Tag Archives: historical fiction

#BookReview ‘The Secret Keeper’ by Renita D’Silva @RenitaDSilva #romance #India #WW2

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From 1930s India to England in World War Two and the 1990s, The Secret Keeper by Renita D’Silva is the story of Rani Raj, the secrets she kept, the secrets she didn’t keep and the fallout across two generations. Renita D’SilvaRani grows up in pre-war Europe with her Indian father, a crown prince, and German mother. Their life is thrown into turmoil when her grandfather dies and her baba becomes king. This doesn’t simply mean that the family must relocate to India, but that they must abandon their Marxist beliefs and adopt the wealthy segregated existence that goes with the royal role. Rani and her mother must live in the women’s zenana, separately from Rani’s father and brother Arjun. Rani’s entire world turns upside down, she struggles to understand her father’s about-face of everything he believed in, and encouraged her to believe. Planning to study at university, Rani’s world becomes limited to an enclosed space, albeit a beautiful, privileged one.
Strong-willed Rani rebels. Adopting her maid’s sari and strong accent, she ventures beyond the palace walls where she meets the milkman’s son Prasad and falls in love. After a misguided plan to convince her father the king that Prasad is a suitable husband for her, she is banished to England where she studies at university. In Cambridge she struggles with an ethical dilmena; her delight at being able to study again, against the silence from her family and the uncertainty about Prasad’s fate. She writes home weekly but receives no reply. It is a severe punishment for an idealistic, hopelessly naive mistake.
When war begins, Rani is recruited as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park while her best friend Gertie joins the Special Operations Executive. I so wanted to know more about Gertie, and it’s at this point that I felt the book could have gone in a different direction.
In England 1990, a young woman called Esme is bereaved twice in a matter of weeks. First her beloved, quiet, academic father dies, and then the family’s motherly housekeeper Mrs Lewes who has raised Esme in the absence of a mother. Struggling with her grief, Esme visits a counsellor who encourages her to explore her past family history. A visit to her older brother Andrew unveils a childhood different from the one she remembers.
The Secret Keeper is a moralistic story about teenage mistakes having a tragic consequence in the adult world. This is an emotional story about the traps of idealistic first love coming back to haunt you in later life. Young Rani makes promises without understanding or stopping to think what it may mean to keep them.
I always enjoy Renita D’Silva’s stories set in India. Whether describing extremes of wealth or poverty her description puts me in the place, in all its intensity and power.

Read my reviews of these other novels by Renita D’Silva:-
A DAUGHTER’S COURAGE
A MOTHER’S SECRET
BENEATH AN INDIAN SKY
THE GIRL IN THE PAINTING
THE ORPHAN’S GIFT
THE SPICE MAKER’S SECRET
THE WAR CHILD

If you like this, try:-
‘Daughters of War’ by Dinah Jefferies #1DAUGHTERSOFWAR
‘The Secret History of Audrey James’ by Heather Marshall
‘Dear Mrs Bird’ by AJ Pearce

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#BookReview THE SECRET KEEPER by @RenitaDSilva https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8LE via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘The Silk Code’ by Deborah Swift @swiftstory #WW2

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World War Two is one of my favourite periods to read about and so I expected much from The Silk Code by Deborah Swift, especially as it is based on the Special Operations Executive in London. Coding, female agents, secrets, spies. Deborah SwiftOn the rebound from a broken engagement, Nancy Callaghan leaves her beautiful but claustrophobic home in Scotland for London. Her brother Neil, who works in an unnamed adminstrative department in Baker Street, offers to put her forward for a secretarial job. Except Baker Street is the home of SOE and Nancy turns out to be a dab hand at decoding, especially the ‘indecipherables,’ the messages sent by agents that are muddled and meaningless. Nancy finds Neil much changed; he seems to sleep little, is out much of the night, is grumpy and uncommunicative. Then when Nancy takes a shine to Tom Lockwood, the expert who trains the coders, Neil instantly disapproves. Of course there is more going on here than office politics. Is it simply a matter of professional jealousy or is there a traitor in the building? Why is the death rate of SOE agents parachuted into Holland so high? And why won’t the bosses listen to Tom’s suspicions? When Nancy is given an ultimatum – spy on your colleagues for the good of your country, or be demoted and moved from Baker Street – she feels she has no choice.
This is a thrilling story packed with moral choices of the ‘do the easy thing or the right thing’ type. Based on true history but populated with mostly fictional characters, Swift has written a novel that kept me reading just another chapter. The pace is fast following the introduction to Nancy in rural Scotland and Swift convincingly shows Nancy’s difficulties arriving in a strange city, living in a box room in her taciturn brother’s flat, training to do a job that isn’t explained alongside colleagues who have all signed the Official Secrets Act. As Nancy is trying to work out what is going on, so is the reader. Everyone knows only so much and everyone, it seems, has secrets.
When Tom and Nancy invent a method of printing one-time codes on silk cloth that can be hidden in the agents’ clothing, little do they realise that Nancy will soon be in Holland. Half-Dutch and fluent in the language, Nancy is a natural for SOE espionage training. But she truly has little idea of what she is flying into. N-Section in Holland is a vipers’ nest of double agents with Nazis masquerading as Allied coders. From the moment her feet touch the ground, she doesn’t know who to trust.
The Silk Code is a very good introduction to Swift’s WW2 Secret Agent series. Next is The Shadow Network. Deborah Swift is a new author to me and I’d also like to read some of her historical fiction.

