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#274 ~ The Red Queen

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

Published by: Simon & Schuster

Published on: August 2010

Page Count: 400 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Reading Format: Hardcover review copy sent to me by the publisher.

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Giveaway: Simon & Schuster graciously provided me with a second hardcover review copy of The Red Queen for one of my lucky readers. For an entry, simply fill out the Google Form at the end of the review. Just for fun, tell me what color you would be if you were queen.  Entries are accepted until Tuesday, August 17 at 11:59 PM EST. Good luck!

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My Review

Margaret Beaufort is a devout little girl. She spends as many hours in prayer as her mother and nurse will allow. She is fascinated with Joan of Arc and pictures herself one day running a monastary. That is never going to happen. As the daughter of deceased John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, she herself is in line for the throne. The House of Lancaster has very few heirs, so it is imperative that she marry and mother sons as soon as possible. She is married to Edmund Tudor at the early age of 12. Within a years’ time, her husband is killed defending the Lancasters, but he leaves her with a son in her belly. She is certain that her son will one day be the King of England because she believes that God spoke this to her as He spoke to Joan. She makes it her live’s mission and duty to see God’s will be done.

The Red Queen is the second novel in Philippa Gregory’s series about England’s 15th Century Plategents. The Red Queen is a good counterpart to The White Queen. It balances out Elizabeth Woodville’s story in more ways than one. It tells the Lancaster family’s story where the first told that of the York family. Margaret is devoutly Roman Catholic where Elizabeth was mystyical. Elizabeth was tentative about the future of her family while Margaret is rarely indecisive. She believes that God’s will is for her son to be the future King of England and, as it’s God’s will, she had no cause to ever doubt it. It also compliments the first novel by discussing her views of Elizabeth and whether she was a witch. You saw Margaret’s intentions behind the correspondence that gave Elizabeth hope. The two books fit together like puzzle pieces in that way.

There were two aspects of Lady Margaret’s character that stood out for me – her self-righteousness and her resentfulness. She is certain that God speaks to her as he did to Joan of Arc. Therefore, she believed she could not sin or be in the wrong. Over time, a supposed grace from God became her own personal infalibility. She may have felt that Elizabeth was deluded by her relationship to Melusina, but Margaret was no less misguided herself. She had to believe that she was special to God because the alternatives left her cold. Had she been born a boy, she would have herself been in line to the throne and her very existence would have been cherished and protected. As it was, she was just a bridge to the next generation of the House of Lancaster. Her ultimate destiny never concerned anyone but herself. Knowing that her family, most especially her mother, thought of her life as nothing more than a means to an end infuriated her. I think she was driven more by that resentment than anything else. The House of Lancaster got the son off of her that it wanted, but she created a sense of her own control where she had none through her special relationship with God.

I really enjoyed The Red Queen, especially after having read The White Queen. There were sections where Lady Margaret’s self-righteousness started to iritate me in similarly to Catherine of Aragon in The Constant Princess, but plotting and the scheming kept me interested.  I especially loved the  relationship between Margaret and her third husband, Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby.  All things considered, he was a perfect match for her.  The novel finished especially strong on the battlefield at Bosworth. I knew the outcome beforehand, but I still found myself holding my breath a little.  Although the next book in this series will feature Elizabeth Woodville’s mother, I’m looking forward to meeting Lady Margaret once again as “the mother-in-law.”  I am really enjoying this series and highly recommend The Red Queen.

Other Voices

You’ve heard what I’ve had to say.  Why not check out other bloggers?

Devourer of Books
My Fluttering Heart
Booking Mama

#273 ~ Voyager

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by: Davinia Porter

Published by: Random House

Published on: August 2001

Page Count: 880 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction, Science Fiction (time travel), Romance

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible.com using one of my monthly credits.

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, eBook

Caution: No real spoilers are included in my review – assuming you’ve read Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber. Also, there are some rather graphic sex scenes and adult language.

Giveaway: Diana Gabaldon’s publisher is graciously offering one copy of An Echo in the Bone to one of my lucky readers.  Please see the Google Form at the end of my review.  Just to satisfy my own curiosity, I’m asking you to tell me who your favorite super couple is – can be from any medium.

