Showing posts with label Historical fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Historical fiction. Show all posts

Monday 7 September 2020

Portrait of Stella by Susan Wüthrich

 This is I think the third book I read by Susan Wüthrich, mainly because it is in my prefered genre; historical fiction. But also because she tells a good story. This one was a complicated one spanning from 1943 to present day. Maybe at times trying too hard to keep the star crossed lovers apart by very unfortunate coincidence, but still a 5 star read. Here is the review:


What I like about Susan wüthrich’s books, is that it is historical fiction, but often not too distant history and ordinary people. Like here; when a woman in 1983 discovers during a passport application that her birth certificate is fake. Jemima is an ordinary young woman. Divorced she concentrates on her career. Then this chance discovery stops her in her tracks, suddenly work takes a back seat while she sets out to discover where she was born. With both parents dead and a period where her mother just disappeared makes it hard to find out what happened. Jemima does take some rash decisions and sets of to New Zealand on very vague information. It is a story of a woman discovering who she is and her awakening to the prejudice and injustice in South Africa. Well written in a series of flashbacks to 1945 and the following years, interwoven with Jemima story. A tragic tale of love, prejudice and courage. Recommended.

Thursday 30 January 2020

Rib Bone Jack: Smuggler's Pride by John Williamson

A little late, but a happy new year to all my readers. I hope your year will be a happy and healthy one full of adventure and discovery. If adventure is lacking in real life then you could do worse than picking up this book. However I would start with the first book in the series unfortunately the author does not number his books, but its called the poachers path. I reviewed Legacy of the Rhino by this author last year which was also a very good read.
I gave this 5 stars:



Set during the Napoleonic wars this book will take you back to a time when smugglers and invading forces made the British shores a very dangerous place. Our hero Jack is sent to Wales to look into some illegal activities taking place around Tenby.
Even though this book stands alone as a good adventure with a clear start and finish, I felt I had missed out on the relationships between some of the main characters. This is book 4 and it is clear that a lot of water has passed under the bridge. I wished I had been there at the start of Jack and Camilla’s romance and I might go back to the first book and start the series properly.
The historical details are well researched and used well as a backdrop to an exciting adventure. The book is full of some larger than life characters like the priest Mr Baker with a rather unusual approach to rescue sinners and the almost republican lord Cravith.
Recommended for lovers of historical adventures.

Monday 29 July 2019

Red Winter by Julia Underwood

I rather like this author as she just shown me that she can write about a range of topics, but easily captivates the reader with her very readable style. The first book I read by this author was about a heist set in seventies Britain, this one is set in Russia during the revolution. I gave this 5 stars. Click on the picture to take you to Amazon.



Red winter is the Russian revolution seen through the eyes of a young woman; Sophie. Privileged and of Russian and English descent her life is to be changed forever. We see her growing from a naive teenager, head over heels in love with Tolya, an idealistic and serious man, into a rather formidable woman. She is not afraid to make difficult choices and rather heroic when it comes to her husband and family. The historical details are well researched and form an excellent setting to this story, but it never becomes a history lesson; it’s all about how the events of the time impact on Sophie and her family. Very well captured is the changing relationship between Sophie and her former servants. I enjoyed this well written epic of love, war, revolution and above all survival.

Sunday 14 October 2018

Mary Rosie's War by Catherine M. Byrne

I wanted to like this book as it was set in the North of Scotland and it was historical fiction, but ultimately I was left a bit frustrated by the pace of the book and some of the characters decisions. But if you like a slow paced coming of age story, this one will be for you. I gave it 3 stars as it does have a lot of good points too. Here is the review and click on the pick to take you to Amazon.



This was a nice story set in the north of Scotland, England and France. Three young people: Mary, Johnny and Liesl find their lives irrevocably changed by war. We mostly follow Mary and her growth from a 17 year old Caithness country girl into a serious woman shaped by World War two. My problem with the book was mostly with pace. Mary to me wasn’t the most interesting person in the book. I found her mother far more intriguing. Her past was never fully developed and her budding romance with Sinclair again not quite fully explored. The relationship between Mary and Johnny was described at great length and its conclusion rather unsatisfying. (I don’t want to give the plot away, but the end left me a bit puzzled as to Mary’s decision.) Liesls time in Germany was dealt with in a chapter and Johnny’s time in France was equally quickly dealt with. For me they were exiting story lines with I would have liked to have seen much further explored. Gentle read for lovers of clean romance with just a little adventure.

Wednesday 26 September 2018

Another Kind of Sunset by Susan Wüthrich

I really wanted to read this book as it is in my favourite genre of historical fiction, but also it set in the aftermath of World War two; a period which is much less written about than WWII itself. The author was very kind in providing me with a copy as it was slightly above my usual reading budget. However I can recommend it and it more than worth its purchase price. 5 stars.



Plenty of books have been written about the Second World War, quite refreshing to find a book that deals with its aftermath. We meet Eve a young widowed mother of three. We read of her struggle to raise her kids in 1948 Britain. Not only does she have to deal with that, her grief but also the nursery business she built with her late husband. We can relate to Eve as she is a real woman dealing with very real problems and we can easily imagine ourselves in her shoes. The action moves between 1948 and 1975, but is mostly about those crucial after war years. The 1975 bit is interesting as her daughter Faith drops a bomb shell that has Eve questioning everything she knew about the man she came to love. I don’t want to give anything away about the plot as there are many different twists and turns, which had me eagerly turning my kindle pages. An interesting part of history and a book with a good substantial plot. Recommended. I received a free copy for a fair and honest review.