Historical Fiction Archives - Page 16 of 20

The Blind Contessa’s New Machine by Carey Wallace: Book Review

Based true events, The Blind Contessa's New Machine tells the story of Carolina Fantoni and her friend, Turri. Carolina is a beautiful, somewhat solitary girl. She loves to spend time alone down at the little lake her father constructed for her mother. When she gets older, she attracts the attention of the local heartthrob, Pietro. As the wedding draws near, Carolina realizes that she is going blind. She tells her parents and Pietro, but they just brush her off. Turri is the only one who understands and listens. This was an absolutely beautiful book. Even though it is grounded in reality, I had the feeling that I was reading a fairy tale. It felt so dreamy. Carolina felt a little like a princess under a curse. Pietro was the handsome yet clueless prince. Turri is the thoughtful, overlooked friend. That sounds like a Disney version, but this would have more in common with the Brothers Grimm version than Disney. This is the real world, after all, and Carolina is going blind in the early 1800s. There's no happy ending to be found there. I appreciated the descriptions of Carolina's encroaching blindness. I could picture exactly what she was seeing and how she was feeling. She judges the progression of her vision loss by looking at some trees on the banks of her lake weekly. She gets frightened, she hopes it's stopping, she even occasionally hopes it's getting better, but deep down she knows that she will inevitably be blind. It all felt so real and I could see myself doing the same things if, heaven forbid, the same should ever happen to me. When she does become fully blind, she seems to go into a depression. Then she realizes that she has sight in her dreams and the book moves…

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer: Book Review

Mary "Jacky" Faber is an orphan in eighteenth-century London. She actually came from a good family, but when both her parents died of illness, there was nowhere for Jacky to go but the streets. Luckily, she made her way into one of the gangs of street orphans, groups of children who watch out for each other and share whatever they manage to find or steal. Jacky eventually decides she needs to do something to improve her life before she ends up dead. She disguises herself as a boy and starts wandering London on her own. She immediately realizes how much easier life is for boys, even orphan boys. She soon finds herself at the docks, where she lands a position as ship's boy in the Royal Navy. Adventures follow, with Jacky worried about someone finding out her secret the whole time. I loved Jacky! She is such a strong, true female character! I was thrilled to find her in a YA/MG book. She's not unrealistically tough either. She has her fears, and when she gets scared she starts crying and screeching like a banshee. She admits that she's not very brave--except that she mostly is. She has her own fears, as we all do, but she does things that most children, or adults for that matter, would be terrified to do. When she finds herself in a tough spot, she doesn't just give up; she solves her problems the best way she can, and she's very smart about it. Whether it's a matter of survival or bullying, nothing fazes Jacky for long. Jacky writes her own story, and the beginning is written in a very--cockney?--way. I thought it was pretty fun and didn't have a problem understanding it at all. If you find yourself reading this and you're put off…

The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall: Book Review

Taking place before The Russian Concubine, The Jewel of St. Petersburg tells the story of Valentina Ivanova and Jens Friis as they meet during the fall of the Russian monarchy. Valentina is the privileged daughter of a wealthy Russian minister and Jens is a Danish engineer, working to improve the overall water quality in St. Petersburg. The two are immediately drawn to each other, even as their world is falling into chaos around them. Well, first things first. At least I know where this title came from--The Russian Concubine still doesn't make sense to me! I found this to be a page-turner. It took me a couple of days, but really I read it in just a couple of sittings. Even though I knew how this was going to end up--an irritation of prequels--I still wanted to know how they got where they did. Jens was wonderful. The big, gentle, Viking-looking type is right up my alley. You know he could get all bad-ass if he wanted to, but it doesn't cross his mind until someone he loves is threatened. He loves Russia but still sees that there are great flaws in the system and in the tsar. He understands where the revolutionaries are coming from but he believes their methods are completely wrong. He believes in working within the system rather than causing a national bloodbath. In his own small way, he's trying to improve the lives of the Russian poor. They keep getting sick because they don't have clean water to drink, and those forced to live in basements frequently get flooded out. By improving the water delivery system and the sewage system, he's making everyone's lives better. When injuries happen on his job sites, and they often do due to lack of funding for proper safety procedures,…