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Today it is my great pleasure to be Diana Gabaldon’s host on her TLC Book Tour.  This tour is to celebrate An Echo in the Bone.  Thankfully TLC Tours has begun to host backlisted books for some authors as well because I’m no where near the last book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.  Today I’ll be reviewing Voyager, the third book in the series.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

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My Review

Voyager is the third installment in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. It begins with Claire in the 1960s. She has raised Brienna and is now a true medical doctor. Frank, the man to whom she returned when Jamie sent her back through the singing stones before he meant to die on the battlefield of Culloden. Claire and Frank stayed together to raise Brienna and he has recently died in a car accident. Although she and her daughter are in Scotland to investigate what happened to Jamie’s men at Culloden, it never occurs to Claire that Jamie might have survived because he never planned on leaving the battlefield. Roger Wakefield does a little further investigation and learns that Jamie didn’t die after all. Hoping that there is a pattern and a purpose to traveling through the stones, Claire decides to take a risk and return to 17th Century Scotland in hopes of reuniting with husband 20 years after they last saw each other.

As I found with Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager was not what Outlander was. That does not mean that I didn’t like it. I did. Very much. It was during my reading of Voyager that I realized exactly what the Outlander series was for me – a soap opera featuring a wonderful super couple. Jamie and Claire have the same chemistry as any of my favorite television super couples like Luke and Laura, Frisco and Felicia, or Josh and Reva. Luke, Frisco, and Josh are strong men who want to take care of the women they love. Laura, Felicia, and Reva love their men, but are not afraid to act on their own whether the men like it or not. Jamie and Claire are no different. I suppose the main difference is that you get a little more details about the vo-de-o-do-do with Jamie and Claire because it’s in print.

I love my super couples and there is nothing I like more than when there is a great villian threatening them. Just because Black Jack Randall is dead doesn’t mean that Jamie and Claire are able to live their lives in care-free bliss. Far from it. There is always a villian or a tight situation making things dramatic and difficult. Jamie’s reputation over the past 20 years causes a good deal of havoc. And, as often happens in soap operas, death does not always mean gone forever…

As relationships between super couples grow, there comes a time when their adventures do not hold my interest as much as others. That happened for me in Dragonfly in Amber and it was also true of Voyager. Not every aspect of Jamie and Claire’s voyage was intriguing to me. Jamie is very prone to sea sickness, something established in Outlander. When I learned that the couple were headed on a long journey at sea, I was not looking forward to dealing with that again (chalk it up to empathy I suppose). While it didn’t make me stop altogether like the Asian Quarter storyline with Frisco and Felicia made me turn the channel (where Reva happened to be preparing to commit suicide that very same afternoon – I was hooked on Guiding Light ever since), I thought about it. I never did, because I knew I would just go back. I think there will be a longer gap between Voyager and Drums of Autumn than between the first three, though.  My only other real complaint was the repetitive use of Jesus Christ as an expletive.  I know this may come as a shock, but some bad language can even be overdone for my tastes. LOL!

I was a fan of Guiding Light for 20 years when it was finally cancelled last year. As my professional life took off, I started taping the show and then watching it while I ate super. When my daughters came along, I gave up the ghost and satisfied my soap opera needs by reading the daily recaps. Coming to the realization that the Outlander series is so much like soap operas with the added appeal of historical fiction made my heart happy. I’m glad to have a new outlet. I’m glad that I am able to add Jamie and Claire to my own personal list of super couples. You just can’t help but root for them. Voyager is a lot of fun.  I have to suggest you give any of the Outlander novels a try in audio. As with the first two installments, Davinia Porter’s narration is outstanding.

Diana Gabaldon’s Other TLC BOOK TOUR Stops:

Why not check out what everyone else on the tour is saying about Diana Gabaldon’s tour?

#269 ~ Cutting for Stone

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Published by: Vintage

Published on: January, 2010 (paperback)

Page Count: 688

Genre: Literary Fiction / Historical Fiction

My Reading Format: A paperback copy that I purchased for myself from Powell’s.

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook, audiobook

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Synopsis from the Publisher

A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel—an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.

