Recently in Historical fiction Category
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: Sovereign - C J Sansom
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
Subtitled Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Seringapatam 1799 the novel deals with the battles between the British Army and the troops of the Tippoo of Mysore, culminating in the siege of the Tippoo's city fortress at Seringapatam.
From Sharpe's perspective, it is the first instalment and deals with the early years of his career; we learn how he first makes the move from the ranks to sergeant and how he meets Colonel McCandless, the history behind his 200 lashes and the origins of mutual loathing between Sharpe and Obidiah Hakeswill.
As ever, a rollicking great read!
Now I need to lay my hand on the next in the (chronological) series: Sharpe's Triumph
Sharpe's Tiger - Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.
I read a lot of Ellis Peters as a teenager, but this is the first historical crime fiction I've picked up for a while. There were a bunch of good reviews of the latest Matthew Shardlake novel, Revelation and when I spotted this in the most recent book sale in St Giles church, it was a obvious purchase.
Set in Tudor London in the latter years of Henry VIII's reign our hero, hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake, is called upon once more by Thomas Cromwell, this time to track down a recently unearthed barrel of Greek Fire. In return, Cromwell gives a fortnight's reprieve to Elizabeth Wentworth, the neice of a former client of Shardlake who stands accused of murdering her cousin. Accompanied by one of Cromwell's thugs for hire, the plot takes us through the murky streets and waterways of London in a race against time - if Shardlake cannot establish Elizabeth's innocence she will be pressed to death, and if Cromwell cannot demonstrate Greek Fire to the King his period as the second most powerful man in the land will end - and the balance of power will swing back to the Catholic Howard clan.
A very enjoyable read, with plenty of period detail particularly in the religious upheaval wrought by Reformation and the uncertainty that prevailed as a result.
Amazon.co.uk link: Dark Fire - C J Sansom
I first read The Far Pavilions as a teenager and had totally forgotten that it is largely set in what is now Pakistan, and over the border in Afghanistan, which would have made it a good book for my Hindu Kush Adventure. My memory of the novel was that it was an overwhelming love story, but this aspect didn't really grab me in this recent second reading; rather it was the historically accurate narrative, with insights into the Great Game and the lack of understanding that led to the Second Afghan War. Published in 1978, the book's theme of the West not understanding the Rest still holds true. When will we ever learn?
Amazon.co.uk link: The Far Pavilions - M M Kaye
1809, Portugal: Richard Sharpe and his riflemen are separated from the British Army, and under orders to locate and protect Miss Kate Savage, only daughter of one of the wealthy English Oporto wine merchants. A ripping yarn, featuring battles against overwhelming odds, where base born soldiering skills outwit French mortars and Dragoons, and horrific violence of victor over vanquished. The action culminates in the battle to liberate Oporto, and a route march through the mountains, as British and Portuguese armies and partizans try to cut off the fleeing French Army's only escape.
Amazon.co.uk: Sharpe's Havoc - Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.
A good read, featuring a variety of journeys - emotional, physical and geographical. Dual plotlines lie at the heart of the novel which revolve around cousins Rosa Barr and Mariella Lingwood whose stories unfold as events take them from rural and suburban Victorian England to the frontline of the Crimean War. Plotline one starts in 1844 with Mariella's account of the first summer she and her mother spent with Rosa and Rosa's mother and stepfather in Stukely Hall, and remerges as plotline two ten years later with the unexpected arrival of Rosa and her mother in the Lingwood's Clapham house. These two plot stands entwine themselves throughout the course of the book.
There is plenty of historical detail, covering medical and military developments, the growth of female emancipation and Victorian morals, and an engaging range of characters with feisty Rosa and reserved Mariella at opposite ends of many a spectrum.
Amazon.co.uk: The Rose of Sebastopol
The perfect read for the long journey home from Bhutan via Kolkata. Shadows and Strongholds tells of the childhood friendship and subsequent marriage between Fulke FitzWarin and Hawise de Dinan - characters I'd first met in Lords of the White Castle and which I now feel the need to go back and read again!
