Queen Hereafter by Isabelle Schuler reimagines Lady MacBeth pre Macbeth. An heir to the crown of Alba with Pict heritage, young Gruoch lives her life according to a prophecy made by her Druid grandmother that she will inherit the crown and be remembered for ages to come. Gruoch is often blinded by this prophecy, even… Continue reading Review: Queen Hereafter by Isabelle Schuler
Benjamin Franklin's Bastard by Sally Cabot begins in 1730s Philadelphia with Deborah Read meeting Benjamin Franklin. Their brief courtship is cut short when Franklin journeys to London for a time. When he returns, he meets a tavern serving girl named Anne. While Deborah and Benjamin are obviously historical figures, Anne is not. Rather, she is… Continue reading Review: Benjamin Franklin’s Bastard by Sally Cabot
Blindspot by Jane Kamensky & Jill Lepore has been on my to-read list for a while, and I'm so glad I finally read it, because I loved it! Set in 1760s Boston, the novel follows Scottish painter Stewart Jameson (and his lovable Great Dane Gulliver!) and "fallen" woman Fanny Easton who disguises herself as a… Continue reading Review: Blindspot by Jane Kamensky & Jill Lepore
Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies is a collection of essays co-edited by Colin Kaepernick and published through his press. This collection was very much compiled in response to the recent push back against CRT courses, as well as the atrocious state of education in Florida where Governor DeSantis and… Continue reading Review: Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies
The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson begins in 1730 with seven-year-old Red, daughter of a cunning man, as they travel the Cornish countryside telling fortunes. Red is knowledgeable of the mystical "Square of Sevens," a type of tarot card fortune telling using playing cards. But when Red's father dies and she is taken in… Continue reading Review: The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
The Flight of Anja by Tamara Goranson, book 2 in the Vinland Viking Saga, is the sequel to The Voyage of Freydis. Anja Freydisdottir, daughter of Beothuk hunter Achak and Greenlander Freydis, comes of age on Greenland's shores without ever knowing the truth of her parentage and birth. Anja believes Freydis is her adopted mother,… Continue reading Review: The Flight of Anja by Tamara Goranson
The Fascination by Essie Fox follows twins Keziah and Tilly Lovell in Victorian England. Identical in countenance, except Tilly stopped growing as a child. Marketed as a traveling "freakshow" by their own abusive father to sell his snake oil cure-all, the twins soon draw the attention of the mysterious Captain and the curious Theo Seabrook.… Continue reading Review: The Fascination by Essie Fox
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
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