Here’s my review of the next in this series:-
THE SHADOW NETWORK #2WW2SECRETAGENT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society’ by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
‘Dominion’ by CJ Sansom
‘The Rose Code’ by Kate Quinn

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE SILK CODE by Deborah Swift @swiftstory https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Sr via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Renita D’Silva

#BookReview ‘The Sinner’s Mark’ by SW Perry @swperry_history #historical #crime

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Religious extremism, Moorish diplomacy, sedition and missing youths. In England 1600, Dr Nicholas Shelby’s elderly father is accused of distributing seditious pamphlets. The Sinner’s Mark by SW Perry is sixth in the fantastic Jackdaw Mysteries historical series. SW PerryNicholas and Bianca are happily married, living in Bankside on the south bank of the Thames, with their five-year-old son Bruno. Bianca is a talented apothecary, Nicholas attends the sick and, with misgivings, answers the occasional call of Queen Elizabeth I’s right hand man, Sir Robert Cecil. Accustomed to being ordered to undertake a distasteful task for Cecil, Nicholas is shocked to learn the reason for his summons. Sedition. Cecil has discovered that Shelby’s elderly father in Suffolk has been arrested. With Cecil’s help, Nicholas secures his father’s freedom but is disturbed by the stories of a firebrand young priest whose sermons have bewitched a local congregation. When the priest arrives in London, the pace of the story speeds up.
When Petrus Eusebius Schenk, an army acquaintance of Nicholas from his fighting days in the Low Countries, arrives at the Jackdaw, Bianca cannot warm to the man. Uneasy at Nicholas’s instant trust of the newcomer, Bianca observes contradictory behaviour. Nicholas believes she is being uncharitable about an old soldier still suffering from traumatic memories of war. When Schenk takes the Jackdaw’s tavern man Ned Monkton to listen to an evangelical new preacher, Bianca decides to investigate. What follows is a rollercoaster ride of radical puritanism, what today we would call grooming, the disappearance of young men and a conspiracy to commit treason. At this time Bianca comes into an unexpected inheritance, a small house and warehouse on the north bank of the river, where she makes an unwelcome discovery. Nicholas is called into the queen’s service again, this time as diplomat and translator during the state visit of the Morroccan ambassador. Nicholas met Muhammed al-Annuri in Marrakech seven years previously, as featured in The Saracen’s Mark, and is expected to inform Cecil of Annuri’s real expectations, something he finds difficult to do. As always when Nicholas is pushed into doing something reluctantly, or is divided between two loyalties, the story gets interesting.
A page-turning historical mystery that doesn’t disappoint, set in a time of political uncertainty as the queen approaches the end of her reign. Difficult to review without giving away critical plot points but the interventions of Will Shakespeare are welcome, as is the presence of Carib-born apothecary trainee Cachorra who proves herself a suitable, independent-minded sidekick for Bianca.
Excellent.

