The Sunday Salon

I’ve been very busy this week, so my blog posts have kind of tapered off recently. But I have been very busy reading (always a good thing, I suppose…); here’s what I’ve read:

A Plague on Both Your Houses, by Susanna Gregory
Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
Murder of a Medici Princess, by Caroline Murphy (nonfiction about the life of Isabella de Medici and the manner of her death in 1576)
Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger, which I finished last night. It’s excellent; a combination of modern love story and Victorian-style ghost story. I’m working on my review of the book, and I’ll post it closer to the book’s publication date at the end of next month.
Currently I’m reading Named of the Dragon, by Susanna Kearsley; I’m saving my ARC of Cleopatra’s Daughter for the plane ride over to London.

I’ve also been busy finalizing vacation plans—can it really be just this week that I’ll be going? Seems like yesterday that I was applying for time off and buying my plane tickets (really, it was three months ago). I’ve got so many things I want to do, and I don’t know how I’ll fit it all in in a week! Lots of book shopping, of course (Hatchard’s, Foyle’s, the South Bank Book Fair, and the Persephone Bookshop are on my list of places to visit); and then I wanted to go to the British Museum, the V&A, Temple Church; the Olde Cheshire Cheese; Covent Garden; the Museum of the City of London; going to a performance of The Mousetrap. After reading Her Fearful Symmetry, I wanted to visit Highgate cemetery, but it’s a little out of my way. I’m so excited, though!

Yesterday I bought a new camera; my old one, which I bought a year and a half ago, is a 2002 model, and I couldn’t find a new memory card for it anywhere… to use the cards that are currently being sold would have required sending my camera off to the repair center to have an upgrade done… so it was cheapest just to buy a new digital camera. I’ve been playing around with my new toy, a Nikon Coolpix, all afternoon, and it’s very cool.

Review: The Aviary Gate, by Katie Hickman

Set in the Sultan’s harem in Constantinople in 1599, The Aviary Gate is the story of Celia Lamprey, and Englishwoman sold into slavery after a shipwreck. For two years, her fiancée, Paul Pindar (a secretary to the ambassador) has believed Celia to be dead—until a chance encounter gives him proof that she’s still alive. Celia and Paul’s story is intertwined with that of Elizabeth Staveley, an Oxford DPhil candidate, who investigates Celia’s story in modern-day Istanbul.

Celia’s story is the strongest part of the novel; Elizabeth’s isn’t quite as fleshed out. Maybe it’s because Elizabeth has an almost cold, detached view of her research subject. I also thought that Elizabeth’s romance story line wasn’t well-thought-out, and the emotionally unavailable ex boyfriend gratuitously thrown in there. Maybe he’s a foil for Celia’s fiancée, Paul, in the past? The ending of the novel was a bit strange, too: we’re told what happens, rather than shown. But maybe it’s best to leave that kind of thing to the imagination?

But as I have said, Celia’s story is the best part of the novel, as are the descriptions of life in the harem. This is exactly the kind of novel that inspires the imagination: you can almost smell the scent of jasmine in the air. I love exotic settings such as that of The Aviary Gate, and this book doesn’t disappoint in the least. There’s a healthy mixture here of romance, or danger and intrigue, that I enjoyed very much—Celia never quite knows who she can trust, especially not the Valide Sultan (mother of the sultan) or the Haseki. The characters are well-drawn, and the historical setting seems well-researched and believable. I don’t know very much about the Ottoman empire, but I was both entertained and educated by this novel (for example, I didn’t know that none of the women of the harem were actually Turkish, or that the sultan never married).

Review: No Dark Place, by Joan Wolf

It’s 1138, and at the Battle of the Standard during the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, Hugh Corbaille’s foster father, Ralf, has died. A knight in passing notices Hugh’s striking resemblance to a feudal overlord who was murdered fourteen years earlier, his son mysterious kidnapped. Hugh soon realizes that the Earl of Wiltshire was his father—and that he is the heir to one of the more strategic holdings in the war between Stephen and Matilda. Hugh soon finds himself embroiled in an investigation of the murder, although he has no recollection of his past.

The story seemed very promising. But there were a lot of things that were wrong with this book. I have mixed feelings about the loss and regaining of Hugh’s memory. On one hand, I liked the theme; but on the other hand, I felt it was a bit too modern for the 12th century. The characters don’t have much depth, and it’s hard to feel much sympathy for our hero, who never seems to show much emotion (except when it comes to Cristen). Even in his relationship with Cristen, there’s very little passion; one minute, they’re indifferent friends; the next, they’re pledging undying love for each other. It just didn’t seem consistent to me.

