Category: Historical Fiction

#BookReview Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird @sarahbirdwriter @StMartinsPress #LastDanceOnTheStarlightPier #SallyBird #StMarinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird @sarahbirdwriter @StMartinsPress #LastDanceOnTheStarlightPier #SallyBird #StMarinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Last Dance on the Starlight Pier

Author: Sarah Bird

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Apr. 12, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Set during the Great Depression, Sarah Bird’s Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a novel about one woman—and a nation—struggling to be reborn from the ashes.

July 3. 1932. Shivering and in shock, Evie Grace Devlin watches the Starlite Palace burn into the sea and wonders how she became a person who would cause a man to kill himself. She’d come to Galveston to escape a dark past in vaudeville and become a good person, a nurse. When that dream is cruelly thwarted, Evie is swept into the alien world of dance marathons. All that she has been denied—a family, a purpose, even love—waits for her there in the place she dreads most: the spotlight.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a sweeping novel that brings to spectacular life the enthralling worlds of both dance marathons and the family-run empire of vice that was Galveston in the Thirties. Unforgettable characters tell a story that is still deeply resonant today as America learns what Evie learns, that there truly isn’t anything this country can’t do when we do it together. That indomitable spirit powers a story that is a testament to the deep well of resilience in us all that allows us to not only survive the hardest of hard times, but to find joy, friends, and even family, in them.

Review:

Hopeful, heartwarming, and atmospheric!

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is an intriguing tale that sweeps you away between Chicago and Texas during the early 1930s and into the life of Evie Grace Devlin, a young woman who yearns to become a registered nurse, but who after her past as a Vaudeville performer comes to light and she is denied graduation, ends up in the world of competitive dance competitions until tragedy strikes, and she must rethink what’s truly important and where, what and who she’d truly like to be.

The prose is smooth and expressive. The main characters are spirited, resilient, and hardworking. And the plot is a compelling, emotional tale about life, loss, self-discovery, familial drama, social injustices, political unrest, poverty, inequality, heartbreak, courage, romance, and friendship.

Overall, Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a sweet, entertaining, sentimental tale by Bird that was a pleasure to read with a setting I don’t often get a chance to read about and a unique storyline that was informative as well as refreshing.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Bird

Sarah Bird’s novel, Above the East China Sea, was long-listed for the Dublin International Literary Award. A Dobie-Paisano Fellowship helped in researching Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. Raised in an Air Force family on bases around the world, Sarah is the child of two warriors, a WWII Army nurse and an Air Corps bombardier, who met at a barn dance in North Africa. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Photo by Sarah Wilson.

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#BookReview The Last Summer by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheLastSummer #TheWildIsleSeries #KarenSwan #PGCBooks

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#BookReview The Last Summer by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheLastSummer #TheWildIsleSeries #KarenSwan #PGCBooks Title: The Last Summer

Author: Karen Swan

Series: The Wild Isle #1

Published by: Pan Macmillan on May 3, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 496

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

When the residents of St Kilda ask to be evacuated from their remote island home in the summer of 1930, it’s in search of a better life on mainland Scotland compared to the scratch existence on their mountain in the sea.

For eighteen-year-old tomboy Effie Gillies, it’s a bittersweet departure. She’s the best young climber on the island, as skilled and brave as any of the men. But it is Effie’s expansive knowledge of local bird life that leads her to take up a position as curator of Dumfries House’s ornithological collection – and back into the arms of Lord Dumfries’ son and heir, Sholto.

During her last summer on St Kilda, Effie had been Sholto’s guide, and their attraction had seemed irresistible. But, in the glamorous polite society of Ayrshire, it is clear they are worlds apart. When a body is discovered on the island, soon after the evacuation, a scandal erupts as Effie is implicated. Sholto knows she’s keeping secrets – but are they even her own?

The Last Summer is the first in an epic, sweeping historical series by Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, set in and around the Scottish island of St Kilda.

Review:

Enthralling, mysterious, and romantic!

The Last Summer is an absorbing tale that sweeps you away to 1930 and into the life of Effie Gillies, an eighteen-year-old girl who, along with her family and closest friends, is one of thirty-six inhabitants of the isolated St. Kilda archipelago who is content with her isolated existence, living a simple life amongst the birds and the cliffs, until things start to get a little more complicated and she falls for a man way above her station, the government decides to evacuate the island villagers to the mainland, she takes on a new job curating the ornithological collection of Lord Dumfries, the father of the man who stole her heart, and the deserted island is left with more than just empty dwellings and whispered secrets, but the body of a man who wasn’t all that kind or liked and had more than one person who wished him dead.

