Tag Archives: historical fiction

#BookReview ‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar #historical

Quite a few things in The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar are not as they seem. The mermaid, which may or not be real, is actually dead and quite gruesome. And the story starts with shipping merchant Mr Hancock, not Mrs. He is a widower. This story about London in 1785 is a full-on feast for the senses and at first is a bit overwhelming: wind ‘sings’, raindrops ‘burst’, skin is ‘scuffed and stained’, a face is ‘meaty’. But then I fell into the life of Jonah Hancock and wondered when the mermaid, and Mrs Hancock, would appear. Soon the captain of the Calliope, one of Jonah’s ships, returns homes without the ship but with a mermaid.
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock overflows with contrasts: Deptford and Mary-le-Bone are villages outside London, whales are dismembered and rendered beside the river but in nearby Blackheath the air is to be treasured. It seems unlikely that the path of Jonah, conservative, hard-working, will intersect with Angelica Neal, a former upper class prostitute. But thanks to the mermaid, they meet and their lives take different turns as a result. Gowar juxtaposes sumptuous silks, satins and pearls of the girls at Mrs Chappell’s high-class brothel, where they are tutored at some expense in dancing and singing, performing masques for their high-paying clientele; with the potatoes peeled and stockings darned by Jonah’s niece Sukie and maid Bridget. The beauty of the whores, the ugliness of the mummified mermaid. Contrasts are everywhere.
The story is slow to build and I admit to skipping some paragraphs of description, many dedicated to situations and characters with no bearing on the main storyline. But then I would stop and admire a sentence like this, ‘Overnight, Deptford’s heady miasma had begun to settle, like silt in a puddle, but sunrise stirs it back up again and Mr Hancock stumps through that great rich stink of baking bread and rotten mud and old blood and fresh-sawn wood with the cat trotting on her tiptoes beside him.’ Over-stuffed with imagery, but beautifully written. I enjoyed the final third but was left regretting threads and characters left dangling that could have enriched the story; Tysoe Jones and Polly particularly.
This is a bawdy morality tale set in Georgian London that issues the warning to be careful what you wish for and compares inner and outer beauty, man’s treatment of women and the exploitation of a mermaid for money. The story is predictable, given the tradition of mermaids, and because of this the pacing would benefit from more audacious plot twists and turns. I liked Jonah and wanted to shout to him, ‘have nothing to do with her.’ He is simply too nice.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Quick’ by Lauren Owen
‘An Appetite for Violets’ by Martine Bailey
‘The Wicked Cometh’ by Laura Carlin

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#BookReview ‘White Chrysanthemum’ by Mary Lynn Bracht‪ #WW2

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It’s not often that I find myself using the words ‘delightful’ and ‘harrowing’ in the same book review, but here they are. White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht is the harrowing story of two Korean sisters separated during World War Two; one snatched to become a ‘comfort woman’ for Japanese soldiers, the other saved by her older sister’s actions. It is difficult to read of the violence, the arrogance, the misuse of power and the humiliation of this piece of war history – still being publicised and discussed – but this is leavened by the magical water sequences. Sixteen-year old Hana is a haenyeo, a female diver of the sea, she is taught by her mother, in the family tradition, to dive deep, hold her breath and withstand the cold. When she is abused, she retreats to her memories. She is a tough cookie.
One day, she and her mother are diving, their father is away fishing, and her younger sister Emiko sits on the beach, guarding the buckets that contain their day’s catch from interested seagulls; then Japanese soldiers arrive. Desperate to stop them taking her sister to a life of captivity, Hana races out of the water and distracts them. Throughout Hana’s capture and enforced slavery, at the most horrific moments of fear and violation, the thing that anchors her to the idea of survival is the thought of her sister, learning to dive, the memory of the water, the smell of the sea. “Hana is lying on the bottom of the ocean, looking upward at the sunlight shimmering above the surface. The great ocean’s heartbeat pulses against her eardrums. The current caresses her skin. A heaviness on her chest is an old ship’s anchor she has found. She hugs it close to weigh her down.”
Emi, Hana’s eleven-year old sister, is too young to understand what is happening when Hana is taken away. It is Emi’s story, told looking back when she is herself a grandmother, which brings contemporary perspective to the microscopic detail of Hana’s story. The complicated war history of this region is clarified as we learn of Emi’s silence about her experiences in World War Two and the Korean War which followed. Such is her shame she has never told her two children that they had an aunt. But once a year Emi travels to Seoul to take part in the Wednesday Demonstration to demand official recognition for the ‘comfort women’.
The bibliography at the end of the book is testament to the author’s research but this never weighs heavily in the story. When a little historical exposition is necessary, Bracht adds it with a light hand. This is a solemn book with flashes of beauty and love which give you hope to read to the end. I admired Hana’s strength and honour. And I did not guess the ending. A delightful read.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Translation of Love’ by Lynne Kutsukake
‘The Aftermath’ by Rhidian Brook
‘The Gift of Rain’ by Tan Twan Eng

