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Enemies of The Heart - Rebecca Dean
by eilidhcatriona As a long-time fan of Penny Vincenzi, when I was looking for an indulgent and absorbing read during the recent bank holiday weekend, I searched for authors like her - and one suggestion which came up was Enemies of the Heart by Rebecca Dean. Liking the description of it, I immediately downloaded the novel to my Kindle and got stuck ... in. Enemies of the Heart opens in 1909, when cousins Zelda and Vicky are visiting Berlin. American Zelda has her eye on Josef Remer, heir to the immense House of Remer steelworks and fortune, while quieter Vicky falls for his shyer brother Berthold Remer. When war breaks out in 1914 though, the family is pulled apart and loyalties are tested. What follows is a family saga taking us past the end of the Second World War, and encompassing both Berlin and Yorkshire. In the early sections of the story, the narrator is primarily Vicky, but as time passes and the children from both sides of the family begin to grow up, they also take their part in telling the story. This gives the reader multiple viewpoints, so while the characters might not know what has happened to their relatives during the two wars, we do. Yet some secrets are always withheld, and come as revelations to both characters and reader. I always find this type of family saga utterly absorbing, with so many parts to the story to discover, and for this type of novel my favourite setting is the first half of the nineteenth century, covering one or both wars. I was almost nervous when I started reading Enemies of the Heart, worried it might not match up to Penny Vincenzi's wonderful novels set in this period, but I needn't have worried. While it doesn't better my absolute favourite of Vincenzi's novels, the Spoils of Time trilogy about the Lytton family, Enemies of the Heart is completely absorbing, wonderfully long, and packed with action and emotion. What was new to me was the Berlin setting. Most of the novels in this genre that I have read have been set in Britain, with a focus on London, so to read about the German side was different. Additionally London does not feature in Enemies of the Heart, with the English side of the story being set in the idyllic Yorkshire countryside. While part of me missed reading about life in London during the wars, this difference in setting helped set Enemies of the Heart apart from Vincenzi's novels, perhaps meaning I wasn't comparing Rebecca Dean's writing too much with her. Dean's writing is good, and well suited to the style of the novel. Her characters are portrayed well, ad it is easy to engage with them. I did occasionally get confused between the various characters and sometimes had to remind myself who were Zelda's children and who were Vicky's, and within that, which of them were German born and which English. This was a minor issue though, and perhaps more to do with my forgetfulness than anything else. The strongest indicator of how much I recommend this novel lies in the fact that as soon as I finished it half an hour ago, I immediately visited Amazon and bought another of Dean's novels, and then sat down to write this review in order to spread the word. If you enjoy Penny Vincenzi's novels, family sagas, or are simply looking for an absorbing and indulgent read, then you really should try Enemies of the Heart. You won't regret it. Read the complete review |
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Sepulchre - Kate Mosse
by missrarr After finding myself engrossed in Kate Mosse's epic take on the Holy Grail legend, Labyrinth, I was intrigued to find that she had subsequently published two further books in a loosely-linked "trilogy" of stories based in historical France. I was therefore delighted to see a copy of the second, Sepulchre, carried in my local ... library and snapped it up when I visited recently. The third, Citadel, was published last year. I've already elaborated on the author's background in my write up of Labyrinth so I'll move straight on to the book itself. To give some background on Labyrinth, it was a new story about the concept of the Holy Grail told both through the life of a young girl in Crusade-ravaged France and a modern-day woman who finds her own life is linked to the past. Sepulchre follows in a similar vein, although here we move away from the Holy Grail topic and on to a new story. ***SEPULCHRE*** 1891. Sepulchre opens with a brief account of a funeral in Paris. A young woman is being buried before her time, another stands by her grave in mourning. Further along in time, the young Leonie Vernier becomes caught up in the anti-Wagner riots in Paris before being rescued by her beloved older brother, Anatole. They dine together, while their beautiful mother, Marguerite, does so with her war hero lover elsewhere in the city. Shortly after, Anatole is mugged. His name already not massively popular in Paris, Leonie worries that there is more to what she is being told, particularly after seeing him in a poor state some months earlier with no explanation. At the same time, Marguerite receives a letter from the young widow of her half-brother, now the heiress of his estate, inviting her niece and nephew to spend some time with her in the country away from the noise and bustle of Paris. Initially reluctant, Leonie realises that her brother could do with some peace and agrees to go, despite having never previously met her Aunt. Her brother's keenness for the escape, and seemingly overly cautious exit from Paris, raises further suspicions in her that he is not telling her the truth about the mugging, however. At the Domaine de la Cade, Leonie meets her young Aunt and soon finds herself growing fond both of Isolde and of the estate that she has inherited, an estate from which Leonie's mother has estranged herself at a young age without explanation. Of an inquisitive mind and a lover of dark gothic tales, Leonie also delights in the comprehensive and wide-ranging library left by her late Uncle, and