Deborah is a writer and champion of books. She is an independent reader/reviewer, uncompensated for major and minor publishers. With degrees in Fine Arts, ArtHistory/MuseumStudies and English Lit., her interests are eclectic, as are her reading preferences. Surrounding herself with books,artworks, assorted papergoods and a collection of pens, she reads constantly, writes reviews...writes and writes!View Full Profile
A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829.
Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.
Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.
Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question: How can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by: Little, Brown & Co. Pages: 330 Genre: Historical Fiction Author: Hannah Kent Website: http://www.hannahkentauthor.com
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
Hannah Kent was born in Adelaide in 1985. As a teenager she travelled to Iceland on a Rotary Exchange, where she first heard the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir.
Hannah is the co-founder and publishing director of Australian literary journal Kill Your Darlings, and is completing her PhD at Flinders University. In 2011 she won the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award.
Burial Rites is her first novel. It has been translated into twenty languages.
THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :
I don't know what took me such a long time to get through my book stacks to finally reach "Burial Rites," except the stacks were daunting and I was fighting my way there! I am pleased to have gotten there because this is one of the books I would have named one of the best of 2013.
It is an astonishingly beautiful story. Lyrically written. With the poetic hand of Hannah Kent, the characters, landscape and even the barren and filthy hovels of the farming people are gorgeous in their own way. She is a master writer of the first quality. Her wording is simply intoxicating, and makes the story feel very ancient and very important at the same time. I fell into it and couldn't put it down.
Not having the best experience with Iceland or the Icelandic language, I was at first worried about reading the book, but soon found that the names and places flowed very easily. Kent has given us a small pronunciation guide and map at the beginning to guide us through. It led me along quite well.
And, I learned to love this exotic element about the story.
Hannah Kent's characters are visceral and alive, carrying so many strong emotions you can't help being moved by them. Agnes, of course, will tear your heart out with her story and her current situation which seems inevitable and hopeless. The young Reverend carried frustration with him for me...and each character gave off this sort of strong feeling, touching me as I read about them. This isn't a book that asks nothing of you as a reader. It draws you in and challenges you to become a part of it!
"Burial Rites" is one of the best of the new authors I've read in 2013, and it's also one of the best all around I read. I highly recommend it to everyone. The book promises to touch you, and change your way of looking at women in the 1800's.
A deeply touching Southern story filled with struggle and hope.
Emmalee Bullard and her new baby are on their own. Or so she thinks, until Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat by her side at the local shirt factory where both women worked as collar makers, insists Emmalee come and live with her. Just as Emmalee prepares to escape her hardscrabble life in Red Chert holler, Leona dies tragically.
Grief-stricken, Emmalee decides she’ll make Leona’s burying dress, but there are plenty of people who don't think the unmarried Emmalee should design a dress for a Christian woman - or care for a child on her own. But with every stitch, Emmalee struggles to do what is right for her daughter and to honor Leona the best way she can, finding unlikely support among an indomitable group of seamstresses and the town’s funeral director. In a moving tale exploring Southern spirit and camaraderie among working women, a young mother will compel a town to become a community.
PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by: Crown Publishing Group Pages: 368 with Reading Guide Genre: Historical Fiction Author: Susan Gregg Gilmore Website: http://susangregggilmore.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
SUSAN GREGG GILMORE is the author of the novels Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen and The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove. She has written for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Los Angeles Times and the Christian Science Monitor. Born in Nashville, she lives in Tennessee with her husband and three daughters.
THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :
Oh, my, what a storyteller Susan Gregg Gilmore is. The title of this wonderful book doesn't begin to really give insight into the richness of the tale you'll find in it. I really couldn't stop reading it, though I found myself stopping momentarily many times, putting the book down and just recalling days in my life that fit the scenarios and places she describes. This is a treasure of a book.
I want to say something else about the story here. It is so full and moving as to have made me catch a tear and lump at my throat often. This is old-fashioned "tear jerker" at its finest, but that's not all it is. It's a relationship story too. The women in this novel are deeply and significantly drawn so that you understand who they are and you can't help identifying with them in their struggles. Their interrelationships are so meaningful.
One of my grandmothers was a mill worker in NC not far from the Tennessee border and the Blue Ridge Mountains where this story takes place. She was a single mother, raising my mother alone in the 1930's to '40's. She was such a woman as this book describes. Dedicated to her work, strong and independent but with a tender heart inside, devoted to her friends at work, talented and helping others, and religious. She never missed work. Susan Gregg Gilmore has captured the heart of these women.
The story of Emmalee and her baby sits solidly amidst the rest of the story of Leona's, the older textile worker. As it flashes back and forth it completes the circle and draws us in to the whole. I thought the book was completely amazing and so heart-wrenching that my chest was nearly constantly tightening and my eyes welling up. It's a good thing Crown Publishing sent me a complimentary packet of Kleenex with the book! LOL
This is a novel you can't miss reading. It's perfect for discussion with friends and book groups. Please do yourself a favor and don't miss this one!
In the tradition of Emily Giffin and Marisa de los Santos, HOW LUCKY YOU ARE is an engaging and moving novel about three women struggling to keep their longstanding friendship alive. Waverly, who's always been the group's anchor, runs a cozy bakery but worries each month about her mounting debt. Kate is married to a man who's on track to be the next governor of Virginia, but the larger questions brewing in their future are unsettling her. Stay-at-home mom Amy has a perfect life on paper, but as the horrific secret she's keeping from her friends threatens to reveal itself, she panics.
As life's pressures build all around them, Waverly knows she has some big decisions to make. In doing so, she will discover that the lines between loyalty and betrayal can become blurred, happy endings aren't always clear-cut, and sometimes you have to risk everything to gain the life you deserve.
PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Published by: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette
Pages: 352
Genre: General Fiction
Author Kristyn Kusek Lewis
Purchase this book: Barnes & Noble and Amazon
THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :
It's been a long time since I've read a novel about three long time friends who've remained close throughout their lives. This one was a pleasure to read. Absorbing and poignant. I found Kristyn Kusek Lewis to be a storyteller of the first order. She's wrapped her hands around the feminine capacity to love, become devoted and to sustain long term relationships with other women. I enjoyed her sharing of this treasured capacity women have.
