The Bone Church Blog Tour: Review

Publication Date: April 15, 2014
Pier’s Court Press   

Formats: eBook, Paperback 

Historical Fiction/Thriller/Suspense

 

Synopsis From Goodreads:

In the surreal and paranoid underworld of wartime Prague, fugitive lovers Felix Andel and Magdalena Ruza make some dubious alliances – with a mysterious Roman Catholic cardinal, a reckless sculptor intent on making a big political statement, and a gypsy with a risky sex life. As one by one their chances for fleeing the country collapse, the two join a plot to assassinate Hitler’s nefarious Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Josef Goebbels.

But the assassination attempt goes wildly wrong, propelling the lovers in separate directions.

Felix’s destiny is sealed at the Bone Church, a mystical pilgrimage site on the outskirts of Prague, while Magdalena is thrust even deeper into the bowels of a city that betrayed her and a homeland soon to be swallowed by the Soviets. As they emerge from the shadowy fog of World War II, and stagger into the foul haze of the Cold War, Felix and Magdalena must confront the past, and a dangerous, uncertain future.

 

So What Did I Think About The Story?:

I should start out by saying The Bone Church deals with a part of history I know very little about. Weaving back and forth between 1944 and 1956 it takes place mainly in Czechoslovakia and sets as its backdrop the Nazi occupation (in the 1944 timeline) and later the heavy Soviet control of the country (in the 1956 timeline). Knowing so little about this time and place in history, much of the heavier political and social elements, while interesting, were somewhat confusing for me. Once I went and read a little more about these shifting factions I was able to better understand the underlying themes and how they affected the characters. However, even with the extra reading I found myself sort of glazing over the politics and focusing my attention and enjoyment on the characters and their actions.

I found all of the characters incredibly interesting. The seemingly visceral connection between Magdalena and  Felix was simply fascinating and I kept flipping the pages to see if they would be able to escape occupied Czechoslovakia and, in the later timeline, find each other again. My biggest problem with the Magdalena/Felix portion of the story was I felt like both timelines just sort of plopped the reader down in the middle of action without giving a lot of backstory to give the reader a better understanding of what happened to lead up to what was currently going on. How did Magdalena and Felix come to know each other? How did their relationship develop into the close and unbreakable bond it became? How did Magdalena and her mother come to be living in the Andel's basement? What had happened between the two storylines that lead to where both characters found themselves in 1956? While tiny hints were dropped throughout the story to give the reader a taste of the answers to these questions I enjoyed the characters so much I just wanted more information.

The secondary characters were just as mesmerizing and what I loved the most was the way each of these characters kept surprising me! Just when I thought I had a good idea of the motives and allegiances of a character they would do something to flip that right on its head. Those that I thought would sacrifice Magdalena and Felix for the simplest thing ended up being their greatest champions and those I thought really had their back ended up doing things for their own selfish wishes that put the lovers' lives in danger (sorry for being vague...I don't want to give any surprises away!). I love when I think I know the essence of a character and find out I had no idea who they really were.

Another exciting element of The Bone Church that I was surprised I enjoyed as much as I did was Felix's paranormal abilities. Felix can not only communicate with the dead but can interact with them as well as the divine to get himself out of some sticky and dangerous situations. It isn't heavy handed (which, for me, would have made the whole story feel silly and unrealistic) but is utilized at just the right time and in such a delicate and beautiful manner that it really added a wonderful touch of mysticism to the whole story and helped pull in the religious elements of the storyline as well.

There is so much more I could discuss about the book - the actions of the Prague Underground, the plot to find the authentic Infant of Prague, the Bone Church itself - but that would make for a very long review. Suffice it to say The Bone Church has something for just about any reader to enjoy. Those that are well versed in the political, social and religious goings on in Czechoslovakia during these time periods will love it that  much more. I think if I knew more about these elements and if there was more backstory given for Magdalena and Felix's love story this would have been a strong contender for my favorite book of the year.

 

So What Do I Think About The Cover?:

I think it fits the story perfectly! It is stark and concise and shows that religious element that underlines much of the action. The little skull and crossbones at the top of the church also represents the Bone Church itself. Anything more vibrant or decorative would have misrepresented this bleak and tense story for me.

