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 Brunin FitzWarin, ten years old, feels like an embarrassment to his family. His grandmother is domineering, his father is never satisfied, and his mother cries often. At a fair, he runs into two older boys, enemies of his father, who beat him mercilessly. As a result, Brunin is sent to be squired at the castle of his father’s best friend, Joscelin de Dinan of Ludlow. There he meets Joscelin’s daughter Hawise, who soon befriends him and helps him live a little outside the shadow of his family. As Brunin grows up, he must find confidence in himself, love with Hawise, and help Henry II to take the English throne.
Elizabeth Chadwick is a fantastic author and I don’t know why I don’t read more of her books. This is another one of my oldest TBR reads and it’s a shame that I let it sit so long. I was immediately drawn into the 12th century to live with these characters in their world. Those characters are truly wonderful. I loved Hawise and both her tomboyish ways as a child and her path towards maturity as a responsible, loving woman. Brunin was a more challenging character; in many ways he has to fight his way to favor both in the book and for the reader. Towards the middle, it becomes easier to feel for him. The timescale of the book over a long period of years suited the characters’ development particularly well, too; it takes us through enough of their lives that we can really get to know them and become interested in the outcome of their stories.
Chadwick has also evoked the period in history brilliantly. The battles are exciting, the behavior of the characters is right in line, and the political drama is played out on a personal scale. Her language is pitch perfect. She uses modern English without any colloqualisms (not any that I spotted) but with medieval words for clothes and objects which we would no longer recognize. All of it is very well done and makes it easy to sink into the world while not forgetting that this is meant to be set 900 or so years ago.
There is quite obviously romance in this book, but it’s one facet among many and feels very natural. The characters deal with family issues, loyalty, illness, unfair and arbitrary laws, and even aging. The outcome of the novel is never assured; the plot moves fairly quickly and the reader is not sure whether there will be a happy ending or not. There is suspense going on at times as well; I know I found myself racing through the pages to make sure that certain characters lived.
There is something here for everyone. Despite its length, it was also a quick read; it’s very easy to get swept away in this historical saga. I’d highly recommend it and I’m really looking forward to my next read by Elizabeth Chadwick.
Amazon UK
 What’s the funniest book you’ve read recently?
This is an easy question. This month I just so happened to read Bonk by Mary Roach. I didn’t expect it to be as funny as it was, but I certainly giggled my way through the book. I’m not sure why I didn’t realize that it would be funny, given its subject matter, but Mary Roach is a hilarious writer. Probably the second funniest would be First Comes Love, then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite. It wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny (books rarely are for me) but I was certainly amused. In a different month, I would have had a much more challenging time answering this question, because I don’t normally read laugh-out-loud funny books. Bonk is actually the funniest book I’ve read all year. Sometimes they are amusing, but rarely that amusing.
What about you? Do you read books that make you laugh?
 When Roland Mitchell comes across a letter from Randolph Henry Ash to Christabel La Motte in the course of regular research, he is so excited that he takes the letter home with him. Randolph Henry Ash, a nineteenth-century poet, is the subject of Roland’s life work so far, and this new discovery could reveal untold new information about his character. Teaming up with Maud Bailey, who is one of Christabel’s descendants and knows all there is to know about her, they seek to discover the true nature of their relationship, what happened, and why, before the other scholars can do so. Interspersed with their research are poems, letters, and journal entries by the historical characters, shedding light on their minds and hearts as Roland and Maud’s own search leads to similar questions in their lives.
If this book hadn’t been published when I was four years old, I would have sworn that Byatt wrote it with me in mind. It is so perfectly attuned to everything that I love that it’s almost ridiculous. All of my actual academic work has been biographical, and as a result I can understand completely their compulsion to know first, to know best, to possess their subject as no one else can or will. I adore Victorian literature. If it was written in the nineteenth century by a British person, I probably love it, and I can’t tell you why, but it’s true. As a result, there is just no way I couldn’t love this book, and I’m beyond glad that I finally got around to reading it after it sat on my shelf for more than a year.
Perhaps what I loved most about it was the dual set of discoveries that goes on throughout the course of the novel. As Maud and Roland begin to unearth the truth of the relationship between Ash and La Motte, their own lives become clearer to them. As a result, we have a fantastic intertwining of stunning and moving character development in two different centuries, with emotions on both halves of the story that feel real. At times, the story is heartbreaking. The ending, where all this goes, is stunning; the book just gets better and better as the reader goes on. I really can’t express how it took my breath away. All I can say is that it was one of those books that makes all the others worth reading just to get to this one.
