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Margaret Walker, Classic Southern Historical Fiction and Jubilee (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 4, 2020 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Reviewing Jubilee by Margaret Walker, a classic piece of historical fiction, is a daunting thing. Walker crafts a story, “inspired by the memories of her maternal grandmother, Elvira Ware Dozier.” (see source below) The main character is Vyry, a woman born on a...

Book Review: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (Sorcerer Royal #1)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 10, 2020 | RELAX: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, RELAX: Historical Fiction

The publisher summary of Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho focuses on Zacharias Wythe, who is England’s young Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers. But for me, this imaginative fantasy is as much about the female lead Prunella, as it is about Zacharias. And Cho...

Book Review: Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion

by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 19, 2020 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Joan Didion invites us into late 1960s Hollywood in her novel Play It as It Lays. Maria (pronounced Mar-eye-ah) Wyeth is a struggling actress, whose fledgling career is in a stall. Although she’s married to a connected and somewhat powerful man, Carter Lang, they’re...

Book Review: Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell

by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 2, 2020 | RELAX: Historical Fiction, RELAX: Mystery-Thriller

Author David Morrell skillfully blends history and mystery in his 2013 novel, Murder as a Fine Art. Morrell uses real-life historical figures and inserts them into likely situations. Plus, he bases events on the history surrounding their lives. In addition, he...

Book Review: The Edge of Nowhere by C.H. Armstrong

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 7, 2020 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Author C.H. Armstrong writes a compelling deep dive into Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl years in the early twentieth century. In The Edge of Nowhere, her main character is Victoria Hastings. And, my goodness, she does not lead an easy life. The book is a letter from Victoria to...

Book Review: The Art of Sherlock Holmes – USA Edition

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 28, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Phil Growick conceived and curated The Art of Sherlock Holmes – USA Edition. The premise is simple. Collect a group of Sherlockian tales by accomplished writers familiar with the genre. Then ask world-class artists to each create a work of art that reflects one...

Book Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 23, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

I remember just enough of The Kite Runner to know that Khaled Hosseini would break my heart in A Thousand Splendid Suns. And so he did, over and over and over. It’s the story of two women in Afghanistan who each forge a path for themselves, despite and because of the...

Book Review: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 16, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Eleanor Catton creates an epic story of the New Zealand Gold Rush in her prize winning 2013 book, The Luminaries. It captivated and confused me, as Catton takes many disparate characters and creates a constellation of mystery. She builds it piece by piece, jumping...

Book Review: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 10, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Elizabeth Gilbert creates an enchanting story of one woman’s turbulent and rebellious life, starting just prior to World War II. Vivian Morris is a good girl from a well-to-do family in a small, upstate New York town. Well, when she’s not getting kicked out of...

Book Review: A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 18, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

In A Ladder to the Sky, John Boyne and his main character, Maurice Swift, take us inside the world of a writer. And a sociopath. It’s so completely wrong that it’s right. This is the follow up to Boyne’s fabulous 2017 book, The Heart’s Invisible Furies....

Book Review: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 16, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Lilac Girls from Martha Hall Kelly is an entrant into the crowded field of World War II historical fiction. She tells the story of three women, inspired by real life people and events. While everything about the book is appropriately tragic and inspiring, for me it...

Book Review: Woman 99 by Greer Macallister

by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 31, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Greer Macallister did it again. With Woman 99, she wrote another book I couldn’t stop listening to and reading. Macallister has a way with her portrayals of strong, but flawed, women. In Woman 99, she gives us several who fit that mold.Her chief protagonist is...

Book Review: Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 27, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Kristin Lavransdatter is a Norwegian literature classic by Sigrid Undset. In fact, Undset is so revered that she won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928, after Kristin was published. But, let’s also clarify that this is actually a trilogy, now published as a 1100+...

Book Review: The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye

by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 13, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

In The Paragon Hotel, Lyndsay Faye brings us a character nicknamed Nobody. She’s actually Alice James, but is skilled at disappearing into the corner of a room or a street. She uses some disguise, but mostly changes voices and attitudes to blend in. It’s a skill she...

Book Review: The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston (Found Things #1)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 20, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

In the first of a new series from Paula Brackston, Xanthe Westlake and her mother Flora move to small town Marlborough to rebuild their lives. Flora bought the property and stock from a now-deceased fellow antiques dealer and retailer. He left the place in a pretty...

Book Review: Promised Land by Martin Fletcher

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 9, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction

Martin Fletcher, veteran Middle East reporter, crafts an historical fiction story set in 1960’s Israel. His main characters are brothers Arie and Peter Nesher, along with Tamara, a young refugee from Cairo. In truth, the brothers are refugees as well. Peter escaped...
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