Why I Love Pirates by Helen Hollick (includes international giveaway)

In all honesty, if I was somehow transported back into the early 18th century, I don’t think I would love – even like - a real pirate. They were rather a horrible lot – thieves, murderers, uncouth – and smelly. But then I doubt any of us today would survive back then – we are too used to health and hygiene. (Where and how, I wonder, could I take my daily shower on a pirate ship? :-)

Fictional pirates are another matter entirely of course!

I think most of us who enjoy historical fiction, historical adventure and fantasy, enjoy a good book for its escapism, excitement – and maybe for the echoes of the past that linger in our DNA? The charmer of a rogue, the dashing gallant wielding pistol and cutlass – be he prince, knight, highwayman or pirate is a lure to the sense of romance. He has to be brave, strong, dependable – with only a hint of roughness. Capable in any situation, never flinching, but with that underlying vulnerability - and loyal to the one he loves or serves.

The typical hero.

I fell in love with my Jesamiah Acorne the moment I “met” him on a beach on the south coast of England. I had been walking in the rain, thinking up the plot and characters for Sea Witch, the first Voyage in my historical adventure fantasy series. I had the whole thing planned out, but not my dashing Pirate Captain.

I sat on a rock and gazed out at the cold, grey English Channel, imagining it as the Blue Caribbean. I looked up, and there, a few yards away was a man in pirate clothes – complete with cutlass and pistol, and a gold acorn as an earring. He touched his three corner hat in salute. “Hello Jesamiah Acorne” I said.

And that was it. I’ve been besotted by him ever since.

Now, whether I was seeing a vision of someone I knew in the past, or I just have a very fertile imagination, I don’t know. I did see him though.

irates – highwaymen, knights in armour, they are all characters that form the basis of an engrossing story. They are big and bold and have lots of daring-do adventures. Indeed, trouble follows Jesamiah like a ship’s wake. He is, in fact, only a true pirate in the first novel, Sea Witch, in Voyage Two, Pirate Code, he has accepted a government grant of amnesty (amnesty for the pirates was a true historical fact) but he gets embroiled in spying on the Spanish – and ends up with a beautiful woman of course. (He is rather a so-and-so for the ladies, I’m afraid). Voyage Three, Bring It Close, sees him again coerced into helping the right side of the law. He is arrested in Williamsburg, Virginia, for acts of piracy, where Governor Spotswood gives him a choice: help put an end to Edward Teach – Blackbeard himself – or hang. Spotswood’s campaign against Blackbeard is all fact – you just won’t find any reference to a certain Captain Jesamiah Acorne in the surviving records. But then, as you will read in the book, Jesamiah specifically asked for his name to be left out…. I so love binding real history with imagined make-believe!

I also love Tall Ships and anything nautical. I can’t, in reality, go off sailing the Seven Seas in a beautiful ship, but there is nothing to stop me doing so within the pages of a good book.

The trouble was, I couldn’t find the right book…. The Hornblower stories are great, but there’s not much, “romance” in them – the same with Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey books. Frenchman’s Creek was the closest to what I wanted – adventure and romance (well Ok, a bit of sex as well.) Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe was a superb character in book and TV form, with all the right ‘qualifications’ for an adventure romp – and on the movie screen there was Indiana Jones, James Bond – and Jack Sparrow to set the heart fluttering.

I took a pinch of all those characters and mixed them together with a hefty dash of historical fact and an exciting blend of supernatural fantasy, to create Jesamiah – and the books I wanted to read.


I so hope they are the adventure romp books you enjoy reading as well!

You are welcome to visit my website www.helenhollick.net
join me on Facebook - www.facebook.com/helen.hollick
or come aboard the Sea Witch page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Helen-Hollick-Author/101822116574750

Giveaway details

You can win a copy of any of the Sea Witch books by Helen Hollick (in either print or ebook) by leaving a comment on this post telling us about your favourite pirate.

- open to everyone! (Yay!)
- leave a comment and don't forget your email address or Twitter ID so that we can contact the lucky winner
- the contest closes on 7 August at Midnight GMT

Sea Witch by Helen Hollick

The Time : The Golden Age of Piracy - 1716.

The Place : The Pirate Round - from the South African Coast to the sun drenched Islands of the Caribbean.

Escaping the bullying of his elder half brother, from the age of fifteen Jesamiah Acorne has been a pirate with only two loves - his ship and his freedom. But his life is to change when he and his crewmates unsuccessfully attack a merchant ship off the coast of South Africa.

