I was Jane Austen's Best Friend - Cora Harrison

★★★★★★★★★★ (7/10)

If I were to describe this book quickly, I would have to say that it's perfectly adorable.  Harrison takes a person from Jane Austen's history and creates a whole new view of life in the late 1800s. Many people who enjoy Austen's novels have some idea of what her life was like growing up, but I've rarely seen anyone take someone in Jane Austen's life and breathe a bit of creativity into that person.  I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend was a delightful change, regardless of its fictitious nature, and I thoroughly intend to read it again. 

This novel follows the diary of Jenny Cooper, a cousin of Jane's who spent a good deal of time with Jane's family.  It begins with Jane being very sick, and Jenny deciding to do a deed of great daring, that would get her into an immense amount of trouble were she caught.  The two girls are currently in a boarding school, run by a woman more interested in profit that her charges' health, well-being, or education.  Jenny decides to send a letter to Jane's mother, which has been forbidden by the school mistress, so she must do this in the dead of night.   It is this act of courage (for it would be disastrous to her reputation if she were seen at midnight on the streets without a chaperone), which both earns her the gratitude of the Austen family, and their protection, as well as introduces her to Captain Thomas Williams, who is very important later in the novel.

The Austens go to the school, where they find that Jenny has also taken ill, and bring both girls back to their home in Steventon.  For the first time since Jenny's mother died, she is happy and enjoying her life and her schoolwork in the company of the Austen family, and all of the adventures that it entails. 

So much for the plot. (I feel that saying much more would ruin the effect of the novel if you decide to read it.)  

What I like most about I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend is that Harrison manages to use the details of Austen's life without making the entire novel about Jane.  I'm always a bit wary about reading books written about people related to or who were friends of famous personages; there's always a chance that the famous person (i.e. Austen) will become the focus of the book, which defeats the whole purpose.   In this novel, Jane happily subsides into the role of supporting character, while Jenny takes the spotlight.  I am more interested in Jenny's life than Jane's, although the way Harrison incorporates events in Austen's life does make for interesting reading. I read Jenny's diary entries because I want to know what has happened to her that day, or that week, not because I want to find out what Jane said or did or thought. 

Harrison did do one thing that is extremely important: she gave the two girls the bond of authorship -- Jane and her novel bits and Jenny and her detailed diary.  While there could be any number of things that could make these two the best of friends, I think Harrison's choice of writing is the most apt.  They share many moments in the novel where they just sit in their room writing, then sharing their ideas.  It's also kind of funny when Harrison creates events that give Jane or Jenny ideas that are parts of Austen's books (which we know and love). 

At the same time though, I was surprised to see how differently the two girls are portrayed.  I've always thought of Austen as a woman who never fit into the societal norms, but not exactly to the extent she appears in the novel.  She seems to flout propriety at every turn, and there are some instances were I am a bit embarrassed for her.  Jenny, on the other hand, is more concerned about growing up to be a well-bred young lady.  Given that she has nearly no dowry, no great connections, and a brother and sister-in-law who rather wished Jenny didn't exist, Jenny's life seemingly depends on her making a suitable marriage.  Jenny is also a bit more interested in domestic life.  She does enjoy the various adventures she gets into with Jane, but she also wants to excel at her "accomplishments" (she draws very well), learn what it takes to run a household, and she thinks more about her future.  When I think about these girls side by side, Jenny's image is of a young woman who is a bit shy, but well-mannered and polite, while Jane's image brings to mind a village urchin just waiting to find a mud puddle, but who has the wit and intelligence of a genius.  Two drastic images, but when the two are put in the same novel, they balance each other nicely.

All in all, I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend left me feeling quite happy, and I thoroughly enjoyed the brief glimpse into Jenny Cooper's life (that's not her real name though...).  Harrison is quite a talented writer, and I hope to find more books from her in the future.  There was such a good deal of vivid images and character depth, which I feel is a mark of a great author, as well as a great book, that I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a good romp in history and girlhood.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County - Tiffany Baker

★★★★★★★★★★ (0/10) for not being able to finish

I feel sad.  This is quite possibly the first time I've even given up on a book.  Usually, I will read to the end just to be done with a book, no matter how much I don't like it.  With this novel, though, I've been stuck on page 37 for over 3 weeks. I can't go on like this, so I am officially quitting on this book.  It will retire peacefully to a dusty corner of my bookshelf, and live the rest of its life wondering why it has no friends.

My biggest reasons for being unable to continue reading The Little Giant of Aberdeen County are that it's extraordinarily slow, and that it skips around so much that it's too much effort to keep track of who's who and what year it is.  I thought the slowest book I'd ever read was Tolkien's The Hobbit, due to the immensely long descriptions (especially that stupid tunnel), but this takes the cake.  The plot just doesn't go anywhere! Also, it feels like Baker needs too much setup to get to the beginning of whatever the "plot" may be.  This novel is only 341 pages long, so if there's a point that needs to be made, or characters that need to be introduced, it needs to be done a little bit quicker than the rate she's going.

I don't feel that there's anything else I can say.  I didn't read enough of it.  Thank goodness for Borders closing; I don't feel so bad spending money of this novel since it was 75% off.

Mr. Knightley's Diary - Amanda Grange

★★★★★★★★★★ (9/10)

Continuing in the same vein as the last post, I return to Amanda Grange and her wonderful diaries of the men in Jane Austen's novels.  This time around we come to Mr. Knightley - the down-to-earth, upstanding gentleman-hero of Emma.  He's one of my favorite male characters, and not just from Austen novels, so I may be a bit biased when it comes to my feelings for this novel.  However, I do think that Grange did another fantastic job entering the mind of Mr. Knightley; she kept to the original novel, but gave the reader a look into Mr. Knightley's deeper feelings, hopes, and fears.

I've always felt that Mr. Knightley was one of the more difficult characters to understand in Emma.  On the surface, he is very settled in his ways, has a fulfilling life, and enjoys the company of the Woodhouses, but never seems to have any inclination to become more a part of the family than a true friend.  Since Emma was born, Mr. Knightley acted more like a brother and role model for her, and was the only person who would tell Emma when she was in the wrong.  In this respect, he was highly influential to Emma's personal character, and continued to be a check on her own behavior.  

Getting into Mr. Knightley's Diary, I feel that Grange really comprehended the difficulties and confusions that Mr. Knightley faced.  As Emma grew up, his feelings naturally changed, but not in a way anyone could have expected. His conversations with Mrs. Weston about Emma seemed to sway back and forth between warm admiration of Emma as a person and criticism of her actions.  Even in his private thoughts, thanks to Grange, Mr. Knightley is not quite sure what to make of his emotions.  His is one of the most heart-wrenching struggles to read about because he constantly tries to convince himself that he should explain his feelings, then persuades himself that he should never say a word.  Emma is no help to him, either.  She is witty and friendly, but her age and situation in life lead her to have no cares for the type of relationship that Mr. Knightley envisions. It also does not bode well that there is such a gap in their ages, or that their siblings (his brother and her sister) are already married to each other.  I still think it's strange for a person to marry someone their already related to by marriage (i.e. Emma marrying her sister's husband's brother). 

Regardless of my own feelings about the nature of the match, I am still intrigued by Mr. Knightley as a character.  In Emma, I believed him to be a strong person, greatly enmeshed in helping those around him, and dedicated to seeing to his own business personally instead of foisting it off on an underling. In Grange's diary for him, I see these qualities again, but there is something else about him that makes him more endearing.  I get a sense of gentleness, compassion, understanding, and great forbearance towards nearly everyone.  While these may or may not be implied in Austen's novel, I feel that all of these qualities are necessary in order to understand his feelings, misgivings, and foibles in his own mind.

