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 Piet Barol has always longed to be more than his humble upbringings. He’s searching for a job in Amsterdam in 1907 that will catapult him into the life he believe he’s always deserved. With a letter of introduction in hand, he hastens to the doorstep of the Vermeulen-Sickerts, whose son, a musical genius, refuses to go outside and follows carefully constructed rituals to keep himself safe. Piet lands the job and almost immediately sets about making himself indispensable and liked in the family. His climb to prosperity is both scandalous and gripping, rich with the opulence of the period and the emotional complexities that rise from Piet’s relationships.
This book is not for the sensitive, because as the title implies, it does get quite scandalous, and Piet doesn’t hesistate to trade on his physical appeal to gain traction with the ladies, going as far as he is allowed. There is a lot of tension between him and several other characters in the book, men and women, as his attractiveness and relentless ambition drives him to sleep with anyone despite his own personal preferences.
That isn’t the part I liked about the book, really, although I thought those relationships were well done. I was interested in two other aspects; Piet’s relationship with the smallest member of the Vermeulen-Sickerts family was one that stuck out to me. The poor boy has such a conflict within himself, and while Piet’s relationship with him only pushes him in the correct direction, I still felt quite a lot of sympathy for him.
The other part that I really enjoyed was the setting. In particular, most of the book is set in Amsterdam, and it’s very glamorous at that. I loved hearing about the parties, the usual contrast between the lives of the servants and the lives of the aristocrats, and all of the little details that Mason fills the book with. Later on in the book, Piet heads off on a steamship, and once again we get that contrast; Piet is not in first class, but his connections with a servant friend get him there. Along with him, we experience the huge difference that a change in station entails, and it’s almost too easy to see why he longs to climb the social ladder so deeply.
It’s obvious at the end of this novel that the series hasn’t quite ended yet, and I do believe Mason intends to follow up with more details of Piet’s life. This isn’t going to be a favorite of mine, but I did enjoy the ride. I’d recommend it for anyone looking for an excellent depiction of Belle Epoque Amsterdam, complex characters, and who doesn’t mind some racy scenes in their books.
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 On a night like any other in the 1960s, a mysterious couple turns up on Martha’s doorstep. Both are disabled; the man Homan cannot speak or hear, while the woman Lynnie, the most beautiful Martha has ever seen, appears unable to talk. They are refugees from a nearby mental institution, and they’re not alone; they have a baby with them, a baby that clearly does not belong to Homan. Within minutes, the police are after them, and Lynnie and Homan are about to spend years of their lives trying to find their independence in a society that hides and suppresses anyone with the slightest disability. Meanwhile, Martha is left with their small burden, to her an unspeakably precious gift, that she must help grow up safe and undiscovered.
I’ve heard a lot of praise floating around about this book already and I have to admit that all of it was completely warranted. This was an amazing book which has stuck with me; it’s taken me ages to review it but as soon as I started thinking of the story again it all popped back into my mind freshly. It’s partly because the characters are so vivid, with so many problems and no way to really solve them. They struggle and, frankly, sometimes they fail, but sometimes they succeed.
The core of the story is the struggle that both Lynnie and Homan go through as they try and break free of the stereotypes surrounding people with disabilities in the mid twentieth century. Both of them have endured the rigors of a mental institution, a place called The School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. They’ve survived the systemic abuse that plagued these places, the complete lack of understanding or care, but they have to keep on going to try and find ways to adjust eventually to living in the real world. They have demons to conquer, and while they do have assistance through people like the kind-hearted attendant Kate, it’s not a simple task.
It’s that journey which really made this entire book for me, as I found both of their individual stories to be incredibly touching and moving.It’s so hard to believe these places still existed only fifty years ago, and while I would hope for care to be substantially better these days, it is a worthwhile reminder of how easily people who need help and encouragement can instead be abused. I loved the characters of both Lynnie and Homan.
The least interesting part of the story for me was Martha’s journey with the infant Julia, Lynnie’s daughter. This story takes us up until Julia is fourteen and had less of an impact on me overall. It’s easy to understand why Martha hides her, because if the institution found her she would probably end up in the same situation as her mother. But as time goes on, I just didn’t find their narrative as affecting, and that was probably the only downside of the book for me.
Overall, though, The Story of Beautiful Girl is a beautifully written story of the struggles that disabled people must endure. The author’s sister is disabled, and the passion with which she writes really helped me feel she knew what she was talking about and could give me an experience I’ll never have on my own, but one which is most certainly worth understanding. Highly recommended.