The novel also shows the friendship between their fathers - minor noble Fulke FitzWarin (senior) and former mercenary, Joscelin de Dinan, whose sensible wife Sybilla had inherited Ludlow castle - and the ever present threat to their power posed by rival claimants and the Welsh. I felt that I'd me these characters too - but can't work out where.
The novel spans 12th century decades from the waning of the civil war between Empress Matilda and King Stephen and Matilda's son Henry II, firmly taking control of the crown and the country.
One of Elizabeth Chadwick's best, with the powerful female characters underlining the limits of female freedoms and corresponding male attitudes.
Amazon.co.uk link: Shadows and Strongholds - Elizabeth Chadwick
A slim novel, but beautifully written - telling of frenchman Casimir de Chateauneuf's quest to find the Ottoman woman whose portrait he first sees in a Paris shop. Lovestruck, he leaves behind his family and travels to the exotic East during the declining years of the Ottoman Empire, suffering many trials en route before ultimately reaching Constantinople and the woman of his dreams.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Palace of Tears - Alev Lytle Croutier
A slimmer volume than some other Elizabeth Chadwick novels, but still a good love story set in the Middle Ages. In Shields of Pride, Linnet de Montsorrel finds freedom from her abusive oik of a noble husband when Giles is killed at Smithfield horsefair, but her hand and her land is swiftly "reallocated" to Joscelin de Gael, illegitimate son of William Ironheart. The course of true love is inevitably indirect, but Linnet and Joscelin get there in the end, and on the way we have brawling (half)brothers, obsessed and bitter wives/ mothers, ghostly apparitions and royal rebellion.
Amazon.co.uk link: Shields of Pride - Elizabeth Chadwick
A (murder) mystery, told from the perspective of Grace Bradley, who joins the domestic staff at Riverton Manor as a lowly maid at the end of the Edwardian era.
The story arc stretches forward to the late 1990s, with the narrative based on Grace recording her memories for her missing grandson, and gradually revealing details of a love triangle that resulted in the untimely death of a young poet. There are other mysteries revealed en route.
The main plot is placed in the turbulent twenties which allows for us to witness demobbed soldiers traumatised by the horrors of World War I and the hedonistic lifestyles of the rich and famous, partying away those horrors, and the increasing freedom allowed to the young - and the female young in particular.
A similar setting to Atonement/Gosford Park/Remains of the Day, but it's a much frothier read - a good summer holiday book.
Amazon.co.uk link: The House at Riverton
Borrowed from Phil's bookshelf, Night Soldiers tells the story of young Bulgarian, Khristo, in the decade spanning the Second World War. Taking the decision to leave Bulgaria for better, albeit unknown, things in Communist Russia he trains as an NKVD (the KGB's forerunner) agent and makes lifelong friends with his fellow trainees drawn from various parts of the Soviet system. From Moscow to the Spanish Civil War, followed by an escape to France and a period of unexpected happiness in Paris, the novel culminates in a final undercover mission that takes Khristo the length of the Danube and back into focus earlier periods and people in his life.
There are lots of twists and turns, which were sometime complicated to follow as at its heart the novel portrays the world of the Soviet secret service, complete with secret codes, Stalinist purges and double agents, spreading across the whole of Europe, east and west, as well as the USSR. Also, I can't put my finger on it, but something about the writing meant that I was always conscious of the author's American background, and that felt strange.
Amazon.co.uk link: Night Soldiers - Alan Furst
The last of my initial trio of Sharpe tales borrowed from the library, Sharpe's Prey is also the last of Bernard Cornwell's prequels to the original Sharpe series. It is a more personal tale, featuring his childhood - the misery and pain of a bastard orphan living in London's east end docklands - and his doomed love affair with the lovely Lady Grace which began in Sharpe's Trafalgar.
