Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A captivating novel about two sisters fighting for survival in male-dominated Dark Ages Britain that weaves a thrilling spell of magic and myth—from a bestselling author and historian.

In Dark Ages Britain, sisters Isla and Blue live in the shadows of the Ghost City, the abandoned ruins of the once-glorious, mile-wide Roman settlement Londinium on the north bank of the Thames. The native Britons and the new migrants from the East who scratch out a living in small wooden camps in its hinterland fear that the crumbling stone ruins are haunted by vengeful spirits.

But the small island they call home is also a place of exile for Isla, Blue, and their father, a legendary blacksmith accused of using dark magic to make his firetongue swords. The local warlord, Osric, has put the Great Smith under close guard and ruled that he make his magnificent swords only for him so that he can use them to build alliances and extend his kingdom.

For years, the sisters have been running wild, Blue communing with animals and plants and Isla secretly learning her father’s trade, which is forbidden to women. But when their father suddenly dies, they find themselves facing enslavement by Osric and his cruel, power-hungry son Vort. Their only option is to escape to the Ghost City, where they discover an underworld of rebel women living secretly amid the ruins. As Blue and Isla settle into their new life, they find both refuge and community with the women around them. But it is all too fragile. With the ruins collapsing all around them, Blue and Isla realize they can’t elude the men who hunt them forever. If they are to survive, they will need to use all their skill and ingenuity—as well as the magic of their foremothers—to fight back.

Review:

I wasn't sure what to expect when I received Dark Earth, by Rebecca Stott, from NetGalley.  I honestly thought this was going to be a YA fantasy novel.  Instead, this was an historical fiction about two sisters trying to survive in a brutal society where women were either not noticed, or were treated as property.  They had no one to rely on but each other.  

I really liked this book for its portrayal of the two sisters, the feudal society where rumors could kill, and (against all odds) the way women found ways to thrive.  This was a book about survival, but also about claiming one's worth.  Considering the history books have scant accounts of what women's lives were like, the author fleshes out their lives to bring this time period to life.  This was a powerful historical fiction that I really enjoyed.

What I Liked:

Setting/Historical Details:

Although most historical accounts skip over women, the author found ways to bring the time period to life for the reader.  The details of food, clothing, and customs showed how women were always one step away from disaster.  This was the time of the Vikings, where raids were common.  Your village could be a peaceful haven one day, and be razed to the ground the next.  Most inhabitants would be killed.  The "lucky" ones were sold of as slaves.  

There were also rigid roles for men and women.  Isla and Blue's father was a blacksmith who specialized in making magnificent swords.  Women were never allowed to even set foot in the workrooms, as people felt it brought bad luck.  But Isla's father having no sons, secretly allowed his daughter to help him make the swords.  If anyone were to find out, the all would have been immediately outcasts.  This may not seem like a problem, but given the viking raids, there were safety in numbers.

Characters:

Both Isla and Blue have hidden talents.  Isla has learn the skills of her father and can make the special swords that the King and his son covet.  And Blue, has learned how to use herbs for healing.  She also has "The Sight", and can see some of the future.  Both Isla and Blue are smart enough to know that if anyone knew of their skills they might be called witches and killed.  

I loved the relationship between the two sisters.  Although they did support each other, they were not completely honest with each other.  They each had their secrets.  This created tension and mistrust between the two.  Figuring out how they can have an equal relationship, each allowing the other to shine, is what this book was really about.

Story:

The story was revealed in pieces.  There were flashbacks where small details were revealed and had relevance to what was happening.  The mystery of what happened to the girls mother after a Viking raid was a central piece of the story.  But the actual story of survival was riveting.  They constantly had to appear stupid, yet outsmart various men in the story.

I loved that they find other women who are creating a meritocracy, rather than a  patriarchal society.  This was not a story where men swooped in to save the women.  These women saved themselves!  

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  July 19th, 2022

Author:  Rebecca Stott

Publisher:  Random House

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  336 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  Besides being a compelling account of being a female during the Dark Ages this was an adventure story of survival.  I really enjoyed this book.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

When Isabel Perez travels to Barcelona to save her sister Beatriz, she discovers a shocking family secret in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton’s new novel.

Barcelona, 1964. Exiled from Cuba after the revolution, Isabel Perez has learned to guard her heart and protect her family at all costs. After Isabel’s sister Beatriz disappears in Barcelona, Isabel goes to Spain in search of her. Joining forces with an unlikely ally thrusts Isabel into her sister’s dangerous world of espionage, but it’s an unearthed piece of family history that transforms Isabel’s life.

Barcelona, 1936. Alicia Perez arrives in Barcelona after a difficult voyage from Cuba, her marriage in jeopardy and her young daughter Isabel in tow. Violence brews in Spain, the country on the brink of civil war, the rise of fascism threatening the world. When Cubans journey to Spain to join the International Brigades, Alicia’s past comes back to haunt her as she is unexpectedly reunited with the man who once held her heart.

