The Sunday Salon

Ah, Sunday again. It’s been a busy week, so it’s amazing that I got a surprising amount of reading done. I finished New York: The Novel (coming out on Tuesday), and got about 350 pages in to The Russian Concubine before it became a wallbanger (you know, the kind of book that’s so awful that you throw it against a wall). I’ll still post a review, but it won’t be pretty.

I spent the rest of the week reading The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England, which is coming out in the US at the end of next month. It’s a fascinating look at the fourteenth century.

Then yesterday morning I started Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, a first novel which is coming out in March. I received it through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer’s Program, which is why I’m reading it so soon. It's good, but the Americanizations are a bit distracting.

In addition I’ve got several other ARCs in the pipeline to read, inclusing Elizabeth Kostova’s new book, The Swan Thieves, and Alison’s Weir’s new book on Anne Boleyn. So, lots of potentially good books coming out this fall and winter.

How was your reading week?

Cover Deja-Vu #16

Here are two more: one is the cover of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Shuttle (ReadHowYouWant large print edition); the other is Tasha Alexander's A Poisoned Season. They're not exactly the same, but close enough!

Review: Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle, by Manda Scott

Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle is the fantastic story of Boudica, warrior queen of the Iceni tribe (or Eceni, according to Manda Scott). This novel is the first in a series, and covers Boudica’s (called Breaca) early years, from the age of eight to 21, when she faced the Romans in battle. Other major characters in the novel are Ban, who later goes to the Continent and experiences a sort of rebirth as a Roman citizen; and Caradoc (Caractatus), leader of the Catuvellauni, with whom Breaca has a tentative alliance.

You could say this book is divided into two parts, with the first half devoted to the struggle between the Iceni and Catuvellauni, and the second to the struggle between the native Britons and the Romans.

It must be very tough to write a novel about a people whose culture was oral and not written. The Romans wrote about Boudica, but their opinions were hardly objective. Not much is known about Boudica, and even less is known about her childhood, so a lot of this novel is, as the author admits in her note at the end, fictional. But Scott does a fantastic job with what little information she does have, and her characters seem real and believable. Her information about the Romans is a little more complete, because they, of course, left written records. The historian Dio Cassius described Breaca as having flaming red hair, and boy, does Manda Scott run with that.

I took a real chance when buying this book, because I’d never even heard of the author before and didn’t know if I’d like a 700-page novel about Roman Britain. And, at first I was a little wary of the “dreaming” concept that drives the book. But I was pleasantly surprised. The dreaming isn’t over-the-top, and the animal imagery is simply amazing. The story takes a little while to gather momentum, but reading through the first 50 pages or so yields a really rich, rewarding reading experience. This is a very strong start to what promises to be a very engaging series.

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!

“’Your description marked him out quite clearly as a Russian. They’ll search around here in the Russian quarter until they find a man who fits.’”

--From The Russian Concubine, by Kate Furnivall

Review: The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver

The Lacuna is an extremely difficult novel to explain. It covers a lot of territory, and a lot of topics. It’s difficult to know where to start. It’s a novel about a young man named Harrison Shepherd, a Mexican-American who grows up in Mexico and later lives in North Carolina. From the age of thirteen, when Harrison finds himself mixing plaster and cooking food for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, up through his thirties, when he is a famous author and suspected Communist, this novel is, as the back of the book states, a coming of age story. But it’s much more than that as well.

As I’ve said, this is a tough novel to describe. In high school (about 10 years ago), I read everything Kingsolver had written up to that point, and I can say that this book is very much unlike any of her other novels, both in subject matter and style. But just the same, I loved this novel. Lacunae are voids, pieces that are missing; and it’s hard for me to grasp exactly what this means. It’s because of this that The Lacuna is a thought-provoking novel, one that had me thinking about it and its characters long after I’d put it down. It’s definitely bleak in parts, but Kingsolver’s writing is magical, contrasting the warmth of the Mexican climate with the coldness of the United States during the 1950s. There’s also, sort of, an anti-American bias in this book; the United States certainly doesn’t come across very well.

