The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot – Book Review

Mar 062012

The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot
Published by NAL Trade, an imprint of Penguin

As girls, Eleanor and Marguerite are nearly inseparable, although much of their togetherness includes competition – particularly on Eleanor’s part as she attempts to keep up with her lovely and mild older sister. Unfortunately for Eleanor and Marguerite, fate does not allow for them to be together forever; as the daughters of the Duke of Provence and members of the de Savoy family on their mother’s side, the sisters are fated to make grand marriages. In fact, Marguerite will be the Queen of France and Eleanor Queen of England. Although equal in status, the sisters’ marriages are vastly unequal. Louis IX, King of France is a vastly superior king as compared to England’s Henry III, but Henry cares deeply for Eleanor, while Louis all but ignores Marguerite. Although separated by the English Channel and antagonistic countries, the sisters do have one another’s hearts and letters to guide them through the perils of queenship.

Marguerite, Eleanor, and their two younger sisters have fascinating stories, all four actually became queens. Sanchia of Provence became Queen of Germany and Beatrice Queen of Sicily. Perinot has chosen to focus on the first half of Marguerite and Eleanor’s reigns as queens of France and England, however, before their sisters ascended to their thrones as well. The Sister Queens is a solid work of historical fiction. Both Eleanor and Marguerite are well-developed characters, which is impressive, since they share narration of the book. Even more impressive is the way Perinot causes the reader to favor and commiserate with first one sister and then the other as they take turns relating their stories, it is easy to see both sides of the personal and political issues at stake.

The settings could perhaps have been explored in greater detail, but to fully describe the political situations of both countries would have seriously inflated the page count and possibly bogged down the story Perinot is telling. In addition, while the letters between the women sometimes seemed slightly over-expository, they did serve to get much of the exposition out of the way so that the majority of the story could be focused on the characters and not on the intervening events.

All in all, a satisfying read about a time period and family about which comparatively little is written. Recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Author.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons – Audiobook Review

Mar 022012

The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons, narrated by Justine Eyre
Published in audio by Blackstone Audio, published in print by Plume, an imprint of Penguin

Synopsis:

From the publisher:

It’s the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford’s young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford – and Elise – forever.

Thoughts on the story:

The House at Tyneford is certainly a charming story, with the well-off young Jewish woman from Austria leaving everything she knew to be safe from the encroaching war as a parlormaid and subsequently falling in love with the heir to the estate. However, the story was also utterly predictable. At any given time while listening I could likely have predicted at least the next hour’s worth of plot. This, in turn, made for a less-than engaging experience with the story. If there are no surprises and no wonder, if the plot is all but formulaic, then what, really, is the point? Nothing amazed me, and as a result I find The House at Tyneford to be more than a little lackluster.

soundbytes picture Thoughts on the audio production:

Eyre gave a fairly good performance, although she didn’t really blow me away. I was impressed, however, with her ability to switch between Austrian and British accents. For a more detailed audio review, please see my review for Audiofile Magazine.

Overall:

Although many others have loved this story, I cannot particularly recommend it either in print or audio.

Buy this book from:
Powells: Audio/Print*
Indiebound: Audio/Print*

I encourage you to review any audiobooks you review on Fridays and include the link here. If you have reviewed an audiobook earlier in the week, please feel free to link that review as well. Thanks to Pam for creating the button.

Source: Audiofile Magazine.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Accidents of Providence by Stacia Brown – Book Review

Feb 142012

Accidents of Providence by Stacia Brown
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

It is 1649 and England is in the grip of a Civil War, but for a number of women there is an even more consuming war being fought. Unwed mothers can be punished and forced to reveal the father of their child. Even worse, any unwed woman caught concealing the death – natural or otherwise – of a child born out of wedlock is legally guilty of murder. One such woman is Rachel Lockleyer, an unmarried glove maker whose employer Mary claims to have seen her head into the woods with a bundle. Mary later retraced Rachel’s path and found the body of an infant with a bruise around its neck.

Accidents of Providence picks up Rachel’s story after she has been arrested for the murder of her illegitimate child and works through the investigation and her trial. Brown includes a great deal of historical information without resulting to info dumps. Of particular interest is the subplot about the Leveller movement, which is brought in as Rachel’s lover is a married hero of the Leveller cause.