Set in 1807, two years after Sharpe's return to England, the early part of the story alludes to the fact that his early years with the 95th Rifles, and as an officer, were not hugely successful and that he is planning to leave the army. We also learn that why and how the path of true love did not run smooth, which adds depth to Sharpe's reluctance to engage in later love affairs (although his broken heart seems well on the mend by the end of the expedition to Denmark). The action, as good as ever, takes us from East End bar room brawls to the British siege of Copenhagen, with plenty of espionage, counter espionage and spies of both sexes.
Now all I need to do is: (1) read Sharpe's Tiger and Sharpe's Triumph, and (2) get the DVD player working....
Amazon.co.uk: Sharpe's Prey - Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.
Hot on the heels of Sharpe's Fortress, I raced through the next instalment, Sharpe's Trafalgar which tells of Richard Sharpe's return to England from India, via the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. En route he encounters the French in the shape of the warship Revenant and romance in the delightful form of Lady Grace, who is, unfortunately, married to the not so lovely Lord William Hale.
Plenty of detail on life under sail at the start of the 19th century - from the cramped yet hierarchical nature of ship's quarters to the meagerness of ship's rations to the tactics of battle at sea. If the battle scenes don't set your pulse racing, the love story probably will!
Amazon.co.uk: Sharpe's Trafalgar - Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.
Having fallen victim to the Sean Bean portrayal of rough diamond, raised from the ranks soldier Richard Sharpe, and having started the TV series from its start (thanks to Phil's self sacrifice in buying me the DVD box set for Christmas) I'd begun to appreciate more fully the comments on Amazon about Bernard Cornwell's "set earlier, written later" Sharpe novels - ie that Cornwell had been persuaded to divulge the detail on the early years of Sharpe's career - the time he spent in India, his sea voyage home (handily coinciding with Nelson's victory at Trafalgar) and his foray into Denmark - all of which take place prior to the 95th Rifles' arrival on the Iberian peninsula, and feature his initial encounters with Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) and the evil Obidiah Hakeswill.
Ideally I would have started with Sharpe's Tiger and Sharpe's Triumph, but the Barbican Library's largesse was limited to making the next three novels available in one fell swoop. So, not that bad really!
Sharpe's Fortress is "subtitled" Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803 which sums up the setting rather neatly. We join Ensign Richard Sharpe and his pre-Rifles regiment, unhappily so, as the British Army's campaign against the rebellious Mahratta princes continues, laying siege to the impregnable cliff top fortress of Gawilghur. Sharpe shines when he find himself in his element - thinking on his feet, playing dirty where necessary, repaying loyalty with loyalty and respect - but only once he manages to break free from the politics of the "born to it" officer class.
I was worried that I'd not enjoy the novels as much as the TV series - not just the absence of Sean Bean, but also the need to read about the battles rather than simply watching them play out on screen. My fears proved unfounded - yes, there are pages of battle, but they're written from the soldier's perspective rather than the tacticians. Plenty of real time blood, guts and glory, hardly any "British regiment moved to position X; Indian forces countered by moving to position Y".
Amazon.co.uk: Sharpe's Fortress - Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.
I hate to say it, but I find Philippa Gregory's books a much better read than Elizabeth Chadwick's. Even though both authors often deal with historical events and key characters from a romantic perspective, I seem to put down Philippa Gregory's novels feeling that I'd been given a deeper insight into what might have happened at key points in history.
I think I've said it before, but having studied history to degree level, I still feel that the focus on political history that we followed missed out the significance of the individual and human relationships - we learned the what without really understanding the why.
In The Boleyn Inheritance Philippa Gregory tries to explain why Henry VIII got through so many wives in the final 8 years of his life, with the focus being on Anne of Cleves (No 4, divorced) and Catherine Howard (No 5, beheaded). There are sideways glances at the fates of Katherine of Aragon (No 1, divorced), Anne Boleyn (No 2, beheaded), Jane Seymour (No 3, died) and Katherine Parr (No 6, survived), underlining how Henry changed from golden youth to despotic tyrant, desperate for another male heir and to cling onto his more heroic and handsome yesteryears.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory
A tale set in England during the turbulent 12th century, when the repercussions of the Norman Conquest were still being felt - not just in England but in what we now know as France too - as Empress Matilda and her cousin King Stephen fought for the crown, bringing civil war, famine and fear to the country that Henry I had made strong and prosperous.
