The Austrian: A War Criminal's Story by Ellie Midwood

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: December 23, 2016

What is going through the mind of a war criminal, tried by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg? Regret for his atrocious actions? Frantic desire to defend himself to the end? Desperate longing to be forgiven by his former enemies or craving of human kindness, even though he knows that he doesn’t deserve any... And the strongest of all, the fear to never again see the one, who he risked everything for, the only woman that he still continues to live for. All this is only the tip of the iceberg in the myriad of emotions for Ernst, former leader of the Austrian SS incarcerated in Nuremberg prison, who already knows what fate awaits him. Day after day he recollects his life, trying to understand where he made that wrong turn that changed his whole life and brought him into service of his new masters, who soon dragged his whole country into the most blood-shedding war in history. With agonizing sincerity he analyzes his past, which made him, a former promising lawyer, into a weapon of mass murder in the hands of his new leaders. Self-loathing and torturous doubts are plaguing Ernst’s mind, which together with unwanted hopes for salvation, terrifying visions of the nearing end, and ghosts from the past turn his incarceration into a never-ending nightmare. And yet, at the very edge of the abyss, he’s still clinging to life, because a woman is waiting for him, a woman, whose secret he’s still carefully guarding, and the one who he still hopes to see...

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View of the defendants in the dock at the International Military
Tribunal trial of war criminals in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany.

Ellie Midwood's The Austrian is an atypical narrative that exists despite the author's complete disregard for the traditional rules and regulation preached by agents and editors across the country. According to the powers that be, controversial subject matter and lone male protagonists should be avoided at all costs, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret. The market professionals, with all their fancy credentials and inflated sense of superiority, are dead wrong. Stories like this have an audience and they do sell. I know because, quite frankly, I bought the book and greatly enjoyed some of the very aspects that make it too risky for mainstream publishing houses to invest in.

In looking at the content of the novel, I want to start by saying that I found Midwood's exploration of the rise of the Nazi party and the indoctrination of its members absolutely fascinating. I don't mean to gush, but I've never seen these concepts described with such detail outside of nonfiction. Midwood is on point with regard to the politics of the story and her mastery of the subject matter manifests itself in the depth and scope of the narrative. She doesn't excuse the actions of the Nazi party, but she does define the movement through Ernst and in so doing allows her readers to truly understand the bureaucratic climate of the day. Speaking of Ernst, I was also thoroughly impressed by the author's decision to write this book from a male perspective. The novel makes more sense as Ernst is naturally positioned to be involved with the Nazi party, but the gender of Midwood's protagonist allowed her to explore more than just the hows and whys. Midwood balances these concepts against Ernst's relationship with his father, his introduction to sex, and his marriage and I for one enjoyed the intimacy of these moments and how they shed light on the kind masculine emotion that is typically overlooked in the current market.

Having said that I want to make it perfectly clear that while I admire much about this piece, I do not feel it without flaw. First and foremost, it should be understood that The Austrian is not a complete novel. Please don't misunderstand my words as I am not arguing against a cliffhanger here, but the description led me to be believe Ernst was holding on for a woman and I am rather ticked that the story ends just as the lady in question enters his life. Two hundred plus pages and I can't claim to understand even the smallest part of the primary plot. Other readers feel differently, but I found this reality intensely disappointing and I wont deny feeling cheated as well. Forgive me for saying so, but inducing sales this way struck me as cheap and denotes a lack of respect for one's readership. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm known for calling it as I see it and when push comes to shove, I felt misled in my purchase.

