Tag Archives: historical fiction

Review: Every Hour Until Then

Posted on by
Every Hour Until Then

Every Hour Until Then is the fifth in Gabrielle Meyer’s Time Crosser novels about a handful of people who lead double lives. They live a day in one year, and when they go to sleep, they wake up in another year and place, centuries before or after. The next day, they wake up in the first timeline as if no time had passed there. They have until their twenty-first or twenty-fifth birthdays (depended on a number of factors) to chose which path they want to stay in. At that time, they’ll lose the other path.

Twenty-three-year-old Kathryn Kelly lives a privileged life in 1888 London with her parents and sister, Mary. As the book opens, Mary is packing to leave home but won’t tell Kathryn why. Kathryn runs to her father to stop Mary, but he insists Mary is now dead to them. But Kathryn is determined to find out what’s going on. She learns that Mary has gone to live as a charwoman in the Whitechapel district, a poor and dangerous part of London.

Kathryn’s neighbor, Austen Baird, has been her best friend since childhood. But he’s been distant since his parents died a few years ago. Still, she hopes he’ll accompany her to Whitechapel since she can’t go there alone.

In 1938, Kathryn Voland lives with her parents in Washington D.C. She has a lifelong interest in history and works as an assistant exhibit curator at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building. Her father is famous aviator Luke Voland. Her mother is another time crosser, Grace from For a Lifetime. They’ve just come to London because Kathryn has been invited to be a guest curator for a special exhibit at the London Museum. However, Kathryn has ulterior motives for being in London. Kathryn’s two timelines are only fifty years apart, closer than most time crossers. She hopes to find clues in 1938 that might help her find Mary in 1888. Yet with the threat of war with Germany looming, she doesn’t know how long she’ll be able to stay in London.

As Kathryn meets with the museum’s Keeper, Sir Bryant Rothschild, she learns that the special exhibit will feature Jack the Ripper on the fiftieth anniversary of his crime spree.

As Kathryn researches Jacks’ gruesome murders, she’s horrified to learn that her sister in 1888, Mary Jane Kelly, is Jack’s fifth victim.

Her first instinct is to put all her energy into finding and saving Mary. But one of the time crossers’ rules is that if they knowingly change history, they’ll lose their lives in that timeline. Kathryn’s planning to stay in 1938 anyway, so leaving 1888 a couple of years early is not a great loss. But her mother has warned her that changing history can have serious unintended consequences.

And her relationship with Austen is just beginning to reconnect. She believes he feels something more than friendship for her. Does she really want to leave without exploring whether they could have a future together?

She decides that, whatever the risks or consequences, she must save Mary.

I’ve enjoyed all of Gabrielle’s Time Crossers stories, but this one was riveting, especially the last half. Often I can guess at the ways a plot might go, but this one had a twist that gobsmacked me.

I had known very little about the Jack the Ripper murders before reading this book. They remain some of the worst murders of all time. I felt the author did a good job conveying what Jack did without going into unnecessary details.

I got a little irritated at Kathryn’s penchant for getting herself into dangerous situations. However, she does begin to realize that she is impetuous, headstrong, and stubborn, and that those qualities are not always good. She also finds that she runs ahead of God, hoping He’ll approve her plans, instead of waiting on His leading.

I enjoyed the audiobook read by Liz Pearce. I am used to Liz’s voice on some of Roseanna M. White’s books, so it took some adjustment to remember I was in another author’s stories.

I’m glad this audiobook contained the author’s historical notes, sharing where she got her inspiration and what facts were true or fiction. There are several theories about who Jack was and why he committed his crimes. Gabrielle chose one of the theories to incorporate into her novel.

I’ve wondered how many ways Gabrielle can take this time crossing theme. All of the books have been excellent so far, and another is due out this fall. I can’t wait.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

Review: Code Name Edelweiss

Posted on by
Code Name Edelweiss

Code Name Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem is a novel based on a true story.