 

My Rating: 3.5/5.0

 

 

Thank you to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for providing me with my review copy of The Bone Church in exchange for an honest review and for allowing me to be a part of this awesome blog tour! Be sure to continue reading below for author information, where to buy the book for yourself and the tour schedule so you can follow along and see what other bloggers are saying about The Bone Church!

 

About the Author

Victoria Dougherty writes fiction, drama, and essays that often revolve around spies, killers, curses and destinies. Her work has been published or profiled in The New York Times, USA Today, International Herald Tribune and elsewhere. Earlier in her career, while living in Prague, she co-founded Black Box Theater, translating, producing and acting in several Czech plays. She lives with her husband and children in Charlottesville, Virginia.


For more information, please visit Victoria Dougherty’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

Buy the Book

Amazon UK
Amazon US
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
IndieBound

The Bone Church Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, June 16

Review at Flashlight Commentary
Interview at Mina’s Bookshelf

Tuesday, June 17

Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, June 18

Excerpt at The Musings of ALMYBNENR

Thursday, June 19

Guest Post at I’d So Rather Be Reading

Monday, June 23

Review at Based on a True Story

Tuesday, June 24

Review at Bibliotica

Friday, June 27

Review at Back Porchervations

Monday, June 30

Review at Dianne Ascroft Blog
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Tuesday, July 1

Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, July 2

Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews
Thursday, July 3
Review at leeanna.me

Monday, July 7

Review at Library Educated

Thursday, July 10

Excerpt & Spotlight at Books and Benches

Monday, July 14

Review at 100 Pages a Day

Tuesday, July 15

Review at Kinx’s Book Nook

Thursday, July 17

Guest Post at Savvy Verse & Wit

Friday, July 18

Review at Curling Up By the Fire

Monday, July 21
Review at Book Nerd

Tuesday, July 22
Review at The Lit Bitch

Wednesday, July 23
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews

Thursday, July 24
Review at Mari Reads
Review at bookramblings

Monday, July 28
Review at Queen of All She Reads
Review at Good Friends, Good Books, and a Sleepy Conscience
Guest Post at Historical Tapestry

Tuesday, July 29
Review at Historical Tapestry

Wednesday, July 30
Review at Luxury Reading

Thursday, July 31
Review at From the TBR Pile

Why I Love...The Cold War: Guest Post By Victoria Dougherty

I am so excited to have Victoria Dougherty, author of The Bone Church, here at Historical Tapestry today as part of her book tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours! Please read below for her guest post and come back tomorrow for my review of The Bone Church.

Why I Love the Cold War

When I was a kid, ABC After School Specials were where middle class youth with troubled families could find themselves. On most Wednesdays at 3:30 pm, alcoholism, divorce and every day dysfunction were portrayed by actors like Scott Baio. I’m sure THE BOY WHO DRANK TOO MUCH was a real comfort to teens struggling with a drinking problem and a good morality play for those who weren’t. I liked them as much as anybody, but for my parents and grandparents, the “problems” portrayed on the ABC After School Specials were a real head scratcher.

“Heavy drinking isn’t problem,” my grandmother would say. “It is part of life. Now dictatorship! That’s a problem!”

If I wanted to see a more accurate reflection of what real problems were like, I should watch DR. ZHIVAGO, my grandfather once suggested. And I did – getting the same, satisfying recognition that most of my friends could find by surfing the networks. Varykino felt like home, even if I didn’t live in a frozen summer palace, but a 1960s style two-story house in suburban Chicago.

And like Zhivago, our family story was a two-hanky drama: heroes and villains, cowards, redeemers and the redeemed, those who were beyond hope, and those who pulled victory from a hat just as it looked like it was all over for them. There were ghosts, there were priests, and there were spies. Beautiful women and dashing men. Achingly beautiful love stories and wretched marriages. Drinking and smoking and storytelling – lots of storytelling.

“Did you hear about Uncle Jaroslav?” Heavy sigh, deep pull on a Carlton 120 (the “healthy” alternative to Viceroy in our household by the time the 1980s rolled around). “He hung himself in his shed.” My mouth drops open. “Why, Baba?” My grandmother waves her hand – smoke goes curling around my poodle’s head. “Why not?” she says.

I loved that woman.