Though loosely inspired by women like Edith Hahn and Ilse Stein, I also found Ernst's primary love interest, Annalise, wholly anachronistic. The flawless beauty from a wealthy Jewish family is a talented ballerina who happens to be married to Standartenführer Heinrich Friedmann. Officially her husband is part of the Reich Secret Service, but both moonlight as agents for US Counterintelligence. She's not intimated by Kaltenbrunner and ultimately falls in love with the senior SS officer which subsequently leads to an affair and the birth of an illegitimate child. All this information can be found in the descriptions of Midwood's The Girl from Berlin series, so please refrain from crucifying me over would-be spoilers and understand that I'm only sharing this information because it is impossible to explain my distaste without it. I personally found Annalise's 'Wonder Woman' persona unpalatable and mockingly inappropriate. I felt her that her talent, wealth, privilege, courage, and conviction mocked the position and circumstances of the very women on which she was based and that her exploits minimized the risks her real life counterparts took in marrying Nazi personnel to survive Hitler's brutal regime.

When all is said and done, my feelings are mixed, I loved parts of The Austrian, but feel equal annoyance with others and have to admit that while I'd certainly recommend it other readers, I'd do so with a degree of caution.

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It was so easy to decide their fate, when they were nothing more than numbers on the sheets, presented to us for a signature by our adjutants. Now they were real people, with broken lives, torn families, and memories which would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

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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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Dreaming for Freud: A Novel by Sheila Kohler

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Novel Review/Netgalley

Read: May 3, 2014

Acclaimed for her spare prose and exceptional psychological insights in her novels Becoming Jane Eyre and Love Child, Sheila Kohler’s latest is inspired by Sigmund Freud’s Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria. Dreaming for Freud paints a provocative and sensual portrait of one of history’s most famous patients. In the fall of 1900, Dora’s father forces her to begin treatment with the doctor. Visiting him daily, the seventeen-year-old girl lies on his ottoman and tells him frankly about her strange life, and above all about her father's desires as far as she is concerned. But Dora abruptly ends her treatment after only eleven weeks, just as Freud was convinced he was on the cusp of a major discovery. In Dreaming for Freud, Kohler explores what might have happened between the man who changed the face of psychotherapy and the beautiful young woman who gave him her dreams.

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Ida Bauer, aka Dora, and her brother

I have mixed feelings about Sheila Kohler's Dreaming for Freud. In retrospect, I think the novel's tone and underlying message intensely creative, but I have serious questions regarding its appeal among wider audiences.

First and foremost, I couldn't personally relate to Kohler's narrators. Freud and Dora are cold, self-absorbed and manipulative and while I can appreciate those character flaws, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if Kohler had balanced these blemishes with a couple redeeming qualities.

To make matters worse, I felt myself at a disadvantage with the material, both historic and conceptual. I wasn't familiar with the case study or particularly well-versed in Freud's theories when I first picked up the novel and ultimately spent more time researching the facts than I did with the finished manuscript.

Looking back, I can claim a certain admiration for Kohler's style and thesis, but generally speaking I'd be very hesitant to recommend this particular novel forward.

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Her imaginings have been examined and interpreted again and again. How many people have already taken up her story and filled in the blank spaces, attempt- ing to explicate what happened according to their own imaginative desires? At least her sufferings have served a purpose, and a good one, at that. The professor’s version of their interaction is so different from what she remembers, but does it matter in the end? Who will have the last word? Will anyone guess that the dreams she told him were invented? Perhaps it does not matter. Perhaps it makes no difference whether the world knows her version of what happened. Would the stars change? Would they cease to glitter so brightly? Would even her own life, what may be left of it, be any different?

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A Matter of Breeding by J. Sydney Jones

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Novel Review/Netgalley

Read: April 30, 2014

1901. Karl Werthen and his colleague, renowned criminologist Dr Hanns Gross, are investigating a bizarre series of murders in the small Austrian town of Graz. Meanwhile, back in Vienna, Karl's wife Berthe is looking into what seems to be a fraudulent breeding scheme involving the prized Lipizzaner horses. Could the two investigations be connected?

