Series Spotlight: Flavia de Luce

  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

  Release Date: 28 April 2009

  Page Count: 374

  Genre: Historical Fiction; Mystery

  Target Audience: Anyone 11+

  Series: Flavia de Luce

  Source and Format: Borrowed :: Paperback

  Amazon | Goodreads

  I was introduced to this series this past summer by my aunt. She
  said they were quirky and fun—perfect beach reads. I tried the
  first one and finished it in one day while laying out by the pool.
  Flavia, the protagonist, all but leaps off the page right from the
  start. She is definitely in my top 5 favorite female protagonists of
  all time.

  The series takes place in 1950s England. The country is
  recovering from the horrific events of WWII and every member
  of Flavia’s family has been affected in some way. Flavia herself is 11 and I would not be surprised to find she is Hermione Granger’s grandmother. Flavia is curious, intelligent, stubborn, and young. (Side note - Alan Bradley does an amazing job of keeping her true to age. She lacks self-awareness the way all children do). Flavia uses all of these qualities, plus an astonishing understanding of chemistry, to solve murders that happen around her.

It is a long series— book 9 releases next year— but worth it. Some of the middle books are slower and not as engaging, but the pace picks back up as a new story arc is unfolding. I highly recommend them. Flavia is a character that I do not want you to miss out on! 

Book Club Reviews: Longbourn by Jo Baker

Happy Thursday, friends! Jenny and I thought we'd do something fun on the blog today--so welcome to our first book club review post!

First of all, I have to say that book club has gotten off to a GREAT start! We had 13 girls at our first discussion meeting, and since we were discussing Longbourn by Jo Baker, we decided to have a tea party food theme. Jenny made for the perfect hostess for this theme, because she definitely doesn't mess around when it comes to tea. Just check out this post she wrote earlier this year if you don't believe me.

Anyway, Jenny and I knew we wanted to do something different when we reviewed book club books on the blog, so we're going to break our reviews down into three parts: (1) Jenny's Thoughts, (2) Lesley Anne's Thoughts, and (3) Overall Book Club's Thoughts. You'll see at the bottom that we have a fun way to show what the overall book club thought every month. ;) So first things first, we'll give you the summary of Longbourn so you have an idea of what the novel is about.

If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.

In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.

Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Jane Austen’s classic—into the often overlooked domain of the stern housekeeper and the starry-eyed kitchen maid, into the gritty daily particulars faced by the lower classes in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars—and, in doing so, creates a vivid, fascinating, fully realized world that is wholly her own.


Jenny's Thoughts: Hmmm. I honestly loathed this book. I tried really hard to temper my comments at book club and when people would ask my opinion, but there it is. Jane Austen is not my favorite and Pride and Prejudice gets on my nerves, to be honest. The beginning of this book, though, seemed like it would be really good. The immediate contrast between the Bennetts' life of privilege and the reality of their servants was really well done. That was, however, the only thing that was well done (in my opinion). Not one of the characters was fully developed. The pacing was.... odd. There was so much potential for her to fall so short. Pride and Prejudice was a brilliant story to use (it has a built-in audience) to really talk about the realities of 18th/19th century England. Jane Austen provided social commentary for a very select group of her society; this book could have been used as a foil to flesh out the rest of the Austenian (I made that word up--how do you make 'Austen' an adjective?) world. Her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennett was my favorite. It was gusty of Baker to take on such an iconic character of British literature. That being said, Baker set up a brilliant novel and then peopled it with flat characters who you have a hard time caring about. I would never recommend this book to anyone.

Lesley Anne's Thoughts: I think what helped me like this book more than others was listening to the audiobook in addition to reading a physical copy. Hearing Emma Fielding's (the narrator's) English accent as she read the description-heavy passages distracted me from being annoyed by the nitty gritty details of the book. And y'all, this book did not shy away from the nitty gritty. Jo Baker made sure she didn't gloss over what life was like as a servant in Regency era England. Somebody had to empty out the Bennett's chamber pots, slave over a meal all day, and clean up after the Gardiner children's nappies, and those people were the main characters in this novel. I have to say that this aspect of the novel was very eye-opening and educational for me, though it was an education I wasn't expecting to receive. Longbourn also made me step back and think more deeply about the beloved characters in Pride & Prejudice, and shed a new light on the unsympathetic ones, such as Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Collins, and Mary. I think the glimpse at the motivations and interactions of these three characters was my favorite part about this novel. Overall, my feelings for Longbourn are blasé at best. I liked it, but it's definitely not a new favorite.