Alicia and Isabel’s lives intertwine, and the past and present collide, as a mother and daughter are forced to choose between their family’s expectations and following their hearts.

Review:

Whenever I think of my family history, I try to remember that everyone of the people who came before me had hopes, dreams, loves, or heartaches, just as people today do.  And the larger events of those times likely affected each of their lives in some way.  Whether it was from war, natural disaster, or a world-wide pandemic, one can't help but be shaped by the larger events of the world.

That is why I love reading historical fiction, as it brings the events of the past to life through the stories of everyday people.  Author Chanel Cleeton has created a family saga centering on the women of the fictional Perez family that spans the centuries from Spain to Cuba to the United States.  Her books are about the compromises women are willing to make, and what happens when they decide to break free of the expectations of others.  

Her latest book, Our Last Days in Barcelona, has two storylines.  In the nineteen thirties, Alicia (the prim mother of the Perez sisters in later books) has left her husband and flees to her family in Spain to decide what to do next.   There is fierce fighting between Franco's nationalists and the republicans who want more freedom.  In the nineteen sixties, it's Alicia's daughter, Isabel, who is in Spain looking for her sister Beatriz (and also trying to figure out what to do with her own marriage).  

I loved the parallel storylines, and the themes of family obligations versus what the heart actually wants.  As always, the author does a wonderful job of layering personal stories with historical events.  This was also a very romantic book.  I appreciated that the romance was realistic, and not insta-love.   And there are some truly harrowing historical events that add much tension to the novel.  This was a page-turner!  Although the author has now written five novels based on these fascinating women, I hope that she will continue to find more stories to tell us about this family.  I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

What I Liked:

Settings:

Spain and Cuba in the nineteen thirties were both exciting places to visit, and extremely dangerous places if you didn't agree with the leaders of those places!  At the time of this story, Spain would soon be led by the fascist Francisco Franco, and Cuba would have it's own dictator, Fulgencio Batista.  There were bombings, protests, and people disappearing if they said the wrong thing.  

In the nineteen sixties the story is set in Palm Beach, Florida, amid the emerging Cuban immigrants population, and in Spain (where Franco is still in power).  In Palm Beach, the Perez family is working hard to match the prestige and the lifestyle they once had in Cuba.  In Spain, there is still an aura of danger and people are on their guard.  Beatriz works at an embassy (and also possibly for the CIA) where she finds all sorts of diplomatic troubles. 

I also appreciated that the author took the time to show how social standards dictated the lives of women in both eras.  Avoid scandal was of the upmost importance.  And women were (as always) held to a higher standard than men in regards to love and relationships.  Since women were much more dependent on men, it is important for the author to emphasize this.  If women are involved in scandals that will impact their families, they will lose their support, and protection.  And in those times, that means a life-sentence of poverty.

Characters:

What struck me about all of the women in this novel is that they all are similar, even though the stories are decades apart.  Alicia and Isabel find their marriages to be untenable.  Rosa and Beatriz each realize they let the love of their life go.  All of them feel the burdens of living up to the expectations of either their families or society.  And none of them realize that they are not alone in their struggles.  I think we can all relate to that! 

Parallel Stories:

The story in nineteen thirty-seven and the one in nineteen sixty-four are very similar.  Alicia is having doubts about her marriage and leaves for Barcelona to think about if she wants to stay in her marriage.  In the later time period, it's Alicia's daughter, Isabel, who is wondering if she can remain in her own marriage.  Both mother and daughter face the same pressures and challenges.  But if they were to sit in the same room, neither would admit it to the other!  Oh how alike mothers and daughters can be. 

We also see why Alicia, in particular, makes the choices she does.  Events happen in Spain that make Alicia see clearly what the best decision will be for her.  As I said in my introduction, historical events can influence our lives in many unforeseen ways.

What I Was Mixed About:

As much as I love this series, I really wish there was a glossary of people, or a short summary of the previous books included with each new novel.  It is a little hard to remember who everyone is in relation to everyone else.  This had me struggling to remember important details that would have made helped me understand the current story a little easier.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  May 24th, 2022

Author:  Chanel Cleeton

Publisher:  Berkley Books

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  320 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This saga is worth starting from the beginning with the novel Next Year in Havana.  There are a lot of characters that the reader should know before reading this current novel.  But it is the story of an entire family that has so much depth and heart.  This series is a wonderful work of historical fiction and I highly recommend it.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world.

Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare book store that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager's unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans:

Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiance was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances - most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.

Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she's been working to support the family following her husband's breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.

Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she's working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.

As they interact with various literary figures of the time - Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others - these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.

Review:

I really enjoyed Natalie Jenner's previous novel, The Jane Austin Society.  It was about the people in a small village in England, trying to save the home where the legendary author Jane Austin lived.  Now, Jenner's new novel, Bloomsbury Girls, focuses on some of the same characters, specifically young Evie Stone, living and trying for success in post-war London.  And even though Evie is in the big city, she still manages to surround herself with a group of fascinating people who all work at a struggling bookstore. 

