Why I Love the Regency by Beverley Eikli

There's something about the dash and verve of the Regency that has always appealed. The waving ostrich feather in a dowager's turban signaling the 'cut direct' or the clandestine preparations for a dash to Gretna Green were the stuff of a million fantasies whirling around my adolescent brain. After a few years they were no longer fantasies but a little piece of reality each time I launched a fully fledged heroine and worthy hero on the world - though it would be 23 years after writing my first novel at 17 that my heroes and heroines were worthy enough of publication.

 

When my fifth novel was rejected about ten years ago my husband asked me why Regency-set fiction was such a hugely popular genre. The darling man was not so insensitive as to ask why I persisted. Eivind claims he is still scarred by a year of studying Austen's Emma in high school in Norway  but he has earned his colours as the husband of a Regency writer through his diligent and enthusiastic editing of my three Regency historicals published by Robert Hale.

 

As for the reasons for my love affair with the years particularly between 1750 and 1850 (which of course incorporates part of the Georgian and Victorian eras) I could say the colourful court of the Prince Regent and his rakish set, together with the scandals of the day, are part of the fascination.

 

Yet it was more than that. For me, it was escape; an antidote to the potential boredom of long periods away from home during survey contracts.

 

Interestingly, during the Regency the term 'antidote' described a very homely woman;  not quite as bad as an ape leader - a spinster whose punishment after death for failing to multiply was to lead the apes in hell. But to be described as an antidote was no good thing.

 

My antidote, however, was my passion. Working in remote locations around the world during the late '90s, often the only woman on survey crews for weeks or months at a time, the Regency was a virtual escape before the internet became something we took for granted.

 

After a dawn take-off and sometimes eight hours operating the airborne geophysical equipment in the back of low flying survey aircraft, I couldn't wait to dive into my latest Regency historical and create a world away from the arid surrounds of Botswana's Orapa diamond mine or French Guyana's steaming jungle or the fierce turbulence over Greenland's Ice Cap.

 

Of course, I often had as much fun in these places as any heroine I ever created. I worked with some fantastic crews and honed my understanding of human nature through conversations with lonely pilots, but at the same time I also needed my imaginative world away from the real world; and The Regency fulfilled all the criteria.

 

Who can resist a dashing rake in a multi caped greatcoat and gleaming Hessians dismounting from his sweating steed and demanding his lady love disembark from the boat that is to carry her to the West Indies and marry him that night?

 

The scene just described is from my newly released novel A Little Deception. Unfortunately catching her rake is the beginning of a whole new set of trials and tribulations for my poor heroine, Rose Chesterfield, as described in the back cover blurb: A one-night charade to save the family sugar plantation wins Rose Chesterfield more than she bargained for - marriage to the deliciously notorious rake, Viscount Rampton. Implicated in a series of high profile jewel heists by a jealous adversary, Rose must prove more than just her innocence to regain the love of her husband.

 

It's creating these moments that help take my mind off my own current travails - right now shepherding two children from Australia to Norway, in the grip of food poisoning picked up in Abu Dhabi.  Brainstorming my latest Regency novella for Total E-bound has been quite diverting as I hold the sick-bag for my poor groaning ten-year-old who has just thrown up nine times in the back of our KLM Airbus.

 

Like I said, you can't go past the Regency as an antidote for a less than perfect reality.

 

Thank you so much for having me here today.

The Empress of Ice Cream by Anthony Capella

FRANCE 1670. Carlo Demirco's mastery of the extraordinary new art of creating ice creams has brought him wealth, women, and a position at the court of Louis XIV.

Then Carlo is sent to London, along with Louise de Keroualle, an impoverished lady-in-waiting. The most powerful ministers of two countries have decided that Louise is to be Charles II's new mistress, and will stop at nothing to make sure she submits.

But Carlo too is fascinated by the enigmatic Frenchwoman.With the king's every pleasure the subject of plots and betrayals, and Carlo's only weapons his exquisite ice creams, soon he must decide ...Where do his loyalties lie?