If I had any problem with Possession, it probably would have been the poetry. I’m not a huge fan of poetry, so I did expect it to slow me down. Somehow, though, it worked here. Maybe it’s because I was purposely reading slower and could absorb the meaning more, but I loved how it completely fleshed out the way these characters were feeling without explicitly saying anything. Reading the literature that they wrote in addition to their thoughts made Ash and La Motte even more real to me (and that’s saying something considering they’re fictional). It added a whole new layer of depth. If I had been speeding through the book, I would have missed it. Byatt has serious talent.
If you love literature, history, biography, poetry, any of these things, this is not a book to be missed. There is a reason it won the Booker prize and I’m thrilled I finally found another winner that matches my adoration of The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Possession has firmly earned itself a spot on my favorites list and I look forward to rereadings of it in the future.
 Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, has a spotty record when it comes to history. Sometimes reviled as a bully and sometimes worshipped as a hero, this president had a time in the White House that was nothing if not eventful. In this biography, Jon Meacham focuses solely on his years in the White House, covering the political battles that were clearly important to Jackson while using letters and personal documents to illuminate both his personality and those of the contemporaries that surrounded him.
To my surprise, I found American Lion very compelling and easy to read. In fact, I read it almost as quickly as I would have a novel of a similar size, which is a rarity for me with non-fiction. It’s very approachable. Meacham introduces Jackson with a brief summary of his life, then launches into his presidential campaigns and tenure. Jackson’s eight years spent in the White House make up the majority of the book, with a short conclusion so that we also are aware of what happened afterwards.
This book doesn’t present itself as an academic study and it certainly isn’t one. It doesn’t attempt to change or interpret the history. Instead, Jon Meacham summarizes and for the most part lets the reader decide for him/herself what to think about Jackson and his policies. A little more in depth analysis of Jackson’s politics in the context of the time would have been nice; we hear about how Jackson’s use of the veto changed the power play between Congress and the President, but what about his other policies? Comparatively little is followed up on the issues of the national bank, aside from discussing the almost immediate economic fallout it caused, or Jackson’s policies towards Native Americans. At times, I got tired of the gossipy aspects of the book, particularly Jackson’s insistence on supporting his friend and his friend’s irritating wife, but for the most part I did like the personalities with whom he interacted. It was a more personal look and perhaps provides a little more insight into early 19th century people than a regular political biography would have.
I do have to say that after reading this, I can’t really admire Jackson. After all, he is the one who contributed directly to sending Native Americans further out of their homelands, leading to the Trail of Tears. He seems perfectly content to allow slavery to continue even though the abolitionist movement was beginning. Perhaps he was old and set in his ways, but the fact that people protested against these choices in his time makes it difficult for me to forgive him. He was perhaps a great leader, but I don’t think he was a good man. I appreciated that Meacham allowed me to come to that choice on my own.
I definitely still found this to be an informative and incredibly engaging biography. I don’t know that I will seek more out about Jackson, but I’m glad I read this and feel that I’ve certainly learned something. I would recommend it to those who are interested in a personal look at one of our country’s most intriguing presidents.
Are you interested in this book? I have one copy to give away to someone with an address in the US. This giveaway will be open until August 19th. Comment here to enter, and you can tweet or blog about the giveaway for an extra entry. Good luck! Alyce is the winner of this contest.
It’s probably been about a week or so since I sat down and thought about a blog post. This is very odd for me as I’m normally antsy about not having much non-review content around here. I know I post a ridiculous number of reviews (and I read a ridiculous number of books) so I do like to post other things every so often.
I’ve been back in the UK since Sunday morning. I’ve mostly existed in a fog of exhaustion since then. I spent most of Sunday sleeping, although my fiance and I did manage to fill out our application for our Certificate of Approval. If we’re accepted, we can finally get married. We are planning on mid-to-late October and just hoping that there is still time for us when/if our application is approved. I spent most of Monday traveling more and then working on my dissertation chapter, which I sadly neglected while I was home. I had a great two weeks, most of which I spent with my parents since I won’t be seeing them again for so long and I didn’t have much time. I did have an amazing day with a couple of my friends from college in New York City. Here’s a shot from Central Park:
 I did manage to read quite a few review books, which had piled up while I was gone, but I haven’t been as speedy with the reviews as I would have liked. I have 10 reviews to write and I read two of the books before I even got home, so I should probably get cracking. My dissertation chapter is my top priority at the moment, though, and needs to be finished by tonight (I’ve done most of it so this isn’t a problem), so they may be waiting a little longer.