The characters are also amazing and well-drawn, though Shepherd seems to be more of an observer in this novel as opposed to an active participant (much, as he says early on, like viewing the world through a camera lens). But there are other, interesting characters in this book, including the prickly Frida Kahlo, with her morbid sense of humor; and Violet Brown, Shepherd’s middle-aged stenographer, with her archaic grammar. I though the newspaper clippings and reviews to be a little bit too much, but I really, really loved the rest of this novel.

The Sunday Salon

Ah, yes, another Sunday. Hard to believe it’s November already. I was a little thrown off by the clocks changing this morning. Yesterday I went out to lunch with my mom, sister (who’s in town for the weekend) and grandmother. I bought a new handbag at the mall, and spent most of the afternoon reading.

Currently I’m 700 pages in to Edward Rutherfurd’s new book, New York: The Novel (coming out next week). Like his other books, it’s absolutely mammoth-sized (860 pages), but enjoyable. He only covers New York history since 1664, so there’s much more room for character development. He skips out on a lot of events in New York City’s history, but what he does cover, he covers very well. It’s taken a while to get through; I started reading it on Monday. My review will be up on the 19th, when it comes out.

Also finished this week was Barbara Kingsolver’s new book, which is EXCELLENT, by the way. Not to be missed, and probably one of the best books I’ve read all year. My review of this exceptionally complicated novel will be up on Tuesday. How was your reading week?

Review: The Garden of Persephone, by Cesar Rotondi

Julien is a young English scholar who goes to Sicily to be the envoy and secretary to Roger II, the twelfth century king who was able to unite the south of Italy, becoming involved with the papal politics of the age. On behalf of his employer, Julien, an admirer of Peter Abelard, is sent on a number of diplomatic missions to various parts of Europe. Along the way he meets Claire, and manages to marry her, against the odds.

Italy in the twelfth century isn’t a place or time I know much about, despite my interest in medieval Europe, so I was interested in picking up this novel. The book is at its best when sorting out the convoluted politics of the 1120s and ‘30s, but falters a bit when it comes to the fiction bits.

It was very hard for me to really believe Julien and Claire’s relationship; one moment they dislike each other and the next they’re declaring their undying love for one another. There’s also very little passion involved; most of the time, Julien seems to just go through the motions. I never got the feeling that he had much of a personality, and I wasn’t all that pleased at his laissez-faire attitude towards the other women he sleeps with. It also would have been great to have seen the teachings of Abelard worked in more. And the ending left a lot to be desired; I finished the book thinking, that’s it? In the end, I just didn’t care all that much about the characters or what happened to them.

However, the time period itself is fascinating; I never knew how integrated Eastern and Western cultures were in Sicily then, or that Roger had a harem! Later, I went on to read more about Roger, and he really was a fascinating guy. The papal politics of the middle ages generally aren’t what I’m interested in, but I really enjoyed watching the interplay between Roger and Innocent. I always like an historical novel that manages to educate its readers, and Rotondi does that well in The Garden of Persephone. I just wish his characters were as engaging as his setting.

Review: The Lady Queen, by Nancy Goldstone

Joanna I, queen of Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem, is the subject of this highly interesting biography. She ruled one of the most powerful kingdoms in the late 14th century, surviving the numerous calamities that plagued (pun intended) Europe at that time. She was also implicated in the death of her first husband, Andrew of Hungary, and eventually married four times.

Joanna emerges in this highly informative book as one of the most fascinating women of medieval Europe that I’ve ever read about. Goldstone admits that she doesn’t have much information to go on, but she puts Joanna’s story together very well. She’s one of those people who were much maligned in life; but in reality, Joanna did a number of wonderful things for her kingdom—even as her enemies tried to bring her down. Goldstone goes into a lot of detail about the papal politics of the time; Joanna had a close relationship with Clement and was very deeply involved in the great schism. From the schism to the plague, to 14th century scholarship, to even the Hundred Years’ War (of which Joanna was more of a spectator), Goldstone covers everything in a way that makes it easy for the reader to understand.

