Historical Fiction

Wolf Hall

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Wolf Hall

Wolf Hall

By Hilary Mantel

Henry Holt & Company

ISBN: 978-0-8050-8068-1

Henry VIII needs an heir. His twenty year marriage to his queen, Katherine, has only produced one child, a girl named Mary. More children aren’t forthcoming and he wants out of the crumbling marriage. He becomes obsessed with Lady Anne Boleyn. The king’s quest for an heir and a way out of his marriage lay waste to his trusted circle of advisors including a once close friend, Cardinal Wolsey. Henry believes the only way out of the marriage is to break with Rome, the pope, and Catholic Europe so he can make himself head of a new church, grant himself a divorce, and marry Anne.

Thomas Cromwell, a man of Wolsey’s who survived the Cardinal’s political downfall, steps into the fray. He’s a former soldier, an opportunist, and always seems to get his way. He’s exactly the man the king needs to break his stalemate with Rome, establish a new religion, and marry and, hopefully, produce an heir with Anne.

I’ve had Wolf Hall sitting on my shelf for several months and I was really excited to finally pick it up. Unfortunately, I was not in the mood for this book which really disappointed me. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book because I did, very much actually. But I didn’t become attached to any of the characters and if I had put this book down at any point, I probably would not have picked it back up again. Thankfully, I was traveling with this book and stuck in four airports which provided not only the opportunity but the will to finish reading it.

Henry VIII is manic — one day he loves you, hates you the next. Anne Boleyn is phenomenally mean, driven, and crazy but it’s so pitch perfect that you love her for it and thank Mantel for making her such an interesting character. Cromwell is a bully, sometimes mean, but most of the time subtle. He has an uncanny ability to understand people and know what they want and use it to his own ends. His family situation is bad as a child but, once he escapes, things turn around for him. I, however, didn’t feel anything for him. I didn’t like or dislike him, just felt nothing.

One annoying thing about this book, and I read this in another review and was ready for it, Cromwell is constantly referred to as he. I was looking for it and maybe that’s why it stuck out so much. Once I got used to it, it was fine though. And, no, I’m not trying to cause you any undue annoyance here, just pointing out something that will be abundantly obvious as soon as you finish the first paragraph. You’ll most likely get over as I did.

I will say this — the writing is fabulous and the entire story so wonderfully told. I just wish I had picked this one up at another time. It wasn’t what I was looking to read but I do see myself re-reading this book at some point in the future.

Normally I include a 1 to 5 rating with my reviews. I’m bypassing that this time. I’m conflicted about this book (as you might have already noticed, you can thank me later for pointing that out now) and I didn’t want to let my odd reading preferences color my review too much. So, take from all this what you will.

The Creation of Eve

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The Creation of Eve

The Creation of Eve

Lynn Cullen

G. P. Putnam’s Sons

ISBN: 978-0399156106

4.5 stars

In Rome 1559, Sofonisba Anguissola is training to be a painter. Under the tutelage of Michelangelo, she begins to stretch her talent to heights unheard of for a woman at the time. Her father places a lot of faith in her abilities and provides her with the best teachers, but her status as a woman means she cannot study, sketch, or paint the naked body. This leaves her with little understanding of the human form itself and she is told it adds an inhibited quality to her work that she struggles to overcome.

During her time in Rome, she meets and falls in love with another student of Michelangelo’s, Tiberio Calcagni. Their brief affair causes her shame and she leaves the city hoping that what happened between her and Tiberio will not be found out by her father who worked so hard to make sure she would have the chance to learn her craft.

Unaware of what will happen between her and Tiberio as there is no forthcoming proposal of marriage, she takes a position as a lady in waiting to Elisabeth of Valois, the young bride of Felipe II, the King of Spain. She is to teach the young Queen how to draw and paint. Unfortunately, her sad love life, or lack there of, weighs heavily on her. The love trials of the young Queen breaks Sofi’s heart while all this time she wonders silently about Tiberio.

Sofi’s heart suffers while she is at court and the growing attraction she sees between the Queen and the King’s brother, Don Juan, brings her even more heartbreak. Her choices are limited and she struggles with her heart, who she is, and what she must do for the Queen.

