Fates and Traitors by Jennifer Chiaverini

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Edelweiss 

Read: January 10, 2017

The New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker returns with a riveting work of historical fiction following the notorious John Wilkes Booth and the four women who kept his perilous confidence. John Wilkes Booth, the mercurial son of an acclaimed British stage actor and a Covent Garden flower girl, committed one of the most notorious acts in American history—the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The subject of more than a century of scholarship, speculation, and even obsession, Booth is often portrayed as a shadowy figure, a violent loner whose single murderous act made him the most hated man in America. Lost to history until now is the story of the four women whom he loved and who loved him in return: Mary Ann, the steadfast matriarch of the Booth family; Asia, his loyal sister and confidante; Lucy Lambert Hale, the senator’s daughter who adored Booth yet tragically misunderstood the intensity of his wrath; and Mary Surratt, the Confederate widow entrusted with the secrets of his vengeful plot. Fates and Traitors brings to life pivotal actors—some willing, others unwitting—who made an indelible mark on the history of our nation. Chiaverini portrays not just a soul in turmoil but a country at the precipice of immense change.

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Clockwise: Mary Ann Holmes, Asia Booth,
Lucy Lambert Hale and Mary Surratt

I’ve grown rather wary of dedicating my time and energy to novels by Jennifer Chiaverini. I mean no offense to either the author or her fan base, but I found both The Spymistress and Mrs. Lincoln Rival one-sided and unintuitive. I believe that looking at history from a number of angles has value regardless of who was right and who was wrong and my experience with Chiaverini’s style and tone left me in doubt of her ability to scrutinize the Union and Confederate causes in equal measure. I respect that there are readers out there who appreciate Chiaverini’s brand of storytelling and I am genuinely thrilled that they enjoy her work, but as a matter of personal taste, I resolved to steer clear. That is, until I stumbled over a copy of Fates and Traitors.

I’ve studied John Wilkes Booth in the past and there is no shortage of fiction dedicated to his heinous crime, but this volume was different. From the description, I knew the novel was actually about Mary Ann Holmes, Asia Booth, Lucy Lambert Hale, and Mary Surratt, but Booth was the obvious center of the novel and I couldn’t help wondering if this was the volume that would change my opinion of Chiaverini. I’m not above admitting that authors have surprised me in the past and I actually love seeing writers grow and develop so after some serious consideration, I determined to break my rule and set out to discover if needed to order myself a heaping helping of humble pie.

At two stars, there should be no question as to how I ultimately felt about the narrative, but I think it important to note that despite my general disappointment, there were elements of the story that I actually liked. The prologue was written from John’s perspective and I actually felt it the strongest chapter of the entire novel. Chiaverini’s exploration of Booth and his emotions in his final hours left me in absolute awe. I was blown away and honestly wish she’d dropped the woman entirely and spent the whole of the narrative following Booth’s relationships from Booth’s point of view. I also grew a certain appreciation for Lucy. Her relationship with John was the most authentic and relevant of the novel and I enjoyed the ideas and themes that Chiaverini presented in her chapters of the narrative.

That said, I was intensely disappointed with Chiaverini’s representation of both Mary Ann and Asia. Neither are shown to have had a particularly deep relationship with John and I couldn’t help feeling their stories superfluous. Most of their interactions with Booth take place at a distance and I honestly wish Chiaverini had left well enough alone and cut them entirely. Mary Surratt served as another weak point in the narrative thanks to her stereotypic and superficial characterization, but my feelings about both Asia and Mary were compounded by how Dutton Publishing marketed their inclusion in the narrative. Contrary to what the cover purports, Chiaverini’s subjects are not lost to history. I’ll grant that Booth’s Sister by Jane Singer was a disappointment and is virtually unknown, but Susan Higgenbotham’s Hanging Mary was well-publicized at the Historical Novel Society Conference in Denver in 2015 and released to the wider market a full six months ahead of Fates and Traitors. Robert Redford also directed a film about Mary in 2010 that starred Robin Wright and James McAvoy, but I suppose those names don’t ring any bells for whoever penned the lie memorialized in this jacket description.

When all is said and done, I felt Fates and Traitors unbalanced. The fact that that women were not equal influences in John’s life made it difficult for me to appreciate their inclusion in the narrative and I maintain the book would have been much stronger if it was written from Booth’s point of view. Despite my appreciation for Lucy, I thought the strongest conflict of the novel was the rivalry that existed between Edwin and John and unfortunately, that relationship was not one that could explored with any degree of depth by the women who existed in its shadow. The women themselves live largely independent lives and without Booth have no real connection or historic importance which left me questioning what the author was trying to get at when drafting this manuscript.

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Let history decide what to make of the misguided, vengeful man who had killed a great and noble president. That was not the man she had known and loved. She had already said all she ever intended to say about the assassin John Wilkes Booth.

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Stars Over Clear Lake by Loretta Ellsworth

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: November 9, 2016

For the first time in decades, Lorraine Kindred has returned to the ballroom where she was swept away by the big bands during the 1940s - and by a star-crossed romance. As she takes in the magnificent energy and brassy sounds of her youth, the past comes to life, along with the fateful decision all those years ago that forced her to choose between personal conviction and social expectations, between the two men who had captured her heart. It had been a time of great music and love, but also of war and sacrifice, and now, trying to make peace with her memories, Lorraine must find the courage to face buried secrets. In the process, she will rediscover herself, her passion, and her capacity for resilience. Set during the 1940s and the present and inspired by a real-life ballroom, Stars Over Clear Lake is a moving story of forbidden love, lost love, everlasting love - and self love.

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I requested a copy of Loretta Ellsworth’s Stars Over Clear Lake for two reasons: the soldier on the cover and the 1940s reference on the back. I didn’t register the ‘star-crossed’ romance and didn’t give too much thought to the big band references in the jacket description. It was war lit and that was enough for me. Make no mistake, I’m enough of an enthusiast that I’d have read the novel either way, but had I paid more attention I’d have approached the book with a very different expectation.

Lorraine’s story begins in 2007 shortly after the death of her beloved husband. The narrative itself hinges on the identity of her spouse, but if one is a careful reader, there no need to speculate as the author drops an enormous clue in the dialogue of chapter one. Lorraine’s suiters are introduced in chapters two and three, but if the reader is paying attention, there is no contest between them. The end all is crystal clear and that reality made it exceedingly difficult for me appreciate the ‘drama’ that played out in the forty-five chapters that followed.

