The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

 

Publication Date:  April 18, 2023

Length: 512 pages

This is the first Chadwick novel I've read and reviewed. I have skimmed the beginning of a couple of her William Marshal books but never got around to reading them. I know they are very popular and come highly recommended by my fellow blogger friends. Nesta of Wales is definitely what I'd call an obscure topic so I wanted to try this book. Also, it is Chadwick's latest so I knew it would be one others might not have gotten around to reading yet. 

The story begins in Wales in the year 1093. Young Nesta, a Princess of the territory of Deheubarth, daughter of King Rhys ap Tewdwr, is in the stables seeing to the new colt recently birthed. Her father is off on a mission to see the hated Normans, encroaching into Welsh territory and expected home any day now. When he arrives, carried on his horse, killed in battle, Nesta's world changes forever. She and her mother, along with her brother, who is now the four year old heir to the kingdom are forced to run for the coast and only her brother Gruffyed makes it to a waiting ship to be taken off to safety in Ireland. Nesta and her mother are kidnapped by the Norman warriors, separated, and taken into the custody of foreign strangers in a foreign land, their world turned upside down. 

When Nesta begins her captivity she is treated well by the ladies of the house who encourage her to accept her fate and to try to learn the language and culture of her surroundings. Eventually, she catches the eye of Henry, brother to the King, who takes her as his latest conquest. Although he is not abusive, he is harsh and demanding and Nesta grows to hate him as she realizes she is a pawn in the game of the powerful. When William Rufus dies and Henry becomes King, her world improves when she gives birth to his illegitimate son and Henry at least provides for them in a decent manner. Throughout the years of uncertainty and separation from her family, Nesta learns to rely on herself and the circle of women she is forced to live with, also concubines of Henry who bear him many children. 

Just when she is ready to give up on another life, Nesta receives news that she is to be married off to a man who will care for her and her child and hopefully take her back to Wales, where she will be among her people. 

Alongside Nesta's story is Gerald's. He is a Norman, fighting with Henry and his men but with an affinity for the Welsh people, as he has been installed there as Castellan of Pembroke Castle, in Deheubarth. He is both loyal to his King while also feeling tied to the land he is overseeing. As he ponders his future, Gerald finds a way to have all he wishes for when he makes a bold move to approach King Henry and ask him to fulfill his wish for a family and security. 

The subject matter in this book was fascinating and I found myself researching the back stories of the main characters. Although Chadwick clearly did a lot of research for this one, she admits some of the story had to be filled in with fiction because there is just not enough on Nesta and Gerald in the record to know everything. I thought she did a great job of sticking to the facts while adding her own personal touches. I learned a lot about the time period and Wales too which I really enjoyed.

The downside of the book for me was that it started to feel more like a romance novel about halfway through. I also started to grow tired of Nesta and her complaining, even after she is given a new start. To be clear, she is traumatized and assaulted by Henry at a very young age and no doubt this influences her dark outlook on things, but some of the choices she makes are hard to reconcile with the life she is presented with. I preferred the history and adventure at the beginning and wish Chadwick had stuck to more of that than letting the story devolve into too much emotion and drama between the main characters. It just became tedious after awhile. 

I still enjoyed the book and recommend it but it didn't have the feel of a Penman or Weir historical novel. I guess I need to try one of her Marshal books as I hear such great things about them.

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Wilderness Way by Anne Madden

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring The Wilderness Way by Anne Madden. It is set in the aftermath of the Irish famine and continues in America during the Civil War. Both time periods are fascinating and full of great history. I have not heard of this author before so I'm always happy to promote new people. If you read it, let me know what you think in a review. Happy reading this week!

December 7, 2023

Historical Fiction

Description courtesy of Net Galley

Inspired by a true story.

1861, Donegal, Ireland

Ten years ago Declan Conaghan’s father died in the Great Famine, and since then, Declan has kept his promise to keep his family out of the workhouse. But all that is threatened with the arrival of new landlord, John Adair. Adair is quick to cause trouble and fear among his tenants. When he turns them off his land, Declan has no option but to break his promise…

Declan is in despair until he receives a letter from America offering him the chance of a new life and salvation for his family. But it would mean signing up to the US Army and fighting for Lincoln. Despite knowing nothing of war, or US politics, Declan leaves behind all he knows.