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
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#BookReview ‘The Last Hours’ by Minette Walters #historical

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I cannot remember when I last read a novel by Minette Walters although her psychological crime thrillers occupy a considerable section of my bookshelf. As soon as I read the blurb for The Last Hours, I was fascinated. What could Walters do with a historical drama based on the Black Death of 14^th century England? I wasn’t disappointed. The Last Hours tells the story of the Develish demesne in Devon in 1348 when infectious illness spread rapidly and threatened to wipe out the 200 bonded serfs, servants and family. What did take me by surprise is that The Last Hours is only the first instalment of the story, so there is the unexpected anticipation of the next book now to enjoy.
The first character we meet, pre-infection, is Eleanor. The only daughter of Sir Richard and Lady Anne of Develish, she watches preparations for the departure of her father and his retinue as they travel to meet the neighbouring lord to whose son Eleanor is promised. Eleanor seems at once fascinated by and repelled by a serf, Thaddeus Thurkell, who she distains for his illegitimacy. As a first chapter it sets up the relationships and future action in such a detailed way, I found myself re-reading it for clues. Because, though this is a historical novel, never forget it is written by Walters, author of The Scold’s Bridle and The Ice House.
Mystery, deceit, betrayal, lies and gruesome horror are a part of the story of how Lady Anne marshalls the population of Develish, family, stewards, servants and serfs alike, to survive when infection threatens to engulf them. Thaddeus is a key character, educated, tough and inspiring, he becomes a key figure when Sir Richard’s party returns from its visit to the neighbouring Bradmayne estate. Facing disease, Lady Anne must decide how to save the lives of the majority. Her knowledge of basic medical practices and herbal remedies, gleaned for her girlhood in a nunnery, enable her to reorganise Develish for survival. Walters does not lighten her descriptions of the Black Death; its symptoms, the corpses and infection are explicitly described but not in a sensationalist way, instead they add tension to the plot. Can this group of people possibly survive when whole Devonshire villages are dead and packs of wild dogs roam the countryside? How can you protect yourself from infection when the source of the disease is unknown and there is no help from outside?
The storyline is handled with expert timing. Just at the point where I wondered where the next threat would come from, Walters splits the storyline in two. After a suspicious death of a teenage boy, Thaddeus takes a group of five youths across the moat to explore the surrounding countryside to assess the threat from bandits and disease, and search for food. Meanwhile Eleanor’s behaviour is becoming more extreme, her hatred for her mother and the serfs make daily life difficult for all in such a confined space. Indulged by her father, Eleanor has grown to be a selfish, arrogant, ungrateful young woman who believes in her own superiority and expects special treatment even in such abnormal times.
As well as a historical study of the disease, The Last Hours also examines the social changes of the time, as serfs become educated and, encouraged by Lady Anne, consider a life independent of the feudal system. Walters has written two Black Death novels, the second is The Turn of Midnight.