According to Ellsworth, “Not many people are aware that approximately seven hundred POW camps were scattered across the U.S. during World War II, housing more than four hundred thousand German soldiers by the end of the war.” I’m not sure how true that statement is, I’m a poor judge, but Ellsworth didn’t introduce me to the material. That credit belongs to Bette Greene’s award-winning Summer of My German Soldier, but if young adult fiction isn’t your thing I recommend googling Georg Gärtner. His story made headlines in 1985 and incorporates a lot of the themes Ellsworth attempted to illustrate over the course of her narrative. I don’t mean to nitpick, but I don’t feel the author made the most of the subject matter and felt her descriptions of Germanophobia pale alongside works like Karen White’s The Harvest Season.

To be entirely honest, I wish the author had focused on the Surf Ballroom and omitted the POW camp altogether. The elements don’t mesh well and the references to Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson felt needlessly contrived within the context of the narrative. I liked the material, but I feel Ellsworth’s attempt to tackle both the historic ballroom and the camp at Algona fell flat. There was simply too much material for a single story and I don’t think the final product did justice to either subject.

Long story short, I’d have difficulty recommending this piece. Stars Over Clear Lake boasts a few good ideas, but I felt the combined story lines clashed. The supernatural and historic elements of the story didn't appeal to my tastes and I couldn’t buy into the love triangle Ellsworth created for Lorraine.

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I let my gaze wander to the window, where billowy clouds are passing by, reminding me of the clouds that move across the Surf’s ceiling. The ones at the Surf aren’t real clouds, of course; just an illusion, like the ghosts I saw. Except they didn’t look like ghosts. They looked as real as the people standing next to them, laughing and talking. But they weren’t real. They couldn’t be.

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Sisi: Empress on Her Own by Allison Pataki

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: October 27, 2016

In this sweeping and powerful novel, New York Times bestselling author Allison Pataki tells the little-known story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, the Princess Diana of her time. An enthralling work of historical fiction set during the Golden Age of the Habsburg court, Sisi is a gripping page-turner for readers of Philippa Gregory, Paula McLain, and Daisy Goodwin. Married to Emperor Franz Joseph, Elisabeth - fondly known as Sisi - captures the hearts of her people as their "fairy queen," but beneath that dazzling perception lives a far more complex figure. In mid-nineteenth-century Vienna, the halls of the Hofburg Palace buzz not only with imperial waltzes and champagne but also with temptations, rivals, and cutthroat intrigue. Sisi grows restless, feeling stifled by strict protocols and a turbulent marriage. A free-spirited wanderer, she finds solace at her estate outside Budapest, where she enjoys visits from the striking Hungarian statesman Count Andrássy, the man with whom she’s unwittingly fallen in love. But tragic news brings Sisi out of seclusion, forcing her to return to her capital and a world of gossip, envy, and sorrow where a dangerous fate lurks in the shadows. Through love affairs and loss, Sisi struggles against the conflicting desires to keep her family together or to flee amid the collapse of her suffocating marriage and the gathering tumult of the First World War. In an age of crumbling monarchies, Sisi fights to assert her right to the throne beside her husband, to win the love of her people and the world, and to save an empire. But in the end, can she save herself?

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Empress Elisabeth

*** NOTE: This review contains spoilers. Please take heed and proceed at your own risk. 

I love the Hapsburgs. Their history fascinates me and I was understandably intrigued when I learned that Allison Pataki had chosen to feature Empress Elisabeth as a fictional heroine. I was overjoyed to get an ARC of The Accidental Empress, but the reality of the novel didn’t live up to my expectations. That said, my two year experience with the first book proved I was too addicted to the subject matter to walk away from the series and challenged me to approach the sequel, Sisi: Empress on Her Own, with a more open mind. Resolved to give the author the benefit of the doubt, I jumped straight into the latter and did my best to remain objective. Did the effort pay off? Sort of. The novel incorporated a number of references and I enjoyed the game I made of picking out historically relevant cameos, but I fell into old habits and quickly found myself wrestling to rectify the fiction against my own inner dialogue and understanding of the royal family. Fair warning folks, what follows is a soapbox series of complaints by an exceedingly nitpicky reader. I’m bias and make no apologies for it, but please keep in mind my ‘enthusiasm’ relates to my passion for the material and is not necessarily even-keeled. Spoilers abound in the following paragraphs. Consider yourself warned.

I feel the strongest moments of the narrative were the scenes relayed from Luigi’s point of view, but I am frustrated to report that these passages couldn’t have played out as presented in the book. Pataki’s illustration of Sisi’s assassination includes an evening of premeditation that contradicts the timeline. Luigi’s intended target was Philippe, Duke of Orleans, but a change of plans meant the Duke was elsewhere. Frustrated, Luigi looked for a new mark and settled on Sisi after finding her name in the local paper. The paper was published on September 10th, the same day Sisi was assassinated which means Luigi could not have meditated on her death the night before and while that observation means little in the grand scheme of things, I couldn’t help feeling the dramatic shift in context minimized the tragedy of the Empress’ death. She was selected as a target only hours before the attack which made it a crime of opportunity and I am not comfortable with the liberty taken in white washing that fact as it gave Sisi’s assassin far more credit than he is due.

I also struggled with the lack of complexity between Elisabeth and Franz. Pataki’s interpretation is very black and white, but I have reason to believe the marriage was in fact much more complicated. In a letter to his mistress, Franz Joseph wrote the following: “We are quite well physically. The Empress has taken up her lessons again... and she devotes herself to the study of modern Greek with her usual zeal, in her room and in her walks in the garden. It is a necessary distraction for her, and Valerie reads to her in the evenings before we retire, while I fall off to sleep in a very comfortable reclining chair. Otherwise, the Empress is composed, and occupied only with her concern for my welfare and for cheering me, but still I notice how utterly the deep, secret grief fills her. She is a great, rare woman!” Their history is convoluted and while their union did not have the hallmarks of a passionate romance, the Emperor’s correspondence appears to indicate that despite their difficulties, the two were companionable, warm, and mutually supportive of one another. 

Those familiar with my comments on Daisy Goodwin’s The Fortune Hunter understand that I was a not a fan of the novel. The idea of Sisi doning her famed star jewels for an informal evening tryst in the stables of an English country estate still makes me laugh, but the fact remains that  Goodwin spent a lot of time researching Sisi’s beauty regime and the details she worked into her novel earned her a degree of admiration from yours truly (Details on Goodwin’s firsthand research can be found here). Pataki, by contrast, makes no mention of Sisi’s extreme dedication to her physical appearance and I couldn’t help asking myself why. Sisi’s features and fashion choices made her a legend in her own lifetime and I found it difficult to understand how such an intense routine could be so completely omitted from a story centered on the ‘most beautiful woman in the world,’ especially when said rituals are referenced in the historic notes at the end of the novel in question.