My Review

It took me roughly a month to read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. This isn’t because it was difficult to read nor is this a statement about the novel’s length. I had a couple of reading obligations going on during that time period and, quite frankly, my desire to read and my capacity has been rather low as of late. Still, I was determined to read something from my own shelf as well. As it turns out, this was the perfect pace for this novel. I found that I could leave Marion and his story and then come back and get involved again easily. In this way, I was able to savor Cutting for Stone. It was a really great experience.

There is so much that I could talk about in my review, so I’ll discuss what stood out for me the most and has stayed with me the longest – the similarities between members of the Stone family and the Holy Family.

• It was no coincidence that Marion and Shiva’s mother’s name was Mary and that she, as a nun, was a bride of Christ. Although we get to know her a little bit while she’s traveling to Africa, she’s shrouded in mystery nearly from the moment she lands there until the day she delivers the twins. After death, she becomes mythical. Her presence is never far from the Theater in which she died.
• It is also significant to me that Sr. Mary Jospeh Praise was an indispensable assistant to Missing’s lone surgeon, Dr. Stone. In that position, he wasn’t far removed from a god there. Then, to have him attempt to destroy his own creation in order to save his helpmate was shocking, especially when he fails on all accounts. Is it no wonder that he deserts his people at Missing and runs away from his failure? It’s both Adam and God fleeing Eden.
• I could not help but associate Ghosh to Joseph. After so long, he finally realizes that he loves Hema, only to find that she’s adopted Marion and Shiva. While he may not have chosen fatherhood in this manner any more than he chose to become a surgeon, he was a model father. Instead of cursing events beyond his control that change the course of his life, he accepts his fate with peace and love.
• Likewise, there are parallels that could be made between Jesus and Marion.  He may have been named after a famous gynecological surgeon, but his name always reminded me of Mary.  Shiva was not as obviously connected to me, but there were glimpses within his character as well. I do not wish to mention specific scenes, but there are times when I was reminded of Jesus as he draws in the dirt while being asked the fate of the adulterer, of Jesus and the women in his life, and of Jesus dealing with the money lenders in the temple.

Cutting for Stone paints a vivid picture of life in Ethiopia leading up to and including the Ethiopian Revolution. The story’s undercurrents and religious parallels have kept me thinking from the moment I first picked up the book. Could I have read this book from cover to cover if I had had the time? I most certainly could have and would have. In the end, I’m thankful that I couldn’t. This novel was worth every moment of the month I spent with it.

Other Voices

You know what I think.  Why not see what other bloggers are saying?

The Boston Bibliophile
Rhapsody in Books
The Book Lady’s Blog
S. Krishna’s Books
Farm Lane Books
Booking Mama
Educating Petunia
WordLily
A Guy’s Moleskin Notebook
Fizzy Thoughts
Brimful Bookshelves

#267 ~ The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

Published by: Penguin Group

Published on: April, 2010

Page Count: 352

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC copy sent to me by the publisher for participation in the online book club

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

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My Review

Earlier this year, Trish from Hey Lady Whatcha Readin’? held an online book club for The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees. I was one of the lucky people chosen to participate and I was very excited. I have loved Louisa May Alcott for just about as long as I can remember. The only author who has been close to my heart longer is Laura Ingalls Wilder. When Trish posted about the book club I realized that I knew very little about Louisa herself other than that Little Women was somewhat autobiographical. I’ve never even picked up a biography. When the ARC arrived, I finished up my current read as soon as I could so that I could get started. I was not disappointed. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott painted an interesting and human portrait of the entire Alcott family, most specifically Louisa and her parents.

There were times when I was furious with Mr. Alcott for being so selfish in clinging to his principles instead of caring financially and emotionally for the family he chose to have. Counterbalanced with him was Louisa’s mother. She, too, had made choices and her love for her husband came at a high price. Still, I don’t believe she would have had it any other way. While there may have not been much physical comfort to her because of the way her husband wanted to live, it was apparent that she found moral and spiritual comfort in their life and valued that more highly. Likewise, Louisa wouldn’t have been the woman she was had her family setting not been as it was. While her life was by no means horrible, her art is a testament to the fact that where there are trials, deeper beauty and meaning can be found.

My Final Thoughts

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has loved Little Women or who has always wanted to read it. Who says that a spinster’s life is necessarily boring?