The man at the centre of the novel is John FitzGilbert, Lord Marshal of England, who after loyal service to Henry I, first supports Stephen and then switches sides to support Matilda, staying Lord Marshal throughout. He discards his first wife on the grounds of consanguinity, and swiftly makes a political and more profitable marriage to Sybilla of Salisbury.
As you might expect, Elizabeth Chadwick turns this somewhat unsavoury set of events into a tale of passion, heroism and honour - and whilst it is a good read, be prepared for rather a lot of battles and sieges.
Amazon.co.uk link: A Place Beyond Courage - Elizabeth Chadwick
Set in the Middle East during the 12th century crusades, this novel covers the build up to the infamous battle at the Horns of Hattin where Saladin and his Muslim forces trounced the faction ridden crusader armies led by King Guy de Lusignan.
Sarah Bryant tells the tale from the perspective of a young Bedouin girl and boy - Khalidah and Bilal - both half caste in the eyes of their nomad community and whose childhood ends and destinies diverge when Khalidah flees from a dynastic marriage, in the company of mysterious minstrel Sulayman. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that the past, present and future of these three characters are more closely linked than first appears.
For me, there were the added incentives of maps showing that (for some characters at least) their travels would take them to Persia and the Hindu Kush, and lots of accurate historical detail in easily readable form.
This novel is in the same vein as, but better than, Elizabeth Chadwick; better because it covers a wider canvas than simply boy-meets-girl-and-after-various-trials-find-love-and-marriage.
Loaned to me by Janette, The Constant Princess was a good dose of historical fiction, and one that offered me new insights on the life and role of Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. Even having studied "The Tudors" at several stages of my education, I'd never really approached late 15th and 16th century English history from any other perspective than the core members of three generations of the Tudor dynasty: Henrys VII and VIII, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth.
Philippa Gregory starts with Katherine's childhood, growing up in Spain, one of the daughters of Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon. As Los Reyes Católicos, this powerful couple conquered the Muslim kingdom of Granada and brought to an end Muslim rule in Iberia after centuries of the peninsula forming the northern boundary of the Arab empire.
With Spain becoming the most powerful country in Europe, Katherine was always destined for a dynastic marriage and at an early age was betrothed to Henry VII's elder son, Arthur - named in honour of the mythical King Arthur of Camelot and in anticipation of a similarly golden age under the Tudor kings.
With such an upbringing it's not surprising that Katherine struggled in to adapt to the cold and less catholic climate of England. However, as the story of The Constant Princess unfolds we are shown how she matures, becoming adept at handing both politics and love with enduring pragmatism whilst never forgetting her duty to her faith and family.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory
Jed Rubenfeld brings together psychology, sociology and sleuthing in this highly readable murder-mystery.
The plot is set in New York in the early part of the 20th century, when money, power and social standing were all still controlled of the upper classes dynasties. However tradition is under threat as the cityscape and more egalitarian society we know today start to emerge.
The main cast comprise Sigmund Freud and acolytes, on their first visit to the United States and at a key time in the acceptance of Freud's theories on psychoanalysis. Their arrival coincides with the sexually-motivated murder of a beautiful young socialite and within days there is a second attack in a similar vein.
Despite the erudition, it's not a literary masterpiece - more CSI meets Cracker in an Edith Wharton setting - but a good read nevertheless.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld
David Malouf tells the story of one Australian man, Digger Keen, and the people in his life.
Digger's story starts with his mother's arrival from England at the start of the 20th century. Having established a home and a store at Keen's Crossing, children follow, but only Digger and his elder, "simple" sister Jenny survive to adulthood.
Digger's experiences as a soldier and prisoner of war in Malaya and Thailand introduce us to the tales' other key character, Vic Curran - a chap of conflicting characteristics whose life post war bring wealth and happiness, albeit built on slightly dodgy foundations. Having formed during their harsh PoW experience, and not always understood by either of them, the mateship between these two men is strong enough to endure the passing decades and the divergent paths their lives take.