All book links to external sites are affiliate links. I received this book for free from Amazon Vine.
 Jeanie Arthur and her family have lost almost everything. As recourse they head out to the prairie to make new lives for themselves where no one knows about the family scandal and they can remake their lives. No matter how far they go, there are still numerous tensions simmering underneath the service, tensions that remain throughout the eldest daughter Katherine’s life. Told through two different timelines, the story explores the difficulties of family, the secrets that parents keep to protect their children, and the power of that love above all other kinds.
It’s been a good long while since I read a book set on the prairie and I’d forgotten how difficult that life was. Like many girls, I was a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie and ever since then stories set on the prairie certainly have tons of appeal. Released right in time for Mother’s Day (and still perfect for next year), this is a celebration of family love and endurance against incredible setbacks. Jeanie is in many ways an inspiring character, difficult and stubborn but still human beyond all of that. For better or for worse, as she goes along in the book her experience teaches her certain things and she simply cannot just unlearn those, however much she’d want to.
Juxtaposed with Jeanie’s pure struggle to stay alive and keep her children happy and safe is older Katherine’s difficulty with her mother’s failing health and her mentally disabled sister. Both of them have come to live with her at the turn of the twentieth century and she has a hard time forgiving her mother for what happened on the prairie, which we don’t find out until the story progresses. It’s a neat way of keeping the tension going as I was certainly wondering what the final straw was, especially given how close and loving Katherine and Jeanie are at the start of the novel.
All of the characters endure their fair share of agony, and they don’t always react in the way that we’d like them to, but they’re all changed in ways that I found to be realistic. Not everyone bends with the pressure of life, some people break, and it’s unfortunate but true. Overall I found myself completely swept up in the story, and even though it’s not a short book I managed to read it over a few days (with much else going on at the time!).
Truly, though, the core of the book is a mother’s love, and how a mother will put her children above everything else, even if they’re not sure why she’s doing it. I’m not a mother myself, but I think it will speak to them very much. Jeanie has always loved her children, but it’s the harsh prairie that truly brings out her maternal nature and makes the entire book.
The Last Letter is the perfect read for mothers who love historical fiction, but it can be appreciated very well by the rest of us too. Recommended.
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 Lady Julia and her husband Nicholas Brisbane have now returned from their honeymoon and are ready to start living their proper married life together in London. Julia has begun to tinker with substances and, as you would expect, stick her nose into Brisbane’s business once again. This time, under the guise of worrying about him and his mysterious associations with her brother, Julia tags along to a seance dressed as a man. She doesn’t find anything as simple as communion with the spirits; instead, she finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery, spy plot, and tangled love affairs between other people.
A new Lady Julia Grey novel is an intensely exciting event for me – this declared itself as one of my favorite series in book 1, Silent in the Grave, and has never budged from that position. Dark Road to Darjeeling only came out about six months ago and I am loving the shorter wait in between books of this series. The Dark Enquiry certainly did not disappoint and I am thrilled that the standards for this series haven’t dropped at all, even though we’re now on book 5.
One of the differing aspects of this particular book was the new-ish supernatural element. We’ve always known that Brisbane’s migraine headaches are a result of him refusing to see visions which are a result of his gypsy birthright. I can’t really remember them rising to the fore like they have in this one, though, perhaps because Julia was not so intimate with him when they did strike previously. Here, though, they serve a pivotal plot point, and we’ve even visited a gypsy camp with Julia and Brisbane, to explore a bit further into his past. These seem like tantalising little glimpses of a world we have yet to enter, though, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about Brisbane’s past and his visions in subsequent volumes. An interesting new character is introduced as well who I also suspect will play a prominent position in books to come.
One other aspect that I picked out of this one and particularly enjoyed was the fact that ever-impulsive and headstrong Julia comes into contact with a few less free-thinking men of her time during her investigations. As many have observed before me, Julia is very peculiar for a Victorian woman, and though it’s easy for me as a modern woman to relate to her, I think a real woman of her type would have run into this problem very quickly. The men in question don’t play a pivotal role in the story but Julia’s reaction to them and their thoughts was another added layer to a story I already enjoyed.
The Dark Enquiry is another excellent installment in the Lady Julia Grey series that I and many other readers have come to love. I would definitely recommend this series to mystery and historical fiction fans alike.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free for review from Netgalley.