The plot here is one that flows easily. It pulls you into the lives of the three friends immediately and carries through without a boring moment. As their situations become more fierce and embroiled, and their pulling in ranks to support each other becomes more defined, the reader is more and more engaged. I found this a strong story of the real problems women can encounter in their contemporary lives, and of the support it can take that matters in the resolution of those problems. All this and pure reading entertainment at the same time!
I fell in love with the three main characters: Amy, Waverly and Kate. All very different women with different lives and issues, but bonded in their commitment to and friendship for each other since college days. These characters are so well developed they rang true in every situation and conversation. Waverly, the problem-solver seeing everyone else's way out except her own; Amy the perfect homemaker with the horrible secrets; and Kate the wealthy and beautiful "it" girl with emptiness all around her...all were inspiring in their own ways. The title of the book makes us wonder if they were all truly "lucky."
This is a book women will enjoy reading. While it's not a deep well of literature, it has much to say about humanity and every day living. It has much to say about sorting out the problems of real situations we encounter as women. And, it highlights the things we value so much in our friendships as women.
The implacable hand of fate, and the efforts of a quiet, reclusive man to reclaim two young sisters from their harrowing past, are the major forces at play in this immensely affecting first novel. In a verdant valley in the Pacific Northwest during the early years of the 20th century, middle-aged Talmadge tends his orchards of plum, apricot, and apples, content with his solitary life and the seasonal changes of the landscape he loves. Two barely pubescent sisters, Jane and Della, both pregnant by an opium-addicted, violent brothel owner from whom they have escaped, touch Talmadge’s otherwise stoic heart, and he shelters and protects them until the arrival of the girls’ pursuers precipitates tragic consequences. Talmadge is left with one of the sisters, the baby daughter of the other, and an ardent wish to bring harmony to the lives entrusted to his care. Coplin relates the story with appropriate restraint, given Talmadge’s reserved personality, and yet manages to evoke a world where the effects of two dramatic losses play out within a strikingly beautiful natural landscape. In contrast to the brothel owner, Michaelson, the other characters in Talmadge’s community—an insightful, pragmatic midwife; a sensitive Nez Perce horse trader; a kindly judge—conduct their lives with dignity and wisdom. When Della fails to transcend the psychological trauma she’s endured, and becomes determined to wreak revenge on Michaelson, Talmadge turns unlikely hero, ready to sacrifice his freedom to save her. But no miracles occur, as Coplin refuses to sentimentalize. Instead, she demonstrates that courage and compassion can transform unremarkable lives and redeem damaged souls. In the end, “three graves side by side,” yet this eloquent, moving novel concludes on a note of affirmation. Agent: Bill Clegg, WME Entertainment. (Sept.)
ABOUT THE BOOK : Publisher: Harper Collins Pages: 448 Genre: Historical Fiction Author Amanda C
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
Amanda Coplin was born in Wenatchee, Washington. She received her BA from the University of Oregon and MFA from the University of Minnesota. A recipient of residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the Omi International Arts Center at Ledig House in Ghent, New York, she lives in Portland, Oregon.
A rare treasure of a novel. "The Orchardist" is one of those you'll read like enjoying a box of chocolates...slowly, just to savor every morsel of the story and the fine writing. This is a book you'll want to capture and keep on your shelves to recall days spent visualizing the orchards of Northwestern America, and the hearts of incredible characters that will live on in your mind. I love family sagas when they're written by a gifted author who can drop you down in the setting and with the people of the story. This is a novel like that. You shouldn't miss it this year.
Story development and plot are so absorbing. I was tortured by the hard life and gentle heart of Talmadge, the orchardist, but more so by the background and broken spirits of Della and Jane, the girls who escaped unimaginable torment to find shelter like stray cats on his farm. Their story is blindingly bear in its open wounds~vulnerable and raw with emotion. I found myself cringing and crying with them at their most horrific, heartbreaking stops along the story. Michaelson is a despicable antihero. What powerful writing!
Amanda Coplin is a young woman who is wise beyond her years. She writes with such brilliance and imagination. Her characters just breathe tension, love, hatred, vulnerability, wisdom and life. It was a wonderful experience to read her book.
Highly recommended to everyone. This is a powerful novel of love and redemption.
Brunonia Barry, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader, offers an emotionally compelling novel about finding your true place in the world.
Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats—a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She's now a respected psychotherapist working with the world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She's also about to marry one of Boston's most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee's patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she though she'd left behind.
What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly's funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.
Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the stars, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.
Particulars of the Book :
Published by: HarperCollins
AudioBook, ebook and regular books
Author: Brunonia Barry
Find her: Brunonia
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Brunonia Barry studied literature and creative writing at Green Mountain college in Vermont and at the University of New Hampshire and was one of the founding members of the Portland Stage Company. While still an undergraduate at UNH, Barry spent a year living in Dublin and auditing Trinity College classes on James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Barry’s love of theater led to a first job in Chicago where she ran promotional campaigns for Second City, Ivanhoe, and Studebaker theaters. After a brief stint in Manhattan, where she studied screenwriting at NYU, Barry relocated to California because she had landed an agent and had an original script optioned. Working on a variety of projects for several studios, she continued to study screenwriting and story structure with Hollywood icon Robert McKee, becoming one of the nine writers in his Development Group.
Brunonia’s love for writing and storytelling has taken her all across the country but after nearly a decade in Hollywood, Barry returned to Massachusetts where, along with her husband, she co-founded an innovative company that creates award-winning word, visual and logic puzzles. In recent years, she has written books for the Beacon Street Girls, a fictional series for ‘tweens. Happily married, Barry lives with her husband and her only child that just happens to be a 12-year-old Golden Retriever named Byzantium. The Lace Reader was her first original novel.
Barry is the first American Writer to win the Woman’s International Fiction Festival’s 2009 Baccante Award (for The Lace Reader.) Her second novel, The Map of True Places will be published 0n May 4, 2010.
Trailer:
THE DAME'S REVIEW :
I listened to this book on AudioBook first on my trip to Louisiana and then at home afterwards because I couldn't bear not to finish it having completed my driving before it was over. This was a mesmerizing book and the miles just melted away as the story progressed. The narrator was wonderful on this one, but the story was most perfect. It ranks as one of the best stories I've listened to on tape of all time. I loved it. Made me wish I'd just read the book!
