Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

                                                        

 Title: Island Beneath the Sea

Author: Isabel Allende

Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: 

Zarite, or Tete, is born into slavery on the island of Saint Domingue in the 1700s. She is sold to Toulouse Valmorain as a young girl and works in the house on his sugarcane plantation. Through the years she becomes a nursemaid for his wife and child and a mother to her own. When the Haitian Revolution begins Valmorain flees with his family to New Orleans, and Tete begins a new life with the family just as the United States obtains new land in the Lousiana Purchase.

My Thoughts

I have never read anything about the Haitian revolution before and this is such an interesting read. Some chapters are told from Tete's perspective, but most is written in third person. 

Getting to understand what life was like on the island during French Colonialism and how the revolution started is very intriguing. Especially the hardships of the slaves who had the completely exhausting work of cutting sugar cane and creating molasses on the plantation. 

It was also fascinating to have a look into life in New Orleans before it became a part of the United States. French and Spanish colonial rule gave it the more European feel it still has today. In both locations, Tete has to deal with strong political and social boundaries based on skin color. Not just between those considered Black and White, but the variations in between of those who are mixed race, including her own daughter.

This novel is very well done and I would recommend that everyone take the chance to read it.

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Varina by Charles Frazier

                                                                    

Title: Varina

Author: Charles Frazier

Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: 

Varina Davis reminisces with an old acquaintance about her life; how she met and married Jefferson Davis, living in Washington as a young woman, their flight after the loss of the American Civil War, and her time in Europe after the war.

My Thoughts

I had never even heard of Varina Davis before reading this novel. I loved reading about her life, told through a fictional lens, jumping back and forth between the past and her life living in a hotel as she told the story to James, a freed slave who had lived as a young boy raised with her children. Not many stories get told from the perspective of the losing side, but especially not from the women of the losing side. The story is not about the morals of the war, but rather encompasses Varina's whole life, with the Confederacy being just one mistake in a difficult life.

I really recommend this one when looking for a read about a complex and interesting woman.

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Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell

                                          

Title: Fools and Mortals

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: Richard Shakespeare, a player, is feeling overshadowed at the Theater by his older brother, Will. Having played girls and women early in his career, Richard feels that he is now of an age and talent to be given men's parts. Trying to convince his brother to cast him in a man's role and take him seriously is not an easy task. But when scripts to Will's new plays go missing, Richard sees an opportunity to prove his worth.

My Thoughts

This was such a fun book to read. I enjoyed switching it up and reading about a young man protagonist looking to come up in the world. It is interesting to read about William Shakespeare from the perspective of his younger brother. The particulars of the time period were well represented through the story, the life of the common man, religious persecution, life in the Elizabethan era.

I enjoyed the use of quotations from Shakespeare's plays and the imagining of his writing process and the way plays were rehearsed at a time when playhouses were a new concept. 

Check this out if you love theater, the Elizabethan era, and a coming of age story. 

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The Dressmaker's Dowry by Meredith Jaeger

                                                          

Title: The Dressmaker's Dowry

Author: Meredith Jaeger

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery


Synopsis: 

San Francisco: 1876

Immigrant dressmakers Hannelore Schaeffer and Margaret O'Brien struggle to provide food for their siblings while mending delicate clothing for the city's most affluent ladies. When wealthy Lucas Havensworth enters the shop, Hanna's future is altered forever. With Margaret's encouragement and the power of a borrowed green dress, Hanna dares to see herself as worthy of him. Then Margaret disappears, and Hanna turns to Lucas. Braving the gritty streets of the Barbary Coast and daring to enter the mansions of Nob Hill, Hanna stumbles upon Margaret’s fate, forcing her to make a devastating decision...one that will echo through the generations.