In 1933, Hitler’s rise to power in Germany causes concern for many. But Liesl Weiss doesn’t have time to pay much attention to him. Her husband is missing, and the police assume he just abandoned his family. Liesl is the sole provider for her two children as well as her mother and brother. When Liesl is suddenly fired from her secretarial job at MGM, she desperately looks for another position.

She interviews with a Jewish lawyer named Leon Lewis and learns that what he needs is a spy. An organization called Friends of New Germany appears to help German Americans, especially veterans. But Lewis thinks the leaders are up to something nefarious. He wants Liesl to work as a secretary for group, keep her eyes and ears open, and report back to him.

At first, Liesl thinks Lewis’ fears are unfounded. Her bosses seem very nice. Some of their documents could be taken the wrong way, but aren’t blatant.

As time goes on, however, the group’s stance becomes clearer. Yet there’s not enough concrete evidence to report them. Lewis meets with officials in Washington, but they think he is overreacting. Everyone’s focus is on the Communists, not the Nazis.

Lewis has another operative in the group, known only as Thirteen. He and Liesl don’t know the other’s identity. As he works his way up in the group, he becomes more alarmed. He knows they are up to something, but he can’t find clear details.

Finally Liesl’s and Thirteen’s paths converge. They take more risks to get the information they need, but put themselves in danger to do so. When they finally learn the group’s plans, will they be too late to stop them?

The last several chapters kept me on the edge of my seat.

I think Liesl was like a lot of Americans at the time–preoccupied with her own problems, disbelieving anything bad was going on, then thinking there was nothing she could do anyway. But slowly, she comes to realize that she has to intervene. Lewis shares a quote with her: “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

Then as she rises in the Friends of New Germany organization, she has to deal with misunderstandings from her mother, friends, . . . and her Jewish neighbors.

Some of the other quotes that stood out to me:

I loved my country, but also I loved my German heritage. Would I be forced to choose between the two? (p. 64, Kindle version).

He thought maybe he had it figured, the question that had hounded him since Monterey, the one about why God allowed evil like Winterhalder and the Nazis. Why he didn’t stop them. He guessed that God did stop them—but not with fire and brimstone or smiting like Wilhelm would have done. No, he used people—good people like Leon Lewis, not-so-good people like himself. Gave them what they needed to work with and let them at it. Wilhelm would sure prefer the fire and brimstone, but maybe that’s why God was God . . . and he wasn’t (p. 348).

Adolf Hitler and his religion of anti-Semitism was not a Jewish problem. It was my problem. And if good people did nothing, the evil around us would continue to grow and flourish (p. 90).

The faith element is more subtle here. At first Liesl’s relationship with God is strained: she can’t understand why He would allow her husband to leave. She’s burdened with the pressures of providing for her family and feeling like she is not giving her children the time they need. Thirteen is not particularly spiritual at first. He says at one point that most people weren’t born bad, but were made that way–which is not true, Scripturally, but which shows where his thinking is at the time. But both of them gradually come to stronger faith and dependence on God. 

I enjoyed the author’s historical notes. Leon Lewis was a real person who employed a spy network, helped prosecute American Nazis, and prevented assignations and sabotage. The Nazis really were more active here than many realized. The author includes a quote from Hitler saying the Nazis would cause confusion in America and undermine people’s faith in their government, and then the Nazis would help German Americans rise to power (she doesn’t cite the source). One of their goals was to take over the movie studios and use them for their own purposes. Organizations like the Friends of New Germany were real as well. 

The author says her goal “is not to document a historical event but to write a compelling story about how a character reacts to this event, how it affects her life, and how she is changed by what she encounters. One of my favorite quotes about fiction is this: A story doesn’t have to be true to tell the truth. This is what I hope you gain from [the characters’] story: the truth about courage, conviction, and love that both encompasses and transcends the historical record.”

I think she succeeded.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

 

Review: This Promised Land

Posted on by
This Promised Land

In Cathy Gohlke’s latest novel, This Promised Land, Ginny Pickering Boyden is finally about to realize her dream of traveling to her family’s ancestral home in England. Decades earlier, she had run away to marry her boyfriend before he shipped out to WWII. Her mother and brother disowned her; she lost the baby she was expecting; and her husband came back maimed in body and mind. She cared for him as long as she could, and then he spent the rest of his years in a nursing home. When he died, Ginny spent years recovering and paying off her debts so she could travel.