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The fifth installment of Jones’ Viennese Mystery series finds Karl Werthen and Dr. Hans Gross puzzling over a peculiar succession ritualistic of murders in the close-knit village of Graz. In her husband’s absence, Berthe Werthen has stumbled onto a mystery of her own, a conspiracy that threatens to destroy one of Austria’s most recognized treasures: the world renowned Lipizzaners of the famed Spanish Riding School. Following a complex series of leads, the Werthens soon discover themselves in a high stakes web of violence, scandal and corruption.  

A brilliantly atmospheric novel, A Matter of Breeding paints a remarkable portrait of Vienna at the dawn of the twentieth century. The city literally comes to life in a radiantly authentic display of pageantry and prejudice, effectively drawing the reader into a bygone age. Cameo appearances by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, artist Tina Blau, and author Bram Stoker deepen the illusion and bring genuine flare to the narrative. 

The mystery itself is elaborate and thought-provoking and though I felt it somewhat overwhelming, I honestly appreciate the underlying themes of Jones’ intrigue. The characterizations are rather thin, suggesting it best to read the books chronologically, but all told I found A Matter of Breeding both enjoyable and entertaining. 

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Gross could well understand the man’s concern. Nearing retirement, Thielman wanted simple pathological killings, not some religiously motivated murder that would spark a racial firestorm.

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Love & Treasure by Ayelet Waldman

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours/Netgalley

Read: May 28, 2014

A spellbinding new novel of contraband masterpieces, tragic love, and the unexpected legacies of forgotten crimes, Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Treasure weaves a tale around the fascinating, true history of the Hungarian Gold Train in the Second World War. In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life. A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to date: a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past.

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I wasn't entirely sure Ayelet Waldman could pull this off. It's nothing personal, I'd never read her before picking up Love & Treasure, but telling a multigenerational story through a single piece of jewelry is a pretty tall order. One Waldman managed beautifully if I do say so myself.

The setting is what originally drew me to this piece, but when push comes to shove Love & Treasure isn't really a WWII fiction, at least not in the traditional sense. Yes, the war and the Holocaust factor in the pendant's journey, but the story itself is about people and larger concepts like friendship and family and the bonds that bind them together. 

A bittersweet tale, Waldman weaves the gambit of human emotion into a complex plot, incorporating history and politics and culture in a strikingly ambitious publication. Some might find it weighty, but the manner in which Waldman brought everything together truly appealed to me. 

My only criticism is the characters. I don't mean to sound persnickety, but I found the cast difficult to appreciate. Try as I might I just couldn't relate to these people or rouse much enthusiasm for their individual situations. They aren't poorly drawn by any means, I simply don't feel they compare to the rest of Waldman's material.

A powerful fiction, Love & Treasure is a thought-provoking and poignant tale that is both brutally honest and illuminating. 

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"The wealth of the Jews of Hungary, of all of Europe, was to be found not in the laden boxcars of the Gold Train but in the grandmothers and mothers and daughters themselves, in the doctors and lawyers, the grain dealers and psychiatrists, the writers and artists and artists who had created a culture of sophistication, of intellectual and artistic achievement. And that wealth, everything of real value, was but all extinguished." 

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Check Out All the Stops on Ayelet Waldman's Love & Treasure Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Tuesday, May 27
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook

Wednesday, May 28
Guest Post at Passion for Novels

Thursday, May 29
Review at Mari Reads
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews

Friday, May 30
Review at She Reads Novels
Review at Dianne Ascroft’s Blog

Monday, June 2
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, June 4
Review at Seaside Book Corner

Thursday, June 5
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Friday, June 6
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Monday, June 9
Review at Closed the Cover

Tuesday, June 10
Interview at Closed the Cover

Wednesday, June 11
Review at A Bookish Girl
Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Friday, June 13
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Monday, June 16
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection

Wednesday, June 18
Review at Let Them Read Books

Thursday, June 19
Review at Book Nerd

Friday, June 20
Review at Curling Up with a Good Book

Monday, June 23
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Tuesday, June 24
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Wednesday, June 25
Review at Lit Nerd