It is a long novel, and the pace is slow - but this slow motion journey allows you to see and appreciate so much more about the characters and the times, places and events they live through. I loved every minute of it.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Great World - David Malouf
Recommended by Michael-at-work, I'd picked this up more than once from the library, but for some reason the synopsis hadn't seemed alluring enough. I'm glad I gave it another go.
Tash Aw tells us the story of Johnny Lim from three angles - his son's (Jasper), his wife's (Snow), and his British friend's (Peter) - each forming a separate section of the novel. Their memories and experiences overlap and frequently conflict, such that the central character - Johnny - and the truth, ultimately remains elusive. With a relatively small cast of characters, this novel brings to life a period of turmoil in South East Asia, principally Malaya/Malaysia: the end of era of British Empire and the expansion of Japanese power, and war, in its place. And it's beautifully done.
Set in 19th century London (in the main), this novel mixes historical fiction with biography to suggest a backstory for Edgar Allen Poe (the boy of the book's title), his childhood in England and parentage.
Told by his schoolmaster and one-time soldier Thomas Shield, the story covers mystery and murder, love, lust and lechery, financial scandal and social ruin. There's the high society balls and dinner parties of the country elite, the honest poor making ends meet in London's labyrinthine tenements and the ne'er-do-wells of both worlds.
It's not an easy read, but ultimately it is a worthwhile one.
Amazon.co.uk: The American Boy - Andrew Taylor
An excellent historical novel from Elizabeth Chadwick, telling the (true) story of Fulke FitzWarin, growing from squire to knight to outlaw to Lord of Whittington in the Welsh Marches during the reigns of Henry II, absentee Crusader King Richard the Lionheart and treacherous King John.
The love story strand tells of his marriage to Maude le Vavasseur, the politics feature Llywelyn the Great, Hubert Walter, Ranulph of Chester, and the action takes place throughout the lands of the Angevin Empire, which stretches across the English Channel.
What I enjoyed most about this novel was the balance between the male and female characters - Maude le Vavasseur wasn't portrayed as a damsel in distress, predestined to fall into the strong arms of Fulke FitzWarin (having overcome some obstacles in the path to true love, naturally). Instead we get to see these two main characters develop from childhood to adults, carefully picking their way through the tricky politics of the period, maturing as individuals and developing relationships as one does in real life.
Amazon.co.uk link: Lords of the White Castle - Elizabeth Chadwick
An unexpected delight. I remembered thoroughly enjoying Cloud Atlas, and I'd not expected this earlier novel to use a simpler version of the linked stories theme, and I enjoyed it just as much.
Each chapter features a different genre, time and place, and largely separate characters - but there are just the occasional chance connections between people that link all of them together - although you probably don't realise the significance at the time. The result is a novel that illustrates the butterfly effect theory, although in this case it is hard to work out who is the butterfly and which (where?) is the tornado.
Amazon.co.uk link: Ghostwritten - David Mitchell
Quickly read over an extremely wet May Bank Holiday weekend in Walton, another loan from the caravan's "library".
As with The Secret River, this is a novel set at an interesting time, in this case the 1930s, tracing the lives of a British-American family whose fortunes revive from the depths of the Depression, a revival that many are unaware is spurred on by nations preparing for war. The story moves from an industrial setting in England-between-the-wars to a delapidated plantation house bequeathed by a distant relative, and a world of farming and society still very much the same as it had been 50 years before.
But it is not really a novel of economics and business. Rather it's a gently paced novel, where the characters take centre stage. It put me in mind of the kind of thing Anne Tyler might write, if she were to set one of her novels in this period.
Amazon.co.uk link: Mason's Retreat - Christopher Tilghman
If you liked the historical sections of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth, you will definitely enjoy this novel. It is set in the Languedoc at the time of the Albigensian Crusade and the persecution of the Cathars by the twin powers of the Catholic Church and the northern French nobility, notably Simon de Montfort - the former thirsty for souls, the latter for land and the power and wealth it would bring.