You can see the summary above, and here is a review below by Kirkus.
Kirkus Reviews
A novice psychotherapist finds unsettling parallels between a patient's suicide and her mother's history, in Barry's second (The Lace Reader, 2008). Hepzibah (ZeeZee grew up in the historic Salem home that was once Purveyance's domestic prison.) Now a doctoral candidate in Boston, Zee sees aspects of Maureen in her bipolar patient Lilly, a suburban homemaker. Lilly tells her of Adam, a carpenter, whom she loves desperately, but who now appears to be stalking them both-Zee's seen him lurking outside her office. With adjusted meds, Lilly improves, but then leaps to her death from a bridge during rush hour. At Lilly's funeral, Zee spots a man she recognizes from TV news as a distraught eyewitness to Lilly's death. More personal woes intrude. Finch's Parkinson's disease is worsening, he's now alienated from Melville (his partner since Maureen's death) and requires full-time care. Zee returns to Salem, and this town of Wicca practitioners, pirate re-enactors and tall ships, like Friendship, a replica of the vessel on which Purveyance fled, reclaims her. Hawk, the stricken eyewitness, is now crewing on the Friendship and, when Zee enrolls in his celestial navigation class, she's ineffably drawn to him. Soon the pair are making love in Maureen's room, beneath the same widow's walk on which the storied lovers once trysted. Although marred by unnecessary "come-to-realize" moments, this woman-in-jeopardy thriller retooled with gothic elements-shifting identities, secrets and portents, a deserted cottage and a missing suicide note-manages to transcend its component cliches. A highly readable sophomore effort. Reading group guide available online.
I loved the depth of character study Ms Barry goes into with Zee and her parents. Maureen is especially compelling to me for some reason...perhaps because she's such a tragic figure and because her love of fairytales and the ghostly appeals to the gothic in me. Zee keeps the story alive as she searches for herself and the meaning of her roots. And I love the relationship between her father and his gay lover, "Hawthore" and "Melville" are just brilliant. Melville's story is especially poignant. Zee's dad (Hawthorne's) gift of Yeats book of poems is a section of the story that will tear your heart out.
This is a book on tape that will keep you happily engaged for several days, and I'm sure the same could be said for the book. I love Brunonia Barry's style and her setting of Salem, MA. Made me very homesick for Massachusetts.
A romantic time travel story that's ideal for fans of novels by Meg Cabot and Donna Jo Napoli—and, of course, Shakespeare.
Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide.
Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lost its greatest playwright.
Miranda isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required.
PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK : Published by: Random House/Delacorte Press Pages: 334 Genre: YA Fiction/Paranormal Author: Pamela Mingle Visit author here: Pam Mingle Purchase "Kissing Shakespeare" at Barnes and Noble and Amazon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
I’ve been writing middle-grade and YA novels for the past seven years. It’s been exciting and scary; freeing and frustrating; upbeat and depressing–often all at the same time! Welcome to the world of writing.
One of the major distractions from churning out those pages is that stack of books I keep buying or checking out from the library. It’s the pull of story, and I have to succumb to it.
I’m a person who is content with the routine and predictable pleasures of life. My first cup of morning coffee, getting together with friends, reading, taking in a good movie. I’m an inveterate watcher of sunrise and sunsets, and the winter sky at dusk thrills me. Did I mention I’m easy to please?
My husband is the adventurous one in the family. He’s coaxed me away from books, both reading and writing, the past several summers for hikes across parts of England, and this year, France. We hike from one town to the next, staying at B&B’s, walking sometimes as much as 15 miles a day. Even though I complain, I’m proud of holding my own. Having friends along, both old and new, keeps me laughing and pushes me to finish that last mile.
A Quick Excerpt :
Chapter One
Boston, Present Day
I was all alone backstage. Flinging props and costumes around, slamming cupboard doors, kicking a row of empty water bottles. I’d planned to clean up, but instead I was wrecking everything.
We opened The Taming of the Shrew tonight. A few months back, when I found out I’d gotten the role of Katherine, I knew I was headed for trouble. I hadn’t even auditioned for it. I wanted to play Bianca, the sweet daughter, the one all the suitors are after. But Mr. Finley, our drama teacher, wouldn’t even consider it. “Miranda, you will play Katherine,” he’d said. “The role was one of your mother’s triumphs, and you must carry on the tradition.” Inside, I’d fumed. My mother again. It was always about her.
So here it was, opening night, and I’d totally screwed up. Rather than playing Katherine with the subtleties the role deserved, I’d played her as the traditional shrew turned submissive. The woman completely tamed by her husband. Afraid to make the role my own, I practically sleepwalked through the performance. When the curtain fell, I raced offstage, defying anybody to look at me. No way could I deal with polite smiles, insincere congratulations, and, worst of all, pitying eyes that quickly darted away.
My cell phone vibrated in my jeans pocket. It was Macy, my friend and fellow actor, so I answered.
“Miranda? Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” I fibbed. I hated it when people asked me that, even friends who actually cared. No, I’m not all right. I feel like a failure and an idiot. And I let everyone down.
“Where are you?”
I heard loud music and laughing in the background, so I knew where she was. The opening night party. “I’m still changing and putting stuff away. What a mess.” I didn’t mention that my foul temper had caused the mess in the first place.
“You’re not thinking of skipping the party, are you?”
I drew a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. “Macy, please don’t freak out, but I’m not coming.”