If you were to ask me who my favourite English king to read about is, I would probably choose Henry II, but not far behind you would find Charles II, and yet on the surface of things there is not that much to admire. He was a king who lived for pleasure, had multiple mistresses and numerous illegitimate children, but after the years of austerity that was enforced during the years of the Commonwealth, his court must have been something to behold.I guess though, when it comes down to it, I have been charmed by the way I have read Charles II through the fiction I have read over the years. (I have previously posted about this fascination here)

The title and cover of this book alone would have caught my attention, but to read further in the blurb and find out that it is set in the Restoration court of Charles II made it a must read for me! Stir ice cream into the mix and it is even better!

The events that are portrayed in the book come to us from two different perspectives. The first is of a young man who we meet in Italy where he is the young apprentice of an ice maker. He is being taught the art of the ice by his owner - the four flavours, the skills, the tips to creating the perfect textures for ices, cordials, for ice carving and more. But Carlo has lofty ambitions. He wants to do more than just stick to the rules that he is being taught. He wants to experiment with new flavours, new techniques, and most of all, he wants to be his own man, to call no man master.

Offered a chance to escape from his life in Italy, Carlo finds himself in the court of Louis XIV, and it is there that he meets Louise de Keroualle, a lady in waiting to Minette, the sister of Charles II, and sister in law to Louis XIV. Carlo is very quickly besotted, but Louise is out of his reach. She may be impoverished but she is the daughter of one of the most noble families of Brittany, and whilst Carlo has made his own way to Court, he is still of ignoble birth.

It is Louise who provides the other perspective in the narrative. Following the death of Minette, Louise is sent to the court of Charles II. It seems everyone but here is aware of what her objective is to be - to become mistress to Charles II and to influence his decisions and policy to the advantage of her native France. Carlo is also sent to France as part of the 'gift' from Louis with a brief to create an ice the likes of which has never before been seen or tasted in England.

One of the hallmarks of the decadence of the Court is that there was a total fascination with all things French - fashion, art, food... ices. Carlo spends all his time trying to create the dessert that we now know as ice cream, using some of the most famous intellectuals of the time to help develop the methodology. Far from being an accessible treat as it is for us today, the desserts created by Carlo were only for the rich and powerful, and sometimes they were created for the king alone.

Many of the desserts that are described in the book sound incredible - for example, at one of the feasts Carlo creates a pineapple ice that not only is made from the then exotic and difficult to obtain fruit, but is also carved to look exactly like a pineapple - although in the quest for more and more unique tastes and combinations there were also some that were not quite so enticing to my more modern palate!

Providing contrast to the glittering courts, we also get introduced to Hannah and Elias who live in the same establishment as Carlo. These are the working class, the people who suffer under the heavy burden of poverty and who see the merriment of the court and find it hard to believe that there can be such wastage, particularly as the king and parliament are increasingly at odds about issues like funding the wars against the Dutch. Stir in anti-French sentiments and anti Catholic sentiments that were rife at the time and they provide a necessary contrast to the constant over the top details of life at Court.

When you read an Anthony Capella book it becomes obvious pretty quickly that this is an author who loves food, and I would go so far as to say that if you want descriptions of sensory experiences - be they taste, sight or the other senses - then Capella should be a go to author. This is particularly true of The Wedding Officer and the Food of Love with their focus on Italian food, and of this book. It is only when the narrative moves away from the focus on the sensuous that it loses its way. Unlike some of the other portrayals I have seen of the relationship between Louise and Charles this one is definitely more clinical, colder and more  about business, and this is also a bit of a difference between this book and others by this author that do tend to have romantic themes.

That is not to say that there is no mention of love - for all that this isn't completely a romantic story, there is lots of discussion of love and sex:

I have heard love compared with a fire. But that is all wrong. If you touch a flame you draw back. The pain is quick and sudden and then it is gone.