 I also wanted to point everyone’s attention over to Book Blogger Appreciation Week, a weeklong celebration of book blogging, complete with giveaways and awards. This event, one of My Friend Amy‘s wonderful ideas, is a ton of fun and introduced me to so many new bloggers the first time around last year. I even won best history/historical fiction blog, about which I was incredibly thrilled and flattered. Now that I’m a bit more informed about the blogosphere, I’m even more amazed, and I have several theories as to which blog will win this award in September. Nominations for awards are now open and I encourage you all to go over there, register, vote, and get excited!
Lastly, just a quick reminder that I am still running two giveaways. You can enter here for a signed, autographed copy of Pope Joan, and here for a paperback copy of The Spies of Warsaw. I’ll be announcing another giveaway tomorrow, so stay tuned.
 Though born as a child of the Maghuin Dhonn, Moirin has always seen two different gods, the bright lady and the man with a seedling in his hand. As she grew up with her mother in a cave, she had no idea that she was also half D’Angeline and destined for greater things than a life in the wilderness. When Moirin gains adulthood and undergoes the rite to discover whether she is truly one of the Maghuin Dhonn, she realizes that she has a mission and that her diadh-anam is leading her to Terre d’Ange and further, into a world she scarcely imagined and a life as far as possible from her cave in the wilderness.
I have loved every book that Jacqueline Carey has written. No exceptions. I even enjoyed The Sundering duology, which most people don’t really like. Naamah’s Kiss is not an exception to this rule because I loved it too. I’m actually left wondering just how this woman writes amazing book after amazing book, but I’m not complaining at all.
As usual, I love Carey’s writing style. Many people have referred to it as purple prose, but I think it suits the book beautifully. It succeeds completely in grounding me in her world and reminds me instantly where I am because it’s certainly distinctive. I do agree that her writing has improved over the course of the past few years and has become even more beautiful. Here’s how this book opens, narrated by Moirin:
I was born to the Maghuin Dhonn.
We are the folk of the Brown Bear and the oldest magic in Alba runs in our veins. Once, there were great magicians among us – men and women capable of seeing all the skeins of the future unwind in the great stone circles, capable of taking on the shape of the Maghuin Dhonn Herself.
No more.
It changed long before I was born, when a prince of Terre d’Ange wed a princess of the Cullach Gorrym, the folk of the Black Boar. The greatest magicians among us saw the seeds of our destruction in that union. They acted to avert it; and in the end, they succeeded.
– p. 1
I also really appreciated that Moirin is not Phedre from the first six books. They have similar characteristics in that they are both to an extent selfless and devoted to loving others, but they feel like very different women. I was a little worried about how well Carey would pull that off, given that many authors settle into one voice and all characters start to feel the same after a while, especially those of the same gender. It’s not so here. The budding love story, while similar in theme given both start off with hatred but protection from the men, also feels different and new, perhaps because this man is no polished warrior like Joscelin. It also doesn’t feel quite as epic, but this is only the first book.
For fans of the series, it’s also interesting to see how the stories in the Kushiel’s Legacy series have trickled down to influence Carey’s world a few generations on. Many of the primary characters here are related in some way to those who populated the first series, excepting the Ch’in, which provides an extra perk to fans of the first series while not leaving behind new readers since all the legends are explained. The book wraps up most of its central storyline, but is completely open for a sequel and I expect there will be one.
I don’t think Naamah’s Kiss is necessarily up to the standards of the Kushiel’s Legacy series yet, but I loved it anyway. Jacqueline Carey is one of my favorite authors and I’ll be recommending all of her work, including this one.
*Worth mentioning, all of these books are quite explicit and include all manner of pairings.
 Isolde, queen of Britain in the 6th century, has just lost her husband King Constantine and finds herself adrift and powerless in a court suddenly full of enemies. A generation has passed since the fall of Arthur and Camelot and infighting is on track to destroy the fragile alliance among the Britons at a moment in which strength is needed to conquer the threatening Saxons. Isolde, daughter of Arthur’s bastard son and murderer Mordred, is accused of witchcraft and sorcery and despite her suspicions, no one trusts her word; this dismays her even more because she has lost both her memories and her Sight. She finds compassion stirred when she visits two Saxon prisoners, aiding them to end their misery by giving them a knife. When she flees, she finds that one of them, Trystan, has escaped and becomes her trusted companion as she fights to save the British kingdom.