Very little action takes place in this novel but the affairs of the heart take center stage and the entire time you’re aware that the story is being told by an artist. The descriptions, colors, and experiences are filtered through an eye that is always looking for shape, texture, and depth.

Told through diary entries, each chapter begins with a painting hint or fact. I loved that the story was told through Sofi’s point of view as it allowed you to get close to the characters. Sofi’s descriptions of the court, the Queen’s dresses, the other ladies in waiting, and the palaces are wonderful and it’s as if you’re watching and hearing the conversations first hand.

Oddly enough this is a book about a painter but very little painting takes place. Somehow that’s a good thing as you come to know the artist behind the easel instead and it’s a good story. For anyone who loves historical fiction, this is a great read. You finish the last page wanting to know more about everyone in the story.

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. The above is a summary of my review, which can be read in full here. The book was provided to me by the publisher for The Book Reporter review.

Teaser Tuesdays

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

1.) Grab your current read

2.) Open to a random page

3.) Share two teaser sentences from that page

4.) Share the title and author so that other participants know what you’re reading.

I haven’t had much time to read the last few days but I’m hoping a few things will clear up by the end of the week that will open up a bit more time. My teaser this fine Tuesday morning comes from The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley. It’s a bit dense (most of the book reads pretty much the same of the teaser below) but I’m willing to give it a go and I’m hoping it picks up soon.

“The Monk Nicholas stayed with Ivar Bardarson during the winter and the next, and all of this time he was making measurements and notations with the instruments he had brought. The English sailors thought little of the Greenlanders at first, and especially disliked the meat and other foods they had to eat, for, they said, dried meat was no substitute for bread, and milk was no substitute for wine and beer, which the English sailors were much accustomed to.”

The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley, page 41 – 42.

The Greenlanders

What you are teasing us with this week?

The Kingmaking

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The Kingmaking

The Kingmaking

By Helen Hollick

Source Books

ISBN: 1402218885

5 stars

No Merlin, no magic, and no round table. Just swords, fighting, and death. The Kingmaking is one of the most interesting re-tellings of the Arthurian story I’ve read in years.

We meet Arthur and Gwenhwyfar as children when Arthur accompanies Uthr Pendragon to Gwenhwyfar’s homeland. Uthr, who has been in exile, comes as war host to fight and attempt to overthrow Vortigern, the current king. When Uthr is killed in the battle, Arthur is finally told that he is Uthr’s heir. He is left to carry the Pendragon mantel at a young age, untrained for the role but fully aware of what it means. Gwenhwyfar, knowing she belongs with Arthur, pledges her life to him.

Arthur returns home and, to keep peace and build his reputation and forces, he promises his sword to Vortigern. Arthur is not one to be told what to do and constantly disagrees with orders from the king. He is aware of what is expected of him and what others think of his being the Pendragon’s heir, but he harbors the need to unite the British and expel the Saxons and is willing to do what he thinks it will take to make that happen. He bides his time but seethes planning to one day overthrow the king.

As with most Arthurian tales, there’s a huge list of characters. Numerous war lords and Saxons to keep track of and all of their plots and in-fighting to go along with it. The fighting is constant and the living difficult. Treatment of women is despicable and I needed to remind myself several times of the time period and that women were treated at possessions to be bought, sold, and used as peace offerings.

Gwenhwyfar stands out in this telling not only as a lady but a warrior but even she is treated as mere cattle at times. I do adore the scenes where she fights though. Let’s just say she gives no second thought to stabbing a man in the heart when necessary

Arthur isn’t the kind, gentle man he is in some stories. He makes quick and sometimes bad decisions, acts before he thinks, and things don’t always work out for him. He’s brutal and can at times be mean and callus — especially where his first wife, Winifred, is concerned, although in her case it’s warranted — and a womanizer. There are times when you wish he would keep his pants on. All this and I still found him to be an appealing character and I liked that he didn’t live a blessed life. He spent his life fighting and it shows.