He is to meet Tiola Oldstagh an insignificant girl, or so he assumes - until she rescues him from a vicious attack, and almost certain death, by pirate hunters. And then he discovers what she reallyis; a healer, a midwife - and a white witch. Her name, an anagram of "all that is good." Tiola and Jesamiah become lovers, but the wealthy Stefan van Overstratten, a Cape Town Dutchman, also wants Tiola as his wife and Jesamiah's jealous brother, Phillipe Mereno, is determined to seek revenge for resentments of the past, a stolen ship and the insult of being cuckolded in his own home.

When the call of the sea and an opportunity to commandeer a beautiful ship - the Sea Witch - is put in Jesamiah's path he must make a choice between his life as a pirate or his love for Tiola. He wants both, but Mereno and van Overstratten want him dead.

In trouble, imprisoned in the darkness and stench that is the lowest part of his brother's ship, can Tiola with her gift of Craft, and the aid of his loyal crew, save him?

Using all her skills Tiola must conjure up a wind to rescue her lover, but first she must brave the darkness of the ocean depths and confront the supernatural being, Tethys, the Spirit of the Sea, an elemental who will stop at nothing to claim Jesamiah Acorne's soul and bones as a trophy.

The Golden Age of Piracy lasted just under 50 years in the late 17th/early 18th century. It is a time that is hard for a modern reader to imagine - the news is months old when you first hear it, if you leave your home country there is every likelihood that you will never see it again, no mobile phones, electricity etc. Luckily, the modern reader can immerse themselves in the imagined world of books to get just a small taste of what life might have been like three hundred years ago.

Captain Jesamiah Acorne started life in a semi-respectable family - his father was a plantation owner in the Carolinas - but when his parents die, he is forced to flee from the sadistic older brother who has hated Jesamiah from the first time he saw him as a young child. Luckily for Jesamiah, he has found a natural home on the bridge of a ship, a pirate ship to be more precise. When we first meet Jesamiah, he and his crew are getting ready to board a ship with a view to clearing it of all of its cargo.

Little does he know that on the ship that he is aiming to plunder is Tiola Oldstagh, a young girl with knowledge much older than her true age because she is a white witch. Tiola is heading for a new life in South Africa, escaping from the legacy of a tragic end to her parent's lives. With her skills in midwifery and medicine, Tiola is bound to find a welcome awaiting her in her new home, accompanied by her companion Jenna. What Tiola knows for sure is that her destiny is bound tightly to that of Jesamiah Acorne even though he has no clue who she is, or even that she exists at their first meeting.

Click on the image to visit more stops on the tour

There are several factors that good pirate stories need - adventure, danger, lots of rum - and this book has it in spades. This book is a heady mix of history, adventure, romance and fantasy.

It is however not all plain sailing. Where the book was strongest was in the imagining of the pirate life. Jesamiah is no Captain Jack Sparrow blithely careening from disaster to disaster and still managing to remain unharmed. Jesamiah faces very real consequences for is actions - injuries, arrest and more. I also enjoyed the flavour of the towns that are visited throughout the course of the book. Places like Nassau and Cape Town and the coast of Madagascar. I also enjoyed a cameo appearance by William Dampier - a man who spent some time exploring the Australian coastline before the continent was properly claimed as an English possessoin.

What didn't work so well for me were the mystical elements - the craft that Tiola uses throughout the book, and most particularly the addition of Tethys to the storytelling. She is the sea and she demands payment from those who dare disturb her.

It feels as though I have been reading Helen Hollick's books for a very long time, but  a quick look at my handy spreadsheet tells me that I first encountered her books only just over two years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed her Arthurian Pendragon's Banner trilogy and also A Hollow Crown about Emma, queen of England in the time before William Conqueror invaded England. Whilst I liked the characters of Jesamiah and will eventually read more of their adventures, I think I prefer the more straight down the line historical fiction that the author does so well.

There are two more books already published in this series, Bring it Close and Pirate Code, and another book on the way soon called Ripples in the Sand.

Check back tomorrow for a guest post from Helen and an international giveaway!

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

When Eva’s filmstar sister Katrina dies, she leaves California and returns to Trelowarth, Cornwall , where they spent their childhood summers, to scatter Katrina’s ashes and in doing so return her to the place where she belongs. But Eva must also confront the ghosts from her own past, as well as those from a time long before her own. For the house where she so often stayed as a child is home not only to her old friends the Halletts, but also to the people who had lived there in the eighteenth century. When Eva finally accepts that she is able to slip between centuries and see and talk to the inhabitants from hundreds of years ago, she soon finds herself falling for Daniel Butler, a man who lived – and died – long before she herself was born. Eva begins to question her place in the present, and in laying her sister to rest, comes to realise that she too must decide where she really belongs, choosing between the life she knows and the past she feels so drawn towards

Today, Kelly and Marg bring you a discussion of The Rose Garden by a favourite author here at Historical Tapestry - Susanna Kearsley. Kelly's thoughts are in black and Marg's in purple.