Read my reviews of two other historical novels by Minette Walters:-
THE TURN OF MIDNIGHT #2BLACKDEATH
THE PLAYERS
THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER

If you like this, try:-
‘Gone are the Leaves’ by Anne Donovan
‘At the Edge of the Orchard’ by Tracy Chevalier
‘The Taxidermist’s Daughter’ by Kate Mosse

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
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#BookReview ‘The Cursed Wife’ by Pamela Hartshorne #historical

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London 1590. The Cursed Wife by Pamela Hartshorne starts with two un-named women in a room; one alive, one dead. And then follows the story of two women who meet as children, Cat and Mary, mistress and maid. Page by twisting page the story of Cat and Mary unfolds as, you can’t help but wonder, which one dies and which lives. Mistress Mary Thorne sometimes forgets she is cursed. It is 1590 and she steps out into the rain to buy herbs for an ill maid, little knowing her life will be changed. Two stories are told in parallel; from 1562 when the two girls first meet, and 1590 when their paths cross again in London. There is a tug of power between the two as fortunes rise and fall; Cat is envious of what Mary has, while Mary feels guilt at every small slight she has made in her life.
In 1562, Mary is a gentleman’s daughter; orphaned by sickness, she is put into a cart to be taken to the house of a distant cousin where she has been offered shelter. Her solace is Peg, the small wooden doll given to her by her father. When a mob of urchins sets on the cart, one girl grabs Peg and in her haste Mary pushes her. The girl falls and dies. An old woman who sees it happen, curses Mary saying the truth of what she has done will haunt her for the rest of her life. Mary arrives at Steeple Tew, the manor of her relations, and there meets the daughter of the house, Cat. Mary is to be her maid. The two girls become companions, though a pecking order is retained as they grow into young women, until sickness again enforces a change of circumstances.
This is a novel about social mobility, up as well as down, and adjusting to life’s events. It is about destiny; making your own, or expecting it as a right. Cat is an over-indulged child who becomes a spoiled young woman used to everything in life. Though is too simplistic to say Cat is selfish and Mary a saint, you do feel that Cat will always be dissatisfied with her lot. Mary thinks, “Cat sees the world not through a window as others do, but in a looking glass that reflects back what she wishes to see.”
A dark tale of bitterness, blame, jealousy and resentment, the two girls are mirror images of each other, but inverted. Both start as gentleman’s daughters, both are brought low by circumstances, one adapts, the other does not. This is a curiously modern novel with a young woman confident of her entitlement, regardless of her actions and choices. Everyone, the story makes clear, has choices and must live by those, accepting responsibility for one’s own life.
Hartshorne is a brilliant writer of atmosphere. When Cat marries George, the two girls move to Haverley Court. Though it is newly-built, Mary sees threats everywhere. “To me, the house was a living creature, watching me slyly. Its shadows tiptoed behind me as I walked through it. I would feel them like a breath on the back of my neck and my skin would prickle.” Adding to the haunted atmosphere is the doll Peg, a kind of bellwether, whose painted face changes its expression forewarning of events happening to Mary.
The Elizabethan setting is full of wonderful detail from food to under-garments, but there were times when it became a little too much.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Penny Heart’ by Martine Bailey
‘At First Light’ by Vanessa Lafaye
‘The Knife with the Ivory Handle’ by Cynthia Bruchman

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#BookReview ‘The Western Wind’ by Samantha Harvey #historical

