The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

The Unseen by Katherine Webb (includes international giveaway)

2012-05-29T10:22:00.003+10:00

Last year I read and really enjoyed The Legacy by Katherine Webb. When I saw that the author had a new book I was very happy and looked forward to reading it.

When Cat Morley is sent from London to the small village of Cold Ash Holt, it is a chance for a new start for her. Whilst her new mistress, Hester Canning, knows something of Cat's recent past, she has decided that the rehabilitation of Cat will be her new pet project and so keeps the details to herself, which prompts plenty of speculation amongst the villagers as to what crime it was that she committed. Hester has been married to her husband for some time but things are not as they should be and the only person that she can confide in is her sister who has her own marital issues to deal with.

Albert is very interested in theosophy and when he believes that he sees some elemental spirits in the meadow, an 'expert' in the field, Robin Durrant, comes to stay at the vicarage and settles in for an extended stay. The longer that Durrant stays the more tensions rise in the house. Albert becomes more obsessed further neglecting his wife, Cat distrusts Durrant from day one and he isn't above stooping to blackmail to get her to do what he needs her to do.

Hester is an extremely naive young woman. She knows that things are not as they should be but she can't seem to reach her husband emotionally in one crucial aspect of married life. Albert is a cold fish and Robin is smarmy and duplicitous from the first page that he appears on.

Whilst none of the characters are particularly likable, the most interesting character in the book is Cat. She has been in service at a big house in London but really she doesn't really fit fully within the servant class but she certainly is not a lady either. When she becomes involved in the suffragette movement she finds imprisoned and the reader is exposed to some of the terrible conditions that Cat and others like her were exposed to as they fought for a right that most of us take for granted - the right to vote. Cat was then freed to work as a Hester's servant but she finds it difficult to settle back into normal life. The only place that Cat can find solace is with George the barge man but even with him she cannot trust enough to not feel trapped or imprisoned.

The blurb talks about a murder, and there is one, but I was kind of surprised at how late in the book it occurred. Part of the reason is because this isn't a traditional mystery in that the reader is trying to figure out who done it, although that is part of the story, but more the feel of the story is related to the spiritualism elements and the strange goings on in the vicarage at Cold Ash Holt.

The story unwinds both in the present time and in the past. I am usually a big fan of the dual narrative storyline! I love seeing modern characters discover what was going on in the past at the same time as we are learning what is happening too, but it can be difficult at times to get the balance right. It is a very good author who manages to make you care about both story lines at the same time. Unfortunately for me, the balance between the two strands was all wrong and I think that in some ways that is even reflected in the book blurb where there is not a single mention of the modern storyline.

The opening premise of the modern story line was a good one. Leah is a journalist who has answered a call from her old boyfriend to go to Brussels. He works for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and they have uncovered the well preserved body of a soldier from World War I and he has two interesting letters sent to him by a H Canning. Leah's journey takes her from Belgium to the small town of Cold Ash Holt to try and discover who this man is. In Cold Ash Hold she meets a man who is the grandson of Hester and Albert Canning. Mark (I think it that was his name) is extremely distrusting of journalists. The reason for this is explained in due course, but could have been quite interesting but because the modern storyline felt tacked on, almost like an afterthought, none of the issues that were raised were explored as much as I would have liked.

While this book was interesting, I never really felt that I was caught up in the time and place and the book seemed to drag a bit as well. In summary, this book has the potential to be a really compelling read but it unfortunately did not live up to that potential for this reader.

Rating 3.5/5

Synopsis

England, 1911. The Reverend Albert Canning, a vicar with a passion for spiritualism, leads a happy existence with his naive wife Hester in a sleepy Berkshire village. As summer dawns, their quiet lives are changed for ever by two new arrivals. First comes Cat, the new maid: a free-spirited and disaffected young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law. Cat quickly finds a place for herself in the secret underbelly of local society as she plots her escape. Then comes Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby. A young man of magnetic charm and beauty, Robin soon becomes an object of fascination and desire. During a long spell of oppressive summer heat, the rectory at Cold Ash Holt becomes charged with ambition, love and jealousy; a mixture of emotions so powerful that it leads, ultimately, to murder.

Tour and giveaway details

My copy of this book came from the local library but I requested it so that I could participate in this blog tour!

To visit other stops on the tour, check out the blog tour schedule here. It's interesting to note that this author has no web presence at all. Whilst I understand no Facebook, Twitter, blog etc I would have thought that a website would have been a basic requirement in these days.

If you think, though that this is something that you might be interested in reading, I am pleased to be able to offer up a copy of this book and the giveaway is open internationally! To enter leave a comment including your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

The giveaway closes on June 7.

Winner of State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

2012-05-29T07:23:00.000+10:00

Congratulations to

Beth from Too Fond

who won the giveaway of State of Wonder by Ann Patchett!

Hope you enjoy the book when you get it Beth!

Sunday Salon: Antici....pation!

2012-05-27T15:03:00.000+10:00

I have so many things to talk about todayl I started off with two things and then added more and more. I hope I haven't forgotten anything.

Shadow of Night is coming soon!

At the beginning of the year when I named my most anticipated release for 2012 Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness was at the very top of the list! With the book coming out in July (I could do a countdown of weeks but I will resist), we are starting to see some of the PR starting to happen. I was very excited this week to wake up to an email with some of the details and so now I am going to share them with you! And shhhhh..... don't tell anyone, but I will be hosting a giveaway closer to release date but there are also chances to win copies of the book before then!

Details below adapted from the publicists email to me!

Every Friday from June 1st to July 6th, four winners will be selected to receive an advance copy of SHADOW OF NIGHT signed by Deborah and sample bottles of two perfumes specially selected to represent the scents of Matthew and Diana. To enter, readers can click on this link to the contest page starting today.

Also, if you haven't read A Discovery of Witches yet, Amazon is offering the e-book as their “Deal of the Day” on June 10th, where readers will be able to buy it for just $2.99 on that day only. Then you will be ready to read SHADOW OF NIGHT when it hits stores!

Calling all Australian Terry Pratchett fans

Tickets to Nullus Anxietas IV, the Fourth Official Discworld Convention to be held in Australia have recently gone on sale! If you get in early, you will get super special discounted early bird prices! To find out more about the ticket prices follow this link.

The con is going to be held in Melbourne on the weekend of March 8 to 10, 2013.

There are various places where you can find out more

Website
Nullus Anxietas IV on Twitter
Nullus Anxietas IV on Facebook
Nullus Anxietas IV on Google+

Nullus Anxietas IV Fundraisers

There are a number of different fundraisers that will be running over the couple of months (including a tournament of games today at Blackburn - see this link for details) but one that is coming up soon is a showing of Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods. There are only going to be a limited number of big screen showings of this movie and we have tickets to one of them!

If you are in Melbourne on June 14 and want to see Cabin in the Woods, join us at Cinema Nova in Carlton. You can find out more details here.

Reminds me....I need to buy my ticket!

Want to participate in a Google+ hangout with Julia Quinn

Julia Quinn is one of my go to favourite romance authors and, thanks to the Australian Romance Readers Association, you can win the change to spend time on a Google+ hangout on Saturday June 9. This will hopefully be the first of many hangouts with many of our favourite romance authors!

All the details on how to join the contest to win your chance to participate and how you can watch along if you aren't one of the lucky ones can be found here.

I would put my contest entry in except that is on the same day that I am intending to be at the following event.

Continuum 8: Craftonomicom

This year not only is the Victorian spec fic convention on, but it is also hosting the 51st Australian National SF convention. It is running over the weekend from 8-10 June in Carlton.

I have ummed and ahhed for months as to whether I am going to go to this or not, but the child minder has been arranged. Now I just need to hurry up and buy the tickets.

There are quite a few Aussie authors and bloggers that I am looking forward to meeting over the weekend, once I get over my "standing on the outside looking in" mentality!

Need to hurry up and buy the tickets for this one too!

Calling all Melbourne Book Bloggers

Stephanie from Read in a Single Sitting and some friends are organising a Melbourne bookish type get together on June 9. The plan is to meet at the Astor Theatre and see a double bill of The Artist and My Week with Marilyn. There seems to be quite a few people going (we won't talk about the abysmal attempt when I attempted a Melbourne book blogger get together last year. I try not to take these things personally).

It is an open invitation and you can find all the details here.

I am a maybe at this stage. It will really depend on how exhausted I am after a full day at Continuum.

Coming Soon

I am hoping over the next couple of weeks to bring exciting news for Australian historical fiction authors and fans!

I was going to talk about Jennifer Egan tweeting a novel too but I think this post is possibly already way too long so instead, here are my current and upcoming reads

Currently Reading

The Long Shadow by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Up Next

Eric by Terry Pratchett and Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis

Weekend Cooking: The Red Spice Road Cookbook by John McLeay

2012-05-26T13:04:00.000+10:00

A couple of years ago I went for dinner at Red Spice Road restaurant here in Melbourne. We were there on a Friday night, the restaurant was packed with happy diners and the food was delicious. Every time I get an email from them saying they have this event or that event on I think I really must go back but haven't got there yet. One day.

I don't normally browse much at the library. I head straight for the hold shelf where I pick up the books that are waiting for me and then I love. The hold shelf is, however, right near the cook books section so I do find myself stopping and having a quick look if something catches my eye. A couple of weeks ago I was rushing in and out but glanced over and say a red cookbook facing out and so I was drawn to go and have a look and it turns out it was this one, so it was a no brainer to grab it and take it home.

As an object, this cookbook is beautifully presented. If you look at the image that I have included above you may noticed that there is a deeper red stripe down the middle and that the name of the book looks a little fuzzy. That is because rather than being printed directly onto the glossy hardcover, the title details are actually printed onto a strip of fabric (maybe silk?) which is then attached to the book. How practical that is for a messy kitchen is a question that I didn't like to think about, but it does look very striking. The pages of the book are also edged in black so the whole book is encased in those very classical Asian colours of red and black.

In addition there is a red ribbon that you can use as a bookmark. I don't know about you, but as soon as I see a hardcover book with a ribbon it automatically suggest to me that it is a better quality book. Yes, it's the simple things that make me happy.

The gorgeous production values continue inside the book with lush photos of all the recipes as well as photos of the distinct decor of the actual restaurant as well. I also really appreciated that the font that is used is a decent size which hopefully you will be able to tell from the photo below. No squinting to see what comes next as you are trying to put your dish together.

Enough about the book though. It's all very well to have a gorgeous object if you aren't actually going to cook out of it, so let's talk about the content.

If you are a fan of South East Asian food you will really like this book. There are a variety of different nationalities influences featured throughout the book and the recipes run the whole gamut from seafood to meat to dessert and there is even a section on cocktails that feature Asian inspired flavours. One of the more surprising inclusions in the book was the recipe for Pork Belly with Apple Slaw and Chilli Caramel which I was expecting they would want to keep the recipe to themselves. In the intro to the recipe, John McLeay says 'This is by far the most popular dish on our menus; we go through a ridiculous amount and it seems like the oven is always full of pork belly. If I ever took it off the menu I would have a lot of irate customers!"

The dining philosophy when you go to eat at Red Spice Road is that you would go with a group and everyone would choose a selection of dishes that would then be shared - a kind of communal eating. This philosophy is extended into the book so a lot of the recipes state that they serve 4 as part of a shared meal. How practical this is if you are wanting to cook a family meal, I am not sure. I know I would be a bit frazzled if I was going to need to cook three or four different dishes in order to serve up a reasonable meal to a group of guests.