Overall Book Club's Thoughts: Ok, so here's where the experimentation comes in. Y'all will have to let us know how you like it! Each month, Jenny and I are going to ask everyone in book club to summarize their feelings/thoughts/reaction to the book in one word, and then we'll share everyone's words in a cute graphic when we review the book on the blog. We'll also take a group photo where everyone will give either a thumbs up, thumbs down, or thumbs "middle" (yes, we've made that a thing, lol) depending on their reaction to the book. This picture is so much fun to me since you can see the range of everyone's reactions all at the same time - and in a book club this size, they are all across the board! So as you can see, for the most part, book club was NOT a fan of Longbourn. But if you are still curious about this story, please don't let us discourage you from trying it! Popular opinion might not  always match your opinion, and that's ok.

So what are we reading in October?! The Maze Runner by James Dashner!

Jenny Reviews: Possession

The Vitals
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Release Date: 1st October 1991
Page Count: 555
Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Target Audience: Adult
Series: No
Source and Format: Purchased; Paperback

Summary (From Goodreads)
Winner of England’s Booker Prize and the literary sensation of the year, Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire—from spiritualist séances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany—what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas.

Notes on Possession
This book. I adore this book. I am also in awe of this author. Not only has she written a novel, she has written a novel about two Victorian poets and included poetry from said poets. Who both have distinctive writing styles. She is a literary genius, as far as I'm concerned. This is not a book that you sit down and read in two days. If you read it with the sole purpose of figuring out the mystery of the relationship between the two poets you will miss out on so much. Her witty observations about the world of academia, postmodern literary theory vs. reality, psychoanalysis and sexuality, and human nature are wonderful but in danger of being lost if the reader does not take the time to really read this book.

The heart of the plot is the search for a connection between Henry Randolph Ash and Cristabel Lamotte. Ash and Lamotte were two poets who wrote in Victorian England but have not had any reason to be linked together until Roland Mitchell stumbles on a draft of a letter from Ash to Lamotte in a book of Ash's. From there is it a race to stay one step ahead of everyone else as Mitchell and Dr. Maud Bailey try and piece together what the nature of the relationship between the poets was and if it influenced their respective works. The book flips back and forth from the present day to Victorian England. We are introduced to Ash and Lamotte through their letters first, both to one another and others of their acquaintance. It is an interesting dynamic as the reader is able to hear first what the "modern" scholarship says of the authors and then gets to discover their hidden depths as Mitchell and Bailey put together the pieces of the puzzle scattered throughout England and Brittany.

This book is not for everyone. I fully recognize this. It is very much a work of literary fiction. Those who have not studied literary theory or are unfamiliar with Freud and psychoanalysis will not get some of the jokes and allusions, but it should not deter one from enjoying this novel. The story and storytelling are superb.

Memorable Quotes
“I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed.”

“I cannot bear not to know the end of a tale. I will read the most trivial things – once commenced – only out of a feverish greed to be able to swallow the ending – sweet or sour – and to be done with what I need never have embarked on. Are you in my case? Or are you a more discriminating reader? Do you lay aside the unprofitable?”

“How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence.”

Overall Diagnosis

Review: The Dante Club

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

Release Date: 10 Februrary 2004

Pages: 380

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery 

Target Audience: Adult

Series: No

Source and Format: Bought; Paperback

Summary (From Goodreads):
Boston, 1865. A series of murders, all of them inspired by scenes in Dante’s Inferno. Only an elite group of America’s first Dante scholars—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and J. T. Fields—can solve the mystery. With the police baffled, more lives endangered, and Dante’s literary future at stake, the Dante Club must shed its sheltered literary existence and find the killer.

Thoughts on The Dante Club:

Plot- I really enjoyed the storyline of this book. Pearl chooses a very unique setting- post- Civil War Boston. All of the politics of the time really help move the plot foward and you learn a lot without realizing it. The group of poets mentioned in the summary above are working on translating The Divine Comedy (the trilogy of which Inferno is the first part) and are meeting with religious and political oppostion. The group is slowly splintering apart under the pressure until a series of murders straight from Inferno begins to happen. The poets must come together to solve the murders because they are the only ones who are capable of doing so. Sound far-fetched? Actually, it isn't. The Divine Comedy was not published in America until Longfellow and these men translated it in the 1860s. The only copies available were in England and Italian was not widely taught. So, the Dante Club, as the translators call themselves, must find the killer and stop him so a) more people don't die and b) so Dante does not get a bad reputation before he can even be published.