The two other main female characters, Vivien and Grace are also struggling to find their place in the world.  They are both smart, capable and stifled by the societal norms of the times.  Women must always defer to the men in the shop (and in life), even though Vivien, Grace, and Evie, are much more capable than their male counterparts.  It's infuriating.  I loved that all three women work towards the same conclusion that they are worthy, and can take charge of their lives.

We also get to see other characters from The Jane Austin Society such as the famous American actress Mimi Henderson, and Sotheby's auctioneer Yardley Sinclair. There are also interactions with historical characters of the era such as Samuel Beckett.  This is really fun and add to the richness of the story.

With the London setting, themes of women emerging as a force in society, and the delightful characters Bloomsbury Girls is another winning historical novel from Natalie Jenner.  I highly recommend it.

What I Liked:

Setting:

In the years after WWII London was still a city trying to get back on it's feet.  There were food shortages, and people were under-employed.  As the novel begins, people are just starting to have extra money for items such as books.  So Bloomsbury Books should be doing well, but it isn't.  With dozens of rules created decades ago the business is still stuck in the past.  Many of the rules are good ones, such as the customer is always right, and the salespeople should give the customer space to browse without intrusion.  But other rules are ridiculous.  The rule for having events only be at night might seem fine.  But this leave housewives, who need to be home in the evenings to cook for their families, out of the mix.  There is an inherent bias towards discounting female novelists and customers that is really detrimental to book sales.  

Themes:

The storylines of the book all involve the theme of women being denied their due.  All three women are smart and capable.  But it's the insecurities of the men in the story that's the real issue.  These men are desperately trying to remain in control of day to day decisions at the business and (in the case of Grace's husband) in the home.  I felt that it was actually a manifestation of the trauma that they acquired during the war.  What is more emasculating than seeing people you love killed, and the cities you've known all your life destroyed by something you have no power to influence?  But the way they do this is by keeping females "in their place" rather than recognizing that women were the unsung heroes of the war.

Characters:

Vivien knows what books are worth stocking, but every time she suggest a female author she is shot down.  She also is in competition with her male co-worker Alex.  Both are aspiring authors and share an attraction to each other.  But Alex only sees her as an angry woman, not as a whole person.

Grace has a family at home, but is working at a job because her husband has injuries from serving in the War.  He resents this and cuts her down at every opportunity.  Grace feels tremendous guilt for this.  She has a hard time seeing how terrible her marriage is until she starts to spend time with the shop's owner, an Earl.  She never dreams that one of the aristocracy can see her as anything other than an employee.  But through their friendship, she can see that she and her children are being treated terribly by her husband.

Evie Stone, the young servant from the first book, is gifted intellectually, but doesn't understand the social cues that prevent her from getting more prominent jobs in academia.  Although she is one of the most qualified people in her field, she doesn't figure out (until it's too late) that a woman will not have the same opportunities as a man.  But she is determined to create her own opportunities.

Story:

The story follows the Vivien, Grace, and Evie as they find ways to break out of the mens control.  Vivien starts to find female mentors for her writing.  Grace begins to see her self-worth.  But it's Evie who has the long plan in the works.  She finds something while researching at Cambridge that could be of vast historical significance.  The book she's looking for may be at the bookstore. But there are others looking for the book, as well.  For someone like Evie, who is a rule follower, it's might be morally challenging to bend such rules to get what she wants.  

I loved Bloomsbury Girls.  The story was so satisfying and entertaining.  I truly hope it finds as much success as The Jane Austin Society.  If you want to pick up a copy, consider doing so at your favorite independent bookstore, please.  They always need and appreciate the support.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  May 17th, 2022

Author:  Natalie Jenner

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Genre: Historical Fiction

Page Length:  370 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This is everything I love about historical fiction!  I love that it carried on from the author's previous book, The Jane Austin Society, with some of the same characters that I cheered on in that book.  This was a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review,.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Every story has its secrets.
Every mystery has its motives.

“A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There’s a joy to it. In retrospect, it’s frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet.”

The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered.

London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?

Review:

I didn't quite know what to expect when I requested this book.  I do find the mystery of Agatha Christie's disappearance really intriguing.  As I started to read the novel, I thought this was going to be a domestic drama about how society women in the 1920's had to put up with entitled men.  And while this was a theme in the book, there was so much more going on.  

There are really two stories happening at once.  We do follow Agatha as she disappears for about ten days.  But the far more interesting story is that of Archie Christie's mistress, Nan O'Dea.  While in reality there was no Nan O'Dea (he did leave Agatha for a woman named Nancy Neele), the author creates a character that is so complete, I had to hit Google to see if this was actually Archie's mistress.  As we learn about Nan's backstory, we begin to understand that her reasons for being with Archie are greater than just finding a well-heeled husband. 

