Tag Archives: historical fiction

#BookReview ‘A Thousand Moons’ by Sebastian Barry #historical

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1870s Paris, Tennessee, a young Lakota girl Ojinjintka, lately known as Winona Cole, travels a delicate path in post-Civil War America. Another 5* book from Sebastian Barry, A Thousand Moons is sequel to Days Without End, though both books can be read independently. This is a dangerous time when the rule of law is often non-existent and hatred is on every street. Winona says, ‘It was a town of many eyes watching you anyhow, an uneasy place.’ Barry tells this heart-rending story in eloquent prose that makes the pages turn.Sebastian BarryWinona is the adopted daughter of Thomas McNulty and John Cole, whose wartime story is told in Days Without End. Now, peace has come and Thomas and John raise their daughter to be educated and respectful. This in itself causes problems. ‘It is bad enough being an Indian without talking like a raven,’ says Winona. ‘The white folks in Paris were not all good speakers themselves.’
A story of one young woman’s journey through life’s racism, prejudice and latent violence, this is also a story of love. The love, for its time, of an unusual family; an Indian cared for when her family is killed when she is six years old. Winona finds a new home with Cole and McNulty, living with fellow Civil War soldier Lige Magan on his farm, with two black ex-slaves, cook Rosalee Bouguereau and her farm labourer brother Tennyson. Winona finds a mentor in Lawyer Briscoe, for whom she clerks. What happens next is the catalyst for the story; an event she struggles to understand, to hide. This is a coming-of-age story in which Winona must reconcile her Lakota birth with her childhood and young adulthood in a changing racial world, and also find herself as a woman.
A beautifully written book.

Read my reviews of these books also by Sebastian Barry:
DAYS WITHOUT END #1DAYSWITHOUTEND
A LONG LONG WAY
OLD GOD’S TIME
THE NEWER WORLD
THE WHEREABOUTS OF ENEAS MCNULTY… and try the #FirstPara of THE WHEREABOUTS OF ENEAS MCNULTY

If you like this, try:-
‘At The Edge of the Orchard’ by Tracy Chevalier
‘Frog Music’ by Emma Donoghue
‘Time Will Darken It’ by William Maxwell

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview A THOUSAND MOONS by Sebastian Barry https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4ww via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Lady of the Ravens’ by Joanna Hickson @joannahickson #Historicalfiction

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It is England, just after the War of the Roses. The Lady of The Ravens by Joanna Hickson starts with the new Tudor King Henry VII on the throne and the country awaiting his marriage rumoured to be to Elizabeth of York, older sister of the Princes in the Tower. The marriage is intended to heal divisions between the two warring factions after Henry’s defeat of King Richard III at Bosworth Field, so allowing peace to settle on the land. But of course it is not that simple. Joanna HicksonTwenty-four year old Joan Vaux is a servant to the princess and follows her to court on her marriage to the king. Watching the childbirth experiences of Queen Elizabeth, her own sister and other women of the court marry and bear children – some dying in the process – Joan develops a phobia of childbirth. But the king requires his courtiers to be married and a husband for Joan is proposed, but the situation is complicated as while she dithers a proposal is received from an unexpected source. Joan must make her choice, a decision which echoes throughout her life.
Joan has an affinity with the ravens, starting from when as a child she first saw the ravens at the Tower of London. Their presence there is said to herald a continued royal reign; their absence means trouble. And so the birds become a bellweather for the state of the nation in a politically turbulent time in Europe. Now living in luxurious married quarters at the Tower, the adult Joan admires these clever glossy black birds; but someone does not share her view. Their nest boxes are destroyed and set on fire. Her new husband refuses to give credence to her suspicions.
Meanwhile the country’s political future is vulnerable as the Yorkist threat to regain the throne from the usurper Henry has not disappeared. As heir, young Prince Arthur grows and his betrothal to the Spanish princess approaches but this is threatened as a Yorkist pretender to the throne gains support from England’s enemies. Joan is an observer at the highest level of the court, privy to secrets, defender of ravens, confidante of the queen.
Occasional modern phraseology – toddler, doggy treats – wrenched me out of the period and off the page but the character of Joan drew me straight back. A novel for lovers of Tudor historical mysteries this is the story of one woman, her family, choices, strengths and vulnerabilities in a country riven by war but where peace is fragile and the wrong choice can mean banishment, poverty or death.
After I finished reading it, I learned that The Lady of the Ravens is the first in the Queen of the Tower series. Good!