Here are my reviews of the  other books in the series:-
THE ANGEL’S MARK #1JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE SERPENT’S MARK #2JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE SARACEN’S MARK #3JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE HERETIC’S MARK #4JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE REBEL’S MARK #5JACKDAWMYSTERIES

And a new #WW2 series:
BERLIN DUET #1HARRYTAVERNER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Almanack’ by Martine Bailey #1TABITHAHART
‘The Blue Afternoon’ by William Boyd
‘The Glassmaker’ by Tracy Chevalier

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE SINNER’S MARK by SW Perry @swperry_history https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8KJ via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Helena Dixon

#BookReview ‘Leeward’ by Katie Daysh #historicalfiction #adventure #navalwarfare

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I’m new to historical naval fiction and wasn’t sure what to expect from Leeward by Katie Daysh, first in the Nightingale & Courtney mystery series. Life at sea is brutal, and beautiful. It is lonely, and companionable. It is exhilarating, it is terrifying. Katie Daysh1800 Antigua. For Hiram Nightingale, naval captain and veteran of the Battle of the Nile, the sea is everything. ‘The sea. The sea… Nearly everything of importance in his life had happened on the ocean.’ Horribly injured, physically and emotionally, after the famous battle of the Napoleonic Wars and grieving for his lost crew, Hiram is encouraged back to sea by his father and father-in-law who arrange a captaincy in the West Indies. Expecting a quiet commission, instead he finds himself captain of the ‘Scylla’ charged with hunting down and apprehending a mutinied ship, the ‘Ulysses.’ His mission is to chase the ‘Ulysses’ wherever she goes, even around Cape Horn into the Pacific. It soon becomes clear that Hiram hasn’t been told the real reason for his mission or why the ‘Ulysses’ crew mutinied. He is uncertain who to trust either onboard or on shore and uncertain about his own capability to do the job.
I took a while to settle into the story but after that I didn’t want to put it down. For me there is just enough nautical detail to be interesting but not so much that I started to skip sections. Naval warfare tactics are fascinating as are the politics of the region and the character clashes on board, but professionalism, talent and justice mean nothing in the face of ostentatious wealth and overwhelming greed. Nightingale becomes a detective, hunting his prey, trying to decipher the truth of the crime. He is on a nautical journey, making his peace with the sea and grieving those he lost in battle; he’s also on an emotional journey, being honest with himself about his deepest nature. The gay sub-plot complements the main storyline but doesn’t dominate. As Hiram struggles with the lonely responsibility of command, his dreams are full of flashbacks to his loss of the ‘Lion’ at the Nile, moments with his wife Louisa, and an unforgettable, unforgiveable incident in his childhood. The journey parallels throughout to Homer’s Odyssey are handled with a light touch: Hiram’s ship the ‘Scylla’ is named after Homer’s multi-headed monster, while ‘Ulysses’ is the Roman name for Odysseus.
What a surprising delight this novel is, an insight into the professionalism of the Royal Navy, a fight to catch the criminals, the ocean, the unpredictable elements and a naval trial.

Read my review of the next book in the series:-
THE DEVIL TO PAY #2NIGHTINGALE&COURTNEY

If you like this, try:-
‘The Silver Wolf’ by JC Harvey #1FISKARDO’SWAR
‘Nero’ by Conn Iggulden #1NERO
‘The Surfacing’ by Cormac James

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#BookReview LEEWARD by Katie Daysh https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Qr via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- SW Perry

#BookReview ‘The Players’ by Minette Walters #historicalfiction

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Minette Walters is such a skilled storyteller, I savour any new historical novel. The Players doesn’t disappoint. England in 1685 is in the aftermath of the Duke of Monmouth’s failed rebellion. King James II is still on the throne and in search of vengeance. Minette Walters It was unexpected and delightful to find myself in the company again of Dorset physician Lady Jayne Harrier, last seen in The Swift and the Harrier. As always, Walters takes the clinical historical facts and adds likeable, and detestable, characters that make you care and challenge your assumptions. Lord Granville, Jayne’s son Elias, is a fabulous character. A spy who operates in the shadows, a political agitator, an inventor, a man of the people. He is his mother’s son. With his mother and neighbour Althea Ettrick, a young woman with a phenomenal legal brain, they hatch a plan to thwart the king’s cruel and unjust punishment regime for the Monmouth traitors.
Thousands in the south-west are destined to be judged guilty without trial and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. The king dispatches his judge with an impossible timetable of trials and hangings. Elias, Jayne and Althea set out to rescue as many as they can, recognising that not all can be saved. Their plotting, bravery, imagination and willingness to challenge the status quo is uplifting to read, though I admit at times Althea’s legal arguments left me spinning. Walters populates the Harrier and Ettrick households with a community of people who each bring something to the fight, loyal to the cause, all with a solid sense of what should be done. And when Lady Harrier dismisses everyone’s hatred of Judge Jeffreys, the ‘Hanging Judge’, and treats him when he is in extreme pain, we learn to look at the person behind the words, to look for explanations for behaviour and cruelty.
Meticulously researched. Hard to put down. This is a powerful story asking questions about justice, tolerance and forgiveness in the aftermath of war that resonate across the centuries. A sequel to The Swift and the Harrier, The Players can be read as a standalone novel.
Excellent.