Now she has just retired from her job when she gets a letter from a lawyer in New Scrivelsby, VA–the town where her family owned a Christmas tree farm for generations. The letter says her brother has died and there is a problem with his will. She needs to come and settle the family business.

Ginny doesn’t want to go, but doesn’t seem to have a choice. She plans for a quick trip to sign whatever papers are needed, see her parents’ graves, and then get on with her life.

But the situation is more complicated than she thought. Her mother, who had died long before, had actually left the Christmas tree farm and family home to her. Her brother, Harold, had told his sons he was leaving everything to them, but he couldn’t since he didn’t rightfully own it.

On top of that, Harold was not in his right mind his last few years. Despite his son’s efforts, Harold took out a sizeable loan and didn’t pay two years worth of taxes.

Even if Ginny wanted the farm, there’s no way she could pay its debts. She has no choice but to sell.

Harold’s son, Luke, has been running the farm almost single-handedly. He believes his father’s lies about Ginny and figures she’s swooping to claim everything and sell it all, leaving him high and dry.

And then Harold’s other son, Mark shows up. A Vietnam veteran, Mark has been in and out of trouble with drugs and alcohol. He did some time in jail while his three children were placed in separate foster homes. All he wants is to sell out his part of the farm to his brother so he can try to make a new start with his children. He’s stunned to learn that his brother doesn’t own the farm.

All the branches of the family tree are fractured and barely holding on. Harold is angry and barely gives Ginny or Mark a chance. His longsuffering wife, Bethany, urges patience and grace. Mark’s children desperately need stability, but his addiction recovery is fragile.

They decide to try to maintain the farm through one more Christmas season to see if they can recover their losses. If not, Ginny will sell and divide the proceeds between them. Though keeping the farm is uncertain, Ginny hopes the rifts can heal and they can become a true family, something they all need.

Unbeknownst to them all, they have enemies without as well as within.

The Bible story of the prodigal son comes up often in this story, with Ginny realizing she has been in the place of both the prodigal and the resentful older brother. Now she wants to be like the welcoming father. But all the family’s problem make it difficult.

Ginny enjoys the hobby of pressing flowers and making pictures with the dried blooms. She shares this with the children and even uses their creations to make framed art to sell to help the farm. Along with the interesting process of how flowers are dried and pressed, the process symbolized that “something so pretty and permanent could come out of something as short-lived as a rose” and “life was not done–simply waiting to bloom again.”

I have enjoyed all of Cathy’s books that I have read, and this one is no exception. The characters are well-developed, and the faith element is woven in naturally. It’s easy to sympathize with all the characters and their struggles. I like how the author brought everything together in the end.

I listened to the audiobook, nicely read by Sarah Zimmerman.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

Two Books by Patti Callahan Henry

Posted on by

I’ll say upfront that I have mixed emotions about these two books by Patti Callahan Henry. I’ll explain why a little later.

In the first one, The Story She Left Behind, Clara Harrington lives in Bluffton, SC in 1952. Her mother, Bronwyn, was a child prodigy who wrote a best-selling book at the age of twelve. But Bronwyn disappeared twenty-five years ago, taking her dictionary of a language she had created with her. The family’s boat was found, but Bronwyn and her dictionary were not. Most assumed both were at the bottom of the sea.

Clara was eight when her mother disappeared, and she lived under the shadow of that event all her life. Now she’s a divorced mom with an eight-year-old daughter. They live with Clara’s father. Clara is a successful children’s book illustrator who is about to receive the Caldecott medal.

Then one day, out of the blue, Clara receives a phone call from England. A man tying up his father’s affairs found an old satchel in his father’s study. Inside was a stack of papers with words he couldn’t understand, along with a note and a sealed letter addressed to Clara. The note said the contents of the satchel were to be given only to Clara in person. They must not be mailed.