Characters- The main group of characters were done really well. Pearl does a nice job of giving each member of the group a distinct personality. The two main characters are Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell. We spend a lot of time in these men's heads, hearing their thoughts.  We get to know the other members of the group- Longfellow and Fields- mainly through Holmes and Lowell. The killer is also a very interesting character that Pearl uses to explore issues that I cannot mention here without giving it away.

Pros- The amount of historical issues Pearl crams into this book is really impressive-  race, war, religion, and gender, just to name a few. As I said before, you learn a lot about Boston and America without realizing it. The mystery is also very well done. I was unable to guess the murderer. It was very plausible; there was no deus ex machina employed to conveniently tie things up.

Cons- The secondary characters were neglected. Some of the family members of the Dante Club members were really intriguing and I was left wanting to know more of them. I also felt like Pearl left the (small) plot line involving Holmes and his son unresolved. Also, the pacing of the book was very, very slow. It took about 100 pages or so until I was really interested and able to start putting some pieces together. Pearl introduces so many characters so quickly that it is hard to keep them straight at first.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I gave it three stars on Goodreads because it was okay; I liked it but I didn't love it. If you have the time, I would recommend reading it. If you already have a stack of books to read then I would not recommend it. The historical aspects of the book do much to recommend it, so if you are a huge American history buff you will probably enjoy it for that alone.

Top Twelve Historical Fiction Releases in 2014

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is all about 2014 releases, which was an easy and hard topic all at the same time! Since I couldn't pick just ten -- especially ten out of all possible genres -- I went with my Top Twelve Historical Fiction Releases for 2014. Next to each title I list three reasons why I can't wait to read that particular book. 2014 is going to be a great year, y'all!

1. The Lost Sisterhood - Oxford University professor. The Amazons of Ancient Greece. Uncovering a secret family history.

2. A Mad, Wicked Folly - The gorgeous yellow dress on the cover (duh). A covert application to the Royal College of Art. Debutante balls and high society.

3. Fallen Beauty - The Jazz Age in Upstate New York. Costume design for poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. Female friendship.

4. Prisoner of Night and Fog - A girl who grew up under the care of Adolf Hitler. Falling for a young Jewish reporter. Solving the mystery of her father's death.

5. Revolutionary - The Revolutionary War. A woman disguised as a male soldier. Based on a true story.

6. The Mirk and Midnight Hour - Retelling of the Scottish "Battle of Tam Lin." Civil War Mississippi. Falling in love with the enemy.

7. Tsarina - Because I was obsessed with the movie Anastasia when I was little. The Romanov winter palace. A magical Faberge egg.

8. The Winner's Curse - Comparison to Kristin Cashore and Cassandra Clare in the synopsis. No love triangle. A mashup of historical fiction and fantasy.

9. The Crimson Ribbon - The cover! Set during the British Civil War. Based on the real historical figure of Elizabeth Poole.

10. The Daring Ladies of Lowell - The Lowell Mill girls. A romance with the mill owner's son. A murder and questions of loyalty.

11. Captured by Love - British invasion of Mackinac Island. Male POV. Because I love Christian historical fiction romance!

12. For Such a Time - 1944 Czechoslovakia. A false identity. Retelling of the biblical story of Esther.

What releases are you looking forward to in 2014? 

Mini Review: Madame Tussaud

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

Release Date: February 15, 2011
Pages: 446
Genre: Historical Fiction
Target Audience: Adult
Series: No
Source and Format: Bought; Nook eBook

Summary (From Goodreads)
Smart and ambitious, Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, and even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, yet her greatest dream is to attract the attention of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; their stamp of approval on her work could catapult her and her museum to the fame and riches she desires. After months of anticipation, Marie learns that the royal family is willing to come and see their likenesses. When they finally arrive, the king’s sister is so impressed that she requests Marie’s presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. It is a request Marie knows she cannot refuse—even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

Soon, there’s whispered talk of revolution. . . . Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? And more important, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

Spanning five years, from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom.

Thoughts on Madame Tussaud 
Let's cut to the chase--I LOVED this book! I was initially drawn to it because of the gorgeous cover, because let's face it, if I lived in France in the 1700s, I would be wearing that gorgeous yellow gown every.single.day.

