The Undesirables by Chad Thumann

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: October 6, 2016

In the winter of 1941–1942, Leningrad is under siege, and Karen Hamilton, a seventeen-year-old American musician, finds herself trapped and struggling to survive. Throughout the city, people are dying of starvation and frostbite, and Karen knows that if she doesn’t escape immediately, she will share their fate. If she has any hope of leaving Russia and reuniting with her fiancé, Bobby, in New York, she must do the impossible: cross enemy lines and then stow away. On her harrowing journey, Karen encounters Petr, a young conscripted Russian soldier. She isn’t sure she can trust him—he is equally wary of her. But as the two join forces in order to stay alive, an unexpected romance takes root. Now, as Karen gets closer to the reality of escape, she has a choice to make: Will she return to a safe life in America with Bobby, or remain in war-torn Russia with Petr?

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Chad Thumann’s The Undersireables stood out. WWII fiction is easy enough to find, but stories set in Russia aren’t as common as those set in England, Germany, or France and I captivated and intrigued by the premise presented in the jacket description. I’d never heard of the author, but I took a chance in requesting it and was happy to receive an ARC from Lake Union Publishing.

Historically speaking, the novel is breathtaking. Thumann’s descriptions of Leningrad are stark, but I was thoroughly impressed by how the author captured the realities of the situation through the eyes of a stranded American woman. I also appreciated how he balanced the challenges faced by civilians against the action and brutality of survival on the front lines. The details are fascinating and I think Thumann did an amazing job recreating the period for his readers.

I found the cast interesting, but slightly less dynamic. Karen is driven, but she is also selfish and rather single-minded. I didn’t admire her at all and frequently found myself rolling my eyes over her decisions. Petr had moments, but I found his character one dimensional and Bobby had potential, but he was noticeably less developed than the other narrators and I thought that damaged the intensity of the love triangle at the heart of the story. That said, I was quite impressed with members of the supporting cast. Inna, Sasha, Lenka, Krause, and Duck fascinated me and I found myself intrigued by the personalities and story lines Thumann created for them.

The pacing lent an addictive quality to the text and I found myself oddly satisfied with both climax and conclusion of the narrative. The Undersirables is a very different kind of war story, but I greatly enjoyed the time I spent with it and can easily see myself recommending it to other readers. 

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Those people who could not work efficiently—the slackers or naturally slovenly—should be eliminated. As Oster saw it, these people were the Russians, Bolsheviks, partisans, bohemians, and anyone else who didn’t agree with official German policy. These were the so-called undesirables. And it was good and proper that Oster and his companions were ridding the world of them. The world would become a more efficient, and more pleasant, place to live.

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Time and Regret by M.K. Tod

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: July 8, 2016

When Grace Hansen finds a box belonging to her beloved grandfather, she has no idea it holds the key to his past—and to long-buried family secrets. In the box are his World War I diaries and a cryptic note addressed to her. Determined to solve her grandfather’s puzzle, Grace follows his diary entries across towns and battle sites in northern France, where she becomes increasingly drawn to a charming French man—and suddenly aware that someone is following her... Through her grandfather’s vivid writing and Grace’s own travels, a picture emerges of a man very unlike the one who raised her: one who watched countless friends and loved ones die horrifically in battle; one who lived a life of regret. But her grandfather wasn’t the only one harboring secrets, and the more Grace learns about her family, the less she thinks she can trust them.

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Time and Regret is M.K. Tod’s third novel. I’ve both of her earlier releases and was eyeing her latest long before it was made available for review. WWII is my usual stomping ground, but I find myself increasingly fascinated with the Great War and, as such, couldn’t help bumping Time and Regret to the top of my TBR when Lake Union Publishing granted my request for an ARC.

The book impressed me on a number of levels, but I was floored by Tod’s illustration of a woman trying to move forward after an unexpected divorce. By coincidence, I intimately understood a lot of Grace’s insecurities and I was both impressed and appreciative of the authenticity Tod managed to convey in her make-up. Trends favor young, confident women, but Tod chose to feature a woman with relatable life experience and I think her novel stronger for it.

Secrets buried in letters and diaries are war lit clichés, but I really liked how Tod used Martin’s service memoir in Time and Regret. The volume contains many surprising revelations about Martin’s experiences at the Front, but I felt the way he repurposed it to convey his final wishes to Grace gave interesting insight into both his character and the relationship he shared with his granddaughter. I am used to relatives discovering the letters and diaries after the fact, but I found Martin’s active role as ‘game master’ refreshingly engaging.

Cynthia was a difficult character for me, but I grew to appreciate her very deeply in the end. I’m not used to seeing grandmothers portrayed as difficult, but here again I found myself applauding Tod’s unconventional approach. She threw stereotypes out the window and created a very unique personality in Cynthia and I like how the revelations into her character led me to believe different things about her character at different points in the narrative.

The climax of the novel was entertaining in its way, but I felt the intensity and emotion faded in the final chapters. I don’t mean to sound critical, but I appreciated those elements more than the mystery surrounding the paintings and while I liked how the story ended, I would have favored a more emotive conclusion. That said I greatly enjoyed the time I spent with this piece and would definitely recommend it to my fellow readers.

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If the newspapers reported the truth, if they wrote about the mud and filth and the body parts littering the ground and how young men look old before their time, would we still be here?

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Child of the River by Irma Joubert

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: August 13, 2016

Persomi’s dreams are much bigger than the world of poverty and deprivation that surround her in the Bushveld of the 1940s and 1950s in South Africa. Persomi is young, white and poor, born the middle child of illiterate sharecroppers on the prosperous Fourie farm. Persomi’s world is extraordinarily small. She has never been to the local village and spends her days absorbed in the rhythms of the natural world around her. Her older brother, Gerbrand, is her lifeline and her connection to the outside world. When he leaves the farm to seek work in Johannesburg, Persomi’s isolated world is blown wide open. But as her very small world falls apart, bigger dreams become open to her—dreams of an education, a profession, and of love. As Persomi navigates the changing world around her—the tragedies of WWII and the devastating racial strife of her homeland—she finally discovers who she truly is and where she belongs. A compelling coming of age story with an unlikely and utterly memorable heroine, Persomi’s English language publication solidifies Irma Joubert’s important place in the canon of inspirational historical fiction.