Thursday, June 26
Review at The Little Reader Library

Friday, June 27
Review at Man of la Book

Monday, June 30
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at Just One More Chapter
Interview at Layered Pages

Tuesday, July 1
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Wednesday, July 2
Review at From L.A. to LA
Review at Mina’s Bookshelf

Thursday, July 3
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Vienna's Last Jihad by C. Wayne Dawson

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★☆

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Read: February 28, 2014

Brash and brilliant, twenty year old Mathis Zieglar, Professor of Languages, faces an agonizing choice: should he fight the Turks who take his family hostage and move to destroy Vienna? Or should he betray his army to save his kin? Vienna’s Last Jihad is an historical novel set against the 1683 siege of Vienna. Europe is balanced on a knife’s edge while Mathis, the man who holds its fate in his hands, struggles against powerful enemies: Father Sistini, a Jesuit who brands him a heretic and drags Mathis’ fiancée off to the Inquisition; a xenophobic city mob, who wants him dead for protecting a Hungarian soldier; but most dangerous of all, Captain Tyrek, a Muslim chieftain who will kill Mathis’ family unless he spies against his own army. One by one, Tyrek’s agents murder Mathis’ closest associates in an attempt to isolate him. As 138,000 Turks grind down Vienna’s 15,000 defenders with no relief in sight, Mathis’ only chance to save family and country is to use his ability to speak Tartar and the knack he learned as a child to leap, whirl like an unwinding mainspring, and strike. The 1683 siege of Vienna was an historic turning point in the struggle between East and West. Had the defenders failed, the invaders would have gutted Central Europe in a rampage of mass slaughter and enslavement. 

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Every now and then I come across a piece of fiction that completely blows my mind and I mean that in nicest way possible. Take for example C. Wayne Dawson's Vienna Last Jihad. 

Set against 1683 siege of Vienna, the narrative opened my eyes to an entirely new chapter of world history. In point of fact, the time I spent with it sparked a fair degree of curiosity and at the end of the day isn't that a mark of good historic fiction?

Another thing I liked about this piece was Dawson's portrayal of conflict. Fiction requires there be a hero, a good and a bad, but outside of that, I appreciate the author's interest in painting as comprehensive a portrait as possible, affording the reader enough explanation to understand the issues he touched on inside and out. 

Ideally, I might have liked to see a tad more emphasis on the emotional themes of the narrative and I will note its tendency to slow in response to the level of detail incorporated within the text, but these are minor criticisms at best. 

Violent and at times horrific, Vienna's Last Jihad is not one for the squeamish. It is, however, a worthwhile and unique tale that highlights an event few writers dare to tackle. 

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Looking each man in the eye, he smiled. “One hundred and fifty years ago, Sultan Suleiman declared holy war against Vienna, but had to retreat when the winter snow fell early. This time, however, we have come much earlier in the season. This is the last Vienna jihad. Now’s your chance to regain Muslim honor.”

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Check out all the stops on C. Wayne Dawson's Vienna's Last Jihad Virtual Book Tour

Monday, February 24
Spotlight & Giveaway at Historical Novel Review

Wednesday, February 26
Guest Post & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Monday, March 3
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, March 4
Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, March 6
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, March 11
Interview at Layered Pages

Wednesday, March 12
Guest Post at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, March 13
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book

Friday, March 14
Interview at Oh, for the Hook of a Book

Thursday, March 20
Review at Just One More Chapter

Friday, March 21
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: January 2, 2014