I especially liked the conversations between Emma and him after they become engaged, and I felt so much pity for him because of Emma's flakiness.  In Austen's novel, there is a debate over what to do about Mr. Woodhouse, as he wouldn't be able to bear being alone at Hartfield if Emma married. Still, what Grange portrayed made Emma's character even worse than my original opinion of Emma made her out to be. She changes her mind multiple times each day about whether or not she should marry Mr. Knightley. She knows that she loves him, but she cannot bring herself to be decisive.  Mr. Knightley is constantly in mental agony from her wavering behavior; I'm in agony over her behavior! It feels like it takes weeks for Emma to accept and propose Mr. Knightley's solution that they all live at Hartfield until Mr. Woodhouse passes away.  The fact that it took so long for Emma to believe it would work is astounding, and I think that Grange captures Emma's selfishness and inconstancy with this episode.

As usual, another highly engaging novel by Grange that leaves me waiting to read another one of her "diaries." I give Mr. Knightley's Diary full marks for creativity because there was a good deal that Grange would have had to imagine (such as Knightley's conversations with his steward, among other things), and I appreciate Grange's devotion to not changing the original storyline. But, it is that time again, so -- on to the next novel!

Captain Wentworth's Diary - Amanda Grange

★★★★★★★★★★ (9/10)

Here we are, once again, with a diary of one of Jane Austen's under-appreciated male characters.  This time I went into the mind of Captain Wentworth, the estranged former suitor of Anne Elliot in Persuasion.  Captain Wentworth's Diary was one I was especially eager to read, as Persuasion is probably my favorite Jane Austen novel.  For the first time, I got to imagine what his own life was like, before he met Anne and to think about how Jane Austen would react to Grange's interpretation of Wentworth's adventures, follies, and hearbreak. 

I started reading this novel with no real thoughts on Captain Wentworth's time before and after meeting Anne Elliot.  I pitied him for most of Persuasion because of his shattered chance of happiness, and eight years of waiting and probably misery a lot of the time, but I hadn't given any thought to what kind of person he was before they had met and fallen in love.  I usually imagined Wentworth as the dashing naval officer, with gentle manners and a hearty laugh, but I had not ascribed any personality to him. After reading CWD, I feel I was remiss and haven't given Wentworth the credit that he deserves.  

So, with that, we begin CWD. I greatly appreciated that Grange started this novel a good deal before Wentworth's initial meeting with Anne, and their subsequent engagement.  Grange has the reader meet him, as well as Benwick and Harville, just when Wentworth is promoted to Commander, and has won a large prize from sinking/disabling a French warship.  Through his conversations and his own personal thoughts in the diary entries, I find that I agree with Grange when she makes him out to be a young, vibrant, easy-going man, who enjoys the world because he has found that his career is finally going somewhere, and he can afford to look forward to a promising future. During this portion of the novel, I finally got to meet the mysterious "Wentworth, the curate," Captain Wentworth's brother, who appears in name only in Persuasion.  He's mentioned multiple times, but Austen never introduces him in person.  I like Grange's take on the brothers' relationship as well.  They are wholly different, yet have a strong bond, and each looks out for the other.  Not only are their relationship and interactions interesting, but they pave the path for Wenthworth's meeting with Anne, which was a surprising meeting, yet satisfying, nonetheless.

I'm going to skip their meeting, engagement, un-engagement, and other bits that are easily inferred from reading Persuasion itself, and move on to Wentworth's reasoning behind flirting with the Misses Musgrove. I had originally thought that his attentions to Louisa and Henrietta stemmed partly from wanting to punish Anne, and partly from being a friendly human being.  I didn't expect Grange to interpret his actions as an intention to marry one or the other of these girls.  Thinking back to Persuasion, this conclusion makes sense: he is out of the navy and looking to marry, Louisa (who becomes a favorite) is young and pretty, and Wentworth has enough money to support himself and a wife.  He also spends a good deal of time with both girls, and I can remember a few scenes where it seems as though Louisa is enough in love with him to expect a proposal.  Whatever the case may be, whether Austen was encouraging Wentworth to fall in love with someone new, or if she just was using H & L to make Anne jealous, it doesn't truly matter.  It's an aspect of the book that can be read either way, and I'm still making up my mind as to which way I believe.  

Just as with the other diaries Grange has written, my favorite part of Wentworth's diary is seeing his reactions to scenes from Persuasion.  I know what Anne is thinking, but having Grange's imagination bring to life Wentworth's thoughts, emotions, internal conflicts, hopes, and plans gives the whole story more depth and I get a better sense of enjoyment from combining the two in my mind.  For instance, toward the end, Wentworth follows Anne to Bath with the hopes of talking to her about his own feelings, and to see if hers are still what they were eight years before.  From Anne's perspective, his arrival is a welcome shock.  She had believed him to be over her, and did not expect to see him in a place that she didn't think he particularly liked.  However, Wentworth finds himself in Bath with his good intentions, only to find that Anne's attention is being comandeered by Mr. Elliot. What is he to think but that Anne's affections have changed, and she now prefers this man who is next in line for her father's title.  Their situation was awkward enough in Persuasion because I could tell that Anne didn't know of Wentworth's assumptions, but to see Wentworth's reactions to Anne's conversations and actions toward Elliot, was more amusing and helped clarify a few things that used to puzzle me. 

So, again, Grange has done a fantastically excellent job bringing one of may favorite characters into the limelight in his own right.  Captain Wentworth now has a voice, and I like the words that Grange has put in his mouth.  Captain Wentworth's Diary is a wonderful addition to Grange's other diaries of Austen's men, and I can't wait to read more of them!

Mistress of the Art of Death Novels - Ariana Franklin

★★★★★★★★★★ (10/10)

I have finally finished all four novels in this series, and I must say that each one is fantastic, and I wish there were more novels to follow. (There may be, but I don't know...)  Ariana Franklin takes a period in history and delves into the superstitions, culture clashes, theories, prejudices, and assumptions that come with it.  While going through all of this, Franklin presents a character that I couldn't help but care about, and I continued to like her in each new novel, each new adventure in her life. The Mistress of the Art of Death novels are an amazing mix of a smattering of historical events with wonderfully imaginative fiction, lovable characters, clever villains, and landscapes that take your breath away. 

Mistress of the Art of Death
In this first novel, Franklin introduces Adelia, a doctor from a celebrated medical school in Salerno, who is forced to travel to England to solve a mystery for King Henry II.  Adelia is a unique woman for her time.  It's the 12th century, where men rule a woman from the day she is born, yet she is an independent person who has had the privilege to grow up in the tolerant city of Salerno.  Nowhere else in Europe are women allowed to practice medicine, and not only is Adelia an intelligent woman, but she is the best student in the art of death (today she would be a forensic scientist with the skills of a surgeon) that Salerno has ever produced.  

What got me hooked to this novel from the get-go was Adelia's way of thinking.  She sees everything from an objective point of view because it's necessary if she is to do her job properly.  She assumes everyone is a suspect until she can scientifically rule them out, and her impartiality is something I haven't really seen in a book before.  Adelia is also not your typical 12th century female; she is graceless, unselfconscious, and brutally honest.  In England, Adelia discovers the advantage of silence, prudence, and blending in, since she needs all three to solve the horrible crimes that have been plaguing Cambridge and King Henry.