The story, however, is somewhat enjoyable, although Hugh wasn’t a very good detective—or the villains very bad, if Hugh could tell just from facial expressions who was good and who was bad! And I noticed that the author kept using the same imagery over and over again—to describe a frown, a person is described as having “a line like a sword” between his eyebrows. The writing style’s a bit choppy, with lots of short, one-sentence paragraphs that I kept mentally rearranging—never a good sign. Maybe this book was written more for the YA market? In any case, as I said, I enjoyed the theme of the book, but there were other factors that kept me from fully enjoying the book. It was a quick read, but there are much better mysteries out there about the medieval era; I recommend anything by Ellis Peters, Candace Robb, or Sharan Newman. All of those authors can tell a better story, and their research on the period is top-notch.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

--Grab your current read
--Let the book open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
--You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

“As I straightened up, something hit me. It caught me full on the chest, and I staggered back against the gates, pinned there by my assailant’s weight, and with his breath on my cheek.”

--From Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart

The Sunday Salon

To my surprise, I’ve been nominated for several BBAW awards!

Best Blog Name
Best History/Historical Fiction Blog
Best Gneral Review Blog

Considering that my postings have become a little… anemic lately, I’m thrilled, so thanks for the nominations!

As far as my reading has gone, here’s what I read this past week:
The Aviary Gate, by Katie Hickman
The Coral Thief, by Rebecca Stott
Grace Hammer, by Sarah Stockbridge
A Plague on Both Your Houses, by Susanna Gregory.

Right now I’m between books; I’ve got a whole stack of Mary Stewarts, Emma Campion’s The King’s Mistress, and some Elizabeth Chadwicks to choose from. Also, I have advance copies of Audrey Niffenegger’s and Michelle Moran’s new books coming to me in the mail! I love it when I have too much to choose from, you know?

Review: The Gabriel Hounds, by Mary Stewart

Christy Mansell is on a pleasure trip to Damascus when she meets her cousin Charles. Their great-aunt Harriet lives in the High Lebanon, where she plays a sort of Lady Hester Stanhope role, living in a decrepit old palace secluded from everything. There’s an unspoken rule that nobody is allowed to visit her, but Christy decides to pay her great-aunt an unexpected visit. Met with resistance at first by Harriet’s doctor, Christy gains entry into the palace, but she and her cousin soon discover that not all is as it seems.

Christy Mansell is typical of Mary Stewart’s heroines; she’s young and spunky, and used to doing whatever she pleases. Under any other writer, this sort of thing might get annoying, but somehow Stewart manages to make each of her heroines unique. Also expected is the romance aspect of the book, which I wasn’t quite as satisfied with as I was with the rest of the book, but enjoyed nonetheless. The romance story lines of Mary Stewart’s books are always gentle and understated.

As with all of her novels, The Gabriel Hounds moves at a tight, rapid pace; I don’t know how Mary Stewart ever did it, but her books are always infused with the right amount of suspense. And yet, the outcome of the story totally came as a surprise. It’s this combination of the expected and the unexpected that make Mary Stewart’s books so appealing.

Review: The Flood-Tide, by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

#9: 1772-1789; covers the American Revolution; Enclosure

It is the eve of the American Revolution—a time where there is “a tide in the thoughts of men, and the tide is making.” Jemima is the family matriarch, married to Allen Macallen and the mother of seven. Thomas Morland a captain in the Navy, while Jemima’s son William joins as a midshipman. Meanwhile, their cousin Charles, a botanist and entomologist, cuts himself off from the family in order to marry a Creole woman in Maryland; and Henri Stuart, illegitimate son of Aliena’s daughter, is a libertine in Paris.

Another strong addition to the series; the gaps between books are shorter, and the time covered is also getting shorter, which is definitely a good thing. CHE focuses a lot more on character development so that the reader finds themselves rooting for the protagonists—even Henri, though his deception with regards to his wife truly is despicable. With regards to the married couples in this novel, the only marriage that truly is happy is Allen and Jemima’s—they’re a bit too smug-married-couple at times, but they’re a nice foil to the dysfunctional marriages here.