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My interest in Irma Joubert's Child of the River was sparked by the WWII reference in its jacket description which is hilarious as, after reading it, I'd never recommend the book as war era fiction. The conflict is little more than a footnote in the grand scheme of Persomi's story and while I was somewhat disappointed by that reality, I am happy to note that I do not consider the time I spent with Child of the River wasted. The book is a slow starter and it wasn't at all what I expected, but once the story got going it proved utterly impossible to put down.

I'm sure there are those who will feel Persomi anachronistic, but I thought her fascinating. She has a unique background and I loved how the disadvantages she experienced as a child authenticated her views and understandings as an adult. Persomi grew up on the social fringe so it wasn't difficult to believe her empathy for the disenfranchised. I liked that. Too often I see characters who defy their era, upbringing, and class and I appreciated Joubert for creating a heroine who was atypical enough to be interesting, but equally appropriate to her era.

Conceptually, I also liked an idea that Joubert played with over the course of the narrative. It's subtle, but the suggestion that it is the children who suffer the indiscretions of the past intrigued me. Persomi doesn't know her own history and her journey to unlock those mysteries impacts her in ways that shape the course of her life and cause her to reinvent herself several times over. Long story short, Joubert used Persomi to explore some very deep emotions and I think brought a lot to the narrative.

Historically, speaking, I greatly enjoyed the world Joubert created within these pages. South Africa is not a locale I see often and I appreciated the crash course I received as the story progressed. Child of the River chronicles a time and place that I knew very little about and I feel that Joubert's illustration of the social and political movements of the day afforded me a great deal of insight.

Child of the River was not what I expected, but it surprised me in the best possible way. It isn't my typical fair, but I'd definitely recommend it to other readers.

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She frowned. “Is it worth it, Boelie? Laying down your life for the freedom of your people?” 

“It’s what soldiers of many countries in Europe and North Africa are doing at this moment . . . thousands, millions of them,” he said. 

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Lost in the Pacific: Epic Firsthand Accounts of WWII Survival Against Impossible Odds edited by L. Douglas Keeney

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: August 2, 2016

With dreams of flying, they enlisted from all across America, eager to defeat the Japanese and bring an end to the war. Most were no more than 21 or 22 years old, fresh from pilot training, with quick reflexes, sharp eyes, and keen intelligence. And when they crashed, they needed every physical and mental advantage to survive. Their ordeals began with blunt-force impact with the sea. From overhead, a hail of bullets from enemy planes. From below, the imminent danger of shark attack. Then the ongoing perils of drowning, exposure, heat, storms, and capture. Two out of three airmen who survived their crashes were forever lost. The lucky ones lived to tell these amazing stories. The creator of the "Lost Histories of World War II" series and cofounder of The Military Channel, editor L. Douglas Keeney reviewed hundreds of reels of microfilm from the archives of Maxwell Air Force Base’s History Center, searching out the most captivating first-person accounts among the crash-and-rescue reports from WWII’s Pacific Theater. Each of these 23 previously unpublished narratives, recounted in the airman’s own words, tells a true-life tale that’s stranger than any fiction. Each forms a testament to human resilience, character, and fortitude. All offer inspiring new insights into the heroics of the vanishing generation whose valor will live forever.

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L. Douglas Keeney’s Lost in the Pacific: Epic Firsthand Accounts of WWII Survival Against Impossible Odds isn’t my favorite WWII book of all time, but it’s definitely high on the list. Unearthed from aging archives and copied off microfilm, Keeney compiled a truly inspiring collection of survival, determination, and ingenuity.

Each story is edited from a firsthand account as written by the man who lived it. The details vary and are sometimes graphic, but each chapter gives affords a very unique insight to some truly extraordinary situations as well as the actions and decisions that ultimately saved these men from death in the Pacific.

Lost in the Pacific offers a comprehensive snapshot of aviation operations and safety protocols during WWII. I was fascinated by the development of the survival kits, but I was equally impressed with how often those kits were used in ways they hadn’t been designed for. You can’t make this stuff up and I appreciate Keeney both for finding these stories and compiling them as he did.

Keeney does not glorify these men, he’s actually very careful to remind his readers that they were the exceptions rather than the rule and that most, once medically cleared, desired only to take to the skies and resume their duties. Lost in the Pacific stands as testament to humble men and the fortitude it took to survive extreme circumstances. A definite must read for all WWII enthusiasts.

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“For every airman who was rescued, two were lost. For every man who was found alive on a floating raft, two died, blistered and dehydrated in the sun. Sharks swarmed. Enemies strafed. Cold water chilled. Bombers fell apart in the sea—half the crew reaching a raft, the other half sinking in the wreckage. In most cases, airplanes became flying coffins. And in many others, young men drifted in the ocean, hopelessly waiting for help that never came.”

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Promised to the Crown by Aimie K. Runyan

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: May 21, 2016

In her illuminating debut novel, Aimie K. Runyan masterfully blends fact and fiction to explore the founding of New France through the experiences of three young women who, in 1667, answer Louis XIV’s call and journey to the Canadian colony. They are known as the filles du roi, or “King’s Daughters”—young women who leave prosperous France for an uncertain future across the Atlantic. Their duty is to marry and bring forth a new generation of loyal citizens. Each prospective bride has her reason for leaving—poverty, family rejection, a broken engagement. Despite their different backgrounds, Rose, Nicole, and Elisabeth all believe that marriage to a stranger is their best, perhaps only, chance of happiness. Once in Quebec, Elisabeth quickly accepts baker Gilbert Beaumont, who wants a business partner as well as a wife. Nicole, a farmer’s daughter from Rouen, marries a charming officer who promises comfort and security. Scarred by her traumatic past, Rose decides to take holy vows rather than marry. Yet no matter how carefully she chooses, each will be tested by hardship and heartbreaking loss—and sustained by the strength found in their uncommon friendship, and the precarious freedom offered by their new home.

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The Arrival of the French Girls at Quebec, 1667.
Watercolour by Charles William Jefferys

Aimie K. Runyan's Promised to the Crown intrigued me. I haven't read a lot of fiction set in Canada and while I was aware it'd been a French colony, I'd never heard of the "King's Daughters" and wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the narrative. I took time to consider the book, but it stayed on my radar as reviews came in, my curiosity grew, and eventually got the best of me. 