If I owned this cookbook, I think the section that I would refer to the most would most likely be the basics section. In there, the author shares recipes for many of the flavours that are used in later book like chilli caramel and Asian chicken stock. What was more surprising though was the recipes for things that I have never even contemplated making from scratch, for example, red and green curry paste and sweet chilli sauce. I would always have just used bought sweet chilli sauce in recipes. It would never have even crossed my mind to make my own.

I am pretty sure I could convince the boy to try some of the milder curries. I think Lamb meatball and potato Penang curry sounds really good as does Rockling green curry, but I think that there are other flavours that he wouldn't be as willing to try. One recipe that I do think that I could quite easily get him to eat would be this one, although I might cut back on the chillies a bit!

Click to enlarge

Chicken with chilli and basil

30ml peanut or vegetable oil
400g chicken thigh fillets, chopped finely
3 shallots, peeled and sliced finely
2 large red chillies, seeded and sliced
5 small red chillies, seeded and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 cup basil leaves
4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced finely

Heat oil in a wok or frypan until it's smoking. Add the chicken, shallots, chilli and garlic, and stir fry until chicken is cooked. Add a little water if you feel the mixture is burning

Add remaining ingredients and stir fry a further 30 seconds.

On the restaurant website there are links to three of the recipes that are in this book - Garfish with cucumber, avocado, chilli and basil, Ox cheeks with star anise, mushrooms and hot mint and finally Lamb wrapped in betel leaves.

As an object, this is a lovely book. As a cookbook it is one I could see myself using occasionally but I don't think it would be an everyday type book.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal by Grace Burrowes

2012-05-25T05:47:00.000+10:00

I am going to preface my thoughts about this book by saying that I did actually like it. I just want to get that out there because there may be times when it might sound differently.

Maggie Windham is an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Moreland, however she has been formally adopted by the Duke and Duchess and so has grown up as part of the large extended Windham family. She has, however, always known that she is different from her brothers and sisters. She is both part of the family and set apart from it by the circumstances of her birth. She knows that, for her, there will be no brilliant marriage match and so she has instead sought to make herself completely independent. In doing so Maggie has shown good intuition when it comes to the making of money and so is independently wealthy.

Benjamin Hazlit is an investigator who has been hired to perform various tasks for Maggie's family. He too knows what it is like to be both part of and apart from his family and in this aspect, he and Maggie are a good match! Another reason for this is because Benjamin is a man with big secrets of his own, and Maggie has been hiding a very big secret from her family for years.

Maggie hires the investigator after her reticule goes missing from her house and Maggie is terrified that the wrong people may get hold of it. She must do anything she can to avoid more scandal for her family. To be honest, I found this a flimsy pretext to start the story on and thought that the mystery of what exactly was in the reticule was unravelled far too slowly. Once the big secret is revealed, I understood why Maggie was scared but it took way too long to get to that point.

Benjamin is determined to give Maggie some relief from her self inflicted isolation and so he slowly and surely begins to seduce her, but along the way he also begins to understand that he must open himself up to his loved ones as well. One of the things that I appreciate about Burrowes' writing is that she does do the slow, intense build up between her couples so well. Page by page, moment by moment the tension builds.

While I liked Benjamin a lot, I did wonder about the practicalities of his super-secret identity. I just don't see how he could have kept his secret for as long as he did without drawing attention to himself. This is just one example of where Burrowes' stretches the bounds of historical accuracy within her books. To be honest, I go into her books expecting historical accuracy to be one of the casualties, but the way she builds the characters and tension make up for that. In my review for the previous book in this series I said "There is no one else that I am reading in historical romance at the moment that has that kind of mellow tempo and fluidity that Grace Burrowes has in her books whilst still having sizzling chemistry between the characters." Aside from the issue that I am quoting myself... I would still stand by this exact sentiment!

The bad guys were very bad and as such a bit two dimensional, and to be honest the resolution of the suspense sub plot was a bit flat too. It turns out that one or two decent conversations with the duke and duchess could have completely changed everything in relation to this story, but Maggie is so darned busy being a martyr in trying to protect those around her that she can't see the forest for the trees.

Where the characterisations are much better is in the secondary characters. Benjamin's business partner, and heir, is his cousin Archer and the scenes featuring the two of them were filled with fun banter and definitely helped draw a fuller picture of the man that Benjamin really is. The Duke and Duchess are also a real treat to read. I wasn't all that fond of the Duke in the first couple of books that he appeared in, but now I almost anticipate the next scene that the two of them will appear in!

Like the other books I have read by Burrowes, there are both positives and negatives. Regardless, I will be looking forward to when the next book in the Duke's Daughters series comes out. Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight is due out in October!

Rating 4/5

Synopsis:

Maggie Windham, oldest of the Windham sisters and a by-blow from His Grace’s pre-marital wild oats, finds herself in desperate needs of an investigator to help her retrieve a missing reticule. Benjamin Hazlit knows the Windham family secrets, and can be trusted to keep them to himself, so Maggie turns to Benjamin, though it means ignoring his too-broad shoulders, his too-knowing smile… and his too-skilled kisses. As Benjamin starts the search for Maggie’s missing purse, he realizes two things: First, whatever was in that purse, its loss has Maggie not just rattled, but terrified. Second, Benjamin will go to any lengths to see Maggie’s peace of mind restored, even if it means he must keep himself in very close proximity to the shy, secretive lady who says she wants nothing to do with him.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy I read.

The Smythe-Smith story so far

2012-05-24T06:25:00.000+10:00

To say that the Bridgerton series is one that is loved by a lot historical romance fans is possibly a bit of an understatement. Like many other readers I made my way through the series thoroughly enjoying the romance and the humour of Julia Quinn's writing and spending time with all eight of the Bridgerton siblings and their romantic partners.

There were lots of regular characters in the series, and there have been a couple of different spin-offs as a result. One was Lady Whistledown who was a society gossip writer who regularly reported on the budding romances and scandals of the ton. Not only did we get to read her insights in the Bridgerton book but she also inspired two anthologies - The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown and Lady Whistledown Strikes Back.

The other spin off is the current series by Julia Quinn - the Smythe-Smith quartet. The first book, Just Like Heaven, was released last year with the second book, A Night Like This, going on sale this week. I thought I would take a few minutes to talk about the series before focusing on the two individual books.

The members of the ton know exactly what to expect when they attend the annual Smythe-Smith musical gala - lots of gala but not much in the way of music. Despite having hosted the gala for many years, none of the musicians are at all proficient and it just seems like each year it gets worse and worse. The event is always very well attended though.

It is quite clever of Julia Quinn to take this one joke and spin it through not only the Bridgerton books, but then to build a new series out of it, and to do so without the concept feeling very tired.

So let's look at the two books individually:

HONORIA SMYTHE-SMITH IS:

A) a really bad violinist

B) still miffed at being nicknamed "Bug" as a child

C) NOT in love with her older brother's best friend

D) All of the above

MARCUS HOLROYD IS:

A) the Earl of Chatteris

B) regrettably prone to sprained ankles

C) NOT in love with his best friend's younger sister

D) All of the above

TOGETHER THEY:

A) eat quite a bit of chocolate cake

B) survive a deadly fever AND world's worst musical performance

C) fall quite desperately in love.

It's Julia Quinn at her best, so you KNOW the answer is...

D) All of the above

Marcus Holroyd grew up as an only child, heir to an earldom, growing up lacking nothing, except for familial affection. Luckily when he was 12 years old where he met Daniel Smythe-Smith, who also has grown up in a comfortable home but with a surplus of familial affection, particularly of the female variety. There are sisters galore and too many cousins to count. Marcus spent every family holiday with the Smythe-Smiths and that includes having to spend time with Honoria (known as Bug because she followed the boys everywhere). His bond to the family was strong, but it was tested when Daniel had to flee the country after being involved in a duel that left another friend badly injured. His last request to Marcus was look after his youngest sister, Honoria, and particularly make sure that she did not fall prey to the marriage machinations of any inappropriate beaus.

Marcus has been doing a good job of running off the men that looked as though they may be becoming interested in Honoria, and doing it so subtly that she has no idea why she can't find a husband and she is, quite frankly, getting a bit desperate. Marcus is not quite your standard aristocratic hero. He may have a reputation for being quite stand offish and a bit humourless, but the reality is that he is a quiet, shy man. Only those who know him really well can see the warm, loyal and funny man who lies beneath the solid exterior.

A trip to the country leads to our main two characters meeting up again, but it is only after an unfortunate incident with a man-made molehill leads to a life and death infection that the two of them see each other as something other than pseudo brother and sister. Even then, the build up between the two is slow, mainly thanks to Honoria finding out what he has been up to and then misinterpreting his interest in her. I loved that Marcus felt compelled to defend her, and that meant that he had to step into the spotlight in order to make his declaration, but I did find the whole bedroom scene that proceeded it a little bit awkward. In some ways, it was almost as though the author had realised that she had forgotten to put one in and therefore had to shoehorn it in there somewhere.

I liked Honoria, especially the parts where she was either by herself or with only a couple of characters. The scenes with all the cousins, and the rehearsals for the musical evening were less enticing because there sounded like there was supposed to be lots of funny dialogue between them all but it just became a bit of white noise in the end.

I liked the way that we got to see why the girls put up with being put on stage year after year even though everyone knows how bad they are as musicians from Honoria's perspective. It's not about music. It's about family, bonding and tradition and you just know that in time her own daughters will be taking the stage and she will be proud as punch for that to happen.

One of the reasons why I love reading series of linked books is because of the recurring characters, and there are quite a few who appear in these pages and to see little moments that we have seen in previous books but from a different perspective! The one recurring character who did steal the show each time she showed up in the book was Lady Danbury! She is one scary older lady, but she would be lots of fun to sit next to and gossip with!

When I read this book last year, I had gone into the city to meet up with some other romance readers. We had visited the local romance specialty shop and I picked this up on a whim. I started it on the train home and had finished it later that day. I also credited this book with starting a romance reading craving that saw me reading a lot of romance in a very short period of time last year. Here's the thing though. Normally I have memories of the books that I read even after quite some time but not with this one. Couldn't remember a thing. I found myself having to ~~skim through~~ read the book again today to refresh my memory. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours I guess.

It's not the best Julia Quinn novel, but I think most fans will be happy to read the first of the Smythe-Smith books.

Anne Wynter might not be who she says she is…

But she's managing quite well as a governess to three highborn young ladies. Her job can be a challenge — in a single week she finds herself hiding in a closet full of tubas, playing an evil queen in a play that might be a tragedy (or might be a comedy—no one is sure), and tending to the wounds of the oh-so-dashing Earl of Winstead. After years of dodging unwanted advances, he's the first man who has truly tempted her, and it's getting harder and harder to remind herself that a governess has no business flirting with a nobleman.