Harrod-Eagles always smuggles in a bit of history with her fiction; this time she mostly covers the American Revolution and the Enclosure Acts that so changed the landscape of England in the late 18th century. There are other, smaller, changes, too, as Morland Place gains a bell system for its servants. We witness the Revolution mostly from afar, from sea rather than by land, but nonetheless, I was entertained by Harrod-Eagles’s telling of the story. The book ends at the start of the French Revolution, and I look forward to reading more in the next book in the series, The Tangled Thread.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

--Grab your current read
--Let the book open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
--You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

“We stepped into a dark room lined with shelves and all the paraphernalia of a locksmith’s art—metal saws, metal presses and molds, boxes of screws and levers. The air was thick with the smell of metal and dust.”

--From The Coral Thief, by Rebecca Stott

Review: The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

The White Queen opens in 1464, on the day that Elizabeth Woodville meets Edward IV, the man who has just recently been crowned King of England. In the attempt to gain back the lands she lost when her husband died, Elizabeth catches the eye of the young king, and becomes Queen of England herself—and eventually, the mother of kings and queens of England.

I have mixed feelings about this book.

Here’s what I didn’t like so much:
--The fact that the book is written in the present tense. Gregory started writing this way sometime around The Boleyn Inheritance, and it gets on my nerves sometimes because I feel that using the present tense for historical fiction is so limiting.
--The water imagery got to be a bit much-too-much at times. It was beautiful at first, but the fact that Elizabeth kept talking about her ancestress, the water goddess/nymph Melusina, began to get tired after a while.
--Although Gregory is great in general at describing the events of the time periods of which she writes, she’s not so good as describing how people actually lived—as with her previous novels, there’s very little about what her characters wear, eat, or do in their free time. It’s the little bits and pieces that make characters come to life, make them three-dimensional.
--Reading Sharon Kay Penman has seemingly made me pro-Richard III for life, so I was a little disappointed by Gregory’s vilification of him in the book (though of course, when the story is told from the point of view of Elizabeth Woodville, of course Richard would be portrayed in a negative light).
--About halfway through the book, Gregory switches from 1st person POV to 3rd, in order to talk about some of the decisive battles of the Wars. I can understand her intent, but it was jarring to me to go back and forth.

However, I think The White Queen is a vast improvement over Gregory’s previous book, The Other Queen. Elizabeth is much more of a three-dimensional character, as are the other people that populate the novel. I was also a lot more engaged by the story—mostly because the story of the War of the Roses is more interesting than that of Mary, Queen of Scot’s captivity! Elizabeth generally has a bad rep, but here she comes across as a sympathetic woman, strong and courageous at a time when the times moved against her. Gregory uses her imagination a lot more in this novel, because there’s so much less documentation to work from. I think it’s a good thing that Gregory has moved away from writing about the Tudors (at least for the time being); the Plantagenets are a breath of breath air on Gregory’s writing, which was in the process of getting stale.

Also reviewed by: The Literate Housewife Review, Books 'N Border Collies, S Krishna's Books, Tanzanite's Shelf, Peeking Between the Pages, Devourer of Books, Shh I'm Reading, The Tome Traveller's Weblog, Books i Done Read

Review: The Slaves of Solitude, by Patrick Hamilton

The Slaves of Solitude has been sitting on my TBR shelf since April 2008. The other day, when nothing else really appealed at the moment, I picked this one up. I enjoyed it immensely.

Written in 1947, The Slaves of Solitude is set at the height of WWII, in a suburb of London. Miss Roach is an imaginative, nearly-forty-year-old spinster, living in the Rosamund Tea Rooms (though they’re no longer “tea rooms”). The book is told from her point of consciousness, but the novel is also about the other residents of the boarding house. There’s Mrs. Payne, the landlady; tyrannical Mr. Thwaites; and Miss Steele and Mrs. Barratt. Later, a German woman moves in to the room next to Miss Roach’s, and monopolizes the attentions of a young American lieutenant.

It’s a short novel; only about 240 pages, and a quick read. But it’s not an inconsequential one. Hamilton’s writing style is sparse; he tended not to waste words on needless description. He depicts the deprivations of the War perfectly. It’s ironic that Miss Roach, a former Londoner who survived the Blitz, is so unaware about what’s going on around her. But maybe that’s how she chooses to cope. The Slaves of Solitude is what’s called black humor; there are funny moment mixed in with the serious businesses of blackout and rationing (Mr. Thwaites, in his boorishness, is especially entertaining). In all, this is a wonderful novel of people trying to shift in the dead of winter in a horrible war.