Love is like ice. It creeps up on your, entering your body by stealth, crumbling your defences, finding the innermost recesses of your flesh. It is not like heat or pain or burning so much as an inner numbness, as if your heart itself were hardening, turning you to stone. Love grips you, squeezing you with a force that can crack rocks or split the hulls of boats. Love can life paving slabs, crumble marble, wither foliage from trees.

Rating: 4/5

Originally posted at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

The Katyn Order by Douglas W Jacobson

The German War Machine is in retreat as the Russians advance. In Warsaw, Resistance fighters rise up against their Nazi occupiers, but the Germans retaliate, ruthlessly leveling the once-beautiful city. American Adam Nowak has been dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin and Resistance fighter. During the Warsaw Uprising he meets Natalia, a covert operative who has lost everything—just as he has. Amid the Allied power struggle left by Germany’s defeat, Adam and Natalia join in a desperate hunt for the 1940 Soviet order authorizing the murders of 20,000 Polish army officers and civilians. If they can find the Katyn Order before the Russians do, they just might change the fate of Poland.

I read Douglas W Jacobson's debut novel A Night of Flames, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when I saw that there was a new book coming out I instantly knew that I had to have it!

Adam and Natalia are members of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) known as the AK. It is 1944 and the AK is fighting a lonely, losing battle against the might of German Army as they destroy the city of Warsaw in the process, whilst the Red Army sits within striking distance taking no action to assist the partisans.

Adam is an Polish born American who came back to Poland to live with his aunt and uncle in the years before the war. He is also a crack sniper, code name Wolf. Just as he doesn't know the true identities of many of his AK colleagues, they also know nothing of his true identity. Adam's grief for his uncle, who he knows died in the very early years of the war has driven him to become a killing machine - a man who is good at what he does, and without much emotion attached to the actions he undertakes.

One of the few people to get under his cold mask of emotionless existence is Natalia - code name The Conductor. She has been a key member of the organisation in her role as a messenger passing papers from Krakow to Warsaw, but she is also driven by grief at the loss of all her family and determination that Poland should not be overrun by the German army. Unfortunately it looks like the alternative is that they will be taken over by the Russians, and that isn't much of a better option.

At the core of this book is the search for the one piece evidence that would prove who authorised the massacre of more than 20000 Polish officers in several locations, including the Katyn forest. When the mass graves were discovered in 1943, the Russians blamed the Germans and vice versa.Now that the war is coming to it's end, the winners are dividing up the spoils, including the entire country of Poland. If the evidence can be found that it was a Russian atrocity, then maybe, just maybe, Poland can be saved from becoming part of the Communist bloc.

Jacobson does a great job at portraying the desperation of the fighters, the horror of a city being destroyed, almost brick by brick by the German army - churches, hospitals, civilian houses - nothing is off limits. I wasn't quite as convinced by the relationship between Adam and Natalia as I was in his previous book, by the relationship betweeen Jan and Anna.

I think part of the reason that I wasn't as convinced is that I would classify this as more of a historical thriller than Night of Flames, or at least what I remember of Night of Flames (when I reread the review earlier it turns out that I did have some of these same issues). The book is filled with lots of action, the characters move between Poland, England and Germany, the body count is high, but to sum it up in just a few words - it was definitely a page turner!


I remember visiting Dachau when I went to Germany many years ago and seeing the displays there and being horrified at the things that humans do to each other in the name of war. At that time, the Balkan conflicts involving the former Yugoslavian states were under way and I remember thinking how it was that we don't seem to learn the lessons of the past. Given the news that we see quite regularly it appears that we still don't, so it is important that novels like this are written to remind us not only about this fact, about the terrible and needless atrocities that humankind seem to be able to inflict on each other, but also the triumph of the human spirit under the most trying of circumstances.

Rating: 4/5

Interested in finding out more? Check out the guest post by Douglas W Jacobson that we posted a few weeks ago!

We have winners!

I have been a little slack and haven't announced the winners of a couple of giveaways! In one case it is really a lot slack, and then a little slack, and then for the other I am just about on time! Apologies for the tardiness.