Set against the wild landscapes of Ireland and the turbulent times of the American Civil War, this sweeping narrative takes us on an epic journey to understand the strength and endurance of the human spirit.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Ongoing Reading Goals

 

First of all.....how cute is this kitten? But to my goals....I made my top ten list of reading goals for 2023 in January and it was fun to check back in to see how I'm progressing. That is, fun until I realize I'm not meeting a lot of them. But that's okay. My blog is to promote books and the pleasure of reading so I'm not going to stress that I am not doing everything I set out to and make a list with some old and new goals. And as always, thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl, for hosting Top Ten Tuesday each week!

1. Read more history- Well, this has not been my strong suit this year for sure. I have been so incredibly busy with my teenagers, job, home life with hubby, etc. that straight history has taken a backseat to cozy mysteries and authors I am already comfortable with. The last one I reviewed was Josephine, in April and I have read a couple that I didn't review. But this is one area I'd like to work on going forward. 

2. Read more from my Classics Club list- I joined the Classics Club in January and was so excited to create my list. Then when I started choosing books from it, the excitement waned. I don't know if it's just my crazy, busy life right now or if I just don't want to read them but it has been a real struggle. So I'm going to keep trying and maybe revise my list too. If I just can't get going on it then it may be something I decide to drop in 2024. Reading 50 classic books in 5 years is definitely harder than it looks! So far I've read and reviewed 7 of them so that is something to celebrate but not nearly enough to make my end goal.

3. DNF more books- I have gotten so much better at this in 2023. I am still trying to remind myself that life is too short and there are just too many good books out there to keep reading ones I don't like. So this has been something I'm really striving to do.

4. Try new authors- I have tried and enjoyed many new authors this year but still gravitate to my favorites. I have to remind myself that when reviewing books it is good to have a variety of selections or people will get bored with your blog. Then again, it's my blog so I need to read and review what I like, right? Thanks to my blogger friends out there though I've discovered some great new writers so I'm going to keep trying to branch out.

5. Be okay with taking a long to time to finish a book- I have literally been reading Penman's Lionheart for over 6 months. And it's not because it's a struggle or I'm forcing myself. If anything, it's because I love it so much that it is taking me awhile. Sometimes I get frustrated that I can't read it faster but so be it. If an epic novel takes a whole year to read and absorb I'm trying to be okay with that, and just enjoy it.

6. Ditch Net Galley more- This goal might seem strange to my fellow bloggers but here is what I mean.....sometimes I go onto Net Galley and feel pressured to pick something. But often I find I'm just choosing books because they are new. And then requesting them and dreading reading them. I am vowing not to do that anymore. If something looks truly interesting to me, I'll request it. If not, then log out and go find an older book, classic book, or yet another sequel book by an author I love. Trying to read and review all the new, shiny books is stressful!

7. Quit picking books based off the cover- So sometimes this can be fun and rewarding. But often, shiny pretty covers do not equal good books. I just get hooked in by the style and pictures. So I'm going to force myself to really examine the content more. We will see if I'm able to stick to this though :) I'm a sucker for beautiful book covers!

8. Set a daily reading minutes goal and stick to it- I've tried to be casual about my reading and just go with the flow but with life getting in the way I think choosing a daily minutes goal would be good for me. Even if it's just 20 minutes it will keep me on track on the busiest days. While I always want to read, it can sometimes be hard to do much of it when I don't plan to sit down and be quiet and focus.

9. Be okay with having several books going at once- Sometimes I'm good at this but often I feel like reading books piecemeal is somehow "wrong." Then I remember this is okay because forcing yourself to read just one book at a time can be frustrating when your mood is just not into that particular book that day. So I'm going back to reading whatever, whenever, as long as it's a book I'm enjoying.

10. Not care what others think of my reading- This is hard for me. I vacillate between wanting to read deep, thoughtful books and something light and airy. When I was younger,  I thought it was somehow a waste of time to read books that weren't teaching me something. Now as I get older I've discovered you don't have to be so deep all the time. It's probably from growing up with parents who really instilled a love of reading for educational purposes and weren't big fiction readers unless it was a classic book. I love and appreciate them for that but I'm finding with our world so intense these days, cozy books and lighthearted historical fiction is so good for the soul sometimes. So I'm going to enjoy whatever works for me and so should everyone else! 