I haven't quite worked out why, but the love story part of the plot of this novel didn't irritate as much as it has done in other Elizabeth Chadwick novels I've read of late. Possibly because all the characters remained strong throughout, and the story didn't end when the guy got the girl.
Amazon.co.uk link: Daughters of the Grail - Elizabeth Chadwick
Having enjoyed The Idea of Perfection I decided to try The Secret River, and found it an excellent read. Set in the late 18th/early 19th century, it follows the descent into poverty and crime of Thames waterboatman William Thornhill, culminating in Will's being transported to Australia, and fortunately (for him) his childhood sweetheart Sal and wife was allowed to follow.
The New South Wales section of the novel is a reflection of the London opening - seeing roles reversed and the family slowly but surely pulling themselves out of penury in this strange new land of heat and big skies. Their relationships with the local aborigine peoples of the Hawkesbury River provide a whole range of reflections - cultural, personal, political - not just between the native population and the European settlers, but between the incomers themselves, highlighting the range of approaches and opinions across the generations.
A good book. Strange reading it in Iran.
Amazon.coluk link: The Secret River - by Kate Grenville
Selected from my Library Books To Read pile on the basis that the cover illustration might not be allowed into Iran (I go there for a fortnight at the start of May), The Marsh King's Daughter was a quick read.
Set several centuries earlier than The Lady and the Unicorn, and in the lowlands of East Anglia it tells the story of a headstrong wool merchant's daughter who runs away from the convent to which her stepfather consigns her, and ends up becoming a successful business women, trading in sheep, wool and cloth, travelling around England and to Europe. There's the usual love story accompanying the history, and the Marsh King references are to King John's baggage train being lost in the treacherous quicksands of The Wash in 1216.
I fear that familiarity with Elizabeth Chadwick's novels is at risk of breeding some kind of contempt, which I wouldn't want as I do enjoy them - the books are well written and detailed, with good characters and plot; they're just a bit too similar in the overarching tale of two people overcoming adversity to find love.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Marsh King's Daughter - Elizabeth Chadwick
Hot on the heels of William Dalrymple's The Age of Kali, another good read - but of a completely different kind. The Lady and the Unicorn is a historical novel, set in 15th century Paris and Brussels, and tell the imagined story behind the amazing tapestries of the lady and the unicorn that are displayed in the beautiful Musée de Cluny / Musee du Moyenne Age [the Middle Ages] in Paris.
Tracy Chevalier provides insight into the detail included in the tapestries - the significance of the selection of the flora and fauna, and the poses and actions of the ladies and the unicorn - and into how the tapestries were made - from painting the intial images, to the dyes used to colour the wool, to the weaving and finishing. You learn about mediaeval business, society and economics, the power of the guilds and the role of women. The Lady and the Unicorn is a really informative read, lightly yet learnedly done.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Lady and the Unicorn - Tracy Chevalier
Another strongly researched mediaeval romance from Elizabeth Chadwick, but the first that left me wondering whether I should have a break from her before reading another of her novels.... The Winter Mantle is by no means a bad book, but three generations' worth of stories isn't really sufficiently supported by three generations of characters and depth. And for the first time I failed to warm to any of the characters.
What you do get in exchange is a plot that shows the social and political impact of the Norman invasion of 1066 and the gradual merging of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon worlds, at a time when the Normans were building an empire on the continent that would power the Crusades - and which would once again emphasise the position of England and the English on the periphery of the Western world.
As one of the amazon reviewers put it, Elizabeth Chadwick "now writes about the period with the convictions of her obvious knowledge of the subject and has also made a subtle change from writing what were in effect historical love stories (nothing wrong with that) to historical novels with a love interest."
Amazon.co.uk link: The Winter Mantle - Elizabeth Chadwick
Another thoroughly enjoyable piece of historical chick lit from Elizabeth Chadwick in a richly evoked, detailed setting which I have come to expect in her novels.