So we should probably put out a general alert before we start this discussion.

Be prepared for gushing!

I know! I have read most of Kearsley’s books at this point, but she is going to have a very hard time topping this book and The Winter Sea. They were both excellent! She has other good books, of course, but nothing even begins to compare to her later works. She is definitely at the top of her game and hopefully we have lots more wonderful books to look forward to in the not so distant future...

I have been debating with myself about which I liked more, this book or The Winter Sea, and I really cannot make up my mind. The Winter Sea was the first book I ever read by her, so I think it maintains a special place simply for that, but it was also wonderful. When I started this book I admit I was a bit skeptical that The Winter Sea could have any real competition for favourite, but then I got wrapped up in the story and discovered that a tie was possible. What do you think?

I am torn too. The Winter Sea will probably always be my favourite because it was my first Susanna Kearsley and I just loved that book, but this one and The Shadowy Horses are definitely right up there for me. I agree about Kearsley being at the top of her game. I was going to make a comment on my blog saying that this was the best book she had written since The Winter Sea, but that statement kind of loses its potency, when you realise that this is the only book she has written since The Winter Sea!

I know! It’s hard to say anything since she only has written the one book since she gained a more international audience. I wish I had been reading her all along, but I am excited that I finally discovered her when she was going through this change in circumstances. It will be interesting to see what happens now that her books are getting better known. I always have a weak spot for Canadian authors and a desire for them to do well.

What was your favourite scene in the book?

I don’t know which to choose.

I think the most obvious is a scene we can’t talk about because it would spoil the book, but it comes right near the end and it literally made me gasp out loud when I read it!

Other than that I loved that the setting was Cornwall, but that Kearsley still managed to bring us something about the Jacobite rebellion that I didn’t know before. I also really enjoyed all the characters, in both times, but I must confess to a bit of a soft spot for Fergal.

And yours?

Same as yours! When I read it, I had to put the book down and send you an email. I literally said ‘Oh, my god’ aloud when I read it. It was a perfect scene and I was excited for you to read it.

I enjoyed the setting, too. I want to go there! When I read this book, it was raining constantly here, so it sounded like paradise! Kearsley always writes such wonderful settings. Everyone of them I want to visit after reading her books. I also enjoy her main characters. I always feel like I can easily be friends with them and they are experiencing such fascinating things. It never feels like a stretch. It is very believable. I think every time I reread her books it will be like visiting with friends.

I already wanted to visit many of the places that Kearsley uses as settings - Scotland and Cornwall seem to have such resonance with these kind of stories. I am not sure why. I could totally see her writing a book with an Irish setting as well, because of that kind of mythical setting that is prevalent in her books.

What did you think of the title of the book and the cover?

I am not sure on the title or the cover. I think they are kind of generic. Not sure I could come up with better though! I am however glad that the title is remaining the same in all markets, unlike with The Winter Sea/Sophia’s Secret.

Well, the title, every time I see it, makes me start singing... Even when I opened this review to add more to it I couldn’t help thinking ‘I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden’. Until tonight when I looked it up, I had no idea who even sang that song... So, no idea why it is in my head, but it is since the book title was announced...

One thing I always find interesting with Kearsley’s books are the various techniques that she uses to enable to the storytelling to take place in two different places and times - whether it be through dreams, regression or whatever. How did you find the technique worked for you as a reader in this book?

I think the reason I love Kearsley’s books so much is because of this method. She makes it seem so natural. You want to call it a fantasy novel, but at the same time it is entirely believable. I really liked how the character in this book kept travelling through time. When she was in the other world, time in her own world stayed the same and she wasn’t even missed when she came back. The use of two times in her creative manners is definitely what leads me over and over again to read her books. I only have one left to read!

I have a couple left to read - particularly the hard to find ones!

We should talk a little about the actual story. The main character is Eva. Her movie star sister Katrina has recently died and Eva has been given the duty of finding a place to scatter her ashes. As Eva thinks about where that place would be, her mind turns to the place that she hasn’t lived for years but feels like home - Cornwall. She return to the village where Eva and Katrina spent their summers, and to the house where her childhood friends the Halletts still live.

The Hallett’s are battling to save their aging home, and Eva volunteers to use her publicity knowledge to help them. At first she associates the strange events with her grief and tiredness, but it quickly becomes obvious that there is something more going on.