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In 15^th century Somerset, a village is isolated between high ground and a river. Various attempts to find funding and the skills to build a bridge have foundered, and with it the village’s hopes of prosperity. Then in the early hours of Shrove Saturday, the body of a villager is swept away by the river and everyone looks to the priest for answers. The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey is a contemplative, slow burn about John Reve, the priest, his care for the villagers of Oakham, and the persistent questions of his visiting rural dean about the death of Thomas Newman. The story timeline is chopped up and told backwards, which adds to the mystery. The novel starts with the sighting of the body and the finding of a green shirt in the bulrushes. This is a sign, Reve says, that Newman’s soul has crossed into heaven. Only at the end, do we find out the truth of what really happened. The dean is a threat; we never know his name, and only at the end are we given a physical description of him. He suggests to Reve that as this is the season of confession, a pardon be issued to anyone confessing in the next three days. This, he hopes, will enable him to tell the archdeacon that the death was investigated and the village is full of church-going people who are faithful penitents. He tells Reve: ‘You’re the parish priest – your word weighs a hundred times a normal man’s, two hundred times a woman’s, three hundred times a child’s. Your word is a silver weight in the palm. Your word is worth trading money for. It would cut like a stone through water.’ But what is a parish to do if a priest fails in his office and then compounds that failure with lies; and worse, encourages a parishioner to lie. Everyone in the village is affected by what has happened. Reve has a privileged position, he listens to the confessions of all the villagers; he knows their secrets. But to whom does he tell his own secrets? Unsure of his actions and feeling threatened by the dean’s relentless questions, he asks God to send the western wind as a sign of approval and to blow away the spirits.
There are all sorts of themes going on here. The fine line between religion and superstition. The hypocrisy and lies of religion and its priests. The honesty and doggedness of the rural poor and their willingness to believe in symbols and spirits as well as God. It considers the practice of confession, that allows a person to sin in the knowledge that they will be blessed by the priest afterwards.
This is a careful, restrained novel – as fitting its contemplative clerical narrator – rich in descriptive detail. But at times I wishes it moved a little faster or was a little shorter. Told entirely from Reve’s point of view, it might perhaps have benefited from another voice. I also found the ending rather abrupt.

If you like this, try:-
‘Reservoir 13’ by John McGregor
‘Master of Shadows’ by Neil Oliver
‘Under a Pole Star’ by Stef Penney

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE WESTERN WIND by Samantha Harvey https://wp.me/p5gEM4-37m via @SandraDanby

My Porridge & Cream read: Julie Christine Johnson

#BookReview ‘The Wicked Cometh’ by Laura Carlin #historical #suspense

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In the dark alleyways of London, in 1831, people are disappearing; the vulnerable poor, children, elderly, homeless. Missing posters line the streets. But none are found. The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin is a 19^th century crime thriller with two women, divided by class and background, who are determined to find the truth but who never once suspect the depth of wickedness they will uncover. When 18-year old Hester White is hit by a carriage, physician Calder Brock takes her to his London home. Cared for by his servants, he questions Hester about her birth. Ashamed of her bad luck – growing up at a country parsonage, she was orphaned and taken in by her parents’ servants whose own income declined so now they live in an East End slum – Hester hides her education with a deftly-adopted London accent. Brock rescues her as an experiment in educating the poor. He takes Hester to Waterford, his childhood home in the country, where he lives with his sister Rebekah and their Uncle Septimus. Rebekah is to be Hester’s tutor. What follows is a story of lies laid upon more lies, murder, theft, friendship and love. As the women set out to discover what happened to Hester’s missing cousin, and two servants who worked for Rebekah, they enter into an underworld neither guessed exists. Being female hinders their attempts to investigate and they put themselves into increasingly dangerous situations in their efforts to gather evidence.
This is a melodramatic rollercoaster which in places grew so convoluted that I at first re-read passages, but then simply skipped paragraphs. It would benefit from some robust editing. At its heart is a gruesome Victorian murder mystery and the love of two women. The answer to the mystery that Hester and Rebekah set out to solve – and I started with high hopes of the two female investigators – is perhaps predictable but the details are dense and colourful though at times needlessly confusing. Some of the descriptions are unbelievably gory, unnecessarily so.
There are two endings, difficult to describe without giving spoilers. Suffice to say I found the final ending unsatisfactory; too neat and tidy for me. The part of the book I enjoyed the most was the beginning, with the development of Hester’s character, her stop-start relationship with Rebekah, and the whispers that unsettle Hester so she doesn’t know who to trust. The London setting is well-written; the filth so real you can smell it. The medical detail is gruesome so be warned, a few pages require a strong stomach. Another positive is the two strong female protagonists.
I particularly liked Rebekah. All of this is well done. What let it down for me? It simply didn’t hold my attention in places.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Quick’ by Lauren Owen
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4GOWERDETECTIVE
‘The Taxidermist’s Daughter’ by Kate Mosse

