Ashes and Stone by Allyson Shaw is a creative non-fiction account of women accused of witchcraft throughout Scottish history, particularly in the 16th through 18th centuries. Shaw details her personal journey traveling around Scotland to visit the forgotten, often neglected monuments to the those who lost their lives to witchcraft craze. Reading Ashes and Stone… Continue reading Review: Ashes and Stones by Allyson Shaw
The House of Two Sisters by Rachel Louise Driscoll (titled Nephthys in the UK) follows Clementine "Clemmie", daughter of a famed Victorian Egyptologist and "mummy unwrapper." Clemmie ventures alone to Cairo to return one of her father's (pilfered) artifacts that Clemmie believes has cursed her family. (Read into that the colonialism and superstition as you… Continue reading Review: The House of Two Sisters by Rachel Louise Driscoll
Boudicca's Daughter by Elodie Harper is the author's first book after the completion of The Wolf Den trilogy (one of my favorites.) Many may know about the famous Iceni warrior Boudicca who led a rebellion against Roman invaders, but little is known about her two daughters beyond the Roman accounts. History tells us that Boudicca… Continue reading Review: Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper
The Huntress by Kate Quinn opens in 1950 Boston where Jordan McBride must contend with her mysterious new step-mother, Anna. Jordan's love of and talent for photography expose a darker side of Anna, causing Jordan to try to dig deeper into Anna's cloaked past. Meanwhile in Vienna, English journalist Ian Graham and his associate Tony… Continue reading Review: The Huntress by Kate Quinn
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis is an 18th century tale of five out-of-the-ordinary sisters living in a small village in England. Raised by their grandparents, the sisters play by their own rules in a time and place where existing within a rigid set of rules and norms is expected. Anything out of the norm is… Continue reading Review of The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
In The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, author of Square of Sevens, richly-paints another 18th century story a reader can easily immerse oneself in. Newly widowed Hannah Cole owns a confectionery shop in London, this fact being somewhat scandalous both on account of a woman being the sole owner of a business and… Continue reading Review: The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
The Piano Player by Maybelle Wallis, the sequel to Heart of Cruelty, picks up about eight years later in Dublin. Dr. William Doughty works in Meath Hospital amidst both the Great Famine and a cholera epidemic. Meanwhile, Jane and her actor husband Edmond are newly arrived in Dublin on their theatre troupe's tour. Jane and… Continue reading Review: The Piano Player by Maybelle Wallis
For as much as I enjoy Jurassic Park (the movie,) I've actually never read any Michael Crichton but have always intended to. I randomly stumbled across Dragon Teeth, released posthumously, which centers around the "bone wars" of early paleontology in the 1870s American West. Dragon Teeth follows 18-year-old William Johnson of Philadelphia, a Yale student… Continue reading Review: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
Inanna by Emily H. Wilson is a historical fantasy retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the mythology of the ancient Sumerian Gods. To be honest, I have not read the Epic of Gilgamesh and only knew a little bit about ancient Sumer and its gods when I went into this book. That said, perhaps… Continue reading Review: Inanna by Emily H. Wilson
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips follows a family though the American Civil War from its start to tenuous post-war reconstruction. The novel begins in 1874 West Virginia with young ConaLee and her mute mother Eliza being taken to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum by a man known only as "Papa," but who is not, in… Continue reading Review: Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
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