The writing is eloquent and vivid. The characters are hardy, resilient, and brave. And the plot is an alluring tale of life, loss, family, friendship, community, intrigue, mystery, drama, expectations, angst, social division, heartbreak, and love.

Overall, The Last Summer is a beautifully written, incredibly atmospheric, brilliant start to a new series by Swan that I absolutely devoured, highly recommend, and is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Karen Swan

Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest outside Sussex, England, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs.

An internationally bestselling author, her numerous books include The Rome Affair, The Paris Secret, Christmas Under the Stars, and The Christmas Secret. 

Photograph by Alexander James

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#BookReview The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheBookWomansDaughter #KimMicheleRichardson #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheBookWomansDaughter #KimMicheleRichardson #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Book Woman's Daughter

Author: Kim Michele Richardson

Series: Book Woman of Troublesome Creek #2

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on May 3, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek!

Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother’s old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn’t need anyone telling her how to survive. But the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren’t as keen to let a woman pave her own way.

If Honey wants to bring the freedom books provide to the families who need it most, she’s going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.

Review:

Raw, atmospheric, and insightful!

The Book Woman’s Daughter is an incredibly descriptive, moving novel that takes us to small-town Kentucky in 1953 and into the life of sixteen-year-old Honey Lovett, a young girl stricken with methemoglobinemia who, after her parents are arrested for miscegenation, takes up her mother’s old job as Pack Horse Librarian transporting books to the houses located in the hills outside Troublesome Creek in order to keep herself safe and out of the hands of the authorities from Knott County who would like nothing better than to lock her up in the Kentucky House of Reform until she’s twenty-one.

The prose is vivid and expressive. The characters are spirited, vulnerable, independent, and driven. And the plot is a heart-tugging, compelling tale of life, love, loss, family, friendship, poverty, misogyny, prejudice, racism, community, courage, desperation, self-preservation, survival, and emancipation.

Overall, The Book Woman’s Daughter is a rich, gritty, absorbing tale by Richardson that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the feelings, lives, and personalities of the characters you can’t help but be enthralled and invested from start to finish.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kim Michele Richardson

The NEW YORK TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author, Kim Michele Richardson has written five works of historical fiction, and a bestselling memoir, The Unbreakable Child.
Her latest critically acclaimed novel, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was recommended by Dolly Parton in People’s Magazine and has earned a 2020 PBS Readers Choice, 2019 LibraryReads Best Book, Indie Next, SIBA, Forbes Best Historical Novel, Book-A-Million Best Fiction, and is an Oprah's Buzziest Books pick and a Women’s National Book Association Great Group Reads selection. It was inspired by the real life, remarkable "blue people" of Kentucky, and the fierce, brave Packhorse Librarians who used the power of literacy to overcome bigotry and fear during the Great Depression. The novel is taught widely in high schools and college classrooms.
Her forthcoming fifth novel, The Book Woman’s Daughter is both a stand-alone and sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and will be published May 3, 2022. Kim Michele lives with her family in Kentucky and is the founder of Shy Rabbit.

Photo by Leigh Photography.

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#BookReview The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheMidwife #TriciaCresswell #PGCBooks

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#BookReview The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheMidwife #TriciaCresswell #PGCBooks Title: The Midwife

Author: Tricia Cresswell

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Apr. 5, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

1830. After a violent storm, a woman is found alone, naked, near death on the Northumberland moors. She has no memory of who she is or how she got there. But she can remember how to help a woman in labour, how to expertly dress a wound and can speak fluent French. With the odds against her – a penniless single woman – she starts to build her life from scratch, using her skills to help other woman around her. She finds a happy place in the world. Until tragedy strikes, and she must run for her life.

In London, Dr Borthwick lives a solitary life working as an accoucheur together with his midwife, Mrs Bates, dealing with mothers and babies in both the elegant homes of high society, and alongside a young widow, Eleanor Johnson, volunteering in the slums of the Devil’s Acre. His professional reputation is spotless and he keeps his private life just as clean, isolating himself from any new acquaintances. He is harbouring a dark secret from his past, one that threatens to spill over everything.

A haunting and moving debut, The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell is perfect for fans of The Familiars and The Binding.

Review:

Multilayered, absorbing, and mysterious!