Runyan's fiction introduced me to material I knew absolutely nothing about, but I found the way she conveyed that history quite creative. Most stories end when the characters reach their destination, but arrival in the colony is only the beginning for Rose, Nicole, and Elisabeth. Maybe it's just me, but I felt there was very authentic in that, something very true to the experiences of the real King's Daughters and I appreciated how Runyan incorporated that reality into her fiction. 

Taking that concept one step further, I loved the diversity in each of the three story lines. Each woman faces a very different set of challenges and while I thought some moments a little soft, I was drawn to the idea that so much of their struggle was not tied to the era so much as it was their emotions. Runyan captured a number of intimate moments over the course of the narrative and I think that the universality of the pain and joy these women experience bridges the gap and allows modern readers to really understand the world through their eyes. 

Runyan tackles a lot of social and legal conflicts as well as personal drama so don't get the idea that its all women's issues. The author obviously loves the period and I think the finished novel speaks to era and I'm eager to see where the author takes the series in book two of the series, Duty to the Crown, which is set to release in October.

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Rose walked slowly back to her dormitory. She hoped that Sister Charite was right, and that a useful life awaited her in New France.

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Days of Sun and Glory by Anna Belfrage

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: June 14, 2016

Adam de Guirande has barely survived the aftermath of Roger Mortimer’s rebellion in 1321. When Mortimer manages to escape the Tower and flee to France, anyone who has ever served Mortimer becomes a potential traitor – at least in the eyes of King Edward II and his royal chancellor, Hugh Despenser. Adam must conduct a careful balancing act to keep himself and his family alive. Fortunately, he has two formidable allies: Queen Isabella and his wife, Kit. England late in 1323 is a place afflicted by fear. Now that the king’s greatest traitor, Roger Mortimer, has managed to evade royal justice, the king and his beloved Despenser see dissidents and rebels everywhere – among Mortimer’s former men, but also in the queen, Isabella of France. Their suspicions are not unfounded. Tired of being relegated to the background by the king’s grasping favourite, Isabella has decided it is time to act – to safeguard her own position, but also that of her son, Edward of Windsor. As Adam de Guirande has pledged himself to Prince Edward he is automatically drawn into the queen’s plans – whether he likes it or not. Yet again, Kit and Adam are forced to take part in a complicated game of intrigue and politics. Yet again, they risk their lives – and that of those they hold dear – as the king and Mortimer face off. Once again, England is plunged into war – and this time it will not end until either Despenser or Mortimer is dead. Days of Sun and Glory is the second in Anna Belfrage’s series, The King’s Greatest Enemy, the story of a man torn apart by his loyalties to his lord, his king, and his wife.

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I didn’t think twice about picking up Anna Belfrage’s Days of Sun and Glory. I’ve read all of Blefrage’s other books and I enjoy her style and tone a great deal. I feel that her stories strike a nice balance between fact and fiction and the depth of her research shows an obvious passion for the history on which her work is based, but it is her representation of people that always stands out in my mind. As an author, she puts a lot of effort into illustrating individuals and the relationships they share with others and I think that brings something very special to her books.

Adam de Guirande is one half of Belfrage’s leading couple, but if I’m entirely honest, I enjoyed his arc more than any other. He suffers a crisis of divided loyalties and his sentiments and allegiances place both himself and his family in politically precarious positions. He is forced to make hard choices and his actions have rippling consequences that are most often shared by his wife, Kit. Maybe it’s just me, but I find something very authentic in that and I appreciate Belfrage for capturing it as she does on the page.

Isabella also stood out to me. I’ve seen Isabella of France portrayed many ways, but I feel that Belfrage’s interpretation really capitalizes on Isabella’s she-wolf reputation. The is a fundamental fire and innate ferocity in Isabella that sets her apart from other women in the narrative and while I appreciate the historical parallel this illustration creates, I love the idea that Isabella’s nature was as challenging for her allies and it was her enemies. Here again, I recognized a very realistic association and reveled in the genuine conflict it created within the fabric of the novel.

The last character I want to mention is Cassandra. She enjoys a smaller supporting role, but she intrigued me nonetheless. Like Isabella, she boasts an abundance of confidence and daring, but her application of those strengths lead her to a very different end and I thought that contrast incredibly interesting. That said, she is a remarkably self-serving creature without compunction of any kind and her lack of scruples makes her incredibly dangerous. She exemplifies a darker reality and I think there is a lot of merit in exploring those concepts and motivations as there is in emphasizing the good.

I don’t mean to downplay the historic context of the narrative as I feel Belfrage’s recreation of the political conflicts that plagued Edward II’s reign truly impressive. I simply appreciate the human qualities her characterizations bring that conflict and how her presentation and approach guides her readers through turmoil of the era. Her style gives depth and emotion to the dramatic power struggle and invites her audience to experience it in a truly unique way.

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“… with his jaw set, his eyes narrowed into piercing blue shards, her prince no longer looked like an untried youth – he looked like the future king he was destined to be. A king coerced into taking part in a venture he did not approve of, and someday those that forced him would pay. She crossed herself, praying that she would be nowhere close to either the queen or Lord Mortimer when that happened.” 

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The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: May 24, 2016

Young Adelia Monteforte flees fascist Italy for America, where she is whisked away to the shore by her well-meaning aunt and uncle. Here, she meets and falls for Charlie Connally, the eldest of the four Irish-Catholic boys next door. But all hopes for a future together are soon throttled by the war and a tragedy that hits much closer to home. Grief-stricken, Addie flees—first to Washington and then to war-torn London—and finds a position at a prestigious newspaper, as well as a chance to redeem lost time, lost family…and lost love. But the past always nips at her heels, demanding to be reckoned with. And in a final, fateful choice, Addie discovers that the way home may be a path she never suspected.

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Pam Jenoff has been one of my go-to writers for a while. I always enjoy the time I spend with her stories and I think that is why I put off reading The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach for as long as I did. I’d flagged it as a comfort read and kept it in my back pocket to distract me when I found myself in rough patch.

The story surprised me in many ways. I found it slower than Jenoff's other novels, but it is a story of self-discovery so the pacing was actually quite appropriate to the action. Adelia Monteforte is a young girl when Jenoff introduces her and it takes years for her to experience the events that shape the woman she becomes. It is a process that unfolds as she enters each new phase of her life and I liked how Jenoff structured the story to emphasize that idea. 