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In case you missed it, here is what I was thinking about while I was reading the book and writing the review…

Other Voices

She Is Too Fond of Books
Sophisticated Dorkiness
Devourer of Books
Life in the Thumb
S. Krishna’s Books
The Boston Bibliophile
Lit and Life
My Books. My Life.
Michelle’s Masterful Musings

#263 ~ Dragonfly in Amber

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Published by: Random House Publishing

Published on: July, 1992

Page Count: 752

Genre: Historical Fiction / Time Travel / Romance

My Reading Format: An audiobook purchased using an Audible.com credit

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, eBook

FYI: Dragonfly in Amber contains some graphic sex and violence

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My Review
In some ways, Dragonfly in Amber picks up where Outlander left off. In other ways, it didn’t. I don’t really want to say too much about the plot in this review for readers who have not yet read Outlander. I’m going to just list out a few of my thoughts about the book instead.

• I enjoyed the sense of vindication I had when I learned what I did about Frank.
• Claire and Jamie’s time in France was my least favorite adventure thus far. I love the ruggedness of the Highlands. It was a necessary storyline given what had taken place in Scotland, though. It wasn’t horrible, don’t get me wrong. I just wanted them back where I felt they belonged – and King Louis just doesn’t do much for me.
• I really got mad at Claire for several reasons, especially the ways in which she put Frank in front of Jamie. Knowing that I am firmly a fan of Jaime may temper my opinion and I theorically understand Claire’s reasonings. She also got really whiny in sections. Elle pointed out that this is not an uncommon  phenomenon for newlyweds heading toward the rest of married life, which is true. Still, I get enough of that from my daughters. LOL!
• As if he needed to, Jamie shines even brighter in Dragonfly in Amber than he did in Outlander.
• Davinia Porter continues to nail her narration and I can’t wait to begin Voyager.

My Final Thoughts

Overall, I didn’t like Dragonfly in Amber as much as I loved Outlander. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the novel and wasn’t compelled to keep listening because I was. Just as with everything else you fall in love with, over time you start to see the cracks a little bit. I also think that reading the two books back to back the way I did took it’s toll, which is why I am taking some time off between Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager. Several of my fellow book bloggers have indicated that Voyager is their favorite book of the series and I wanted to be fresh for it. That didn’t me from buying the paperback version of Voyager just in case.

Other Voices

You’ve read what I have to say.  Why not dig in even deeper?

Fyrefly’s Book Blog
At Home with Books

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I’m publishing this review as part of Audiobooks Week, coordinated by Devourer of Books.

#262 ~ Outlander

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Published by: Random House Publishing

Published on: June 1, 1991

Page Count: 896

Genre: Historical Fiction / Time Travel / Romance

My Reading Format: A combination of audiobook, which I purchased using an Audible.com credit and paperback, which was sent to me by a friend

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, eBook

FYI: Outlander contains some graphic sex and violence

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My Review
Ever since I’ve become aware of the greater book blogoverse, I’ve seen people gush about Diana Gabaldon and her Outlander series. Clearly I wasn’t paying very close attention to what was being said, because I put those novels in the same category as the Clan of the Cavebear. I thought it was set in a medieval time period and I just was not interested. In 2008 or 9, I signed up for an Outlander challenge, determined to find out what this was all about. I used one of my Audible.com credits for Outlander and was so daunted by the length of the book that I didn’t go any further. I actually forgot all about purchasing it. When my great blogging friend Elle, who has been with me from nearly the beginning, offered to send me a copy of Outlander. She loves the series moer than anyone else that I know. Even though I was almost positive that it wasn’t going to work for me, I couldn’t turn her down. After all, she’s read some of the most horrible novels with me as part of my attempts at hosting book clubs online. When I finally sat down with the paperback, I remembered the audio version that I’d never even downloaded. I loaded up my MP3 player and the rest is history.