Also reviewed by: Bookeywookey

The Sunday Salon

My week in reading:

The Flood-Tide, by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
The Gabriel Hounds, by Mary Stewart
No Dark Place, by Joan Wolf
The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

I’m currently in the process of reading The Aviary Gate, a novel set in the Sultan’s harem in the Ottoman Empire in 1599. It’s pretty good.

This summer the flow of ARCs coming into the house slowed down—and yet this past week I’ve received more ARCs than I have the whole summer so far! I guess it’s to be expected—the publishing industry generally slows to a standstill over the summer months, then picks up again for the fall. I’ve received some good review copies, too: The White Queen and The Aviary Gate are review copies, and I also received copies of Rebecca Stott’s new one, The Coral Thief, as well as a novel called Grace Hammer, by Sarah Stockbridge. Both of these two are coming out next month, so I’ll have to get them read before or during my vacation—hard to believe that in three weeks’ time, I’ll be in London!

Review: In a Dark Wood Wandering, by Hella Haasse

In a Dark Wood Wandering is the story of the Valois family, from the late 14th century through the mid-15th. Charles, Duke of Orleans, is the focal point of the story, however, and the novel follows his life from birth, though childhood, early adulthood, the battle at Agincourt, his imprisonment in England, and finally his retirement and death.

It’s a rather long, complicated novel, complicated further still by the complicated political situation. The author goes into some depth about politics, but still I found this novel deeply engrossing. Charles himself is an unusual character; he’s mostly an observer as opposed to an active participant in what happens. As Charles himself says, “it is my misfortune that I am neither a great man nor an able leader,” but the intrigue of Charles’s character is his courage, especially during the battle of Agincourt. Haasse takes a lot on by writing about Charles’s entire life, but she does so quite capably here. The other characters, however, aren’t so well drawn, and I would have liked to have heard more about his half brother, Dunois. Still, I loved the imagery the author uses. It’s a complex novel of love and betrayal, as the ruling families of Europe find themselves at war.

The story behind the translation of this book is quite amazing. Written in Dutch in 1949, the book was translated into English by a postal employee in Chicago who learned Dutch by studying dictionaries. Later, the translator, whose name was Lewis Kaplan, had health issues, passed away, and the manuscript lay around his house for another twenty years, during which it was nearly destroyed by a fire. Kaplan’s son then sent the book to a publisher. The original title of this book apparently translates into “The Forest of Long Awaiting,” which was a common theme in medieval literature (Orleans’s poem can be found on pages 421-22). Other reviewers have said that this title is better than In a Dark Wood Wandering; I agree.

Contest winners!

I have some winners for my blog giveaway for The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory! They are...



Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit and

Gwendolyn B. at A Sea of Books.



Please send me your mailing address so that the publisher can get the books out to you! Please contact me sometime this weekend. so that I can e-mail the publicist tomorrow night. Enjoy.

Review: Shields of Pride, by Elizabeth Chadwick

Set in 1173 during the rebellion of Henry II’s sons and wife, Shields of Pride is about Joscelin de Gael, illegitimate son of William de Rocher and a mercenary soldier. Quick to anger, he feuds with de Rocher’s jealous sons. He meets Linnet de Montsorrel, widow, and they marry, although it is not until later that they fall in love.

Shields of Pride is one of Elizabeth Chadwick’s earlier novels, and at about 360 pages, it’s also one of her shortest. Unlike many of her novels, this one doesn’t cover a large time span; the action in this book is tightly-packed. I’ve now read seven of Chadwick’s books, and I have to say that I’m still hooked on them. The author really has a talent for sucking her reader into the story and not letting go until the last page has been turned. Shields of Pride is a little more romance-oriented, but excellent nonetheless. I don’t know if Joscelin and Linnet were real people (they probably were), but I found myself really rooting for them, even as family conflict threatens. The historical detail is exquisite; you can really picture the time period and the people and feel as if you were there. In all, a great read, about the collision of past and present, and the ability to move into one’s future.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

--Grab your current read
--Let the book open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
--You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

“I looked where he pointed. Here the valley was wide, with the river, magnificent and flowing swiftly, cutting a way down for itself between the dense bank of trees.”