As ever, the novel features a pair of star crossed lovers, although it takes a while for Annais and Sabin to grow up enough to recognise their destiny. Even then the path to true love does not run smooth in this tale which takes the reader, and the characters, from the dour Scottish borders to the vibrant and voilent Crusader Kingdoms of the 12th century, showing how close these two distant areas were brought by the Crusades and the people involved in them, on both sides.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Falcons of Montalbard - Elizabeth Chadwick
Another thoroughly enjoyable piece of historical chick lit from Elizabeth Chadwick in a richly evoked, detailed setting which I have come to expect in her novels.
As ever, the novel features a pair of star crossed lovers, although it takes a while for Annais and Sabin to grow up enough to recognise their destiny. Even then the path to true love does not run smooth in this tale which takes the reader, and the characters, from the dour Scottish borders to the vibrant and voilent Crusader Kingdoms of the 12th century, showing how close these two distant areas were brought by the Crusades and the people involved in them, on both sides.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Falcons of Montalbard - Elizabeth Chadwick
This novel charts the rise to power of the last Empress of China, from provincial governer's daughter to the establishment of her small son as Emperor in the 1860s.
At times it felt like a thinly veiled piece of academic work, which sat uneasily with the added shots of sexual and political intrigue. Still, I learned at lot about the workings of the Imperial Court and the Forbidden City in the declining years of the Manchu Qing dynasty, and their attempts to deal with predatory manoevrings of the western powers during the Opium Wars.
Amazon.co.uk link: Empress Orchid
I managed a trip to the Barbican library after work on Friday lunchtime, returning home with a pile of books - a fitting start to the Christmas holidays. I demolished this mediaeval Mills&Boon within 24 hours, mainly due to the fact that I started reading on Saturday evening in the absence of anything decent on the telly, carried on into the wee small hours of Christmas Eve..... eventually finishing the book on the way home from Michael's evening of food, (mulled) wine and bonhomie in Ladbroke Grove.
Very much along the same lines as The Love Knot, my first Elizabeth Chadwick, and just as enjoyable. The Champion tells the tale of two young lovers, one a runaway monk, the other the unacknowledged grand daughter of the Duke of Stafford, who grow up in the community of the tournament camp in late 12th century France, in the shadow of the Angevin courts of Richard the Lion Heart and Prince/King John and the French and Norman world of King Philippe. Nothing too demanding.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Champion - Elizabeth Chadwick
A perfect antidote to the sadness I felt on finishing The Master, Elizabeth Chadwick's merging of mediaeval historical fiction and modern chick lit is a notch above a bodice ripper, on a par with Jean Plaidy for plot and accuracy but with rather more racy sex scenes!
Set during the 12th century civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda - a time when Christ and his Saints slept leaving the people of England to freeze and starve - this tale tells the lives and love of a normanised Saxon knight, Oliver Pascal, and young widow turned midwife Catrin.
An easy page turner, but a credible one. My first encounter with Elizabeth Chadwick, but I'll be on the look out for more of her novels.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Love Knot - Elizabeth Chadwick
I wasn't too sure I was in the mood for an erudite biography of Henry James, particularly as I've never read any of his novels (although I watched the film version of The Portriat of a Lady, I was not inspired to read the novel), but Colm Toibin's lightly fictionalised account of Henry James' life during the final years of the 19th century was a joy to read.
This novel brings to life James' family and friendships, his American upbringing at the time of the Civil War and the ways he used his novels to provide alternate lives for the people he loved, and for his relationships with them. I put down this book with a feeling of immense sadness arising from James' inability to allow himself to recognise or accept the love he felt for others and they for him.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Master - Colm Toibin
Interesting as an account of the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860s, and the lure of 'the colour': gold. However, I didn't warm to any of the characters, not even Harriet the main female lead who exchanges a governess' life in England for that of an immigrant's wife in New Zealand where she and her equally novice husband try to estalish a farm in the harsh conditions of the South Island, with mother-in-law in tow.
Buy it: Amazon link
I've seen this in many a bookshop's Bestsellers pile over the past few months, so spotting it at the library I picked up a copy, having already bought a copy for Karen for her birthday a few months ago.
