Beth F
Sandy
bermudaonion (Kathy)
Stephanie
Trisha
A Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin
Una Pryor is an historian planning to write about Edward IV’s Queen Elizabeth and her brother Anthony Woodville and what their libraries said about them. First, however, she has pressing personal business to attend to. Dealing with the loss of her husband, Una returns to England where she finds her uncle and the family business both in a state of disarray. Intertwined with Una’s story is that of the Woodvilles – think War of the Roses, Princes in the Tower – and told from their own perspectives. Sharon Kay Penman has made me somewhat of a fan of Richard III, but I found myself feeling complete sympathy for Anthony and Elizabeth, both of whom seemed to be doing their best in the situations in whih they found themselves.
I enjoyed the part of Una’s storyline about trying to preserve her family business and her past, but my favorite part of the story was definitely that of the Woodvilles. Seeing things from their perspective was definitely unique for me. Typically Elizabeth is a villain in most stories of Edward IV and the War of the Roses, a controlling woman who forces her family into positions of power despite their not being qualified. In “A Secret Alchemy,” though, she is a completely sympathetic character and Anthony is only trying to do what is best for the country and his nephews.
Throughout most of the book I really wasn’t sure how the two stories interconnected. By midway through the book, it was actually starting to bother me a bit. Una kept talking about how she was going to research what Elizabeth and Anthony read, but their storyline had nothing to do with that. Nor did it directly relate to Una’s storyline in any other way. By the end, however, Darwin tied the two storylines together in a satisfying way. Really, though, even when I didn’t know how the stories were connected I was enjoying both of them. The way Darwin tied them together just made the book more cohesive.
Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookseller via Indiebound.
Amazon.
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This sounds like an interesting read — thanks for the review!
.-= Jess´s last blog ..Barney’s Online Book Club — July 2009 Discussion =-.
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I enjoyed Emma Darwin’s previous book, The Mathematics of Love. It had similar parallel storylines.
I want to read this one! Thanks for the review and the reminder to put it formally on my list.
.-= Laura´s last blog ..Review: Miss L’eau by T. Katz =-.
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I’ve read a few books like this lately where there are parallel histories running through the story. It’s a neat concept. It can be distracting but when it’s done well it works.
.-= Pam´s last blog ..The Literary Road Trip: One More Way to Love Atlanta =-.
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I’m so glad to see that the book’s good, because I want to own it just for the great cover. I hate to admit to being so shallow, but there it is.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Mailbox Monday =-.
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I agree with you that I wanted the two stories to interconnect more – that was my only real problem with the book, which I otherwise loved. It sounds like I’ll have to read Penman, too, to get another perspective on the story!
.-= Fyrefly´s last blog ..Sunday Salon: Building Mt. TBR: The Movie! =-.
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I’ve been wondering about this book. I’ve never read Darwin (well, not *this* Darwin!
). I’ll have to put her on my radar.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Where Are You? / Teaser Tuesday (July 28): Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart =-.
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I normally don’t like historical fiction, but I find I do like it when there’s a current storyline involved. This one sounds very interesting.
.-= Belle´s last blog ..Review: The Strain, by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan =-.
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You’re the first person beside myself, who has read this. I thought Darwin worked the two stories together well, but I have a number of friends to whom I wouldn’t recommend it as I know they don’t have patience with novels that are structured in this way. I somehow missed out on ‘The Mathematics of Love’. Dare I put another one on the already toppling TBR pile?
.-= Table Talk´s last blog ..Sunday Salon – The Alternative Booker. =-.
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devourerofbooks Reply:
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
You know, this is the first I’ve read from Darwin so I’m not sure.
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