I have read many, many versions of Arthurian legends. I took a class in them and I have a personal interest in them, so I’ve read mostly everything from the origins to the present day. At times it feels like it’s impossible for a book to feel fresh and new and exciting when it’s working in this genre. If so, Anna Elliott has definitely achieved the impossible. I could recognize the echoes of the original Welsh legends in this book – the relations between the characters are notable in this instance – but at the same time this is a book (and I suspect will be a trilogy) that stands completely on its two feet.
Twilight of Avalon is grounded in historical fiction with some added magical elements; the author herself plays with the concept that legend is always more far-fetched than truth. For example, when Merlin is sent on a particularly dangerous mission for Isolde, he asks her to say that a beautiful enchantress has stolen him away to the Hollow Hills to explain his disappearance if he dies. Many of us will recognize that as exactly what happens in most versions of the legend.
I really liked one of the narrative strategies that Elliott used. Isolde has lost most of her memory from before a traumatic event in her life. So, she’s lost most of the power she had, and she thinks it’s because she purposely blocked out half her life. In this novel, she slowly regains memories, and by hearing the voices of the deceased come back to her, she learns gradually about her own life. In my opinion, this is a clever strategy to catch the reader up on both the Arthurian legends (in case they have somehow managed to avoid exposure) while building Isolde’s character and history. Elliott’s writing is a pleasure to read and very easily absorbing; I find it harder and harder to really get into books these days and I was thrilled that I could just sink into this one at any time.
Isolde herself is a strong woman, determined to make her world sit properly on its axis to the best of her ability and admirably devoted to Britain. Trystan is a hardened warrior who has seen people at their worst but who is willing to support and save Isolde when necessary. So far, they work well together, and the romance hasn’t even begun yet. I thought the secondary characters were fairly well fleshed out, too, especially Trystan’s little band.
I loved Twilight of Avalon and it definitely receives my enthusiastic recommendation. This is a keeper and I find myself excitedly anticipating the second volume in the trilogy, out next year.
 As a little girl, Cressida is terrified of George Harding, a scarred World War II pilot who insinuates himself into her family’s life. He’s provided for them in a sense since her father was rendered incapable, even moving them into his vacant servants’ house when they can no longer afford their own. For Cressida, he has a special assignment; he wants her to spend time with his nephew Edgar and make the timid boy into a bold spirit like she is. He even pays her to do it. Slowly, however, Cressida realizes that this isn’t about Edgar; it is about George and her relationship with him, and only Cressida can decide where she is going with her life.
I find it hard to clarify how I feel about this book. For one thing, I had a very difficult time identifying with Cressida or her mother. Both of them seem to change their mind on a whim, their opinion of people changing rapidly. Their behavior matches and sometimes I couldn’t understand why they were doing what they were doing. I could easily understand their frustration with each other, though, and recognize their predicament as a case of a mother and daughter being too similar in character to see eye-to-eye.
This book is meant to be a love story, but it’s difficult to see it that way in the beginning, and seems a peculiar one at that. Mr. Harding is a constant feature in Cressida’s life as she goes from despising him to being intrigued by him to loving him desperately. He is a fascinating and surprisingly good man, but is frustratingly determined to stop the relationship and to allow Cressida to use her intellect and succeed in life. Admirable motives, but frustrating to read about Cressida’s longing for him and difficulty with that same intellect.
Despite its very short length, this is by no means a light read. It certainly deals with tortured souls, class struggles, and conflict between all manner of characters, from servants and masters to parents and children. It felt very dark. None of the characters are happy and their lives are constantly changing, an endless seesaw of joy and misery. It is thoughtful and at times feels very deep and brooding.
Perhaps what was most disturbing about this novel is that there is no sense of setting. The period is ambiguous; it’s post-World War II but it’s difficult to tell how much after. The location can only be discerned from reading the book’s summary and even when I knew I found it difficult to believe the book was set in South Africa and not somewhere in Europe. Except for the scarred Mr. Harding, I had no idea what any of the characters were supposed to look like. It’s hard to pin them down. It’s as though I enjoyed reading the book, but felt I was left with phantoms for characters, and perhaps the very end of the book was the only part that pleased me.
I would struggle to recommend The Servants’ Quarters. If you enjoy dark and thoughtful novels about class struggles and strange romances, then by all means read this, but I think it will miss the mark for most people.