Daniel Smythe-Smith might be in mortal danger…

But that's not going to stop the young earl from falling in love. And when he spies a mysterious woman at his family's annual musicale, he vows to pursue her, even if that means spending his days with a ten-year-old who thinks she's a unicorn. But Daniel has an enemy, one who has vowed to see him dead. And when Anne is thrown into peril, he will stop at nothing to ensure their happy ending…

The opening of this book overlaps the closing of the last book. Daniel Smythe-Smith returns home unexpected after three years in exile abroad on the night of the annual Smythe-Smith musical evening. He sneaks into the room and is surprised to find that the woman playing the piano is not a sister or cousin at all but rather a beautiful stranger.

Anne sees an unknown man lurking behind the quartet and freezes in fear, not knowing if this is her past catching up with her or something less sinister. When the stranger tracks her down soon after she finds that it is Daniel Smythe-Smith, prodigal son, and that there is a very intense attraction between them. She is however glad that their interlude is interrupted when Daniel suddenly launches an attack on one of the other guests who is also one of his best friends, Marcus.

Daniel was exiled three years previously after a night of drinking and cards led to an allegation of cheating and then a duel at dawn which left another of his friends, Hugh Prentice, clinging to life and Hugh's father promising to track Daniel down and ensure that he would pay for the damage he had done. Ramsgate was true to his word and had tracked him Daniel down through France, Spain and Italy and so Daniel was used to living constantly looking over his shoulder. He had however been convinced by Hugh that the danger was over and that he could now return safely.

He begins a flirtation with Anne. The whole time she knows that it is inappropriate and that she could lose her position as governess to Daniel's cousins if she is caught so she tries to resist but finds it increasingly difficult to do so. Daniel constantly manipulates events to try and get time with Anne, whether that means by acting in some of his young cousin Harriet's terrible plays or by inviting the cousins to his country house.

Anne has her own history. She was bought up in a good family but she was disowned when she is seduced by the son of the most important local landowner. Sent off in disgrace, she has moved from one job to another, constantly aware that the son has promised that he will make her pay for the wrong that she did him in self defence.

When Daniel is attacked as he walks home later the night of the musicale he is convinced that Ramsgate was still after him. When both Anne and Daniel are put in danger whilst in country he still thinks that it is him that is putting her into danger but he still can't stay away.

Whilst we are giving Daniel's history up front and that is how it is dealt with by the characters, Anne's story is fed to the reader in a much more measured way, gradually unfolding more and more for the reader until we can more readily understand her skittishness.

I am not really sure where to put this book in terms of my preferred Julia Quinn books. The last few have been up and down quality wise, but when I am in the mood for something light and easy and fun, she is an author who I would instantly think of. They are perfect in the moment books. This book was fun, it was light but I suspect I might need to reread when the next book in the series comes out to refresh my memory, or at the very least reread this post!

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Library Loot: May 23 to 29

2012-05-23T18:14:00.000+10:00

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Claire has Mr Linky this week so be sure to head over to her blog and add your link to Mr Linky so that we can all come and have a look see at the loot that you got this week.

Here's my loot:

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore: One of my most anticipated reads of this year and yet I was really surprised to see how big this book is! Apparently I hadn't been looking too closely at the information that was coming out about it!

Letty and the Stranger's Lace by Alison Lloyd- next book in the series. I've already this one but I think I will most likely review all four Letty books at once in a similar way to the post I did about the Grace books in the Our Australian Girls series.

The House on Olive Street by Robyn Carr - I am working my way through the books that my library has by Robin Carr and this is the next one.

On the Steamy Side by Louisa Edwards - the next book in the Recipe for Love series.

Movida Rustica by Frank Camorra - a few weeks ago I reviewed the Movida cookbook and this is another chance to drool over delicious sounding Spanish food.

The Return by Victoria Hislop - a few weeks ago I read and really enjoyed The Island by this author and so I am looking forward to reading more by her.

Tuesday Teaser: Lords of the White Castle by Elizabeth Chadwick

2012-05-22T20:41:00.000+10:00

Do you ever sit down and read through your own blog posts? Every now and again I like to do so, and sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by what I read and other times I cringe! Today I took a few minutes to go through my past posts about Elizabeth Chadwick. The thing that stood out is that when I do post about her books, the reviews are overwhelmingly positive and filled with praise at the way that medieval life comes to life in the pages of her books. Whilst this isn't a review as such, I can guarantee if I was to get around to writing one it would be another positive one.

I have been working my way through her back list very slowly. I could have read more of her books, but the thing is that I know that once I have finished then I will have to wait for each new book. By not devouring them all, which is definitely tempting, I know that I will still have a Chadwick fix for a little while yet!

The interesting thing for me is that I think this book seems to be something of a turning point for Elizabeth Chadwick. As far as I can remember, prior to this, Chadwick populated her books with real historical figures, but the main characters were fictitious. In this book, the main male character is Fulke Fitzwarin and he is a real figure from history and has been suggested as a possibly inspiration for Robin Hood. You can also clearly see the transition that the author is making from writing meaty historical romances with strong historical themes to meaty historical fiction with strong romantic themes.

I have a number of passages marked to choose a teaser from. In the end, I decided to go with this teaser from page 228:

I told you that we should have ridden straight to Whittington when Papa died and taken FitzRoger then," William muttered as they led their horses across the ward and found a boy to tend them.

"Hindsight is a wondrous thing,' Fulke sneered. "Likely we'd have ended our lives swinging from a gibbet."

"Well, if you think there is going to be a happy outcome from this, you're a greater fool than you've ever taken me for."

Fulke rounded on him with bunched fists and Jean hastily put his wiry frame between the. "Peace!" he hissed. "We're not clear of the guards yet, and you do yourselves no favours by this childish brangling. If you cannot handle yourselves, then what use are you going to be before John?"

Fulke clamped his jaw until the muscles showed in two rigid grooves below his cheekbones. "You do well to remind me, Jean," he said with a stiff nod. He looked at William. "We need to be united by our brotherhood, not split by our differences of opinion. Are you ready to go within?"

William wriggled his shoulders within the thickly padded gambeson. "No point in coming just to stay outside." It was the nearest he would come to conciliation.

Do you have an author who you want to rush through their booklist, but you also want to take your time to savour?

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (includes international giveaway)

2012-05-21T07:13:00.003+10:00

Dr Marina Singh was studying to be a doctor. After a terrible incident, she gives up that course of study and instead becomes a pharmacologist, studying cholesterol. She works for a drug company, is involved in an secret affair but other than that we don't know a lot about her. If I was to use one word only to describe her I would say that she was repressed.

She normally works closely with her lab mate, Dr Anders Eckman, but months ago he had been sent to the jungles of the Amazon to try and track down the woman who was previously Marina's lecturer, Dr Annick Swenson. Dr Swenson is in the Amazon working on developing a lucrative new medication but she is something of a maverick. She won't respond to requests for updates on where she is up to with her research and so the company have sent Dr Eckman to find out exactly how her research is going and more importantly when this drug will be ready for testing.

When they receive notification that Dr Eckman has died and been buried in Brazil, his widow wants to know more about the circumstances. Her employer still wants to know about the research project and so Marina is sent south to find out more..

In terms of setting, there are three distinct sections in this book. The first part of the book is set in Minnesota and in this world Marina is very controlled in almost every way. The first stop on her journey to the Amazon is Manaus in Brazil where she spends several weeks whilst she waits for the appearance of the mysterious Dr Swenson. Whilst there she spends time with an Australian couple, the Bovenders, who run interference for Dr Swenson, trying to stop anyone from finding where she is, what she is doing and from generally disturbing her in any way. Finally, she makes it to the research station in the jungle on the banks of a tributary of the Amazon where there are many surprises in store.

Whilst Marina undertakes a physical journey, it is more the philosophical and emotional journey that forms the core of this book. She loses her luggage more than once, and each time she becomes less reliant on her westernness and in effect ends up stripped back to her bare soul.

The research that is being undertaken is perceived to be leading to a wonder infertility drug. The women of the tribe are able to sustain healthy pregnancies well into their seventies, but there is more happening at the station than just that research and the scientists working there are doing their best to keep the other research secret until the time is right. There is discussion of the moral and ethical responsibilities related to medical research and about bringing Western ways to the remote tribes but I never found those elements to be too dry or inaccessible.

I don't want to say too much more because part of the beauty of this book is watching the story unfold.

What a surprise this book was! I had only listened to one Ann Patchett book previously (Bel Canto) and I really didn't like it. I am not sure if it would have been different if I had of actually read the book, but I thought it was slow and a bit pointless.

So why did I volunteer for this book tour then? When this book first came out, I heard Ann Patchett on several podcasts that I listen to and each time I heard her I became more and more interested in the book. Then she was one of the big name guests to appear at last year's Melbourne Writer's Festival and I went to hear her talk. She is so good in a crowded room - funny and charming, engaging and passionate about writing and books. It was a case where despite not liking the only book I had read from the author, I liked the author and so I was prepared to give her another go. I am so glad that I did.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it much more of a page turner than I was expecting it to be. The topics discussed were interesting without feeling overwhelmed with the scientific details. There was adventure and drama - a particularly gruesome scene with a snake had my heart racing - and whilst a lot of the characters were not people I would particularly like if I met them, there is a young deaf boy named Easter who has made his home in a little corner of my heart. I enjoyed reading the way the author bought a group of individuals together to form a small community in an isolated place.

If there is a weakness in the book, it was the ending which didn't totally work for me, and I know that there are lots of other reviews out there which talk about the ending being a let down and this was one of the big issues I had when I listened to Bel Canto. I enjoyed the journey so much though, that I can live with the ending, mainly because I am not sure how else the story could have been all wrapped up. We are left not knowing where Marina goes next in her life, but that is okay because I was left feeling that she knew a lot more about herself at the end of the book than she did in the beginning.

I was so pleasantly surprised by how much of a page turner I found this book. Am I brave enough to try other Ann Patchett books? Maybe in due course, but for the time being I want to savour this reading experience.

4.5/5

Synopsis

In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, State of Wonder presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional resonance and moral complexity.

As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness. Stirring and luminous, State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss beneath the rain forest’s jeweled canopy.

Tour and giveaway details

See what other participants on this blog tour thought of this book by following the tour

Tour schedule
Ann Patchett's website

I am very excited to offer up a in international giveaway of the paperback of this book! To enter, leave a comment including your email address.

Giveaway closes 28 May 2012

Weekend Cooking: The Sweet Life by Kate Bracks

2012-05-20T11:19:00.000+10:00

A few weeks ago now, our local bookstore held an event with Kate Bracks, the winner of the last series of Masterchef here in Australia. I actually didn't watch any of that series of Masterchef, so only had a vague idea of who she was but the event was a chance to catch up with friends and there was an inference that there would be cupcakes on offer so I was happy to go.

I also try to support the bookstore and buy something whenever they do have an event, so I purchased this cookbook. As I was driving home I did contemplate how wise that was given that I really didn't know much about Kate Bracks, but having now spent time going through the cookbook a couple of times, I don't think it is a purchase that I will regret.

Kate was incredibly generous with her time. We (being Bree and I) spend a lot of time talking to us about several topics. One was getting your kids involved in cooking which was clearly something that she is passionate about. Our kids are at different stages but I talked bout the little chef and the fact that he loves to cook things but not necessarily to try the things he cooks (except what he cooks at school apparently) and Bree talked about engaging her younger children. We also talked about the process she went through when creating the cookbook which was actually really fascinating to listen to. She had roughly organised the chapters, tested the recipes repeatedly until she was happy with them, then sending the recipes off to friends/volunteers who tried the recipes to see if the instructions were clear and then to a professional recipe editor - who knew there was such a thing?