The Midwife is a raw, expressive, compelling tale set in England during the early 1800s when women were forbidden to practice medicine, childbirth still resulted in high mortality rates, and midwifery was grossly underappreciated and frowned upon by the majority of physicians.

The prose is evocative and rich. The characters are intelligent, troubled, and secretive. And the plot is a suspenseful, engrossing tale about life, loss, duty, friendship, family, determination, courage, self-identity, and the evolution and procedures of early obstetrics and gynaecology.

The Midwife is an atmospheric, alluring, beautifully written novel by Cresswell that grabs you from the very first page and does a remarkable job of blending historical facts with captivating fiction that’s both intriguing and exceptionally immersive.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tricia Cresswell

Tricia Cresswell is a retired public health doctor. She temporarily returned to work in spring 2020 in support of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and volunteered as a vaccinator. She achieved a Distinction in her Creative Writing MA at Newcastle University in 2017. Creative response to the climate emergency has now taken priority in her writing.

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#BookReview Shadows of Berlin by David R. Gillham @drgillham @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #ShadowsofBerlin #DavidRGilllham #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview Shadows of Berlin by David R. Gillham @drgillham @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #ShadowsofBerlin #DavidRGilllham #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: Shadows of Berlin

Author: David R. Gillham

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Apr. 5, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Hardcover

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A captivating novel of a Berlin girl on the run from the guilt of her past and the boy from Brooklyn who loves her.
 
1955 in New York City: the city of instant coffee, bagels at Katz’s Deli, new-fangled TVs.  But in the Perlman’s walk-up in Chelsea, the past is as close as the present. Rachel came to Manhattan in a wave of displaced Jews who managed to survive the horrors of war. Her Uncle Fritz fleeing with her, Rachel hoped to find freedom from her pain in New York and in the arms of her new American husband, Aaron.
 
But this child of Berlin and daughter of an artist cannot seem to outrun her guilt in the role of American housewife, not until she can shed the ghosts of her past.  And when Uncle Fritz discovers, in a dreary midtown pawn shop, the most shocking portrait that her mother had ever painted,  Rachel’s memories begin to terrorize her, forcing her to face the choices she made to stay alive—choices that might be her undoing.

Review:

Pensive, heart-tugging, and immersive!

Shadows of Berlin is a vivid, absorbing tale that sweeps you away to NYC during 1955 and into the life of Rachel Perlman, a young Jewish woman who, after escaping to America after the war, struggles to overcome the nightmares that plague her often, come to terms with the loss of her talented mother, live an everyday life with a husband who is different but adores her deeply, and ultimately forgive herself for the things she did in order to survive.

The prose is rich and expressive. The characters are scarred, resilient, and brave. And the plot, using flashbacks and a back-and-forth style, is an enthralling tale about life, love, strength, deception, injustice, hope, guilt, grief, loss, shame, survival, moving on, and the aftermath of war.

Overall, Shadows of Berlin is a poignant, memorable, intriguing tale by Gillham that does a lovely job of reminding us that the effects of war continue to resonate long after the final weapon is drawn and does a beautiful job of highlighting that humanity can not only be barbaric and cruel but also incredibly courageous and strong.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

               

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About David R. Gillham

David R. Gillham is the New York Times bestselling author of City of Women and the author of Annelies: A Novel of Anne Frank.

He studied screenwriting at the University of Southern California before transitioning into fiction. After moving to New York City, Gillham spent more than a decade in the book business, and he now lives with his family in Western Massachusetts.

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#BookReview The Honeybee Emeralds by Amy Tector @amy_tector @TurnerPub #TheHoneybeeEmeralds #AmyTector

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#BookReview The Honeybee Emeralds by Amy Tector @amy_tector @TurnerPub #TheHoneybeeEmeralds #AmyTector Title: The Honeybee Emeralds

Author: Amy Tector

Published by: Turner Publishing on Mar. 29, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Women's Fiction

Pages: 348

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Turner Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

Alice Ahmadi has never been certain of where she belongs. When she discovers a famed emerald necklace while interning at a struggling Parisian magazine, she is plunged into a glittering world of diamonds and emeralds, courtesans and spies, and the long-buried secrets surrounding the necklace and its glamorous former owners.