This novel is both engrossing as well as a stepping stone to the other three novels in the series.  Here, Adelia must find the person behind the mutilation and murder of four Cambridgeshire children before another one is harmed, but she must do this while giving the impression that her eunuch bodyguard, Mansur, is actually the doctor.   During her time in this city, she makes friends who believe in her and her abilities, a lover who would defy the Church for her, a horrifically smelly dog, and the appreciation of a king who is using her for his own means without regard to her life or safety, all while discovering the monster than can live inside any human being.


The Serpent's Tale
Adelia is back, but this time, the trouble is closer to King Henry's heart.  His favorite mistress, Rosamund Clifford has been murdered by poison, and he sends Adelia to discover who was behind it.  Most of England believes that Henry's estranged wife Eleanor was behind it all, but if Adelia can, she must prove Eleanor innocent or risk another civil war that will tear the country apart.  The difference is that this time, Adelia has a daughter.  Her love affair since the end of the previous novel has given her the love of her infant daughter, Almeison (Allie for short).  

Things get more complicated in this novel because in addition to Adelia's own safety, she must now look to the safety of her baby, and more often than not, she wants to put Allie's comfort, safety, and health above her own, and most definitely above her duty to King Henry, who is forcibly preventing her from returning home to Salerno.  It's interesting to see Adelia's motivations change.  She first came to England with a scientific interest and the hope to stop the slaying of innocent children, and now has started to like the country for its own merits, yet she still cannot forgive Henry for keeping her there against her wishes.   There is more of an emotional struggle for Adelia here as well.  She refused to marry Allie's father, thinking that marriage would mean she would have to become someone else; it would mean that she would have to give up her profession, which was something she couldn't bear to part with.  During this whole novel, I can see Adelia's battle between her love for the man, and her hatred towards him for putting too obstacles between them.


The mystery in this one is also a little more complex.  There are two murders, seemingly unconnected, that need to be solved, and Adelia has to deal with mercenaries who have the abbey where she is staying under a lockdown, an insane housekeeper who wishes to kill anyone associated with Rosamund's death, and a girl who is about to be married against her will, among other things.  Luckily she has all of her close friends on the journey with her, so she does not have to do all of this alone. Still, she has to trust that Henry will save the day, and listen to her report about what actually went on.


Grave Goods
This is probably my favorite of the novels because it covers more than just history.  Franklin incorporates a deeply rooted legend into this novel of mystery, murder, abduction, and a deplorable English winter.  In this novel, Adelia is sent to Glastonbury to see whether a newly unearthed coffin contains the remains of King Arthur and Guinevere.  King Henry is hopeful that if he can convince the Welsh rebels that Arthur is truly dead, they would be more willing to negotiate with him and stop all of the fighting.  Once again, Adelia, Mansur, Allie, and their friend Gyltha are on the case, while accompanying Emma, Lady Wolvercote (who we met in the previous novel) to one of her estates.  


I think that this novel is too good to summarize, and anything I say won't really do it justice. I'd rather that you read it to see what kind of marvels Franklin can unravel for you while trying to keep Adelia and her friends alive.


A Murderous Procession
Here we have another assignment for Adelia that will take her home to Salerno, though she won't be allowed to stay.  Henry has sent for Adelia so that she can, under the guise of being Mansur's assistant again, accompany Henry's daughter, Princess Joanna, on her trip to Palermo, where she will be married to William, King of Sicily.  He doesn't trust Joanna's private physician, Dr. Arnulf, to keep to healthy, and wants Adelia to be there to use scientific medicine, and not just the home remedy crap that Arnulf would prescribe.  The worst part for Adelia is that Henry is holding her daughter hostage to ensure her return to England. Allie has been put in the care of the "imprisoned" Queen Eleanor, where she'll be taken care of until Adelia returns from a trip that may last a year or more.  

What Adelia doesn't realize is that one of the members of the gigantic party going with Joanna is a man who wants her dead more than he wants anything else in the world.  Adelia accidentally killed his life mate, and this man wants revenge, which will only be satisfied with Adelia's own death.  "Accidental deaths" follow Adelia at every turn, where superstitious people, including some of the high clergy, start accusing her of being a witch, that if they prove it, could mean she would be burned at the stake. Oddly enough, that is a fate that she narrowly escapes, but for an entirely different reason.  First, her horse dies, and people blame her for wishing its death after the horse made if difficult for her to dismount the day before.  Then, a high ranking member of the envoy dies, and Adelia is blamed because someone said she cursed him for assaulting her maid.  Then, the head laundress is found drowned a laundry vat, and, again, Adelia is accused of contriving her death because they'd had a quarrel earlier.  Circumstances keep cropping up where the party's logical choice to blame things on is Adelia: she is a foreigner, a woman, and a loose woman as far as they're concerned, and keeping company with a Saracen doctor doesn't help her any either.  She must trust what friends she can, as well as the Princess, to make it through the journey, and live long enough to get back to Allie.  Exciting or what?


I gave these novels 10/10 stars because that are astonishingly well-crafted, and the characters are so unique and believable, that I wish I could know them for myself.  Ariana Franklin is an excellent author, and I can only hope that she finds it meet to continue writing novels of her little Mistress of the Art of Death.

Daughter of the Blood - Anne Bishop

★★★★★★★★★★ (10/10)

This book is awesome! I think that's enough to say about it, but I'll write more just because I loved it so much! Anne Bishop may just be my new favorite author if the rest of this series is even half as good as Daughter of the Blood.  There is a combination of magic, mystery, intrigue, and ambitious courage in this novel that kept me reading, and made me anxious to read the other novels in this series (I know that there are at least 7 altogether).

Daughter of the Blood is a book that changes perspective multiple times in each chapter, but the characters are so intertwined that it just makes the plot more interesting.  The main people of note are Saetan, Daemon, Jaenelle, Surreal, and Lucivar.  Jaenelle is the real star of the story.  She is the girl that the rest of the main characters have been waiting for for 700 years. Jaenelle is Witch; she is the most powerful person in Terreille, and will grow up to rule the entire realm, which is currently run by a corrupt priestess bent on world domination.  Unfortunately, Jaenelle is still just a young girl. She has not grown into her power, and she is subject to the horrors inflicted on her because her family thinks that she is mentally or emotionally disturbed. Saetan and Daemon and determined to keep her safe because, without her, the world will basically destroy itself. 

Daemon is possibly my favorite character just because of how twisted he is.  He is Saetan's biological son, but grew up not knowing who his true parents were.  He assumed that he'd been abandoned by his father to grow up as a bastard to a mother who didn't care about him.  Because of the society of Terreille, Daemon's illegitimacy denied him any social status, despite his innate power, and he is put into slavery.  The interesting this about this society is that it is entirely matriarchal; men have little if any political power, and are meant to serve the women in charge.  Makes me feel a little bad that the men have no other option, but it's a nice change that women are in power for once.  But back to Daemon.  Due to his ill treatment by the corrupt priestess, Dorothea, Daemon has a deep hatred of all women.  The power he possesses from his Black Jewels (I'm not even going to try to explain that, it'll take too long) means that if he loses his temper, he could level an entire city.  Whenever a queen he's been sent to serve angers him, she tends to end up dead, or worse. Yet, he has a soft spot for Jaenelle and her sister, Wilhelmina, as well as a select few other women who have been kind to him over the years.  I feel that, if I were his therapist, I would go insane myself trying to sort out the inner workings of Daemon's mind.  There are dark secrets that don't come out in this novel, but I'm sure that there are complicated reasons behind the way he behaves.