in doing so stumbled across an old mystery that she cannot leave alone. Back in the modern era, Meredith Martin travels to France to study further for material to include in her work on Debussy, the imminent publication of which has dominated her recent life. Although she does have a pressing personal matter of huge significance, she does not envisage how this trip will become more connected to that than to her research, but as she nears a hotel in the Carcassone region of the country, she starts to pick up the strands of clues to her own past and cannot resist following them further. Spurred by a disturbing and unexpected encounter with a tarot reader and a distinctive set of cards, she also starts to find herself wrapped up in a deeper mystery that reaches back a century previous. ***MY THOUGHTS*** As with Labyrinth, I was hooked. When I took this book out of the library I also borrowed the similarly history-heavy retelling of a commonly known tale, The Historian. Whilst, unlike that or Labyrinth, Sepulchre is not the telling of something that everyone already knows of, it is in the same style of story telling. It touches not only on history and love, relationships and families bound or torn apart by secrets as Labyrinth, but also on topics of the occult, spiritual resonance and what we modern creatures would call the supernatural. Straight away Mosse's easy, engrossing reading style is evident. Whilst her protagonists are again two intelligent, inquisitive young females in both stories, as with Labyrinth, her characterisation is well structured. Critics might argue that there are too many similarities in the plot structure as other characters are introduced - and indeed there are - but for me, taking Sepulchre as a different story rather than as a second instalment in a trilogy, I can take this as the story itself is engrossing, fascinating and unfolds in such a well-crafted way that I could barely put it down. Indeed, for one day, as with its predecessor, I could barely rip my eyes away from it for hours. Admittedly, if I were to find a copy of Citadel and find it has the same structure, I might start to feel frustrated, but as things stand I think that the writer has crafted two fabulous tales and as such I can accept those similarities for now. Again Mosse has executed the switch between eras with expertise - knowing precisely when to swap to the modern era or back to young Leonie at the right time to keep the reader desperate to find out more, and spending exactly enough time on each section of both story to make the reader immersed in that heroine's tale to the extent of almost forgetting why they were so desperate to return to the former's at the initial chapter change. The stories both develop with believable depth and characterisation, the honesty of the protagonists believable, although the "bad guy" of Leonie's story is far more elaborated upon and thus more enthralling and powerful than the modern day equivalent in Meredith's story. If there is one criticism, that aspect of the modern story is probably the weakest element of the book, but I think that to elaborate strongly on that the book would go from being an epic to being too long and the rhythm of the two stories unfolding would be compromised. So in conclusion, I loved this. In my opinion, moving from the religious to the supernatural has been a well-executed move from Mosse and I found this to be on a par with Labyrinth if not slightly better - this may be because my interest in religious matters is far less than my open mindedness towards more spiritual, dimensional and supernatural myths and theories and their basis. Again, the historical account feels accurate and well researched, and Mosse also uses without overselling it, a plot technique that I in particular for some reason really like, that of bringing back previous characters in smaller roles in a new work. This, and the geographical location, is the link between these three novels, as opposed to a trilogy in the Tolkein-esque sense. I completely loved this book. I was absolutely enthralled and ploughed through it. Whilst it is long, and at times I couldn't believe that I had been reading for hours and still had barely passed halfway, but the readable style of prose makes this enjoyable and I would feel frustrated were it any shorter as I enjoyed reading it so much. The heroines from both eras were believable and human, with flaws but strength, and it is easy to feel support and affection for them, particular young Leonie, forced to suddenly break through her state of a girl becoming a young woman on a monumental day in her life that rocks everything she knows to the core. I hope that I haven't elaborated too much in setting the scene for anyone who might read this, but I assure you what I have noted down is just the start - this book has far, far more to offer, and I hope that if you decide to read it then you will enjoy it as much as I did. ***AVAILABILITY*** Currently on Amazon in paperback for just over £5, also available in Kindle form. 784 pages, printed by Orion. Read the complete review |
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The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