Another thing I like about this piece was how it highlighted America’s pre-war years. Europe was a world away and the United States didn’t really understand the magnitude or fear experienced by those on the other side of the Atlantic. I know the era through my own research, but I appreciated Jenoff’s effort at illustrating the naivety that existed in America and showing her audience how blissfully unaffected the average American was prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 

The heart of the story, however, is the idea of family, the roles each individual plays in it, how those roles change over time, and how they play into the choices we make as adults. It’s a subtle idea with no flashy bells and whistles, but it’s elegant and moving nonetheless. It takes a while to get there of course, the narrative spans a handful of countries over a period of years, but there a sense that it comes full circle in the end and I liked how everything came into focus in the final chapters. 

The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach is a heartfelt coming of age novel of love and renewal. It’s not the heaviest historical I ever read, but I’d definitely recommend it to readers of period romance and/or women’s fiction. 

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“Running doesn’t make the pain stop. You take it with you.”

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The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: May 24, 2016

From Graham Moore, the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and New York Times bestselling author of The Sherlockian comes a riveting historical thriller about the “War of the Currents,” the famous race for glory and riches between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Featuring a cast of characters ranging from Nikola Tesla to Alexander Graham Bell to Stanford White, this is a wonder-filled work of historical fiction that is both legal caper and fact-based account of one of the most transformative moments in American history.

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Westinghouse, Tesla, and Edison

My interest in Graham Moore’s The Last Days of Night began with its cover. The image is striking to say the least and I love how the artist manipulated light in the composition. Something about that just feels right on a novel set against the introduction of competing electric power transmission systems in the late nineteenth century.

I wasn’t familiar with Paul Cravath prior to picking up the novel, but I applaud Moore’s decision to use the twenty-six-year-old attorney as the story’s narrator. His youth and inexperience make him an ideal protagonist as he often requires others to bring him up to speed in both the law and electric science. This fact allowed Moore to insert an extensive amount of factual exposition in a very natural way. There were moments when I felt the amount of information proved detrimental to the novel’s pacing, but as a reader I never felt overwhelmed by the content and was always confident in my understanding of the concept material.

I was also struck by Moore’s characterizations of Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla. I think it would have been very easy to lose sight of their individual personas during the writing process, but Moore invested a lot of time and energy in capturing the disposition and temperament of each in his fiction. Edison’s pride is matched by Westinghouse’s competitive spirit and Tesla’s eccentricities. Moore’s treatment of each made it easy for me to keep each straight over the course of the narrative and I think the effort went a long way in developing their professional rivalry.

The legal struggle between Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla fascinated me to no end and I loved how Paul’s position placed him right in the thick of it. This was a momentous moment in scientific history and everyone wanted to claim the innovation as their own. The tension is palpable and I was transfixed by the lengths each individual was willing to go in the effort to satisfy their ambition and greed. Moore layered their antagonism with so much detail that it was hard to pull myself away from the narrative and that in and of itself is the mark of great storytelling.

My only real complaint was the inclusion of Agnes Huntington. I liked her well enough, but I often felt her role was that that of token female lead. There was nothing inherently wrong with her character and I didn’t hate her by any means, but I did feel that she was tagged onto the story in hope that her presence might make the story more palatable to female readers. I understand her relationship with Paul and appreciated how her presence balanced and rounded his character, but I honestly didn’t feel her necessary to the larger themes and ideas of Moore’s narrative.

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"Blessed with my brightness, men’s working days are no longer so easily bound by the setting sun. Factories double their production. Midnight and noon are no longer distinct. The nighttime of our ancestors is ending. Electric light is our future. The man who controls it will not simply make an unimaginable fortune. He will not simply dictate politics. He will not merely control Wall Street, or Washington, or the newspapers, or the telegraph companies, or the million household electrical devices we can’t even dream of just yet. No, no, no. The man who controls electricity will control the very sun in the sky.”

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Jack Lark: Recruit by Paul Fraser Collard

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: May 14, 2016

Forced to leave London, young recruit Jack Lark is determined to make his way as a Redcoat. Despite the daily tirades of Sergeant Slater, a sadistic monster of a man who sees his new trainees as the scum of the earth, Jack holds on to his belief that the Army will give him a better life. His comrades are a rough and ready bunch, and Jack falls in with Charlie Evans, a cheerful young clerk who quickly comes to regret joining up. But once you've taken the Queen's Shilling, there is no way out: deserters always pay the highest price. As Charlie schemes to escape, Jack, always a loyal friend, is forced into an impossible situation where the wrong move could leave him taking the long walk to the gallows...

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Jack Lark: Recruit is the second of the three novellas that preface Paul Fraser Collard's Jack Lark series. I don't think it necessary to read the books in order as the stories don't build on one another, but chronologically speaking, the events of the narrative take place between Rogue and Redcoat.

Recruit picks up during Jack’s enlistment and while I thoroughly enjoyed being reunited with Collard’s tenacious protagonist, I was struck by the historic details the author worked into this chapter of Jack's life. Our hero has lofty ambitions, but the reality of achieving those goals isn’t as straightforward as he imagined and I liked watching Jack process and adapt to his new position and circumstances.

Charlie Evans shares the spotlight throughout much of the narrative and in many ways his journey parallels Jack’s, but his experience ultimately follows a very different trajectory. In looking back on the story, I can’t say I liked what happened, but I genuinely appreciate Collard for utilizing Charlie to illustrate some of the bleaker truths of soldering for Queen Victoria.

Thematically, I think it safe to say Recruit is darker than Rogue, but I greatly enjoyed the contrast in the material and admire the range Collard exhibited approaching this piece as he did. I’m not sure what to expect from Redcoat at this point, but I can’t wait to see what will happen to Jack in the next installment.

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"It is up to you to live up to the standards set by your forebears, the men who won the victories of which we are all so rightly proud. Men like you may come and go, but the regiment lives on. You must play your part in our history, for the regiment shall endure when you are so much dust."

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Jack Lark: Rogue by Paul Fraser Collard

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: May 11, 2016

As pot boy at his mother's infamous London gin palace, Jack Lark is no stranger to trouble. Between dog fights and street scuffles, if he's not being set upon, he's starting a brawl himself. But when an unlikely ally draws him from the dark alleys of the East End into the bright lights of a masked ball, he gets a glimpse of another life. That life, once seen, is impossible to forget. Jack will do anything to outwit, outsmart and escape the cruelty in his own home. He is determined to get out, but what price will he be forced to pay for his freedom?