I don't want to go into deep detail about every major character, so I'll stop with those two.  I think that if I talk about anyone else, I'll be giving too much of the plot away, so I'll move away from character description. :)

The novel itself is so easy to fall into.  There are a lot of things that need to be explained to the reader about the society and the history of its people, but Bishop does this so smoothly and cleanly, without interrupting the plot line, that I hardly noticed when I learned a new tidbit of necessary information about this world.  It's obvious that Bishop put a lot of thought into how the three Realms interact (or don't interact) and what Terreille was like before the overarching corruption took over the Blood.  Every new detail Bishop introduces about the people of this world blends in with what she's already told you, and I enjoy the fact that I found no contradictions that have a habit of happening in novels like Daughter of the Blood.  Kudos to Bishop for taking so much care in the building of this world, and the characters in it!

I'm going to stop there before I just start recounting the entire plot and leave you with no reason to read it for yourself.  I am in love with this series and this author already, and I have already borrowed the next two novels from the library, so it's only a matter of time before I get to find out what happens next.  They will not be the next book on my reading list, but they'll be close.  Please read books by Anne Bishop.  She is a fantastic author, whose writing style can't fail to pull you into the novels that she writes.  So exciting!

The Montefeltro Conspiracy - Marcello Simonetta

★★★★★★★★★★ (4/10)

So this is why I don't usually read non-fiction. It takes way too long to get through, and half of the time, I'm not really interested in what the author is talking about.  That was the case in The Montefeltro Conspiracy. When I purchased this book (for a whopping $1.00), I initially thought it was a work of fiction based on the jacket description and the cover art. Little did I know that 211 pages of research and a grueling week of reading awaited me. While this book may be a gripping read for someone doing post-doctoral research on Italian Renaissance politics, it was not interesting for a casual reader hoping to be a part of the discovery of a dastardly plot. 

I almost think that it's needless to say that summarizing this book is impossible.  Simonetta includes so many details (which are useful) and covers so many events and situations that I would have to write 30 pages to summarize the conspiracy he uncovered.  This being the case, I'm just going to gloss over the summary in a few sentences.

There was a conspiracy to kill Lorenzo de' Medici (The Magnificent) that has been historically proved, but Simonetta discovered (from letters in a family archive?) that the structure of this conspiracy was developed and masterminded in part by the Duke of Urbino, Federico de Montefeltro (thus the title).  Simonetta covers a period of around six years, where he explains the plots, letters, wars, political tricks, and money exchanges that took place to bring about the conspiracy as well as its aftermath.  By the end of the novel, everyone is dead, and life moves on for the rest of Italy.

I liked all of the art included as visual aids, but I think that was about it.

So, this is a warning to me to not read non-fiction unless I have to.  Things like biographies or something may not be too bad, but The Montefeltro Conspiracy was much too involved for the type of reading that I like to do.  I don't want to talk about this book anymore. :(

The Juliet Club - Suzanne Harper

★★★★★★★★★★ (8/10)

 What happens when you combine Romeo and Juliet, a seminar on Shakespeare, six teenagers, and a villa in Verona? You get The Juliet Club, but this novel is more than just the things I listed. It takes Shakespeare's plays and brings them, in funny ways, into the lives of the characters as they spend a month in Verona.  It's a very fast-paced novel, that I enjoyed from start to finish.

A group of six teenagers, along with a handful of college undergraduates, have all won a place in the first annual Shakespeare Seminar in Verona, Italy.  Three of the teenagers, Tom, Lucy, and Kate (automatic pun for Taming of the Shrew), are Americans and submitted an essay about their thoughts on Shakespeare for their competition entries.  The other three, Giacomo, Silvia, and Benno, got in through other means.  They are all good scholars, but were either asked or pushed into attending the four-week seminar.  I thought that having dual cultures in this novel was an interesting idea. It points out that there are many people from foreign countries that speak English very, very well, while Americans tend to know only their own language.  It gives a slight advantage to the Italian students, but the bonds that form are not the ones you'd expect.

When the story got to Verona, and the seminar was explained, it sounded like the beginning of Letters to Juliet, and in a way, these two do share the common bond of a group writing letters to people who have written to Juliet asking for advice.  Considering the film just came out recently, I wondered if that's where Harper got the idea, then decided that I didn't care.  The whole seminar sounded like a great experience (that I wish I could have had), and being able to answer letters while imaging what advice Juliet would give, sounds even better.  Then there's the question of "do I write as Juliet in the play, or do I write as the historical Juliet (even though there's no proof she existed", along with various other problems I'd have to sort out first, but whatever. That's not important at all for this novel. That's just me thinking too much.

Something that I very much liked about The Juliet Club were all of the references to various Shakespeare plays and sonnets.  Obviously, the seminar focuses on Romeo and Juliet, but at one point, Tom reads Henry V, Giacomo and Benno use sonnets to help write a love letter, Kate uses Much Ado About Nothing to explain the prank that is trying to be pulled, etc.  Shakespeare isn't merely the ploy needed to kickstart the plot.  The plays are an integral part of how the story unfolds, and help to explain certain characters personalities and actions.  I don't know where most of the in-dialogue quotes are from, unless another characters says it, but I like that there is a smattering of quotes used to both express feeling and to just have something to say.

I was a little confused about how Harper didn't say much about what went on in the seminar.  It felt like the Professoressa explained the theory of the course on the first day, and then left the students to their own devices, hoping that they'd learn what was expected.  There were quite a few scenes when I read about the kids learning fight choreography, rehearsing scenes, making mistakes in the Elizabethan dance, and writing letters for the Juliet Club, but I didn't see them learn anything from their teacher. That was weird to me, but I think that may have ONLY bother ME.  I can't imagine that other readers would be picky about this point.  It didn't distract me too much from the plot, but I would have liked some more scenes with the teens learning about the play, or doing something with the the professoressa in a group environment. 

I was very much impressed wtih The Juliet Club, despite the fact that Harper wrote the novelizations for High School Musical and Hannah Montana (I can't stand either of these, and think that novels for them are a bit of a joke, since the shows/films are insults to the human mind).  I'm glad that Harper can add this fantastic novel to her repertoire, and I'm glad that I read it.  What's even better is that I happened to pick up a signed copy of The Juliet Club from the bargain section of the bookstore.  I seem to be having a lot of luck with that lately.  So, read this book if you can.  I can almost guarantee that if you have been agreeing with the majority of my blog posts, you will like this novel.

Envy - Anna Godbersen

★★★★★★★★★★ (9/10)

Envy, the third novel in Godbersen's Luxe series, is quite possibly the most captivating in the series so far (I haven't read Splendor yet, so I may prove myself wrong later).  This novel takes the characters introduced in the last two novels and creates a whole new world of betrayal, blackmail, and confusion.  I flew through this novel, and I am eagerly awaiting the purchase of Splendor to see where everyone ends up. The Hollands, Hayeses. Schoonmakers, and Lina all come together again to treat me to another dose of -gasp- "oh, no!" and nearly non-stop laughter.