And here’s my review of the second book in the series:-
THE QUEEN’S LADY #2QUEENSOFTHETOWER
And another book by Joanna Hickson:-
THE HOUSE OF SEYMOUR

If you like this, try:-
‘Girl in Hyacinth Blue’ by Diana Vreeland
‘The Last Hours’ by Minette Walters
‘The French Lesson’ by Hallie Rubenhold

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE LADY OF THE RAVENS by Joanna Hickson @joannahickson https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4tP via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Revelation’ by CJ Sansom #Tudor #detective

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I’m sorry if I’m beginning to sound like a cracked record, but I continue to love the Matthew Shardlake Tudor detective series by CJ Sansom. Fourth in the series, Revelation, is a roller-coaster ride of killings motivated by the Book of Revelation’s fire and damnation. Shardlake and his assistant Barak race around London struggling to second-guess the murderer’s motivations and identify his next likely target. CJ SansomSansom achieves a difficult feat for a historical novelist, he balances world-building – the Tudor toxic politics and Tudor gossip-mongering – will Lady Catherine Parr say yes to the King’s proposal – with Shardlake’s legal world and the fascinating detail and colour which brings London in Spring 1543 to life. Once again we see Shardlake’s vulnerability – when an old friend is murdered in mystifying and frightening circumstances – and his moral strength as he faces the dangers of investigation. These dangers do not threaten only his life but of those around him; they also threaten his position and future, as he is drawn unwillingly again into the circle of the Tudor court where queens, and courtiers, often last only a short time. These are the only historical novels I have read which are truly page-turners in its meaning of ‘one more chapter before I turn out the light’.
Set at a time of radical religious reform, when saying the wrong thing may find you shamed, hanged or burned, Matthew is working on the case of a teenage boy sent to Bedlam hospital. Is he mad, or possessed by the devil? Is he safer in Bedlam or with his parents where he might escape and be burned as a heretic. When Matthew’s friend is found dead in bizarre circumstances he is charged with solving the crime by Archbishop Cranmer. Guy of Malton, former apothecary monk from Dissolution, the first book in the series, is now a doctor and has a theory that excludes God and religion. Could a serial killer be at loose?
If you want to lose yourself in book, to travel to another world and time, then try this series. I am already anticipating the loss when I have read the last book. But the Shardlake books have so much detail and depth with recurring characters who become familiar,  I know I will be re-reading them soon.

And here are my reviews of other novels by CJ Sansom:-
DOMINION
DISSOLUTION #1SHARDLAKE
DARK FIRE #2SHARDLAKE
SOVEREIGN #3SHARDLAKE
HEARTSTONE #5SHARDLAKE
LAMENTATION #6SHARDLAKE
TOMBLAND #7SHARDLAKE

If you like this, try:-
‘Orphans of the Carnival’ by Carol Birch
‘The Lady of the Rivers’ by Philippa Gregory
‘The Cursed Wife’ by Pamela Hartshorne

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview REVELATION by CJ Sansom #Tudor #detective https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4fU via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Last Protector’ by Andrew Taylor @AndrewJRTaylor #Historical