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland: Book Review

Girl in Hyacinth Blue follows the path of a painting, possibly by Vermeer, from an aloof math professor backwards to the painter and the subject. Each owner has a different story to tell, and even a little bit of a different relationship to the painting, but they all love it and find echoes of something they feel inside themselves inside the painting. And isn't that sort of the point of truly great art? The novel itself has the feel of a short story collection. Each chapter is about a different owner and is a complete story unto itself. The novel never feels choppy though. But--the writing. Beautiful. It lived up to the painting that I painted inside my head. I truly saw the landscapes Susan Vreeland paints with her words and I truly felt involved with each character's story. If you love beautiful language, or you love beautiful art, read this book. It's just gorgeous. Reviewed December 19, 2007

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: Book Review

Daniel Sempere's father takes him to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books when he's ten years old. One of the cemetery rules is that on your first visit, you choose a book, take it with you, and protect it forever. Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. Daniel falls in love with this exquisitely written book and is puzzled when he find out that very few copies of the book ever sold and that his copy is one of the few still in existence. He sets out to find out more about the author of the book that he loves so much, never dreaming of the secrets he will uncover over the next ten years. I don't think I've ever read many, if any, books by Spanish authors. So I'm reading along, starting to fall under this book's spell, and I all of a sudden started thinking about the movie "Pan's Labyrinth." Then I started worrying that maybe that brutal kind of sucker punch that happened at the end of the movie was a trademark of Spanish writers in general. And I think that affected the way I read the rest of the book. I think that if I ever go back and re-read it, I will enjoy it more. But this time around, I was afraid to let myself get too attached to anyone. Weird, I know. I wish that hadn't happened. All in all, this was a really good book. It had that melodramatic feel that I've loved in Jane Eyre and The Thirteenth Tale. There were several twists and turns that grabbed me and almost shouted, "This isn't going where you think it is! Pay attention!" When I could let go of my weird "Pan's Labyrinth" thing, I caught myself wandering through the house, holding…

The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted: Book Review

Elizabeth is an intelligent young woman growing up within the constraints of Victorian society. To make matters worse, she is "the maid's daughter." After her mother and the owners of the house where she worked died, Bet is taken along with the heir, Will, to live with Will's uncle. Bet is treated as something between, neither family nor servant. She's allowed to read and study whatever she wants and develops a thirst for knowledge. When Will is kicked out of yet another school, Bet decides that they should each pursue what they want. She assumes Will's identity and heads off to school in his place while he runs off to join the military. But there's much more to becoming a boy than developing bad handwriting, and it's much harder to leave behind a girl's feelings than Bet had expected. I don't have a whole lot to say about this. I am more than twice the age of the intended audience, hard as that is for me to believe, and so I didn't feel like I read anything new here. Younger audiences will probably feel differently. I couldn't help but compare this to Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. The genres are different (historical fiction and fantasy), but the basic plot is very much the same. I think Alanna was more well-developed. I liked Bet well enough. She was plucky and stood up for what she believed in, no matter how scared she was. She also pursued her dreams wholeheartedly, knowing that she would regret it if she didn't seize this one chance offered to her. There's a "revelation" at the end that I saw coming from miles away. Again, though, I am a lot older than the intended audience. The time line was a little jarring. A new chapter…