Read my reviews of other historical novels by Minette Walters:-
THE LAST HOURS #1BLACKDEATH
THE TURN OF MIDNIGHT #2BLACKDEATH
THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Witchfinder’s Sister’ by Beth Underdown
‘The Ashes of London’ by Andrew Taylor #1FIREOFLONDON
‘Plague Land’ by SD Sykes #1OSWALDDELACY

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#BookReview THE PLAYERS by Minette Walters https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8JT via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Verity Bright

#BookReview ‘The Shadows of Men’ by Abir Mukherjee @radiomukhers #crime #historical #India #Raj

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Calcutta 1923. The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee, fifth in the excellent Raj-era crime series, begins four years after the first book. A lot has happened in Calcutta since 1919, India is evolving as the power balance changes and the country edges towards the end of British rule. And the relationship between the two policemen is shifting too. Abir MukherjeeIt is significant that The Shadows of Men switches narrator back and forth between Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee, and that the first chapter begins with Suren. With Gandhi in prison, the independence movement is fighting internally, local elections have enforced divisions between Hindus and Moslims, high caste and low caste, landowners and peasants, neighbour against neighbour, gangster against gangster. Unknown to Sam, police commissioner Lord Taggart orders Suren to follow a visiting muslim politician. And then Suren is arrested for murder.
Unsure who to trust, Sam must identify the real murderer to clear Suren’s name. What follows is a search for the truth, a chase west across India from Calcutta to Bombay. At risk is not only a temporary calming in Calcutta, which is a powder keg waiting to explode, but also the fate of Indian politics. Will Suren hang for murder. Can Sam unravel the tangled clues to find who is killing who. And is there a traitor at police headquarters.
In this book, Suren is given his voice and we see for the first time the depth of his passion for his country, his pride in being a policeman, and the red lines he will not cross.
What an excellent series this is. A rollercoaster of a novel with a cliffhanger ending that was most unexpected. Next is The Burning Grounds.

Here are my reviews of the first four books in the Wyndham & Banerjee series:-
A RISING MAN #1WYNDHAM&BANERJEE
A NECESSARY EVIL #2WYNDHAM&BANERJEE
SMOKE AND ASHES #3WYNDHAM&BANERJEE
DEATH IN THE EAST #4WYNDHAM&BANERJEE 
THE BURNING GROUNDS #6WYNDHAM&BANERJEE

And a standalone contemporary thriller:-
THE PINNACLE

If you like this, try:-
‘Darktown’ by Thomas Mullen
‘I Refuse’ by Per Petterson
‘The Killing Lessons’ by Saul Black

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SHADOWS OF MEN by Abir Mukherjee @radiomukhers https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8J7 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Helena Dixon

#BookReview ‘Peace and Love’ by JC Harvey @JCollissHarvey #historical

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Peace and Love by JC Harvey is third in the Jack Fiskardo historical adventure series but is a step aside from Jack’s story. It takes place in another century, telling the tale of the grandson of one of Jack’s rogues. I didn’t know what to expect, it is charming and short; only 125 pages. JC HarveyIn Uppsala province, Sweden in 1720, Magnus, the grandson of Jack Fiskardo’s youthful ensign, Karl-Christian von Lindeborg, is high-born, rich and alone. His bones ache. He is an old soldier with no place in the world. He drifts around his empty castle as day merges into day, emotionally shuttered to those around him. And then into his life with a bang arrives a ward, a young girl, the grand-daughter of his childhood teacher, Dr Excelsior, recently deceased. Magnus, who has never interracted with children, takes Elise into his castle, tells her she is safe and then forgets about her. Elise finds a place with the staff but feels adrift. Both know the situation is unsatisfactory, neither knows how to change it. Until one night, Elise sleepwalks and the two shy, introverted people begin to talk.
When the count’s sister arrives at the remote castle for a visit, she tells him Elise needs proper parenting as she is approaching marriageable age. And so Elise returns to Uppsala with Margrit and everything changes. The count’s life is empty again, without purpose. ‘And he missed her. No sooner was he accustomed to her than she was gone. He missed her more than if he had known her all her life; precisely because she had been plucked away when he had hardly come to know her at all.’
Peace and Love is a charming, unexpected step aside from the tales of Jack Fiskardo. There is a fleeting mention of Jack, a louring portrait in a long gallery, surrounded by his fellow fighters.
Next in the series is The Wanton Road.