Outlander tells the story of Claire Randall, relatively newly married woman in her mid 20s. Both she and her husband Frank have spent most of their marriage apart. He was fighting in WWII for the British and she was serving as an army nurse. They are just finding themselves when Frank, a college history professor focused on the Jacobites of Scotland, travel to the Highlands of Scotland to learn more about the the clans who were emaciated by the British in the uprising of 1745. Claire is supportive of her husband, but she isn’t nearly as interested in his historical hunt until she learns more about some nearby standing stones, not far from where they are staying. While Frank continues to work on the Jacobites and his Jack Randall, his grandfather many generations removed, Claire sets out to discover the lure of the rocks on Belldane. What happens when she touches the rocks alters her destiny in ways she could never imagine.

Claire comes out on the other side of the rocks in another world in the midst of a small skirmish between Scottish Highlanders and Jack Randall himself. It took some time before Claire came to terms with the fact that she was now centuries in the past. Jack Randall was also not the calibre of man Frank would have appreciated. Claire would have discovered this fully if she hadn’t been rescued/captured by the band of Scottsman. As the Scottsmen led by Dougal MacKenzie led her back to Castle Leoch, Claire began to plot her return to Frank. She had to find a way to get back to the standing stones. Destiny and Clan McKenzie had very different ideas. Before she could see anyway out of it, her fate is tied to young Jaime Frazer. She doesn’t give up the hope of seeing Frank again, but can she keep Jamie from her heart?

At over 40 hours in length, I thought it would take months for me to finish Outlander. In the end, it took just about two weeks. I could not get enough of Claire and Jamie’s adventures in the Highlands. I became fully engaged in the politics and plotting of the clans and never willingly stopped listening when I had to go into work or go into the house at the end of the work day. There were several times when my paperback copy came in handy. I just couldn’t bare not knowing what would happen next, so I’d find my place and continue with my reading. I loved every minute of it, feeling guilty all the while for willing Claire to forget Frank (after all, he was never any where near as sexy or protective of her – I can rationalize infidelity in my fiction with the best of them). Thankfully by the time I had finished Outlander my Audible credits renewed, because I didn’t want to have to wait to continue on with Dragonfly in Amber.

Davinia Porter does a magnificent job narrating Outlander. Her voice was perfect and fit so well with the story, reading the romantic parts as easily as the adventurous and dangerous parts. Her voice was so much a part of the novel that when I read from the paperback copy I was reading with her voice in my ears. That I couldn’t wait on my next drive to finish the novel, I still felt like she was with me in the end.

Reading this book was also fun because I couldn’t help but Tweet about it. Being one of the last people in the universe to read it had its advantages then. So many people jumped in on the conversation, especially Elle. Tweeting about it with her was an absolute treat. If you can’t live in the same country, Twitter sometimes can be the next best thing.

My Final Thoughts

There is so much to love about Outlander. It’s a great deal of fun and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Its at parts adventure, intrigue, mystery, and saucy romance. If you enjoy historical fiction and a romance that doesn’t entirely dominate the story, you really must do yourself a favor and give this novel a try. It’s an addiction that will sweep you away.

Other Voices

You know what I think.  Why not check out what others have to say?

Farm Lane Books
Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Kaye’s Bookshelf
Caribousmom
A Dribble of Ink

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I’m publishing this review as part of Audiobooks Week, coordinated by Devourer of Books.

#260 ~ Alice I Have Been

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

Published by: Delacorte Press

Published on: January 12, 2010

Page Count: 368

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Reading Format: Audio book purchased using my Audible.com credit

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audio book ~ the paperback version will be published on December 28, 2010

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Synopsis from the Publisher

Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.

But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful?

Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she’s experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only “Alice.” Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year–the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories.

That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice–he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice’s childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war.

For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey.

A love story and a literarymystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire.

My Review

As someone who has never really been interested in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Lewis Caroll.  Even the Disney version has never held much interest for me.  Shoot, I even developed an actual distaste for Alice in Wonderland after watching Tom Petty’s video for “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”  I never developed a distaste for the song, though.  Go figure.   Anyway, I cannot tell you exactly what prompted me to buy and download the audio book except that Devourer of Books absolutely raved about it and I liked the narrator’s voice from the sample on Audible.com.  I am so very pleased that I took a chance on this novel.  It’s an interesting story about how a girl becomes a woman and a woman becomes a mother and a lover.  I thought it was beautiful and there were sections at the end that brought tears to my eyes.