Then the book takes another turn.  Someone dies at the hotel where both Agatha and Nan are staying.  Was it just a tragic accident... Or was it Murder?  Yes, this book does become a murder mystery.  Predictable?  A bit.  But there were lots of twists and turns that made this solving this crime fun to follow.  This was both a sharp commentary on what the lives of women were like in Great Britain in the 1920's, and a clever mystery that I think Agatha Christie would have loved.  

What I Liked:

Characters:

Agatha, in the time when the book takes place, is not yet a famous novelist.  Although she is starting to publish a few books, her husband Archie doesn't really take her seriously.  Since we, the readers, know how successful she will eventually be, we cannot help but see the irony of just how little he thinks of her.  We know Agatha will get the last laugh.  But, we can also see how deeply his actions affect his wife.  Women, especially those in "Society", were expected to put up with infidelity.  When Archie leaves Agatha, he has the gall to tell her not to make a scene so as not to hurt his mistress's reputation!  

At first, Agatha is devastated by the betrayal.  She leaves to give herself time to think.  What will she be if she is not Archie's wife?  It felt like her life was over.  I loved that she finally realized that she was better off without him.

Nan is Archie's mistress.  Usually, I have very little sympathy for women who get involved with married men.  But, the author made Nan such a whole character, I eventually understood why she made the choices she did.  Nan's backstory goes all the way back to her childhood, and her first love.  Their story is a tragedy that was probably very common ,all due to WWI.  

Storytelling:

The storytelling is a slow burn. There are many flashbacks in the story that explain who the characters are.  At first I found this a bit frustrating.  What does Ireland have to do with the story? But, everything is done with a purpose.  Much like all the little details in Agatha Christie novels.  They all have meaning.  This tactic really reeled me in and made me heavily invested in the outcome of the story.

Mystery:

What book about Agatha Christie would be complete without a death!  At first, it appears that Agatha is dead, and Archie is the prime suspect.  And his plan to keep his affair out of the spotlight fails spectacularly.   I was very happy to see this slime-ball squirm. 

Then there are two deaths at the spa where Agatha (and Nan) are staying.  There are many small details in the scenes leading up to the deaths that become important later in the story.  The mystery is what ties all the stories of the book together.  This was so like an Agatha Christie mystery which made it incredibly entertaining, and satisfying.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date: February 1st, 2022

Author:  Nina de Gramont

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Genre:  Historical Fiction/Mystery

Page Length:  320 Pages 

Source: NetGalley

Format:  E-book

Recommendation:  A murder mystery wrapped in a historical fiction novel, this was quite entertaining.  I highly recommend this book.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family of five boisterous sons. From the start, her life will be marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.

Through her father's prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses all and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling. . . .

She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, times of both poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life will be shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women's rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and, ultimately, not one but two pandemics.

Review:

I have read many books by author Isabel Allende. starting with The House of the Spirits (from 1982) to her most recent novel, Violeta.  She writes lovingly of the people of her native Peru, but not of it's historically corrupt government.  She has a way of making historical events come to life through the characters in her books.  While I liked the characters in Violeta, and appreciated the one-hundred year span of the story, I wasn't blown away by this book.  I think the reason for this was the format that she used for the story's structure. It made it hard to connect with any other character besides Violeta, herself.

What I Liked:

Historical Details:

Although Violeta never tells us which country in Latin America she is from, we can guess from the details of the book that it is the author's home country of Peru.  I really appreciated how she wove in the evolution of the country's political history along with the story.  All I knew about Peru before this book was what Allende wrote about in The House of The Spirits.  The brutal and corrupt military dictatorships of the late nineteen-sixties on through the nineteen-eighties, brought unimaginable heartache to civilians.  But this book puts this in a larger historical context.  

Characters:

Violeta begins life as a pampered child in a large, wealthy family, complete with an English nanny.  But very quickly her family's fortunes change and the real strengths of the characters begins to show.  

The nanny, Miss Taylor, shows resilience as she has to move on from being a nanny to making a life for herself in a new country.  Once she is free from the social constraints of being a proper member of a rich household, she realizes she is drawn to Teresa, a free-thinking woman who isn't afraid to live life on her own terms.  I loved these two characters and would love to read an entire book about them!

Violeta's brother, José Antonio, turns out to be a strong, dependable supporter of Violeta and her mother.  As their father lost their fortune and later dies, the family is thrown into debt.  But José Antonio does what he can to keep everyone together.  

Violeta, over the long course of her life, has a number of relationships with men, and it is hinted that she had affairs with women, as well.  Her longest, and most volatile relationship is with the dashing Julian.  He sweeps her off her feet, and their passion turns her life upside down.  But, Julian shows himself to be a brute.  And for all of Violeta's strength, she just can't resist him.  Their relationship is very complicated and I thought the author did a good job of exploring this. 

What I Didn't Like:

Structure:

The story tells Violeta's life in a series of letters to someone in the present day.  Much of the story centers around Violeta's love life.  I just didn't believe Violeta (a one-hundred year old woman) would write letters freely discussing intimate details of sexual encounters!  While we don't know until near the end of the book who she is writing to, this just didn't seem realistic.