San Francisco: Present Day

In her elegant Marina apartment overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, Sarah Havensworth struggles to complete the novel she quit her job for. Afraid to tell her husband of her writer’s block, Sarah is also hiding a darker secret—one that has haunted her for 14 years. Then a news headline from 1876 sparks inspiration: Missing Dressmakers Believed to be Murdered. Compelled to discover what happened to Hannelore and Margaret, Sarah returns to her roots as a journalist. Will her beautiful heirloom engagement ring uncover a connection to Hanna Schaeffer? 

My Thoughts

I picked this book up on a whim off of a clearance table at Barnes and Noble. I love a multigenerational book that compares the lives of characters from the past with those in the present. I especially love it when the characters are related in an unexpected way, as is the case in this novel. 

Not only does this story have the historical fiction aspect, which we all know I adore, but it has an air of mystery which is really perfect for this time of year. It gets pretty suspenseful near the end. I read this one so fast because I just had to know what happens to these two dressmakers who disappeared. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. The only part that was a little off to me was the end. The last chapter had all of this suspense built up and then it sort of fell flat. The epilogue makes up for the last chapter a bit, but I still expected more of a reaction to Sarah's treatment by her blackmailer. 

If you are looking for a fun mystery for October, I totally recommend that you check this one out! 

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Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

                                                           

 Title: Drums of Autumn

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fiction, SciFi, Historical, Fantasy

Other books I've read by this author: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager

Synopsis: It began in Scotland, at an ancient stone circle. There, a doorway, open to a select few, leads into the past—or the grave. Claire Randall survived the extraordinary passage, not once but twice. Her first trip swept her into the arms of Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scot whose love for her became legend—a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Her second journey, two decades later, brought them together again in frontier America. But Claire had left someone behind in the twentieth century. Their daughter, Brianna....

Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the stone circle and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she is risking her own future to try to change history...and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past...or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong... back cover

My Thoughts

I'm finishing up Drums of Autumn as we arrive into the first days of fall here and it is the most autumnal weather we have had in years. 

Book 4 of the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn is where there start to be some more distinguishing differences between the tv series and the book. The first half of the book is very different in terms of the small details. 

SPOILER ALERT: Overall, the large things still happen, the Frasers end up in the American Colonies, meet Jocasta, gain Fraser's Ridge, and get robbed by Stephen Bonnett after saving him. Sadly, there is absolutely no mention or reunion with Murtagh in the colonies. Fergus leaves Marsali behind to have the baby in Jamaica and there is much less mention of their family in this book. There is a brief mention of the Regulators but nothing so involved as we see in the show. The second half, after Brianna and Roger travel through the stones, is much more in line with what happens in season 4, with a few small changes in the minor details. END SPOILERS.

The middle is a little be slow, but the rest is just as engaging as the others in the series. I cannot wait to continue with this series! 
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Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce

                                                           

 Title: Dear Mrs. Bird

Author: AJ Pearce

Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: "Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are doing their bit for the war effort and trying to stay cheerful, despite the German planes making their nightly raids. Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance; but after a rather unfortunate misunderstanding, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, renowned advice columnist of Woman’s Friend magazine.

Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin. But as Emmy reads the desperate pleas from women who many have Gone Too Far with the wrong man, or can’t bear to let their children be evacuated, she begins to secretly write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles." - Back Cover

My Thoughts

I laughed, I cried... I cried some more. I had expected a narrative about women breaking into journalism, but this novel has much more than that. I loved Emmy's amusing inner dialogue and her tendency to speak extra loud when she is nervous. It is a wonderful story of friendship, hardship, and doing your part during WWII. Emmy's determination to answer the 'less than pleasant' questions of women who had no one else to turn to is endearing and risky, which makes her all the more lovable. 

Of course, as a story set in war times, be prepared for some seriously tear-jerking moments. Emmy faces some serious personal losses, but not what you might expect, adding depth and to her bubbly personality.