 From the back cover:
War is coming to Europe. French and German intelligence operatives are locked in a life-and-death struggle on the espionage battlefield. At the French embassy in Warsaw, the new military attache, Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier, a decorated hero of the 1914 war, is drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal, and intrigue in the diplomatic salons and back alleys of the city. At the same time, the handsome aristocrat finds himself in a passionate love affair with a Parisian woman of Polish heritage, a lawyer for the League of Nations. Risking his life, Colonel Mercier must work in the shadows amid an extraordinary cast of venal characters, some known to Mercier as spies, some never to be revealed.
This may be my very first spy novel, and I liked it! Mercier’s activities are unquestionably risky and exciting, as are those of the people with whom he associates. He operates within a dense network of spies and governmental operatives and the book really feels very pre-World War II. Everyone is on edge, sure that war is coming but not when or where. It’s Mercier’s job to figure these things out by employing both paid spies and by risking his own life investigating in Germany.
The novel opens with a man named Edvard Uhl, who was led into spying through his mistress since he could not bear to give her up. It becomes clear very early on that he’s not the main focus and he’s put to the side eventually through a particularly exciting scene. Mercier takes over and provides the backbone for the rest of the novel. He is torn between a private life and his goal of saving France; as expected, the book has plenty of political discussions and political dinners, but these are neatly counterbalanced by action scenes and the budding romance between Mercier and the Polish lawyer Anna.
Despite its fairly short length, this is not the quickest read. It’s a bit of a dense trawl through the political discussions at times and a healthy knowledge of the events leading up to World War II would be helpful. I don’t have that knowledge and the book didn’t lose me, but I suspect it would have enhanced my appreciation of the author’s work. As it was, I definitely enjoyed the book, but had a marked preference for the scenes where more actually happened rather than the dinners and meetings where the characters sat around and talked.
The Spies of Warsaw is an engaging, interesting book with moments of excitement and passion amidst the tense lead-up to war. I think that this would be an excellent read for anyone who enjoys watching James Bond or has an interest in World War II. If that’s you, you’re in luck, because I have one copy to give away! Just enter by leaving a comment on this review by August 6th. US and Canada only unfortunately, I’m sending this one out myself. The winner of this book is Amanda.
 As a child, Joan is beaten for her brilliance and love of books. Her rigid father, a canon of the church, believes that women are inferior to men, incapable of learning, and is certain that his sons are destined for great careers in the church. When Joan’s intelligence gets both her and her brother John into a school, she is mocked by everyone except kindly Gerold, a young count who takes her in since she can’t live in the boys’ dormitory. Joan has an uncertain future until her brother John is killed in a surprise Viking attack along with almost everyone she knows. Assuming John’s identity, Joan enters a monastery and, distinguished by her incredible mind, eventually heads to Rome in a career that will prove as dangerous as it is ambitious.
I don’t know if Pope Joan actually existed, but if she did, her life in this novel certainly makes for an amazing story. It’s incredible how much Joan suffers and achieves in this book, going from beaten, submissive but intelligent little girl to a successful pope, albeit a female one. Joan is someone that can easily be admired as she never lets anyone get her down or force her to do anything that she knows is wrong. Even when the unspeakable happens during the Viking raid, Joan is able to take stock of her situation and figure out what needs to be done in order to both stay alive and get ahead in the world. She is strong enough to deny her own personal needs for the sake of the people and her faith.
The plot of this novel feels like it moves along fairly quickly. For under 500 pages, this book packs in a lot of events, but nothing ever feels rushed, it’s paced perfectly. Obviously, we know Joan is going to become a pope, but how she gets there is a mystery. There are also two other viewpoint characters, Gerold and Anastasius, who provide an alternate perspective on Joan as well as adding subplots and texture to her central story. Of the three, I liked Anastasius the least, but he’s not exactly a true villain because he’s just too ambitious. Most of the church was corrupt and he can’t entirely be faulted for acting as normal; Joan is just different and special enough to point out the flaws in the system.
In the author’s note, Donna Woolfolk Cross includes a fairly compelling argument for the existence of Pope Joan, although of course she was required to add huge amounts of fictional material to fill in the copious gaps which are inevitably left in any ninth-century account. For once I didn’t care all that much if it was true because I could really lose myself in the story. I know that women as strong as Joan must have existed in the Middle Ages, so it wasn’t really all that much of a stretch, whether there really was a Pope Joan or not.
In all, Pope Joan is a fascinating, moving work of historical fiction. It completely captured me and I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it.
While you’re here, if you do buy a copy of this book before July 31st, you can enter into the author’s red carpet contest to attend the movie premiere. And don’t forget that if you’ve entered on my giveaway post for a signed copy of this book that a comment here will gain you another entry!
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