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Paul Fraser Collard’s Jack Lark series has interested me for a while. My father gifted me a copy of book one last year, but in looking at the series as a whole, I decided it best to tackle the prequel novellas before the full length narrative which meant jumping in at Jack Lark: Rogue.

I inhaled this piece, but that fact has as much to do with its modest size as it does Collard’s ill-mannered protagonist. Life in Whitechapel hasn’t been easy for Jack Lark and the realities of daily life in the notorious district have gifted him the survival instincts of a country cat. He’s rough around the edges, but I found his pragmatism and pride endearing.

I was also struck by the complex relationship he shares with his mother. It’s obvious she cares about her son, but she is as much a product of Whitechapel as he is. She is used to hard living and despite her harsh treatment, I have to wonder if her decisions are motivated by selfish desire, selfless sacrifice, or a mixture of both.

Brief though it was, I enjoyed the time I spent with Jack Lark: Rogue and can’t wait to see what the next novella, Jack Lark: Recruit, has in store. 

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He closed his eyes and made up his mind. He knew what he had said. He might not have a brass farthing to his name, but he did have his word.

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Kick: The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth by Paula Byrne

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Edelweiss

Read: April 22, 2016

Filled with a wealth of revealing new material and insight, the biography of the vivacious, unconventional—and nearly forgotten—young Kennedy sister who charmed American society and the English aristocracy, and would break with her family for love. Encouraged to be “winners” from a young age, Rose and Joe Kennedy’s children were the embodiment of ambitious, wholesome Americanism. Yet even within this ebullient group of overachievers, the fourth Kennedy child, the irrepressible Kathleen, stood out. Lively, charismatic, extremely clever, and blessed with graceful athleticism and a sunny disposition, the alluring socialite fondly known as Kick was a firecracker who effortlessly made friends and stole hearts. Moving across the Atlantic when her father was appointed as the ambassador to Great Britain in 1938, Kick—the “nicest Kennedy”—quickly became the family’s star. Despite making little effort to fit into British high society, she charmed everyone from the beau monde to Fleet Street with her unconventional attitude and easygoing humor. Growing increasingly independent, Kick would also shock and alienate her devout family by falling in love and marrying the scion of a virulently anti-Catholic family— William Cavendish, the heir apparent of the Duke of Devonshire and Chatsworth. But the marriage would last only a few months; Billy was killed in combat in 1944, just four years before Kick’s own unexpected death in an airplane crash at twenty-eight. Paula Byrne recounts this remarkable young woman’s life in detail as never before, from her work at the Washington Times-Herald and volunteerism for the Red Cross in wartime England; to her love of politics and astute, opinionated observations; to her decision to renounce her faith for the man she loved. Sympathetic and compelling, Kick shines a spotlight on this feisty and unique Kennedy long relegated to the shadows of her legendary family’s history.

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Kathleen Kennedy at her wedding to the
Marquess of Hartington, 1944

I've been to Dealey Plaza and toured The Sixth Floor Museum, but my most interesting experience with Kennedy family history took place in a quiet English cemetery. I was visiting my cousins and we'd pulled over to discuss where to go after walking the grounds at Chatsworth. My sister and I weren't part of the conversation, so while the powers that be worked out a game plan, we opted to take a closer look at a nearby church. As we approached the building, we noted a small sign addressed to American visitors and naturally felt obligated to play our part. We followed the directions to a weather beaten headstone and commemorative plaque. Someone had left a blue bouquet of flowers above the memorial marker honoring President John F. Kennedy's visit, but the grave is what caught my eye and I spent the next evening looking up everything I could find on Kathleen.

Unfortunately for me, there weren't many options. Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times by Lynne McTaggart was the only biography I could find, but reviews indicated Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty by Catherine Bailey had some good information as well. A fictional piece, That Kennedy Girl by Robert DeMaria also existed, but not one of these titles satisfied my curiosity regarding Kick's romance with William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington. I wanted more insight, but the opportunity didn't arise until 2016 when I landed an ARC of Paula Byrne's Kick: The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth.

Looking back on the book, I can't say that much of the material was new to me, but it was detailed and easy to follow. Structurally I was somewhat confused and more than a little miffed, but that is what it is. The title indicated the book would be about Kick and her relationship with William, but he doesn't make an appearance until page 82. The first third of the book struck me as stock material one could find in any Kennedy family biography as it was dedicated entirely to Kick’s parents and her life before Billy. This begged the question, was Byrne writing about Kick and Billy as the title suggested or is this really Kick's story with footnotes on her famous family as indicated by the cover image which inexplicably features Kick and Jack.

I resigned myself to the latter, but even that didn't pan out. Kick's childhood and youth were dragged out over several chapters, but Byrne pulled a 180 and lumped the last four years of her life into a paltry fifteen pages. The only rationale for this is that Byrne didn't want to feature Kick's subsequent relationship with Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam too highly in a book that was supposed to be about her romance with Billy, but that line of thought brought me straight back to my original quandary. Was Byrne writing about Kick and Billy or was she writing about Kick? If the latter, why offer a byline about Chatsworth's heir in the title and why omit intricate detailing of her life after his death?

At the end of the day, Kick: The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth is not a bad biography, but its structure wasn't flawless. I'm not sure how it compares to Kick Kennedy: The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the Favorite Kennedy Daughter by Barbara Leaming which also released in 2016, but it does offer a significant amount of insight to Kick's life in England and I would definitely recommend it to Kennedy enthusiasts.

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Kick wrote to the Dowager Duchess, Billy’s grandmother, telling her that it was her duty to be strong and brave, and that if men like Billy found ‘the courage to die so one must have the courage to live’.

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A Woman's Diary of the War by Sarah Macnaughtan

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: April 11, 2016

This is one of the most powerful descriptions of the scourge of the First World War by a woman who was on the front lines and ultimately gave her life for the cause. Sarah Broom Macnaughtan volunteered with the Red Cross Society when World War One broke out, and that is when she started keeping a record of what she saw. In September 1914 she travelled to Antwerp in Belgium as part of an ambulance unit, and as Head of the Orderlies she was witness to hundreds of wounded and dying men passing through her hospital. Her and her staff desperately tried to help them as best they could despite limited resources, and bombs falling all around them. For her bravery and work under fire in Belgium, she eventually received the Order of Leopold.