 Vivienne de la Mare’s marriage has been fading for a while, so she doesn’t actually mind very much when her husband goes off to fight in World War II, leaving her, her mother-in-law Evelyn, and her two daughters alone on the island of Guernsey. Vivienne has many other problems to deal with, such as Evelyn’s fading memory, her elder daughter’s budding womanhood, and the difficult choice of whether to leave the island. Just when Vivienne chooses to stay, the Germans occupy Guernsey, and Vivienne faces the most pressing problem of all as she falls in love with a German soldier, Gunther, even as she witnesses the atrocities committed by his fellow soldiers right before her eyes.
After I flat out adored The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I knew I wanted to read more World War II fiction centred around the occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. This book fit right in with my plans; smooth and easy to read, it nonetheless dealt with a lot of the very difficult issues surrounding German presence on the island as well as Vivienne’s own struggle to continue to live a meaningful and content life in the shadow of so many other problems.
Because Vivienne’s husband has been rather openly cheating on her, she has very little guilt about betraying him, but with a German soldier? That’s a whole different story, because Vivienne can see all too well the suffering that other Germans are inflicting on others. She doesn’t have to rely on tales she hears when there are dying men in front of her eyes. But she knows that Gunther is different, even as she questions how deeply she can ever truly know a person. It’s thoughtfully and sensitively handled; Leroy speaks to both the horrors of Nazi acts even as she shows us that not every soldier was behind what was happening.
At the same time, it’s a considerate look at the difficulties that children go through in wartime. Vivienne’s elder daughter longs to have the glamorous life she’s read about in so many places, but it simply isn’t possible with rationing. She dreams of London and fancy dresses, but she’s trapped on Guernsey and Vivienne is the one who must tell her so and attempt to keep her daughter happy in the midst of deprivation and struggle.
And there’s Vivienne’s own self-discovery, as she starts to come out of the shell that years of an unloving marriage have left her in, with difficult decisions to make completely on her own. Her indecisiveness at the beginning of the book changes as she make choices, and whether they turn out correct or not, we can see that Vivienne’s experience through the war years have changed and strengthened her.
Overall, The Collaborator is a very moving and sensitive read, dealing with issues unique to wartime and universal to women at the same time. Well worth it for those who enjoy historical and women’s fiction.
All book links to external sites are affiliate links. I received this book for free from a publicist for review.
 Finley Jayne would have just been an ordinary servant girl in this steampunk version of London if she wasn’t two personalities in one body. Her dark side gives her supernatural strength and an incredible amount of anger, while her normal personality is sweet and unthreatening. When she flees from one of the numerous houses in which she’s attempted service, after (rightly) beating an aristocrat for sexually accosting her, she runs into Griffin King, a young duke who promptly takes her home to his relatively ragtag bunch of odd personalities. Each has a special talent, but they’ve also been targeted by a mysterious villain, The Machinist, who has it out for Queen Victoria.
This was an incredibly entertaining read that I just couldn’t put down. I loved the atmosphere of steampunk London and the special skills that each of the characters had. It felt almost like I was reading a classic superhero comic book set in Victorian London, with some vicious automatons added in. It’s a atmosphere at once familiar and different, so I could fit right in while still taking some time to learn about the world.
The book is pretty clearly a YA novel with a bit of an emphasis on Finley’s romantic relationships and her seesawing between Jack Dandy and Griff. It’s very much about her personal growth from a girl with two personalities into a girl who can control herself and unleash her feelings when it’s more appropriate. She changes quite a bit over the course of the novel; at times it’s difficult to get a grasp on who she is due to her separate personalities, but overall I certainly liked her as a heroine and felt I could understand her issues and hope for her to do better.
I did feel the book was a bit predictable; I figured one part out well before the characters managed it, and while I was probably meant to, I would have preferred that extra suspense towards the end. Plus I felt by the end that I hadn’t got to know many of the other characters particularly well; it was enough to like them, but not the same degree as I felt for Finley after her journey of self-discovery.
Still, though, I really enjoyed The Girl in the Steel Corset. I looked forward to reading it whenever I had a chance and I was very invested in the story’s outcome. It’s not perfect, but I will most definitely be looking forward to further volumes in the series.
All book links to external sites are affiliate links. I received this book for free for review from Netgalley.