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Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

                                                              

 Title: Voyager

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fiction, SciFi, Historical, Fantasy

Other books I've read by this author: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber

Synopsis: "Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.
Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite--or forever doom--her timeless love." - back cover

My Thoughts

So much happens in this third book of the Outlander series that I had to use the back cover synopsis rather than write my own. Just thinking about all the settings in this book was overwhelming to try to write about; 1969 in Boston, 1766 in Edinburgh, Lallybroch, France, at sea, Jamaica. All taking place in 4 months' time and just over 1000 pages... its a lot.

As ever, Gabaldon brings back a bunch of familiar characters, even ones you don't expect to find in Claire and Jamie's varied travels. It is well researched, so it all makes sense why certain unexpected characters would pop up in new places based on what was happening there in the mid-1700s.

For those of you who also watch the show, there are a few major events that are portrayed differently than they were in season 3 but the outcome is the same so the story still goes in the same direction. Often I would think, well that would be hard to portray on TV, or that would take way more time than the show could allow for.

Once again, I was engaged from beginning to end and read it faster than I thought I would. I look forward to book 4! 

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Victory at Valley Forge by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen

                                                        

Title: Victory at Yorktown
Author: Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen
Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: The story of the events that lead to the battle at Yorktown in the American Revolution. Two young men who were friends before the war have ended up on opposite sides, one a loyalist fighting for the king, the other fighting for the continental army, working his way up to report information directly to George Washington. 

My Thoughts

I found this book in the discount section at Barnes and Noble and decided to give it a shot. July has been about reading stories set in the United States. Turns out that it was the third book in a series about George Washington. While I hate reading a series out of order, I didn't even realize it was part of a trilogy until after I had finished it and saw the other two listed in the back. So it speaks for itself saying that it can stand alone, not requiring the reader to have read the others in order to follow the story. 

I like that there are three perspectives explored in this novel, the one of George Washington, one of a young Continental, and one of a young Loyalist. It allows the reader to see what is happening on all fronts of the war while taking historic events and making them feel more real. It also provides an added dimension that the two young men had been friends before the war, and who have encountered one another over the course of the six years of fighting several times.

  I appreciate it when a war novel can be historically accurate and a well-told story. 

I look forward to finding and reading the other two books in the series!

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The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Title: The Underground Railroad
Author: Colson Whitehead
Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: Cora was born a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Her mother had also been born on this land, and her grandmother had arrived here by slave ship. Her mother ran when Cora was only a child, leaving her alone. As she grows up on the plantation she becomes an outcast amongst the other slaves. A new slave, Caesar, shows up on the plantation and asks her to consider running away, and when they do the course to freedom is not a straight line.

My Thoughts

This book has been on my 'to be read' list for some time. When the public library opened back up (after closing for COVID) I requested this book right away because the waitlist had been so long. Two days later I got a notification that it was available and picked it up from the drive-through window!
There are a few things that make this book feel unique. First, each chapter starts with a newspaper ad for a runaway slave, reminding the reader with the description of the person missing that they were completely considered as property, not humans. Second, in addition to the main storyline following Cora's travels on the Underground Railroad, there are short chapters scattered throughout that are about each of the important characters she meets along the way. It provides backstory that helps the reader understand why the motive that the person has for the role they play in Cora's life, good or bad. I also enjoyed the author's choice to imagine the Underground Railroad as a literal railroad beneath the ground, with stations to pick up the runaways dug beneath the homes of those who help them. 
I really enjoyed reading this novel and hope that you get a chance to read it as well! 

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Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Title: Dragonfly in Amber
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fiction, SciFi, Historical, Fantasy

Other books I've read by this author: Outlander

Synopsis: The second book in the Outlander series picks up as Jamie and Claire leave Scotland and head to the continent to live in safety. It chronicles their lives in France, where Jamie is working for his cousin and becomes a confidant to Prince Charles, the ousted Scottish prince. Claire and Jamie work to stop the uprising and save the Highlanders from the battle of Culloden, but can they change history?

