The historical fiction I enjoy the most manages to take significant events from the past and show their effects on the average person. It’s all well and good to say “the peasants suffered,” but it’s much more effective to actually hear from the peasants themselves. This book manages to both give voice to the everyman while still keeping the reader in the heart of the political intrigue going on during the period. The period, in this case, is 1135-1154 CE in England; a period known […]
When in doubt, assume it’s about politics
Have you ever wondered where some of our nursery rhymes came from, or what they really mean? Some of them seem to be about pure nonsense, but there is more to them than meets the eye. After all, “nursery rhymes are full of sex, death, and cruelty” (xv). The author makes a point that this is “not meant to be a scholarly exercise” (187), it’s more like a “Hey, did you know that…?” Like any good conspiracy artist, Roberts can find meaning anywhere, and sometimes […]
Every moment points toward the aftermath
If you were asked to name every president who was assassinated, would you remember James Garfield? He was president for only a matter of months, part of a generally undistinguished cohort that served between Grant and McKinley. There is no great legislation that we credit to Garfield, no famous speeches or charismatic wife. On the surface, Garfield was nothing more than a generally decent man, a loving father, a good husband–an ineffectual president, although to be fair he spent a third of his term in office dying of a […]
This book was faintingviolet-nip
This book was like catnip to me. It was faintingviolet-nip. I have been having trouble the past few weeks sinking into books, which is why there has been an uptick in novella reviews from me. I have no less than three books currently sitting open at home, plus an audio book underway, but this Saturday I wanted to read none of them. It was time for a trip to the non-fiction aisle, and thankfully I had ordered The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the […]
Disappointment from Kleypas
Cold-Hearted Rake (2015) is Lisa Kleypas’s latest historical romance. I was already warned that it was disappointing for a Kleypas novel, so I went in with lower expectations. And it’s a good thing that I did, as I wasn’t drawn in by the characters. Although some of the side characters were entertaining, this one is pretty forgettable. Kathleen was married to an Earl for three days–an Earl from a family known for their temper, risk-taking, and short lives. Devon Ravenel, a supposed but not very convincing […]
An Odd Couple in Calcutta
After reading ElCicco’s review of this, I went right out and got myself a copy, and I was not disappointed! Set in Calcutta, 1837, The East India Company is in full swing. Xavier Mountstuart, a most celebrated English poet and author, has gone missing. Mountstuart is the hero of William Avery, our narrator, who is a junior officer who is drowning in homesickness and debt–and whose best friend has just died mysteriously. He is sent by the Company as a companion to a Mr. Jeremiah Blake to find […]
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