The jumping off point of the book is Joanna’s trial (described somewhat dramatically as being “on trial for her life”), but really the murder and trial are only a small part of this story. By no means is this a bad thing, though. Instead, the author focuses on Joanna, a courageous woman who faced much adversity in her life.

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!

“In the fringe of forest surrounding the plaza we found some temples crumbling quietly into themselves, sleeping under green blankets of vine. Like the ruin in the forest on Isla Pixol, beside the hole in the water, at the end of the lacuna.”

--From The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver

Review: The Nebuly Coat, by John Meade Falkner

Originally published in 1903, The Nubuly Coat is a rare book—yet it influenced the novels of so many other writers of Gothic fiction. The story opens when a young architect named Westray comes to the village of Cullerne to oversee the restoration of the old Norman church. The town itself is populated by an interesting array of characters: Mr. Sharnall the organist, who believes that a hidden specter with a hammer is out to kill him; the Rector and his wife, who seem as though they stepped out of an episode of Keeping Up Appearances.

There are also Miss Joliffe, the landlady; and her teenage niece, Anastasia, who seems surprisingly mature for her age. We’re also introduced to, although not at firsthand, Martin Joliffe, who for many years before his death believed that he was the rightful heir of the Blandamer family fortune. There’s also Lord Blandamer, the mysteries local squire, who keeps his distance from the rest of the town, though his family insignia, the “nebuly coat” of the title, covers everything in Cullerne. The townspeople are both in awe and contemptuous of him.

It’s hard to characterize this novel. Mystery? Thriller? There’s a murder here, but the mystery never gets solved. But there’s definitely a suggestion of a solution. I was a little disappointed in that, but the atmosphere of the tale was sufficiently chilling enough that I really got into it. It’s not an “easy” read, and it took about 20 pages for the story to get going, but Gothic fiction is really my thing. It’s easy to see why this novel influenced writers such as Dorothy Sayers and her The Nine Tailors.

There’s a lot here about church music and church politics, but it doesn’t burden the story. Falkner’s strength was characterization; he’s a master of using even the finest of brushstrokes to depict his characters, and he’s at his best when describing people at their best… and worst. He’s also very, very funny in places. This novel’s been on my TBR list for a long time, and it puzzles me as to why this book isn’t more widely available; it’s a classic.

The Sunday Salon

Happy Sunday! How is everyone holding up after the Read-a-Thon? I didn’t participate, but I was watching from the sidelines. I did, however, manage to do about four hours of reading yesterday. I finished an ARC of The Overnight Socialite, by Bridie Clark (author of Because She Can), coming out in mid-December. I’m now about 150 pages into an ARC of Barbara Kingsolver’s new book, The Lacuna, which is set in Mexico in the 1930s and ‘40s. Although it took a bit to get into at first, I’m absolutely entranced by it.

Also read this week was Miss Buncle’s Book, by DE Stevenson, another Persephone, this one about a woman in a country village who writes a satire about her neighbors. It was delightful reading.

I’ve also had some blogging issues—not with this one, but with my review index; the formatting went a bit weird and now I’ve had to completely redo it. It’s time-consuming, seeing as I’ve got about 320 reviews up here on this site. But it’s not terrible.

How’s your Sunday going?

Friday Finds

My TBR list is growing exponentially!

--Flapper: a Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern, by Joshua Zeitz. Nonfiction; recommended to me through LibraryThing.

--Fire From Heaven, by Mary Renault. Bought this this past weekend.

--Little Bird of Heaven, by Joyce Carol Oates. This is her latest book, and it looks pretty good. I went through a JCO “phase” in high school, so I look forward to this one.