The letter format also made the novel limited in scope to only Violeta's point of view.  With such a rich array of characters to explore, I wish the book would have been written in more of a narrative style, so we could dig deeper into some of the other characters.  I would have loved to read about Violeta's nanny and her affair with a woman.  This was in a time when people would never be openly gay, so I wanted to know more about the obstacles the couple faced.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  January 25, 2022

Author:  Isabel Allende

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  336 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-book

Recommendation:  Although the format limited the story, this is another solid offering from Isabel Allende

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amongst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades.

As Ulysses returns home to London, reimmersing himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parrot -- a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics -- he carries his time in Italy with him. And when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt fate, and returns to the Tuscan hills.

With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a richly drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

Review:

This is a novel that grows on you.  While the first chapter, taking place in Italy during WWII, is charming, the next few chapters have various characters who I didn't initially love.  But that's one of the joys of Still Life, by Sarah Winman.  As with a still life painting, the seemingly simple characters reveal hidden depths as the novel progresses.  This book covers a long time period, with characters growing up, aging, and (sometimes) dying. This gave me time to get to know the characters, and appreciate how they change and grow over the years.  

I also loved this book because of how several characters decide to move from their predictable hometowns to unknown Italy.  I loved this, as I have lived in three countries, and hope to add a few more to my list in the future.  The idea of searching for a new life is appealing, and shows how resilient people can be, even out of their comfort zone.

What I Liked:

Characters:

The story mostly follows Ulysses, a young British man who begins the story as a soldier in Italy during WWII.  Although the circumstances are horrific, with death all around, Ulysses sees the beauty of classic works of art and of kind people he meets along the way.  When he returns home to England, he tries to reunite with his wife, and find a way to live a more quiet existence.  Much of what happens in Italy is Ulysses trying to find a way to live that is true for himself.  

The character of Peg, Ulysses wife, was harder for me to like, as she seemed initially  very cruel to Ulysses.  Peg's character is complicated with parts of her I hated, and many parts of her I loved.  She is fiercely independent, yet yearns for a man to whisk her away and take care of her.  She loves her daughter (named Alys), but knows she will be terrible with the day to day care of her.  So she lets Ulysses raise Alys.  Again, you want to hate that decision, initially.  But the author shows that this is actually the right choice for these characters. 

I also loved Alys, Peg's daughter.  We see her grow from a precocious toddler, to a lonely child among all the grown ups, to a sulky teen, and finally into a strong young person.  I loved her story arc!  She loves creating art and music.  She also is attracted to females. Thinking of the time periods where the story takes place, this was challenging for Alys to find her place in the world.  Like Ulysses, she takes a while to find a life that works for her.

Side Characters & Found Family:

There are many characters we are introduced to at the pub where Ulysses works and they all have endearing personalities.  There's the pub owner, Col, who's fiercely protecting of his developmentally disabled daughter, Ginny.  Cress, an older patron of the pub, always seems to have great advice.  And Pete, a piano player at the pub, is full of surprises.

All of these characters make up a found family for Ulysses, and Alys.  Like a family, there are loud, opinionated members, people who get themselves into trouble. But, these people look out for one another and would (literally) be the ones to call to bury a body, if the occasion ever arrives.

Impactful meetings: 

Ulysses has one of those personalities that people are drawn to.  As a soldier, Ulysses meets Evelyn, an older fellow British woman, who briefly shows him the importance of art.  He shows her the beauty of life, even in times of terror.  This makes quite an impression on both of the characters.  Over the course of the novel, they try many times to reconnect, often just missing each other turning a street corner!

Story:

The story starts during WWII and ends in 1979!  It covers Ulysses quest (as in the Odyssey) to find a place to call home.  But what really makes a home?  Is it the geographic area, or the people?  There a little bit of both in this story.  Ulysses really enjoys Italy.  Over time, the people in his section of Florence, are as dear to him as the ones he grew up with back in England.  But he also maintains his ties to his oldest British friends.  I loved how he was able to take chances, in order to live a more interesting, fulfilling life.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  November 2nd, 2021

Author:  Sarah Winman

Publisher:  G.P. Putman's Sons

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  464 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This book grew on me.  Once you get to know the characters, you will love the little expat community they create.  A wonderful Historical Fiction novel.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

In 1942, London, Nancy Mitford is worried about more than air raids and German spies. Still recovering from a devastating loss, the once sparkling Bright Young Thing is estranged from her husband, her allowance has been cut, and she’s given up her writing career. On top of this, her five beautiful but infamous sisters continue making headlines with their controversial politics.

Eager for distraction and desperate for income, Nancy jumps at the chance to manage the Heywood Hill bookshop while the owner is away at war. Between the shop’s brisk business and the literary salons she hosts for her eccentric friends, Nancy’s life seems on the upswing. But when a mysterious French officer insists that she has a story to tell, Nancy must decide if picking up the pen again and revealing all is worth the price she might be forced to pay.