My Thoughts

900 pages have never gone by so fast for me as when I am reading this series. It is so fast-paced and intriguing that I had a hard time putting down, reading until I cannot actually keep my eyes open anymore. If you liked Outlander, then you will love this book as well. All of the best characters, plus a few great new additions continue the complex and varied storylines created by Gabaldon. 
If you have watched the series, you will find that this book covers season 2, but also crosses a bit to season 3 with some time spent in the 1960s. 
I am all caught up on the TV series, so being able to go back and read the books has helped me survive 'Droughtlander' as fans await season 6. 
I cannot wait to read the next book in the series! 

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The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Title: The Wrath and The Dawn
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy


Synopsis: A young king (Caliph) in Rey, Khalid, is taking a new wife every day and then having her killed the next dawn. When her best friend is selected to marry him and killed, Shahrzad volunteers to marry the Caliph in order to take revenge on this murderer. Shahrzad's father and childhood friends work to free her from certain death, but she begins to understand there is more to the story of this murderous ruler. He may be a person and not a monster after all.

My Thoughts

A friend of mine suggested we read this during the stay at home order, and I'm so glad she did! Nothing is a perfect palate cleanser after an intense nonfiction piece like Young Adult fantasy. That being said, as I read this novel, it did not feel overly young-adulty. Several stories are going on at once, Shahrzad and Khalid, her father and friends, and the back story for why Khalid is killing these women. While each individual story is simple, how they fit together is a bit more complex. 
This novel is a retelling of Arabian Nights,  A Thousand and One Nights. I have not read that, so I cannot compare but I will be adding it to my reading list and keep you all informed. Overall, if you are looking for a fun, quick read this summer I suggest you pick up a copy! 

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Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough

Title: Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI
Author: Bryan Burrough
Genre: Nonfiction


Synopsis: This work chronicles the formation of the FBI and the growing pains in its creation as they tried to thwart notorious criminals like Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, The Barker-Karpis Gang, Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger.

My Thoughts

This book was meticulously researched to the point where it feels more like a story than real life. Burrough uses all the facts to create a clear picture of the events in the criminal lives of each of these notorious gangs. He can say who was there, what was said, where the FBI was when each robbery or hideout was happening. He shares what critical pieces were missed that allowed the gang members to get away again and again, and what changes were made that led the FBI to finally get to each of them. 
As a Clevelander myself, it was interesting to find out that members of the Karpis-Barker gang lived on the west side Cleveland for a while lying low. It makes them seem that much more real.
It is also intriguing to know that when the FBI began the agents were not armed and were mostly young Ivy League lawyer-types that Hoover felt were the right type of men for the job. 
I wouldn't say that this reads like fiction, because it doesn't, but once you figure out all of the major players (there are so many people in this book) it is really engaging and interesting to read about these kidnapping bank-robbers trying to survive during the Great Depression.

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Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon

Title: Flight of Dreams
Author: Ariel Lawhon
Genre: Historical Fiction

Other books I have read by this author: The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress

Synopsis: This story follows several people, both crew and passenger, and their experiences on the last flight of the Hindenburg. From take-off to disastrous landing, what might it have been like for those who were aboard the grand zeppelin? What really caused it to go up in flames?

My Thoughts

This was another recommendation loaned to me by a co-worker. Like the first book I read by this author, Lawhon uses multiple points of view to explore an infamous historical mystery; what happened on the Hindenburg to cause it to burst into flames? She uses detailed research to find facts to form the backbone of the story and then fills in the missing details with her fictional version of the character's experiences. The reader gets to experience the flight from the perspective of a stewardess, only female crew member ever on a Zepplin; a navigator, a teenaged cabin boy, a German journalist passenger, and a mysterious American passenger.
 In the author's note, Lawhon mentions that the characters were all real people who were on that flight and that she chose to keep their fates, whether they survived the explosion or not, true to history. I think that is such a cool choice, writing a fictional story knowing what happened to these real people in real life. I loved the mystery and the author's choice for her version of what caused the disaster.
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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Title: Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fiction, SciFi, Historical, Fantasy