--From The Gabriel Hounds, by Mary Stewart

Review: The Last Duel, by Eric Jager

The Last Duel is the true story of a duel—the last duel, in December 1386, sanctioned by the Parlement of Paris, conducted between two former friends, the knight Jacques le Gris and the squire Jean de Carrouges, over the alleged rape of Carrouges’s wife by le Gris. The trial and duel took over a year to complete, and it attracted the attention of people all over Europe. The eighteen-year old King Charles VI even postponed the duel so that he could attend.

Set against the historic backdrop of the Hundred Years’ War, The Last Duel is primarily a legal history. The late fourteenth century was a litigious time in France, and it seems as though Le Gris and Carrouges were extremely contentious men—and both made some extremely foolish, un-tactful decisions, in an era when tact was valued at court.

Everything about the trial, and trial by combat, was uncertain: did Le Gris ever really rape Marguerite? Or was it a case of mistaken identities? Either way, the outcome of the case was tragic for everybody; if God decided that Carrouges was in the wrong, and he lost the duel, his wife Marguerite would be burned at the stake—alive.

The author does repeat himself—I think he mentions several times that sanctioned dueling was rare, and that Carrouges had a contentious personality. But the material in the book is presented in an interesting way, one that holds the reader’s interest inside and out. Even someone familiar with late fourteenth century legal history will find something new here. And for those who aren’t as familiar with medieval history will find that the author explains various medieval legal terms. It’s an extremely readable account of a long-forgotten trial. It’s a quick read, too—a little over 200 pages, and it doesn’t feel as though there’s any “filler” material here.

The Sunday Salon

My week in reading:

I finally finished In A Dark Wood Wandering, a slow read but definitely worthwhile. My review will be up sometime this week or next.

I also read The Slaves of Solitude, by Patrick Hamilton; my copy has been sitting around since April… of last year. Good reading there as well.

I’m currently finishing up book 9 in the Morland Dynasty series, The Flood-Tide, set between 1772 and 1789. Revolution, revolution, everywhere….

Yesterday I took a trip out to West Chester to Chester County Books and Music, where I bought a copy of No Dark Place, by Joan Wolf (mystery set in mid-12th century England); and I basically cleaned out their inventory of Mary Stewart books that I haven’t read, which includes:

The Moonspinners
The Gabriel Hounds
My Brother Michael
Madam, Will You Talk
Wildfire at Midnight

Also bought from Amazon and Amazon UK this week were copies of A Plague on Both Your Houses, by Susanna Gregory (medieval mystery; I seem to have a hankering for these lately), and The King’s Mistress, by Emma Campion. Am I sick or what? Aren't I travelling to London in three weeks, where I'll probably buy lots of new books?

Also, you have until Friday at midnight to enter my contest here for one of two copies of The White Queen, Philippa Gregory’s new book…

Review: Twenties Girl, by Sophie Kinsella

Description from Amazon:
Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.Sadie, however, could care less.Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

I enjoyed Sophie Kinsella’s latest book. Lara Lington is fairly typical of Kinsella heroines: she’s sweet, but a bit ditzy. Nonetheless, Lara is completely charming, even when paired with the howlingly funny Sadie. And that’s another reason why I love Sophie Kinsella’s books; they’re always funny without being over the top. Granted, things are a bit predictable in this novel, but I really found myself rooting for these characters as I read along. I also really liked that Kinsella made Sadie into a ghost from the twenties; I always enjoyed reading about the period. In addition, the romance story arc is believable.

You have to suspend your sense of disbelief at some of the plot of this novel (for example, I found it hard to believe that someone with Lara’s personality would have the temperament and patience to start a business). Nonetheless, the novel is a fun, light summer read, one that I enjoyed reading a lot.

Also reviewed by: An Adventures in Reading, Peeking Between the Pages, S. Krishna's Books, Kay's Bookshelf

Giveaway: The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

I've been given the fantastic opportunity of giving away two copies of this book! Here's the description from Amazon:


Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.

The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.

With The White Queen, Philippa Gregory brings the artistry and intellect of a master writer and storyteller to a new era in history and begins what is sure to be another bestselling classic series from this beloved author.


To enter, please leave a comment with an e-mail address where I can reach you if you win! US addresses only. Ends Friday the 14th at midnight.