Yes, talking about the actual story is probably a good idea. The story starts off on a very negative note when Eva loses her sister, but the book becomes about much more than that. It is obvious why Eva is so connected to Cornwall. It was just the place that she is meant to be. She goes through a lot while she is there. The Hallett son was Katrina’s first love and even though many years have gone by and she married someone else, he is still battling with the emotions that her death evokes. His father has died and he is tending the family gardens, but he hates the public side of things and is resistant to much change. His sister, though, has big ideas and Eva helps her discover them by advertising the tea house that she has built. That tea house is so much more to the story, though... The reason it came to be in the first place was a touching story.

Given that you have read other books by Kearsley what did you think when Eva started hearing voices?

I wasn’t really surprised because I knew there was something of that nature to expect, but it was just a matter of finding out what method she was going to choose. That didn’t mean there were not a lot surprises in store, though!

So, the hearing voices is the first clue that all is not as it seems, which becomes even more obvious when Eva finds herself in the same house, but that it is occupied by different people in a different time. The house is occupied by a widower, Daniel Butler and his friend Fergal. They are men with a secret of their own - secret Jacobite supporters. The local constabulary, especially Constable Creed, is deeply suspicious of the Butlers and an unexplained woman appearing could make things awkward, especially as she is sometimes there and sometimes isn’t, and she can’t really talk due to her obvious accent and different use of language. Also add into the mix a bit of smuggling and the charismatic and vivid brother Jack and life becomes very complicated all round.


First of all, I loved the characters you mentioned. I know, I am getting off track, but I can’t help pointing out how well written they all were! From the very beginning I loved Daniel. The very first scene was entertaining and I enjoyed watching him develop as a character each time she ‘magically’ appeared. I believe that he really brought the early setting to life by being so realistic. I could picture him and everything that was going on around him. I also love Fergal. Sometimes I think he was simply there to lighten the mood from time to time, but then Jack appeared and took that to a whole different level. Jack is interesting to say the least! In many ways the opposite of his brother, but he grew on me with time. Then, there was the very well-written villain, Constable Creed. I have to admit that I was not there, I was just reading about it, but every time the ‘law’ paid them a visit he creeped me out. It made the story dark just having him there and you never knew what was going to happen, but you felt like it was going to be bad. I cannot applaud Kearsley enough for writing such excellent characterizations. It is why I enjoy her books so much - coupled with the fact she writes fascinating story-lines, captures the time period very well, and has settings that I always want to visit!

Oh yes, the law man was totally, totally creepy!

One other aspect that I did find interesting was the fact that when Eva travelled through time, the treatment of the clothing aspects seemed very logical. I loved that she kept on having to hide the 18th century clothes (including Daniel’s dressing gown) in the future. It also tied in to her worries about changing things in the past.

I appreciated the fashion in general. That was another thing that was explained very well. I can just imagine how hard it is to go from the fashion of today to the fashion of the 18th-century. It was the same in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. In this book the two men knew that she had no idea what she was doing so they aided her, but I found the description illuminating because it is not something I generally think about. The clothes themselves worked well to tie in other things, as well. One of the dresses that she brings back to the modern world belong to Daniel’s deceased wife, so using this one dress we learn more about Daniel and his past that might not have come up right away.

So wrapping up now, Kearsley has once again done a stellar job of making time slip seem like a completely probable possibility, has delivered a lushly romantic story, and this time also made us both gasp out loud with a fabulous twist in the tale!

I know! I have been writing this review and thinking ‘I want to read this again...’ I also want to reread her other books all of a sudden! It has brought the story back and reminded me just how much I loved this book, which I had not entirely forgotten, of course. I am so happy that you, and a few other people, lead me to read her because for the longest time I didn’t think she was my type of writer. I was wrong!

I could do with rereading as well, but I have lent the book to my non reader sister, who just read her first Kearsley and enjoyed it.

Ever since I first read The Winter Sea I have been encouraging everyone (not just you!) I know to read Susanna Kearsley. This book has reinforced that desire even more! So, if you haven’t read Kearsley, what are you waiting for?




This review cross posted at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and The Written World.

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen (includes giveaway)

Louis XIV is one of the best-known monarchs ever to grace the French throne. But what was he like as a young man—the man before Versailles?


After the death of his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. He’s still a young man, but one who, as king, willfully takes everything he can get—including his brother’s wife. As the love affair between Louis and Princess Henriette burns, it sets the kingdom on the road toward unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. Every woman wants him. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love.


But there are other problems lurking outside the chateau of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron mask has been seen in the woods, and the king’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has proven to be more powerful than Louis ever thought—a man who could make a great ally or become a dangerous foe . . .


