Category: Historical

General, Historical, Magical

The Library of Light & Shadow by MJ Rose

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

IMG_0110MJ Rose continues the La Lune series begun in Witch of Painted Sorrows with this story of Delphine Duplessi and her gift of painting people’s secrets. The pattern is familar to fans of the La Lune series – a passionate love affair gone wrong, a young artist struggling with her gift, and people who want to use her and her gift in nefarious ways.

We first meet Delphine in New York City, where she is engaged to a wealthy young man and is the current cause celebre at all the fabulous parties where she performs her “party trick” of drawing people’s secrets while blindfolded. That, you see, is her talent. Having been blinded at age 8, then her vision miraculously restored by her witch of a mother, she can see all the things people want to keep secret when she puts on a blindfold, or when she looks in a mirror. Her talent is a form of scrying and makes her constantly in demand at parties, until one night when the “party trick” reveals a dangerous secret that results in tragedy.

Shocked and numb, questioning her art and her purpose, Delphine slides into a deep depression, rescued only when her twin, Sebastien, arrives to take her home to France. Once there, Delphine continues to struggle with her art, refusing to put on the blindfold again in fear of creating more tragedy. At the same time, Sebastien, who is also Delphine’s manager, pushes her to put the blindfold back on and resume her work, specifically for Madame Calve, who wants Delphine to draw the secrets of her castle in order to find a valuable book hidden there for centuries. Underpinning all this is a failed and painful love affair, which is what initially sent Delphine to NYC. We learn about her passionate affair with Mathieu through entries in Delphine’s diary, all leading up to the two meeting face to face at Madame Calve’s.

Rose layers on more fascinating detail to the world of the Duplessi’s with each entry in this series, while still keeping some key elements common to each story. In addition, there are connections to and mentions of characters from Rose’s earlier books worked in throughout, which add a great deal to the world-building going on here.

My only issue is the pace of the storytelling, which is super slow for the first half, then very rushed at the end. For me, the best part of the story is what happens once Delphine and Sebastien get to Madame Calve’s, which doesn’t happen until halfway through the book. All the angst and self-pity Delphine experiences in the first half just bored me, as did her diary entries about Mathieu. Rose is known for incorporating some pretty steamy sex in her books, and that remains true here in the diary entries; however, I find it is getting repetitive and not adding much to the story. I wish there had been less of the first half and more of the second half of this book. I found the ending to be very rushed and would have liked to see a resolution between Delphine and Sebastien, given the surprising revelation that occurs near the end.

All that said, I continue to be fascinated with the world of the Duplessi’s and all who inhabit it. The story is, as always with Rose’s work, captivating. I expect the final entry in the La Lune series will focus on youngest sister, Jadine, who can read people’s tears. I look forward to it!

Historical, Mystery

By Gaslight by Steven Price

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

IMG_0083When I requested this book from NetGalley, I vaguely thought it would somehow be about Jack the Ripper. What I found, though, was an intricate, unique, if somewhat wordy story revolving around William Pinkerton of the American Pinkerton Detectives and Swell Mob Prince Adam Foole. Pinkerton and Foole collide over the death of Charlotte Reckitt, one of them hunting her and one loving her. What begins as a seemingly simple story takes many twists and turns throughout to an ending that leaves room for a sequel.

Pinkerton has traveled to London to find Charlotte Reckitt, who he thinks has information about the mysterious Edward Shade, a man who apparently obsessed Pinkerton’s late father. Just as Pinkerton closes in on Reckitt, she jumps off a bridge. Days later, her mutilated body, minus its legs, shows up in pieces. At the same time, Foole returns to London from the U.S. after receiving a letter from Charlotte asking for his help. Despite her betrayal of him years before, he responds.

The story begins to get all twisty once Foole and Pinkerton have the same goal – find out who murdered Charlotte Reckitt. Betrayal, deceit, and loyalty all drive the major passions of this story, which neatly ties up all the loose ends around Charlotte Reckitt, Adam Foole, William Pinkerton, and Edward Shade. For now.

Price does a fine job of drawing compelling characters, and his story is fresh. I was reminded of Caleb Carr’s classic The Alienist a few times while reading this one. Pinkerton, while totally driven to catch the bad guys, is also smart and has a sensitive side. Foole, the slick con man, also has a conscience and loves deeply. The secondary characters, Molly and Fludd, are appealing for their devotion and loyalty to Foole. I want to read more stories about all of these characters! My only quibble with this was the length. As I was reading an Advanced Reading Copy, I expect there is room for some editing. My issue here, though, was only my impatience to get on with the story because it was so good. I do suggest that the reader keep a dictionary of 19th century slang handy, because there’s lots of it here.

By Gaslight is a fine entry into the 19th century crime fiction class, and Pinkerton & Foole have the potential to become a Holmes and Moriarty should the author choose to write more about them. I hope he does. Highly recommended.

Historical, Mystery

In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

IMG_0082Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series has been one of my go-to’s for years, both for my own reading and for recommending to others.

Until, however, the 11th entry.

A Dangerous Place completely put me off the series because of the horrifying (and, in my opinion, unnecessary) tragedy our heroine experienced right at the beginning. I can’t remember being so shocked at a twist in a series. So, I put Maisie away for awhile.

Then In This Grave Hour was published this year, and I thought I’d get reacquainted with the series. I found an older and wiser Maisie, to be sure, but also a woman who has experienced tremendous grief and is only just recovering some semblance of “normal” life. She has returned to London and restarted her detective agency with the ever trustworthy Billy. She has the means to live comfortably, and she does, even if alone and lonely. Then, England goes to war with Germany, which changes everything…and nothing.