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Sarah Macnaughtan's A Woman's Diary of the War caught my eye the moment I stumbled over it. I've been looking for a surgeon's memoir from either world war for ages, but a nurse's memoir was an equally welcome discovery. 

Macnaughtan's observations are poignantly honest and unguarded. Her perceptions regarding the war in Belgium are not shaped by political affiliation or historic interpretation. They are personal, the kind of simple contemporary insights that are priceless to those interested in understanding the conflict through the eyes of those who witnessed it firsthand. I wish there had been more biographic information included in the book, but the writing is solid and the material itself makes the title more than a little worthwhile.

A Woman's Diary of the War is a short piece, only ninety-three pages in length, but it makes an interesting companion to Sapper Dorothy: The Only English Woman Soldier in the Royal Engineers 51st Division, 79th Tunnelling Co. During the First World War and stands as a brilliant example of British understanding and rectification of the conflict.

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We were breathless, not with fear, but with astonishment.

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The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: January 25, 2016

The New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife returns with a triumphant new novel about New York’s “Swans” of the 1950s—and the scandalous, headline-making, and enthralling friendship between literary legend Truman Capote and peerless socialite Babe Paley. Of all the glamorous stars of New York high society, none blazes brighter than Babe Paley. Her flawless face regularly graces the pages of Vogue, and she is celebrated and adored for her ineffable style and exquisite taste, especially among her friends—the alluring socialite Swans Slim Keith, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Pamela Churchill. By all appearances, Babe has it all: money, beauty, glamour, jewels, influential friends, a high-profile husband, and gorgeous homes. But beneath this elegantly composed exterior dwells a passionate woman—a woman desperately longing for true love and connection. Enter Truman Capote. This diminutive golden-haired genius with a larger-than-life personality explodes onto the scene, setting Babe and her circle of Swans aflutter. Through Babe, Truman gains an unlikely entrée into the enviable lives of Manhattan’s elite, along with unparalleled access to the scandal and gossip of Babe’s powerful circle. Sure of the loyalty of the man she calls “True Heart,” Babe never imagines the destruction Truman will leave in his wake. But once a storyteller, always a storyteller—even when the stories aren’t his to tell. Truman’s fame is at its peak when such notable celebrities as Frank and Mia Sinatra, Lauren Bacall, and Rose Kennedy converge on his glittering Black and White Ball. But all too soon, he’ll ignite a literary scandal whose repercussions echo through the years. The Swans of Fifth Avenue will seduce and startle readers as it opens the door onto one of America’s most sumptuous eras.

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Truman Capote

The Swans of Fifth Avenue wasn’t a title I’d planned on reading. I recognized Truman Capote’s name in the jacket description, but I’d never heard of Babe Paley and generally speaking, I don’t have much regard for the scandal and drama of New York’s social elite. If I’m entirely honest, I wouldn’t have given the book a second thought if it had been written by anyone else, but Melanie Benjamin has been on my short list of favorite authors since I read The Aviator’s Wife and it’s simply not in me to overlook the work of those who’ve impressed me in the past.

I loved the style and tone of this piece. I think Benjamin did some really interesting things with the narrative and I liked how her characterizations highlighted the depth and personality of Capote’s Swans. I came to novel with stereotypic ideas of who these women might be and I appreciated how Benjamin’s treatment eclipsed those assumptions. I found Benjamin’s interpretation of Capote equally illuminating, but the circumstances of the story made him more challenging to appreciate. I felt genuine sympathy for the circumstances he faced, but his selfishness and disregard tempered the compassion and empathy I extended his character as the story progressed.

Despite myself, I was also captivated by the themes Benjamin wove into the fabric of the narrative. Maybe it’s me, but I liked the idea that the paragons who exemplified American life and style felt trapped and enslaved by the expectations associated with their status and reputation. Truman is outside their circle, but he suffers a comparative struggle in his effort to duplicate the success of In Cold Blood and I adored how Benjamin used those emotions to explore the isolation and insecurities these individuals might have experienced I real life.

The unconventional love story that takes place between Capote and Paley is also noteworthy. It is not a typical romance, but there is something remarkably intimate in Benjamin’s adaptation of their friendship. The connection exudes a familiarity and companionship that few physically involved leads can rival and I liked how Benjamin embraced their version of affection and used her novel as a platform to explore their emotional affair.

The novel’s pacing left something to be desired, but I ultimately enjoyed the story much more than I expected to. It is a shamelessly catty narrative, but I found the sophistication, vulnerability, and glamour depicted in The Swans of Fifth Avenue undeniably compelling and would definitely recommend it to fellow readers.

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Slim finally lit the blessed, blessed cigarette and took a long draw. She leaned back in her chair and exhaled, narrowing her eyes at Pamela. Strange, how Truman could bring them together, how he’d made allies out of enemies with his pen. 

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The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: March 1, 2016

When Major Gryffth Hockaday is called to the front lines of the Civil War, his new bride is left to care for her husband’s three-hundred-acre farm and infant son. Placidia, a mere teenager herself living far from her family and completely unprepared to run a farm or raise a child, must endure the darkest days of the war on her own. By the time Major Hockaday returns two years later, Placidia is bound for jail, accused of having borne a child in his absence and murdering it. What really transpired in the two years he was away? To what extremes can war and violence push a woman who is left to fend for herself? Told through letters, court inquests, and journal entries, this saga, inspired by a true incident, unfolds with gripping intensity, conjuring the era with uncanny immediacy. Amid the desperation of wartime, Placidia sees the social order of her Southern homeland unravel. As she comes to understand how her own history is linked to one runaway slave, her perspective on race and family are upended. A love story, a story of racial divide, and a story of the South as it fell in the war, The Second Mrs. Hockaday reveals how this generation—and the next—began to see their world anew. This is one of those books that progresses so seamlessly that you marvel at the authenticity of it. In fact, Susan Rivers has said that the novel was inspired by her discovery of a mysterious crime in South Carolina during the Civil War, and she wrote her novel to make sense of it; once she started writing, the story poured out through these myriad voices. But because Rivers is also a meticulous researcher, every part of the story has some basis in fact. As in Hillary Jordan's Mudbound, you will feel that you're in the hands of a natural storyteller who knows how to breathe life into this period of history, the young Placidia, and all of the people around her. This is a remarkable, moving, and unforgettable debut.