I listened to this novel back in March.  I wish I had the chance to write my review earlier, but much still sticks out in my mind about this book and my reading experience:

• There are times when it works to one’s advantage to know about the historical figures and places when reading historical fiction.  There are other times when it was not.  This was definitely one of those times when I’m glad I didn’t.  Not knowing made the storyline with Prince Leopold especially compelling.
• I don’t often talk back to my books, audio or otherwise, but there was a scene with Alice’s mother that made me almost yell out loud, “Oh no, you didn’t just say that!”  She did.  It was a great moment in the book.
• The insights Alice made into her life and family were very beautiful.  They definitely brought a tear to my eye.  It gave me pause to reflect on my own.
• When Alice’s relationship with Dodgson came to a head, I thought that certainly I must have missed something.  I soon realized that the definition of scandalous behavior has changed a great deal since Victorian England.  It makes me wonder how Alice’s life might have been changed had the times in which she lived been different?
• I absolutely loved the sections with John Ruskin.  They had a perverse chemistry together that kept you on the edge of your seat wondering where it would lead Alice.
• Samantha Eggar was spot on as narrator.  Her reading added to the story, especially during dialog.  I would definitely recommend her.

My Final Thoughts

Alice I Have Been is much more than a novel about the life of Alice Liddell.  It is a look at Victorian England, which fiercely tried to hold on to it’s belief system and morals in a rapidly changing world.  What Mr. Dodgson tried to capture in his photographs of Alice, Benjamin captured in this novel.  It’s a must read for fans of historical fiction and a great story no matter what the setting.

Other Voices

In addition to the links I provided to Devourer of Books’ review, here are some other opinions about Alice I Have Been:

Good Books and Good Wine
S. Krishna’s Books
Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Vulpes Libris
A Reader’s Journal
The Book Whisperer
Reading Extravaganza

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I’m publishing this review as part of Audiobooks Week, coordinated by Devourer of Books.

#259 ~ The Great Lover

The Great Lover by Jill Dawson

Published by: HarperCollins

Published on: June 1, 2010

Page Count: 301

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Reading Format: A review copy sent to me by the publisher for this book tour

Available Formats: Paperback, audiobook, eBook

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Today it is my great pleasure to be Jill Dawson’s host on his TLC Book Tour for her novel, The Great Lover.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

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Synopsis from the Publisher

In 1909, sixteen-year-old Nell Golightly is a housemaid at a popular tea garden near Cambridge University, and Rupert Brooke, a new tenant, is already causing a stir with his boyish good looks and habit of swimming naked in nearby Byron’s Pool. Despite her good sense, Nell seems to be falling under the radical young poet’s spell, even though Brooke apparently adores no one but himself. Could he ever love a housemaid? Is he, in fact, capable of love at all?

Jill Dawson’s The Great Lover imaginatively and playfully gives new voice to Rupert Brooke through the poet’s own words and through the remembrances of the spirited Nell. An extraordinary novel, it powerfully conveys the allure of charisma as it captures the mysterious and often perverse workings of the human heart.

My Review

Before reading this novel, I’d never heard of Rupert Brooke before.  I was drawn in to his life immediately as the novel began with letters from Brooke’s unknown Tahitian daughter to whomever might be living at the Orchard Tea Gardens where the child, now an elderly woman, was told her father had once lived.  Her letter is answered by Nell Sanderson, formerly Nell Golightly.  She does her best to answer Arlice’s questions without passing judgement.  Instead, she sends her some of her father’s writing as well as her own diary-like entries from the time period in which she knew Rupert.  From there, the novel flows between Nell and Rupert’s voices to tell the story of his life, beginning in 1909.

Dawson has written a very interesting novel that captures both the essence of two young British people from different social classes as well as the early 20th century in which they lived.  Rupert is from a more privileged background.  Although he’s had little contact with the poor with the exception of domestic workers, he falls in with a set of friends interested in advancing Fabian socialism.  While he has grand ideas for how the social order should look, his opinion of his fellow man is actually quite humorous.  He is a brilliant illustration of how human beings pigeonhole each other, regardless of our politics.