Mayerling makes its first appearance as the setting for a meeting between Elisabeth and Andrassy just after the World Fair in 1873. Pataki paints it as a royal property, but here again I found myself nitpicking. The notorious locale was acquired by Rudolf in 1887 from the Abbey of Heiligenkreuz which had owned it since 1550. This understanding being firmly rooted in my mind, I couldn't see the fictional scene as plausible and consequently assume it was invented to draw a tragic parallel between mother and son. I'll grant it's a creative idea, but I personally found it distasteful. After the incident, Franz Joseph ordered the property be converted to a convent and the Empress commissioned a striking and oddly prophetic Madonna for the chapel. In my eyes, the existence of this memorial is evidence of the deep and unrelenting pain Sisi associated with Mayerling and I don’t think the fiction recognizes those emotions.

Politically speaking, Sisi character shows significant inconsistencies. There are discussions with Franz, Andrassy, Ludwig that show her as possessing a great deal of political acumen. I personally agreed with this interpretation, but my opinion on that point is entirely irrelevant. I’d have been just as happy if Sisi had been painted as an independent, self-indulgent, social butterfly, but the fact that she flits back and forth between the two was difficult to swallow. Sisi couldn’t have been fiercely passionate about her role as Empress and repelled by execution of her imperial duties at the same time and as a reader, I found the inherent contradiction disorienting.

I understand Sisi to have been a complicated and deeply troubled soul with a host of personal demons, but Pataki’s Sisi was largely preoccupied with and defined by her love life. I struggled with that, but at the end of the day I don't hold it against the author. Pataki's understanding differs from my own, but I'd vowed to let go of my own preconceptions and at least try appreciate the character as Pataki envisioned her. I made a point of examining the contrasts Pataki created in Sisi's relationships with Franz, Andrassy, and Bay and ultimately appreciated those themes a great deal. On a similar note, I was also deeply impressed with Pataki's illustration of the Emperor's relationship with Katharina Schratt.

Chapter Fifteen was not my favorite as it omits much and peddles a number of anachronisms, but this review is long enough and I think I've illustrated my feelings well enough. When all is said and done, Sisi: Empress on Her Own is stronger than its predecessor and I'm glad to have  read it, but that said, I found the completed work both unconvincing and inconsistent and would have difficulty recommending it forward. 

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“Death is to be my constant companion until it becomes my master… “

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The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: October 25, 2016

New York Times bestselling author Allison Pataki follows up on her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Traitor’s Wife, with the little-known and tumultuous love story of “Sisi” the Austro-Hungarian Empress and captivating wife of Emperor Franz Joseph. The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry. Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead. Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world. With Pataki’s rich period detail and cast of complex, bewitching characters, The Accidental Empress offers a captivating glimpse into one of history’s most intriguing royal families, shedding new light on the glittering Hapsburg Empire and its most mesmerizing, most beloved “Fairy Queen.”

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*** NOTE: This review contains spoilers. Please take heed and proceed at your own risk. 

An ARC of Alison Pataki’s The Accidental Empress sat on my kindle for nearly two years. Howard Books granted me a copy sometime before the novel was released in February 2015, but the first chapter of the book left such a bad taste in my mouth that despite multiple attempts, I was unable to reach chapter two. I’ll grant that Maximilian was a womanizer, but I felt Pataki’s depiction of the man as drunk and slovenly boob clashed with the historic record which evidences him as a cultured patron of the arts. I was flat out appalled by the author’s illustration of Karl calling his sisters whores, but it was Duchess Ludovika’s declaration that she’d “never allowed [herself] to hope” that one of daughters might marry the emperor that caused my jaw to clench.

It’s of little consequence to the average reader, but long story short, this line drew the author’s research into question and led me to abandon the novel several times over. Excuse me for pointing it out, but records show there were more than thirty marriages between the Hapsburgs and the Bavarian Wittlesbachs. It’s a pretty significant trend when looking at the family histories so the idea that Ludovika hasn’t considered the prospect is pretty preposterous. I found equally difficult to believe this fact could have been overlooked as the consequences of these marriages are pretty significant. In my mind, the research either wasn’t done or the facts were being ignored and I wasn’t entirely comfortable with either explanation. Similar instances throughout the book gave me reason to pause and I found it an uphill battle to ignore the inconsistencies I recognized during my reading.

I also struggled with the novel’s structure. The reader is aware that something isn’t right from the get go as Andrassy is introduce in the prologue, but Pataki dedicates the next eighty percent of the story to developing Elisabeth and Franz as a couple, building up their romance and slowing tearing it apart. I get the idea, but I honestly felt she was beating a dead horse. The affair was already established and spending so much time on the circumstances that gave rise to it seemed moot. I didn’t want to know how they got there, they were there, and I wanted to know what happened next, but it seems that is a story of another day and is not chronicled between these pages.

Character development was another issue for me as I found Pataki built Elisabeth up by dumbing everyone else down. The presentation also struck me as inconsistent and I often found myself wondering how Elisabeth got from Point A to Point B. For the sake of example, there is a moment where Elisabeth declares she will take back her household and be mother to her children, but paragraphs later she pulls a one-eighty, her fervor vanishes and she is seen abandoning the family out of jealousy and spite. Instances like this were common and made a significant impression on my opinions of both the primary and supporting cast.

I freely admit that much of my difficulty has roots in the passion I have for the material, but that aside, I was unconvinced by the style and tone of this telling and would have great difficulty recommending The Accidental Empress to other readers. It's an interesting idea, but the book hit all the wrong notes and lacked the charisma and dramatic appeal I expected when I requested it for review.

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"A deity does not quake simply because the crowd yells. An empress stands fixed, immutable: the calm that continues on, even as the world rages."

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The Kaiser's Last Kiss by Alan Judd

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Edelweiss

Read: October 11, 2016

A fictionalised account of the Kaiser Wilhelm's last years in Nazi-occupied Holland.It is 1940 and the exiled Kaiser is living in Holland, at his palace Huis Doorn.The old German king spends his days chopping logs and musing on what might have been.When the Nazis invade Holland, the Kaiser's Dutch staff are replaced by SS guards, led by young, eager Untersturmfuhrer Krebbs, and an unlikely relationship develops between the king and his keeper. While they agree on the rightfulness of German expansion and on holding the country's Jewish population accountable for all ills, they disagree on the solutions. Krebbs's growing attraction and love affair with Akki, a Jewish maid in the house, further undermines his belief in Nazism. But as the tides of war roll around them, all three find themselves increasingly compromised and gravely at risk.This subtle, tender novel borrows heavily from real history and events, but remains a work of superlative, literary fiction.Through Judd's depiction of the Lear-like Kaiser and the softening of brutal Krebbs, the novel draws unique parallels between Germany at the turn of the 20th century and Hitler's Germany.