Synopsis: World War II is finally over and army nurse Claire Randall is on her 'second honeymoon' in the Scottish Highlands with her husband, Frank. The two had been separated for much of the war. While exploring the stone circle Craigh na Dun for flowers alone, while Frank was searching for his ancestors with a local historian, Claire gets pulled back in time 200 years. Using what she learned from Frank about local history, survival skills learned from growing up with an archaeologist uncle, Claire has to navigate life in the 18th-century Highlands and try to get home to Frank. When she meets some Highlanders on the road her life changes forever.

My Thoughts

I am guilty of picking this book up, reading the back cover, and putting it back down on probably five separate visits to the bookstore. I would always think, 'time travel it is so far fetched!' Then, not realizing it was based on the book I kept rejecting, I started watching Outlander on Netflix because it popped up as a 'recommended for you' suggestion over and over. Well, I loved it. When I realized that it was that book series, having not committed the book title to memory, I knew I had to read it. 
Outlander season one stays very true to the first novel of the series. A few changes to make it fit better for TV make slight chronological differences, but the same main events occur. The novel is also told from Claire's perspective so anything that happens when she is not around isn't seen, but sometimes described later by other characters. Often, this makes some of the more gruesome scenes from the show less so in the book. In the show, they portray some scenes where Claire is not present as they happened, especially those concerning Jamie. 
I know I'm late to the game on this one, but seriously I cannot wait to read more from this series.
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Freshwater Road by Denise Nicholas

Title: Freshwater Road
Author: Denise Nicholas
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: It's 1964, Freedom Summer, and Celeste has decided to leave her comfortable home with her father, Shuck in Detroit, college in Ann Arbor, and her white boyfriend, J.D., to travel to Mississippi to work with One Man, One Vote to get African Americans registered to vote. She finds herself stationed in Pineyville, a small town with few of the modern conveniences to which Celeste is accustomed. The locals are slow to trust this newcomer, but Celeste persists in running the Freedom School and adult voter registration courses at the local church. As summer goes by Celeste gains trust and witnesses tragedy in the small town all while working for Civil Rights and trying to reconcile her world at home with the one she sees in Mississippi.

My Thoughts
This is the second book in a row I've read set in the United States in the 20th century, so unlike me! I found this one on the clearance shelf at Barnes and Noble, the cover really got me ( I always judge books by the cover...). I liked so many things about this book, it is a coming of age story, a civil rights story, a story of parent-child relationships, and a little bit of a love story thrown in. 
I really appreciate the struggle Celeste feels when she sees how bad it is for people of her race in Mississippi. She compares it to stepping back in time and realizes her own naivete from the moment she enters the state. She is brave and stays to help despite her fear and has to learn how things are done in the south. 

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The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress by Ariel Lawhon

Title: The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress
Author: Ariel Lawhon
Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: New York City, 1930, Judge Joe Crater has gone missing. No one seems to know the whole story about what has happened to him, but the three women who know him best; his wife, Stella Crater, his maid, Maria Simon, and his mistress, Sally Lou 'Ritzi' Ritz, each know a part of the story. 

My Thoughts

This book was recommended to me more than once by a colleague who really enjoyed it and has similar taste in books as me. He recommended it to me so many times that he finally just gave it to me for helping him with setting up some technology for his class. I am super glad that he did. 
This novel is based on the mysterious disappearance of Judge Joe Crater and the author fills it with intrigue. The story jumps around in time, each section dated like a diary entry but told in the third person perspective of each woman. Small tidbits of what happened to Crater come out as the reader learns about the complicated lives and complex relationships of Stella, Maria, and Ritzi. 
Because Joe Crater was never found and this is a work of fiction, the author uses creative license to come up with one possibility to explain his disappearance. It does not disappoint.  

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