Meticulously researched and vividly brought to life by the gorgeous prose of Karleen Koen, Before Versailles dares to explore the forces that shaped an iconic king and determined the fate of an empire.

What a web deceit made, its strands strangling the innocent and the guilty alike. (page244)

If you were to look at a list of the names of the kings of France, you would be hard pressed to go past the name of Louis XIV in terms of the importance of the legacy that he left behind. The Sun King - the man behind the magnificence that is Versailles. A man who started out as a very young king, but who grew into a formidable force to be reckoned with politically both within his own country and outside of it's borders. A man with a string of mistresses to his name.

In this book, Karleen Koen has chosen a very narrow frame of reference, focusing on a period of only six  months during the year 1661. The man who had been the power behind the throne for many years, Cardinal Mazarin, had recently died leaving Louis to decide which of his courtiers, if any, he could really trust to help rule the country. During this short period, Koen portrays a boy king who finds his identity and grows into the strong, powerful, decisive and iconic king that his country needed.

Louis' wife, the Spanish princess Marie Therese, is with child, and whilst Louis is determined that every precaution should be taken with their lives, he is not a man who is in love with his wife. He is, however, ardently besotted with the wife of his brother Philippe, known to the court as Monsieur. Most accounts I have read about the relationship between Monsieur and his wife Madame (Henriette, sister to Charles II of England) was that the marriage was a very unhappy one, but this book opens before all the turmoil starts and so he too is besotted with his wife. Once Louis starts paying court to Madame, Philippe is understandably put out (not that he doesn't have more than enough of his own secrets to keep hidden).  Scandal swirls around the couple as all the major players try to find out what the status of the relationship between Louis and Henrietta is.

The other major character is Louise de la Baume le Blanc (later known as Louise de la Valliere). She comes to court as an impoverished noble and finds a place as one of Madame's ladies. She somehow remains unsullied by the court life, a breath of fresh air that catches Louis' attention through the unwitting machinations of Madame.

Also cleverly woven into the narrative is a retelling of the story of the boy in the iron mask, which is familiar through legend, through Alexander Dumas' novel and more recently through film.

I often find myself thinking that I would not like to have lived at a royal court - so much dissembling, gossip, rumour, bribery and deceit swirling around the main players. As I read I found myself thinking a few times that I would have been completely out of my depth amongst all that intrigue, and yet, there was so much glamour, pageantry and beauty it must have been a heady place to be. And let's not forget the musketeers!

Sometimes when you read historical fiction it can feel a bit like you are putting together the pieces of a puzzle. For example, this is not the first book I have read which features Louise de la Valliere as the main character. Among others where she has been mentioned Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland comes to mind. Whilst some of the characterisation was similar, other elements were different from those I remember reading previously. Will we ever know what she was really like? Probably not, but it is fun to see the various different takes on the same historical figure and put it all together.

I had been meaning to read one of Karleen Koen's books for a long time. I am not sure quite what I was waiting for. I do know that I won't be waiting too long at all before I read the next one. Her storytelling is strong, packing drama and depth in amongst the known historical facts to bring history alive!

Rating 4/5

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the copy of this book.

Giveaway details:

We have one copy of this book to give away

- open to US/Canadian residents
- leave a comment and don't forget your email address or Twitter ID so that we can contact the lucky winner
- the contest closes on 28 June at Midnight GMT

Review cross posted at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison

England, 31st August 1939: The world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic, childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unraveling relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair with unforeseen consequences. A story of longing, loss, and complicated loyalties, combining a sweeping narrative with subtle psychological observation, The Very Thought of You is not just a love story but a story about love.

Sometimes you hear about a book and you think to yourself "I know that I am going to love this book" and then when you come to write the review it gives you great satisfaction to be able to say that you were right. And then there are the other books - those ones that sound like exactly the kind of book you are going to love...and you just don't.

The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison is unfortunately one of the latter types for me. In theory this is a perfect book for me. I love reading stories set against the background of war, particularly World War II, and whilst I have read about a young person going to stay with a family as an evacuee earlier this year, this is the first time I have read that experience through the eyes of an evacuee who goes to a stately home turned school. The historical setting and the location sound fascinating.

The story starts with 8 year old Anna Sands. She is about to be evacuated to the countryside like thousands of other children were just after the outbreak of World War II but before the bombs actually started to fall on the major cities. After sharing a magical day out with her mother in preparation for their separation, Anna is looking forward to going to the seaside but instead ends up at a stately home in Yorkshire with lots of other children, where the house has been hastily converted into a school. Anna is somewhat remote from the other children emotionally, but feels a connection to Thomas Ashton almost immediately. Thomas worked for the diplomatic corps until he was left wheelchair bound after a bout of polio and is now running the school and doubling up as a teacher for some of the time.

