July 2008 Archives
At last! I bridge the gap in the Indian years of Sharpe's saga - and get to read about that first fated meeting between Sergeant Sharpe and Major-General Arthur Wellesley at the Battle of Assaye. A brilliant read, although I wish I'd got Sharpe's Fortress still to come. Mind you, Martin tells me there is a TV special in the offing.... Sharpe's Peril. Huzzah!
Amazon.co.uk link: Sharpe's Triumph - Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.
... in which Commisario Guido Brunetti investigates the murder of a surprisingly wealthy and unwordly young student and an elderly Austrian woman, whose apartment turns out to house an astounding art collection. Not that unusual in Venice but the origins of this collection turn out to have close connections with jews fleeing Italy during World War II.
Amazon.co.uk links:
A gift from Jeannette, Native English for Nederlanders is pitched as "A personal, cultural and grammatical guide", written by Ronald van de Krol - an American of Dutch descent with a Dutch wife and family and who has lived and worked in The Netherlands for decades. His book highlights the perils and pitfalls of the English language for native Dutch speakers, and is as a native English speaker, it offers a fascinating perspective on my own language, and insight into the words, phrases and styles that can cause problems for my Dutch colleagues. Topics range from Deference, hierarchy and humour, American or British? to English as a code.
The third Elizabethan novel featuring London lawyer Matthew Shardlake, now joined by sidekick Barak, a familiar face from Dark Fire, this book's predecessor.
Sovereign is set in Tudor England in 1541, with Shardlake and Barak destined to cross the path of The Royal Progress, which sees King Henry VIII and No 4 Queen, Catherine Howard, the Court and and their vast entourage making a slow journey through the unruly Midlands and The North. The purpose of the progress is to demonstrate royal power and to quench once and for all the flames of rebellion ignited in the Pilgrimage of Grace five years earlier. Shardlake meets the King at York, which is the setting for the murders and mystery that form the focus of this excellent plot.
Amazon.co.uk links:
An American from the military base at Vincenza is found floating in the Venice lagoon, and Commissario Guido Brunetti's instincts tell him that it's no accidental death or mugging gone wrong. Calling upon informants ranging from his aristocratic father-in-law to a local petty criminal and his Sicilian mother, Guido finds himself delving into the murky waters of international corporate crime....
Death in a Strange Country has rewhetted my appetite for Donna Leon, if only the Barbican Library can oblige...
Oh - I've just read on the dust jacket that this is the second in the Brunetti series, which explains why some of the more familiar faces are missing, including the excellent Signorina Elettra.
Amazon.co.uk: Death in a Strange Country - Donna Leon
Leon's Brunetti books in Order
The Scarlet Lion of the title is William Marshall, and this novel covers the second half of his life and offers an equal focus on his wife, Isabelle de Clare.
We follow William and Isabelle through the growth of their family, their travels through their lands in on continental Europe, England and Ireland, and the difficulties of staying loyal and honourable during the reign of King John, a corrupt court and the chaos and collapse of the Angevin Empire.
Amazon.co.uk: The Scarlet Lion - Elizabeth Chadwick