At first, Clara thinks the caller is another scammer, looking for information or seeking remuneration for false information. But as the man, Charlie, describes the satchel and reads the note, Clara realizes they are truly her mother’s.

With her father’s help, Clara and her daughter, Wynnie, take a ship and then a train to England.

The story was inspired by a true one concerning Barbara Newhall Follett, a child prodigy who wrote a book at age eight and had it published at age twelve. She also developed a language for her stories. And she disappeared at age 28. But the comparisons seem to end there. She didn’t have a daughter, and nothing is known about her since her disappearance.

The bones of Henry’s story are very good. I enjoyed the unrolling of the mystery. I liked the historical references, including Beatrix Potter and T. S. Elliot. Clara and Wynnie arrive in London during the “great smog,” a period of several days in which London was covered in an unusually thick fog caused by weather conditions and coal used for heating. Some 4,000 people died and a hundred thousand more were made ill by the air. I had also read of this in Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. In Henry’s story, the smog causes a crisis for Wynnie, who has asthma.

In the two previous books by Henry that I have read, Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Once Upon a Wardrobe, the author expressed some Christian-ish beliefs. That may have been just because C. S. Lewis, a major character in each book, was a Christian. I don’t know what Mrs. Henry’s personal beliefs are. But this book was thoroughly secular. That’s not so much a problem in itself–I wouldn’t expect anything different from a non-Christian. But I was very sorry to see a sex scene in the book plus continued reference to two characters sleeping together. One is even concerned that the other will somehow think less of her because she had only been intimate with her husband until now.

There were a lot of references that made me think the book was going to delve into magical realism. Emjie is the main character in Clara’s mother’s book and also Wynnie’s invisible friend (Wynnie insists she is invisible, not imaginary). There’s talk of Emjie being “sent” to Wynnie. Gaelic curses are mentioned, plus a couple of times the author writes variations of “All things are one and we are all things.” I’m not sure what philosophy that comes from, but I disagree with it.

There was a lot of repeat information, a lot of convenient coincidences, a smattering of “damns” and similar words and way too much taking the Lord’s name in vain. The romance developing over ten days seems unrealistic.

I listened to the audiobook wonderfully narrated by Julia Whelan and Theo Solomon. And I appreciated that the author’s end notes were included, which isn’t often the case in an audiobook.

Wild Swan

Wild Swan is only available on Audible at this point, and is included with an Audible membership. It’s short, less than two hours. This book tells about Florence Nightingale’s “calling” to become a nurse in an era when cultured, privileged young ladies did not do such things.

When Florence accompanies a friend and her ailing husband on their travels, she spends two weeks at a religious medical community in Germany. The simple, almost spartan lifestyle appealed to her. She felt confirmed in her calling as a nurse.

But when she returned home, her mother and sister called her ambition selfish and said they needed her.

The rest of the story tells her inward struggles and her family’s eventual agreement to let her pursue her calling. A brief few paragraphs at the end tell of her accomplishments as well as a scene at the beginning when she meets with Queen Victoria.

This audiobook was narrated by Cynthia Erivo, who did a great job except for speaking a little too quietly sometimes.

I thought this story was very good. Mrs. Henry portrays Florence as a little too “Woe is me,” but then, she would have been greatly frustrated at being expected to fritter away her life in idle pastimes when she wanted to be useful.

The is the second book of Henry’s in which she compares mountains or hills to a resting woman’s breasts. I don’t see any need to inject a sensual element into such descriptions. It made a little more sense for Joy Davidman in Becoming Mrs. Lewis, but it doesn’t seem like Florence would think in those terms.

Several times, Henry has Florence referring to the Victorian era or Victorian women. I wondered if that term would have been used during Queen Victoria’s lifetime. Perhaps so. But it seems like people in later eras would have referred back to this time as Victorian rather than the people living during that time.