“What do you mean you’re not coming? You have to come! It’s opening night.” She broke off to talk to someone, then said, “John wants to talk to you.” “No! Tell him I’m sick or something.” John had played Petruchio, and we’d been dating, sort of. He was a nice guy, but he wanted more than I was willing to give. I heard Macy making excuses for me. I waited a few seconds, until she was back. “What’s the matter with you?” she asked. “I’m sure he knew I was lying.” “I ruined the whole performance, Mace! I sucked. I can’t face anybody right now.” Or maybe ever. “You weren’t that bad.” “Thanks. I feel much better. Look, after Sunday’s closing, I’m driving up to Maine, to our place at Acadia. I need to be alone for a while. I think I want to quit acting, Mace.” “Oh my God, Miranda, give it a little time. Everybody has their off nights. Remember how good you were in Much Ado About Nothing?” I spoke over the lump in my throat, my voice sounding raspy. “I had about ten lines in Much Ado! And this was more than just an ‘off night.’ I stunk from the first rehearsal.” “This is because of your mom, right? You think you can never measure up to her. That’s so not true.” “Mace, can we talk about this later? It’s late, and I want to get out of here.” “Please come to the party. You’ll feel better.” “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I said, ending the call. If I listened long enough, she might wear me down. Driving up to Acadia National Park had popped into my head while Macy and I were talking. There was no reason I couldn’t go. My grandparents, who kept an eye on me when my parents were on tour, wouldn’t care. Spring break started next week, and the play, mercifully, would be over. I loved it up there. With its dense forests and deep lakes, Acadia was a great place to hide out. I could use the time to reflect on life after acting and on how I could get out of going to Yale Drama. And on what I dreaded most: telling my parents I didn’t want to be an actor. The tears I’d been holding back overflowed, trailing down my cheeks. “Miranda?” I spun around, my heart racing. But it was only Stephen Langford, another actor. Someone else who hadn’t gone to the party. I brushed my cheeks with the back of my hand. “You scared me. I thought everyone had left.” He was still in costume, I noticed. That wasn’t his Taming of the Shrew outfit, though. It looked Tudor, like something a man at Queen Elizabeth’s court would wear. The first Queen Elizabeth. “I need to talk to you,” he said. “Urgently.” I started throwing the plastic water bottles littering the floor into a recycling bin. What could be so urgent? I barely knew him. He’d shown up at the Dennis School early last semester, just in time for auditions. Finley practically drooled when he heard that posh British accent, so it was no surprise when Stephen won the role of Lucentio. Outside of rehearsals, he never hung out with us, so none of us knew him very well. “Why are you wearing that costume?” I asked. “It’s not a costume. These are my real clothes.” He gestured at his outfit, and I sensed a challenge in his expression. Did he want me to question that ridiculous statement? Stephen had grown a mustache and short beard for the play, and I now realized he looked years older than a typical high school senior. He was a good-looking guy, with full lips and a straight nose. One of his front teeth slightly overlapped the other, but that didn’t spoil his smile. Macy said she’d caught him staring at me a few times during rehearsals, but I’d never noticed. I lowered my eyes. “Right.” I moved on to the dresses I’d thrown to the floor and started hanging them up on the wardrobe rack. They’d be in the wrong order, but someone could fix that tomorrow. “So what do you want to talk to me about?” “Will you stop fussing with those damnable costumes!” I felt my jaw tense. “What’s your problem?” “Sit down. Please.” He tilted his head toward a trunk. “I need your help with something.” I could see he wasn’t going to give up until I agreed to listen. With an irritated sigh, I tossed the last gown aside and plopped down on the trunk. “What is it?” Stephen dropped to his knees in front of me, and I instinctively drew back. “How would you like to meet William Shakespeare?” A laugh burst from my mouth. “You’re crazy.” I tried to stand up, but he put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back down. My rear smacked the trunk, hard. “Shit!” “Sorry,” Stephen said. “But I’m not crazy. Shakespeare needs our help. Desperately. All the plays and sonnets could be lost forever if we do not act now.” This guy was either the biggest drama nerd in existence or a lunatic. Probably the latter. Wonderful.
“Last time I checked, the Bard lived in a different century. Like the sixteenth?” All of a sudden, I got it. “Wait a minute. Is this for one of those cheesy reenactment things?” Reenactors are big in Boston. They’re all over the Common, dressed like Redcoats or Patriots, acting out battles or meetings or whatever. Doing a Tudor-era reenactment here seemed kind of strange, though. “Thanks, but I’m not interested.”
THE DAME'S REVIEW :
This is a darling book, albeit not a cross-over novel for adults, particularly. Pamela Mingle, true to the former teacher and librarian in her, has the school teacher's touch with this one. She's interested in telling a sweet love story, while at the same time getting as much information about 16th c. England and culture across to her adorable readers as possible.
First let me say that physically this is a beautiful little book. Just adorable pink and black and white. Perfect for a teen-ager's room! I love the cover and the book itself...hot pink, black edged with gilt script...too gorgeous. I think we all need one just to toss on our nightstands. Must buy the hardcover.
I found the story a light-hearted one although it captured mostly the unsettling times for Catholics in the Protestant reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Ms Mingle spends much of the novel relating her research about the life and times of the people, and has only cameo sorts of appearances of Shakespeare until almost halfway into the book. While dress, foods, feasting and such are interesting, it was nearly 100 pages into the 300+ novel before the plot began to build and the "kissing" began in earnest. A bit slow, but it got there.
The love story here is a triangle, we find, and that makes for a titillating story ultimately. Will Shakespeare is a handsome and rakish young man who has more than one love interest. Miranda is caught between two worlds and two hunks with her spunky ways to help balance them. And, Stephen is a mystery man...one who was, frankly, much more appealing to me than Shakespeare! These characters were endearing.
Pam Mingle has created a lovely book with an inspired way of bringing us Shakespeare as a young man just before he makes the decisions that will turn him into the world's best loved Bard. I loved the book for that alone, if nothing else! This is a sweet little escape novel. Not strong meat for one looking for a heavy and complicated plot. Just a darling book for the teen set...and maybe a lover of Shakespeare who wants to be taken back a few (hundred) years!
Summary: "Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer itself up, and the two women are on the cusp of their 'real lives': Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, about to return from the war. Soon the gilt begins to crack. Helena's husband is not the man he seemed to be, and Hughes has returned from the war distant, his inner light curtained over. On the brink of the 1960s, back at Tiger House, Nick and Helena--with their children, Daisy and Ed--try to recapture that sense of possibility. But when Daisy and Ed discover the victim of a brutal murder, the intrusion of violence causes everything to unravel. The members of the family spin out of their prescribed orbits, secrets come to light, and nothing about their lives will ever be the same. Brilliantly told from five points of view, with a magical elegance and suspenseful dark longing, Tigers in Red Weather is an unforgettable debut novel from a writer of extraordinary insight and accomplishment"--
Particulars of the Book : Published by: Little, Brown & Co./Hachette Publishing Pages: 336 Genre: General Fiction Available to purchase: Barnes & Noble Author: Liza Klaussman
The Dame's Review: Liza Klaussman literally swept me off my feet with her new book "Tigers In Red Weather." She set me down in the post WWII setting, and completely enveloped me in her story of cold-hearted and isolated Nick, appropriately providing but "not all there emotionally" Hughes, Helena the wounded and wanting, Daisy the slightly dim daughter, and Ed, the holy terror. This is a book I could reread just for the depth of the story and the psychological descriptiveness of it alone.