And I love the stories I grew up hearing at my dinner table. I love black and white films and photos. I love the smell of whiskey and cigarette smoke on a man. And a tailored suit. I love rich, world-weary laughter, and a home with scratches on the wood floors and books piled up all over the place. Strong tea is good. Strong coffee is better. A strong man is the best. An old map of the world pinned to the wall – and two tickets to Buenos Aires in the top drawer – just in case. I love unpolished nails, but a nice coat of lipstick on a pair of parted lips. I love the rain. I love the cold.

 

About the Author

 

Victoria Dougherty writes fiction, drama, and essays that often revolve around spies, killers, curses and destinies. Her work has been published or profiled in The New York Times, USA Today, International Herald Tribune and elsewhere. Earlier in her career, while living in Prague, she co-founded Black Box Theater, translating, producing and acting in several Czech plays. She lives with her husband and children in Charlottesville, Virginia.

 

For more information, please visit Victoria Dougherty’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

 

Synopsis of The Bone Church

In the surreal and paranoid underworld of wartime Prague, fugitive lovers Felix Andel and Magdalena Ruza make some dubious alliances – with a mysterious Roman Catholic cardinal, a
reckless sculptor intent on making a big political statement, and a gypsy with a risky sex life. As one by one their chances for fleeing the country collapse, the two join a plot to assassinate Hitler’s nefarious Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Josef Goebbels.

But the assassination attempt goes wildly wrong, propelling the lovers in separate directions.

Felix’s destiny is sealed at the Bone Church, a mystical pilgrimage site on the outskirts of Prague, while Magdalena is thrust even deeper into the bowels of a city that betrayed her and a homeland soon to be swallowed by the Soviets. As they emerge from the shadowy fog of World War II, and stagger into the foul haze of the Cold War, Felix and Magdalena must confront the past, and a dangerous, uncertain future.

Buy the Book

Amazon UK
Amazon US
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
IndieBound

 

 

Julie's Books of a Lifetime

I joined the Historical Tapestry team exactly 2 years ago today, so I thought it was about time that I shared my books of a lifetime with you all.

I have always loved reading; to loose myself within the confines of a book, so that when I finish reading it feels like I have lost a good friend. As I sat to write this post I pondered on the many thousands of books I have read over the years. The list is enormous and I wonder if I had to choose a few really special books what would I choose?

So I am going to share the books that have left a lasting impression with me. The books that I can recall the plot months and in some cases years after I read it. Or perhaps the books that I re-read with complete regularity. There maybe a few surprises and if you are regular reader of the Anglers Rest blog you may be familiar with several of the books mentioned.

I don't know how old I was when I was introduced to books. I do recall sitting on my Grandmother's knee whilst she read to me the many Enid Blyton books that I loved. Starting with Noddy and Big Ears in the years before political correctness when completely mad! I still have my childhood set of Noddy books.

I then moved on to the Mr Twiddle series before racing on through the Famous Five, Malory Towers, St Clare's series. For those who would like a trip down memory lane there is an Enid Blyton Society. I also enjoyed the Nancy Drew series and they were frequently borrowed (and re-borrowed) from the library and the library of yesteryear when the tickets were a heavy card and the books exchanged for a round disc or your library ticket.

Those books and wonderful times with my Grandmother undoubtedly shaped my reading habit and enthusiasm. I recall many an evening with my Mum and Grandmother, all with our heads buried in our respective books.

Into senior school and reading was typically history texts or literature books that had been set. Hamlet, Mice and Men are just a few. A real favourite during this period was Animal Farm by George Orwell, that was strategically read whilst undertaking Russian history and Revolution.

Once into adulthood I have read a real variety of books. I love to read books that form part of a series and I like to read them in order. Two favourites are those set in Elm Creek by Jennifer Chiaverini. Another series, but completely different to the Elm Creek series is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I am slightly obsessive about reading in order and often will gather a complete set before reading commences. Then once I have finished reading the series it takes a few weeks before I can move on to another book.

I also like several of the cozy mystery series, especially those that feature coffeeshops, teashops, knitting and various crafts.

I also like anything with a genealogical theme; that way I can get my two obsessions nicely bound together, two fixes for the prices of one if you will!