Here are my reviews of the Jack Fiskardo series:-
THE SILVER WOLF #1FISKARDO’SWAR
THE DEAD MEN #2FISKARDO’SWAR
THE WANTON ROAD #4FISKARDO’SWAR

If you like this, try:-
‘Rush Oh!’ by Shirley Barrett
‘Orphans of the Carnival’ by Carol Birch
‘At the Edge of the Orchard’ by Tracy Chevalier

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview PEACE AND LOVE by JC Harvey @JCollissHarvey https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8IH via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Abir Mukherjee

#BookReview ‘The Indigo Ghosts’ by Alys Clare #historical #mystery

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This series keeps getting better and better, The Indigo Ghosts by Alys Clare is so captivating I read it in twenty-four hours, picking it up at every opportunity. Third in the Gabriel Tavernier historical mystery series, former ship’s surgeon and now Devon doctor Gabriel faces an inexplicable case that challenges all he believes in, and all he knows to be scientifically true. Alys ClareOctober 1604. Called urgently by his old captain, Zeke Colt, to visit his former ship the Falco, now docked in Plymouth, Gabe walks into an atmosphere of fear, panic and superstition. The ship, everyone on board says, is haunted by a bad spirit, malevolent, making everyone ill. There have been deaths, visions, blue-skinned ghosts, a disgusting miasma that has overwhelmed the air.
Firmly disbelieving the ghost theory, Gabe is confident there will be a factual, scientific answer. But exploring the darkest, tiniest space in the hold – three paces by two – he discovers the source of the stink, finds a dead body, and sees a crocodile. Gabe returns to the Falco the next day with local coroner, his friend Theophilus Davey, and the body is removed for examination. Meanwhile the ship’s crew empty the barrel of waste and clean the area. More discoveries are made, nothing makes sense.
A trail of discoveries unveils an explanation both rational and wild. There is talk of spirits, possession, dark magic and cruelty impossible to imagine. In search of facts, Gabe traces the Falco’s final journey around the Caribbean and back home to Devon, and then re-reads the journals he kept when he was a young seafaring doctor sailing the Caribbean Sea. A solution suggests itself but seems too far-fetched to be possible. Assisted by the silent detection of Theo’s assistant, spiritual support and guidance from the local minister, and suggestions from his sister Celia, Gabe edges towards an answer.
A smashing book. The Indigo Ghosts is a tale of slavery, torture, fear and the worst that man can do to man. It’s about faith and what it can make a man do. And its about the goodness of Gaberiel Taverner, searching for the truth while defending his family and loved ones. This is a very readable series, a bit different from anything else out there that I’ve found.

Here are my reviews of the first two novels in this series:-
A RUSTLE OF SILK BY ALYS CLARE #1GABRIELTAVERNER
THE ANGEL IN THE GLASS #2GABRIELTAVERNER
MAGIC IN THE WEAVE #4GABRIELTAVERNER

If you like this, try:-
‘A Good Deliverance’ by Toby Clements
‘The Last Runaway’ by Tracy Chevalier
‘The Armour of Light’ by Ken Follett #4KINGSBRIDGE