Henry is a gifted writer, and her books are wildly popular (the library’s waiting lists for both the print and Kindle versions of The Story She Left Behind had about thirty people each). Once Upon a Wardrobe was my favorite and had the fewest objectionable elements. Personally, though I liked the main stories in each book, I had reservations about some of the content.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Review: All the Lost Places

Posted on by
All the Lost Places

In All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes, Daniel Goodman is a former thief in 1904 California who is trying to make restitution. He saves money from his lowly wages to repay those he robbed from. He has not seen his mother since he got out of prison: he feels he can’t face her until he has righted his wrongs.

When he hears that his mother may lose her home due to lack of finances, he looks for additional work. A seemingly chance encounter finds him interviewing with a man whose boss wants to make a “little Venice” in CA. At first Daniel applies just for physical labor. But upon finding out that someone is needed to translate one of Daniel’s favorite books and travel to Venice to sketch famous buildings, Daniel pushes hard for that role. His mother had come from Venice. She had sent him the book in question when he was in prison. He used to be able to draw–a head injury has left him unable to draw from memory any more, but he can draw something if he can see it.

The man is skeptical at first, but when Daniel draws a nearby building for him, the man agrees.

Daniel had kept himself pretty isolated after his prison confinement, so traveling and interacting with so many people is a strain on his nerves. He barely arrives in Venice when he literally runs into Vittoria, a bookseller. One of his tasks is to try to find the original copy of the book he’s supposed to translate, The Book of Waters. Daniel’s copy is one of only a few, which are all unfinished. It’s hoped that the original will have the closing chapters. He enlists Vittoria’s help to try to find the book.

As Daniel translates, he’s drawn into the story of Sebastien, who was put in a basket and floated toward an orphanage in Venice in 1807. Instead, a gondolier notices the basket, picks him up, and takes him to a guild of five artisans, who adopt him and train him in each of their skills. Though Sebastien loves his blended family, he wrestles all his life with his identity and purpose. One day, a woman washes up on the shore of the island Sebastien lives on, changing both their lives forever.

Sebastien’s story occurs when Napoleon had taken over Venice. Some Venetians planned that at some point, they would revolt and set up their Doge, or governor.

Sebastien and Daniel wrestle with some of the same questions. Though Daniel knows his origins, he can’t free himself from the guilt and losses of his past. Yet just as Venice was “the city that came from a swamp . . . a lost place that grew hope,” perhaps God can build something new and beautiful on the swampy places of a man’s life.

The Napoleonic era is one I know very little about, and I was glad to learn more of that time frame and Venice’s history. Amanda shares a lot of interesting details in in her end notes, including the fact that an Abbot Kinney really did build a “Venice of America” in CA in the early 1900s.

Some of the quotes that stood out to me:

Isn’t that the way of miracles? Something extraordinary because of the faithful ordinary (p. 53, Kindle version).

Found means someone was searching for you, running after you. You, the greatest treasure in all the world. That is what Trovato—Found—means. Sebastien Trovato, you are Found. Always and forever (p. 74).

Life had taught them hope was a dangerous and fragile thing . . . Faith sang a different song: hope was as necessary as breath, and so strong that it carried its own heartbeat (p. 115).

He dug instead for the tiniest slip of hope. And in doing so, hope became . . . purpose (p. 120).

Mosaic . . . it is the art of empty spaces. Broken things, harvested as treasure and pieced together into something entirely . . . different. Old, but new. Broken, but whole (p. 219).

“Do not be downcast, O your soul!’” He raised his face to the sun, reciting a psalm—or what sounded like one.
“Do you mean ‘O my soul’?”
“My soul is very happy in this moment. I mean your soul” (p. 249). 

Perhaps you are becoming a new tool for a new work. God is not bound by the way things used to be (p. 254).

She stood before him, inches and a universe away, all at once (p. 285).

Amanda’s writings always touch the heart. This book took a little longer for me to get into than some of her others, but I loved how all the threads came together in the end.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Review: Up from the Sea

Posted on by
Up from the Sea by Amanda Dykes

Amanda Dykes’ novella, Up from the Sea is a prequel to Whose Waves These Are, one of my all-time favorite Christian novels.