In the early 1600s, Elizabeth Báthory, the infamous Blood Countess, ruled Čachtice Castle in the hinterlands of Slovakia. During bizarre nightly rites, she tortured and killed the young women she had taken on as servants. A devil, a demon, the terror of Royal Hungary—she bathed in their blood to preserve her own youth. 400 years later, echoes of the Countess’s legendary brutality reach Aspen, Colorado. Betsy Path, a psychoanalyst of uncommon intuition, has a breakthrough with sullen teenager Daisy Hart. Together, they are haunted by the past, as they struggle to understand its imprint upon the present. Betsy and her troubled but perceptive patient learn the truth: the curse of the House of Bathory lives still and has the power to do evil even now. The story, brimming with palace intrigue, memorable characters intimately realized, and a wealth of evocative detail, travels back and forth between the familiar, modern world and a seventeenth-century Eastern Europe brought startlingly to life. Inspired by the actual crimes of Elizabeth Báthory, The House of Bathory is another thrilling historical fiction from Linda Lafferty (The Bloodletter’s Daughter and The Drowning Guard). The novel carries readers along with suspense and the sweep of historical events both repellent and fascinating.

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Elizabeth Báthory

Known as the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Báthory is one of history's most prolific serial killers. Formally charged for only eighty deaths, evidence, supposedly written in her own hand, suggests more than six hundred women fell victim to her sadistic obsession. 

The legend surrounding Elizabeth serves as the foundation of Linda Lafferty's House of Bathory, but much like Holly Luhning's Quiver, the book itself is a modern day mystery with supporting historic content.

To her credit, Lafferty spends a lot time in seventeenth century Hungary, exploring Elizabeth's world through Zuzana and Janos. This approach allowed Lafferty to examine the period in a way I'd not seen before, but I can't deny feeling cheated as it prevented her from really digging into the countess' character.

The modern story didn't really appeal to me. Betsy, Daisy, Grace, etc. didn't feel as authentic as the historical cast and the situational drama, particularly towards the end of the narrative, was simply too hard to swallow. I understood what Lafferty was getting at, synchronicity and all, but I don't particularly care for the theory and as such, found little to appreciate in the ultimate resolution.

Now I know what you're thinking. Sychcro what? I'd not heard of it either, but as it is so essential to the story, I took it upon myself to do a little research on Carl Jung, his psychological study of dream analysis and the concept of synchronicity. I won’t bore you with the details, but understand a fundamental comprehension of these subjects is vital to interpreting the underlying themes of the Lafferty's work. 

I can't stress this enough folks. Eight of twelve titles in the bibliography are entirely irrelevant to Báthory and in the acknowledgments section, Lafferty actually states "Carl Jung’s psychoanalytic methods and The Red Book were a springboard for this novel. Jung’s perspective on mental illness, psychology, and synchronicity helped me to look for interconnections among characters, past and present."

Highly creative, but not at all what I expected. 

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“Keep silence!” snapped Kovach, whirling around to face the cook. “If you value your life, you will forget what you see...”

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Love and Death in Vienna: The Story of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria & Baroness Mary Vetsera by Bunny Paine-Clemes

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Library

Read: January 30, 2013

He's been her obsession throughout her young life. Yet to seventeen year old Marie Vetsera, he is more than that - he is her destiny. But Crown Prince Rudolf of Austro-Hungary - heir to the throne, a man of the world, much older than Marie and disease-ravaged from his indiscriminate liaisons - moves in the upper circles of society to which she, of minor aristocracy, can barely aspire. Through sheer stubbornness, however - and maybe a touch of the spoiled child who has always got everything she wanted - the girl succeeds in making a fateful meeting with him happen; an encounter that leads to a passionate, not-so-secret affair, one marked, on her side at least, by total adoration. But all is not right in his world. There is a darker side to Rudolf's life, in which he ultimately sees only one way out. Is is the only way that will ensure the lovers can be together forever. By love united until death.

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Marie Vetsera

On Jan. 30, 1889, valet Johann Loschek discovered the bodies of Crown Prince Rudolf and his seventeen year old mistress, Baroness Marie Vetsera. Each had suffered a gun shot wound to the head. To this day mystery surrounds what has become known as the Maryerling Incident as no satisfying explanation has ever been confirmed. The fact that I timed my reading of Bunny Paine-Clemes' Love and Death in Vienna to coincide with the anniversary of Rudolf and Vetsera's deaths might be a clue as to how I feel about the story. I only wish I were as enthusiastic about the book as I am the event that inspired it.