These characters I mention above are so well thought out and so well presented, they left me thinking about them for days. Their psychological make up is presented with such depth, they live and breathe within the story. I truly think Liza knows these people...and knows them very well! Perfectly fascinating characters. They move from one emotion to another just as we all do in life. I loved this honest element in Klaussman's writing. There was nothing stagnant about her book. As in real life, there were surprises around every corner which were moved and changed and acted upon by her characters for good and for bad.
At the center of this novel is a secondary story of a child warped and left to strange behaviors by the insanities of his parents; i.e., Ed, who is the only son of Helena. Ed is a sinister figure who lends an overshadowing of doom to the plot. This, and the emotionally off-centered nature of Nick, provides a sort of palpable anxiety about the story which I found extraordinary. I love finding this sort of unusual thing happening as I read. Liza Klaussman is a very talented writer.
Conversational novels are some of the best, I think. This multi-way of presenting her story through all the characters was so engaging. I was engrossed by the perspectives of each of them as the reader is asked to put together the whole picture.
I highly recommend this book. Liza Klaussman is an author I will be waiting anxiously to hear from again. She has a unique voice in Women Writers literature. In my mind she is a writer akin to Joyce Carol Oates. Can't say enough about her talents. Klaussman's "Tiger in Red Weather" is an astonishing debut novel. This is a book for your permanent library.
Summary: Phyre knows there is something life-changing about her new drama teacher, Mia, from the moment they meet. As Phyre rehearses for the school play, she comes to realize that the unrequited feelings she has for Mia go deeper than she's ever experienced. Especially with a teacher. Or a woman. All the while, Phyre's best friend-addressed throughout the story in the second person, as "you"-stands by, ready to help Phyre make sense of her feelings. But just as Mia doesn't understand what Phyre feels, Phyre can't fathom the depth of her best friend's feelings...until it's almost too late for a happy ending. Characters come to life through the innovative screenplay format of this dazzling debut, and unanswered questions-is "you" male or female?-will have readers talking
Particulars of the Book : Publisher: Bloomsbury Pages: 256 Genre: YA/General Fiction Author: Marisa Calin
About Marisa : Marisa Calin was born in the U.S., grew up in Bath, England, then moved to New York City at the age of eighteen to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and pursue her dreams of being an actress. She is still in hot pursuit, and when not on stage or on set uses all her spare time and training to create vivid character-driven worlds on paper.
See her amazing website sponsored by Bloomsbury here: http://www.marisacalin.com/ where you'll find videos, voice overs, music to "Between You and Me" and other amazing reviews!
The Dame's Review : I'm very excited about this book. It's a truly unique read with all the components that make it a stand out for YA and general fiction. Breaking ground in the genre, "Between You & Me" is a screen play within a novel including a school play story that is so well written and so dynamic it will have you reading far more quickly and more compulsively than anything in your hands lately! I was blown away. While it sounds strange on paper, by way of my review no doubt, the format works amazingly well, and Marisa Calin is genius to think of it.
Quick witted and snappy dialog makes the book move at a bullet's pace. The depth of emotion conveyed seems unlikely with such spare words, which is one of the charming things about this book. We are brought into a situation of the love-lorn that it both poignant and profoundly expressive between two different teens, and two different scenarios simultaneously, and they both work in such perfect heart-stopping harmony. I found it timeless. If any of you remember "Love Story," you'll understand how few words can convey a world of angst and true depth of caring. This is such a book.
In the summary of the book, you'll find the outline of the story of Phyre and her obsessive crush on Mia, her drama teacher...and her "blind" relationship at the same time with the "You" of her play. There is nothing more I would give away on that count except to say that the invisible is so beautifully drawn here on the "You" character that you ache for him/her. This, of course, shows the writing talent and expressive gifts of the author.
I enjoyed very much, as well, her instructions to the drama class on how to find the emotions and meanings in their acting. What a wonderful way to work Phyre's emotional turmoil and "You's" behind the scenes feelings into the story/play. And then, the school play on top of the storyline play was so enjoyable a read.
This is a unique book. One that I won't be surprised to find visited with awards this year. Get it and experience a wonderful story. Guaranteed to please you. Good for Bloomsbury!
Summary: Abortion continues to be a hot topic in politics, women's rights, and medical practice. But for the eight to ten million American Christian women who have had one, abortion is a spiritual issue as well, raising questions of life and death, heaven and hell, grief and loss.
Writing from her own experience, Kim Ketola sheds light on one of the darkest and most neglected personal issues of our time: the widespread need for healing and spiritual recovery after abortion. "After abortion brought the worst trouble into my life I had ever known," writes Ketola, "I just couldn't see my way free to believe in God's love." With a compassionate heart, Ketola offers ten true stories of healing promise from the Bible to help women answer the most common spiritual torments they face: Is abortion a sin? Does God hate me? Where can I turn in my shame and distress? How could I ever tell anyone the truth? And more.
Inspired by Romans 6:4—"just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life"—this is a definitive resource to help women see themselves and God anew and—finally—to find spiritual healing.
Particulars of the book: Publisher: Kregel Publications Pages: 224 Genre: Christian/Spirtual Author: Kim Ketola Find this book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble
From the Back Cover :
God's love is not a casualty of
abortion For eight to ten million American
Christian women, abortion is not just a political or medical issue--it is a
spiritual issue as well. Abortion raises questions of life and death, heaven and
hell, grief and loss. You may be asking: Does God hate me? Can I be forgiven? Is
it really possible to just start over with God?
Kim Ketola asked these
questions as well. In Cradle My Heart, she lays out a compassionate path toward
spiritual healing. You will learn how to: * Face yourself and face
God * Forgive and be forgiven * Repent and accept God's love * Grieve
and find an end to sorrow
With an understanding and empathetic voice, Kim
Ketola exposes the hurt in your heart, reveals the healing in God's heart, and
brings the two together to create a whole heart where restoration--and
celebration--are possible.