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Kaiser Wilhelm

Alan Judd’s The Kaiser’s Last Kiss demanded my attention the moment I stumbled over it on Edelweiss. I waited impatiently to see if I’d be granted a copy for review and jumped for joy when one came through. Few stories get me this excited, but I’ve spent a lot of time reading about the Kaiser, WWI and WWII and couldn’t help feeling giddy about a story that features elements of all three. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm distracted me from my usual routine and I failed to do my homework before diving into the narrative.

Had I bothered to look, I might have approached The Kaiser’s Last Kiss differently, but I didn’t and missed noting that I’ve read Judd before and wasn’t impressed with the result. I’d eyed Dancing with Eva for several months before acquiring a copy in 2013 and was bitterly disappointed when the execution failed to live up to my expectations. The pacing was sluggish and the characters stilted. The telling was anticlimactic and I remember being impressed with myself for not throwing the damned book at the wall.

Why is any of this important? Well let’s just say history repeats itself and while I found The Kaiser’s Last Kiss marginally better than its predecessor, I honestly feel that it suffers many of the same technical and structural difficulties. I found Krebbs and Akki woefully underdeveloped and the fact that I felt something off in each negatively underscored Judd’s primary plot twist. Much like I did with his earlier work, I finished this novel feeling distinctly unsatisfied with the central story and wishing I hadn’t invested my time in the narrative.

The story lacked punch and I didn’t warm to Krebbs or Akki, but I did note some fun historic detail in the politics of the narrative and I actually liked Judd’s interpretation of Kaiser Wilhelm. Judd’s characterization of the exiled monarch mirrors my own impressions and I found his scenes amusing despite my lack of interest in the rest of the story.

Would I recommend The Kaiser’s Last Kiss? Probably not. I don’t mean to turn anyone away from the novel, I don’t think it capitalized on the full potential of the subject matter and I wasn’t impressed with the fictional elements of the piece.

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“People fear that because I have lived in Holland for over twenty years I do not know what the German people are thinking. But I do. I know very well what the German people think because people tell me and because I understand them here... It is not war itself they seek, but they hunger for justice and war is the only way. So for this new war, they have, since 1918, been ready to march at once, to strangle the French. Well, now they are doing that but they cannot finish the job properly until they have driven Juda out of England, as they are driving them from the continent. The Jews and Anglo-American commercialism and materialism make it impossible for European peoples to live in decent peace and spiritual harmony. This war will be a divine judgment on Juda-England, you will see. That is why the soldiers of the Wehrmachtare here in Holland, Major van Houten. It is not against you or your country, and when the business is complete they will go. I promise you that."

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The Pearl and the Carnelian by Annabel Fielding

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: October 3, 2016

Britain, 1934. Hester Blake, an ambitious girl from an industrial Northern town, finds a job as a lady's maid in a small aristocratic household. Despite their impressive title and glorious past, the Fitzmartins are crumbling under the tribulations of the new century. In the cold isolation of these new surroundings, Hester ends up hopelessly besotted with her young mistress, Lady Lucy. Fragile and enthralling, Lucy can weave fascinating stories like a spider weaves her web. Armed with shrewd wits and an iron will to match, she is determined to carve out a new life for herself. They are drawn to each other as kindred spirits, eager to take advantage of the new opportunities the world has to offer. Moreover, soon Hester gets to accompany Lady Lucy on her London Season, and readily plunges herself into the heady mix of passion, art and excitement of the glittering city. However, there are plenty of dark undercurrents swirling beneath the majestic imperial capital. The country is rife with discontent, and radical political movements are growing in influence day by day. There is a controversy, surrounding the new dictatorships of Europe, and struggles are breaking out in the press as well as in the streets. The hushed whispers of yet another war are still rare, but the battle for hearts and minds has already started, and Lucy's talent can be employed for very sinister ends. Meanwhile, Hester seems to be harboring some secrets of her own... 

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Annabel Fielding’s The Pearl and the Carnelian took hold of my imagination the moment I stumbled over it. I was captivated by the originality of the plot description and jumped for joy when I landed an ARC of the narrative for review through Netgalley. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm was short lived and I can’t bring myself to give the novel more than two stars.

The politics of the story are fascinating and I genuinely appreciate Fielding’s eye for subject matter, but I found the tone of the telling monotonous and simply couldn’t get into the story. The sluggish pacing didn’t help and I spent the bulk of the narrative wondering when something was going to happen. I kept telling myself the story would take off in the next chapter, but that moment next came and I finished the last page feeling deflated and disappointed with the experience.

The characters were not bad, but they didn’t stand out in my mind. They lacked spirit and seemed to go through the motions. They hit all their marks, but there was no life or intrigue in their make-up and I found it different to engage in their individual story lines. I wanted to like them, but they lacked that spark that makes a character jump from the page.

Fielding has an obvious passion for the period and made great use of the detail, but the execution left something to be desired. I found the information dumps difficult to navigate and was confused when scenes shifted to feature various members of the supporting cast. Despite its potential, the story didn't leave an impression on me and I can’t see myself recommending the book to other readers down the road.

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 East End crawled under her skin, mixing with her blood. It was a fitting place for her, as she recognized now - sometimes with humour, sometimes with bitterness. The age-old place for the alien, the disreputable, the unwanted.

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The Girl and the Sunbird: A Beautiful, Epic Story of Love, Loss and Hope by Rebecca Stonehill

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: August 11, 2016

A haunting, heartbreaking and unforgettable novel of a woman married to a man she can never love, and drawn to another who will capture her heart forever... East Africa 1903:When eighteen year old Iris Johnson is forced to choose between marrying the frightful Lord Sidcup or a faceless stranger, Jeremy Lawrence, in a far-off land, she bravely decides on the latter. Accompanied by her chaperone, Miss Logan, Iris soon discovers a kindred spirit who shares her thirst for knowledge. As they journey from Cambridgeshire to East Africa, Iris’s eyes are opened to a world she never knew existed beyond the comforts of her family home. But when Iris meets Jeremy, she realizes in a heartbeat that they will never be compatible. He is cold and cruel, spending long periods of time on hunting expeditions and leaving Iris alone. Determined to make the best of her new life, Iris begins to adjust to her surroundings; the windswept plains of Nairobi, and the delightful sunbirds that visit her window every day. And when she meets Kamau, a school teacher, Iris finds her calling, assisting him to teach the local children English. Kamau is everything Jeremy is not. He is passionate, kind and he occupies Iris’s every thought. She must make a choice, but if she follows her heart, the price she must pay will be devastating. 

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I should have listened when a good friend of mine warned me off Rebecca Stonehill’s The Girl and the Sunbird: A Beautiful, Epic Story of Love, Loss and Hope, but I’m a stubborn mule and forged ahead anyway. Unfortunately for me, my friend was entirely correct in her assessment. The book didn’t suit my tastes and proved rather disappointing in my eyes.