For me, this one started downhill from page one. I'm sorry, but I cannot believe Marie began an intense all-consuming obsession with Rudolf at the tender age of six. I am prepared to believe that much like William and Harry, Rudolf had his legion of female followers, but a six year old is simply going too far.  Even as an adult character Marie bothered me. She has an entirely one track mind and exhibits no actual growth in the course of the book. She is wholly and completely infatuated with Rudolf from page one to page two hundred and six. She is something of a one-trick pony: tiresome, dull and all told, rather boring.

I'm not sure anyone unfamiliar with the history would notice, but for someone like me the author's inability to integrate fact into fiction is glaringly obvious. Facts are embedded rather than integrated into the story. They hit the reader systematically, almost as if one were looking over a series of bullet points. Ideally I would have liked to see fact and fiction blended together as one, but that is not what I found here. 

The nail in the coffin however came back to show, don't tell. Love and Death in Vienna had no emotional power, nothing that drew me in or blew me away. To be entirely honest this is the kind of writing I expect from nonfiction writers - straightforward, shallow and flat. 

Not something I would recommend, especially against alternatives like The Time of Murder at Mayerling.

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She had been born to make this decision. She had written to her governess Hermione as the affair began, long before he himself had proposed the pact, 'I am ready to die for him.'

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Rosa and the Prince by Kathryn Braund

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: September 7, 2012

Abused by her uncle and disowned by her father, 16 year old Rosa is "given" to Henry, a forester, who is traveling from Budapest, Hungary to the Austrian Alpine to work for the Royals, the Habsburgs. There she meets Crown Prince Rudolph of Habsburg and his cousin, Archduke Otto. Crown Prince Rudolph and Rosa begin their romance after her husband's accidental death. Rudolph takes Rosa to Vienna. He places her under the protection of a Countess. The story of their love affair is a passionate, unforgettable and heart-wrenching story. It will deeply affect anyone who has suffered love and subsequent loss.

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Crown Prince Rudolph

I hesitate to be critical of the this one because it was inspired by a family story, but I can't say I much enjoyed Kathryn Braund's Rosa and the Prince. 

With all due respect to the author, I can not bring myself to agree with her perception of Rudolph. I own several nonfiction titles on him, many of the same titles listed in Braund's bibliography in fact, and nothing I've come across has led me to believe the Crown Prince was a particular romantic. In point of fact, my obsessive research has led me to understand that to popular view of Rudolph is a fantasy shaped largely by unsubstantiated rumor, various cinematic adaptations of his short and tragic life and fictions such as this. 

In addition to my opposition to the author's portrayal of Rudolph, I felt the storytelling exceedingly rough. For example, many of the opening chapters are told from the perspective of Henry Behrens which is somewhat awkward as Braund paints him as a crude, offensive personality who Rosa herself doesn't even like let alone love. I have to wonder what led the author to tell anything from his point of view as her regard for him is clearly lacking, his importance to the story is minimal at best and when her intent in writing the piece is to glorify Rosa's subsequent relationship with the Crown Prince. It makes no sense and as a reader I was most disappointed by the author's inability to recognize how this choice undermines the main storyline and the confusion it brings to her audience. 

Is the book based on a real relationship? I'm sorry, but I am not in a position to say. It might very well may be true as I've found nothing to disprove it, but by the same token, this fiction is also the only account I've come across indicating it to have happened. This being the case my comments reflect only my opinion of the story as written by Braund and in that regard I can honestly state I believe Rosa and the Prince to have been shaped more by the author's romantic idealization of family lore than verifiable historic fact. 

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I wasn't born to be forced into a loveless marriage. I've never wanted to be a husband, but  because I am a Habsburg Prince, I am a sacrificial lamb.

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