About Kim Ketola :
Kim Ketola is a writer and speaker with thirty years' broadcast experience while known as "Kim Jeffries" on CBS' WCCO Radio and Television, and KTIS/Faith Radio Network, and other outlets. Cradle My Heart, Finding God's Love After Abortion (Kregel, 2012) reflects Kim's ministry to help individuals recover from the emotional and spiritual wounds of abortion, and was awarded First Place in the Sonfire Media contest at the 2010 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.
Kim has traveled internationally with Ruth Graham and Friends conferences, and she is a frequent media guest addressing pro-life issues on Salem, Moody, Sirius, and other network outlets. Tim Pawlenty appointed Kim as chairperson of the MN Governor's Council on Faith and Community Service Initiatives (2006-2008), and she serves organizations reaching the homeless, the addict, and those in prison. She and her husband, Bruce, make their home in suburban Atlanta.
Visit www.kimketola.com to learn more.
The Dame's Review :
When I was in college in the 1960's, during the age of Aquarius, free love and student uprisings, I had a room-mate who had had an abortion. It was the first time I was exposed to anyone who had been through the experience. She almost immediately related the incident and circumstances to me, and said it was the central and most painful thing of her life. It colored everything she did from that moment on. She was deeply grieved by it. And she was profoundly regretful. I was astounded by the extent to which it had scarred her. Up to that point I had been lead to believe it was an option young women chose to be free of an unwanted "situation" or "problem."
When I was a young mother some 8 years later, I met another young mother who was in turmoil and withdrawn in many ways. She was a friend of mine because of our children's ages and because we lived in the same neighborhood, and because we seemed drawn to each other. But for several years she debated and tortured me over my faith with a harsh anger that was personal to her and strange to me. Years later, and after I had moved away, she became a Christian and confessed to me her anger at me at my faith had been because of her guilt over an abortion she had had as a college student, and which she thought God couldn't forgive her for; and, that she couldn't forgive herself for. Once she got hold of the fact that there was healing and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, she was relieved of her spiritual burdens and believed her unborn child was safe and secure.
There have been numerous other women I've come into contact with during my 60 some years who have suffered this similar grief and guilt. Some have been able to resolve it through faith, and some have not because they have no faith. But all have been scarred.
Though I personally have never had an abortion, I can feel the depth of my friends' and loved one's pain. It is easy to see in their lives. It is easy to see how it's shaped their lives for good and for worse depending upon how they have resolved it or not.
Kim Ketola's book is one of the few books I've read that simply outlines a way to look at this personal tragedy. She honestly exposes herself and her own pain. She kindly shares the gift of her personal grief and struggles, and her resolution through faith in Christ.
I found the particular passages of scripture not only apparent as healing pathways for those who have experienced an abortion, but for those of us who have walked the resulting path with them, or who have struggled with other losses in our lives. They are up-lifting and speak of Christ's eternal forgiveness and healing powers through faith.
While everything we do and every choice we make results in a mark on our lives for good or for bad, we can rest in the fact that we have a heavenly Father who loves us and is willing to take us as we are. Kim Ketola's "Cradle My Heart" gives testimony to that, and shows a pathway to healing.
This is a book I would recommend for everyone who is considering an abortion, who has had one, who knows of those who have, and for those who wonder about the reasons and results of them for some women. It's a powerful book.
I must add that this is not a politically centered book. That is not its purpose in text.
In a quiet London suburb, a group of mothers relies on each other for friendship, favors, and gossip. But some of them shouldn’t be trusted, and others have dark secrets.
When Callie moved into her new neighborhood, she thought it would be easy to fit in. The other parents have been strangely hostile, though, and her frail daughter Rae is finding it impossible to make friends. Suzy, with her rich husband and her three energetic children, has been the only one to reach out, although their friendship has recently felt inexplicably strained. Now the police have suggested that someone dangerous may be living in their neighborhood, and the atmosphere feels even more toxic. Then there’s the matter of Callie’s ex-husband, and the shocking truth behind their divorce . . . a truth that she would do anything to hide.
Particulars of the Book :
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication date: 7/3/2012
Pages: 432
Genre: Thriller/Suspense, General Fiction
Something About The Author: Louise Millar was raised in Scotland. She began her journalism career in music and film magazines. A former senior editor at Marie Claire, she has written for Red, Psychologies, Stella, the Observer, Glamour, Stylist, and The Guardian. She lives in London with her husband and daughters.
I'd read a bit about this book from another blogger somewhere in the blogosphere (I apologize that I can't remember where!) a few weeks ago, and and remember only slightly being caught by the idea that women were helping care for each other's children and something happened. That was enough to get me off my duff and out to find "The Playdate." With so many kidnappings and losses and killings of little children in this country in these times, it was a subject that I couldn't wait to see how a debut writer would handle. Old subject? New perspective! I thought it would be enjoyable to read but easy to figure out. Wrong!!! Not so easy to figure out...suspenseful and very full-bodied!
Perfect pitch in the dialogs whether among adults or adults with children. Even internal dialogs are meaty and ring true...often anxiety-producing, often truly terrifying. And speaking of pitch, much of the suspense and anxiety of the book is built around sounds both good and bad that are built upon throughout the book. An unusual and fascinating technique that I enjoyed following. Sound as horror...and sound as holy.
Easily deniable/ordinary happenings with sinister underbellies first make us think we're safe, and then confuse us! It's the use of these ordinary things we encounter every day, employed as background for a disaster just waiting to happen and juxtaposed with a pot boiling over that can hold us in the most tenderhooks. Does the vaccum cleaner noise from next door really follow you from room to room as you move around your own house? Who's watching your trash?
While the book is set in London and country, it has none of the hard edge of the British writing that so many books of this mystery/suspense genre can have. It was easy reading, and such fun.
I found absolutely all of Ms Millar's settings and characters engaging. Each character was so well described--down to their individual ticks and manipulations. It was a magical book to read.
Often, I felt my heart racing with Callie, the single mother who just wanted to regain some of her "self" by returning to work at her beautiful job...which meant leaving her pre-school child in the after school care until she could get there. Scenes describing Callie's emotions, her racing home from work, her anxieties and her heart-wrenching moments were some of the best I've read in this genre. Just incredible writing that you could feel in your body.