Eighty years later, Heywood Hill is abuzz with the hunt for a lost wartime manuscript written by Nancy Mitford. For one woman desperately in need of a change, the search will reveal not only a new side to Nancy, but an even more surprising link between the past and present…

Review:

Although I already posted an excerpt from this book as part of a blog tour, I wanted to make sure and post a review as well.  I found The Bookseller's Secret, by Michelle Gable, to be a wonderful mix of historical and contemporary. We learn so much about an author who is becoming popular again, thanks to an recent adaptation of her most famous book, The Pursuit of Love.  Nancy Mitford's life was full of larger than life people, and events.  She and her family were the Kardashians of their day. The six sisters were mostly famous for being beautiful, and for courting controversy.  Several of them wrote books, with the most famous author amongst them being the oldest daughter, Nancy.

I really enjoyed learning about Nancy and her family, as well as the contemporary story of Katie, an American author looking for inspiration, as she looks into letters that Nancy wrote.  The historical details were rich, and the characters were well drawn in both time periods.  Along with the characters, the romances were wonderful.  The only thing I could have liked better, was if the pace was a bit quicker.  But, as author Michelle Gable says at one point, what's important is the journey, not the destination.

What I Liked:

Historical Details:

I really didn't know anything about Nancy Mitford's life, or the so-called Bright Young Things that she and her friends had been referred to in their youth.  Nancy's portion of the novel takes place in her middle years, after all the escapades of her twenties.  Her contemporaries were some of the most celebrated writers of the age, including, Evelyn Waugh, who wrote Brideshead Revisited.

But, aside from all the small details about life in England during WWII, what really caught my attention was how the author captured the attitudes of many of these elites.  I've always thought that, since England was at war with Germany, nearly all British people hated the Nazis.  I've heard rumors about the former King Edward VIII being a Nazi sympathizer.  But he seemed to be an outlier.  Apparently, that was not the case.  Many people of Nancy' social class admired Hitler, and didn't understand why his persecution of the Jews was such a big deal.  I found this quite shocking!  But, I think it rings true.  

Characters:

Nancy is the oldest of seven children, six of whom are female.  In her family, if you wanted to be noticed, you had to do something outrageous.  By the time we meet Nancy in middle age, one sister is in jail for being a fascist, another is an outspoken communist, and still another had been a mistress of Hitler!  While Nancy had written a few books, she hadn't really hit her stride yet as an author.  With such familial chaos, and a world at war, Nancy starts to finally understand that she wants to live life on her own terms.  That means finding love outside of her loveless marriage, and devoting the rest of her energy to writing.  This means bucking social expectations just as much as her infamous sisters do, which is terrifying.

Katie, the American in the modern part of the story, is also in transition.  She is reeling from a broken engagement, and can't find any ideas for her next book.  After one solid hit publication, she is under immense pressure to churn out a sequel.  But she bristles at the idea.  She has always been a fan of Nancy Mitford, so when she has the chance to read her letters, and solve a mystery surrounding her life, Katie jumps at the chance.  While Katie isn't faced with the same rigid social expectations that Nancy had in her day, she still has set the bar pretty high for herself.  And her family is almost as messed up as Nancy's was!  

Romances:

Both Nancy and Katie find love in unexpected places.  Nancy meets a French military man who, while not attractive in the traditional sense, is immensely charming and full of confidence.  Nancy has never had any qualms about having an affair.  But she finds such a connection with this man, that she realizes that her marriage is intolerable.  She has to fight her husband on getting a divorce, or at least letting her go.  It's a pretty brave struggle at a time when men considered their wives to be practically their property.

Katie, who has been with the same man since they were children, doesn't even know how to rebuild her life.  Given that everyone in her family worshipped her fiancé, it took a lot of guts for her to realize that they weren't really a good match, after all.  Then she meets an Englishman who is as obsessed with Nancy Mitford as she is.  He is trying to find a lost memoir that Nancy allegedly wrote during the war.  But why is he looking for it?  Their romance happens so quickly that Katie doesn't quite know if she can trust her feelings.  Also, if they stand any chance of a long term relationship, she would need to move to England.  How is this going to work?  Love will find a way. 

What I Was Mixed About:

Pacing:

As I said in my introduction, the book moves very slowly, particularly in the WWII portion.  While a lot of time passes over the course of the war, not much happens to Nancy herself.  To be fair, writing a novel is not an exciting, heart-racing endeavor.  It take time to gather ideas, write, and then polish a manuscript.  But, there are many long scenes with dialogue between Nancy and her writer friends, and little else occurring.  I wish there were more about her childhood and her wild sisters, the inspiration behind her most famous novel, The Pursuit of Love.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date: August 17th, 2021

Author:  Michelle Gable

Publisher: Graydon House

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  400 Pages

Source:  Publisher Blog Tour

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  If you are interested in Nancy Mitford, this book will whet your appetite for reading more about her.  A very enjoyable, but slow, read. 

