enormous compassion for women who seek criminal doctors hoping to end pregnancies or illness.  Women who are mistreated have multiple reasons to seek illicit treatment and the Savard doctors believe education and compassion will change the horrific nature of these losses.  This is a timely subject as the nation is coping with the possibility of abortions becoming illegal as it was fifty years ago and earlier.  It is not too hard to realize that these dark days could become reality again and that there are even now numerous women, both health care professionals and regular women, who seriously are concerned about this issue.  Dr. Anna and her husband Jack, as well as Dr. Sophie stand for the protection of women’s rights.  This would be an excellent novel to use in a book club or to share in other contemporary issue discussions.

The topic is obviously well-research and is presented with all sides of the issues covered.  Sara Donati is a highly-skilled, creative and talented writer.  This, her latest novel, is highly recommended historical fiction!!! Enjoy the read!