One of the other things we touched on was her future plans include her website which will include a kids club section with recipe videos which sounds fantastic as the little chef and I like to sit down and look at cooking videos together. At this stage the website isn't up yet, but I am looking forward to when it is!

In this video, Kate talks about the cookbook including some of her family's favourite recipes from the book.

I should probably talk about the book itself which focuses on sweet treats of all types, hence the title The Sweet Life. There has clearly been a lot of thought put into how to put this book together. There are nine chapters touching on different techniques: syrups and sauces, meringues, custards and sabayons, ice creams and sorbets, frozen desserts, gelatine, pastry, cakes and puddings and baked treats. Each chapter is then broken into two parts. There are the basics and then beyond the basics. For example, in the gelatine chapter the basics includes recipes for Strawberry Mousse, Blackcurrant Jelly and Earl Grey Panna Cotta and then in beyond the basics there is Turkish Delight, Plum and Red Wine Mousse and Mango Panna Cotta with Orange Blossom Jelly.

Every recipe has been photographed (which I love in a cookbook), many of them includes suggestions for variations and the other thing that I love is that each recipe has been given a visual rating as to how difficult it is to make. If the recipe has one spoon, then the recipe should be "simple and relatively quick to master" ranging through to a four spoon recipe which is for "the avid home cook who wants a bit more of a challenge". The other thing that I was really impressed by is that, in addition to your normal recipe index, there is also a page that specifically lists which recipes are suitable for those that deal with food intolerances which is a great idea!

The final chapter in the book brings together all the techniques in the book and gives us some of those four spoon recipes that would be at home in a restaurant; Chocolate Terrine with Spiced Praline, Mandarin Oil and Creme Fraiche (yum), Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream with Bitter Caramel and Salted Almond Crumb and Raspberry and Hazelnut Tarts with Poached Meringue and Frangelico Syrup! Yum! I don't think I would be making any of these recipes any time soon but they are very pretty to look at.

There are however lots of other recipes that I could see myself making ranging from Bung in Chocolate Cake, Baked Honey and Rosemary Apples, Little Lime Meringue Pies, Blueberry Croissant Pudding, Lime Curd and Coconut Slice, Raspberry and White Chocolate Puddings and.....well, lots more. If the little chef didn't have a hazelnut allergy I would be making Embarrassingly Simple Chocolate Hazelnut Pastries all the time!

Today though, I am making Little Lemon Syrup Cakes, so I am including the recipe for that below.

In my experience there are a couple of different types of cookbooks. There are those that are pretty objects - gorgeous presentation, yummy looking recipes but when it comes to picking a recipe to cook they are not all that accessible. The other type is a cookbook that you can find numerous recipes that you want to cook out of. The best type though is one that combines both of these, and I would think that this book is one that I will cook out of time and time again!

Lemon Syrup Cakes

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes
Makes: 8

Cakes

125g butter, at room temperature, chopped
165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
185g (1 1/4 cups) self raising flour
Pinch of salt
80ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice

Syrup

80ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest, optional
110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

Preheat the over to 170 celsius. Grease and flour 8 holes of large (1/2 cup capacity) muffin tins and line the bases with a small round of baking paper (Alternatively you can line the tin with paper muffin cases.)
Use electric beaters to cream together the butter, sugar and zest until pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour and salt, followed by the lemon juice.
Divide evenly among the muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a cake cakes out clean.
Meanwhile, to make the syrup, combine the lemon juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat without boiling until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat until medium and simmer for 1 minute.
As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, loosen them from the edge of the tin. Prick them with with a skewer all over and then spoon the syrup evenly over each cake (you may not use up all the syrup).
All the cakes to cool for 5-10 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack, discarding the small round of baking paper.

Yum! They smell and taste delicious! The photo above is from my own efforts today. I should clarify and say that I actually used a friand tin to cook them in because I have had that darn tin in the drawer for years (no exaggeration) and had never used it, so I decided today was the day. Also, the little chef was assisting and forgot the rule about only filling the tin up three quarters so they are a bit overfilled but that has meant that there are some really tasty crunchy bits. He did taste the batter and then the finished cake and exclaim that it was very lemony. Ummm..... yes.

Fables, Vol 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

2012-05-18T06:00:00.000+10:00

I am not sure how long I have been meaning to start reading the Fables series by Bill Willingham, but it has been a long time - as in probably 3 or 4 years. Many of my favourite bloggers are big fans, but I never did get around to getting any of the books in the series, particularly since my library doesn't have any of them. Apparently, I never did get around to checking the inter library catalogue. I must have seen someone mention it because a few weeks ago I thought to check there, and voila! a short wait later and I finally had this graphic novel in my hands.

Quite frankly, I wish I had of thought to check the ILL catalogue earlier! This book is so much fun. I have already requested the next book in the series.

This is a fairy tale story, but not as we normally know them. In this world, a group of fairy tale characters have come to live in modern day America because, in their homelands, they were being hunted to the point of extinction by their enemy who is known as The Adversary. For those who can pass as humans there is a home for them in New York, but those with animal form go to live at The Farm, away from human civilisation. There are lots of familiar characters here: Old King Cole, Snow White, the big bad wolf (although he goes by the name Digby now), Jack (of the beanstalk fame), Bluebeard, Prince Charming, Beauty and the beast and more. For some of the characters, life here is easy. They managed to bring their riches to their new life, but for most of them life is a struggle, trying to get by in the mundy world without bringing attention to their otherness.

Our story starts with a mystery. Jack's girlfriend, Ruby Red is missing from her blood-soaked apartment, and so detective Digby is called in to investigate. Her powerful and influential sister, Snow White, is determined to assist him with his investigation. She has been estranged from Ruby for some time, and so there are several revelations along the course of the investigation. Digby has several suspects in mind, including Snow herself. There is chemistry between Snow and Digby straight away, as much as Snow might try to fight it, and I can't wait to read more about the two of them. It doesn't help though that Snow's shonky ex husband, Prince Charming, is in town and is trying to sell off his some of his titles and lands in the homeland to raise some quick cash.

Each year, the fables come together at a grand ball to remember their homelands and their escape from The Adversary and the mayor, King Cole, has made it clear that the case must be solved before the big event, which also happens to be the biggest fundraiser of the year. Can Snow White and the big bad wolf find out what happened to Rose Red. Will Beauty and the Beast be able to make it through the whole evening without fighting about money, and will Prince not-so Charming get his comeuppance?

I think that one of my favourite cameo appearances was that of Pinocchio, destined to be trapped in a pre teen body for ever! Bratty and whiny, and oh so desperate to be able to get laid! Very funny stuff.

One thing to remember with these graphic novels (or are they cartoons given that this is a collection of separate cartoon chapters?) is that whilst these characters are the ones that we know from childhood, this series is one for more mature audiences. There is blood, violence, greed and plenty of flesh on display. The women are drawn voluptuously and the men are often hirsute and muscular!

Not one for the kiddies, but oh so much fun for the rest of us!

Rating 4.5/5

Who Killed Rose Red?

In Fabletown, where fairy tale legends live alongside regular New Yorkers, the question is all anyone can talk about. But only the Big Bad Wolf can actually solve the case–and, along with Rose’s sister Snow White, keep the Fabletown community from coming apart at the seams.

The author of this one is Bill Willingham but the art is by Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, Craig Hamilton, Sherilyn van Valkenburgh, Todd Klein, James jean and Alex Maleev. Just wanted to make sure I had recorded this somewhere for future reference.

I have finally read another book for the Once Upon a Time challenge! Woo-hoo!

If I was at Hampton Court Palace today....

2012-05-17T06:16:00.000+10:00

If I was lucky enough to be in London today, or indeed anytime between now and the end of September, I would be sure to head to Hampton Court Palace to visit the temporary exhibition, The Wild, The Beautiful and the Damned. The exhibition features the portraits of many of the famous people who lived and played in the court of King Charles II including his numerous mistresses.

I have mentioned before how much I have enjoyed books set during the Restoration period and to see all those portraits and learn more about the people and the time would be fascinating.

Alas, a trip to London is not about to happen, so instead, I have to make do with this introductory video.

If I was lucky enough to be there during the time when the Palace is holding one of the live Tudor cookery events, I would be hard pressed to pass by without stopping by for a look!

I would be sure to spend some time admiring Henry VIII's astronomical clock too:

Hmmm. Maybe I better set aside two days to spend at Hampton Court Palace.

Library Loot: May 16 to 22

2012-05-16T20:09:00.000+10:00

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - This is the next choice of my face to face book clubs.

The Winding Ways Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini - I have stalled on this series for a couple of years now. I want to read one of the later books in the series but I don't like reading out of order so I need to get back to it.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher - Reloot! I reread the first book in the series last year. Need to read this one so I can move forward in the series.

Clara and Mr Tiffany by Susan Vreeland - All of a sudden I realised that if I was going to read this book in time for the blog tour date then I needed to actually borrow it! I have reviewed the book here.

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith - The next book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan - Another reloot! Darn those other patrons who request books before I can read them!

Saved by Cake by Marian Keyes - During a #spbkchat session a few weeks ago someone mentioned that Marian Keyes had a new book coming out and it was about cake! Couldn't resist!

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - More reloot. See comment above about Sea Hearts.

Share your loot by adding your Library Loot post link to Mr Linky below:

Clara and Mr Tiffany by Susan Vreeland

2012-05-14T09:12:00.000+10:00

Clara Driscoll is not a name that most of us would recognise. Talk about Tiffany's and their lamps we would likely be much more familiar, and yet the two have now been inextricably linked through the discovery of some letters from Driscoll. Vreeland has taken what little we know about Clara and shaped a story that is filled with fascinating details about not only Clara but also about glass-making, selection of colours and the creation of many beautiful objects of art.

Clara is the central character in this book which is not only about how the iconic lamps came into being, but also about life in New York at the turn of the century and social change. There are plenty of historic milestones that are touched on, including the first time that the ball dropped at Times Square on New Year's Eve, the building of the Flatiron Building and the opening of the underground train systems amongst others.

The book opens with the recently widowed Clara Driscoll returning to work for Louis Comfort Tiffany. She had worked for him previously, but he has a very strict policy that none of the women that work for him can be married, no matter who they are, what role they perform - no exceptions.

Whilst Clara chafes a little at the injustice of this rule, she is aware that very few of the other glass makers actually employ women at all, and she is so relieved to be back at work, she is prepared to work under those restrictions.

Gradually Clara is able to pick and choose the girls who will make up her team, many of them young immigrant girls, and they are set to work on many of the challenging designs that Mr Tiffany wants whether to fulfil orders for customers or for the various big exhibitions including the Chicago World Fair.

Image from Wikipedia

Along the journey, Mr Tiffany encourages Clara in many of her designs, despite the impediments that many of the money men of the company put in her way. What he doesn't do though, is openly acknowledge his designers, not only Clara, but the others as well. This lack of recognition is something that she struggles with because whilst she does want that, she also loves her job, loves designing, and loves the process of making the complicated glass pieces. There are also challenges with the men who work for Mr Tiffany. The women are not allowed to join the union, and there are times when the men seek to stop the women from "taking their jobs".