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Millie Mosbach and her brother David escaped to the United States just before Kristallnacht, leaving their parents and little sister in Berlin. Now they are both back in their former hometown, haunted by ghosts and hoping against hope to find their family. Millie works in the office responsible for rooting out the most dedicated Nazis from publishing. Like most of their German-born American colleagues, the siblings suffer from rage at Germany and guilt at their own good fortune. Only Millie’s boss, Major Harry Sutton, seems strangely eager to be fair to the Germans.

Living and working in bombed-out Berlin, a latter day Wild West where the desperate prey on the unsuspecting; spies ply their trade; black markets thrive, and forbidden fraternization is rampant, Millie must come to terms with a past decision made in a moment of crisis, and with the enigmatic sometimes infuriating Major Sutton who is mysteriously understanding of her demons. Atmospheric and page-turning, The Living and the Lost is a story of survival, love, and forgiveness, of others and of self.

Review:

I think one of the things that draws me to WWII historical fiction is that there are so many different perspectives that an author can write from.  I've read WWII books about soldiers, civilians, female spies, families, the LGBTQ+ community, and more.  But, as with her previous novel, Paris Never Leaves You, author Ellen Feldman focuses on those who escaped Nazi Germany to start a new life in America.  I wasn't overly fond of Paris Never Leaves You because (to be honest) the protagonist was a German woman who pretended to be Jewish in order to immigrate to the U.S.  I found it hard to have empathy for her.

The Living and the Lost is a tale of a woman learning empathy for everyone affected by the war.   I found the characters complex and the story to be haunting.  The book did not make me feel sorry for Nazis.  But it did show the protagonist, Millie (as well as me), that no one was untouched by the war.  Some scars are obvious, while many more are psychological.  And each person shows their trauma in a different way.  As one character tells Millie, "Don't be so quick to judge others".  Clearly I need that reminder, as well.

What I liked:

Setting:

The majority of the book takes place in post-war Berlin.  Millie, a German-Jew who escaped to America in 1938, returns to her hometown to help with the rebuilding efforts.  She left Germany during the oppression of Jews, but before the war.  So she can hardly recognize the city.  Many of the buildings are destroyed, and the once proud German people are starving, fighting over anything to eat, or to sell on the black market.  But how do you figure out who are the civilians and who are the Nazis?  Who is deserving of sympathy and who should be put on trial for war crimes?

Characters:

Most of the American characters in Germany are German-born Jews who fled to the U.S. years earlier.  But all have lost family members who couldn't get out in time.  They have a lot of survivors guilt, and anger with the German people.  Each person has their own reasons for returning.  Some are looking for lost relatives, while others want revenge for what happened to their family.  Some genuinely want to reclaim Germany and show that Jews could not be eliminated.  For most, it's a mixture of each.

Millie and her brother left Germany and were hopeful that her parents and youngest sister would join them.  But they never did.  David, Millie's brother became a soldier so he could fight in the war, and kill some Nazis.  That is how he begins to deal with the guilt.  But Millie doesn't have that option.  Instead, she goes to college and, when the war is over, returns to Germany as a translator.  She is part of a team of investigators who interview Germans seeking to work in the media.  The United States doesn't want former Nazis in these highly coveted positions, so her mission is to weed them out.

Even though Millie wasn't in a concentration camp, she still is traumatized by the what lead to her leaving her family behind.  And she can't forgive herself for surviving when her parents and sister did not.  This comes out in several ways.  Even though the city has changed, Millie still has panic attacks in places like the main train station.  She looks at children and swears she sees her sister.  And she has immense anger towards Germans.

Other characters, like her brother David, and her boss Harry, feel they need to do as many good deeds as possible to justify their survival.  Other characters are so filled with rage that they will beat up Germans at the slightest provocation.  What I was really surprised about was the rage that the German civilians felt.  These people were not Nazis, but they also didn't exactly jump in to defend their Jewish neighbors either.  Nevertheless, these were people who also lost loved ones, who were terrorized by nightly bombings, who were brutally raped by Russian soldiers.  And they knew that no matter what they suffered, they were not allowed to receive sympathy.  The world was holding every German accountable for the atrocities done to the Jews.  For Millie, as well as other Jewish characters in the book, finding a way to, while perhaps not sympathize, but at least empathize with these Germans was a challenge.

Story:

The story follows Millie and her fellow German-Jews, on a path of survival, and then the guilt that follows.  Each character must face the fact they they made it through, but most of their family did not.  What a horrible feeling to lose everyone you love to war.  

With such complex characters, it was so helpful to have the many flashbacks to their different experiences getting to America, and dealing with being German (and Jewish) during the war.   At times, other Americans treated them as dirty Jews, not letting them into restaurants and hotels.  Other times, they were treated as German spies who couldn't bee trusted.  It was a no win situation.  But Millie and her brother know that no matter how hard they have it, the Jews left in Germany had it worse.