Penelope Hayes has successfully forced Henry Schoonmaker into marrying her, regardless of his feelings for Diana Holland. Penelope blackmailed Henry by threatening to ruin Diana's reputation unless he married her.  So, at the beginning of Envy, Henry has become a drunk trying to avoid accepting the fate he was suckered into, and Penelope is gloating over her success and new social status.  I can't help but feel sorry for Henry, while at the same time, I want to kick him in the balls for being such an idiot. Penelope, on the other hand, is thoroughly despicable, as usual.  I understand her desire for wealth and power, given that she's a bit of a social climber, bent on selfishly getting whatever her cruel hands decide to sink their claws into.  Though Henry gave in and married Penelope, he has staunchly refused to be her husband in anything but name: they sleep in separate rooms, and he spends as much time away from her as possible. I'd like to give him some kudos for this, but somehow, I can't do that.


Meanwhile, poor, stupid Diana (who let her virginity go just a few weeks before Henry married Penelope) sits at home with her newly bereaved sister, debating whether she should forget Henry or not.  The acrobatics Diana's mind goes through throughout the novel are mind boggling, but I can imagine that a girl in her position at the turn of the century (around 1900) would be thinking the same things. Just as in Jane Austen's 19th century England, young women depend on good marriage to see them safely settled in life.  Love is great if they can find someone to love who has a lot of money, but, often, money is the more important factor.  Diana, however, having lost her love, is at a point where it seems as though she doesn't want to be married, ever. Still, her actions at the end of the novel make me curious as to what she intends to get out of her next adventure.

Elizabeth Holland's life is in complete disarray, so I don't really want to get into that.  I will say that I do pity her, and wish her the best of luck in Splendor, not that I have very high hopes for her happiness.  Lina, on the other hand, has a series of ups and downs in Envy, and I want to see how much longer she can pull of her act. 

There is so much packed into this novel that I'm not going to try to condense it here.  Again, I feel like this series is just getting better and better, with more twists, heartbreak, and interesting circumstances, that I can't wait to read Splendor. It's just sad to know that after that novel, Luxe is over, and I'll have to find a new book or series to capture my interest.  I love this series not only for the dramatic society, but for the characters, and how getting what you want is never easy, and Godbersen proves that sometimes you have to settle for what you can get instead.  There is a great deal of LIFE in these novels, not just a bunch of fluff and happy endings.  How their stories will end is a mystery to me now, but I look forward to discovering what will happen next.

The Outlaws of Sherwood - Robin McKinley

★★★★★★★★★★ (8/10)

I wanted to read this again because I just watched the BBC TV series Robin Hood, and I was in a "rob from the rich, give to the poor" type of mood.  This is a bit of an oddity for Robin McKinley, since she usually sticks to off-the-wall versions of fairy tales, but I think that she can do just as well with legendary figures as she does with fabled heroines. This tale features a reluctant Robin, goaded by his friends into accepting others to form an outlaw band, and a Marian who is one of the boys. There's more danger here, and less glamor than the "classic" versions (I'm thinking Errol Flynn in tights...), but it feels more true to life, and I applaud McKinley for that. I also enjoy the fact that I have an autographed copy of this book (one of only two signed books I own).

McKinley's version of Robin Hood starts with an accident. Unlike most tales, Robin is just a forester, not a noble, and he becomes an outlaw after accidentally shooting an arrow into the heart of a man that was trying to kill him.  He was being bullied, and, as he was escaping an ambush of people who just didn't like him, he fired off an arrow hoping to give him some time; Robin didn't think it would actually hit anything.  I like the idea of a Robin who is mostly a nobody: he isn't particularly good with a bow, he's not a skilled fighter, and he'd rather spend his days with his friends than plotting against the sheriff.  

Reading a book like this, with more practical scenes, also makes me think that McKinley really thought about what outlaws do once they have to leave their homes.  I would imagine that most people wouldn't know the first thing about living out of doors, without camping equipment, money, or a clue as to how to stay dry if it rains.  Robin is luckier than most in this respect because he worked in Sherwood, and knew a lot about the forest and the protection if could offer. Still, the people who joined him faced damp beds, hard work, and never knowing where the next meal might come from.  These outlaws have to deal with figuring out how to live, and stay alive, while battling the elements and the sheriff's men who want them brought to justice.


I also appreciate that McKinley didn't bring Prince John into the story. She kept it simple by making the outlaws the focus of the story, instead of the injustices of the Prince Regent.  The sheriff, though corrupt, is mostly out for his own glory, and just wants Robin brought in to save his own reputation.  While Robin and his men (and women) do believe that Richard needs to return to England and BE the king, they are more concerned about keeping themselves alive so that they might help the people of Nottinghamshire.  They use the money they steal to help people who have been evicted or maimed to start a new life somewhere else, and if they happen to like the outlaw life, they stay and help the outlaws.  Cecil is a very interesting case, but I'll let you discover why on your own.

The relationship between Robin and Marian remains the same, for which I'm grateful.  Robin is in love with Marian, but because she is nobly born, and he is not, he doesn't want to say anything.  His becoming an outlaw also makes it even less likely that they would be able to marry. Marian, on the other hand, loves Robin, and doesn't care a whit about their class difference. The two of them had been friends since childhood, and Marian was more at home in boys clothes in the forest that she was at home with her gowns and embroidery.  As usual, they take forever to realize how the other feels, and there are arguments and loud differences of opinion that make each of them think the wrong things about the other.  Still, Robin and Marian figure out what they want together, and it's a lovely scene.

The King Richard ending, I thought, was interestingly appropriate. Richard, who is French, has become king of England through his father, Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitane.  The English people have no reason to love a French king, but they do because Richard is uncommonly kind and just for a monarch (even if he spends too much of his reign in the Holy Lands).  Having Richard come to Nottingham to resolve Robin's situation stays in line with the tradional story, even if the resolution is a bit strange to me. 

I like this novel, and not just because I found a signed copy.  It's enjoyable overall, and there are enough differences between it and "traditional" Robin Hood narratives to make it interesting and endearing.  I took off one star (since I can't figure out how to do half) because it got a little slow at parts, but if I could find a way to give it 8.5, I would.  Robin McKinley is still a fantastic author (see my other R.M. posts), and The Outlaws of Sherwood is a great addition to a collection of her literary works.

The Darling Strumpet - Gillian Bagwell

★★★★★★★★★★ (9/10)

This was fantastic, to put it simply and plainly.  It seems that it's always the bits of hidden history that intrigue me the most.  As an American, I know little enough about the British monarchy, other than the significant events (wars, controversial successions, the times before and after Elizabeth I, etc.), so it came as no surprise to me that I had no clue of the mistresses of King Charles II. Still, Bagwell's accounts of Nell Gwynn's life brought me near tears, summoned many hearty guffaws, and made me wish I could have been a spectator of court life during Gwynn's time.

Nell Gwynn's story should be one that fills a person with pity for the life she could have faced.  She willingly went into prostitution at a young age to escape the nearly daily beatings by her mother, only to put herself in a world filled with abuse, uncertainty, and odd friendships. What I found amazing about her is that she never gave up.  Even when Jack, the man who helped keep the girls at the brothel safe (I use that term loosely, given his own character), brutally rapes her for days, she knows that things will get better somehow, and that somehow was the theater.  Luckily for Nell, the return of the monarchy brought the both the return of the theater, and the introduction of women onto the British stage.  She moved into that life easily, and was a great actress; people loved her as much as she loved performing for them.

