Prophecy is the second of a trilogy of historical fiction novels that take place in Elizabeth I’s England, where the so-called “art of diplomacy” is but a thin veneer for a war of intelligence over which empire—French, English, Spanish– will reign in Europe and beyond. The year is 1583, and the Italian philosopher/mathematician/astrologer/poet and former Dominican monk Giordano Bruno has fled the Catholic Inquisition in his homeland and settled in the “relatively more enlightened” city of London, where he lives in the home of the […]
A Formidable But Evil Woman – And Cannonball
I haven’t seen Winter’s Bone yet, but while reading this, I kept wondering how audiences were going to react to Jennifer Lawrence, America’s sweetheart, as a ruthless bitch. Set in a logging camp in 1929 North Carolina, Serena is a hard woman with no time for sentimentality, and there are definitely things about her to admire. She holds her own among the men,and is often the smartest person in the room. She knows more about logging than most if not all of the men, and she and […]
Reading This Novel Will Make You Crave Fair Food
I’ve enjoyed every single novel I’ve read by Brennert, and while I always buy them as soon as I see them, they tend to end up lost in my unread stacks of books for months at a time. I think this may be because as much as I know I can depend on a solid, reliable and informative novel, he is also comfort food. The narrative and the people will face challenges, and generally, overcome them, even if they face loss and years of struggle. He’s […]
The Past Always Comes to Light
After a brutal killing in 1950s Florence, Serafina, the only woman in the crime squad, is assigned to the case with her partner, and when a second murder targets the same family, Serafina quickly focuses in on the past and the war as the motive behind the deaths. The novel flashes back and forth between the investigation, and World War II era Tuscany and the family home of the Rosatis. Their oldest son is at war in Sicily, the middle child is working in Florence helping to […]
A Southern Trainwreck of a Novel
I liked The Prince of Tides enough to want to read more by Conroy but also wasn’t in a hurry to follow up on that since parts of it did seem so, well, crazy. South of Broad is a more recent novel of Conroy’s and as a result, it may not have been the smartest pick. The book is incredibly readable, and there are definitely parts where the language just sweeps the reader along. However, it also showcases the flaws much more, packing just a […]
Never Trust a Man Called Gaston
My grandmother loved Victoria Holt, and I must have read my fair share of these historical romances from her stash when spending summers at her place, back in the day. The only one I can actively remember is The India Fan, but there must have been others. How else would you explain the fact that I could predict much of the plot of Seven for a Secret by the end of the first chapter? Holt has her patterns, her beloved tropes, and she turns to them […]
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