Outside of work, Clara lives in a share house with many other artistic types and so we get a glimpse inside the lives of these people. Through them, she meets the men who shape her personal life. There is Edwin who will in time become her fiance as well as Bernard who plays an important role in her life. All the time though, the men in her life have to compete with her passion for her work.

There are times at the beginning of the book where the technical details of the production is a bit overwhelming, but once you get past that initial part, the story just flows. This isn't the first Vreeland I have read, and like the others, the author shows considerable skill in bringing the colours and images to life within the text.

On page 229, one of Clara's friends says the following;

"The butterflies, the fish and the dragonflies. Stunning, Clara. Your lamps will last through the ages, and will come to be valued as treasures from our time, worth far more than you can imagine now. I know this. I'm an importer."

Hearing that, I felt my spirit soar. I didn't breathe until his velvet voice came through the semidarkness again.

"Someday, when women are considered equal to men, it will become known that a woman of great importance created those lamps. This isn't the Middle Ages, Clara. You will not be lost to history like the makes of those medieval windows in Gloucester are. Someone will find you."

In the author note, Vreeland talks about the exhibition that she went to see that inspired her to write about Clara. You can't help but feel that this book is another step in finding Clara Driscoll.

Rating 4/5

Tour details:

Tour schedule

Clara and Mr. Tiffany on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Clara-Mr-Tiffany-Susan-Vreeland/dp/0812980182/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Read an excerpt of the book at Random House Readers Circle:
http://www.scribd.com/RHPG/d/47185618-Read-an-Excerpt-from-Clara-and-Mr-Tiffany-by-Susan-Vreeland

Susan's website: http://www.svreeland.com/

Susan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/susanvreeland

Synopsis:

Against the unforgettable backdrop of New York near the turn of the twentieth century, from the Gilded Age world of formal balls and opera to the immigrant poverty of the Lower East Side, bestselling author Susan Vreeland again breathes life into a work of art in this extraordinary novel, which brings a woman once lost in the shadows into vivid color.

It’s 1893, and at the Chicago World’s Fair, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut with a luminous exhibition of innovative stained-glass windows, which he hopes will honor his family business and earn him a place on the international artistic stage. But behind the scenes in his New York studio is the freethinking Clara Driscoll, head of his women’s division. Publicly unrecognized by Tiffany, Clara conceives of and designs nearly all of the iconic leaded-glass lamps for which he is long remembered.

Clara struggles with her desire for artistic recognition and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that she faces as a professional woman, which ultimately force her to protest against the company she has worked so hard to cultivate. She also yearns for love and companionship, and is devoted in different ways to five men, including Tiffany, who enforces to a strict policy: he does not hire married women, and any who do marry while under his employ must resign immediately. Eventually, like many women, Clara must decide what makes her happiest—the professional world of her hands or the personal world of her heart.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

Edited to add: We are giving away a copy of this book at Historical Tapestry! Head over to read Susan Vreeland's guest post and comment for your chance to win!

Sunday Salon: Our Australian Girl - Grace

2012-05-13T10:14:00.000+10:00

Last year, I saw a couple of posts on an Rebecca's Book Blog (an American blog which is kind of ironic in a way) talking about a new children's book series called Our Australian Girl. After that I saw them mentioned on an Australian blog when the books were launched, and I was interested enough to see if I could track the books down. At the time there were four girls that we could meet, but since then another two girls have been added to the series. Today, I thought I would talk generally about the series, but then more specifically about the first girl, Grace.

The concept is that we meet a girl from a particular time in history and through a series of four books we get to follow her life. So far, the girls are:

Grace - a convict who is transported to Australia in 1808.
Letty - a free settler who is coming to Australia in 1841
Poppy - a young girl of Chinese/Aboriginal heritage who gets caught up in goldrush fever in 1864.
Rose - lives in Melbourne during the year that Australia became an official nation in 1901
Nellie - an Irish orphan who is sent to South Australia in 1849
Alice - a young girl with a passion for ballet who lives in Perth during the World War I (1918).

The publishers have done a fabulous job with the packaging of these books. Each cover features a photo of the girl, a charm bracelet where there is a charm for the year, the letter of the girl's name, the number of the book of the series, and then a charm that is relevant to the story within the books. Inside the book there are maps showing where the book is set, historical information from the time that the book is set in, as well as each author and the illustrator's Australian girl story, whether they were born here or if they immigrated to Australia. There is also additional content to be found at the associated website, including quizzes as well as additional information for teachers and parents.

Whilst I am not in the target range for these books, I love the way that the publisher has put this series together, and if I was a girl aged between 8 and 11, I am pretty sure that I would love these books! If you have a girl in your life who likes history, then these may well be a good gift idea for her!

In this video, we meet the girls who have been chosen to be the faces of Our Australian Girls.

So let's meet Grace.

Grace is an orphan who lives with her uncle in the slums of London. He is a harsh guardian for Grace, and she has to work as a mudlark, looking for items of value in the mudflats at the edge of the Thames river. Like so many young girls through the ages, Grace is obsessed with horses. Visiting the horses nearby usually gives Grace great comfort, except when she thinks that they are also being mistreated. When she steals an apple from a nearby fruit stall to give to the horse, she is caught, spends time in prison and is eventually sentenced to be transported to Australia.

On board the ship, Grace faces harsh conditions, but she is lucky enough to make friends with Hannah and her mother Liza which helps her survive her time on board the boat.

Once she reaches Australia, she is sent to work on a farm in the country away from her new friends. There she meets the indigenous Aboriginal population as well as seeing the strange animals and flora that abound in the country. She likes her mistress but she is not sure that her master is pleased with her. Will her obsession with horses cause her trouble again, even though she is doing her best in difficult circumstances.

Grace is terrified that she will be sent back to the Factory (where the girls who haven't been employed are kept to work in horrible conditions) and so she does her best to make her master happy, but with his horse sickening due to Grace's actions, it is looking unlikely that she will be able to stay.

The last two books (Grace and Glory and A Home for Grace) count for the Aussie Author Challenge, Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and Australian Women Writer's Challenge.

Weekend Cooking: Hungry Music

2012-05-12T16:29:00.000+10:00

I have at least four cookbooks out from the library at the moment, plus a backlog of other ideas that I want to post for Weekend Cooking at some point, but instead, this week, I bring you 'hungry' music! I am not even sure what prompted this, but it never hurts to have an excuse to play some 80's classics (and some bonus Patrick Swayze!).

Just don't look too closely at the woman playing doing the sax solo towards the end! I also really like Make Me Lose Control which could be symbolic of my relationship with food, but I couldn't possibly include that because of the shocking 80's hair in the video. My one thing I have learned for today (so far) is that Eric Carmen sang All By Myself too.

It's probably a bit harsh to exclude an Eric Carmen song on the basis of his 80's hair and then include a Duran Duran song! Oh well.

I think my favourite Springsteen song is Glory Days, but this is right up there for me! And no, no comment on his hair, but having said that this does look like a video clip that was made a long time after the song was originally released!

Can anyone think of any other hungry songs?

The King's Agent by Donna Russo Morin

2012-05-11T10:29:00.000+10:00

Battista della Palla was a real figure from history. He was an art thief, a wheeler dealer, a lifelong friend of Michelangelo, a man of many different facets. He is also the central character in this book. He leads a group of men who all bring their particular skills to finding and acquiring treasures, and also in interpreting the symbolism that is so often hidden in many of the paintings of the time. Generally when he steals, any gain goes towards the cause of freeing Florence - a cause close to his heart.

Battista is a man who loves a challenges. He plans each of his thefts in meticulous detail, not afraid to take the chances he needs to take in order to meet his goal, but also not prepared to put his men, and his own life at any greater risk than he needs to. His interest is piqued when he receives an unusual missive but he has no idea that he is about to begin a quest unlike any other. He infiltrates the home of the Marquess of Mantua thinking that he will find the target item there. Instead, what he finds is a cryptic clue on a parchment, hidden in a room that looks innocent enough but in actual fact is booby trapped. He only escapes thanks to the help of Lady Aurelia.

She is the ward of the Marquess of Mantua, and lives a very sheltered life. What she longs for is adventure and for her, Battista is the key to adventure!

The parchment provides a small clue and that sets Battista and his men, and the Lady Aurelia, on the trail of an obscure triptych. The thing that becomes clear though is that the three pieces are held separately, and that each of the pieces is held in places where there are very dangerous and complex protections in place to stop anyone from finding it. If you are thinking Indiana Jones style quests at this point, then you are on the right track.

Battista and Aurelia must work together to solve the clues, both those in the paintings themselves and those held within the pages of the works of Dante's Divine Comedy. They must face symbolic Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, solve the clues, and find the pieces. In the process we meet some famous faces from history like Michelangelo and Pope Clement, visit some famous places like the Sistine Chapel, face danger, and deal with their growing attachment to each other.

The biggest dilemma for Battista though is can he trust Aurelia? She is a woman with secrets and he knows that she is not being honest with him, but who is she really, and why is she so determined to be involved in the search for the three parts of the triptych? As a reader, I liked Aurelia, but despite the fact that I only finished the book a few hours ago, don't ask me to explain what her big secret role was.

When I was offered this book, I looked through the blurb and mentally ticked off several boxes for things I like in a book! Renaissance setting - check! Art History - check! Dante - check! (One of my favourite HF reads of the last few years has a Dante connection so I was happy to revisit this). Throw in secret brotherhoods (check) and I would be a happy reader. Sounds all good, right?

Unfortunately, there were a few things that would have made me rethink that if I had of known them at the time. This book is really a cross between a novel and the expanded story behind a computer game. The author freely admits this in the notes where she talks about her love for the game Princess Zelda. The quest that our characters go on therefore consists of find a clue, travel to a distant location, follow the path, find the key to open the gate/door, follow the path, dodge the shooting flames/rolling giant marbles/find your way through the maze etc etc before the final test to determine your worthiness to claim the prize and then barely escape. Rinse and repeat.

It's not really a technique that I enjoy at the best of times, and it really didn't work for me in this book. On of the other things that didn't really work for me was the reliance on the knowledge of Dante's work. Whilst I vaguely know enough, I wasn't familiar enough to see the clues. If you are more familiar with the Divine Comedy you may find it more interesting to follow the clues.

I am not sure if it was these factors that made this a very slow read for me, but it felt like it took me forever to get through it. It really was only a few days, but I could have sworn it was longer.

I must mention the author's notes which I thought were excellent. Donna Russo Morin gives us information about the real people in the book, about her inspiration, about the art in the book and more and the book also included a reading guide.

Ultimately, this book didn't work for me on many levels. If you check the reviews on places like Goodreads you will see that there are plenty of people who loved it

Rating 2/5

Synopsis

"Russo Morin skillfully blends historical fiction and fantasy in surprising ways. She draws effortlessly upon influences ranging from Dante to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the authority of her presentation makes the world she’s created come alive. A wonderfully action-packed ride through the lush landscape of Renaissance Italy." Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

The King’s Agent is based loosely on the life of Battista della Palla-a patriotic plunderer, a religious rogue-of the 16th century, a lifelong friend to the great Michelangelo.