The themes of Accidents of Providence are particularly interesting in light of the recent rhetoric from the USA 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in America, as well as the brouhaha with the Susan G. Koman Foundation and Planned Parenthood, in which reproductive rights, even the basic access to birth control, is being debated are reconsidered. While Accidents of Providence can at times be a bit slow – it does, after all, revolve around a 17th century trial – it would make a fascinating read for book clubs who aren’t afraid to merge the discussion of literature and modern politics.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher, via Netgalley.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau – Book Review

Jan 092012

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau
Published by Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

Joanna Stafford’s family has been repeatedly touched by scandal. First her uncle is executed for treason, and now her beloved cousin Margaret is condemned to be burned at the stake for her part in an uprising against Henry VIII and his persecution of the old (Catholic) ways. Even absent her family connections, Joanna is a suspicious figure as a novice Dominican nun in a time when the King has broken with the Pope and is shutting down religious houses throughout the country. Between the family treason and the religious leanings, Joanna finds herself in great trouble when she becomes involved in a commotion during Margaret’s execution. Imprisoned in the tower, along with her beloved father, Joanna is offered a single way to save both herself and her father by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester: she must return to her convent and find the crown worn by the Saxon King Athelstan. As soon as Joanna returns, however, people begin turning up dead, complicating her mission and making her wonder just what this relic really is.

The Crown would best be classified as a historical thriller, but to my relief, Bilyeau’s writing style is much more closely aligned to the historical fiction genre than to the thriller genre, avoiding the short chapters with cliffhanger endings that are a hallmark of many thrillers. Bilyeau develops her characters well; Joanna is certainly a fully-fledged person and, although the reader does not have access into the minds of the other characters, all of the secondary characters are complex enough to be realistic as well. Even Gardiner manages to avoid being a two-dimensional villain. Each chapter has rich historical detail interwoven with the story, bringing a sense of authenticity, without ever devolving into info-dump territory.

The storyline Bilyeau created for The Crown is fascinating as well. Even while Joanna is in the tower the action continues to move forward and the reader begins to get a sense of the political intrigue occurring throughout the court and the religious orders. The legend of Athelstan and his crown is teased out perfectly, enough information is given to keep the reader from becoming frustrated, but enough is also withheld to keep the level of suspense high.

The Crown may be a debut novel, but it is a fantastic example of the historical thriller drama. If that’s what you’re in the mood for, I highly recommend picking up The Crown.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio – Book Review

Jan 052012

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio
Published by Plume, an imprint of Penguin

Anne Calloway is newly engaged, but still unready to really settle down. Her fiance is staid and predictable, and Anne needs one last adventure in her life. When her best friend signs up to go to serve as a World War II Army nurse, Anne decides to join her in her South Pacific posting.

The nurses are unsurprisingly popular with the soldiers on Bora-Bora, and Anne is no exception. Although she has plans to be nothing but faithful to her fiance, the more time she spends with a soldier named Westry, the more their friendship – and eventually a romance – blossom.

Jio excels writing books that carry the reader away with both plot and setting. Anne and Westry are engaging characters, and their relationship is transporting, especially with Jio’s lush descriptions of Bora-Bora.

A lovely book to warm your heart on a cold winter day.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly – Book Review

Nov 142011

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Published by Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group

This is the second book in the Rose series. I have previously reviewed The Tea Rose. This review may contain spoilers for The Tea Rose.

When I settled in with The Winter Rose, I was expecting to settle back in with Fiona and Joe and the family they were finally able to create. Although that does happen, they – and in particular, Fiona – are almost secondary characters in The Winter Rose.

Instead, Donnelly features Fiona’s older brother Charlie, best known to the citizens of London as Sid Malone, infamous crime boss, and India Selwyn-Jones, a woman of a good family who has defied her mother in order to follow her passion and become a doctor. Worse still than simply becoming a woman doctor, India will not even deign to be part of a fashionable practice in a good neighborhood, but instead is determined to practice in Whitechapel, and eventually set up a clinic there. India’s work in Whitechapel brings her into direct contact – and conflict – with Sid very quickly. As much as they grate on one another, though, Sid is impressed with India’s occasionally misguided but strongly-held desire to help the people of the East End. India, in response, cannot help but see that Sid, too, cares for these people she assumed he was only exploiting. It might seem logical for love to bloom here, but between India and Sid stands India’s fiance and childhood friend, Frankie Lytton. Frank is also an ambitious Member of Parliament who sees the capture of Sid Malone the one thing that could best guarantee his political future.