Finding the mysterious Francesca Thomas in her garden late one afternoon, Maisie is once again plunged into a mystery. Thomas, a secretive and powerful attache with the Belgian Embassy, asks Maisie to investigate the death of a former Belgian refugee who was found executed outside his place of work. While Maisie takes the job, she knows that Thomas has not been entirely truthful with her. As Maisie delves deeper into the investigation, she uncovers a web of deceit stretching back to the First War. This part of the story seemed incidental to the bigger story of Maisie herself. The plot here was a little muddied and not terribly compelling. The real story here is Maisie.

While the Thomas investigation gives us the professional side of Maisie Dobbs, the declaration of war reveals the unsteady and somewhat raw personal side. Maisie must cope with the possibility of her beloved “nephews,” the offspring of best pal Priscilla, going off to war and never coming home. She is also drawn back to Surrey, where her father, stepmother, and mother-in-law are coping with children from London being resettled to the country. Maisie is particularly taken with a small girl who doesn’t speak and doesn’t seem to belong anywhere. Though both father and stepmother warn her not to get too attached to the child, Maisie can’t help herself.

In This Grave Hour is a watershed moment for Maisie. She has restored her career, she appears to have made as much peace as possible with her losses from A Dangerous Place, she is tentatively reconnecting with an old male friend, and I am predicting that the introduction of Anna, the displaced child, foreshadows a shift from Maisie the Student to Maisie the Teacher. She is slowly stepping into Maurice’s shoes (for those of you who haven’t read Maisie, Maurice was her mentor), bringing the series full circle. Winspear has won me back, and I am once again eagerly anticipating the next entry in the Maisie Dobbs series. Highly recommended.

Historical

Neverhome by Laird Hunt

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

IMG_1310It seems like there’s been a proliferation of novels in recent years that feature women who masqueraded as men so they could fight in a war. Some are better than others, and I will mark Neverhome by Laird Hunt as one of the better efforts.

We first encounter Ash Thompson as a green recruit training to engage in action during the Civil War. Hunt elects not to dwell on the methods Ash uses to disguise herself, and instead focuses on Ash’s personality and strength. We come to see early on that Ash is not a typical 19th century woman, and we learn why as the story progresses. Indeed, Ash and her husband really have, in many ways, flipped their roles…but it works.

Ash distinguishes herself early on in battle, and in sharpshooting. She also earns the nickname “Gallant Ash” when she gives up her own coat to cover the nakedness of a woman cheering on the regiment as it passes by. As the story progresses, though, we come to understand that Ash is not a saint, but despite all the horrible things that happen to her, she remains steadfast and true to herself.

Hunt’s writing is evocative and skillful, and his character development is spot on. His ability to tell this story of the “woman in disguise” and make it interesting, readable, and, ultimately, heart-wrenching places him at the top of his field. An author who can take me all the way through a book and lull me into thinking I know how it’s going to end, then punch me in the gut and tell me I was wrong is an author I will watch. Laird Hunt is one of those authors. Recommended.

General, Historical, Uncategorized, Young Adult

Helen by Anita Mishook

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

IMG_1299“A dream turned inside out. That was California.” Helen Rice, the protagonist in Anita Mishook’s masterful debut novel, Helen, certainly finds truth in this statement. We first meet Helen as she travels from New York to California to join her older sister and her family in lovely Glendale, California. The sisters, Polish Jews orphaned jointly by the Great War and influenza, survived great hardship and made it to New York, where Sarah labored to ensure Helen acquired the best education possible. Now an adult, Helen finds herself drifting and decides to join Sarah, her husband Harry, and their two children in the land of golden opportunity.

However, Helen soon learns that sunny California has a dark and dirty underbelly which includes gangers, corrupt cops, and Nazis. Helen, passing as a “Good German Girl,” becomes the darling of a dangerous group of Nazi supporters known as the Silver Shirts. At the same time, Helen’s friend from New York, a spy for the Anti Defamation League, arrives and immediately enlists Helen as a spy. Helen, by default, begins to live a dangerous double life, culminating in foiling a Nazi plot and triggering a new life as a double agent.

Mishook, a psychologist, developed Helen’s story out of research into her own family history. She uncovered evidence of the emergence of an American Nazi Party in California in the 1930s as she researched her mother-in-law’s immigration from Poland to California, and spun that family history into a readable, informative novel. There are wonderful and disturbing nuggets of historical information here about the motion picture industry and American Nazis, much of which I never knew. Mishook’s writing is smooth and conversational, and she handles dialog well, especially given this is her first novel. The character development is skillful, resulting in some very well-drawn personas. Helen, for example, walks a fine line between irritating, charming, shallow, and badass. She’s a rather vain, unformed young woman who has drifted through her life pretty much guided by her older sister. We watch her move from uncertain girl still depending on older sister Sarah to tell her what to do, to a more confident, daring young woman who has a purpose.

Other characters like Harry and Ralph are interesting, while Joe and Winona could have used a bit more development. However, these characters all fit their roles just fine and contributed what was needed to the story. If I have one quibble with this story, it’s a small one. Sometimes authors really, really like a descriptive phrase and tend to repeat it multiple times throughout a book. That happened here, with the author repeatedly describing Helen as “chewing the soft interior of her cheek/lip” during moments of uncertainty. By the end of the book, the inside of Helen’s mouth should have been a bloody pulp if she chewed her cheek so much! But, that is a minor quibble with an otherwise wonderful book. I hope Mishook continues to produce novels and am looking forward to her next one! Recommended.