The trouble started early when I noted the author’s tendency to tell more than she showed. It grated my nerves and I was frustrated that Stonehill seemed to expect me to simply accept Iris as she was described by her fellows. To be perfectly blunt, I found little to no evidence to substantiate the claims on Iris’ character. She didn’t seem real and I found it impossible to generate genuine empathy or interest in her or her experiences as the story moved on.

The same concept applies to the romantic and marital relationships Iris engages in. Emotions and feelings she was meant to harbor are firmly stated, but poorly illustrated and I think that went a long way in undermining the authenticity of each affair. I wanted to believe her sentiments sincere, but here again I felt force fed material that was largely unsupported.

I liked the general themes of the story, but the duration of the narrative and large gaps in the timeline made the underlying messages difficult to appreciate. Key plot points were wholly predictable and I couldn’t understand the multitude of narrators. Iris was the central figure of the story and I felt the rotating voices distracting and often irrelevant.

I can’t say The Girl and the Sunbird was a complete wash, there were moments I liked and East Africa proved an interesting setting, but the story wasn’t my cup of tea and I’m not sure I’ll be reading this author again.

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Is this your way of apologising, for trying to make up for the neglect, the rage and the pain you have inflicted upon me? And as the tears silently stream down my face, I think, It is too late for this. It is far, far too late.

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Begun by Time by Morgan O'Neill

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: July 10, 2016

In 1945, a man disappeared into thin air... In the final days of World War II, Catherine Hastings meets the man she wants to marry. Flight surgeon Jonathan Brandon isn't just handsome - he's everything Catherine could hope for in her betrothed. But her dream of a happily ever after is shattered when Jonnie disappears shortly before their wedding... leaving Catherine bereft, broken-hearted, and with a lifetime of unanswered questions. Arthur Howard is smitten with the lovely Catherine the moment he sees her. He's certain he's found the woman he wants to marry. Yet behind Catherine's sparkling green eyes is a haunted look - the look of a woman who has known loss. But can he love a woman who still grieves the loss of her fiancé? Now Arthur wants answers about the man Catherine intended to marry. But the truth about Jonnie's disappearance is far stranger than fiction...

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Yeah... no. Morgan O'Neill's Begun by Time didn't work for me. I've a penchant for WWII lit and jumped into the novel without thinking twice, but I made it only a few chapters before realizing I'd picked up something I wasn't going to enjoy.

My first issue was the characterizations or more accurately, the lack there of. Cookie cutter character drive me up the wall and there was simply no depth to Catherine, Jonathan or Arthur. They appeared to be going through the motions, but there was nothing genuine about their sentimentalities which made it incredibly difficult for me to buy into the relationships they were meant to experience.

My second issue was the structure of the novel. The story unfolds chronologically, but as a reader I found the presentation awkward. Why bother to illustrate the relationship between Catherine and Jonathan when you intend to rip them apart? It's a bloody waste of ink, especially since anyone who has read the blurb knows their wedding never takes place. Honestly, the book should have started with Arthur meeting Catherine and followed their relationship as he sought to unravel the mystery that haunts her heart.

Last, but not least, is the lack of historic detail. Begun by Time is an exceedingly light piece and that's well and good for those who appreciate vague references, but I favor meatier pieces with extensive worldbuilding and calling an end to the greatest conflict of the twentieth century with little more than "It is unconfirmed as yet, and there are no details, but Germany announced late last night that Hitler is dead" didn’t pack the punch I was looking for.

I’d no real interest in reading The Thornless Rose prior to picking up its prequel, but I’m definitely not interested now and can’t say I see myself recommending Begun by Time to my fellow readers.

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Time. She suddenly realized how it had affected her, how her journey with Arthur was begun by time itself. Begun by time. Yes. And always meant to be.

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Lost Destiny: Joe Kennedy Jr. and the Doomed WWII Mission to Save London by Alan Axelrod

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: July 30, 2016

On August 12, 1944, Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., heir to one of America's most glamorous fortunes, son of the disgraced former ambassador to Great Britain, and big brother to freshly minted PT-109 hero JFK, hoisted himself up into a highly modified B-24 Liberator bomber. The munitions he was carrying that day were fifty percent more powerful than TNT. Kennedy's mission was part of Operation Aphrodite/Project Anvil, a desperate American effort to rescue London from a rain of German V-1 and V-2 missiles. The decision to use these bold but crude precursors to modern-day drones against German V-weapon launch sites came from Air Corps high command. Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle, daring leader of the spectacular 1942 Tokyo Raid, and others concocted a plan to install radio control equipment in "war-weary" bombers, pack them with a dozen tons of high explosives, and fly them by remote control directly into the concrete German launch sites—targets too hard to be destroyed by conventional bombs. The catch was that live pilots were needed to get these flying bombs off the ground and headed toward their targets. Joe Jr. was the first naval aviator to fly such a mission. And—in the biggest manmade explosion before Hiroshima—it killed him. Alan Axelrod's Lost Destiny is a rare exploration of the origin of today's controversial military drones as well as a searing and unforgettable story of heroism, WWII, and the Kennedy dynasty that might have been.

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I'm not gonna beat around the bush here and I'm not going to apologize for my bluntness either. I was hugely disappointed with Alan Axelrod's Lost Destiny: Joe Kennedy Jr. and the Doomed WWII Mission to Save London and feel the eleven and half hours I spent listening to the audio largely wasted.

Axelrod did a marvelous job chronicling Operations Anvil and Aphrodite, but his coverage of the famous face that graces the jacket is nothing short of laughable. The mission, it's purpose and development are illustrated in minute detail, but the man himself features in less than 30% of the text. Looking back, I wish the author had written solely about the operations and listed Kennedy as little more than a tragic pilot, but it's also occurred to me that Joe Jr. was tacked on to this manuscript to capitalize on name recognition and artificially inflate sale numbers.

I'll grant the book has merit for those interested in exhaustive detail regarding WWII aviation, developing technologies, weaponry, and bomb testing, but those looking for information on Kennedy's war experience best look elsewhere.

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But there was no way to know all this as the V-1s rained down and as London, among other cities, waited in dread for assault by the even deadlier V-2s. So the Allied bombers flew, and so Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. and the other men of Aphrodite and Anvil prepared to lay down theirs lives to save the citizens of London and the other English towns.