Savannah Mae Thorpe was raised in Georgia, but is taken in by an aunt and uncle in Maine after her parents die. Savannah is more comfortable walking in the forest than the ballroom with her cousins.

When her cousins and their friends tell of an old legend, Savannah recognizes it as a variation on a story her mother told of a young woman who buried a small chest under what came to be known as the Atonement Tree, asking forgiveness while an unknown observer watched.

When Savannah discovers an updated version of the map her mother drew as a child, she goes with her cousins and Alistair Bliss, a local woodsman and employee of the family, to see if they can find the tree. What they discover has ramifications for all of them.

Along with Savannah’s “fish out of water” story, there are hints of troubled secrets in Alistair’s past, Savannah’s uneasy relationship with the cousin she used to count as a friend, and some Revolutionary War history.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Darkness comes, Savannah my girl. But don’t you let it steal your light.

I have a feeling no matter how mixed up the problem is, the answer’s almost always the most simple thing hiding beneath all our worries. That if we scale it back and look for the simplest truth—there lies the thing to do.

So many dashed hopes between the three women present within, yet it felt like a gathering place. God’s hand moving and weaving, stitching these unlikely hearts to one another.

So far, I have loved everything I’ve read of Amanda’s. This was such a sweet story. I loved the development of Savannah’s relationship with Alistair (who becomes the father of the brothers in Whose Waves These Are). I think both books could be read on their own, but they go well together.

Review: The Librarian of Saint-Malo

Posted on by
The Librarian of Saint-Malo

In the novel, The Librarian of Saint-Malo, by Mario Escobar, World War II broke out on the day Jocelyn and Antoine married. She developed tuberculosis on their honeymoon and struggled with her health for a long time.

Jocelyn worked as a librarian’s assistant in Saint-Milo, France, a port city that was once a haven for privateers. Antoine was eventually called for military service. When the Nazis invaded France, Jocelyn and her friend, bookstore owner Denis, hid some of the most valuable and important books away before the Nazis could either destroy or steal them.

A Nazi officer took over one of the bedrooms in Jocelyn’s apartment. The officer in charge of going through the books at the library was kinder and did not search as thoroughly as he could have for forbidden or valuable books.

The longer the Nazis occupied the area, the worse things got: food shortages, restrictions, people being herded and sent to concentrations camps–including Denis.

When the tide turned and the Nazis saw they were beginning to lose the war, they refused to surrender or retreat from Saint-Malo in an effort hold off Allied forces from getting further inland. So the city was besieged by American bombs to try to drive out the Nazis, leaving it nearly totally destroyed.

The book is written as a series of letters from Jocelyn to an author she admires so that he might tell her story. But most of the chapters weren’t really written as letters. When Jocelyn addresses the author at intervals, it seems she does so almost as a reminder to the reader that she’s writing letters.

Escobar writes in his author notes that this book was inspired by a visit he took to Saint-Malo as well as an account of a love story someone shared with him. He shares what circumstances and characters were based on real people.He writes that he “wanted to show the suffering of the common people during the German occupation of France and home in on the terrible persecution that the occupation unleashed on culture and books in particular” (p. ix).

I’ve read a number of WWII novels, mainly because that seems to be the most popular era for historical fiction. Usually this genre details some of the awful things people went through during that time but also highlights the bravery and humanity of the characters and leaves one feeling inspired and hopeful.

But this book fell flat for me, especially the ending. I never really connected with Jocelyn. The fact that this book was translated from another language and written by someone from another culture may have contributed to some of the thinking and conversations seeming a little unnatural to me.

Plus the author had characters, mainly Jocelyn, making sweeping generalizations. At one point she comes to see the wife of the marshal’s daughter because she’s been told letters from her husband have been sent there. She remarks, “I thought about how the rich and powerful never lose a war; they can adapt to any circumstance, as if pain and suffering were never meant for them (p. 46)–as if no one rich or powerful ever suffers. In another place, she says, “Heroism is just selfishness” (p. 46). She writes to her author-correspondent, “Being a writer means feeling things at a deeper level than everyone else and knowing how to communicate those depths, helping readers to see reality in a way they never have before” (p. 112). I agree with the second half of the sentence, but not the first. She tells an officer, “You fail to understand women, Lt. Bauman. We are not moved by ideals—that is a banal game ever played by men. We’re driven by something much deeper that really makes the world turn: affections” (p. 116). That doesn’t make sense to me at all.