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I’m going to be entirely honest and admit that I picked up Susan Rivers’ The Second Mrs. Hockaday because it looked absolutely nothing like The Sun King Conspiracy. I’d just finished the latter and I didn’t want anything to ruin the high I’d gotten off reading it so I intentionally looked around for something different. I’d an ARC of Rivers’ debut on hand and the description bore so little resemblance to the French intrigue that I thought it’d make a decent transition piece, but I was wrong. I was very, very wrong. 

The Second Mrs. Hockaday is a fantastic novel in its own right and I’m a little ashamed of having underestimated it. It’s a quick read, loosely based on real people and events, but powerful in both its depictions and themes. Set on the southern home front during the American Civil War, the novel digs into societal norms, expectations, race relations, crime, punishment, cultural destruction, love, loss, and survival. It’s an ambitious piece, tragic, but beautifully so. 

Fair warning to all, the mystery at the heart of the narrative isn’t pretty. There is nothing overtly graphic in The Second Mrs. Hockaday, but there are a handful of relatively dark scenes and lots of period appropriate language. I personally adored Rivers’ dedication to authenticity, but I know a lot of readers feel differently and caution that demographic to look elsewhere. Rivers writes with intensity and grit. She embraces the good, the bad, and the ugly within these pages and prospective readers should anticipate the sort of challenges that style and tone produces. 

Looking back, I’d have liked more closure regarding certain characters. Sukie, Agnes, Nerissa, Abner, and Roberta fade like ghosts into the backdrop of the narrative and I wish there’d been more definitive resolution to their roles. I also struggled with the format Rivers chose. The letters and diary entries are written by multiple characters and I constantly tripped over the transitions between each voice.  Achilles Fincher Hockaday’s first letter, at the beginning of Part 2, is especially noteworthy in that it is nine pages told by a character that up until that point didn’t exist. I ultimately understood his role and importance, but in the moment I lost track of the story trying to sort out who I was following.

Structural issues aside, I have to say that I greatly enjoyed the time I spent on this piece and would definitely recommend it to fans of Civil War fiction. 

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We are no longer blessed with innocence, nor do we deserve to be. Paradise may have been lost, but paradise is a bad bargain. It costs too much. It conceals serpents, and is littered with graves.

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The Vatican Princess by C.W. Gortner

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: March 1, 2016

Glamorous and predatory, the Borgias became Italy’s most ruthless and powerful family, electrifying and terrorizing their 15th-century Renaissance world. To this day, Lucrezia Borgia is known as one of history’s most notorious villainesses, accused of incest and luring men to doom with her arsenal of poison. International bestselling author C.W. Gortner’s new novel delves beyond the myth to depict Lucrezia in her own voice, from her pampered childhood in the palaces of Rome to her ill-fated, scandalous arranged marriages and complex relationship with her adored father and her rival brothers—brutal Juan and enigmatic Cesare. This is the dramatic, untold story of a papal princess who came of age in an era of savage intrigue and unparalleled splendor, and whose courage led her to overcome the fate imposed on her by her Borgia blood.

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I didn’t set out to read C.W. Gortner’s The Vatican Princess because I love the Borgias. I appreciate their role in politics, but I’ve never been particularly enamored with their legendary drama. Truth be told, my interest in the novel was inspired by the author who penned it. Gortner’s books hold a treasured place in my personal library and I couldn’t resist adding another of his volumes to my collection.

Historically speaking, I’m accustomed to seeing Lucretia painted as a cold and calculating temptress, but the vulnerable and vibrant woman Gortner created within these pages bears little resemblance to traditional interpretation. She is introduced as a naïve innocent and I found the development of her personal and political awareness refreshingly thought-provoking. To the outside world she is an integral part of a frighteningly powerful family, but behind the scenes she is considered little more than a pawn to be bought, sold, traded, and used in her family’s ambitious and deadly machinations. As a reader, I sympathized with her character, fell in love with her tenacity, and adored the juxtaposition in how she ultimately wielded her own brand Borgia determination and strength against her oppressors. 

Speaking of antagonists, I was thoroughly impressed with Gortner’s range. Too often authors paint good and evil in simple opposition, but Lucretia’s adversaries are a diverse collection of serpents that challenge her both emotionally and physically. Gortner doesn’t hold back in his descriptions of Borgia brutality and I felt the approach, while graphic, created a necessary intensity in the fabric of the narrative. The material is shocking and uncomfortable, but the author’s handling of the subject matter produces a tangible tension and unsettling sense of menace in the minds of his audience. 

Gortner utilizes the lurid myths surrounding the family to his advantage, but historically speaking, he takes relatively few liberties. There are embellishments here and there, but I’ve no complaint regarding his deviations. He blend of fact and fiction is seamless and the changes he incorporated into the narrative only enhance the telling. 

A sympathetic portrait steeped in passionate political intrigue, The Vatican Princess stands as testament to both Gortner’s talent and vision. In redefining Lucretia his novel challenges long-standing standing perceptions and bring new dimension to the life she lived.

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“There can be no other reason. Infamy is no accident. It is a poison in our blood. It is the price of being a Borgia”

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Finding Gabriel by Rachel L. Demeter

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: August 4, 2015

Colonel Gabriel de Laurent departed for the war intending to die. After a decade of bloodstained battlegrounds while fighting in Napoleon's army, Gabriel returns to the streets of Paris a shattered and haunted soul. Plagued by inner demons, he swallows the barrel of his flintlock pistol and pulls the trigger. But fate has a different plan. Ariah Larochelle is a survivor. Orphaned at twelve and victim to a devastating crime, she has learned to keep her back to walls and to trust no one. But when she finds a gravely injured soldier washed up on the River Seine, she's moved by compassion. In spite of her reservations, she rescues him from the icy water and brings him into her home. Now scarred inside and out, Gabriel discovers a kindred spirit in Ariah—and feelings he imagined lost forever reawaken as he observes her strength in the face of adversity. But when Ariah's own lethal secrets unfold, their new love is threatened by ancient ghosts. Can Gabriel and Ariah find hope in the wreckage of their pasts—or will the cycle of history repeat again? Perfect for fans of Gaelen Foley's Lord of Ice and Judith James's Broken Wing, Finding Gabriel features all the dark romance, searing passion, and historical intrigue of The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.