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
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#BookReview ‘Highland Fling’ by Nancy Mitford #satire #historical

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First published in 1931, Highland Fling is the first novel by Nancy Mitford and the first I have read, determined to read them in order. What a breath of fresh air it was after reading two detailed historical novels, this light frothy concoction made me chuckle. An amusing observer of manners, Mitford excels at that peculiar type of incomplete conversation between two people gossiping about mutual acquaintances in which each completes the other’s sentences. This is a novel of its time, upperclass wealth, upperclass lack of wealth, centuries of families and traditions the roots of which have been forgotten, and the juxtaposition of bluff country old-timers with Bright Young Things from London. Highland Fling is set in a Scottish castle, a closed-room setting, loved by crime writers, which Mitford uses mercilessly to compare and contrast. It is a world with which the author knows well and at which she gently pokes fun.
Young artist Alfred Gates returns from Paris to London and visits his newly-married friends Walter and Sally. Sally’s parents are called away and the three friends go to Scotland to host the parent’s shooting party. As well as the shooting guests, including stodgy old-fashioned military and aristocratic types, the younger guests include Jane Dacre who fancies herself in love with the effete Albert. Albert, who dresses in brightly-coloured flamboyant clothing which offends the traditionalists, searches Dalloch Castle for examples of Victorian decorative accessories which he photographs for his book. While the shooting guests are up at dawn and tramp around the moorland, the youngsters rise at midday and drink champagne for breakfast. Teasing, of old by young, is inevitable with the hapless victims suspicious but unable to produce proof of their tormenters. Mitford mines the humour by placing both groups in close proximity and letting them clash, on a shoot, and a visit to the local highland games.
As a first novel this gave me a taster of Mitford’s acerbic wit and observation of social manners, acute in its sharpness of both old and young, wealthy and not, though crude in some instances.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

Read my reviews of these other novels by Nancy Mitford:-
CHRISTMAS PUDDING
LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE
PIGEON PIE
THE BLESSING
THE PURSUIT OF LOVE
WIGS ON THE GREEN

Read the first paragraph of THE PURSUIT OF LOVE here.

If you like this, try:-
‘Curtain Call’ by Anthony Quinn
‘Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day’ by Winifred Watson
‘Quartet’ by Jean Rhys

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
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#BookReview ‘The Silent Companions’ by Laura Purcell #historical #mystery

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How to describe this novel? Spooky, mysterious? A tale of witchcraft and trickery or malicious exploitation and fraud? The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell starts with a woman in an asylum. Mute, she is given chalk and a slate with which to communicate. What follows is her account of the Bainbridge family and their country home, The Bridge. From the beginning until the end, we do not know who to believe. The story is told in three strands – a woman in an asylum, accused of murder; a young widow who arrives at her husband’s family home, pregnant and vulnerable; and a couple excitedly prepare for a royal visit by Charles I. What unfolds is a complicated story. Purcell handles the many threads well although I would have preferred a clear delineation with each new section marked by date.
Elsie, the daughter of a match factory owner in London, is a survivor. She supported her mother after her father was killed in a ghastly workplace accident, she supported her younger brother Jolyon as their mother also fell ill. And when Jolyon brings a new investor for the factory the siblings, now jointly own, Elise marries Rupert Bainbridge. Odd things start to happen after Rupert dies soon after the marriage and Elsie goes for the first time to The Bridge. Exploring the rundown dusty house when she hears a noise at night, Elsie finds a locked door and in the room behind is a wooden stand-up figure of a girl. From this point, odd things start to happen, getting odder and more frequent as the tale progresses. The reader doesn’t know who to believe or who to trust. It feels as if everyone might be lying for their own ends, or perhaps the villagers are right and the house is riddled with witchcraft. But concrete things keep happening which cannot be denied.
This is a strange, unsettling read.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Night Child’ by Anna Quinn
‘The Penny Heart’ by Martine Bailey
‘The Witchfinder’s Sister’ by Beth Underdown