As the cloistered ward of the Marquess of Mantua, Lady Aurelia is a woman with a profound duty, and a longing for adventure. In search of a relic intended for the King of France, Battista and Aurelia cross the breathtaking landscape of Renaissance Italy. Clues hide in great works of art, political forces collide, secret societies and enemies abound, and danger lurks in every challenge, those that mirror the passages of Dante's Divine Comedy. It is an adventurous quest with undercurrents of the supernatural, powers that could change the balance of supremacy throughout Europe.

Review originally posted at Historical Tapestry as part of a blog tour run by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

The Queen's Lover by Francine du Plessix Gray

2012-05-10T06:40:00.000+10:00

Count Axel von Fersen is a name that any Marie Antoinette fans would most likely be familiar with. As the man that she was alleged to be having an affair with, his name is inextricably linked with hers as was his life and in some ways his death.

This book is written as a memoir, relying on known history as well as actual letters than have survived from the time and using those to tell of the events of the relationship between Axel and Marie Antoinette as well as many other major events of the late 18th century. Axel tells his story, given the reader a view into important events through the eyes of someone who was there. Various aspects are also told by his beloved sister Sophie who fills in the gaps that Axel left in his memoir or to tell us what was actually going on when he wasn't present.

Axel von Fersen was born into an aristocratic Swedish family and was educated accordingly. In his teens he was sent on a grand tour of Europe. In Paris, he met Marie Antoinette at a masked ball, and so a fateful relationship began. Initially, Axel was a close friend of both the King and Queen but in due course he and Toinette became lovers. It was, however, a turbulent time in France history, and after a brief idyll political events overtook everyone at the French Court with implications that would shape French political life for years to come.

Before those events lead to their eventual outcomes, we spend time with the young count as he signs up to go and fight in the American Revolution. Throughout his life, Axel is much respected, a figure of honour and integrity, as well as brave and handsome. He had very set ideas about honour, and about the proper place of all people within their social strata. This is part of the reason when he was so steadfast in his loyalty to Louis (although not loyal enough to abstain from dallying with his wife). It was also a big part of his unpopularity in his home country during political uprisings which eventually led to his death.

I would go so far as to say that the only place where he didn't behave with honour was really when it came to women. In the course of the book, we find out about his relationship with not only Marie Antoinette but also with other women. He recognises that his own behaviour was unbecoming but it didn't stop it from happening, and there were a couple of graphic scenes that seem to pop into the narrative quite unexpectedly.

You might expect from the title of the book that the majority of the book would focus on the relationship that Axel is portrayed as having with Marie Antoinette. It is a large part for sure, but there is more page space given to the time in America, to the time after the arrests of the royal family and how von Fersen tried to work on their behalf in any way he could, and then on his life back in Sweden where he was accorded several honours as well as behaving in ways that made him unpopular with many people and leading up to his death.

Writing a novel as either a diary or letters or in this case fictional memoir can be quite difficult and there are very few authors around who seem to be able to do it very well. I didn't mind this book, but it never quite captured my imagination in the way that I really wanted it to. I did find parts very interesting, for example the political interest that Marie Antoinette showed after being arrested and the details of her trial as well as the events in Sweden which is a place that you don't often read much about in historical fiction.

If you are a fan of Marie Antoinette or really enjoy reading about the French Revolution, then you may really enjoy this book. I thought it was a solid read, without being spectacular.

Rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to TLC Booktours and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

Synopsis

Historical fiction of the highest order, The Queen’s Lover reveals the untold love affair between Swedish aristocrat Count Axel Von Fersen and Marie Antoinette

The Queen’s Lover begins at a masquerade ball in Paris in 1774, when the dashing Swedish nobleman Count Axel Von Fersen first meets the mesmerizing nineteen-year old Dauphine Marie Antoinette, wife of the shy, reclusive prince who will soon become Louis XVI. This electric encounter launches a life-long romance that will span the course of the French Revolution.

The affair begins in friendship, however, and Fersen quickly becomes a devoted companion to the entire royal family. As he roams through the halls of Versailles and visits the private haven of Petit Trianon, Fersen discovers the deepest secrets of the court, even learning about the startling erotic details of Marie-Antoinette’s marriage to Louis XVI. But the events of the American Revolution tear Fersen away. Moved by the colonists’ fight for freedom, he is one of the very first to enlist in the French contingent of troops that will fight for America’s independence.

When he returns, he finds France on the brink of disintegration. After the Revolution of 1789 the royal family is moved from Versailles to the Tuileries. Fersen devises an escape for the family and their young children--Marie-Thérèse and the Dauphin Louis-Charles--whom many suspect to be Fersen’s son. The failed evasion attempt eventually leads to a grueling imprisonment, and the family spends its excruciating final days in captivity before the King and Queen face the guillotine.

Grieving his lost love after he returns to his native Stockholm, Fersen begins to sense the effects of the French Revolution in his own homeland. Royalists are now targets of the people’s ire, and the carefree, sensuous world of his youth is fast vanishing. Fersen, who has been named Grand Marshal of Sweden, is incapable of realizing that centuries of tradition have disappeared, and he pays dearly for his naïveté, losing his life at the hands of a savage mob that views him as a pivotal member of the aristocracy.

Scion of Sweden’s most esteemed nobility, Fersen came to be seen as an enemy of the homeland he loved. His fate is symbolic of the violent speed with which the events of the 18th century transformed European culture. Expertly researched and deeply imagined, The Queen’s Lover offers a fresh vision of of the French Revolution and of the French royal family, as told through the love story that was at its center.

Library Loot: May 9 to 16

2012-05-09T21:16:00.000+10:00

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Claire has Mr Linky this week so head over there to add your link for others to see what loot you picked up! Here is my loot:

Red Spice Road Cookbook by John McLeay - I went out for dinner to Red Spice Road a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience, so when I saw the cookbook sitting on the shelf (and I had some space on my library card) I had to pick it up!

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - The next choice for my online book club.

Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani - After loving The Shoemaker's Wife now I am determined to work my way through Adriana Trigiani's backlist!

Faithful Place: A Novel by Tana French - Will this be the time that I finally read this book?

A Home for Grace by Sophie Laguna - The last of Grace's books in the Our Australian Girl series.

A Monster Calls: A Novel by Patrick Ness - After finishing the Chaos Walking trilogy, I had to read this book, and pretty much anything else that Patrick Ness puts out!

Merle's Kitchen by Merle Parrish - Bree bought this one and said she liked it, so I thought I would take a look at it!

Two Challenges Completed

2012-05-08T21:02:00.000+10:00

I mentioned in my Sunday Salon post the other day that I have technically completed two challenges recently. Whilst I am still planning to continue reading for both of these challenges, here is what I read (so I can at least put my challenge completed post up on the relevant sites).

Aussie Author Challenge

All That I Am by Anna Funder
Exposed: Misbehaving with the Magnate by Kelly Hunter
Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
Bride by Mistake by Anne Gracie
Liar Bird by Lisa Walker
Putting Alice Back Together by Carol Marinelli
Showtime by Narelle M Harris
Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood
Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex
Grace and Glory bySophie Laguna

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

All That I Am by Anna Funder
Far Fly the Eagles by Evelyn Anthony
All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson
Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman
The Black Pearl by Cynthia Harrod-Eaglers
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Turning of Anne Merrick by Christine Blevins
The Tory Widow by Christine Blevins
The Bungalow by Sarah Jio
The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau
Shalimar by Rebecca Ryman
Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt
The Island by Victoria Hislop
The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff
The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons
The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
The King's Agent by Donna Russo Morin
Legacy by Susan Kay

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

2012-05-07T09:00:00.000+10:00

Earlier this year, I read and LOVED Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I started recommending it to anyone who would listen. I am pretty sure I mentioned it more than once to Bree from All the Books You Can Read. I never did get around to writing my review though. When Bree finally read it, and loved it too, I jumped at the chance to do a discussion style review of this amazing book!

Bree has the first half of the discussion, so head on over there to read that, and then come back to read the second half of the discussion. Bree's thoughts are in italics and mine in normal text.

And then once you have read both parts of the discussion, head to your favourite bookstore, or library, or your favourite place to download books. Just get hold of this fabulous book!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

B: There’s a lot going on in this book really. The narrative is mostly Lou’s but there are a couple of chapters from the point of view of some of the others - one from Will’s mother, one from Will’s carer Nathan and also one from Lou’s sister. Did you enjoy those brief glimpses into other people’s thoughts? Or were they distracting? Would you have preferred the narrative to be all Lou’s or maybe to have gotten a glimpse into Will’s thoughts?

M: I liked the glimpses into other people’s thoughts because it is an important reminder that when things like this happen, it isn’t just the person themself that is affected - every single person around them is also impacted in some ways. I found Will’s sister a bit hard to deal with but I think that she was grieving for the brother that she had lost and found it difficult to deal with the man who was left behind.

As for being in Will’s thoughts, I think we saw enough through how he was feeling and what was happening to him. To be right inside his brain would likely been a very dark place for a lot of the book!

Did you like the other perspectives?

B: I did like the other perspectives and I do agree that perhaps to have been in Will’s head might’ve changed the tone of the book and made it -too- dark. Despite the fact that there are some very sad portions in this book, there is a lot of very lovely light-hearted, beautiful moments. You don’t feel like the book is 450p of tragedy - sad moments with the guy in the wheelchair. And I think that’s quite a talent, given the topic.

M: So, I think we have skirted around the topic for long enough. We are going to have to head into

+++SPOILER+++

territory to be able to discuss this properly.

For all that this is a fabulous book for all the reasons that we mentioned above, it is an amazing book because of the subject matter and the way that the author treated a sensitive subject whilst still giving us memorable characters and without getting bogged down in depressing thoughts.

The subject at the heart of this book is a controversial one - euthanasia. Do people like Will have the right to choose how and when they die, or should they continue to live a difficult life for as long as modern medicine can keep him alive? For Will, he has lost complete quality of life. He can’t live the adventurous life he lived before, but it isn’t just his quadriplegic status that has prompted these thoughts., there are also the constant illnesses that he is more susceptible too, regular hospitalisation and the knowledge that things are not going to get any better for him.

B: For me, I appreciate that an author has ‘gone there’. Euthanasia is an extremely sensitive and volatile topic and it raises a lot of questions. Before I read this book I already had an opinion on the topic and that hasn’t changed. I do believe that a person has the right to choose to die on their own terms when faced with crippling terminal illness or a situation such as Will’s. As I mentioned earlier, I had no idea what it meant to be in Will’s position. Not just being trapped in a chair unable to really move from the upper chest down, but the constant pain he faced, even in limbs he strictly couldn’t ‘feel’, the chance of illness, the humiliations, the indignity. Will lived like this for two years and as someone who values my privacy, I can’t imagine what it would be like to require 24hr care. To not even be able to feed myself. As Marg said, Will isn’t just depressed because he’s in a wheelchair and can’t climb a mountain. His quality of life is utterly gone. He cannot even regulate his own temperature anymore. It’s hard to really find an argument to keep him alive at all costs, when he is the one that has to live with what he now is. It’s the people that would be left behind that passionately oppose the idea and you have to feel for them too. As a mother I know that I wouldn’t want either of my sons to die, even if one of them were so devastatingly injured. Because as their mother, I’m selfish. I would want them alive and I would want them in my life. So I understand the dilemma that Will’s family faces. But as a person with beliefs and opinions, I support the right of people to choose for themselves. And Will has had every other decision stripped from him. So I understand why he wants to do this.

