Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson follows Phebe Delores Brown, the child of an enslaved woman and the master of their plantation. Phebe has avoided the harsh field toil by weaving and sewing alongside her mother on the Bell Plantation in Charles City, Virginia. Her mother is a strong influence on her life--teaching her healing… Continue reading Review: Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson
I was already familiar with the Kingsbridge series from the Pillars of the Earth and World Without End mini-series. The Evening and the Morning is my first Ken Follett...and I must say, I went a very long time assuming he must be a very talented writer. But I think I was wrong. I appreciate the… Continue reading Review: The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures by Kathryn Brewster Haueisen straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction in telling the intertwining stories of the English religious rebels and the Pokanoket people and how these cultures clashed. There are two interesting points about the author, Kathryn Brewster Haueisen. She is the descendant of the… Continue reading Review: Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures by Kathryn Brewster Haueisen
Glorious Boy highlights a place often overlooked in WWII fiction: the Andaman Islands. Located between India and Thailand, the Andamans were part of British Colonial India. On the eve of WWII, American Anthropologist Claire marries British surgeon Shep Durant. Shep is soon posted to the Andamans as a colonial doctor, and Claire takes the opportunity… Continue reading Review: Glorious Boy by Aimee Liu
More Miracle Than Bird by Alice Miller tells the true story of Georgie Hyde-Lees, who at the age of 25, married famous Irish poet W.B. Yeats (then 52.) Miller's narrative focuses on Georgie working as a nurse in London during WWI. While trying to strike it out on her own at the soldier's hospital,… Continue reading Review: More Miracle Than Bird by Alice Miller
The Secrets We Kept is a book about one of my favorite books: Doctor Zhivago. In 2002, I discovered Docotor Zhivago through the 2002 mini series with Keira Knightley. I fell in love with the story and then read the book, and I instantly became obsessed. Doctor Zhivago was a huge creative and literary influence… Continue reading Review: The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
Little by Edward Carey tells the extraordinary, fascinating origin story of the real Madame Tussaud: Marie Grosholtz. Some people may not know that Madame Tussaud was a real person, as she seems more like a legend given the various wax museums around the world bearing her name. Marie was real (referred to by the nickname… Continue reading Review: Little by Edward Carey
Also known as Daughter of Albion: A Novel of Ancient Britain in other countries. Skin by Ilka Tampke takes place in the 1st century AD, when the Roman Empire began to encroach upon the British Isles. Although rooted in the history and culture of ancient tribal Britain, Tampke weaves a magical element into the story… Continue reading Review: Skin by Ilka Tampke
Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen by Dexter Palmer fictionalizes the true story of an 18th century Englishwoman who convinced doctors of all rankings--even the King's own--that she could birth rabbits. This unique historical nugget seems stranger than fiction, and Palmer vividly fills in the blanks and the world in which Mary Toft conducts… Continue reading Review: Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen by Dexter Palmer
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier is based on the life of Mary Anning, an early 19th century fossil hunter, collector, and paleontologist (although without a formal education.) I first discovered Mary Anning during a visit to the National History Museum in London. I was fascinated by this young woman, whom I somehow had never… Continue reading Review: Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