When Alice realizes the mysterious Honeybee Emeralds could be her chance to save the magazine, she recruits her friends Lily and Daphne to form the “Fellowship of the Necklace.” Together, they set out to uncover the romantic history of the gems. Through diaries, letters, and investigations through the winding streets and iconic historic landmarks of Paris, the trio begins to unravel more than just the secrets of the necklace’s obsolete past. Along the way, Lily and Daphne’s relationships are challenged, tempered, and changed. Lily faces her long-standing attraction to a friend, who has achieved the writing success that eluded her. Daphne confronts her failing relationship with her husband, while also facing simmering problems in her friendship with Lily. And, at last, Alice finds her place in the world—although one mystery still remains: how did the Honeybee Emeralds go from the neck of American singer Josephine Baker during the Roaring Twenties to the basement of a Parisian magazine?

Review:

Mysterious, engaging, and absorbing!

The Honeybee Emeralds is an alluring tale that sweeps you away to Paris and into the offices of the failing ex-pat magazine, Bonjour Paris, as after finding a priceless emerald necklace in the basement of the building, a varied group of employees and personalities endeavour to discover the history and provenance of this beautiful piece, that may have ties to Napoleon III and famed singer Josephine Baker, in order to return it to its true owner and potentially save their careers.

The writing is smooth and descriptive. The characters are multilayered, inquisitive, and resourceful. And the plot is a compelling tale filled with familial drama, mystique, relationship dynamics, secrets, expectations, friendship, history, self-discovery, and a little romance.

Overall, The Honeybee Emeralds is a heartwarming, intriguing, romantic tale by Tector that was a pleasure to read and ultimately left me captivated, entertained, and highly satisfied.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to Turner Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Amy Tector

Amy Tector has spent more than 20 years plumbing the secrets squirrelled away in archives — whether it's uncovering a whale's ear (true story) in a box of old photographs, or working in The Hague for the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia, she has been privy to hidden records and extraordinary secrets.

She now works at Canada’s national archives, Library and Archives Canada, and is adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa and a sessional instructor at Carleton University.

Amy’s debut novel, THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS was published in spring 2022. Her second novel, THE FOULEST THINGS, is the first in a loose trilogy centered on murders and mayhem in the archives. It will be published autumn 2022.

Amy has a PhD in English literature from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and lives in Ottawa, Canada with a daughter named Violet, a husband named Andrew and a dog named Daffodil. She is an enthusiastic, but incompetent, cross-country skier.

Photo by Rémi Thériault.

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#BookReview Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison @robbiegmorrison @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #EdgeoftheGrave #RobbieMorrison #PGCBooks

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#BookReview Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison @robbiegmorrison @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #EdgeoftheGrave #RobbieMorrison #PGCBooks Title: Edge of the Grave

Author: Robbie Morrison

Series: Jimmy Dreghorn #1

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Feb. 14, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Glasgow, 1932.

When the son-in-law of one of the city’s wealthiest families is found floating in the River Clyde with his throat cut, it falls to Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn to lead the murder case – despite sharing a troubled history of his own with the victim’s widow.

From the flying fists and flashing blades of Glasgow’s gangland underworld, to the backstabbing upper echelons of government and big business, Dreghorn will have to dig deep into Glasgow society to find out who wanted the man dead and why.

All the while, a sadistic murderer stalks the post-war city leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake. As the case deepens, will Dreghorn find the killer – or lose his own life in the process?

Scottish Peaky Blinders meets a tartan Untouchables, Edge of the Grave is the searing first book in a standout new historical crime series. If you like William McIlvanney or Denise Mina, you’ll love this.

Review:

Gritty, evocative, and absorbing!

Edge of the Grave is a riveting, slightly gothic tale set in Glasgow in the 1930s at a time when the city was bustling, shipbuilding was the booming industry, poverty was rampant, religious segregation was common, and for retired WWI vet, Detective Jimmy Dreghorn and his fierce partner Archie McDaid ongoing gang violence and vicious murders had to be solved by pounding the pavement, using hunches, intuition, instincts, intelligence, and a little roughing up as needed.

The prose is raw and intense. The characters are complex, flawed, and resourceful. And the plot, including all the subplots, seamlessly intertwine and unravel into a gripping tale of life, loss, duty, deception, manipulation, greed, corruption, mayhem, and the realities of policing in the early twentieth century.