Nell made this novel for me.  Rupert, while interesting and eccentric, was in many ways the stereotypical privileged young man in search of pleasure with whomever is available at the time and living a life of ideas.  He does encounter adversity, but he’s not a hardy person.  Nell, on the other hand, has had to work hard for everything in life. Even her father’s love wasn’t something that came easily.  Her voice was authentic and true.  Her focus was on the here and now.  She was a practical and that showed in how she did her best to care for her siblings and in her politics.  She may have felt betrayed by her heart, but she didn’t suffer fools readily.  She may not have been as educated as she would have liked, but there is one scene that shows that she’s a good judge of literature.  I wanted her to be free to find what would make her happy in life.

My Final Thoughts

The more I read about Great Britain in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the more drawn I am. Because of the morality of the times, much of what is really happening is subtle.  It’s like an underground current that is revolutionary by conservative at the same time.  Jill Dawson captured this very well in The Great Lover.  I was especially impressed with the way she mastered by Rupert and Nell’s voices.  I would recommend this novel too those interested in poets, pre-WWI Great Britain, and 20th Century socialist movements.

Jill Dawson’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

You’ve read what I think.  Why not see what others have to say?

Wednesday, June 2nd:  Books Like Breathing
Thursday, June 3rd:  Eclectic/Eccentric
Monday, June 7th:  Peetswea
Tuesday, June 8th:  As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves
Wednesday, June 9th:  Bookstack
Thursday, June 17th:  Nonsuch Book
Monday, June 21st:  1330v
Tuesday, June 22nd:  My Two Blessings
Wednesday, June 23rd:  Thoughts From an Evil Overlord
Thursday, June 24th:  The Tome Traveler

#258 ~ The Song of Hannah

The Song of Hannah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy

Published by: Penguin Group

Published on: August 2005

Page Count: 304

Genre: Historical Fiction / Biblical Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the author

Available Formats: Paperback, eBook

Challenge Fulfillment: This novel meets one of the criteria for the What’s in a Name? 3 challenge that I joined this year.  Click here for more information.

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Synopsis from the Publisher

In the tradition of the international bestseller The Red Tent comes a beautiful, sexy novel featuring Hannah, one of the most well-known and beloved heroines of the Old Testament. Hannah and Pninah, once close childhood friends, become rivals for the attention of Elkanah, the man who has married them both. Pninah, passionate and independent, easily bears Elkanah many children, but bitter that he has taken her friend as a second wife, seeks fulfillment with her own secret lover. Hannah, the epitome of goodness and grace, remains completely devoted to her husband, but remains childless for many years, until a promise to God brings her the son she has yearned for. Despite their differences, these two women must learn to live together, protecting their own interests as well as each other’s, while sharing not only the love of their husband, but that of Hannah’s son Samuel, who will become one of the great prophets of the Jewish people.

My Review

When I read my first biblical novel by Eva Etzioni-Halev, The Triumph of Deborah, I was pleasantly surprised by how human the characters were an how much I grew to care for them. Deborah was such a strong and noble woman and the writing made me interested in a story in the Bible that I wouldn’t have otherwise given much thought.  While it took me about a year to pick up my second novel by the author, I was looking forward to that same experience.  In The Song of Hannah, I found that Etzioni-Halev’s writing is just as strong and compelling.  Her passion for the lives of biblical women is clear and easy to catch.  While Hannah’s story did not touch me in the same way, this novel held my interest throughout and shed light on the life of Samuel.

Unlike with Deborah, I didn’t really connect with or like Hannah.  She may very well have believed that she had a special purpose from God.  While it seems evident that the mother of Samuel did, how can you believe that God would want you to become the second wife of your best friend’s husband?  I never really “got” Elkanah’s draw for Hannah.  I never really cared for him that much, even though he did right by Pninah.  God may very well have a purpose for everyone and there may be special people called from among us to do incredible things.  Hannah and Elkanah felt more like God working around his people than through them.

Instead, it was Pninah who made this novel for me.  She found herself in one unenviable situation after the other.  Once she  stopped being the victim of Hannah’s destiny, she became stronger in her times of sorrow and humiliation. I wanted so much more for her and applauded her when she took her life in her hands and did what made her happy.   Whether she made the right choice, she took control over her life and relied on herself regardless of the consequences.