Friday Finds

Books I’ve heard about this week:


Grace Hammer: A Novel of the Vicorian Underwold, by Sara Stockbridge. Heard about this through the LTER program; and with my love of all things Victorian, thought I might enjoy this one, set in 1888 in London’s East Eng.


The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, by Peter Ackroyd. This one has been out for a while, but the US version is coming out this fall (the US cover is quite macabre).


The Aviary Gate, by Katie Hickman. Won this this month through LTER.

Threshold of Life, by Hella Haasse. I just finished In a Dark Wood Wandering, and enjoyed it a lot, so I thought I might enjoy this one, set in 5th century Rome.

Review: Death Comes as Epiphany, by Sharan Newman

It’s late 1139, and Catherine LeVendeur is a novice in the convent of the Paraclete, whose abbess, Heloise, is the former lover of Abelard. A psalter has disappeared from the convent, one that could severely damage the already-damaged Abelard, and Heloise sends Catherine away from the convent, ostensibly in disgrace for misbehavior, to get the book back. But at the Abbey of Saint Denis, a stone mason literally falls dead, and it’s up to the intrepid Catherine to figure out, using her wits, what happened.

The historical detail is quite good. I understand that the author has a PhD in medieval history, and she definitely shows it off a bit. Those who aren’t well versed in medieval history might find themselves wishing that the book provided a glossary of terms; the author continually uses words and phrases like bliaut (a women's loose-fitting overgarment), aversier, bricon (rascal), chainse (a linen chemise), gaufre (waffles), braies (an undergarment tied at the waist) awaeris thu, and mesel (a leper). There’s also a fair amount of Latin that's used in this book. Still, this is the kind of historical verisimilitude that I look for in a historical novel.

But I liked the story; it’s mostly original (though there are one or two things that are a bit predictable), and it moves at a relatively fast pace. The main character is spunky, and the relationship between herself and Edgar, the English stone carver, held my interest throughout. I also enjoyed how philosophy and reason are interwoven throughout the story, contrasting them with sheer, blind faith, and I enjoyed watching Catherine use her wits in order to figure out what happened to the psalter. The addition of real historical figures didn’t weigh heavily on the story or feel too contrived, either. I look forward to reading what’s next for Catherine LeVendeur.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

--Grab your current read
--Let the book open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
--You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

“King Henry received him in one of the council halls at Westminster. The King sat in a chair under a canopy of carved wood; counselors and courtiers drew away as the king greeted the Duke of Orleans.”

--From In a Dark Wood Wandering, by Hella Haasse

Review: The Counterfeit Guest, by Rose Melikan

The hyperbole on the back of this book says that it’s “in the grand tradition of Charlotte Bronte and Daphne Du Maurier." Well, I certainly wouldn’t put Rose Melikan in the same category as those writers, but The Counterfeit Guest is nonetheless an entertaining read.

The Counterfeit Guest is the sequel to The Blackstone Key. It’s 1796, and Mary Finch, formerly a penniless governess, now finds herself in possession of a large fortune and a house called White Ladies, recently bequeathed to her. One could easily paraphrase Jane Austen here: “A single woman in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a husband,” as Mary’s friend Susannah marries the mysterious Colonel Crosby-Nash and Mary herself is pressured to marry. At the same time, Mary finds her “friendship” with Captain Robert Holland strangely cut off….

Having read The Blackstone Key, it’s easy for me to make comparisons with that novel. Both books are written in a lively, upbeat tone, and both are easy, quick reads, with interesting characters. What Melikan does in this book, however, is improve on her writing; the villain is less of a caricature, and the characters have more depth to them.

I especially enjoyed the romantic tension between Mary and Captain Holland; it’s always there, boiling at the surface, but not so much that it gets ridiculous. The author is a professor of legal history at Cambridge, and she shows that to her (and the book’s) advantage here. In addition, it’s clear to me that the author has done more research on the late 18th century since the writing of The Blackstone Key. Often, it’s easy for authors of historical fiction to get lazy in their research when writing a second book about a period, so kudos goes to Melikan for keeping that up.

There are a couple of continuity errors in this book (for example, the author introduces Holland’s commanding officer twice within two pages), and Mary often jumps to wild conclusions, often without any evidence to back them up. Other than that, I enjoyed this lighthearted book that never takes itself too seriously. Melikan's third book, The Mistaken Wife, will be coming out sometime next year.