Suzy, Callie's best friend next door, was the best friend "every mom" so many of us know or have known who just seems to give it all for the children...hers and yours. She's the earth mother type who doesn't seem quite like everyone else. She's more devoted to her children than anything on earth, and her life displays that; is messy with it. Millar gives wonderful life to this character. The easy way Suze had of drawing in those who needed to be cared for, both mother and child. We've all known moms like Suze.
My favorite character was Callie, but the character who was most interestingly distressing and who rubbed me wrong the whole time, of course, was Debs. Strange, alienated, weird and obviously a little mental, Debs was the new neighbor with very little to bolster her up....and very little reputation to stand on. Millar uses this character in such a delightfully malicious way. It's criminal!!! Was she the kindly new after school helper and earnest next door neighbor, or a woman with violent and shady past?
Louise Millar takes a subject close to our hearts; our children, and writes around the anxiety of who they really belong to, and who really cares for them.
This is a book not to be missed. I simply couldn't stop reading it. It was my constant companion for 2 days!! Highly recommended read.
A terrible car crash sets things in motion for 31 year old Mackenzie when her critically injured husband, Nick, whispers warnings that someone from his past may attempt to harm or kill her after his passing. He urges her to travel to Philadelphia to his childhood home. Find James, he insists. It's the only way out.
His last words are pushed to the side in the aftermath of his death, as Mackenzie is consumed with grief. Until the things he had spoken of start to come true.
Mackenzie's search brings her to the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, to the 19th century mansion where her husband was raised, and face to face with a mother-in-law she didn't know existed. The two women each have an agenda. Cora, a recluse, worries that her son revealed devastating childhood secrets to his wife. Mackenzie is concerned that unless she uncovers those secrets and finds the elusive James, she may not survive. The two women circle around one another, hunter and prey. But which is which?
As the plot unfolds Mackenzie becomes more driven and takes increasingly dangerous risks while Cora’s precarious mental state rapidly deteriorates forcing her to relive a past she has worked so hard to keep buried.
A gallery of photographs in the bowels of the house holds clues to generations of abuse, treachery and possibly murder. Messages hidden in Nick’s childhood Bible within the Epistle of James have Mackenzie racing against time to put the pieces together, unearth the reasons her husband chose to vanish when he was sixteen years old, and locate the person mentioned in Nick’s dying breath.
When James is finally found, the results are more horrifying than Mackenzie could have ever imagined.
Particulars of the Book:
Publisher: BookBaby
Publication date: 5/26/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 470
The Dame's Review :
"The Book of James" is a startling and absorbing read. I started reading it weeks ago just before I changed computers, and then lost it in the shuffle! It was like a punch to the solar plexis because I loved the book and couldn't get to the ending....like watching "Rosemary's Baby" and not being able to find out what happened! Not that I'm comparing this book to that one...just the idea of a fabulous gothic suspense/mystery that rivets you and won't let you sleep at night until you get to the final answer. That's the stuff of this book. It's just a page turner from the start. PS: I did get another copy of the book and was able to finish it! LOL
While the gothic and mysterious is a huge draw of this book, one of the central keys to making this a top shelf novel is Ms Green's writing skills, absolutely, stand alone. She is brilliant in creating suspense and dialog. Her story starts with a crashing bang from the get-go and it doesn't let up. Characters are illusive and beautiful and her ability to manipulate them to create atmosphere and mystery are indicative of a gifted writer. I was thinking of strong writers such as Patricia Cornwell and Lisa Jackson and others while I was reading this book. Although, Ms Green has a wonderful style of her own that is edgy and gothic which is a delight to my heart, personally, to add to the mix.
The central character, Mackenzie, is the woman we all know we'd be in the similar situation. She's feisty and strong-minded. I loved her bravery and brains from the beginning of the tragedy of losing her husband to her eventual discovery of all his secrets. The opening scenes of losing her husband were stellar and rang clear to me as a widow who nearly lost my husband in the blink of an eye. Ellen Green knows shock and grief and many more of the emotions Mackenzie and others of her characters experience throughout this book. She not only knows them, but she can translate them to words and make you feel them which is also the sign of a gifted writer.
I can only highly recommend "The Book of James" to you as one of the finest gothic suspense novels of this year. It's a book that should be jumping off the book shelves if it were in paperback. For now, you can find it in ebook format. I think we're sure to be hearing more from and about Ellen J. Green in the future. I'm one of her biggest fans!! Go get a copy of this one for a night this weekend. You'll be up all night reading.... :]
I was born and raised in upstate NY and moved to the
Philadelphia area to go to college. I graduated with degrees in psychology.
Although writing has always been my first love I somehow took a left turn in
life and ended up as a therapist in a maximum security correctional facility.---for the past 7
years. (plenty of fodder for writing there, I can tell you).
I have been published three times in various magazines,
(True Confessions, Woman's World) The Book of James is my first novel. I am
starting a Masters degree program in creative writing in the fall.
Please visit SupraGurl Tours for more information and to visit more tours of "The Book of James" featuring giveaways, guest posts and interviews of Ms Green
The Lady of the Riversis #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory’s remarkable story of Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, a woman who navigated a treacherous path through the battle lines in the Wars of the Roses.
Descended from Melusina, the river goddess, Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card of the wheel of fortune before Joan is taken to a horrific death at the hands of the English rulers of France. Jacquetta understands the danger for a woman who dares to dream.
Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, and he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy. Her only friend in the great household is the duke’s squire Richard Woodville, who is at her side when the duke’s death leaves her a wealthy young widow. The two become lovers and marry in secret, returning to England to serve at the court of the young King Henry VI, where Jacquetta becomes a close and loyal friend to his new queen.
The Woodvilles soon achieve a place at the very heart of the Lancaster court, though Jacquetta can sense the growing threat from the people of England and the danger of royal rivals. Not even their courage and loyalty can keep the House of Lancaster on the throne. Henry the king slides into a mysterious sleep; Margaret the queen turns to untrustworthy favorites for help; and Richard, Duke of York, threatens to overturn the whole kingdom for his rival dynasty.