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Fourth in the 17th century crime series by Andrew Taylor, The Last Protector sees the return to London of Richard, Oliver Cromwell’s son, and last Protector of England before the restoration of the king in 1660. And it also heralds the central plot return of Cat Lovett. Ever since the first book in the series, I have waited for Cat to have a key role in the plot again. Andrew TaylorThe story begins as James Marwood, clerk to the Under secretary of State to Lord Arlington, is sent to secretly observe a duel between two lords. Meanwhile Cat, now Mistress Hakesby and married to a frail elderly architect, meets a childhood acquaintance in the street. This is Elizabeth Cromwell, daughter of Richard. Remembering their friendship as a fleeting thing, Cat is confused by Elizabeth’s eagerness to rekindle their relationship. Until, visiting Elizabeth at her godmother’s house, she is introduced to a fellow guest John Cranmore. But a peculiar habit of tapping a finger on the table brings back memories for Cat, to the time when she and her father moved in elevated political circles, and she realizes Cranmore is a false name. Elizabeth, it becomes clear, is seeking a precious object hidden by her grandmother. The object is hidden in the Whitehall sewers beneath The Cockpit, site of the cockfighting pit, theatre and jumble of additional buildings. The Hakesbys have the architectural drawings and Elizabeth needs Cat’s help to instigate her search.
In the bigger picture, Easter holiday riots attacking brothels seem to be politically motivated. Holidays are notorious times for brawls by apprentices, but these riots by the Levellers seem encouraged by bawdy newssheets of questionable origin. The Levellers shout ‘we have been servants, but we will be masters now’. Marwood is attacked and chased around the back alleys of the City while Cat, helping Elizabeth retrieve the mysterious package, is chased and escapes with the help of Ferrus, a mazer scourer, the lowest of the low who clears blockages in the sewers.
Marwood and Cat share little page time but their separate stories and chases become entwined as the troublesome history of Cat’s dissenter father puts her in grave danger. And affecting everything are the political machinations and arguments between crown and government.
An excellent page-turner.

Read my reviews of the other books in this series:
THE ASHES OF LONDON #1FIREOFLONDON… and try the #FirstPara of THE ASHES OF LONDON
THE FIRE COURT #2FIREOFLONDON
THE KING’S EVIL #3FIREOFLONDON
THE ROYAL SECRET #5FIREOFLONDON
THE SHADOWS OF LONDON #6FIREOFLONDON
And a World War Two novel by the same author:-
THE SECOND MIDNIGHT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Wicked Cometh’ by Laura Carlin
‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar
‘The Winter Garden’ by Nicola Cornick

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE LAST PROTECTOR by Andrew Taylor @AndrewJRTaylor https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4tI via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Secrets We Kept’ by Lara Prescott #Cold War #Pasternak

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The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott is a mixture of Cold War thriller, romance and the true story of the publication of Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Set in the 1950s, this novel is about the power of the written word. So powerful that two nations try to outwit the other as a big new novel is set to be published; neither has any regard for the effects of their plans on the author. Lara PrescottThe two worlds are radically different, Prescott builds both convincingly. I can see Pasternak’s vegetable garden at his dacha, I can hear the typewriters in the Typing Pool at The Agency on National Mall in Washington DC. It is important to note that this is a blend of real events, real people and total fiction.
Irina is American, a first generation Russian-American, her father left behind in the Soviet Union as his pregnant wife departed for a new life in America. Irina’s Mama is a dressmaker, speaking Russian to Irina at home while making elaborate dresses for Russian immigrants. Irina never meets her father. Always an outsider, when she goes for a job interview in a typing pool Marla wears a skirt made for her by Mama. She gets the job in the Typing Pool at The Agency (the CIA) because she has something different to offer; she is trained for extra duties in the evening, acting as a messenger and learning tradecraft to avoid detection. Her job is at The Agency’s Soviet Russia Division, the ‘SR’.
In Moscow, Boris Pasternak is writing a novel and reading it aloud to his lover, Olga. One day Pasternak, deemed a threat by the authorities, is sent a warning: Olga is sent to a work camp for three years. When she returns home, his novel is finished. It is Dr Zhivago.
The Secrets We Kept is a fascinating read, a glimpse into the true story of Dr Zhivago’s publication and the role of the CIA in disseminating it to Soviet citizens. Structurally the pace did not hold up and slowed each time the story moved to Boris and Olga. But some interesting areas are covered – the treatment of homosexuals in the workplace and sexual manipulation between the ranks, the assimilation of first generation Americans, and the American obsession with communism.
Set at the time of Sputnik, Prescott is good at the contemporary culture, politics and the atmosphere of rivalry and impending threat of the Soviet Union. The clothes, the food, the films, the parties. The typists see and hear but don’t repeat, but are as capable of analysing and doing the jobs that the men are doing.
The ending fizzled out, perhaps because the book tries to do so much, possibly too much.