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Rosa's Gold by Ray Kingfisher

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: July 11, 2016

Nicole Sutton’s world has been turned upside down. Sixteen and suffering the fallout of a devastating family tragedy, she is forced to move away from her London home to the quiet town of Henley—and a new life she never wanted nor expected. In the dusty cellar of her strange new house, Nicole stumbles upon a worn old journal left behind by a previous occupant. Inside, through the eyes of a soldier named Mac, she finds herself drawn into a brutally honest memoir of the horrors of war and Auschwitz—and of the life and love Mac had to leave behind. The more Nicole reads, the more she is able to make sense of her own troubles. Because Mac’s story is so much more than a journal: it is the story of a family fighting for survival in the darkest days of humanity, of hope in the face of persecution. And then there’s the buried gold...

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I was optimistic going into Ray Kingfisher’s Rosa’s Gold, but the reality didn’t live up to my expectations. I don’t mean to imply that my opinion trumps anyone else’s because it doesn’t, but I’m not gonna lie, I expected more from a book with one hundred four and five star ratings. A lot more.

The lack of character development grated my nerves and I was bitterly disappointed with the passionless relationship between Mac and Rosa. I’m sorry, but a couple of chaste kisses does not an epic romance make. Structurally speaking, the novel was all over the place and the plot really doesn’t get around to the gold until the final fourth of the narrative. That’s right folks, the novel’s primary plot point is tagged on like an afterthought in the final chapters. Why? I don’t know, the decision made as much sense as introducing a third narrator, one Mrs. Belotti, in the thirty-seventh of thirty-nine chapters, but that’s just my opinion. 

I’m not gonna get on my soapbox about Nicole’s annoyingly infantile parents, but I will stay that I didn’t care for the contemporary story line. Nicole’s experience hardly qualifies as a compelling arc and I don’t consider her an active participant in the narrative. I suppose one could argue, that much like Bastian in The Neverending Story, but while Nicole bears witness, she doesn’t stand up to anything in the end, she merely stands up and I don’t think that’s quite the same thing. 

My last issue, or at least the last I feel the need to mention, is continuity. In the jacket description and on pages eight, twenty-eight, and thirty, Nicole is sixteen years of age. On page sixteen, one hundred nine, two seventy-one, two seventy-two, and two seventy-eight, she is seventeen. I’ll grant it’s a minor detail, but I noticed it just the same and I can’t help wondering how many other continuity issues I’d have found I’d been actively hunting them. I mean no offense, but how is the reader supposed to keep the details straight if the narrative contracts itself? And yes, I checked my ARC edition from Lake Union against the one currently available through Amazon Digital Services, and the same errors exist in both. My ARC also lacks the usual disclaimer for unedited manuscripts which leads me to believe the book is ready for release and any comment on the editing failures is fair game.

At the end of the day, Rosa’s Gold simply didn’t suit my tastes. I’m happy to have tried it, but I don’t see myself recommending it to other readers down the road. 

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I wonder whether they took that idea and twisted it into ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ – the words erected across those dark, threatening gates like a mantra to the suffering masses. Was it a mantra? Was it prayer? Or was it there merely to taunt those people that little bit more? Either way, ‘twisted’ is the correct word; everything in that horrid place in those horrid times was twisted in one way or another.

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The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: July 8, 2016

Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected. The plantation workers are resentful, the neighbours treacherous. And there are clues to the past - a dusty trunk of dresses, an overgrown gravestone in the grounds - that her husband refuses to discuss. Just as Gwen finds her feet, disaster strikes. She faces a terrible choice, hiding the truth from almost everyone, but a secret this big can't stay buried forever...

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Book reviewers are typically solo acts. We pick our books, read our selections, post our thoughts and repeat. We obviously enjoy it, but a lot of us crave debate and discussion when analyzing literature which is what led a small group of my friends and I to commit to a buddy read.

The selection process, as you might imagine, was rather amusing. Four book junkies, rifling through their TBRs, submitting title after title in hope that something would spark mutual interest. It took us a couple of days, but The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies trumped every other submission. In recognition of our busy schedules, we committed to reading a few chapters a week and planned to open the floor for discussions every Friday. We started strong, but somewhere along the way our little group lost their momentum and the discussions trailed off. Evidence of our effort is available on Goodreads if you care to look and while I’ve yet to discuss the particulars with any of my fellows, I have a few theories as to why seemingly struck out.

Subtly isn’t something I’m known for so I’m just gonna come out and say it, The Tea Planter’s Wife is tediously slow. ‘Just keep reading’ became my mantra as I doggedly forced myself through the latter half of the narrative, but making the finish line awarded me no satisfaction. In point of fact, finishing the book made the experience even worse. When I stalled after chapter nineteen, I could speculate over the grand revelations that might be delivered in final climatic chapters… having finished the book, I can’t erased or reimagine the feeble culmination of Gwen’s experiences or the crushing sense of disappointment that was left in its wake.

Each member of the cast enjoys a moment or two of genuine intrigue, but taken as a collective whole Jefferies’ characterizations struck me as exceedingly thin. Every time I thought I was connecting with someone, that individual would either disappear from the narrative or sink into an extended period of self-pitying introspection. My eyes would glaze over, I’d groan, debate abandoning the book, berate myself for considering the notion, let fly a decidedly British expletive and force myself to keep going, but I suppose that admission is neither here nor there in the scheme of things.

Thematically, I felt Jefferies presentation insightful, but heavy-handed. Race relations in Ceylon are an integral part of Jefferies’ story, but I felt the Hoopers were forced into awkward situations in order for the author to explore social tensions of the day. The couple is preoccupied with their personal and professional lives for chapters at a time, far removed from the common Tamil and Sinhalese inhabitants of their community, but their existence is unnaturally punctuated by prejudice and while I appreciated what the author was trying to convey, I couldn’t help feeling the final product fractured and incohesive.

As stated, I can’t speak for Heather, Stephanie or Magdalena, but I personally struggled a great deal with The Tea Planter’s Wife. I did not enjoy the time I spent with this piece and would have great difficulty recommending it to other readers.

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The truth in return for his life. It would be an exchange, a bargain with God, and even if it meant losing everything, she must confess or otherwise watch her son die.

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The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: July 7, 2016

The highly anticipated new standalone novel from Martin Cruz Smith, whom The Washington Post has declared “that uncommon phenomenon: a popular and well-regarded crime novelist who is also a writer of real distinction,” The Girl from Venice is a suspenseful World War II love story set against the beauty, mystery, and danger of occupied Venice. Venice, 1945. The war may be waning, but the city known as La Serenissima is still occupied and the people of Italy fear the power of the Third Reich. One night, under a canopy of stars, a fisherman named Cenzo comes across a young woman’s body floating in the lagoon and soon discovers that she is still alive and in trouble. Born to a wealthy Jewish family, Giulia is on the run from the Wehrmacht SS. Cenzo chooses to protect Giulia rather than hand her over to the Nazis. This act of kindness leads them into the world of Partisans, random executions, the arts of forgery and high explosives, Mussolini’s broken promises, the black market and gold, and, everywhere, the enigmatic maze of the Venice Lagoon. The Girl from Venice is a thriller, a mystery, and a retelling of Italian history that will take your breath away. Most of all it is a love story.