What I really loved about this book was how much I learned about the French Revolution and what life was like for the people living through it without feeling like I was reading a history book. Marie was a fascinating character, and her connection with the royal family made my understanding of the Revolution from the aristocratic side so much more dynamic. I know this novel is historical fiction and not to be considered fact, but I've read many reviews praising Moran for her commitment to historical accuracy, and after reading just one of her novels, I would have to agree. I loved how she incorporated maps, epigraphs, and a glossary at the end to make for a well-rounded experience, but those things are hard to enjoy with an eBook (like in my case), so I would recommend getting this one in print if you are looking to add it to your shelves.

My only disappointment with the book is the timing of the ending, which I thought was rather abrupt. As I read through the epilogue, I would have liked to see more details of Marie's life in England in the actual novel. I would highly recommend this book if you like historical fiction or anything related to the French Revolution. I am excited to dive into another one of Moran's novels soon! 

Memorable Quote
“But we are all sorry when loss comes for us. The test of our character comes not in how many tears we shed, but in how we act after those tears have dried.”

Disclosure: This review was originally published on my lifestyle blog on December 17, 2012. 

Review: Mistress of the Art of Death

Mistress of the Art of Death

Release Date: 6 February 2007

Pages: 398

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery-Thriller

Target Audience: Adult 

Series: Mistress of the Art of Death #1

Source and Format: Purchased, Softcover

Summary (From Goodreads)
A chilling, mesmerizing novel that combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the detail and drama of historical fiction.

In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town's Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies. To save them from the rioting mob, the king places the Cambridge Jews under his protection and hides them in a castle fortress. King Henry II is no friend of the Jews-or anyone, really-but he is invested in their fate. Without the taxes received from Jewish merchants, his treasuries would go bankrupt. Hoping scientific investigation will exonerate the Jews, Henry calls on his cousin the King of Sicily-whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe-and asks for his finest "master of the art of death," an early version of the medical examiner. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. But her name is Adelia-the king has been sent a mistress of the art of death.

Adelia and her companions-Simon, a Jew, and Mansur, a Moor-travel to England to unravel the mystery of the Cambridge murders, which turn out to be the work of a serial killer, most likely one who has been on Crusade with the king. In a backward and superstitious country like England, Adelia must conceal her true identity as a doctor in order to avoid accusations of witchcraft. Along the way, she is assisted by Sir Rowley Picot, one of the king's tax collectors, a man with a personal stake in the investigation. Rowley may be a needed friend, or the fiend for whom they are searching. As Adelia's investigation takes her into Cambridge's shadowy river paths and behind the closed doors of its churches and nunneries, the hunt intensifies and the killer prepares to strike again...

Thoughts on Mistress of the Art of Death

I was meandering through Borders (yes, Borders. Remember those?) one day and this book caught my eye. Actually, the title caught my eye. How could you not pick up a book with a title like that? I read the synopsis on the back, which sounded interesting but not like something I would want to buy. Fast forward 4 years and I am in grad school studying to be a medievalist and this book makes its way back into my life via 2nd & Charles (arguably the best bookstore in America). Needless to say, I was hooked.

I really enjoyed Ariana Franklin's writing style. Her prose is very easy to understand. She writes like her main character, Adelia, thinks- practical and to the point. She is, however, very tongue in check at parts. Her characters are unlike anyone else you have read. There is no danger of being fed stereotypical cliches here. Who would think to put a female doctor, a Muslim castrati, and a stuffy English lord together? It works beautifully. Franklin also puts her own spin on known historical people, such as Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (in subsequent books).

Another thing I really liked about this book (and the series) is the picture you get of life in England in the late 1100's. Franklin does an excellent job of giving the reader an accurate description of life in the Middle Ages. She incorporates the historical political intrigues of the time into her narrative in such a way that you actually learn something while you are reading, without even realizing it. 

There are 4 books in this series and I am glad I didn't pick up the first one until all were published. The wait would have been interminable. There was a 5th book in the works but Ariana Franklin passed away before she could finish it. Each of these books is wonderful, with the 3rd one, Grave Goods, being my favorite. I have to say it is unusual for me to like a later book in a series more than the first. Grave Goods contains a mystery surrounding King Arthur, however, so of course that is the best one in my opinion.

Memorable Quote
“... Turn over that stone" - she pointed to a flint nearby - "and you will find a charlatan who will dazzle you with the favorable conjunction of Mercury and Venus, flatter your future, and sell you colored water for a gold piece. I can't be bothered with it. From me you get the actuality.”