If you like this, try:-
‘An Officer and a Spy’ by Robert Harris
‘The Translation of Love’ by Lynne Kutsukake
‘The Museum of Broken Promises’ by Elizabeth Buchan

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SECRETS WE KEPT by Lara Prescott https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4tg via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Clergyman’s Wife’ by Molly Greeley @MollyJGreeley #JaneAusten

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If like me you are fascinated and disturbed by the decision of Charlotte Lucas to marry Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice, then you will enjoy The Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greeley. I felt immediately immersed in Charlotte’s world at Hunsford. Molly GreeleyI won’t summarise the background to this novel on the assumption that all readers will be fans of Pride and Prejudice. Suffice to say, this could so easily have slipped into negative territory, negativity about William Collins and Lady Catherine de Bourgh, but Greeley handles Austen’s characters with respect, taking the heritage of Charlotte’s situation and adding a fresh perspective on her future. We see Mr Collins from a new, sympathetic angle, and are given an insight into Charlotte’s decision to marry him, her family’s position and the limited options available to her.
I liked Charlotte extremely, a considered, thoughtful woman, given an impossible choice to make and often put into uncomfortable situations by the crassness of people around her. Charlotte however is not negative, she works out the positive thing to do rather than assign blame.
This is a Regency family drama structured around the meaning of love; all kinds of love, for your spouse, your parents and siblings, as a mother, for the people who are your responsibility, and for yourself. Although Charlotte lives a life constrained by geography, convention and manners, that does not mean she lacks freedom. It is a freedom of imagination, a freedom of the mind. So when she faces a situation which she never believed would befall her, it is a life-changing experience.
A delightful light read, I read it in one sitting in holiday, you most definitely must have read Pride and Prejudice first to get the most from the undercurrent of references. I can’t help but wonder what Jane Austen would think of it.

Click here to read my review of THE HEIRESS, also by Molly Greeley.

If you like this, try:-
‘Miss Austen’ by Gill Hornby
‘The Ballroom’ by Anna Hope
‘The Clockmaker’s Daughter’ by Kate Morton

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE CLERGYMAN’S WIFE by Molly Greeley @MollyJGreeley https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4sX via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Ninth Child’ by Sally Magnusson @sallymag1 #historical #Scotland