Overall, Edge of the Grave is a dark, menacing, promising debut by Morrison that does a beautiful job of interweaving historical times and compelling fiction into a sinister, suspenseful mystery that is deliciously atmospheric and highly entertaining.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                  

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Robbie Morrison

Robbie Morrison was born in Helensburgh, Scotland, and grew up in the Renton, Coatbridge, Linwood and Houston. On both sides, his family connection to shipbuilding in Glasgow and the surrounding areas stretches back four generations and is a source of inspiration for the Jimmy Dreghorn series. He sold his first script to publishers DC Thomson in Dundee at the age of twenty-three. One of the most respected writers in the UK comics industry, Edge of the Grave is his first novel.

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#BookReview Honor by Thrity Umrigar @ThrityUmrigar @AlgonquinBooks @ThomasAllenLTD #Honor #ThrityUmrigar

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#BookReview Honor by Thrity Umrigar @ThrityUmrigar @AlgonquinBooks @ThomasAllenLTD #Honor #ThrityUmrigar Title: Honor

Author: Thrity Umrigar

Published by: Algonquin Books on Jan. 4, 2022

Genres: General Fiction, Historical Fiction

Pages: 326

Format: Hardcover

Source: Thomas Allen & Son

Book Rating: 10/10

In this riveting and immersive novel, bestselling author Thrity Umrigar tells the story of two couples and the sometimes dangerous and heartbreaking challenges of love across a cultural divide.

Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.

In this tender and evocative novel about love, hope, familial devotion, betrayal, and sacrifice, Thrity Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to their homelands and themselves at the same time.

Review:

Tragic, thought-provoking, and affecting!

Honor is a powerful, riveting, emotionally-charged novel that sweeps you away to present-day India and into the lives of a handful of people, including Smita Agarwal, an Indian American journalist who, after being shamed as a child and adamant she would never set foot in India ever again, finds herself travelling back to the country of her youth to cover the harrowing story of Meena Mustafa, a young Hindu girl who, after falling for and marrying a man of Muslim faith, endures horrific familial violence, shoulders extreme grief, and sacrifices everything she has all in the name of “Honor.”

The prose is lyrical and expressive. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are vulnerable, conflicted, and scarred. And the plot is a profoundly moving tale of life, loss, shame, misogyny, ostracism, class division, poverty, desperation, corruption, suffering, courage, friendship, and forbidden love.

Overall, Honor will make you think, it will break your heart, and it will resonate with you long after the final page. It’s a powerful, hopeful, enthralling tale by Umrigar that uses exquisite character development to weave a transformative exploration with a beautiful, bittersweet story of female friendship all steeped in an abundance of violence and pain.

This book is available now. 

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Thomas Allen & Son for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Thrity Umrigar

Thrity Umrigar is the bestselling author of eight novels, including The Space Between Us, which was a finalist for the PEN/Beyond Margins Award, as well as a memoir and three picture books. Her books have been translated into several languages and published in more than fifteen countries. She is the winner of a Lambda Literary Award and a Seth Rosenberg Award and is Distinguished Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University. A recipient of the Nieman Fellowship to Harvard, she has contributed to the Boston Globe , the Washington Post, the New York Times and Huffington Post.

Photo courtesy of algonquin.com.

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#BookReview Under the Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft @Jenny_Ashcroft @StMartinsPress #UndertheGoldenSun #JennyAshcroft #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Under the Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft @Jenny_Ashcroft @StMartinsPress #UndertheGoldenSun #JennyAshcroft #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Under the Golden Sun

Author: Jenny Ashcroft

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Mar. 15, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 10/10

Jenny Ashcroft’s Under the Golden Sun is a captivating World War II historical love story set against the raw beauty of Australia.

Rose Hamilton is in desperate need of a life change when she reads the want ad in the newspaper for a companion needed to escort a young orphaned child to Australia. There are so many reasons she should ignore the advertisement―the war, those treacherous winter seas, her family, her fiance… but she can’t help herself. Within weeks she is boarding an enormous convoy, already too attached to five-year-old Walter.

Unfortunately, the cattle station home of Walter’s family isn’t anything like either of them were told to expect. Rose can’t leave this little boy who she’s grown to love until he is happy and settled, and she knows the key to this is Walter’s wounded fighter pilot uncle. But how will she ever part with Walter? And what if he isn’t the only reason she wants to stay?

Review:

Captivating, memorable, and exceptionally moving!

Under the Golden Sun is a rich, absorbing tale that sweeps you away to WWII London and into the life of Rose Hamilton, a recently engaged, young British woman who, after suffering a miscarriage and being discharged from her position in the air force, answers an ad to chaperone a four-year-old boy to Australia that not only exposes her to a world unlike any she has ever known before but, ultimately, changes her life forever.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are apprehensive, multilayered, and genuine. And the plot is a heartwarming tale of life, love, loneliness, familial relationships, heartbreak, war, loss, grief, guilt, culture, hardships, hope, loyalty, romance, and self-discovery.