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The phrase “highly anticipated” should set off warning bells, but I ignored my misgivings and jumped at Martin Cruz Smith’s The Girl from Venice. I’m a WWII junkie and have absolutely no restraint when considering literature set against the conflict, but looking back, I wish I’d have listened to my gut and passed on the narrative.

Please excuse my assessment, but Smith’s character development felt remarkably thin. As a reader, I couldn’t connect to a single member of the cast which made it intensely difficult to care how their stories turned out. I appreciated the brisk pace of the story, but I felt the individuals themselves were clichéd and forgettable.

Factually there are a few interesting points peppered throughout the narrative, but creating an atmosphere and transporting his readers wasn’t Smith’s priority. The Girl from Venice is first and foremost a mystery and at the end of the day, I feel the piece best suited to fans of that genre. The novel happens to take place during WWII, but when push comes to shove, it lacks the depth and detail I associate with good historic fiction.

At the end of the day I can't say I was particularly impressed with The Girl from Venice and I don't think I'll be recommending it to others any time soon. If failed satisfy any of my expectations and left no impression whatsoever.

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He hadn’t studied her in the light before. She was imperious, with straight hair and a sharp chin. Cenzo thought that if he could see the world with her eyes, it would be a place where your death was on a list. The girl came with ghosts.

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The Scarlet Queen by Jacqueline Farrell

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: July 1, 2016

Egypt, 1900. Kate Whitaker is fourteen years old when she first meets Adam Ellis on her archaeologist father’s dig. They hate each other on sight. Seven years later, they meet again in London, and this time Kate falls in love with him, only to discover he is more interested in his older, more sophisticated cousin Alice. When Adam returns in Egypt to discuss funding for her father’s new excavations, Kate resolves to have as little to do with him as possible. But illness and malicious rumours threaten to sabotage the dig, and Kate has no choice but to work with Adam. Can she trust him, or is he still under the spell of his lovely, haunted cousin...?

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Jacqueline Farrell’s The Scarlet Queen was marketed as a humorous romance on Netgalley. The cover struck me cheesy, but the lighthearted nature of the piece promised the sort of mental reprieve I’ve craved the last few weeks. I requested a copy, received an ARC almost immediately, and jumped in with what I hoped was an open mind.

The early chapters were amusing and several passages actually caused me to laugh out loud, but the momentum didn’t hold and I was soon struggling to remain engaged in the narrative. I wish I could say more about the historic details, but Farrell doesn’t offer her readers much to go on.

I found young Kate mischievous and energetic, but her adult counterpart didn’t have the same degree of self-assurance. Her pride and assumption annoyed me in the end and I ultimately cared very little for her character. Adam proved an interesting contrast to his leading lady, but his humble intelligence and wit could not carry the story alone.

When all is said and done The Scarlet Queen was as well-suited to me and I was to it. I understand there is a companion piece, but I am not inclined to sample it and will be seeking my amusements elsewhere.

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Before he could stop himself, Adam had bent over to examine the scroll more closely. That was when he called me an impudent chit. But not before I saw the look in his eyes. I was right, and he knew it.

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Whispering Vines by Amy Schisler

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: March 31, 2016

When Alex O’Donnell’s world falls apart, she finds it hard to imagine that a door to a new world will open. Leaving everything she knows behind, Alex moves from her Baltimore apartment to a villa in Italy where she discovers the inherited vineyard she never knew existed and a life of possibilities beyond her hopes and dreams. Arriving at the villa, Alex is taken aback by the animosity and scorn of the vineyard’s co-owner, Nicolas Giordano. Resentful of Alex’s sudden appearance, Nicolas struggles to maintain his control over his business and his feelings for his new partner. The discovery of a journal from World War II becomes the tie that binds Alex and Nicolas as they work to secure their future while putting together the pieces of a puzzle from the past. Unlock the hidden secrets within the Whispering Vines.

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At first glance, Amy Schisler’s Whispering Vines looked like my kind of fiction. I’m a bit of a WWII junkie and jump at anything set during the conflict. I was not familiar with Schisler or her work, but the subject matter was too tempting to ignore so I set about procuring myself a copy. Unfortunately, the novel didn’t live up to my expectations and I ended up speed reading the bulk of the second half. 

By the end of the first chapter I was annoyed to discover the author tells more than she shows. Schisler attempts to develop her characters by throwing a barrage of facts at her readers and I found little of note in the way of world building. I found the author's treatment exceedingly superficial and as such, couldn’t get relate to her heroine or envision the world Alex inhabited. I also found the novel formulaic, predictable, and sickeningly saccharine. I respect that some readers really enjoy this type of sugary storytelling, but I readily admit that I am not among their number. At the end of the day, I am drawn to intensity, tension, and conflict, the like of which Whispering Vines simply did not afford. 

Historically speaking, I wish the author had done more with the material. I appreciated the detail Schisler incorporated into the text, but I think there was room to dig deeper into the subject matter on which the narrative was based. The mystery surrounding Robbiano’s Madonna and Child was interesting and plays to curiosities regarding the methodical theft and appropriation of art by German forces during WWII, but I felt Schisler played it safe in her representations.

I did enjoy the details Schisler used regarding vineyards and the business of wine making and I appreciated the use of a war era journal to venture into multiple story lines, but I’m can’t say the novel rivals Teresa Neumann’s Bianca's Vineyard or Trini Amador’s Gracianna and would have a hard time recommending it to other readers. 

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“Love is all that matters,” Signora said, turning back to the younger woman. “Life brings hardship, and pain, and more loss than you think you can survive, but in the end, love will carry you through the agony and restore the breath you need to keep living. You must have love, or you have nothing.”

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The Photographer's Wife by Suzanne Joinson

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: January 5, 2016

In 1920s Jerusalem, eleven-year-old Prudence watches her architect father launch an ambitious (and crazy) plan to redesign the Holy City by importing English parks to the desert. He employs a British pilot, William Harrington, to take aerial photographs of the city, and soon Prue becomes uncomfortably aware of the attraction flaring between Harrington and Eleanora, the young English wife of a famous Jerusalem photographer. Palestine has been a surprisingly harmonious mix of British colonials, exiled Armenians, and Greek, Arab, and Jewish officials rubbing elbows, but there are simmers of trouble ahead. When Harrington learns that Eleanora's husband is part of an underground group intent on removing the British, a dangerous game begins. Years later, in 1937, Prue is an artist living a reclusive life by the sea when Harrington pays her a surprise visit. What he reveals unravels her world, and she must follow the threads that lead her back to secrets long-ago buried in Jerusalem. The Photographer's Wife is a powerful story of betrayal: between father and daughter, between husband and wife, and between nations and people, set in the complex period between the two world wars.