Jacquetta fights for her king, her queen, and for her daughter Elizabeth for whom Jacquetta can sense an extraordinary and unexpected future: a change of fortune, the throne of England, and the white rose of York.
A sweeping, powerful story rich in passion and legend and drawing on years of research, The Lady of the Rivers tells the story of the real-life mother of the white queen.
Philippa Gregory, author of the bestselling Wideacre trilogy and other celebrated historical novels, holds a B.A. in history and a Ph.D. in 18th-century literature. In her youth, however, the meticulous writer-researcher almost skipped going to university (she was, as she put it, "a bit of a rebel at school"). When she finally did enroll at Sussex University, she took a course taught by the historian Maurice Hutt, and the rest is -- what else? -- history.
"It was such a powerful experience that, really, it transformed my life," she explained in an interview with The Guardian. "I was looking for something that would explain everything -- I was that kind of earnest young woman! -- and history seemed to be able to do that."
Gregory earned her degree from Sussex, then traveled to Edinburgh to research 18th-century popular novels. The research spawned both a Ph.D. thesis and Gregory's first novel, Wideacre, which was a New York Times bestseller. It came, Gregory pointed out in a Barnes and Noble interview, "at a time when people wanted a new sort of historical fiction: more realistic, more radical, more sexy, and harder edged. That's how I see the world, so I never wrote for a market, I always wrote to reflect my own view of the period, and it has been phenomenally successful."
After extending Wideacre into a trilogy, Gregory continued to write fiction, delving into 16th-century witchcraft , 17th-century political turmoil, and 18th-century slave trading, as well as exploring contemporary life.
But while Gregory -- in her own view and in the views of many critics -- continued to improve as a writer, none of her books matched the popular success of Wideacre until she wrote The Other Boleyn Girl, a provocative tale of sexual politics in the court of Henry VIII, and The Queen's Fool, the story of a 14-year-old Jewish girl brought to the court of Queen Mary. Both novels became bestsellers and widely acclaimed storytelling tour de forces.
Gregory continues to mine the territory of Tudor England for stories -- and she continues with her historical research, building up an ever more dazzling, daring and complete picture of the period. "Accuracy is very important to me because I have a total commitment to history," Gregory told The Guardian. "It answered my deepest questions, of which, I suppose, the most profound is: ‘Why am I here?' Understanding your history can tell you that. It's how I understand who I am and where I came from. I would never lie to anyone about history."
A sweeping tale based on the true story ofJacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, "The Lady of the Rivers" follows this
extraordinary woman from her childhood in France to her place at the center of
the court of young King Henry VI and the War of the Roses.
"The
Lady of the Rivers" is ultimately a story aboutthe power of women — wise
and unwise, overt and covert — and the efforts of the men around them to
suppress that power. Only Jacquetta seems to be able to navigate the treachery
of 15th century England with all the tact, decorum and loyalty we'd admire in a
woman today.
Those familiar with Gregory's work
will recognize "The Lady of the Rivers" as
akin to "The Other Boleyn Girl" rather than the debaucherous Wideacre Trilogy.
Part of Jacquetta's success is her
trust in her instincts, or her gift of second sight as it's named, which comes
to her as a child sitting on a riverbank at her uncle's castle with his
prisoner, Joan of Arc.
Playing tarot, they draw "the wheel
of fortune" card, whose symbol — a circle drawn in the air with a forefinger —
is used throughout the book, such as when Joan becomes one of the women to meet
an unfortunate end at the hands of vengeful men.
"I am here to witness what happens to
a woman who thinks she knows more than men," Jacqetta says upon seeing her
friend burned at the stake for witchcraft and heresy.
Shortly after that, in an an effort to endear her
country to the English occupiers who Joan defied, Jacquetta is married to the
much older Duke of Bedford, English Regent of France. Rather than love (they
don't even consummate the marriage) the duke covets his young bride for her gift
of second sight and forces her to "scry" before a mirror.
But he is ultimately
a kind man, and also introduces her to the world of learning and alchemy
contained in his vast library. It's not surprising that the Duke dies, given his
(at that time) advanced age and the stress he was under to keep France secure
for England, but Jacquetta's trajectory after he dies is even more
surprising.
Rather than submit to
remarriage at the direction of the king's advisors, she secretly marries her
lover — her former husband's squire, Richard of Woodville. Normally, this bold
and scandalous move would send a high-born woman away from the court to a life
of shame, but Jacquetta becomes a confidante of Henry VI's new queen, Margaret
of Anjou.
With the arrival of
Margaret — a woman who wields her power very unwisely — the book descends into
the series of nail-biting battles that mark the War of the Roses. Margaret, only
15 when she is taken from France to England for her marriage, assumes
uncustomary decision-making because of the king's mental state, which sends him
into long periods of somnolence.
Jacquetta and
Richard, meanwhile, suffer long bouts of separation while Richard serves the
king in France, but the couple remain loyal to the throne, even while Margaret
incites strife and destruction throughout England by excluding from her council
lords from the House of York who she believes are scheming against her.
Though based on a true story, it
seems implausible that Jacquetta gives birth to 14 children (one does not
survive past boyhood). It also seems implausible that she leaves her children
for long periods of time to serve the reviled queen. But such must have been the
custom of medieval courtiers.
It isn't until the Battle of Towton —
when an estimated 28,000 men died on the snowy battlefield — that Richard and
his son Anthony, both of whom survive the battle, renounce House of Lancaster
for the victorious House of York. The family of 16, plus Jacquetta's two
grandchildren whose father was killed in battle, live quietly at their country
manor until one day the new king, young Edward, sees Jaquetta's beautiful oldest
daughter and her two sons on a tour of his new lands.
But don't stop there — read to the
very end of the book, where you'll see a sneak-preview of what results from that
chance encounter in Gregory's next book, "The Kingmaker's Daughter," due out in
August, 2012.
When she is still young, Jacquetta
hears a wise woman and herbalist tell her, "Any woman who dares to make her own
destiny will always put herself in danger" — a prophecy that eventually plays
itself out for Jacquetta in the tale of her daughter, who becomes the White
Queen.
Catherine Fahy, seen here with her children in MA where they live, will be a recurring guest blogger on A Bookish Dame. She is a former journalist who is taking time out to raise her family...and keeping her hands busy here and there writing. We are deliriously happy to have her join us here!