I liked that there was no magic here. It’s usually a large part of most Arthurian legends and while you’ll find most of the same characters and general story line here, it somehow feels more appealing. I thought it was a great read and it’s a fabulous addition to my Arthurian collection. I received this book, and the second installment, Pendragon’s Banner, as gifts and already bought the third. I plan to have no interruptions in my reading of this series. If you’re a fan of Arthurian legend, this one is worth picking up.

Remarkable Creatures

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Remarkable Creatures

Remarkable Creatures

By Tracy Chevalier

Dutton

ISBN: 978-0525951452

4 stars

Elizabeth Philpot and her sisters, Louise and Margaret, are in need of a new home now that their brother is being married. With no marriageable prospects — the Philpot sisters are not known for their beauty — they take a tour of possible new homes and come to find they like Lyme Regis, a small coastal town known for its fossils. The town slowly becomes home to the sisters, especially Elizabeth who finds she has a passion for fossils. During her walks on the beach, she befriends Mary Anning, a local resident and fossil hunter.

One day, Mary comes upon a strange set of bones that she believes to be a crocodile. The skeleton turns out to be a complete ichthyosaurus skeleton, a creature unknown to science at the time. Mary’s find sets off a bomb in the science world and it becomes a boon for her. The Annings are a poor family but the discovery of the ichie, as Mary likes to call the ichthyosaurus, brings in a little money for the family and she begins to spend more time on the beach taking other collectors and hunters out and showing them what to look for.

During this time, Mary and Elizabeth find their lives colliding, oddly enough, over a man. Elizabeth, ever the one to voice an opinion, tells Mary what she knows will happen with this man but Mary refuses to listen hoping that the creatures she finds will not only change her family’s fortunes but also her own. When things go badly, the women stop speaking but it is Elizabeth, stubborn to the core, that fights for Mary when most needed.

Elizabeth and Mary are endearing. Elizabeth is cold, harsh, and way too outspoken for a woman at the time (around 1810) which sometimes gets her in trouble. She takes a minute to grow on you, but once she does, you’re infinitely grateful for her forwardness and willingness to stand up for what she thinks is right. Mary on the other hand is too trusting and you wish she wouldn’t be.

While the book is about Mary’s fossil discoveries of previously unknown sea creatures, the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus, and the ways in which her discoveries changed the scientific community and brought about a discussion of the theory of extinction, the book really is about the friendship these two women forge. Elizabeth is an educated spinster from London with no prospects for marriage and Mary is a poor, uneducated girl from the seaside town of Lyme Regis who hunts for fossils on the beach to sell to tourists. Other than the fossils they both love and obsessively hunt, the two have little in common. You get to watch both grow and challenge the men who want to tell them how to act and what to think. It’s a wonderful read and I recommend it.

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. The above is a summary of my review, which can be read in full here. The book was provided to me by the publisher for The Book Reporter review.

The Kingdom of Ohio

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The Kingdom of Ohio

The Kingdom of Ohio

By Matthew Flaming

Penguin Group

ISBN: 978-0-399-15560-4

4.75 stars

What happens when two people in love are separated? What happens to the love, the heartbreak? Can time and space shift?

Peter Force, newly arrived in New York City in 1900, finds a job working on the subway system at first breaking rock and then repairing the machines that break and move the earth. One cold evening, he meets Cherie-Anne Toledo, and feeling sorry for her, offers her help. Cherie-Anne tells him an amazing tale of time travel and inventors that he can’t believe but he also can’t tear himself away from her or her story.

Cherie-Anne is a mathematical prodigy and a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Ohio, a place Peter has never heard of. While he is drawn to both Cherie-Anne and her story, he doesn’t find it in himself to believe her until he sees a few things for himself. Although cautious, he finds himself helping her intrigued by what he has seen and heard.

A lot of famous people make appearances in this book — Thomas Edison, JP Morgan, and Nikola Tesla. Numerous footnotes dot the story adding odd notes and sidebars the narrator feels are necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding. These notes make you wonder about the narrator and his actual role in the story he is telling.