And then there’s a vulgar expression that I thought was more modern uttered by the Marshall.

I had thought this was a Christian fiction novel, but it doesn’t seem to be. “Fate” is mentioned several times.

One good thing from the book was learning about Saint-Malo, which I had never heard of before. Somehow it was rebuilt after all the destruction and is now a resort town.

Plus there were a few quotes I loved. A couple of my favorites:

My hope is that someday, when humanity regains its sanity, people will know that the only way to be saved from barbarianism is by love: loving books, loving people, and, though you may call me crazy, loving our enemies. There’s no doubt that love is the most revolutionary choice and, therefore, the most persecuted and reviled (p. 2).

Literature is a weapon against evil (p. 124).

Since Escobar is a new author to me, I looked up several reviews of this book when I saw it on sale. Opinions were mixed. Some, like me, felt the book fell short in some ways; others loved it.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss Quarterly Link-Up)

Two Reading Challenge Wrap-Ups

Posted on by

Though I’ll finish a couple more books by the end of the year, I thought this would be a good time to report on a couple of reading challenges I participate in.

Shelly Rae at Book’d Out hosts the Nonfiction Reader Challenge. Shelly has twelve different categories that we can aim for. Or we can be a “Nonfiction Grazer” and make our own goals. I chose the latter course, because I was only interested in a handful of the categories listed.

My own goals for this challenge and the results were (linked to my reviews):

Memoirs/Biographies:

Books About Writing:

Bible Study Books:

Christian Living Books:

Letters/Journals:

The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume III. I’m maybe halway through this one.

A Book by C. S. Lewis I Have Not Read:

Same as above.

Organization/Productivity:

Related to a Holiday:

The only category I missed was aging/midlife.

By my count, that’s 28 nonfiction book (or 29 if I count reading Adorning the Dark twice. I’m satisfied–all these were informative and some were profound.

The Intrepid Reader hosts the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I like a variety of fiction categories, but historical fiction is probably what I read most. I aimed to read fifteen for the Medieval category. I completed twenty-four.

Linked to my reviews:

I love that there are classics here as well as some hot off the press, old favorites as well as newly-discovered authors.

Next week I’ll share my completed list of books read this year and my top favorites.

Review: Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor

Posted on by
Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor

Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor by Roseanna M. White is a sweet (pun intended) Edwardian-era novella with shades of Jane Austen and The Nutcracker.

Lady Mariah Lyons’ step-father, the Earl of Castleton, has to leave his estate to a distant cousin due to an entail on the property. His heir, Cyril Lightbourne, had visited the manor as a child, where he and Mariah became fast friends. They were both imaginative and fun-loving, renaming Plumford Manor as Sugar Plum Manor and writing tales set in the woods.

But due to a misunderstanding, Cyril thought the Earl didn’t really want him as an heir, so he’s been absent for twelve years. Now he’s been invited to Plumford Manor for Christmas and is not quite sure what to expect.

Mariah isn’t sure, either, whether Cyril will be the same friend he was, or whether he will be distant and aloof. She’s heard he is courting Lady Pearl, and she doesn’t know why the men who flock to Pearl can’t see the cruelty behind the beauty.

Another guest arriving at the manor for Christmas is a Danish Greve (Count) who specifically wants to seek Mariah’s hand in marriage because his prince wants to strengthen ties with England by having a member of the royal court marry into a leading English family. He doesn’t love her: he thinks she is pleasant enough, though a bit silly, but he attributes that to her youth. Though handsome, he comes across as almost emotionless, cold, and calculating.