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I always hate admitting it, but I owe my interest in Suzanne Joinson’s The Photographer’s Wife to the cover artist who designed the jacket. I’d never read the author, I’d never even heard of her, but the vintage outfit stopped me dead in my tracks and I couldn’t resist reading the description at which point any and all restraint flew straight out the window. I requested a review copy from Bloomsbury USA, they approved my request and here I am.  

I know very little about 1920s Jerusalem and I’d hoped Joinson’s fiction would offer insight to city’s atmosphere and political landscape. Unfortunately, her descriptions never jumped from the page and I was never able to picture the world Joinson’s characters inhabited. On the upside though, I found the political dialogues fascinating and felt they went a long way in illustrating culture clash between Palestine and Britain.

Structurally, the book reminded me of Atonement. There is no ‘hit you like a ton of bricks’ moment at the end of the narrative, but much of what Prue witnesses as a child is only understood years later when she reflects on her experiences as an adult. I appreciate the idea, but Joinson’s execution didn’t work for me. I found the pacing tedious and I had little to no interest in the 1937 story line.

Joinson’s characterizations didn’t work for me either. I wasn’t intrigued by Prue, Eleanora, Charles, or Khaled. William had some interesting moments and I found his emotional struggle thought-provoking, but generally speaking, I couldn’t rouse much enthusiasm for the cast or the situations they faced. 

When all is said and done I would have a hard time recommending The Photographer’s Wife to other readers. I wanted to like it, but the descriptions and themes just didn’t appeal to my particular tastes. 

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I have never been able to determine the shifting sands of trust. I sometimes believe that we are designed to betray the people we love, just as sometimes we hand everything over, like a bright unclipped purse, or a secret part of our body, to a stranger.

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Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: November 5, 2015

As a child, Emma Malloy left isolated Coal River, Pennsylvania, vowing never to return. Now, orphaned and penniless at nineteen, she accepts a train ticket from her aunt and uncle and travels back to the rough-hewn community. Treated like a servant by her relatives, Emma works for free in the company store. There, miners and their impoverished families must pay inflated prices for food, clothing, and tools, while those who owe money are turned away to starve. Most heartrending of all are the breaker boys Emma sees around the village--young children who toil all day sorting coal amid treacherous machinery. Their soot-stained faces remind Emma of the little brother she lost long ago, and she begins leaving stolen food on families' doorsteps, and marking the miners' bills as paid. Though Emma's actions draw ire from the mine owner and police captain, they lead to an alliance with a charismatic miner who offers to help her expose the truth. And as the lines blur between what is legal and what is just, Emma must risk everything to follow her conscience. 

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Every time I see the cover of Ellen Marie Wiseman's Coal River, I think of Audrey Hepburn perched on her window sill while George Peppard watches covertly from his apartment above. Her voice echoes in my mind and I start humming the famed bars of Moon River. For the record, there is no correlation between the movie and the book, I simply couldn't get into the narrative and one point or another realized the title had the right number of syllables. 

My apologies to all who enjoyed it, but Coal River reads like a Hallmark movie and I found the entire thing overly sentimental and dull. I all but choked on Wiseman's saccharine heroine, I found the romantic element laughably predictable and feel the resolution comically contrived. There were a couple hard moments of genuine horror, but by and large I spent most of my read frustrated that Wiseman chose to tell the breaker boys' story through a character I didn't appreciate. 

To be perfectly honest, I was annoyed that Wiseman chose to ignore the inherent tenacity, fortitude and strength of the coal mining community. In her novel, these people need to be rescued, but historically, these people rescued themselves. The were forced to work in hellish conditions, their nerve and perseverance were forged by the danger of their occupation, and they found it in themselves to demand change. Wiseman ignores the grit and spirit of these individuals, opting instead to have them liberated on the effort of an outsider. Maybe it's just me, but I felt the oversight mocked the realities and I found derision difficult to stomach.

A lot of readers enjoyed Coal River and while I am truly happy for them, I admit that I am not among their number. I enjoyed Wiseman's writing well enough and will likely attempt her work again, but the execution of this particular piece failed to capture my admiration, interest, or imagination. 

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Emma followed Sawyer up the steep, narrow steps on the outside of the breaker, cringing as the bone dry staircase creaked beneath her boots. Gripping the iron railing with one hand, she hoped no one would see the terror in her eyes.

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Whistling Women by Kelly Romo

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: December 1, 2015

Life went terribly wrong for Addie Bates in San Diego, and she’s been running from dark memories ever since. For fifteen years, the Sleepy Valley Nudist Colony has provided a safe haven for Addie to hide from the crime she committed. But when the residents pack up to go on exhibit at the 1935 world’s fair in San Diego, Addie returns and must face the thrilling yet terrifying prospect of reuniting with her estranged sister, Wavey. Addie isn’t the only one interested in a reunion. When her niece, Rumor, discovers she has an aunt, Rumor is determined to bring her family together. But it’s not so easy when the women are forced to confront family secrets, past and present. Set against the backdrop of the 1935 world’s fair, Whistling Women explores the complex relationships between sisters, the sacrifices required to protect family, and the devastating consequences of a single impulsive act. 

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I'm not entirely sure what I expected when I requested Kelly Romo's Whistling Women for review. I was attracted to the premise because it sounded 'different' and I liked the idea of reading something a little offbeat, but the reality didn't work as well as I initially hoped. 

First and foremost, I didn't care for the characters. Despite possessing a wealth of potential, no member of the cast sparked my attention and/or interest. Beginning to end I felt the characters shuffled across the various scenes, spouting their lines without passion or purpose. In short I was unconvinced and that made it exceedingly difficult to accept the drama they were meant to experience. 

The story did pick up round the halfway mark, but at that point I felt it too little too late. The novel was readable, but by the time things started to happen I found I didn't care how it ended. To be perfectly blunt, the novelty had worn itself and my interest had waned. I was already considering my next book and had all but checked out of Addie's story.

That said, the straw that broke the camel's back was the resolution, or rather, the lack there of. The story culminates in a vague conclusion that left me wholly unsatisfied. Maybe it's just me, but I had too many unanswered question and felt the narrative had too many lose ends. The story didn't feel complete and that's not an impression I like having at the end of any novel.

Bottom line, Whistling Women wasn't my cup of tea and I'd have a hard time recommending to other readers. 

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Addie knew that the expectation was that she go, and she would—if it were anywhere but San Diego. That part of her life had been slammed shut for seventeen years, and she didn’t know if she had it in her to crack it open.

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