The final book I am going to mention is A Town like Alice by Neville Shute. I bought a tatty looking second hand copy about 30 years ago. That copy is still going strong and the book is read at least once every year. I have thought about replacing the tatty copy but somehow, that those new editions are just not the same. Here is a picture of my very well read copy.

Thank you for accompanying me as I shared my books of a lifetime. Why not share your books too?

Why I Love: The Advertisements in Old Newspapers and Magazines (With Give-away)

I have always done a great deal of research for my novels, mostly because immersing myself in other people’s books and articles is a hell of a lot more fun than actually forcing myself to put my own words on paper, but with Love & Treasure, the project of research took on a whole new level of importance.

 Love & Treasure is an historical novel, set in two different time periods (and in the present), and in two different cities. The first section of the novel takes place in Salzburg in 1945 and 1946, in and around the Displaced Persons camps. When I made the decision to set part of the novel there, I had never been to Salzburg. I had no idea what the city looks like in the present, let alone what it looked like in the wake of World War 2. I had to build up a base of knowledge from absolute zero, which was actually not really that uncomfortable. I almost prefer to start a project knowing nothing, because then I can skip what is otherwise a necessary part of research: correcting my misapprehensions.

The final section of the novel takes place in Budapest, in the year before World War I. I’d been to Budapest, and was full of ideas of what the city must have been like back in 1913, so my work was a little harder when it came to that part of my research. I had a lot of mistakes to sweep away before I could get busy figuring out the truth of my story.

Though I did plenty of traditional research - reading articles and books, sifting through photo archives, interviewing witnesses (in the case of World War 2) - what I found most miraculously helpful in understanding the time periods and creating a believable world were ancient copies - on microfilm, in hard copy and (all too rarely) on the web - of magazines and newspapers. And while it’s true that the articles in those journals were often interesting, what I found most helpful, most fascinating, and frankly most astonishing, were the ads.

The women’s newspapers of Budapest were full of ads for clothing of the period, furnishings, and hats (so many hats!). All the typical kinds of ads we still find nowadays (on the rare occasions when we pick up a paper magazine). But what blew my mind was that in a socially restricted society where it was frowned upon for a young girl of good family to appear in public unchaperoned, the magazines were full of ads for abortifacients (“a ladies safe remedy” for the cure of “women’s special problems”) and even condoms! There were personal ads and pleas to attend meetings of societies devoted to eradicating sexual slavery and trafficking. (Either 1913 Budapest was truly an international hub of sex trafficking or the population had some intense, collective, erotic imaginations).

In Salzburg, I made similar use of the newspapers published by the Displaced Persons in the camps. Those ads were heartbreaking. In addition to pleas for information about lost relatives, they included notifications of, for example, the distribution of children’s shoes at a given hour at a given place. The bits and pieces for sale told a story of deprivation and tragedy. But there were also ads for movies and lectures, notifications of youth group meetings, and offers of employment.

I drove my research assistants crazy insisting that they translate all those advertisements word for word, but it was well worth the effort. So many of the details that make that make Love & Treasure (I hope) feel real and true come not from articles or photographs, or from other research, but from those ancient advertisements.

Ayelet Waldman is the author of Love and Treasure (Knopf, April 2014), Red Hook Road and The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace. Her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was adapted into a film called “The Other Woman” starring Natalie Portman. Her books are published throughout the world, in countries as disparate as England and Thailand, the Netherlands and China, Russia and Israel, South Korea and Italy.

Give-away

There is a give-away associated with this post. Yay!! It is U.S. only, but if you comment on this post you will be entered in a give-away to win a copy of Love and Treasure. The give-away ends July 23rd.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: July Reviews

We are half way through this year's challenge and I am so pleased to see how many people are doing so well with their reading. Last month we again had more than 70 reviews added to the challeng. I look forward to seeing how well everyone does for the second half of the year too.

If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late! The sign up post is here.

Just to recap what participants need to know. At the beginning of each month we will put up a post which will have a Mr Linky embedded into it for you to add your link.

Please remember...

• Add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review). A direct link to your Goodreads review is also acceptable 
• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (fantasy, young adult, graphic novels...) 
• if you have time, have a look some of the other links that are present. You never know when you will discover new blogs or books! 

Please leave your links for your July 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 May, please post it on this Mr. Linky in this post.