M: Like you, I already had an opinion, and yes, I understood why Will sees this as his only option. It must be so heartbreaking for families who have to face this decision in reality. For them, they are hurting to see their once healthy and active loved one in such pain, but then they still would see glimpses of the old Will underneath, so the thought of that final goodbye is so difficult.

I thought it was very clever the way that the author actually kept this discussion until later in the book. Lou had no idea that this was in Will’s mind and so she was busy trying to research activities and outings that would try and make him happier, becoming more and more attached to him all the time. It was a much more dramatic way to present the story rather than knowing up front that this is where the story was going. Even as we got closer to the end of the book, Moyes did a fantastic job of showing the mixed emotions and motivations of everyone concerned but also in managing to give Will moments of contentment, if not happiness.

Jojo Moyes manages to keep the pace of the book moving along at the perfect pace and with a lightness of touch that balances out the seriousness of the subject matter perfectly.

B: The pacing is excellent and the journey is just wonderful. I don’t often gush over books like this! There’s just something about it that I really connected with.

M: I am pretty stingy when it comes to giving out 5/5 grades, and I think that Bree is even more stingy than I am, but we both loved this book so much. I really think that Jojo Moyes is hitting new writing heights as I really loved her last book, Last Letter from your Lover as well.

B: It’s a 10/10 for me. I’ve requested Last Letter From Your Lover from the library and I can’t wait to get to it. I want to read everything Moyes has ever written now.

Synopsis

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

Sunday Salon: April Reading Reflections

2012-05-06T08:44:00.000+10:00

Doesn't the year go really quickly? How can it be May already? It is getting much colder here and the heater has been on the last few days. Winter is on it's way so I am starting to think about spending the weekends curled up in the chair or in bed with a good book and about cooking soups and stews for dinner.

The highlight of this month was definitely the book Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - my first 5/5 read for the year. I will have a discussion type review up of the book tomorrow, but I would preempt that by saying I loved that book!

Here are the books that I read during April:

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 4/5
Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt 4/5
MoVida: Spanish Culinary Adventures by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish 4/5
Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex 3/5
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett 4.5/5
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 5/5
The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff 4/5
The Firefly Dance Anthology 2.5/5
Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare 4/5
The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis 3.5/5
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott 3/5
Changeless by Gail Carriger 4/8
Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas 4/5
Can't Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards 4/5
Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox 4.5/5
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff 4/5
Hot Under Pressure by Louisa Edwards 4/5
The Novel in the Viola Natasha Solomons 4
The Shoemaker's Wife Adriani Trigiani 4.5

This was a pretty good month for my challenges as well. Technically, with the last couple of books that I read in May, I think I have now completed quite a few of my challenges.

Thief of Lives counted for both the Australian Women Writer's Challenge and the Aussie Author Challenge. I have a couple more books to read for AWWC, but I have completed the requirements for the Aussie Author Challenge.

I have also completed the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge with The Diplomat's Wife, The Iron Hand of Mars, The Dressmaker, The Novel in the Viola and The Shoemaker's Wife all fitting the criteria for the challenge in this month.

I also counted The Shoemaker's Wife for the War Through the Generations challenge which means I have now completed it but I will keep reading for both this and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Guards! Guards! was my one read for Once Upon a Time challenge and I didn't read anything for the What's in a Name challenge.

How was your reading in April?

Weekend Cooking: The Rising Star Chef series by Louisa Edwards

2012-05-05T19:34:00.000+10:00

Late last year I read the first book in the Rising Star Chef series by Louisa Edwards. I even quoted a section about brussel sprouts as a Weekend Cooking post because I don't really like them but the way that the scene was written made me think that maybe, just maybe, I could eat brussel sprouts if they were cooked that way. And if the chef looked like the cover....bonus.... although surely that would be against health regulations or something?

This series is actually kind of connected to Louisa Edwards first Recipe for Love trilogy, in that one of the characters from that trilogy is one of the judges in the contest that forms the central premise of this series. The link is tenuous enough that it needn't bother about reading out of order if you do decide to start with these books first.

The overarching premise is that there is a national competition held annually that looks to find the best chefs in America. The drama in the plot is multi layered, both within the various teams, between the teams, between the judges and oh so much more! Before I go too far, I have to mention that whilst each of the three books in the trilogy features it's own hero and heroine, there is also a secondary romance that winds its way in the background featuring Claire (uptight, French, foodie, magazine editor) and Kane (rock star, foodie, young and handsome). I have seen quite a few comments around the place that say that this background relationship as actually some people's favourite in the whole trilogy.

A warning first - these are relatively standard modern contemporary romances, in that the reader does go into the bedroom with the characters, so if you prefer for the bedroom door to be firmly shut you might want to bear this in mind.

Anyway, let's look at each of the individual books in the series:

Welcome to the Rising Star Chef competition, where today’s hottest chefs battle it out on national TV for a chance at fame, fortune and culinary supremacy. Every contestant hungers to win, but only one will take the prize...
HE’S GOT THE SIZZLE
When it comes to competitive cooking, Max Lunden is no stranger to winning...though he’s never been great at working with a team. A master chef—and major hunk—he’s traveled the world, picking up new cooking techniques as well as beautiful women. But when the prodigal chef returns home to his family’s Greenwich Village restaurant, he discovers one too many cooks in the kitchen—and she’s every bit as passionate as he is...
SHE’S GOT THE FIRE
Juliet Cavanaugh used to have a crush on Max when she was just a teenager, hanging out at Lunden & Sons Tavern, hoping to catch a glimpse of the owner’s oldest, and hottest, son. Now a chef herself—competing in the biggest culinary contest in the country—Juliet will be cooking side by side with the one man she’s always admired...and desired. But despite their simmering attraction, Juliet is determined to keep her cool—no matter how hot it gets...

The team from Lunden's Tavern is all set to go to enter into the prestigious Rising Star Chef competition, or at least they were until the owner and head chef falls ill. They need another team member to join head of the team Jules, pastry chef Danny, fish chef Beck and sous chef Winslow. Enter Max Lunden. Max is the son of the owners of the tavern and Danny's brother but he has been gone for years. Max is the kind of chef who has travelled the world, studying obscure techniques and working in some of the most amazing locations going. When his mother asks him to come home, he agrees that he can spare one month before he is due to head off to Italy. One month only.

Max is also the brother that Jules had a crush on years before, but he never realised. Cue the drama, not only between the two of them, but also lots of unresolved issues between the two brothers, Max and Danny, mainly to do with the fact that Max not only left New York, but he also left Danny behind without so much as a backward glance.

Danny is a traditionalist at heart and so when Max keeps on wanting to try new things during the competition things are bound to get heated in the kitchen, and that's before we start talking about the smoking chemistry between Jules and Max.

The team from Lunden's needs to wow the judges enough to wind through to the next stage of the Rising Star Chef competition. First though, they might need to learn how to be a team, and quickly.

A sizzling blend of food, passion—and searing romance—the Rising Star Chef competition brings together the world’s hottest chefs for an all-star cook-off that’s sure to stir up excitement...and melt some hearts.

HE’S FEELING THE HEAT

Sexy, single, and even sweeter than the treats he bakes, New York pastry chef Danny Lunden is trying to stay focused on food—not females. With the Rising Star Chef competition approaching, he doesn’t have time to get all steamed up over the gorgeous woman he encounters on the plane to Chicago. Even if she is Eva Jansen—the billionaire heiress in charge of the contest...

SHE TAKES THE CAKE

Danny assumes that “Eva the Diva” is a spoiled rich girl who doesn’t share his passion for food. But when the two meet up again in an elevator—alone—they share more than just passion. They share a kiss hot enough to start a kitchen fire—and they’re hungry for more. To indulge their new secret craving, Eva and Danny have to break every rule in the cookbook. But—like chocolate and caramel—some ingredients are are so sinfully good together, one scrumptious bite is never enough...

I rated all three books in this trilogy as 4/4 reads, but as I think back, this was probably the most problematic of the books for me, and that is all down to one person, and one person only. Eva.

Eva has recently taken over the series from her father and is trying to put her own stamp on the competition, to give it a higher profile, and what better way to do that than by getting it aired on The Cooking Channel. Unfortunately, the powers that be seem to want more drama, more of a reality TV show feel and that leads Eva to make some questionable decision. I got the reason that were given for this - the need to step out of daddy's shadow and the absolute need to make this work - but I did really struggle to like Eva at some points during this book.

When Danny Lunden's plane is held up and he finds out that it was because of Eva, he assumes that she is a spoilt little rich girl. Later they share a lift and a steamy kiss and he finds out that maybe, just maybe, she also makes him a little hot under the collar and so he is determined to get to know her a little better.

Danny is the team's pastry chef and so it is up to him to provide the finishing touches to the menus that are served up to the judges. At stake, a place in the national finals of the competition. With Jules and Max wrapped up in each other, Danny can't afford to lose his focus, but it is hard to keep it when every interaction that he has with Eva has him hungering for more.

Henry Beck thought he’d already faced the toughest kitchen challenge of his life. After all, what could top sweating it out as a Navy cook on a submarine? But when he learns his competition for the title of Rising Star Chef is the sweet hippie girl he married…and left…ten years ago, the heat is on.

Now Beck and Skye Gladwell are going head to head in the finals…and sparking up old flames every time they touch. But
Skye wants more than a win over the man who abandoned her when she needed him most—she wants a divorce! Then her sexy almost-ex makes a deliciously dangerous proposition. He’ll give in to her demands, but if his team wins the RSC, he has a demand of his own…one last taste of the only woman he ever loved.

I just read this book last weekend, and so it is much fresher in my mind than the others.

Whilst all of the heroes in the series are delectable, Beck was the one that intrigued me most. He is the enigmatic one of the group. Before the big reveal in the last book, even his team mates didn't know much about Beck. He was good at his job, and was an important part of the team, but they didn't know where he came from, where he had been, and they had no idea that he is married....to one of their main rivals.

Admittedly Henry and Skye hadn't actually seen each other for ten years before the competition bought them together again. Henry and Skye were young when they married and still young when circumstance and then tragedy ripped them apart. Skye is determined that this is her chance to move on so she asks for a divorce. He agrees, but on one condition. They bet on the outcome of the competition. If she wins, she gets her divorce. If he wins, she gets her divorce but he gets one more night with her.

The final challenge to determine who is the winner of the competition is a doozy. The contestants have to tell their life story in five courses. For a man like Beck who never reveals his emotions or his past to anyone this is beyond a challenge - it is out and out confrontational. For Skye, it's a chance for him to see how the events of the past formed her and shaped her into the woman she is today. I cried most of the way through as Beck told his story, and again as Skye shared her life story.

I am looking forward to seeing what foodie flavoured romances Louisa Edwards has in store for us next!

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

2012-05-04T19:30:00.000+10:00

Back in April, we had a special event at Historical Tapestry to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Kelly, in particular, did an amazing job. My contribution was to read this book and then Kelly and I did a joint review of it!