The two winners of Christina Courtenay's Trade Winds giveaway are:

Marta Grachat and Meg from A Bookish Affair

The lucky winner of The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is

Julie

And the winner of Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith is

Bonnie from Bonnie's Books

Winners have all been sent emails.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

HT Recommends: Empress Maria Therese

Normally when we do a HT Recommends post it is because someone has asked us for some recommendations about an specific era or time and we have books that fit the criteria.

This time is a bit different because the request comes from a Twitter conversation where Ari from Reading in Color asked for recommendations about Marie Antoinette's mother.

Empress Maria Therese was the only female ruler of the Hapsburg dominions, was the last of the Hapsburgs to rule, mother of one of the more famous women in history, and so you would think that there would be some historical fiction written about her, but I don't know of anything. There are certain people in history that you would think that there would be more written about, and this would seem to be one of those times!

So, for this HT Recommends post, I am asking our readers for recommendations of books about Empress Maria Therese.

The Historical Fiction Challenge- June Reviews

Sorry for not posting sooner.  I actually have an excuse this time.  I've been having to keep my legs elevated and it doesn't make using the computer easy so my computer time has been very limited.

In May, we collectively read 92 books! That makes our total for 2011 so far, 426 books!

There is still time to join the challenge, go to Historical Fiction Reading Challenge to sign up and then come back to leave your links each month.  There is a new post for your links each month.

Please leave your links for your June reviews in Mr. Linky, below or, if you don't have a blog, in the comments below.

*Note: if you missed posting your links last month, please always post "late" links in the current month's Mr. Linky.  For example, if you forgot to post a link in February, please post it on this Mr. Linky in this post.

HT Recommends: Books set in Roman Britain

Reader Stephanie emailed us with the following request:

I am an avid historical fiction reader and am currently interested in the Roman Britain period.  I've read Ruth Downie's Medicus series and Rosemary Rowe's Libertus series.  I've also read  Jack Whyte's The Camulod Chronicles.  Can you recommend any others?



We have read several Roman HF books and the ones that fit the request are:

The Silver Pigs - Lindsey Davis (partially set in Britain)

Dreaming The Hound - Manda Scott
Dreaming The Bull - Manda Scott
Dreaming The Eagle - Manda Scott

The Dawn Stag - Jules Watson
The White Mare - Jules Watson

Does anyone have other good titles to recommend?

The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

Completion Date: May 14, 2011
Reason for Reading: Fun!

New Year's Eve, 1940: Evie Chase, the beautiful debutante daughter of a rich and adoring RAF commander, listens wistfully to the swing music drifting out from the ballroom, unable to join in the fun. With bombs falling nightly in London, she is determined that the coming year will bring a lot more than dances, picnics and tennis matches. She is determined to make a difference to the war effort.

5th January, 1941: Evie curses her fashionable heels as they skid on the frozen ground of her local airfield. She is here to join the ATA, the civilian pilots who ferry Tiger Moths and Spitfires to bases across war-torn Britain. Two other women wait nervously to join up: Stella Grainger, a forlorn young mother who has returned from Singapore without her baby boy and Megan Jones, an idealistic teenager who has never left her Welsh village. Billeted together in a tiny cottage in a sleepy country village, Evie, Stella and Megan must learn to live and work together. Brave, beautiful and fiercely independent, these women soon move beyond their different backgrounds as they find romance, confront loss, and forge friendships that will last a lifetime.

A couple months ago, Karen (Sassymonkey) sent me an email telling me that this book looked to be right up my alley. She was right! I had recently read the non-fiction book Spitfire Women of World War II and this was a good companion fiction book to move on to next. I just had to get a copy because I had all ready ordered books recently when this book came out, so when the cc ordered online I convinced him to add this to the order. Between Karen telling me about it, mentions of the book online, and the fact that the cc actually bought me a copy... I knew I had to read it right away! It's because of books like this that my reading has been suffering of late. It was really good!