Review: The Nun's Tale, by Candace Robb

The Nun’s Tale is the third Owen Archer mystery. It’s 1366, and a nun, gone missing a year before, appears, claiming that she’s been buried alive. Pretty soon, other people who have been involved in her disappearance turn up, dead. In come Owen Archer and his wife, the apothecary Lucie Wilton, to solve the mystery. Is Joanna Calverley really what she says she is? Or is she simply mad? In any case, she’s a frustrating study in contrasts: virgin or Mary Magdalene? Victim in the case or perpetrator?

The story itself is slightly more grim than those in her other books; not just murder is at stake here, but something more sinister. There’s very little suspense to the mystery, but Candace Robb excels at portraying the relationships between her characters, developing them more and more with each book in the series. I liked how the author developed the tenuous relationship between Lucie and her father, Sir Robert, too. Jasper Melton, who features in the previous entry of the series, The Lady Chapel, appears here, but his presence in this book is merely incidental; I would have liked to have seen more of him.

Historical figures such as John of Gaunt and Geoffrey Chaucer even make brief cameos in The Nun’s Tale. The historical detail of the book is quite good, and another one of Robb’s strengths is tying the mystery—at first, it seems as though it’s simply a domestic affair—to larger events. It’s an enjoyable addition to the Owen Archer series, and I look forward to reading the next.

The Sunday Salon

It’s been a busy week here. On Thursday night I went to see Sharon Kay Penman read from and discuss Devil’s Brood, which has recently come out in paperback. She read a couple of passages from the book, and then talked a little bit about how she lost the manuscript for The Sunne in Splendour. She’d spent four years writing it, and it’s amazing to think that she couldn’t even write again fro five years after the loss of the MS. Then, apparently, she just sat down one day and started to write again. I’m certainly glad she did! And other famous authors who have lost manuscripts or documents over the years include CW Gortner, Ernest Hemingway, Pearl Buck (in a fire; she never wrote again), and TE Lawrence.

Then she talked about historical fiction in general, and the importance of being historically accurate when writing about historical events, especially historical people. Those of us who read historical fiction have probably often come across instances where the characters are way too modern for the setting; what SKP calls the “Plantagenets in Pasadena” syndrome. She also had a number of good things to say about the novels of Elizabeth Chadwick. Later, SKP opened the floor for questions. I wanted to take my copies of her books to the reading to have her sign them, but apparently the bookstore doesn’t allow authors to sign books that weren’t purchased at that store. Humph.

Speaking of historical fiction, because I read and review so much of it on my blog, I’ve created an index of historical fiction reviews, which can be found here (there’s also a link to it on the sidebar of the blog). It's arranged by era and then century with the later stuff. It was also pretty interesting to me to see what I’ve read and reviewed—I tend to be heavier on medieval and Victorian fiction, but I’ve read next to nothing set in ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

As for what’s been read this week, I’ve read Tears of Pearl, by Tasha Alexander, and Shields of Pride, by Elizabeth Chadwick. I’m currently on to In a Dark Wood Wandering, by Hella Haasse, about the French royal family in the late 14th and early 15th century during the reign of Charles VI. It’s a dense novel, and taking me a bit extra time to read, but I’m enjoying it very much. As for what I read in July as a whole, I read a total of 13 books--the same number as in June. All in all a very satisfactory month in terms of reading.

So what did you read this week?

Review: The Shadowy Horses, by Susanna Kearsley

Verity Grey is a young archeologist and museum curator, when she’s called to participate in an archeological dig in Scotland. Peter Quinnell, a formerly renowned archeologist, is convinced that the ancient Roman marching campground of the Ninth Legion is located near the fishing village of Eyemouth. In addition, an eight-year-old boy has the second sight, able to see the ghost of an ancient Roman sentinel. Throw in an ex boyfriend and a handsome local Scottish love interest, and you have all the ingredients for a superb gothic romance.

Susanna Kearsley’s books are redolent of those of Mary Stewart; they’re very atmospheric. I loved the ghost aspect of the story as well as the archeological and historical bits of the book, which seemed to be well-researched (granted, I don’t know that much about ancient Roman Britain, but still…). The characters are eclectic and well-defined. However, the ending of the novel feels a bit rushed, and we never really learn all that much about the Ninth Legion or the Sentinel. Nonetheless, I couldn’t put this high suspenseful novel down. Reading one of Kearsley’s books is always a treat; having read four of her books now, I can honestly say that this one is up there with Mariana or Sophia’s Secret.