The Kingdom of Ohio is a short book and a very rich one. It’s about love, heartbreak, time travel, science and its impact on the world as well as its consequences. It’s all about what we know and what we think we know. How something as simple as the light bulb can have such an effect on our lives and make us wonder where we are going and what the affect might be.

I wasn’t expecting the story I was told in this book but what I did find was lovely. It’s a grand love story, but not overly mushy or drawn out, that crosses time lines — one solidly rooted in the present and one in the past kindled by old photographs and antiques. It will leave you with a lot of questions in the end about what really happened but in a good way. I highly recommend it.

The Coral Thief

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The Coral Thief

The Coral Thief

By Rebecca Stott

Spiegal & Grau

ISBN: 978-0-385-53146-7

2.5 stars

Daniel Connor, a young medical student from Edinburgh, is on his way to Paris to study at the Jardin de Plantes. During his journey, he meets a mysterious and beautiful woman — Lucienne Bernard — and while he contemplates her and her strange theories, she steals his letters of introduction, coral specimens, and mammoth fossils. He reports the theft of the artifacts to the police and somehow finds himself wrapped up in a mystery full of evolutionary theories, coral, and odd bits about Napoleon.

I didn’t care for Daniel. He was sexist and ignorant and I found I needed to remind myself that this was normal for the time period (1815), at least the sexist part. The main problem I had with him was that he was always complaining. Once he began to mature, he became easier to like but not by much. Lucienne is a very interesting characters though. An evolutionary philosopher and thief, she is always hiding something and is never afraid to step out of line and state sometimes the obvious and sometimes the most arcane of thoughts, especially for a woman at the time. She’s refreshing as far as the story line goes here.

Napoleon plays an odd role and one that never fits into the story for me. The short diary entries add nothing and left more questions (mostly why they were there in the first place) than answers. The vague connection does nothing for the story.

The mystery/thriller sort of ending ramps up quickly and is fairly exciting compared to the rest of the book. I do wish there had been more of that and a little more about the fossils, theories, and why Lucienne felt the need to steal them because I found that part of the story interesting but overall it sort of fell flat for me.

Stonehenge

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Stonehenge

Stonehenge

By Bernard Cornwell

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 0-06-019700-5

3.75 stars

A stranger appears one day at an old unused temple near Ratharryn. He is not a member of any of the local tribes. He is also injured, and with a little help from the two who found him, soon dies from his wounds. This stranger carried gold with him and it is this gold that will bring forth a feud that will tear brothers apart, inspire religions, and cause war among the local tribes.

Brothers Lengar, Saban, and Camaban have little in common. Lengar is strong, defiant, and always willing to fight; Saban is the peacemaker and builder; and Camaban is unacknowledged by his father and cast out of the tribe because of a deformed foot. Lengar uses fear and brutality to eventually take over the tribe, overthrowing his father and virtually enslaving his own people. He casts Saban out but is unaware of a plan by Camaban to keep him safe until he can return to rule the tribe. In the end, it is Camaban who cleverly uses religion and sorcery to inspire the building of Stonehenge and bring about the near destruction of his people. Saban, who unwillingly shares his brother’s vision for the temple, is the one that is able to finally bring it to fruition and peace to his people.

As with most Cornwell novels I have read, there is usually a long list of characters and this one is no exception. There are several tribes, sorcerers, gods, and places to keep track of in this book. He manages to blend the stories of the different people well and it feels cohesive even when several events are taking place at the same time.

I put this book down at one point and wasn’t sure if I would go back to it. Eventually I did and once a certain character was out of the picture, I found I liked the book much more and found the remainder quite interesting. The building of the temple was fascinating — the way the stones were moved, fashioned, and positioned was a story unto itself. The religious aspect and invoking of several gods was also intriguing. The superstitions and rituals were so ingrained in the characters that it felt very natural for some of the events to take place even if they were barbaric and not something one would consider necessary for religion.

I didn’t like this book as much as other Cornwell books I have read but found it rather interesting in terms of the religious aspects portrayed here and how the societies were torn apart by gold and gods. Cornwell’s imagining of the building of Stonehenge is engrossing and made me want to find out more about it in the end.