In some ways, the Rose series is getting formulaic. Donnelly focuses on a new couple here, so she can again wrench them apart, divided by a different partner, in a way that seems utterly insurmountable. That somehow true love will prevail is obvious from the very beginning – as is the fact that India and Frankie for all their bickering will fall in love in the first place. Frankie Lytton is a much more insidious dividing partner than Millie Peterson was, but they serve much the same function.

Here’s the thing, though. In the middle of the book, the reader is likely to recognize the pattern that Donnelly is falling into, but is equally unlikely to care. She is such a strong writer, creating such vivid characters and settings that she allows the reader to simply get lost in her romantic historical epics. Perhaps this is best evidenced by the fact that she is successfully able to supplant her beloved main characters with characters who were minor or completely missing from The Tea Rose. Fiona and Joe are, of course, still around to give the story continuity, and we do stay within the Finnegan family, but having Fiona take a minor (and eternally pregnant) role could have easily been disastrous in the hands of a less able author.

With The Winter Rose, Donnelly gives us a strong second book in the Rose series. I can’t wait to read the third book, The Wild Rose. Highly recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: .

* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka – Book Review

Nov 032011

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
Published by Knopf, an imprint of Random House

In the early 20th century, many immigrant men living and working in the United States desired wives from their native lands. Matchmakers, armed with pictures of the men who were unable to travel home to find a bride and recommendations from family members, paired couples and sent the girls, frequently referred to as “picture brides” to America to meet their mates.

It is a group of these picture brides whose lives form the basis for Julie Otsuka’s anticipated second novel. As with her debut, When the Emperor Was Divine, Otsuka follows the fortunes of persons of Japanese descent living in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. Interestingly, her trademark style is very impersonal. In When the Emperor Was Divine, most of the story is told in third person limited omniscient. The Buddha in the Attic is told in first person plural, attempting to convey the variety of responses of the picture brides to their new life, resulting in passages such as the one below, which describes the women’s first nights with their husbands:

That night our new husbands took us quickly. They took us calmly. They took us gently, but firmly, and without saying a word. They assumed we were the virgins the matchmakers had promised them we were and they took us with exquisite care…. They took us greedily, hungrily, as though they had been waiting to take us for a thousand and one years. They took us even though we were still nauseous from the boat and the ground had not yet stopped rocking beneath our feet.

Coming from most authors, this would be distancing, but from Otsuka it is universalizing. We see a variety of responses from the different women in different situations that shows both their individuality and the commonalities between them. The result is a beautiful and surprisingly emotionally work culminating with World War II and the “Instructions to all Persons of Japanese Ancestry.” Highly recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Library.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston – Book Review

Nov 022011

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston
Published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins

When Frankie Pratt graduates from high school in 1920 she has a scrapbook, a typewriter, and a dream of attending Vassar. Caroline Preston’s The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt follows Frankie through her early adulthood – at Vassar, in New York, and in Paris – in the pursuit of being able to support herself with her writing.

I can only imagine that locating and selecting vintage 1920s ephemera to match her story must have been both excruciating and a great deal of fun. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is a visual feast, a tantalizing sketch of the life of an ambitious young girl in the early 20th century. Preston does take some liberties with the form, Frankie’s scrapbook is a good deal more expository and diary-esque than most would be, but not to a point that strains credulity. Certainly a less text-heavy version might have been difficult to engage with and lacking in emotion from the reader’s point of view. Frankie is a wonderful protagonist, alternately naive and pragmatic, and between her personality and the gorgeous pictures, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is a joy to experience.

The following are some of my favorite page spreads from The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt to give you an idea of just how beautiful it is.

Page 17 shows some of the things that Frankie does with her friends at home. It also give you an example of the slightly overly expository nature of the scrapbook in its attempt to get more characterization of Frankie:

FP17 picture

After graduation, Frankie heads to New York City; here she (pgs 94-95) is trying to get her bearings:

FP94 95 picture

Finally, page 112 might be my favorite page in the entire book, Frankie’s record of her time out on the town with Oliver:
FP112 picture

Really, how can you lose with these gorgeous pictures? Highly recommended – and hint, hint, it would make a lovely Christmas gift!