This is the second part of the discussion. Check out the first part of the discussion here. My thoughts are in purple and Kelly's in black.

~~~~~~~~~~~

M: I was disturbed by the story of Lifeboat 1. I really was. Over the years there have been numerous tragedies around the world and one of the positives is that there are so often heroes who put themselves in danger to save others. There definitely didn’t seem to be many people who were willing to help others on that night, and particularly in Lifeboat 1. The portrayal in this book seems to be the very antithesis of heroes - utterly selfish to the core. I guess this is just speculation as to what really happened by putting two and two together and maybe coming up with five, but if what is true comes anything close to the actual events, then the Gordons and their companions behaved abysmally.

Having said that, it does seem that the Duff Gordon’s were vilified to a great degree. You have to wonder if it was a case of making them scapegoats or was their profile so high that they were the obvious choice to be the focus of the media attention. I suspect that if Lady Duff Gordon’s personality was anything like it was portrayed here then she would have upset plenty of people over the years, and she really didn’t have any idea of how to act appropriately in the hours and days following the tragedy. Should she have put her life (i.e. the fashion parade of her line of clothes) on hold indefinitely? Probably not, but it does seem insensitive that it went on so soon after the sinking.

I did find the conversation about the changing nature of clothes and also Tess’s attendance at the suffragette rally interesting, but I didn’t actually think that the latter fit all that well into the book. In some ways, I felt as though the author was trying to fit in more details about New York and the times to try and give a bit more context, but it didn’t necessarily add much to the storyline. There actually was enough drama in the sinking and the hearings.

K: Well, there were a lot of heroes on the Titanic, but yes, there were a lot of people that acted terribly in the face of danger. It was all about them and they didn’t want to risk their lives for anyone else. It was said over and over again that the boats didn’t go back because they were worried they would be swamped or they sailed away quickly because they were worried about suction. I think the thing that sets the Duff Gordon’s apart is the portrayal that she demanded the boat be lowered with so few people in it. Whether or not it really happened, who can say. And, the money. Who really knows what that was about. If it was to help out the crew that wouldn’t be getting paid anymore, they were actually doing a good thing, but it didn’t play out that way.

The suffragettes make an appearance in lots of fiction about the Titanic. Even the mini-series that aired special for the the event had a character that was a suffragette. So, I sort of expected it to be there somewhere in this book. I think I would have liked it better if it was two books. One about the Titanic and some of the aftereffects, but then another book about what it was like for Tess in New York. Then the suffragette stuff would have had their time to be the focal point of the book. There was just too much going on and I was reading the book because it was a Titanic book. I liked that it gave a view of the hearings, too, but by that point of the book there was so much else going on it sort of got pushed aside.

The other two things to talk about is Tess herself and the love triangle that was another major aspect of the book. Personally, Tess annoyed me. I thought she was just a little bit too perfect. She always knew how to get out of a situation and everything just sort of worked out for her no matter what the odds. Even when Lady Duff had her temper tantrums they were not that detrimental to Tess. I mean, the author would try and create problems for Tess, but I never once was worried. I just felt Tess was almost a flat character. I never really worked up any emotion for her... And then, there was the love triangle. My biggest pet peeve with books lately is how they work love triangles into everything... Even the love triangle just seemed fake. What did you think of Tess and what were your thoughts on the love triangle?

M: Tess was okay for me. Not all that memorable but she didn’t annoy me which is a bit of a problem given that she is the title character. There were too many improbables to get her where she needed to be for the story. For example, would a woman like Lady Duff Gordon really just pickup a maid on the docks with no references at all, and then would she have moved her up from the lower decks to stay in first class and join them for dinner etc? Maybe the first could happen the way it did, but there was lots of other events which took Tess out of what I would have expected for her designated role.

The love triangle....sigh. There was one aspect of the triangle that absolutely felt probable, but the other was not. Would a young girl like Tess really catch the attention of both of these men, one a sailor and the other a very wealthy, urbane man? Not to my mind. I really enjoyed the interactions with one of them, but the other didn’t work for me at all.

Sounds like we both pretty much agree that this was an okay but not stellar read?

K: Yeah, maybe how Tess was written annoyed me more than the actual character. I noticed all the improbable things, too. That was kind of what I was trying to say above, but I looked at it a bit differently. As to the love triangle, I don’t think it was all that believable because I think she was trying to use an element that is very popular in books right now, but didn’t really work all that well for this particular book. I think there could have still been a romance without the two men involved.

But, yes, I agree with you that it was just an okay read. When I was originally going to review this by myself I kept opening the document and then not knowing what to say, so I would shut it again. If the book at least gave me more of a response it would have been easier to talk about. Of the books I have read for the last two weeks, it was my least favourite. Actually, for a much more accurate portrayal of what it was like in a lifeboat, albeit a different one, you should read Lifeboat No. 8 which I reviewed here. It is non-fiction, but for what actually occurs on the Titanic in this book, it suits the same purpose.

M: I would have been happy for the romance to be just with the one man!

I will have to see if I can get hold of Lifeboat No. 8.

Synopsis

Tess, an aspiring seamstress, is stunned at her luck when the famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon hires her to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. On board, Tess meets a rough-hewn but kind sailor and an enigmatic Chicago businessman, and is intrigued by their differing views of what could lie ahead for her in American.

On the fourth night of the voyage, disaster strikes. Tess is one of the last people amidst the chaos to escape into a lifeboat. Her sailor also survives, ordered into a sparsely filled boat commandeered by Lady Duff Gordon’. Many others - including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.

The survivors are rescued and taken to New York. The US enquiry into the sinking of the titanic begins almost immediately, even as rumors about the survivors begin to circulate about the survivors and the choices they made. An enterprising female reporter, Pinky Wade, hears that Lady Duff Gordon may have saved herself at the expense of others, and the ensuing stories catapult the imperious fashion designer onto the front pages of the newspapers, turning her into an immediate object of scorn.

Tess is torn between loyalty to the fiery woman who would be her mentor and the insistence of her sailor that Lady Duff Gordon's version of events on that dark sea is far from the truth.

Unsure where her loyalties and her heart lie, Tess is caught at a crossroads, one with increasing complications and surprises along the way. Through it all, Tess must navigate her place in the world, hoping to realize her dream of becoming a skilled dressmaker.

Filled with powerful scenes from the Titanic hearings played against the backdrop of such New York landmarks as Central Park, the Waldorf Astoria, Macy's, and Carnegie Hall, The Dressmaker is atmospheric delight filled with all the period's lush glamour, all the raw feeling of a national tragedy, and all the contradictory emotions of young love.

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

2012-05-03T07:17:00.000+10:00

For years I have been hearing how good Adriana Trigiani is. Some of my favourite bloggers are big fans and there are always lots of really enthusiastic reviews for her books. I did read another book by her last year and I liked it, but after reading The Shoemaker's Wife I get it....I really get it!

The Shoemaker's Wife was inspired by the author's grandparents story, and you can really see that she is invested in the story that she is telling.

Our story starts when we meet Ciro and his brother Eduardo. Their mother is taking them to a convent in small town in the Alps in Northern Italy. Their father has died (they think) in a mining accident in America and she can no longer provide for them and so she takes them to the nuns to be educated and nurtured into adulthood. Whilst both boys miss their parents terribly, they are cared for well by the nuns. Eduardo is more sombre and studious whereas Ciro is a much more physical presence.

Ciro is asked to go up to another small town further up the mountain to dig a grave, and at that time he meets Enza. There is an instant connection between the two of them, and who knows, if fate hadn't conspired against them, the story might have begun and ended right there. However, like all star-crossed lovers nothing is as simple as that.

As a result of an issue that Ciro has with the local priest he is sent away to start a new life in America and Eduardo joins the church. Ciro is sent to a relative of one of the nuns to learn a trade. He is to become a shoemaker's apprentice.

Enza also makes her way to America, travelling with her father to try and earn enough money to send back to her family in Italy so that they can build their house and business up. Enza's father goes on to work in other states, leaving Enza to make her own way in life. After a rough start, Enza makes friends with Laura and the two girls become each other's support and strength and they soon manage to get to New York, find somewhere to live and jobs working in the Metropolitan Opera. They are exposed to the glamour of the opera and to get to know many of the stars including the amazing Enrico Caruso.

There are a couple of other meet ups between Ciro and Enza along the way, and each time the connection is clear and strong, but again, fate and also World War I, get in the way of our young couple. Ciro is something of a ladies man, and Enza doesn't sit waiting for Ciro to come to his senses. As a result, the scene where finally all the stars align is both dramatic and poignant.

The next part of the book brings a move to another new location when Enza and Ciro move to Minnesota. Ciro builds up his business with the help of his business partner and friend, and also with the active involvement of Enza who uses her skills as a dressmaker and her natural affinity for people to help the family to settle into their new home and to thrive.

Structurally, the book is divided into three clear parts and each part has a different feel in a way. What connects the three parts are the strong characters, the strong sense of location whether it be Italy, New York or Minnesota, and the way that Trigiani is able to bring the senses to life with her descriptions of food, of fabrics, of music and of flora.

Whilst this book is sad (yes, I cried on the train in public again at the end of this book) there is also an overriding sense of joy. The author manages to evoke the emotions without having the book become maudlin even as the events of World War I come back to haunt the family in ways that could never be expected.

If there was a small criticism, I am not sure that we really needed the final chapters. It was nice to see what happened, but the book wouldn't have necessarily been a lesser read without those chapters being there.

I gave this book a rating of 4.5/5. This book counts for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and for the War Through the Generations challenge.

I thought for a bit of fun I might see if I could find a video of Enrico Caruso who plays such an important part in the life of Enza in particular. I lucked out when I found a clip of both his voice, and also images of New York at around the time that Enza would have been living there! I actually wasn't sure that I would know the song that was used in the clip, until it started and I realised that it was a song that is used in a TV ad for a pasta sauce brand here. See, I am more cultured than I realised!

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Thank you to TLC Booktours and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Synopsis

The majestic and haunting beauty of the Italian Alps is the setting of the first meeting of Enza, a practical beauty, and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, who meet as teenagers, despite growing up in villages just a few miles apart. At the turn of the last century, when Ciro catches the local priest in a scandal, he is banished from his village and sent to hide in America as an apprentice to a shoemaker in Little Italy. Without explanation, he leaves a bereft Enza behind. Soon, Enza's family faces disaster and she, too, is forced to go to America with her father to secure their future.

Unbeknownst to one another, they both build fledgling lives in America, Ciro masters shoemaking and Enza takes a factory job in Hoboken until fate intervenes and reunites them. But it is too late: Ciro has volunteered to serve in World War I and Enza, determined to forge a life without him, begins her impressive career as a seamstress at the Metropolitan Opera House that will sweep her into the glamorous salons of Manhattan and into the life of the international singing sensation, Enrico Caruso.

From the stately mansions of Carnegie Hill, to the cobblestone streets of Little Italy, over the perilous cliffs of northern Italy, to the white-capped lakes of northern Minnesota, these star-crossed lovers meet and separate, until, finally, the power of their love changes both of their lives forever.

Lush and evocative, told in tantalizing detail and enriched with lovable, unforgettable characters, The Shoemaker's Wife is a portrait of the times, the places and the people who defined the immigrant experience, claiming their portion of the American dream with ambition and resolve, cutting it to fit their needs like the finest Italian silk.

This riveting historical epic of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny is the novel Adriana Trigiani was born to write, one inspired by her own family history and the love of tradition that has propelled her body of bestselling novels to international acclaim. Like Lucia, Lucia, The Shoemaker's Wife defines an era with clarity and splendor, with operatic scope and a vivid cast of characters who will live on in the imaginations of readers for years to come.