Historical fiction

Anguished Deliberations

~ Women Talking, by Miriam Toews ~ Agency and self-determination. That’s what the Mennonite women in Miriam Toews’ powerful novel struggle towards over the course of the book, despite the patriarchy, religious, and community culture stacked against them. Mennonites are...

Love, family, nature

~ A Parchment of Leaves, by Silas House ~ An Irish descendent riding up Rosebud Mountain to clear the land passes an eighteen year old Cherokee girl of such stunning looks that he cannot get her out of his mind:...

The Scars of Slavery

~ Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan ~ George Washington Black is the full name of our protagonist – though he is often called Wash by friends – who was born in 1818 in Barbados, a slave, and the son of a...

Hardscrabble lives

~Gap Creek, by Robert Morgan ~ The riveting thing about this novel, for me any rate, is Julie Richards (nee Harmon)’s capacity for hard work and sheer optimism. It is hard to keep in mind she is only 17 years...

Clunky cloak-and-dagger

~ The Spies of Shilling Lane, by Jennifer Ryan ~ A spy story set in WWII England featuring a middle-aged mother sounds like the perfect novel for a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea but, alas, The Spies of...

Gothic morals

~ Melmoth, by Sarah Perry ~ This is a difficult book to review. There is a clear plotline, there are a number of strong protagonists, but this novel’s focus is neither on the storyline nor its key characters. It has...

Pioneer Woman

~ Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Caroline Fraser ~ Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little grey house made of logs. Many...

No time for social niceties

~ The Hunger, by Alma Katsu ~ This historical fiction novel tells the story of families of pioneers in wagon trains setting out from Springfield, Illinois, on 15th April 1846, attempting to reach California for a new life. The novel...