 Lady Elaine Warren began her first season full of excitement and verve, ready to have her chance at the world. But slowly, she began to fade away and turned into a wallflower of the highest order. The culprit? Evan Carlton, the Earl of Westfield, made Elaine his target. With his insecure cousin in tow, Evan made Elaine’s life miserable, until she lost all chance of finding a well-placed husband. But in reality, Evan has always liked Elaine, and his mocking of her was simply an immature reaction to an attraction he didn’t know what to do with. Returned from the Continent, and several life-changing experiences, Evan longs to show Elaine just how stupid he was and see if he can have a chance at winning the woman he loves most of all, even if she wants nothing to do with him.
This little novella by Courtney Milan has received rave reviews pretty much everywhere. I’m not going to lie, I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered I could buy it for 86p on my Kindle, even though I’m in the UK. I downloaded it and read it within two days. It’s a short novella, equivalent to about 100 pages in print, so it’s best read straight in an evening (preferably alone, and with tissues if you’re anything like me).
Anyway, despite the reviews, I was genuinely surprised at how well this worked. I often have trouble buying into short romances, because it’s hard to believe they’d fall in love so fast, but this one just clicked with me instantly. The back story comes thick and fast, so we’re prepared for the characters’ reactions immediately. Plus, they tap right into that stereotype of the popular teenager longing for the wallflower, turning around and falling in love with her, then grovelling in order to win her heart back. I’m sure we’d all wish to avoid the torment that is actually inflicted on poor Elaine, but watching Evan try impossibly hard to win her back is gorgeous reading for someone who loves romance.
Plus, if you’ve ever been made fun of, even if not to such a degree, it’s impossible not to empathise with Elaine. Who wouldn’t want their former tormentor to turn around, beg forgiveness, and proceed to do everything in his power to make things perfect? At the same time, how hard would it be to trust that person not to turn around and make it all a living hell once again? It’s all so well done and so true to real life emotions. I’d never really Courtney Milan before, but trust me, this will not be the last time I do so, and I will be purchasing her backlist the minute I allow myself to buy books again.
If you’re a romance reader, you simply must give this novella a try. It’s available for every e-reader through All Romance ebooks, Amazon, or Amazon UK.
All book links to external sites are affiliate links. I purchased this book.
 In 1876, fancy mail order magic is driving out homespun magic, the kind Emily Edwards practices. As her and her father’s situation gets more and more desperate, she decides to snare a wealthy husband with a love spell. Her efforts, though meant well, completely backfire, and soon she finds herself racing across the country with Dreadnought Stanton, a snobbish warlock from New York City, on a frantic effort to reach the centre of the warlock’s world before it’s too late.
This was a great book in so many different ways. I love the setting – like other reviewers before me have said, it’s that wild west meets magic that is surprisingly appealing. It reminds me of Firefly in a way, both set in a world full of cowboys but with added twists to make them fresh and new. Here we have not only magic but echoes of steampunk and a few other bits and pieces.
Hobson’s ideas about magic are different from anything I’ve personally read, but the contrast is so apt for the time period when the mass catalogues started going out and people began to crave something other than homespun, homemade goods. This is a few years before that started to happen in real life, but it has that feel about it of the new pushing out the old, and the old struggling to survive in any way possible. The magic system develops very much along the course of the book, with new discoveries coming rapidly. It’s obvious that Hobson has a lot of ideas and I’m really looking forward to her fleshing this version of our world out more. The end of the book hints at a sequel and I am crossing my fingers that this is true, because I would definitely like to spend more time here.
And then, of course, there is a fantastic romance, and I can’t spoil that for anyone as it’s right on the back cover. Plus, tension sparks between Emily and Dreadnought almost immediately, and I think it would be difficult to miss their eventual romance from the opening chapters of the book. It’s a well done romance, too, without getting at all in the way of the plot. Instead it feels natural, inspired by the tension they’re both experiencing and the chemistry that springs up between them. There are very few types of novels that I like better than a good fantasy with a side romance, so needless to say this book ticked all of those boxes for me.
The Native Star is a solid satisfying indulgence of a read, well worth the time for anyone who likes fantasy or romance. And it was a nominee for the Nebula award this year, which is a third-party agreement of this book’s excellence.
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 Eleanor of Aquitaine is just fifteen years old when her father dies and she marries Louis, the future king of France. They’ve not even reached Paris before the crises in Eleanor’s marriage become apparent; her husband has no interest in consummating their union, despite his physical attractiveness, is ruled by several members of his government, and has ascended to the throne without knowing anything about what he is doing. Taking us through Eleanor’s life from this moment through her journey on Crusade and second marriage, Devil’s Consort (Queen Defiant in the US) explores what might have really happened to one of history’s most well known royal women.