Regardless of her fame as an actress, Bagwell's description of her as a character makes Nell truly inspiring.  She was a unique woman, in my opinion.  Though she sold herself to rich men to make money, she usually cared for the ones that cared for her.  There was usually a friendship before anything else.  For example, when she agreed to become Dorset's mistress, she had already known him for a while, and was his friend; being his mistress came as a way to make money while the theaters were closed during the plague, and she enjoyed his company as much as he did hers. Her emotions ran deep through her entire life. She loved deeply and was a fierce friend to all who offered her friendship.  I can't even express properly how I see her relationships with those around her.  It's enough that I believe that if I had known her, I would have loved her as well, because she was the type of person that you couldn't help but like.  She was kind, generous, friendly, and loyal, even when she didn't have to be.

Her relationship with Charles took up the bulk of the plot, and like any good work of historical fiction, there was a bit of history thrown in.   Assassination plots, intrigues, betrayal, murder, duels, and the ever-changing alliances of the courtiers all play important parts in Nell's life once she becomes the king's kept woman.  Events important to Charles's reign were included because they affected Nell. When there was a threat to his life, Nell was sure to be told of it, and would have been told by Charles how he felt about it.  He confided in her his frustrations with Parliament, as well as with his family, and the controversy over who would succeed him since he and his queen were childless.  (I didn't know that Charles's brother, James, became king after him.  I had always assumed it was a son, since that usually what happens.) Nell was there during this time of turmoil, and her response to it wasn't what I expected.  She behaved practically, and looked to the future, rather than the present or the past for answers and hopes.

She lived the life of a grand lady, but she never really thought of herself as one.  She considered herself lucky, and unlike the king's other mistresses (of which there were many), Nell rarely asked for things; she was happy enough with the king's company, and whatever he thought fit to give her.  Of course, I'm comparing her to the other women Bagwell puts in the novel: Barbara Palmer (who is the king's mistress when he returns to England from his exile in France), Louise de Keroualle (an impoverished, but beautiful and young, French noble, who came to England in search of a rich husband), Moll Davis (another actress), and Hortense Mancini (who Charles reportedly wanted to marry when he was younger, but she refused).  These women (except Moll) were born into wealth, and expected extravagance from the king, as well as the ability to influence him; Nell expected none of this, and had no idea that she would come to love Charles as deeply as she did.  It's amazing that knowing the right people can take you from a brothel, to the theater, to a king's mistress, in less than five years.  I can't say that I'd have wanted to be her, but she did live a charmed life, considering her prospects when she was born.

I though this was a wonderfully written novel, and loved every page.  As with other historical novels that I've read, I learned a bit of history, that only helped to enrich my understanding of what life would have been like for a woman such as Nell.  I will definitely read this again, and hope to do that soon. Not only did I enjoy reading The Darling Strumpet, I started doing research on King Charles II, his mistresses, and the wars of the time. Maybe I should have become a historian...

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation - Lauren Willig

★★★★★★★★★★ (10/10)

After months of anticipation, I finally got to read the first book of Willig's series on flowery spies working for the British government, and best of all, it was fantastic!  I had high hopes after having read three other novels in the series (out of order, but that's fine), and my expectations were exceeded.  I found this to be even more nerve-wracking, heart-stopping, and thrilling than the others (possibly because of the afore-mentioned anticipation).

Possibly one of the best things about reading this novel is that I finally understand more of the events that happened in the other three novels I read, both on the historical spy side, and in Eloise's life. Before reading Pink Carnation, I had no real questions about the events in the novels, but after reading this one, there are more links between characters than I had assumed there were.  I like that all of the novels in this series are so intertwined, yet so completely different.  It's a feeling similar to watching movies with the same main character, but I think the Pink Carnation novels are better, because the main character changes. You know who the new main character is, because they either were in a previous novel, or are related to someone in a previous novel, and the stories are so all-engrossing that I can't put them down, and I already want to read them again.

Once again, Eloise has my attention and sympathy.  I knew already that she and Colin Selwick had gotten off to a rocky start, but the actual encounters in PC were a great deal more interesting than the ones I had imagined.  Colin was not only opposed to Eloise poking about in the family archives, he was absolutely horrid to her, without the offhand decorum I'd expect from someone answering a polite request.  His letter to Eloise declining her request to see the Selwick archives was both rude and highly amusing to read.  Their meeting later, when Colin's aunt allows Eloise access to the papers, is interesting, too. They are both shocked to see each other, and the misunderstandings that follow made me feel both giggly and miffed.  As a reader, I knew what was going on, but I also was offended for Eloise.  It's one thing to not like someone for good reasons, but Colin seems to have no reason to dislike Eloise, and even less reason to be horrid to her.  (Now, I know why Colin is rude, since I read the novel that explains his motives, but in PC, it seems completely unreasonable.)  Eloise is simply not having a lot of luck with him.  She needs the papers to put something profound in her dissertation, but the Selwicks decide that she can't use any information she finds.  So, she'll know the truth, but be unable to talk about it.  If that's not a researcher's nightmare, I don't know what it.

The 1803 side of the story is even more riveting.  Just as Eloise and Colin have misunderstandings and unfounded dislike, so, too, do Lord Richard Selwick and Miss Amy Balcourt.  Within the first two or three chapters, I already knew that they would end up together, based on the pattern of the other PC novels, but the misadventures that got them together were what kept my attention.  Dual identities, false assumptions, arrogance, prejudices, and other fun tools keep Richard and Amy, if not at each other's throats, at least wary and untrusting.  The humor starts when Richard realizes that he's in love with Amy, but she seemingly hates his guts, which isn't far from the truth.  Willig's descriptions of their feelings towards each other, and the changes in those feelings, feel as though I'm in their minds, knowing their thoughts, as their being thought up.  Amy and Richard are both complicated people, with complicated loyalties, aspirations, and beliefs, but in Pink Carnation, their differences (and later, their similarities) make me love them both.

I don't think I can say enough good things about The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.  I was as enthralled by it, if not more so, as by the other Willig novels that I've read.  I do believe that reading this novel has secured me as a permanent Lauren Willig fan, even though PC was a bit more of a romance novel than I thought it would be. Truthfully, I didn't care, because I really enjoy Willig's writing style, and the way she thinks.  There were things I never saw coming, and it takes a great author to keep me guessing.  I loved every page of this novel, and finishing it left me a bit wistful.  I'm excited to read her other novels as soon as I can get my hands on them!

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

★★★★★★★★★★ (6/10)

I actually finished this novel almost a week ago, but have been putting off writing about it because I was trying to find something positive to talk about. I had seen this in bookstores for a few years, but never got around to purchasing it.  The back cover description usually made me want to read it, but I nearly always found this novel at the end of my bookstore trip, after I already have an armful of books, and can't bring myself to add one more to the pile.  I'm wondering now if it was my subconscious warning me that this book wouldn't be what I hoped it would be. There were definitely parts that made it worth reading, but I'm still not certain it was worth purchasing.  What makes me more uncertain is that there are two more novels in this series, and I can't decide whether I should read them after my disappointment with A Great and Terrible Beauty.

To sum up the novel, Gemma Doyle is a 16-year-old girl from Britain who lives in India with her parents.  After the murder of her mother, she is sent to a finishing school in England because her family is now incapable of taking care of her as she should be.  While at this school, Gemma discovers that she has a secret power: she has visions of the future, and can traverse different realms of magic.  The problem is that there are multiple parties that want her to either close her mind to these realms, or open them to the evil that has been trapped there, depending on which party you ask.  During the novel, she has to deal with cruel classmates and mysterious Gypsies, being academically behind almost every other student, a headmistress who cares only for the reputation of the school, the emotional void left by the loss of her mother, and the fact that she has basically been abandoned by her family. 