Thomas and Elizabeth are desperate for children, and when I say desperate, I mean desperate, particularly in Elizabeth's case. There is some hope that by opening their home up to become a school they will in some way compensate for their barrenness but it is at best a band aid solution. As a character, Elizabeth suffers from being very two dimensional - the bitter woman who descends to a very dark place. She is not the only two dimensional character who fills the pages by any stretch of the imagination, but she certainly is the most obvious example of this.

Even the secondary characters seem to be caricatures of real people. For example, whilst Anna is pining away in the school in Yorkshire, her mother Roberta is living the high life in London barely giving her young child a thought.

Of the things that bothered me about this book, one of the bigger issues include the fact that the author didn't seem to know what the focus of the novel was. Was it meant to be a story about the evacuee experience of a young girl? Was it meant to be a dissection of a marriage from the point where Elizabeth decided that Thomas was the man for her and made it happen, through his illness and subsequent disability, and then their inability to have children? Was it meant to be the story of the descent of the physical house from family home to empty National Trust property? All of the above? Having finished the book, I can't say that I am sure.

That's not to say that Alison can't turn a phrase, because she most certainly can, and there were sections where I stopped and reread passages because the observations were so strong. For example, from page 82:

It was no comfort to her that William had been heroic, because the soaring death toll had already devalued the worth of any one sacrifice  

and then again from page 105

Sometimes, across the dining room she would glimpse Thomas talking to someone, and her heart would turn over at the sight of his smile. And a memory would come back to her of the longing she had known for him before their marriage. But she knew that now it was only a memory of a feeling, not the feeling itself. 

The couple of lines of the publisher's blurb say that "The Very Thought of You is not just a love story but is a story about love", but I would argue that it is neither of those things, or at least it is not the kind of love that I want to read about or live. Why would anyone want to love if it left everyone unfulfilled for the rest of their days? I guess this kind of ties in with the idea that all the characters in "literature" need to be miserable in order to be worth reading about. I don't get why that needs to be the case, but it is certainly not something that has gone unnoticed when it comes to discussion about the various literature prizes over the years.

Rating: 3/5

Cross posted at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

East of The Sun by Julia Gregson

Summer 1928. The Kaiser-i-Hind is en route to Bombay. In Cabin D38, Viva Holloway, an inexperienced chaperone, is worried she's made a terrible mistake. Her advert in The Lady has resulted in three unsettling charges to be escorted to India.

Rose, a beautiful, dangerously naive English girl, is about to be married to the cavalry officer she has met only a handful of times. Victoria, her bridesmaid, is determined to lose her virginity on the journey, before finding a husband of her own in India. And overshadowing all three of them, the malevolent presence of Guy Glover, a strange and disturbed schoolboy.

Three potential Memsahibs with a myriad of reasons for leaving England, but the cargo of hopes and secrets they carry has done little to prepare them for what lies ahead.

From the parties of the wealthy Bombay socialites to the poverty of the orphans on Tamarind Street, East of the Sun is everything a historical novel should be: alive with glorious detail, fascinating characters and masterful storytelling.

This book was recommended to me a while back by both Marg and Alex. When I found a copy I immediately decided I had to take it home with me and so I did. Unfortunately I didn't chose the best of times to read it, this was the last book I read before being admitted to the hospital to have the twins so my mind was frequently elsewhere.

Having said that I have to confess that to me reading this book was not the joyous experience I was expecting after reading Marg's review. It might be my mood at the time or just that the writing didn't move me but I felt no empathy for any of the characters and if I am not interested in the characters I always have to struggle to finish it.

What interested me the most was the image of India, How the end of the British rule was fast coming to an end and not all the characters were aware that their lives would forcibly have to change. It's with a fast changing world that the three female characters - Viva, Rose and Tor - are confronted and each reacts in its own way, considering their own situations. Viva is returning to confront her past, Rose to marry a man she saw just a handful of times and Tor is determined to snatch a husband. They'll come out of the experience changed and stronger. Viva, especially, has a particularly dificult situation has she has to deal with a mentally unstable young man that she is also chaperoning on the way to India.

It left me curious about other books set in India and I'll have to go check my TBR pile and see what's there.

Now for a more appreciative review here's what Marg says:

Normally when I see a book mentioned somewhere and it prompts me to add it to my TBR list, I try to write it down on my list, so that I can thank the person who recommended the read. For some reason, when I added this book to my list I didn't do it, and it's a real shame, because I would love to say a hearty THANK YOU to whoever it was.