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I was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of Rachel L. Demeter's The Frost of Springtime from the Historical Novel Society in early 2014. I greatly enjoyed the narrative, but I've never been particularly happy with the review I penned for it. Much as I love HNS, their magazine limits word count and asks their reviewers to incorporate a basic outline of the plot in each commentary they submit. I understand the need for such restrictions, but I personally like to write longer, more detailed reviews and tend avoid re-hashing story lines. I mean no disrespect, but offering up a summary of events does not constitute a review in my eyes. 

I received Demeter’s sophomore release, Finding Gabriel, under very different circumstances and am quite free to elaborate however I see fit, but please understand that my comments regarding Demeter’s style and tone apply equally to both narratives. Demeter’s sophisticated command of language and prose is indisputably poignant and I’d hate to imply that the author’s second effort was superior to the first as each stands to illustrate a rare aptitude the evocation of gothic sensuality and classic intrigue.

I thought the story line fairly simple and ultimately predictable, but that aside, I felt Demeter’s characterizations of Colonel Gabriel de Laurent and Ariah Larochelle exceptionally emotive. Each struggles to overcome their own trials and tribulations, but I loved how Demeter brought these two troubled souls together and how she illustrated their journey to find light in the darkness of their solitary lives. I've no idea what went into the story, but their pain is authentic and their heartache intensely relatable. 

The novel itself is somber in tone, but haunting and expressive. Demeter deftly manipulates her audience with richly drawn situational drama and intimate moments of raw, unfiltered emotion. Much of the concept material is painful and dark, but Finding Gabriel is ultimately a tale of hope, redemption, and love. I rarely agree with sales pitch comparisons, the thematically I think marketing hit the nail on the head likening Demeter's work to classics like The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.

When all is said and done, I found Finding Gabriel a powerfully vivid novel and greatly enjoyed the time I spent with it. The book left me somewhat drained, but all things considered I think that fact serves to compliment both the artistry of the story and creativity in its telling.

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You are a soldier. A fighter. And now you must fight. Not for the emperor, not for France... but for yourself.

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Twain's End by Lynn Cullen

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Author/Netgalley

Read: October 23, 2015

In March of 1909, Mark Twain cheerfully blessed the wedding of his private secretary, Isabel V. Lyon, and his business manager, Ralph Ashcroft. One month later, he fired both. He proceeded to write a ferocious 429-page rant about the pair, calling Isabel “a liar, a forger, a thief, a hypocrite, a drunkard, a sneak, a humbug, a traitor, a conspirator, a filthy-minded and salacious slut pining for seduction.” Twain and his daughter, Clara Clemens, then slandered Isabel in the newspapers, erasing her nearly seven years of devoted service to their family. How did Lyon go from being the beloved secretary who ran Twain’s life to a woman he was determined to destroy? In Twain’s End, Lynn Cullen reimagines the tangled relationships between Twain, Lyon, and Ashcroft, as well as the little-known love triangle between Helen Keller, her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy, and Anne’s husband, John Macy, which comes to light during their visit to Twain’s Connecticut home in 1909. Add to the party a furious Clara Clemens, smarting from her own failed love affair, and carefully kept veneers shatter.Based on Isabel Lyon’s extant diary, Twain’s writings and letters, and events in Twain’s boyhood that may have altered his ability to love, Twain’s End explores this real-life tale of doomed love.

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Clara Clemens

Lynn Cullen’s Mrs. Poe was one of my favorite reads of 2013. To quote myself, I found it ‘an impossibly addictive tale of tragic romance’ and still recommend it to readers on a regular basis which is why it should come as no surprise that I jumped when Cullen herself asked if I’d like to review Twain’s End. I was flattered and while Mark Twain has never been a particular favorite of mine, the idea sparked a certain curiosity and I accepted her offer. 

Looking back I have to say that I loved Cullen’s style and tone. The writing flows nicely and the book moves along at a moderate and engaging pace. I learned a lot about Sam Clemens over the course of the narrative and enjoyed the insight the novel afforded. Cullen’s characterization was fickle and difficult and I liked the dynamic her illustration of the famed writer created within the fabric of the story. In a lot of ways Cullen treats Mark Twain and Sam Clemens as two different people and I think that allowed her to explore some really interesting concept material.

Unfortunately there were many elements of the novel that didn’t work for me. Structurally I was disappointed with the fractured timeline, I felt the author spent too much time with Helen Keller, I was confused by the superfluous single chapter told from Olivia’s point of view and I didn’t feel Isabel’s relationship with Sam as believable as the one Cullen created between Frances and Edgar. Most concerning, however, was that I finished the novel feeling it had missed the mark. To be perfectly blunt I feel it would have been stronger if it’d had emphasized Clara’s relationship with her father over the supposed romance the writer may or may not have enjoyed with his personal secretary.

Cullen’s illustration of the tension between father and daughter is palpable. It captivated my imagination and I loved how it highlighted the hypocrisy in Sam’s nature. There were moments that I disliked Clara, but I ultimately felt her a product of her environment, a woman struggling against the repressive rule of a man who refused her to allow her the freedom to pursue her own dreams. I don’t mean to deride the story Cullen created for Isabel, but I think this relationship more compelling and wish it had been featured more prominently. 

Atmospherically I liked what Cullen presented her audience, but I feel the isolated nature of Sam’s life at Stormfield restricted Cullen in a lot of ways. One of the things I loved about Mrs. Poe was how the novel recreated the buzz and electricity of the literary communities of 19th century New York. She didn’t have the same opportunities with Twain’s End and while I enjoyed her interpretation of life in the mansion, I often longed for the color and excitement I know she’s capable of creating on the page. 

At the end of the day, I don’t feel Twain’s End as strong as Cullen’s previous publication, but it still stands as a remarkable illustration of the man behind some of America’s most beloved classics and is definitely something I’d recommend to both Twain enthusiasts and fans of biographic fiction. 

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Mark Twain was not a real person. The person they were addressing was Samuel Cle­mens. But The King never corrected anyone on this. Instead, something inside him seemed to shift when he heard it, as if the mortal Sam Cle­mens were stepping aside for his slow-moving doppelgänger, Twain.

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