My Final Thoughts

Traditionally, Hannah is viewed as one of the Bible’s heroines.  What I liked the most about this novel, whether it was intended or not, was seeing behind a saint’s mask.  Pninah may not have been an actual historical person, but her story highlighted precisely the damage that can be caused to those around one who believes he or she is especially blessed by God.  That made this novel more interesting than if showed Hannah only in a righteous light.

Other Voices

I couldn’t find any other reviews of this novel by book bloggers.  If you’ve written a review, please contact me and I will add a link to your review here.

Tuesday’s Temptation ~ June 1

Despite how wonderful my current reads might be (or, this week, how incredibly disturbing), I really enjoy being able to look over my shelves and drool over the as-of-yet unread goodies. I don’t know about you, but I could spend a half hour or more just touching the spines and, because I have to double park my books for lack of space, pull out the first row so I can rediscover what’s behind them.  Granted, this is most likely to occur when I’m procrastinating getting the laundry started or doing the dishes, but I would enjoy it just as much if I planned to do it.  So, why not plan on deliberately combing my shelves?  Going forward, I’m going to take a look at my (horrifically gigantic) TBR pile and highlight a book that I’d really like to pick up right now if it weren’t for …  Sigh.  Here you’ll find the who, what, why, when, and where of one of my greatest literary temptations of the week.

Welcome to the June 1st edition of Tuesday’s Temptation (yeah… I know it’s nearly Wednesday, but the holiday weekend has my days all messed up)!

Who?

The author of today’s Tuesday’s Temptation is Deborah Noyes.  As someone who loves both historical and Gothic fiction, her website caught my attention right away.  She is a photographer and all of her interests intertwine beautifully.  I absolutely adore the homepage!  In the past she’s edited an anthology of Gothic fiction for teens.  I know I’ve not yet read a word that she’s written, but when an author loves to read the same things you do, it’s a really good sign.  Upon further investigation, the books she’s been involved in have been really diverse.

What?

Why?

As a lover of historical fiction, I really enjoy reading about the past.  When a novel is about a subject or time completely new to me, I get really excited.  Captivity most definitely falls into that category.  It tells the story of the Fox sisters, young New York women who claimed to be able to converse with the dead in 1948.  Talking to dead people in 1948 = historical fiction with a Gothic twist.   I also happen to love the cover.  That never hurts.

Here is the synopsis from the publisher:

This masterful historical novel by Deborah Noyes, the lauded author of Angel & Apostle, The Ghosts of Kerfol, and Encyclopedia of the End (starred PW) is two stories:

The first centers upon the strange, true tale of the Fox Sisters, the enigmatic family of young women who, in upstate New York in 1848, proclaimed that they could converse with the dead. Doing so, they unwittingly (but artfully) gave birth to a religious movement that touched two continents: the American Spiritualists. Their followers included the famous and the rich, and their effect on American spirituality lasted a full generation. Still, there are echoes. The Fox Sisters’ is a story of ambition and playfulness, of illusion and fear, of indulgence, guilt and finally self-destruction.

The second story in Captivity is about loss and grief. It is the evocative tale of the bright promise that the Fox Sisters offer up to the skeptical Clara Gill, a reclusive woman of a certain age who long ago isolated herself with her paintings, following the scandalous loss of her beautiful young lover in London.

Lyrical and authentic—and more than a bit shadowy—Captivity is, finally, a tale about physical desire and the hope that even the thinnest faith can offer up to a darkening heart.

When?

I first heard about Deborah Noyes and Captivity when Caitlin from Unbridled Books brought it to my attention, believing it might be a great fit for my Historical Fiction Lover’s Book Club on Facebook.  I couldn’t say no.  I will definitely be reading it this month.

Where?

I recently cleared off a shelf on our entertainment center in our living room for the books I really want to read soon.  They are ordered by height alone.  I’m not sure why I’m OCD about that when I first set up a bookshelf.  As you may recall from my previous Tuesday’s Temptation posts, my bookshelves are more often than not double parked and double-deckered, so this organization isn’t meant to last for long. LOL!  Captivity is the third tallest book on that shelf, so it’s the third book from the left.

What’s tempting you today?

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