Historical fiction and Eleanor of Aquitaine are not strangers to one another; in fact, I feel like she’s been the subject of more and more books lately, both fiction and non-fiction. She’s a character that’s hard to resist, after all, a strong woman who broke free of convention, possibly had several affairs, and was the queen of two rival countries in the High Middle Ages, also known as the part of the Middle Ages that best represents our imaginings of it. She divorced her French husband and almost immediately dashed off to marry the future Henry II – so quick we can’t help but think she planned it – but also represents a woman who was easily capable of ruling, even if she did have to do it under her husband’s and son’s names.
Devil’s Consort is a hugely enjoyable book; it doesn’t precisely challenge any of the leading ideas about Eleanor, which means she does have those affairs I mentioned, one in particular with a crusading knight, and she does get very frustrated with her first husband Louis. Naturally he adores her, in a puppyish way, as he completely ignores her and goes off to pray instead of make heirs. At times I did wish the book reached beyond conventional ideas, but for someone who is a bit less read in Eleanor’s life and times, I don’t think this would at all be a problem. One thing I did think was that, outside of Eleanor and Henry, a few of the characters were more cardboard than flesh, in particular Louis. This doesn’t at all mean that history is neglected; I particularly enjoyed the mention of a particular rock crystal vase, the only item that we know Eleanor actually possessed (and can see for ourselves).
Overall, it’s a fast-reading, entertaining romp through medieval England and the thoughts and struggles of a woman who clearly knows who she is and often what she wants as well. I enjoyed in particular the bits when Eleanor herself goes on crusade; obviously she didn’t participate in the fighting and I was very curious to see how O’Brien depicted her time in the holy land. Devil’s Consort is a book well suited for others who love historical fiction and should stand firmly on the shelf next to other works about her. I’d recommend it!
All book links to external sites are affiliate links. I received this book for free for review from a publicist.
 Famous for her battle to win the English throne as rightful heir from her cousin Stephen, Matilda ‘the Empress’ is still young when her husband, the Emperor of Germany, passes away, leaving her childless and off to be reunited with her father Henry I. Matilda is Henry’s only living child, which means that she is his heir unless his young wife Adeliza can get pregnant. The two women become fast friends but are separated when Matilda is married once again to Geoffrey of Anjou, a man much younger than her and not at all to her taste. Matilda’s marriage becomes a smaller problem in the wider scheme of English and French politics, however, when her father dies and her cousin Stephen grabs the throne before Matilda can even get to England. Matilda’s fight for the throne for herself and then for her son Henry is juxtaposed with Adeliza’s rediscovery of herself and her possibilities through a second marriage.
Every single time I read a book by Elizabeth Chadwick, I find myself wondering why I haven’t devoured her entire backlist by now (trust me, that day will come). Each book is a treasure to savor and Lady of the English is no exception. Even knowing the history and the outcome of the book, I found myself captivated throughout, spellbound by Chadwick’s well told version of a tale I’ve read before. I loved many, many things about this book, not least its realistic portrayal of historical figures as complex human beings that can’t be summed up in a chronicle.
Matilda, Adeliza, Geoffrey, and Henry all walked and breathed in my mind at least. Matilda in particular stole the show for me. Chadwick’s depiction of her genuine struggle between showing authority as the rightful monarch and being womanly as required was just fabulous and I got a real sense of how frustrating this must have been for her. The very idea of a king was completely at odds with the concept of femininity and Matilda really has nowhere to go.
I also found the friendship between her and Adeliza to be a inspired way to tell this story. Their lives become very different, but they can represent two paths while still remaining connected. Matilda is ambitious and determined to get what is hers by right, turns off her emotions in public as best she can, and is fundamentally a leader, even as she rages against her own powerlessness. Adeliza is more submissive, using more traditional female power tactics to get her way from her husbands, and seems content in the domestic sphere even at the highest levels. The contrast brings more life to the book and I think women who read this book will find a little bit of themselves in both Adeliza and Matilda.
Lady of the English is an excellent read, with a lot in it for both people who like to read historical fiction and those who like to read about relationships. It’s a fascinating story grounded with very real people. Very highly recommended.
For a little more about the book from the author, check out my interview with Elizabeth Chadwick.
All book links to external sites are affiliate links. I received this book for free for review from the publisher.
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