The book opens with Viva Holloway. She is a young woman with great spirit, great secrets, but unfortunately not great means. She spent many of her formative years in India before she was sent back to school in the UK, and now she longs to return to India - ostensibly to take ownership of a trunk of her dead parents possessions that is being held in trust for her by an old family friend. It does also give her a chance to run away from a disastrous love affair.

The only way she can get to India though is to act as a chaperone to three young people. Rose is on her way to India to get married to a dashing soldier by the name of Jack. She has only met him a few times, but she is excitedly planning a life with him, having no real idea about life in India or about what to expect from marriage, especially as a soldiers wife. Accompanying her is her friend Victoria, known to everyone as Tor, who is going to be her bridesmaid, and hopefully to find herself a husband whilst she is at it. The third person that Viva has to chaperone is a young man of 16 years age called Guy Glover, who has been dismissed from his English school and is returning back to India to be with his parents.

From the start it is clear that there are going to be issues, and so it proves to be. Whilst it is not all plain sailing (sorry, bad pun!), we are also given a glimpse into the life of board for young ladies of the day as they attend parties, make new friends, stop off in Port Said and do a quick trip to Cairo, as the weather warms up and they all sleep on deck - men on one side and women on the other thank you very much.

The journeys that our characters take are very much individual. Along the way we meet up with the rich and bored memsahibs who are only interested in their own lives, the early days of marriage to a stranger for Rose, the search for a husband for the less than confident Tor, and for Viva, a life where she is struggling to make ends meet and therefore has to take up work in a local orphanage and therefore gets to see first hand the poverty, the joy and the conflicts amongst the locals. For those days in India are leading up to the end of British Colonial rule and therefore it is not all swigging G and T's at the club for those people who have chosen to make their lives in a far off land.

There is a great joy in the reading of this book. It's not great literature, but there are times when what you want is an absorbing read that you can get lost in, as opposed to something that you have to think really hard about all the time! There are a few times when the narrative loses a little bit of smoothness, but I was fully invested in the characters, in the setting and in the story and so it didn't really bother me at all.

Reading this book also made me think about my grandmother's life. She made the journey from the UK in the 1930s, not to India, but to Australia. I am pretty sure that she travelled with her family and not as a single woman, but we have talked a bit before about getting off the boat in Egypt. One time when I was at her house, she even got out some things that she had kept from the boat trip over - including a few menus and things. It's fair to say that the food that we eat today has changed a lot from what was served up in those days. If it wasn't for the fact that I live so far away from her, I would have been around to her house to look through all that information again!

This book is apparently one of Richard and Judy's Summer Reads (a big deal in the UK - somewhat similar to getting chosen to be a Oprah book club book) and doesn't seem to have been released in places like the US yet, but I am really glad that my library had it. I have now requested this author's first book, called The Water Horse, and I am very much looking forward to reading it. Another book that I remember reading which featured a similar story about travelling by ship to a different life that I enjoyed was Jojo Moyes' Ship of Brides.

A very interesting read, set in a very interesting location in very interesting times, and a joy to read.

If you are interested in hearing a little more from the author, there is an interview with her posted at The Book Depository. Click here to read it!

The Black Pearl by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

In the Morland Dynasty series, the majestic sweep of English history is richly and movingly portrayed through the fictional lives of the Morland family. It is 1659, and the bleak years of Cromwell’s Protectorate are drawing to a close. Civil war and its aftermath have left Morland Place in bad case, but with the return of the king, Ralph, the master, believes he can rebuild its fortunes.  For his beautiful and ambitious cousin Annunciata it means a journey to London where, embroiled in the amours and intrigues of Charles’ Court, she makes her fortune and at last unlocks the secret of her past.  A kinder age is dawning, but still uncertainty, conflict, and sorrow await both Ralph and Annunciata before they can find peace and forgiveness.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles continues the story of the Morland family using English history has the background. This entry is volume number five and has the previous ones it has a female Morland as the main character. This time it is Annunciata Morland, Ruth's daughter.

Annunciata never met her father, in fact no one, except her mother, knows of her parentage. That, however, doesn't stop her from being a proud and arrogant young woman who loves to be the center of attention and to belittle her less fortunate cousins. My least favourite Morland heroine used to be Eleanor, in book one, but Annunciata just won the title.

As a young adult, she travels to the newly restored court of King Charles II where she is celebrated as a beauty, finds love, has children and  her heart is broken more than once. Part of the story follows Annunciata's adventures at court and her discovery of her true parentage, while another follows Ralph and the rest of family who now live in reduced circumstances. 