Shadow of the Swords by Kamran Pasha: Book Review

The famous Muslim leader Saladin believes that he has finally driven the Christian crusaders from Israel's shores. The King of Jerusalem has surrendered, most other nobles have gone home, and there's only a small, stubborn contingent to deal with outside the town of Acre. Newly-crowned King Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) sees this as his chance to win everlasting fame and glory. He rallies his forces to travel back to Israel and try again. With his brilliant strategies and fearless leadership, the Muslims won't know what hit them. I guess in a nutshell you could say that this is the story of the Third Crusade told from a Muslim point of view. I found it incredibly interesting. It's always a little--what's the word?--enlightening to see things from the "enemy's" point of view. This took place so long ago that I didn't go into it feeling invested one way or another. Still, if you learn anything about the Crusades in school in the Western world (and I don't remember learning much), it's probably that the Christian knights were fighting to take the Holy Land back from the "infidels." I found it fascinating to see what the Muslims thought of Westerners at that time. Of course they saw them as infidels also. But they also saw them as dirty, ignorant, and without honor. They were medically and scientifically advanced and I'm guessing that Europeans hadn't progressed past leeches and wouldn't for several hundred years. The book opens with Saladin re-taking Jerusalem. The Christians still living in the city are cowering in fear, knowing how their soldiers had treated the Muslims when they took the city earlier. Saladin makes it clear that he's not going to harm anyone. The war is over, enough people have died, and if you don't harm…

Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian: Book Review

5 Stars. This was absolutely amazing. I just grabbed this at the library because I remembered it was on my to-read list, but I had forgotten what it was about. Once I read the book jacket, I was so excited. I told my husband, "This sounds like a book I can sink my teeth into!" I wasn't disappointed. The best part about the book [...]

Fireworks over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff: Book Review

Lily Davis was only 17 when she married a boy she had known for a short time. He was shipping out to WWII soon as a supply man for Coca-Cola and it seemed like the thing to do before he went away. Three years later, her hometown of Toccoa, Georgia has scheduled a big homecoming party for all the returning soldiers, including parades and fireworks. Lily stumbles into Jake Russo, the fireworks man, as he's setting up his show and he opens up a world of possibilities for her. This just isn't my kind of book. I love the cover, I love that it's set at the end of World War II in a town that isn't that far from my own. I was a little afraid that it would have more in common with a Nicholas Sparks novel than I would like, but I took a chance on it anyway. As far as I'm concerned, it could have been written by Nicholas Sparks. Not that there's anything wrong with this book or anything that Sparks has written, it's just not my taste. Tell me that a book was "so good you cried for the last 50 pages," and I will avoid that book like the plague. Not for me. And that's the kind of book this is. I did like Lily. She's a headstrong woman living in a time and place where her opinions and actions are frowned upon. Her mother is trying to mold her into the perfect Southern matron, but Lily is chafing against that lifestyle. It's probably telling of my taste in books and Lily's character when I say that my favorite scene involved Lily assisting a black soldier passing through town. I liked Jake too. What a hottie with surprising depths! There's so much to him…

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly: Book Review

“Um, and what about ‘happily ever after’?” asked David, a little uncertainly. “What does that mean?” “Eaten quickly,” said Brother Number One. That should give you an idea what you’re up against with this novel. Twelve-year-old David finds himself in a fairytale kingdom one night, but this kingdom isn’t exactly the way he expected it would be after reading his favorite stories. I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings, so I was biased in favor of this from the beginning. But this novel worked in several different ways. On the surface, it could just be read as a big adventure story/mash-up of a lot of the classic fairy tales. But David learns a lot about confronting his fears, jealousies, and all the worst parts of himself. I have to say that the tone was fairly dark throughout, so I really had no idea how everything was going to turn out in the end. There were funny moments, and Snow White’s part absolutely cracked me up. It was worth reading this for that scene alone! Apparently, some editions have some sort of appendix at the back with all the original fairy tales and how they were worked into the story. My copy, the blue one, for what it’s worth, doesn’t have any of that. I think it would definitely be worth it to look for the editions with the extra information. The red ones? I’m sure I got the obvious references, but there may have been some that I completely missed. I highly recommend this, especially if you like a well-written remake of fairy tales.