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Eva Glyn

#BookReview ‘The Voyage Home’ by Pat Barker #historical #myths

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A dirty, realistic, unflinching portrayal of the women taken hostage by the Greek victors at Troy, The Voyage Home by Pat Barker is unputdownable. I didn’t expect anything less having devoured the first two books in this trilogy, The Silence of the Girls and The Women of Troy.Pat BarkerProphetess Cassandra, taken as war booty by King Agamemnon, is on the boat home; to Agamemnon’s home that is, not hers. After the battle, Cassandra and her maid Ritsa sail away from Troy towards Greece. Awaiting them are Queen Clytemnestra, who has governed in her husband’s absence, and his two remaining children Orestes and Electra. The post-war story told by these three women is familiar after many conflicts. Murder, abduction, rape, abuse, torture, child killing, looting, destruction, triumphalism. All have suffered during this ten-year-long men’s war. Cassandra, the priestess daughter of Trojan king Priam, may wear silk and decorate her hair with flowers, but she is as much a slave as Ritsa who was a noblewoman before her capture. Plagued by visions of her captor’s death, and her own, Cassandra is at times emotionally disturbed, at others she is defiant. Clytemnestra, full of vengeance for her husband’s sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia – in tribute to the gods in return for a fair wind to war – must smile and welcome his concubine to her home. But what a home; plagued by the long-dead voices, handprints and footprints of child ghosts, the palace is an unsettling place.
Witty and, in places, bloodthirsty, Barker writes about the abuse of these women with a delicacy and empathy that makes the pages turn quickly. I read this in two days. She writes with anger and disgust that seems modern, but these are age-old tales of men’s brutality. In a palace full of nightmares, murder is planned. These three women, slave and non-slave, are seeking retribution. But what is revenge? Is it a universal truth. Does it mean the same to each of these woman. Justice. Murder. Survival against the odds. Peace. The ability to rise each morning without fear. Does it mean striking the fatal blow yourself or watching someone else? I don’t see this as a feminist re-telling in which weak men receive their come-uppance. Barker shows the men are arrogant, conniving, self-seeking and brutal. The women can be strong, brutal, selfish and unlikeable too.
A brilliant end to this trilogy. Pat Barker brings mythology to life, making it relevant for life today. One to think about for days afterwards. Highly recommended.

Read my reviews of other Pat Barker novels:-
THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS #1WOMENOFTROY
THE WOMEN OF TROY #2WOMENOFTROY
LIFE CLASS #1LIFECLASS
TOBY’S ROOM #2LIFECLASS
NOONDAY #3LIFECLASS
ANOTHER WORLD
BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN
DOUBLE VISION
UNION STREET

If you like this, try:-
‘House of Names’ by Colm Tóibín
‘Stone Blind’ by Natalie Haynes
‘Sparrow’ by James Hynes

And if you’d like to share this post, try:
#BookReview THE VOYAGE HOME by Pat Barker https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Gl via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Robert Thorogood

#BookReview ‘The Story Spinner’ by Barbara Erskine @Barbaraerskine #historical

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The Story Spinner by Barbara Erskine is an absorbing time-lapse story which combines the lost romance between a Welsh princess and a Roman general with a modern-day archaeological-investigation, all knitted together by mythical connections, visions and a disappearing dog. Barbara ErskineThere are two distinct storylines. Cadi, ‘the observer, the unseen diarist, the only witness. The Novelist. The story spinner,’ is a modern-day poet with a mystic sensitivity to the people who lived on the ancient site next to her Welsh cottage. Supposed to be writing poetry based on a Welsh myth, instead she finds herself free-writing prose based on visions of the life of Elen, a Welsh princess living in 382AD. Little is known of her life as she appears in few historical documents. So when Cadi imagines Elen as a teenager, she unlocks the story of her marriage to a Roman general.
Cadi has always suspected that the meadow next to her cottage is the site of an ancient army camp. When she starts to hear marching footsteps and the sounds of soldiers on the move, she calls in her druid uncle, Professor Meryn Jones. Their excitement at the potential discovery is deflated by the news that the unknown owner of the meadow is seeking planning permission for a housing development. Draft plans show houses built right up to the hedge in Cadi’s back garden. Bereft at losing her sense of peace and isolation and being unable to walk in the beautiful meadow, she throws herself into investigation. During the day she talks to town planners and archaeologists. At night she sits with pen and notebook writing the story of Elen’s life. In channelling the story of Elen, Cadi also discovers fascinating characters including Branwen, a wise woman.
The unveiling of Elen’s life as a teenage bride and young mother, a Welsh princess who must subjugate herself to the authority of her husband, develops alongside the modern-day investigation into the meadow. Complicating the issue is the re-appearance in the village of Cadi’s ex, Ifan, who throughout their relationship was bullying and threatening. Cadi is afraid he is stalking her again.
This is a tale with complicated connections that Erskine handles with skill. I enjoyed this very much though it’s a trifle long for me, there are sections towards the end that I wanted to move a little quicker. Overall an unusual, compelling read.

Here are my reviews of other timeslip novels by Barbara Erskine:-
THE DREAM WEAVERS
THE VALLEY OF RAVENS

If you like this, try:-
‘The Prophet’ by Martine Bailey #2TABITHAHART
‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ by Sara Collins
‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE STORY SPINNER by Barbara Erskine @Barbaraerskine https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Fb via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Pat Barker