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The Ninth Child by Sally Magnusson is a Scottish historical mystery featuring a doctor’s wife, Queen Victoria, an infrastructure project to bring clean water to Glasgow from the wild and beautiful lochs, and the sithichean (fairies). Sally MagnussonIt is a story of water and the fate of two different women, both expecting their ninth child, and their husbands; one who is ignorant until the end, the other who looks the threat in the eye and shivers. The pregnant women, who have never met, are the Queen and Isabel, wife of Dr Alexander Aird, physician to the water construction project. The Airds live on the remote and basic construction site in a stone cottage called Fairy Knoll, alongside the drilling and tunnelling of the water project. There are two stories here – a historical saga about health and living conditions for the families which struggle both in Glasgow tenements and of the navvies that work on the water project; and a mystical story of a preacher stolen by the fairies in 1692 who returns 167 years later to talk and walk with Isabel Aird. His purpose is not clear but he is egged on by a fairy voice with whom he has made an unearthly deal. The link with Queen Victoria is tenuous and, after a strong introduction, this strand goes silent for a long time.
The tale is told by the Aird’s neighbour and servant Kirsty McEchern, alternating with Robert Kirke the preacher and, briefly, Prince Albert. At times the transition between viewpoints is sudden and confusing and I admit to skipping over some of the Robert Kirke passages. Sometimes his dialect merged into a following section by Kirsty and this took me away from the story. But I did like the character of Isabel Aird and the portrayal of her journey through the grief for her eight miscarriages. Inspired by contemporary women such as Florence Nightingale and Anne Lister, Isabel fights against her husband’s expectations that she pursue a gentlewoman’s traditional life. The juxtaposition of the Queen, Isabel and Kirsty demonstrates that women, whatever their class and education, face many of the same trials in life and have the similar mental and physical fortitude when called upon.
Magnusson is a confident writer in this period and I believed in the construction site she describes near Loch Chon and Loch Katrine. Many characters and incidents are based on real people and events including many places in the Trossachs national park which to this day bear fairy names. The Queen Victoria strand promised much but was under-used. I wished the story had more pace and for this reason the first three-quarters of the book was a 3* for me, rising to 4* for the last quarter which races along. A special mention goes to the glorious purple thistle cover.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Good People’ by Hannah Kent
‘The Threshold’ by Anna Kovacevic
‘The Crows of Beara’ by Julie Christine Johnson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE NINTH CHILD by Sally Magnusson @sallymag1 https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4sR via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing’ by Mary Paulson-Ellis #WW1

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A group of Great War soldiers is waiting for orders. During the last skirmishes of the war, men are still dying. Will the men receive orders to retreat or advance? Who will live or who will die? There are two strands to The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing by Mary Paulson-Ellis and the title refers to the second. A contemporary man in Edinburgh, an heir hunter, finds a pawn ticket amongst the possessions of Thomas Methven, an old soldier who died alone. Mary Paulson-Ellis This is a detailed story with many layers and many characters introduced as the two strands are told and hesitantly connected. At times the detail became confusing with so many descriptive repetitions I found myself skipping forwards. Paulson-Ellis writes scenes so well – the soldier’s gambling scene with the chicken is totally believable, and her portrayal of the foundling school in NE England is heart breaking. As Solomon tracks the life story of the deceased soldier, we see flashes of his own story, orphaned at seven and sent to live with his grandfather. Though interesting I found this distracting, it took me away from the story of the soldiers and added even more characters and family trees to remember.
The message is that the debts of the past do not disappear. Captain Godfrey Farthing is waiting, always waiting; to live to die, to advance, to retreat. He is simply trying to keep his men safe to the end of the war, which they suspect may come at any time. But Farthing’s intentions may be wrecked by enemy attack, by orders to attack, or by his own men themselves who are confined and bored. ‘A strange peace was coursing through his veins; that terrible calm that comes when a man knows the end is coming, but not in the way he had imagined when he began.’
Gambling is a continuous theme throughout the WW1 strand, and I lost track of the treasures gambled, won and lost, coveted, stolen and hidden. There are 11 soldiers involved, surely too many. Like The Lord of the Flies, the boredom of the men, their jealousies, petty rivalries and guns come to dominate their world, as if the war is already over. The treasures they gamble can be the smallest thing which to us may seem irrelevant but in war is crucial. Not monetary value as known at home, but representing an emotional or practical value.
Different rules apply during wartime and items that are significant then are cast into the spotlight when they survive across the generations to be found by modern day relatives. I admit to confusion about who was related to who and perhaps the cutting of a few peripheral characters would help. Given my interest in family history and WW1, I expected to love this book but longed for a firmer editing hand.