I have always been fascinated with female pilots. I think it is because in the back of my mind, I have always wanted to learn how to fly a plane myself. I am not sure if I ever will, so in the meantime it is fun to live through the lives of other women who had the chance. This book predominately follows the life of Evie Chase. She comes from a rich background, so has lived a rather sheltered life. Now, though, she has decided to make a difference in the war. While at a party for New Year's Eve she meets a man that sets that whole dream in motion. She gets off to a rocky start, but soon she is taking to the skies in model after model of plane. Through her, we can understand just how difficult and risky this life was for the women who lead it. They were equally as brave as the men who flew, even if it was not in combat. The men had much better training than these women did at most times.

The book also looks at Stella Grainger and Megan Jones. They are roommates with Evie, so they add to the story. Stella is suffering through a lot of guilt and Megan is very naive. It is an interesting contrast. Especially when you add Evie to the mix! You get to see the lives of these three women intermixed with their jobs as pilots. It brings a human touch to the story of women pilots. Brown also works in the tragic death of one of the most famous pilots, Amy Johnson. She was covered extensively in the Spitfire Women book if anyone is interested. There are other books, but I haven't read them yet to be able to recommend them.

I am very glad that I read this book. It is really well-done and I got quite caught up in the story. The author did a very good job and I recommend this book strongly.

This book counts for the Historical Fiction Challenge.

Cross-posted at The Written World.

CW Gortner's Books of a lifetime

It’s almost impossible to highlight two or three books out of the hundreds that have both touched me as a reader and influenced me as a writer. I’ve been a hopeless bibliophile all of my life; books clutter my writing study and sit in sealed plastic containers in my basement, having traveled with me wherever I go. Some have had to be replaced over time, from sheer wear-and-tear; others remain as pristine as the day I bought them (I have this OCD thing about cracking book spines, and try my utmost never to do it).


For this post, I decided to open one of my older containers and take a look at the books that have obstinately stayed with me through my numerous moves, some even international. Here they are:

I first read REPORT TO GRECO by Nikos Kazantakis in my troubled adolescence and have re-read it several times since. While Kazantakis is most famous for writing the exuberant Zorba the Greek, in this semi-autobiographical confession that remains defiantly unfettered by that genre’s restrictions, he details his complex journey to discover his relationship with himself and with his shared humanity. It is a rich testament to every person’s quest to know the inner workings of our soul.

IMMORTAL QUEEN by Elizabeth Byrd was a gift from my mother, who encouraged my burgeoning passion for history by giving me historical fiction to read. You can blame this book for starting my 16th century obsession; I fell madly in love with its eloquent account of the doomed Mary of Scots. Though my lifelong fatal attraction for powerful ladies in history has expanded to encompass many others since then, this is the novel which sparked my proverbial tinder.





I read HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS by Isabel Allende several years after my family had returned to the US after living in Spain. I was nineteen, struggling to assimilate US culture; a struggle that, for me, has never completely resolved. This novel, steeped in allegory and eccentricity, captured my imagination, reminding me both of the continent I’d left and the one I had yet to explore; it also spurred me for the first time to start writing a novel in earnest, even as I despaired of ever producing anything as gorgeously inventive as this.

Lastly, MY COUSIN RACHEL by Daphne Du Maurier is, for me, that rare jewel— the perfect book. From its haunting opening line to the final, heart-shattering dénouement, this tale of a young man haunted by doubt and enamored of an older, enigmatic woman who might be a murderer transcends its Gothic underpinnings in every way. It is, in my opinion, a classic: timeless, elegant, and unforgettable.

C.W. Gortner’s latest release is THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI in trade paperback. He is also the author of THE LAST QUEEN and THE TUDOR SECRET. Visit him at http://www.cwgortner.com/.

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This guest post is part of the blog tour for The Confessions of Catherine de Medici being run by Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours. You can follow the blog tour by visiting the tour schedule here.

We currently have a paperback copy of The Confessions of Catherine de Medici available to win! Read my review of the book, and enter the giveaway by commenting on the review post!