Although it's clearly of the Da Vinci Code genre, it's got different historical emphasis, much stronger female characters and a few drops of mysticism. Not to be taken too seriously, it's an enjoyable read with the twin tales set in the 13th century and the 21st intertwining throughout the novel, and not surprisingly coming together at the end.
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Having polished off All That Remains rather more rapidly than expected, I resorted to the books that line the shelves of the Gyford's Walton residence.... Having already plundered the shelves on numerous occasions I knew I'd have to try something I'd previously rejected.
The one I picked, Richard Rayner's The Cloud Sketcher, has proved a very good read, and I'd never have expected a novel to teach me about both American urban architecture and Finnish history, whilst simultaneously managing to build in a romance across a vast social divide!
The Cloud Sketcher follows the life, loves and career of Finnish architect Esko Vaananen, taking him and us from his childhood in a remote peasant village to the prosperity and opportunities available in Helsinki to a young architect at start of his career in the early years of the 20th century. This promising start is cut short by the bitter fighting between the Reds and the Whites as Russia's Bolshevik Revolution spills over into Civil War in Finland, its neighbour and, at this time (I think...), vassal state.
The action then moves on to east coast of America in the glorious 20s, a time of prohibition and jazz, millionaires, gangsters and their molls, and the skyscrapers evoked in the title. Even if times the plot seems a bit bloated, Richard Rayner keeps you turning the pages right to the bitter end.
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I would put this novel into the "I'd've been happy reading it as a library book; but I'd have felt disappointed if I'd paid anything like the RRP for it". So it was a good job I'd bought it at the cheap and cheerful charity second hand bookshop in Hereford.
It wasn't bad, just a little light in places - but that's the risk of reading historical novels featuring dashing heroes amidst a cast of characters from a range of cultures, enjoying epic adventures and political intruige in lands afar.... I *always* end up comparing them with Dorothy Dunnett's, and by and large they come up short.
And there were always going to be some cultural/literary differences arising from the fact that I was reading a translation of a book originally penned in french. Occasionally this was irritatingly obvious, albeit at the gnat rather than shark end of the scale, in the over-elaborate use of synonyms. The example that sticks in the mind is the various words for elephant that appear in the space of a few paragraphs on pages 315 and 316: pachyderm, mastodon, animal - I can just hear the french stylistic flourishes.....
But enough gripes, because The Seige of Isfahan is definitely worth a read if you like historical novels. In it, Jean-Christophe Rufin returns to the characters twenty years after he created in The Abyssinian and finds them scattered across the countries and empires of Persia, Europe and Central Asia. From the central base of Isfahan under the last of the Persian Kings, the plot twists and turns its way across time and place reuniting the orginal cast back once more, but this time in an Isfahan destroyed by seige and ruled by the Afghans of Kandahar.
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An enjoyable birthday present from Karen, a mixture of modern and historical fiction in the mould of The Da Vinci Code. As the name suggests, The Last Templar features the Knights Templar , but this time the leading couple (both americans in this version, with the female as the academic, and her love interest a New York FBI agent) unearth a different long hidden secret that explains and the Templars' strained relationship with the Roman Catholic church.
A definite page turner, which you'd expect as the author - Raymond Khoury - is a script writer, but if you didn't find The Da Vinci Code erudite enough, I suspect this isn't a novel for you.
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I wasn't at all sure about this from the blurb and (over)enthusiastic recommendation from Joanne Harris. Still, I'm always a sucker for epic novels set in glorious eras in the past, and all the more so when the action takes place in pre-Maoist China. In this novel we're quickly introduced to the cast of (mainly) female characters and the concept of jin-shei - a sisterhood determined by a self-determined commitment to friendship and loyalty, and facilitated by a secret women's language. Once the relationships are established, the plot continues headlong into tales of courtly intrigue and powerplays, spiritual and self-discovery - both for good and for bad set against the background of social and cultural life in mediaeval capital of the Syai empire, aka mediaeval China.
Not as good as Dorothy Dunnett, but then she does build her plots over a whole series of books.
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