As in the previous books of this series, I think the author did a very good job with the historical background. The Morlands are fictional but it's very easy to imagine them has a real family. She even manages to create a tie with the royal family that doesn't sound too forced and definitely keeps things interesting. The same detail is applied to how people lived, loved, worked...

Annunciata doesn't have an easy life but in the end she finds happiness. That is more than what can be said of some of the other characters... Overall I think this is a fast read wich allows us to learn a bit about the Restoration period in England.

Grade: 4/5

Upcoming Release: Queen without a Country by Fiona Buckley

Sarah from Reading the Past posted a preview of the upcoming UK releases a couple of days ago! I love it when these posts go up as there are always books that I hadn't previously heard of. Amongst the list this time were new Christie Dickason, Conn Iggulden, Colin Falconer and more, but if there was one book that really caught my eye it is a new release in the Ursula Blanchard historical mystery series by Fiona Buckley (a psuedonym of Valerie Anand).

I read the last book in the Ursula Blanchard series, which is set in the Court of Queen Elizabeth, more than five years ago. I hadn't heard anything about a new book and so was thinking that Buckley had given up on the series, but apparently not!

Here's the blurb (note that there is a spoiler of sorts in the description)

The ninth gripping murder mystery to feature Ursula Blanchard, special aide to Elizabeth I

November, 1569. Happily married to her third husband, Hugh Stannard, lady-in-waiting Ursula Blanchard is hoping to give up her undercover work for Queen Elizabeth l in order to enjoy domestic bliss. But when Hugh unwittingly endangers possession of his ancestral home, Ursula is forced to take on a seemingly hopeless (but handsomely paid) private assignment, which the Queen spots is the perfect cover for a covert investigation into a group of rebel barons plotting to put Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne . . .

Haven't heard of this series? Check out the spotlight post that we did about a couple of years ago.

Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan

Beginning on their wedding day, Darcy and Elizabeth are two people who are deeply in love with one another and are excited to begin their marriage.

Their courtship was tempestuous; misunderstandings and misgivings nearly tore them apart. But now that they’ve seen each other without prejudice, their trust, attraction, and delight in each other grows with every passing day. Both are inexperienced and innocent, sharing moments of shyness and boldness as they discover the kinds of intimacies that a newlywed couple shares.

As their love story unfolds, they reveal their innermost secrets and feelings, embracing each other in a marriage filled with romance, passion, humor, and drama that will keep you spellbound.

I think that everyone that loves Jane Austen's characters often wonders what happened to them after the ending of Pride and Prejudice. Sometimes, when I am afflicted with such thoughts, I can't resist picking up one of the sequels written by contemporary authors about such beloved characters. This time it was this Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy.

The author mentions how she was inspired to write this after seeing, and loving, the movie version of P&P. Being of the BBC TV series I was immediately worried... but I did enjoy some things in the movie version so I continued.

In the end my main problem with it was not that it was inspired by the movie but that the characters seemed so much different from how Jane Austen wrote them. Not only that but that there is the lack of a strong plot and Lizzy and Darcy spend most of their time in bed. There's no conflict to be solved, no growth in their relationship, the pacing is very slow... towards the end the author introduces a villain but by then it was too late, I think, to save the story.

Readers loving light romance novels with a high count of sex scenes may enjoy this one but, as an Austen sequel, it is not one I would recommend.

The Historical Fiction Challenge- July Reviews

In June, we collectively read 67 books! That makes our total for 2011 so far, 493 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 about Scottish Highlanders

Aishah from Malaysia made the following request:

i stumbled upon your blog today and i noticed the HT Recommends section so, i was wondering if you'd recommend me some books...

ive been reading lots of historical fictions lately mostly about Scottish Highlanders...

i love all the books by Judith McNaught, Julia Quinn, Paula Quinn and Terri Brisbin

i kind of need recommendations on books that features Scottish Highlanders (i seriously cant get enough of them)

i dont really mind about the era but it would be great if the story sets before the 17th century and erm, a storyline that's similar to A Kingdom of Dreams - Judith McNaught would be highly appreciated im sorry if im asking too much and thank you very much in advance :)

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We don't have specific books about Scottish Highlanders reviewed but we have some books set in Scotland that we can happily recommend:

The Winter Sea - Susanna Kearsley

The Shadowy Horses - Susanna Kearsley

Lady MacBeth - Susan Spencer King

Island of The Swanns - Ciji Ware
and then there's Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, the only one we have reviewed here on the blog is Voyager but we suggest starting with book one, Outlander.

Does anyone have recommendations?