Overall, Under the Golden Sun is a beautifully written, exceptionally atmospheric novel by Ashcroft that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the lives, personalities, and feelings of the characters you can’t help but be affected. It is undoubtedly one of my favourite novels of the year, and just like her previous novel, Meet Me in Bombay, I highly recommend it.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jenny Ashcroft

JENNY ASHCROFT is a British author of historical fiction books including Beneath a Burning Sky and Island in the East. Having spent many years living, working and exploring in Australia and Asia, she is now based in Brighton where she lives with her family by the sea. She has a degree from Oxford University in history, and has always been fascinated by the past—in particular the way that extraordinary events can transform the lives of normal people.

Photograph by David Myers Photography.

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#BookReview The Tsarina’s Daughter by Ellen Alpsten @EAlpsten_Author @StMartinsPress #TheTsarinasDaughter #EllenAlpsten #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Tsarina’s Daughter by Ellen Alpsten @EAlpsten_Author @StMartinsPress #TheTsarinasDaughter #EllenAlpsten #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Tsarina's Daughter

Author: Ellen Alpsten

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Mar. 15, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 512

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

Born into the House of Romanov to the all-powerful Peter the Great and his wife, Catherine, a former serf, beautiful Tsarevna Elizabeth is the envy of the Russian empire. She is insulated by luxury and spoiled by her father, who dreams for her to marry King Louis XV of France and rule in Versailles. But when a woodland creature gives her a Delphic prophecy, her life is turned upside down. Her volatile father suddenly dies, her only brother has been executed and her mother takes the throne of Russia.

As friends turn to foes in the dangerous atmosphere of the Court, the princess must fear for her freedom and her life. Fate deals her blow after blow, and even loving her becomes a crime that warrants cruel torture and capital punishment: Elizabeth matures from suffering victim to strong and savvy survivor. But only her true love and their burning passion finally help her become who she is. When the Imperial Crown is left to an infant Tsarevich, Elizabeth finds herself in mortal danger and must confront a terrible dilemma–seize the reins of power and harm an innocent child, or find herself following in the footsteps of her murdered brother.

Hidden behind a gorgeous, wildly decadent façade, the Russian Imperial Court is a viper’s den of intrigue and ambition. Only a woman possessed of boundless courage and cunning can prove herself worthy to sit on the throne of Peter the Great.

Ellen Alpsten’s stunning new novel, The Tsarina’s Daughter, is the dramatic story of Elizabeth, daughter of Catherine I and Peter the Great, who ruled Russia during an extraordinary life marked by love, danger, passion and scandal.

Review:

Vibrant, informative, and highly entertaining!

The Tsarina’s Daughter is an insightful, enthralling tale set in eighteenth-century Russia that tells the story of Elizabeth Petrovna Romanov, the second-eldest daughter of Tsar Peter the Great and Catherine I, whose life seemed to have been fated by the dark prophecy predicted by a woodland spirit when she was a child and who after bearing tragedy after tragedy, loss after loss, and survived in a world in which friends easily turned to foes, and calculated manoeuvres and political advancement were always higher on the agenda than love, became the Empress of Russia in 1741, at the age of thirty-one, and ruled until strokes led to her death in 1762.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are willful, ruthless, and cunning. And the plot is an alluring tale of life, loss, scandal, sacrifice, desires, passion, heartbreak, opulence, corruption, treachery, rivalry, and tumultuous relationships.

Overall, The Tsarina’s Daughter is another fascinating, absorbing, immersive saga by Alpsten that does a spectacular job of once again highlighting her incredible knowledge and impeccable research into the infamous House of Romanov and the remarkable life of this last direct Romanov to ever reign in Russia.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ellen Alpsten

ELLEN ALPSTEN was born and raised in the Kenyan highlands. Upon graduating from L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, she worked as a news anchor for Bloomberg TV London. Whilst working gruesome night shifts on breakfast TV, she started to write in earnest, every day, after work and a nap. Today, Ellen works as an author and as a journalist for international publications such as Vogue, Standpoint and CN Traveller. She lives in London with her husband, three sons and a moody fox red Labrador. Tsarina is her debut novel.

Photograph by Andreas Stirnberg.

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