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher, all pictures used with permission.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer – Book Review

Oct 252011

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer
Published by Picador, an imprint of Macmillan

When art critic Daniel Lichtmann’s wife is found dead next to the equally lifeless body of an artist – one with whom Daniel had a somewhat antagonistic relationship, no less – it seems that Daniel’s life, too, is over. Depressed at the thought that Aleksandra, who was actually Daniel’s second wife, had had such an intimate affair with Benjamin Wind that she even died with him in a supposed suicide, Daniel is all but unable to function, and seems on the verge of losing his job. One might think that Daniel would at least be glad that Benjamin, the man who stole his wife, is dead or, if he is upset, that he might be upset at his inability to take his own revenge. Instead, Daniel almost mourns for the man as he does for his wife. It is lucky that he does so, though, because at Benjamin’s funeral Daniel meets a man claiming to be Benjamin’s grandfather. This man, Max, turns on its head everything that Daniel thought he knew about Benjamin and his relationship with Aleksandra by introducing Daniel to the secret past of Benjamin’s family.

To be completely honest, I was a bit concerned starting The Marriage Artist. Suicide, lust, and infidelity in the art world just didn’t seem like an appealing premise at the time I picked it up, but I also couldn’t put it off because the BOOK CLUB discussion was looming. What I found, though, was a haunting story of love, marriage, and the ever-present influence of the past. Daniel’s story is told in parallel with that of Josef Pick, a Viennese Jew whose story begins in the years before World War II, and who is famous for his creation of marriage contracts. Either of the stories might have been overwhelming on their own, for both are filled with longing and heartbreak, but the way they are woven together prevents either one from becoming overly depressing and builds anticipation for both stories.

The Marriage Artist is a masterful example of a dual time period narrative. The stories work together beautifully, each enhancing the other. In addition, Winer takes what could have been a depressing or unappealing story and set of characters, and works them together in such a way that they hold the reader’s interest with ease. Recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher for BOOK CLUB.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman – Book Review

Oct 242011

Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman
Published by Putnam Books, an imprint of Penguin

This is the fourth book in the Devil’s Brood series. This review does not contain spoilers for the previous book, beyond the actual history. I have previously reviewed the third book, The Devil’s Brood.

In her latest work of epic historical fiction, Lionheart, Sharon Kay Penman explores the reign of Richard I, Richard Coeur de Lion. In particular, Penman focuses on Richard as Crusader-King.

Penman is a true master of historical fiction. There is a lot of repetition in the story of the Third Crusade, falling back, advancing, gaining cities and losing them again, Richard riding out with seeming disregard for his personal safety. And yet, Lionheart is a book I didn’t want to stop reading, despite its being 600 pages long. Penman’s strength is in bringing her historical characters vividly to life, without changing their stories or personalities for dramatic effect.

Part of what makes Lionheart so compelling is Penman’s narrator, using the third personal intimate voice, switching not only between Richard and some of his men, but also between his sister Joanna and his wife Berengaria. The women and their retinue – unconventionally following the men on the Crusade, as did Joanna and Richard’s mother Eleanor when she was married to the French king – lent some relief what might have otherwise been a bleak and seemingly endless campaign, bringing humanity to the proceedings in Richard’s camp.

Lionheart is another extremely strong showing from Sharon Kay Penman, and a fascinating look at Richard the Lionheart, Crusader King. The only real negative to reading something by Penman is that it reminds you that she has so many other fabulous (but long!) books that you haven’t read it, thereby stalling your entire TBR list. Highly recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Older Entries Newer Entries

Devourer of Books

The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot – Book Review

The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons – Audiobook Review

Accidents of Providence by Stacia Brown – Book Review

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau – Book Review

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio – Book Review

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly – Book Review

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka – Book Review

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston – Book Review

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer – Book Review

Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman – Book Review

Sponsors:

Protect Your Website:

Super Series

Shelf Awareness for Readers eNewsletter

BOOK CLUB Giveaway:

Listen Up! Audiobook Week 2012

Recognition

Regular Features/Special Events

Follow Me!

Sponsors:

Protect Your Website:

Super Series

Shelf Awareness for Readers eNewsletter

BOOK CLUB Giveaway:

Listen Up! Audiobook Week 2012

Recognition

Regular Features/Special Events