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SILENT COMPANIONS by Laura Purcell http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2Tn via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Birdcage Walk’ by Helen Dunmore #historical

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Birdcage Walk is the last novel by the incomparable Helen Dunmore who moved between subjects and periods with ease, setting the dramatic minutiae of people’s lives against the huge social events of the time. War, spies and, in Birdcage Walk, the French Revolution and how its impacts on a family in Bristol. The novel opens as a walker and his dog discover a hidden grave in the undergrowth of a derelict graveyard. He reads the inscription to Julia Elizabeth Fawkes but subsequent research finds no information about her. This is followed by a short night-time scene in 1789 of a man burying a body in woods. We do not know the location, his identity or that of the body. How are these two things connected? For the first half of the book, I forgot these two short scenes until growing menace made me recall it and read faster.
It is 1792. This is the story of young wife Lizzie Fawkes, new wife of Bristol builder John Diner Tredevant and daughter of writer Julia Fawkes. Diner, as he is known, is developing a grand terrace of houses on the cliffs at Clifton Gorge, a development for which he specifies the best, borrowing against the potential sales. He is not keen on the company kept by his wife’s mother, seeing them as seditious socialists agitating in support of the French revolutionaries. He is aware of the potential cost to England, and his ambitious development, if the trouble in France turns into war. Lizzie is torn between two worlds, loyal to her Mammie and cautious about Augustus, her step-father and political pamphleteer, but aware her husband is under financial pressure. Diner is derided as a capitalist by Augustus and his writer friends. But Lizzie is proud, she chose her husband and remains loyal to him. But that loyalty and her young impressionable love for him are challenged. As news from Paris gets grimmer, Diner’s mood darkens. He must lay off workers, creditors chase payment, and he has night sweats. Insistent that independent Lizzie is his now, that he owns her and everything of hers, he is almost overpowering in his need to keep her close. She begins to fear he is having her followed and so disguises herself as she walks about town, lying about her visits home. And then there is the mystery of Diner’s first wife, Lucie, who died in France but of whom he does not speak. Lizzie fears he still loves Lucie.
This is a gently-written novel about tumultuous times in Europe, when the shadow of the unknown and fear – from the horrors in Paris to Diner’s secrets and his dark brooding nature – cannot be escaped. When the moment to run arrives, will Lizzie recognise it? If she does run, where to and who with? And will she know if she is running towards more danger? This is an expertly-written historical novel, rich in period detail, although the title is mentioned fleetingly and not referred to again.

Read my reviews of two other novels by Helen Dunmore:-
EXPOSURE
THE LIE

If you like this, try:-
‘The Walworth Beauty’ by Michèle Roberts
‘The Quick’ by Lauren Owen
‘The French Lesson’ by Hallie Rubenhold

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
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SANDRA DANBY'S BOOK REVIEWS

Sharing thoughts on the books I read, new authors, favourite authors, classics re-visisted

Tag Archives: historical fiction

#BookReview ‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar #historical

#BookReview ‘White Chrysanthemum’ by Mary Lynn Bracht‪ #WW2

#BookReview ‘The Last Hours’ by Minette Walters #historical

#BookReview ‘The Cursed Wife’ by Pamela Hartshorne #historical

#BookReview ‘The Western Wind’ by Samantha Harvey #historical

My Porridge & Cream read: Julie Christine Johnson

#BookReview ‘The Wicked Cometh’ by Laura Carlin #historical #suspense

#BookReview ‘Highland Fling’ by Nancy Mitford #satire #historical

#BookReview ‘The Silent Companions’ by Laura Purcell #historical #mystery

#BookReview ‘Birdcage Walk’ by Helen Dunmore #historical

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