by missrarr Having read and been totally engrossed by Kate Mosse's Labyrinth, I decided to borrow two more historically-based fiction novels from my library recently. One was another Kate Mosse offering which I am currently enjoying, and the other was The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. Kostova's debut, the blurb of this book mentioned ... that the protagonist's story is linked with that of the legend of Dracula. Being a bit of a sci-fi / fantasy geek, this appealed hugely to me, and it came home with me. ***THE BOOK*** 752 pages ISBN 978-0751537284 Published by Sphere Currently available for less than £7 as a new paperback. Various versions available, Kindle is also shy of £7. ***THE AUTHOR*** Elizabeth Kostova was born Elizabeth Johnson in Connecticut and is married to a Bulgarian scholar (so preacheth Wikipedia). As a young woman, her family lived and travelled around Europe which was part of the inspiration for her interest in the legend of Dracula, as was her father telling her of the story. Reportedly she insisted that the rights to the finished novel go to auction - a wise move. When such auctions usually raised money in the lower five-figure region, she walked off $2,000,000 better off - and that's before she sold the film rights.... ***THE BOOK*** We are told the story from a variety of first-hand voices. Primary among them is a young woman, barely any more than a girl, who discovers papers owned by her father, a historian. Letters, addressed to "my dear and unfortunate successor". Intrigued, although feeling guilty about what she has discovered, the naïve young lady reads on, and finds herself intrigued by a secret part of his father's life that she previously knew nothing of. Eventually she ends up questioning her father, and a story starts to unfold that covers countries, generations, and the truth about one of the most iconic representations of the concept of evil known to history - Dracula. ***MY THOUGHTS*** I expected to like this book a great deal. Gothic horror and the vampire mythology are very interesting to me and I remembered hearing that this novel had been popularly received. However, to be honest it left me a bit cold. Fair play to the author, she has a heavily researched, multi-layered story told through many voices from different generations, social constraints and cultural beliefs. It must have been an epic effort to create and unfortunately I feel that it is a shame that it didn't have more warmth. For all I was determined to finish it, it was more out of curiosity for the circumstances of the ending than it was for the character development of the young girl we meet in the first instance. The plot basis is that throughout time, a series of people, scholars, found themselves in ownership of a strange book, empty other than for a wood printing of a dragon. Being of naturally inquisitive minds, their research led them to follow the ancient myths and legends behind the life, death and burial of Vlad Dracula. In turn, they came across "living" proof of vampirism, and became a part of the bigger story behind the myth, protecting themselves and their loved ones as well as secrets. Whilst the story is strong, the research and setting thorough, I found the characterisation to be one-dimensional and when development does occur, I found that the story doesn't follow these tales through and conclude them very well. Also, the long-awaited conclusion was, for me, too quick, too "Hollywood", and not in keeping with the rest of the story. Also, whilst the setting is not modern for any of the characters, I cannot purely attribute the rigidity of them to their social conditioning, merely just finding them quite flat. Also, the sheer depth of factual research and scene-setting leaves the book very hard to follow - and being a hefty tome in itself, this doesn't make it a necessarily pleasurable reading experience. I'm not the densest girl known to life, but I much prefer the most flowing, readable style of Kate Mosse, who I also feel has stronger characterisation. So in conclusion I feel that a good story has been let down by, if anything, the over-commitment of the writer to factual accuracy. I'm reading a tale of the story of Dracula and yet she seems determined to bombard the reader with research in order to counter the fantasy nature of the base tale - to me this is detrimental to the experience of the reader. This is a fantasy tale and should have that feel, and the characters do not develop and flow and build a relationship with the reader because of the nature of the storytelling - fragmented by switching from first person to first person, letter to prose. So I have to conclude that I was disappointed in this book. I had high hopes so partly this is maybe my fault but it wasn't a pleasurable book to read and I was pleased to finish it so that I could experience the conclusion and then move on to something more. I was left feeling a little deflated and frustrated, although the strength of research and imagination that the author is obviously capable of have inspired me to pick up a copy of another of her works - admittedly in a "3-for-2" offer in a charity shop. I considered it to be the freebie - I can only hope that it makes up for this and proves to be a wise choice. Read the complete review |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Shahriar Mandanipour / Paperback / 304 Pages / Book is published 2011-02-03 by Abacus |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Alison Sherlock / Paperback / 448 Pages / Book is published 2012-04-26 by Arrow |
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1 review Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Jenni Mills / Edition: First Edition / Hardcover / 496 Pages / Book is published 2007-05-01 by HarperPress |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Erin Duffy / Paperback / 304 Pages / Book is published 2012-07-05 by Harper |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala / Edition: New edition / Paperback / 288 Pages / Book is published 2005-03-07 by John Murray Publishers Ltd |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Julie Otsuka / Edition: New edition / Paperback / 160 Pages / Book is published 2004-01-12 by Penguin |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Leila Aboulela / Paperback / Publication Date: 2010 / Publisher W&N |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Alice Walker / Paperback / Publication Date: 2001 / Publisher: The Women's Press |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Clare Curzon / Hardcover / Publication Date: 2009 / Publisher: Alison & Busby |
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Genre: Fiction / Fiction Book / Author: Gwen Kirkwood / Hardcover / Publication Date: 2009 / Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd |
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