Appointment With Death (A Hercule Poirot Mystery) by Agatha Christie

 

Publication Date: May 2, 1938

Length: 256 pages

This was the Read Christie choice for September and I am getting it read and reviewed in the nick of time. It features Hercule Poirot as the lead investigator and as he is my favorite of Christie's characters, I was glad to dive into this book.

The story caught my attention from the first as Poirot, on vacation in Jerusalem, overhears a man and a woman talking. The man says to her, "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Raymond Boynton and his sister Carol are at their wits end with their domineering, evil stepmother, Mrs. Boynton, a former prison warden, who delights in making everyone in the family miserable. She is controlling and nasty and seems to take real pleasure in the misery of others. For years she has orchestrated her own little fiefdom in which she dictates all the decisions of her deceased husband's children and her own child, Ginny Boynton, and attempts to do the same with her stepson Lennox's wife Nadine, who resists her. When Mrs. Boynton is found dead later in the story on a family outing to the ruins of Petra, Poirot believes he can solve the case in 24 hours and sets out to follow the clues.

Sarah King, a female doctor and Dr. Gerard, a psychologist staying at the same hotel as the other characters play an important role in the story. They are fascinated with the obvious dysfunction on display in the Boynton family. From the start of the book they are found discussing what they perceive to be the hold Mrs. Boynton has over the family. Sarah seems to be romantically interested in Raymond as well and feels almost a duty to save him from his stepmother's influence. When she confronts Mrs. Boynton at one point and bravely tells her what she thinks of her, she is met with a chilling response: "I've never forgotten anything- not an action, not a name, not a face." Later, these words will have great significance in the resolution of the crime and the identity of the murderer.

Also factoring into the story is Jefferson Cope, a friend of the family who is in love with Carol, Colonel Carbury, a local official who spends time with Poirot on the case, and Lady Westholme, a member of Parliament and important figure in society. 

My favorite part of this book was the first half when Christie spent time focusing on the psychology of the Boyntons. I found it very insightful and relevant to today when thinking of those who seem to have a natural inclination toward dictating to others and controlling others simply because they can. Christie was writing this during the 1930's when psychological studies were still relatively novel and so I thought she did an amazing job of describing the reasons behind the victim's personality. The way she was able to control her family without lifting a finger to physically harm them was disturbing and creepy and made you glad to see her go. 

As is usual for me, I love Christie until the sequence of chapters where each clue is given the once over. I realize that a lot of her readers love this part of the book but I think it can drag and get tedious when Poirot starts painstakingly going through them all. I now know it's just part of the style though and so I accept it and use it as a time to reflect and see if I can sift through them and guess who the culprit is. I confess I didn't win this round! It was clever and hidden and unexpected, at least for me. But believable and I thought the ending was a great one. This was one of my favorites so far and I look forward to the November Read Christie book. I have already read and reviewed the October selection, Murder On the Orient Express, so I'll be skipping that month. It's funny that I read it and didn't even realize it was the October choice!

Can't Wait Wednesday: Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron (Being a Jane Austen Mystery: Book 15)

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron. I haven't read any of this series yet but it looked interesting. I am currently reading The Late Mrs. Willoughby which takes characters from Austen books and has them solving mysteries. So this book caught my eye as it has Jane herself solving crimes. If you've read any of the fifteen books from the Jane Austen Mystery series, what did you think? Will you be reading this one? It is the final book so I thought there might be some interested readers out there. Have a great week with whatever you can't wait for!

October 24, 2023

Historical Fiction/Historical Mysteries

Description courtesy of Amazon books

The final volume of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth.

March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen’s health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at the prestigious all-boys’ boarding school, has been found dead in a culvert near the schoolgrounds—and in the pocket of his drenched waistcoat is an incriminating note penned by the young William Heathcote, the son of Jane’s dear friend Elizabeth. Winchester College is a world unto itself, with its own language and rites of passage, cruel hazing and dangerous pranks. Can Jane clear William’s name before her illness gets the better of her?
 
Over the course of fourteen previous novels in the critically acclaimed Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Stephanie Barron has won the hearts of thousands of fans—crime fiction aficionados and Janeites alike—with her tricky plotting and breathtaking evocation of Austen’s voice. Now, she brings Jane’s final season—and final murder investigation—to brilliant, poignant life in this unforgettable conclusion.