What makes it utterly silly is the bizarre friendship that forms between Gemma, Ann, Pippa, and Felicity.  It is not very plausible that Felicity and Pippa (two very wealthy girls whose family expectations are very high) would easily form a bond with Gemma (a girl who has no idea what London Society is really like) and Ann (a girl who is destined to be a governess or some other form of hired help).  It's a nice gesture on Gemma's part to force Ann's inclusion in their club, but I can't reconcile the idea of an arrogant, cruel girl like Felicity being nice to a poor orphan like Ann.  I can believe that they all want a chance to rebel and just be young girls for a while, but given the strictness of the school, I wonder why it is so easy for them to sneak out in the middle of the night. 

There are some amusing parts, so I did have some enjoyable moments.  When Ann and Gemma show up in French class with hangovers, I couldn't stop laughing.  Their teacher questioned Gemma about the smell of alcohol on her breath, and Gemma convinced her that she had just had too much marmalade.  Gemma's dreams about Kartik are a bit funny, too.  Bray seems to understand that girls' sexuality was very suppressed at that time in history, so Gemma's feelings for Kartik are almost completely beyond her scope of understanding.  I was also amused at Gemma pushing Felicity into the lake to save her reputation (because Felicity has been secretly meeting with a Gypsy boy named Ithal, and their relations have been far from proper). 

I'm not going to explain why, but I felt the most sympathy for Pippa.  Her part in the story is both tragic and somewhat typical for a girl her age.  Her part in the end of the novel is bittersweet, but I can imagine that it made her happy.

The other ridiculous part of this novel is the Order, the magic ability of certain women to change things in the world.  Gemma's powers make her part of this order, but the entire thing seems to be not fleshed out enough.  Basically, when Gemma (and later her friends, when she takes them) finds the "garden", they spend their time doing whatever they feel like, simply because it's the only place where they can make their own decisions.  They can make it rain rose petals if they want, just by wanting it to happen.  Felicity creates a huntress to teach her how to shoot a bow; Pippa creates a knight who swears his life to her; Ann makes herself pretty with a beautiful singing voice; and Gemma creates nothing because her mother is already there.  When they take the magic back into the school (which they weren't supposed to do), they do very silly things with it.  They change a Cupid statue into a scantily clad can-can dancer figurine, change their breakfasts, make it so that they speak perfect French, etc.  They use it to amuse themselves, instead of doing something useful with it.  They never find other members of the Order, which the novel led me to expect that they would, and the whole subject is treated as a lovely myth come true.

Gemma's issues with her mother are another matter entirely.  Like all mother-daughter relationships, theirs was complicated.  Gemma and her mother got along well, until Gemma decided it was time for her to finally go to London for a Season, but her mother and father both refused, without a reason.  After that, Gemma's relationship with her mother was strained, and it was only after her mother's death that she realized how much her mother meant to her - a typical and not very interesting circumstance.  Gemma spends a good deal of the rest of the novel trying to forgive herself because she thinks her mother's death was her fault, and her mother, in the "garden", tries to get Gemma to forgive her for keeping secrets.  It's very much a "if I had only known, it would have been different" scenario, and I wasn't very happy with it.

So, I am moving on to my next book, and leaving A Great and Terrible Beauty where it belongs -- on the shelf with the other disappointments.  I have to say that it's possible I didn't like it because I'm getting to old for that type of novel, but part of me thinks that it just wasn't appealing, like there wasn't enough character development or plot depth.  Maybe it was just too shallow. I'll leave it for other readers to decide, since I already have my own opinion.

The Last Knight - Hilari Bell

★★★★★★★★★★ (8/10)

That was a really quick read.  Not that that's a bad thing, but I didn't expect to got through it so fast.  I'm not quite sure where the title comes from either; I'm assuming that it means knights are extinct, and Sir Michael gave himself the title after deciding to become a knight errant. Anyway, The Last Knight was fun, filled with interesting situations, and a couple of men who couldn't be more opposite.

The Last Knight is partially fun because it's told from both main characters perspectives.  Bell goes back and forth between who's telling the story; as the chapters alternate, so do the voices, starting with Fisk.  Michael has become a knight errant because he wants some adventure in his life, instead of being forced to do what his family intends.  Fisk is an ex-con bound to Michael as a squire until Michael decides to release him.  From the beginning, it's easy to tell that their personalities will clash, and clash often. Michael is very honest, trusting, and naive about how the world works. Fisk has been hardened by city life, and his career as a con artist. Hearing them each describe their adventure in The Last Knight (thankfully without any overlapping or rehashing of events one of them has just said), does something both unique and helpful.  It allows me to get to know these two men from their own views of themselves, and the way they see each other.  It a classic problem: Fisk and Michael act a certain way in their narratives, but when they talk about each other, their personalities and actions feel completely different.  Towards the end, these descriptions start to coincide, and I liked seeing that happen.

The funny part in the plot is that in Sir Michael's effort to do good in the world, he unwittingly rescues an alleged murderer, Lady Ceciel, from prison.  In order to correct his error, he is charged with bringing her back to justice, with Fisk along for help.  While they try to do this, they keep coming up against obstacles that just make their plight hilarious: they are attacked by a magic boar, kidnapped by beggars, press-ganged to be sailors on a merchant ship, escape in a tapestry box and a barrel, get beaten up, and find out that, though they have nothing in common, they've grown to be friends.  Sometimes, the plot is a little bit ridiculous, but when I think about the novel as a whole, it all fits together to be a fantastic adventure.

The only part of the book I'm disappointed in is that i would have liked there to be more explanation about the significance of the two moons, the Savants, and how society works there.  There were fragments, but nothing to give me a complete idea of what kind of world Michael and Fisk live in.  The two moons were really confusing; I think I understand what the Creature moon is, but I still don't know why there are two, and how they interact.  It's also strange that there's a quote about how since the people aren't looked after by a god, they need to look after each other, but then they talk about the Furred God.  I'm not clear on why those two aren't contradictory.  However, I think that the next book, Rogue's Home, will expand on these a bit more.  
 
I very much liked The Last Knight.  It hooked me immediately, and I was a little sorry to get to the end, but a good novel should leave me feeling that way. (Only really bad novels make me glad they're over.)  I think Hilari Bell is quite a good author, and hope to read more of her books in the future.

Mistress Shakespeare - Karen Harper

★★★★★★★★★★ (9/10)

Did you know that there is a possibility that Shakespeare had two wives? I had no idea. I'd known about his marriage to Anne Hathaway, and that it wasn't a happy one, but the idea of another marriage took me by surprise.  It seems that in the same wedding registry, William Shakespeare had a license to wed two women: Anne Whately and Anne Hathaway.  His marriage to Hathaway happened only a day after his approved license to wed Whately.  So, was Shakespeare married twice in two days, or did something else happen? That is what Mistress Shakespeare is about.

Mistress Shakespeare is Anne Whately's narrative of the events of her life, and her relationship with William Shakespeare.  She provides a peek into her life with him, and his work in London on his way to becoming the most famous playwright in English history.  Now this is all fictional, but it's interesting to note that given the registry, and the fact that Shakespeare spent most of his time in London (and Hathaway never moved there with him), it's very likely that Anne Whately could have been his "London wife."