If you like this, try:-
‘Life Class’ by Pat Barker #1LIFECLASS
‘A Long Long Way’ by Sebastian Barry
‘Half of the Human Race’ by Anthony Quinn

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE INHERITANCE OF SOLOMON FARTHING by Mary Paulson-Ellis https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4tz via @SandraDanby

My Porridge & Cream read Rosemary J Kind @therealalfiedog #books

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Today I’m delighted to welcome historical novelist Rosemary J Kind. Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is Under Milk Wood  by Dylan Thomas.

“I was brought up on books. Both my mother and grandfather were great readers of literature and our house was full of books. I don’t know if I first fell in love with Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas, reading it myself or on one of our family holidays, boating on the River Thames, when we’d all curl up in the evening and Mum would read to us all. Many of the passages we knew by heart and would quote them to each other, adding lines where the other finished. To this day my favourite scene is the one in Butcher Beynon’s kitchen. The humour is so dry and so cleverly done that it never fails to make me laugh.”

Rosemary J Kind

Rosemary with her copy of Under Milk Wood

“I must have read it for myself at about the age of ten, and when stuck at home a couple of years later with glandular fever, listened to the Richard Burton recording of the book over and over. It is a book in which poetry and prose intertwine like lovers. Where the musicality of the language coupled with the keen observations of humanity deliver humour, narrative and dialogue to the reader in a way that can always satisfy me. My mother’s copy was a beautiful hardback with a light blue dust jacket. Many many years later I was lucky enough to be given a present by my husband of my very own first edition of the book, signed by the author’s niece. It is one of my most treasured possessions.”
Rosemary J Kind BUY THE BOOK

Rosemary’s Bio
Rosemary J Kind writes because she has to. You could take almost anything away from her except her pen and paper. Failing to stop after the book that everyone has in them, she has gone on to publish books in both non-fiction and fiction, the latter including novels, humour, short stories and poetry. She also regularly produces magazine articles in a number of areas and writes regularly for the dog press.
As a child she was desolate when at the age of 10 her then teacher would not believe that her poem based on Stig of the Dump was her own work and she stopped writing poetry for several years as a result. She was persuaded to continue by the invitation to earn a little extra pocket money by ‘assisting’ others to produce the required poems for English homework!
Always one to spot an opportunity, she started school newspapers and went on to begin providing paid copy to her local newspaper at the age of sixteen. For twenty years she followed a traditional business career, before seeing the error of her ways and leaving it all behind to pursue her writing full-time.
She spends her life discussing her plots with the characters in her head and her faithful dogs, who always put the opposing arguments when there are choices to be made. Always willing to take on challenges that sensible people regard as impossible, she established and ran the short story download site Alfie Dog Fiction for six years building it to become one of the largest in the world, representing over 300 authors and carrying over 1600 short stories. She closed it in order to focus on her own writing.
Her hobby is developing the Entlebucher Mountain Dog in the UK and when she brought her beloved Alfie back from Belgium he was only the tenth in the country. She started writing ‘Alfie’s Diary’ as an Internet blog the day Alfie arrived to live with her, intending to continue for a year or two. Thirteen years later it goes from strength to strength and has been repeatedly named as one of the top ten pet blogs in the UK.

Rosemary’s links
Twitter
Facebook
Website 
Blog 

Rosemary’s latest book
Rosemary J Kind 1866. Daniel Flynn and Molly Reilly’s lives have been dogged by hardship since their orphan days on the streets of New York. Finally, the future is looking bright and Indiana is the place they call home. Now they can focus on making Cochrane’s Farm a success.
The Civil War might have ended but the battle for Cochrane’s Farm has only just begun. The Reese brothers are incensed that land, once part of their family farm, has been transferred to the ownership of young Molly. No matter that their Daddy had sold it years previously, jealousy and revenge have no regard for right. Women should know their place and this one clearly doesn’t.
Times are changing and a woman’s place is changing with it. How far will Daniel and Molly go to fight injustice and is it a price worth paying?
BUY THE BOOK
What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message.