The two men had an altercation in the past, which sets the tone for their meeting at Plumford. Their pursuit of Mariah adds to their animosity and desire for revenge.

Mariah is a sweet girl, though not as beautiful as her widowed older sister. Her siblings and mother think she’s a bit immature, even ridiculous. Now the Greve feels the same way. Is what she always thought of as joyfulness truly childishness? Does she need to tone herself down to marry the Greve, or will Cyril ever see her as more than a childhood friend?

Embedded in the story are themes of faith, forgiveness, redemption, and being who God created you to be. I listened to the audiobook nicely read by Liz Pearce. This was a nice Christmas read.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss Quarterly Link-Up)

Review: Christmas with the Queen

Posted on by
Christmas with the Queen

I’ll say up front that I have mixed emotions about this novel.

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb opens in 1952 with Elizabeth II in the first year of her reign, planning to continue the Christmas radio broadcast her father and grandfather had begun. She’s finding her footing as a young monarch, as well as juggling royal and family duties. Plus the nation is undergoing changes following WWII.

Olive Carter is a reporter trainee with the BBC. She lives with her parents and young daughter, Lucy. She wears a wedding ring and tells people her husband died in the war, but she was never married. Lucy’s father is revealed about a third of the way through the book, but it’s no surprise.

Olive can’t seem to get any serious stories to cover. She’d love the royal news, but an older man, Charlie, has been covering the royal family for decades. However, when he gets sick over Christmas, Olive asks to take his place at Sandringham for the Queen’s first radio address. Her boss agrees.

Jack Devereux is an American from New Orleans who stayed in England after his time in the Navy was over in WWII. A group of friends found each other on VE Day and kept in touch afterward. Jack is attracted to Olive Carter, but once he gets to know Andrea, he develops a serious relationship with her. Jack and Andrea marry, and he works in a restaurant with the hopes of starting his own someday.

But then Andrea is killed in an accident. At loose ends, Jack doesn’t know what to do with himself in his grief. Finally a friend urges him to spend Christmas with him and his family, where Jack meets his brother, Mason, who works as an assistant chef with the royal family. There’s an opening, so Mason invites Jack to apply, which Jack does. In Sandringham, Jack is surprised to run into Olive Carter again.

Jack and Olive run into each other at intervals through the years, usually at Christmastime in Sandringham. At first Jack is too lost in grief to consider Olive any more than an old friend. But over time, he wonders if he can love again.

Olive, meanwhile, has an important secret to share with Jack, but never seems to find the right opportunity to do so.

They both have interactions with Elizabeth and Philip.

I enjoyed the story about the queen quite a lot. From the title, you’d think her story would have been the main one. But it’s not. I got frustrated with Jack and Olive going around the same circles so many times.

I also liked Jack’s journey from his grandfather’s restaurant in New Orleans to a chef in the royal kitchen, trying to balance his love for experimentation and spices with the more traditional fare he’s expected to serve.

It was fun to see Elizabeth’s and Philip’s interactions with each other and with Jack and Olive. I was surprised, but shouldn’t have been, that girls kept scrapbooks with news and pictures of Elizabeth just like they did for Diana years later.

However, I am sorry to say I didn’t like Olive much. She’s kind of a party girl at first and has no problem with lying to get ahead at work.

But what bothered me most was the attitude about Olive’s one-night stand when she got pregnant. Nothing explicit is shown, but neither she nor her best friend feel she’s done anything wrong, and that night is referred too often through the book as “delicious.” Then later, tired of being alone, Olive decides to go out with an old flame just for fun. Her friend says, “Sex, you mean,” and encourages her to go.

Yes, this is a secular book, so I don’t expect it to have Christian values. And, yes, non-Christian characters are going to act like non-believers. Secular authors have the right to write what they want, but I have the right to express when I don’t like something. Plus, there was none of this kind of thing in the previous book I had read from these authors, so I wasn’t expecting it here–nor the amount of bad words and taking the Lord’s name in vain.

I loved The Last Christmas in Paris by these authors and I am sad this book was not the same caliber.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss Quarterly Link-Up)