--Harold the King, by Helen Hollick. Historical fiction about the Conquest; although it looks good, it’s just way too expensive for me at the moment, considering all the book buying I’ve been doing lately (just bought Brian Wainwright’s Within the Fetterlock on Monday).

--Tulip Fever, by Deborah Moggach. A novel set in mid-17th century Amsterdam, about art and the tulip craze.

--Bride of Pendorric, by Victoria Holt. One of my weekend buys.


--Island of Ghosts, by Gillian Bradshaw. Novel about the Roman conquest of Britain.

--Treason, by Meredith Whitford. Novel set during the War of the Roses.

Review: Consolation, by James Wilson

One evening, celebrated children’s author Corley Roper meets a woman named Mary Wilson in a graveyard. Both have suffered the recent loss of a child, and both are more or less adrift in the world—Roper is estranged from his mad wife and finds that he cannot write anymore. Later, he embarks on a search to find out the secret of Mary’s birth.

Set nearly a hundred years ago, this novel is sort of sepia-toned, in a way. The tone of the novel is dark in parts, and it promised to be a kind of a Gothic mystery. The story as it moves you along is compelling enough, but the ending left me wanting more—and not in a good way, because it was extremely anticlimactic (I don’t want to spoil anything, but it made me think, “that’s it? Why the heck did Roper even bother?”). From the blurb on the back of the book, Wilson wrote this novel about his grandmother, but I’m afraid that he made quite a mountain out of a molehill with this one—Mary’s secret isn’t particularly new or interesting. And it’s not much of a secret, either, as you will find out if you read this book.

I loved the atmosphere of the novel, but it was marred by characters who behave in unlikely ways. Why is a young American woman running around Europe unescorted? Why are pretty much all the characters so laissez-faire about the possibility of divorce in an era when divorce still wasn’t taken lightly? There are also a number of really wild coincidences—Roper goes in search of Alice, and the first hotel he enquires in happens to be the hotel at which she’s staying! The novel also touches on a number of different ideas and movements that were starting to take shape in the early 19th century (early psychology, cubism), but he never really delves into them. In short, this was a short novel with a lot of promise; it just didn’t hang together well for me, I’m afraid.

Teaser Tuesdays

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!

“Foreigners were suddenly less welcome. Often now there were riots against them in London: NO FRENCH ACROBATS one poster read, and the Sardinian chapel that Filipo di Vecellio and his sister Francesca had once visited was pelted with rocks.”

--From The Fraud, by Barbara Ewing

The Sunday Salon

Sunday, Sunday, Yesterday after running a few errands, I went to Barnes and Noble to use up some gift cards from last Christmas and my birthday. I came away with:

Bride of Pendorric, by Victoria Holt. I read Mistress of Mellyn last year and loved it, so I’m looking forward to reading more by her.

The Russian Concubine, by Kate Furnivall. Historical fiction set in Russia and China in the early 20th century.

Fire From Heaven, by Mary Renault. A novel about Alexander the Great. I’m really trying to branch out in the historical fiction I read, and read more eras, and this book is sort of a part of that.

I spent most of this past week reading Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle, which is a 700-page novel, the first in a series, about the great Icini warrior queen (the author, Manda Scott, spells it Eceni, though I'm not sure why). It's excellent. My current read is The Fraud, by Barbara Ewing, which I bought in London last month on vacation. It’s a novel about a painter in mid-18th century London, and some very deep, dark secrets. The author is fond of run-on sentences, but I’m enjoying the story immensely.

Yesterday I went and counted all of the unread books in my possession—I have 46 of them, plus a few ARCs coming to me in the mail (I snagged Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna through Vine, and I’m super excited about that; plus I was notified that I would be receiving a copy of Edward Rutherfurd's new book, which runs to 900-ish pages). Yikes. I really need to get cracking on my reading, don’t I? Right there is about four months' worth of reading. I only really have time for about three books a week, so I really need to be a bit selective when it comes to my reading choices. But I'll get there before long. So much to read, not enough time to do it in, you know?