I liked Mistress Shakespeare for a number of reasons.  The first, and possibly most important considering what happened with Sons of Fortune, is the writing style.  Harper combines a bit of Shakespeare's English with modern spelling, while still keeping the prose interesting and well written.  The whole novel flowed easily, and I enjoyed reading it.  I don't think there was a single sentence that I could fault, and it was GREAT that there was no skipping about in the plot; each scene followed the one that had come before, and they all made sense.

I also liked the depth of the character development in Anne Whately.  Anne, in the novel, is a very strong woman.  She is born to be different from her neighbors, because her mother was Italian, and her father, English. This immediately sets her apart, but her strength shows in her reaction to events early in her life.  As a teenager, her dear friend Kat commits suicide, and Anne stands up for her in court, to see that Kat is buried in the churchyard, instead of at the crossroads.  She is able to convince a court that Kat's death was an accident.  I could see her determination, intelligence, and how deeply she cared in this scene.  Another difficulty in Anne's life was the loss of her parents. She loses her mother when she is 3 or 4 years old, and her father dies when she is about 18.  Unlike what many women of the age would do in her situation, Anne doesn't marry to ensure that she doesn't end up in poverty. Rather, she takes a partnership in her father's business and moves to London. As the business prospers, Anne becomes rather wealthy in her own right, and her money is really her own.  It was almost a fiscal blessing that her marriage to Shakespeare wasn't officially recognized.  Anne even tries to protect the reputation of Will's family, when she has no obligation to. She's as unique a woman as Queen Elizabeth, both of whose lives were slightly unfair.

Her relationship with Shakespeare was interesting as well.  Technically, she and Will were formally married, and their priest was a witness, but they kept it secret.  The day after, it was discovered that Anne Hathaway was pregnant by Will, and they were forced to marry to save Hathaway's reputation.  Instead of ruining Shakespeare's character and family reputation, Anne doesn't expose his double marriage, but accepts it on behalf of their unborn daughter.  Anne goes through various stages of loving and hating Shakespeare.  She hates him for dallying with another woman, when his heart belonged to Anne alone, but she loves him for being willing to support their own marriage, if Hathaway hadn't become pregnant.  She tries to forget him when he goes to London, but she can't stop promoting his dreams of becoming an actor and playwright. There were some occasions where Anne was determined to move on with her life, but somehow, she can't seem to forget about Shakespeare, and she starts the whole cycle of "I love him, and loathe him, but I still want to be with him" all over again". 

As the two of them get older, Will spends more time in London, having made a deal with his wife that they can have separate lives, as long as Will sends her money. After this deal, Will can be with Anne as much as he wants, and they almost get to live the life they would have had.  They still have to be careful not to tarnish Will's vulnerable reputation; no one can know that he has a legal wife other than Hathaway. Yet, as the years go by, their love grows, and they become closer than ever.  The only part of the novel that bothered me was Will's extreme jealousy.  He will hear that Anne has spoken to a man, and he believes that she's slept with him, no matter how Anne tries to convince him otherwise.  In fact, her devotion to Will, in that she never marries and never has an affair, are hard to believe.  She even stands by him when her own life could be in danger. I can't imagine that happening in today's world.  Theirs is a relationship that is hard to fathom, but lovely to think about.

All in all, Mistress Shakespeare was a wonderful novel.  I learned something new about Shakespeare's life (even if it can't be proved for certain), and I got to read a charming love story, peppered with history.  I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good story of love conquering (nearly) all. This novel was sweet, but filled with danger, and many of the lessons Anne learns in life, still hold true today. I will definitely read this again.

Sons of Fortune - Malcolm Macdonald

★★★★★★★★★★ (5/10)

Have you ever read a book, and when you summarize the plot, it made for a captivating, or at least interesting, story. BUT, when you think back about your experiences while reading said book, you can't help but cringe at the thought of putting yourself through such torture again? That's how I feel about Sons of Fortune. I felt the same way after finishing every Charles Dickens's novel I've read, as well as some of Tolkien's novels, among other equally verbose authors.  They all seem to have one thing in common: they are great at creating memorable plots, characters, and events, but they are terrible at keeping one's interest and give details in all of the wrong places. Malcolm Macdonald has joined a very select group of authors, most of whose books I will never read again.

Sons of Fortune is the third novel in Macdonald's Stevenson saga, about a family who start in poverty, and through sheer will, cunning, and business sense, create one of the largest, and most profitable, enterprises in England's history.  (I will say right now that I have no idea if the Stevensons are a real family, or if everything is completely fictional, and I have no desire to delve into it.) In this segment, Macdonald focuses on the growing pains the family faces. Now that the Stevensons are rich, they are being admitted into the restrictive world of London Society, and Mr. John Stevenson (later Baron, then Earl), is determined that all of his children, and his wife if he can bring it about, will all follow Society's rules, to the letter, regardless of their own wishes and hopes.  The problem is that the money the family has made, and the unique upbringing the Stevenson children have had, makes the father's dream almost impossible.

The three oldest children, Boy (real name John), Winifred, and Caspar, all have very different ideas of what they'd like to do in life, compared to what their father wants them to do. John Stevenson has decided that his oldest son, Boy, will take over the firm; his oldest daughter, Winifred, will marry respectably and behave as a proper Society lady; and Caspar, being a younger son, will go into the military, wherever his father can purchase a commission.  Boy, who has grown into unrealistic ideals, sees all of these plans as right and proper, because he believes it is their duty to obey their father, and he is fairly happy about following in John's footsteps. Caspar, on the other hand, believes that he'd be a better choice to head the company, and will do anything to follow his dream to go into trade. Winifred just has a love for education. She wants to teach, and further the education interests of women in England. Her dream is to open her own school, that would eventually become co-ed. 

The novel kind of skips around depending on where you are in the plot. It starts off with John, and his worries about his children's futures. Then moves to Boy and Caspar, and their experiences at the boarding school Fiennes. Later, it speaks from their mother., Nora's, point of view.  Winifred never has her view seen, the other children (there are 9 in total by the end) are barely heard from, and other minor characters dart in and out, or disappear without notice. If there were a rhyme or reason to explain why the perspective shifts, I'd have been happier.  I'd even have been content if the novel had been told entirely from Caspar's view (he was mostly what kept me reading, since I could empathize with him the most). 

I will say that the historical accuracy is very good.  Details about London Society of the mid 1800s is very correct, as well as matching the Stevensons' time period up with events going on abroad. Either Macdonald did his research, or he already knew a lot about mid-19th century history.  However, historical accuracy cannot make up for the tedium this book brought on.  When I finished, I felt as though a heavy, depressing, uncomfortable burden had been lifted from my brain, and I breathed fresh mental air for the first time in nearly two weeks.  That time, two weeks, was indication enough that I was not happy with Sons of Fortune; I haven't taken that long to read a 500 page novel since Oliver Twist (and, yes, I know OT is slightly more than 500 pages, but my point still stands).

I can't say that I'll ever read another Macdonald novel, and he has over thirty. He's certainly prolific, I'll give him that (although he's published novels under three different names, which strikes me as suspicious). I would not recommend Sons of Fortune to the casual reader.  If you enjoy highly dense, overly detailed novels that you prefer to spend weeks, rather than days reading, then this may be a good choice for you.  This is not my type of novel, but kudos to those who do enjoy this one and its like. I'll be very happy to go back to something light and fluffy after this to give my head a relaxing reprieve from the trial I've put it through reading Sons of Fortune.