I think that is the big takeaway I had from the book.  Anyone who has been through trauma can remember that someone, somewhere else, has had worse things happen to them.  But, that doesn't mean that their suffering is any less.  People tend to compare suffering, but we shouldn't.  

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  September 7th, 2021

Author:  Ellen Feldman

Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  352 pages

Source:   NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  A complex novel of survivorship, this is an historical fiction that you will remember for a long time.  Highly recommended.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  this did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

1970s, Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue of Secret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger.

Her next-door neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to live a life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents.

Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric criminal who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock ’n’ roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he comes to observe Maite from a distance—and grows more and more obsessed with this woman who shares his love of music and the unspoken loneliness of his heart.

Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies all aiming to protect Leonora’s secrets—at gunpoint.

Velvet Was the Night is an edgy, simmering historical novel for lovers of smoky noirs and anti-heroes.

Review:

Velvet Was The Night is a grim noir set in Mexico amid the turbulent 1970's.  Completely different from the author's previous novel, Mexican Gothic, there are no supernatural elements, and the characters are mostly not likable.  While Mexican Gothic shows the glamorous 1950's, but there is nothing beautiful about the grim reality of this story.  Life is bland, and somewhat boring.  Everyone is yearning for a more exciting life.  But as bleak as the setting is, I found so much hope in the characters that Maite becomes involved in.  The mystery and sense of danger makes this noir story a novel that you will not want to put down.

What I Liked:

Historical Setting:

Even though my heritage is Mexican, I confess I know little about the history of Mexico over the last fifty years.  I did know that several Latin-American countries, such as Chile and Argentina, had decades of oppression from dictators.  People were "disappeared" when they expressed any dissent.  But I had no idea that this also occurred in Mexico in the 1970's.  Learning about this from the novel, Velvet Was The Night, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, was really profound for me.  And that is what a good Historical novel does, puts us a time and place we don't know about, and shows us how people lived in extraordinary circumstances.

Historical Details:

From the clothing to the character's obsession with American music, this story is ripe with details that puts the reader squarely in 1970's Mexico.  Seemingly small details, such as Maite having her car held in a repair shop, show how people in that era didn't have access to credit.  Everything had to be bought with cash, making you instantly aware of how much money you had, or didn't have.  There are also moments that show the disparity between wealthy and working class people.  As Maite looks at the apartment of her neighbor, she notices the quality of the furniture, the type of foods and alcohol that are carelessly strewn about the rooms, and the general ease that her neighbor has in life.  Leonora seems to not have a care in the world compared to Maite, who must watch every peso. 

Supporting Characters:

It may seem strange that I liked the supporting characters more than the main characters.  This is because the main characters are more challenging to empathize with.  That's not to say I don't like them, they are just way more flawed than the other people in the story.

What I enjoyed about the supporting characters is their never-ending sense of hope.  Maite becomes involved with a group of people who are activists.  They want change for Mexico, and are willing to d the work to make it happen.  Some of them are willing to bring in Communists to do this (something I would not agree with).  But all of these characters are willing to put themselves at risk by protesting, and organizing against the ruling government.  This takes an enormous amount of courage.

Story:

The plot centers around the disappearance of Leonora, Maite's neighbor.  Has Leonora lost track of time in the arms of a dashing lover?  Or is she in hiding from the secret police?  Maite gets involved because she is watching Leonora's cat.  As more and more people show up at Leonora's apartment, Maite is drawn into the mystery.  But she only sees an intriguing puzzle to solve, not realizing that she is also in danger.  Although she was selfish, and not very likable, I kept hoping that Maite would stop comparing her life with that of Leonora, and start taking charge of her own destiny.

Elvis is part of a goon squad for the government.  A charismatic ex-military leader takes him under his wing, and gives him a purpose (although that "purpose" is beating up dissenters).  And even though he knows he's being used, he is so hungry for attention and approval, he allows himself to be a pawn in the violent oppression of young people.  I was rooting for Elvis to change and find a better purpose in life.  

What I Was Mixed About:

Characters:

Maite and Elvis are not characters that were easy to like.  Elvis is incredibly violent (he is hired muscle, after all).  But at least Elvis understands that he wants a better life.  I had a tougher time with Maite.  She doesn't change much over the course of the story.  I did feel bad for her.  Her life is bland, and she is mostly overlooked by everyone.  Even her family isn't terribly nice to her on her own birthday!  She was so caught up in her romantic fantasies (based on reading a genre that was romance comic books) that she couldn't see she was in any danger until it was too late.

She also based her feelings about men on how attractive they were.  If they were handsome, they were good. If they were not handsome, she wrote them off as unimportant.  But wasn't that exactly how men were treating her?  I was surprise she couldn't see the irony in that.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  August 17, 2021

Author:  Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Publisher:  Del Rey Books

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  304 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This historical novel is a solid mystery, filled with noir atmosphere and unusual characters.  I predict you will enjoy it.  Just don't expect it to be anything like Mexican Gothic.