Discover the ‘Porridge & Cream’ books of these authors:-
Julia Thum’s choice is ‘The Little White Horse’ by Elizabeth Goudge
Ivy Logan chooses ‘Reckless’ by Cornelia Funke
‘It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet’ by James Herriot is chosen by Mary Grand

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Why does Rosemary J Kind @therealalfiedog re-read UNDER MILK WOOD  by Dylan Thomas? #books https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4a3 via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The House at Silvermoor’ by Tracy Rees @AuthorTracyRees #historical

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Expectations and generalisations are an odd thing. When I first read the the blurb for The House at Silvermoor and saw it is set in a South Yorkshire mining community, I hesitated. But I decided to place my trust in the author, Tracy Rees, because I read and loved her Amy Snow. What a good decision it was. Tracy ReesInspired by her grandfather Len, Rees researched coal mining at the turn of the century. This research informs every page but never interferes with her story of Tommy Green from the mining village of Grindley and Josie Westgate of nearby Arden. When they are twelve they meet in a country lane, talking over a dropped bunch of bluebells. Rees is excellent at world creation: the hard grind of the mining families, the lack of options, the durability and sense of inevitability of the families, the autocratic families that rule the mines, the temptation of the unknown. Tommy is destined to work in the pits of the Sedgewick family of Silvermoor where his father and brothers work, where his brother Dan died in an accident. Josie’s father and brothers work in the nearby pits owned by Winthrop Barridge, where standards are lower, the work more hazardous, and no compensation for widows of miners killed at work. Her sisters work at the mine too, above ground, washing coal.
As the story starts, it is Tommy’s last day at school. His destiny is to work in the pits despite wanting more, something different, despite his dreams. Dismissed by his schoolteacher as the best of a bad lot and accused of false pride, Tommy is tongue-tied. ‘In quite real terms, my tongue had lodged in my throat in a glutinous lump, and I could neither swallow nor speak’. That night, in a rite of manhood, he is taken poaching at midnight by his father to Heston Manor, the rundown estate owned by Barridge and patrolled by guards. Entrance is forbidden but food is scarce so the risk is worth it. Josie’s sister Alice is marrying and she runs to her secret place in the grounds of Heston Manor to pick wildflowers. She is caught by the gamekeeper Paulson. She lies her way out of an awkward situation, runs towards home and bumps into Tommy. It is a lovely meeting between two adolescents, on the brink of their lives, both rebels, both smart enough to talk their way out of trouble, and both capable of getting themselves into trouble.
The relationship between Tommy and Josie is at the heart of this novel as they navigate the difficult paths deemed to be their fate. Both want more, both struggle with restriction and each supports the other. Into the picture come Arden shopkeeper Dulcie Embry, who inherits the village shop from her uncle and is determined to prove it is a job for a woman, and who becomes a particular friend of Josie; a mysterious ghost that haunts Heston Manor and rides a white stallion; and Lord Walter Sedgewick, son of the earl and five years younger that Tommy, who was christened on Tommy’s birthday. This connection runs throughout the story in ways I did not expect and opens up new friendships and loyalties that cross the rigidities of class.
It is the turn of the century, the promise of the 1900s brings expectations, new opportunities and tradition challenged. This is a story of love, loyalty, the fight against exploitation, the hope of goodness. It is the story of a family mystery and a romance, bound up with the rapidly changing social history of its time. Excellent. A note about the cover design; beautiful, but completely irrelevant to the story.

Click the title below to read my reviews of other novels by Tracy Rees:-
AMY SNOW
DARLING BLUE
THE ELOPEMENT
THE ROSE GARDEN

If you like this, try:-
‘The Almanack’ by Martine Bailey
‘The Doll Factory’ by Elizabeth Macneal
‘The Taxidermist’s Daughter’ by Kate Mosse

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE HOUSE AT SILVERMOOR by Tracy Rees @AuthorTracyRees https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4lK via @SandraDanby