The Voyage of Freydis by Tamara Goranson is a retelling of the Viking age Icelandic Saga about Freydis Eiriksdottir, daughter of Eirik and sister of Leif. Goranson positions Freydis in a loveless, physically and emotionally abusive marriage with the powerful landowner Thorvald in Gardar, Greenland. The depictions of abuse, both mental and physical, are explicit.… Continue reading Review: The voyage of Freydis by Tamara goranson
Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch is loosely based on the true story of Katherina Kepler, an elderly woman in accused of witchcraft in early 17th century Württemberg. The book shifts perspectives and styles in conveying the "investigation" and trial of Katherina. We get much of the story from Simon, Katherina's neighbor who is… Continue reading Review: Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Anangokaa by Cameron Alam follows a 14-year-old Scottish girl, Flora MacCallum, newly arrived with her family in the Canadian wilderness in 1804. The novel opens with Flora emerging from a grave illness (I suspect malaria or smallpox) of which her parents and one of her sisters did not survive. Flora, her older brother Hugh, and… Continue reading Review: Anangokaa by Cameron Alam
The War Girls by V. S. Alexander opens at the start of WWII and follows Stefa, a Polish Jew in Warsaw, Janka a Catholic in Warsaw, and Hanna, Stefa's sister who fled her home before the war to live with her aunt in London. There is quite an over saturation of WWII stories, so I… Continue reading Review: The War Girls by V.S. Alexander
The Witches of Vardo by Anya Bergman is based on the true story of the witch trials of Vardo in northern Norway, in the 17th century. I did not know about these particular witch trials, and the fact that this book took place in Norway drew me in further. Within the Arctic circle, Vardo is… Continue reading Review: The Witches of Vardo by Anya Bergman
Daughters of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt follows three women during Nantucket's Great Fire of 1846: Eliza Macy, the once-wealthy but now financially ruined wife of an absent whaling captain. Maria Mitchell, librarian and archivist at Nantucket's Atheneum. Meg Wright, a free black woman who fights for her family's right to own a business on main… Continue reading Review: Daughters of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt
Click the image to read my review of The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley on Journal of the American Revolution.
I really wanted to like this book because the time period and subject matter really drew me and are right up my alley. Honestly, I only got about half way through this book and gave up, so you can take this short review with a grain of salt if you wish. There were a few… Continue reading Review: Jamie MacGillivray, The Renegade’s Journey by John Sayles
The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women's Roles in Society by Eleanor Janega, professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at the London School of Economics, explores the roles of women in medieval society in terms of sexuality, beauty standards, occupations, religion, and much more. Dr. Janega writes in an accessible way, so… Continue reading Review: The Once and Future Sex by Eleanor Janega
I know this is not the type of book I usually review, and if this is not *your cup of tea,* you don't have to read this post! I don't often read memoirs, but the sociological, historical, and psychological aspects of a royal writing a memoir was too interesting to pass up. I know this… Continue reading Review: Spare by Prince Harry
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