Wallis in Love by Andrew Morton

Title: Wallis in Love
Author: Andrew Morton
Genre: Non-fiction, biography

Synopsis: A biography of Wallis Simpson, made infamous by her relationship with Edward VIII when he chose to abdicate. This book tells the story of her life through her three marriages and various other romantic relationships.

My Thoughts

I was happy to find that this biography began well before Wallis ever met her infamous husband Edward VIII. This is a book that is really about Wallis from birth to death and tells her life story through her romantic relationships. She is a complicated character who uses her social skills to make herself famous and to never have to really work a day in her life. 
The way that this book is written it feels like you are reading a story and not just a list of facts about the Duchess of Windsor's life. It is a very captivating story up until after she and the Duke of Windsor marry and then it becomes a bit repetitive about how unkind Wallis was to Edward. Their diminished existence as husband and wife post-abdication is tedious and so the story follows. 

If you love the British Royal Family as much as I do this is definitely worth a read! 

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Order of Darkness Volumes II-III by Philippa Gregory

Title: Stormbringer and Fool's Gold
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis: Luca, Freize, Brother Peter, Isolde, and Ishraq continue their journey conducting inquiries about the end of days and trying to get Isolde's inheritance back. When 'Milord' shows up after the group meets who they believe to be a slaver and asks them to lie to find out more about counterfeiters in Venice Luca and Freize start to question the authenticity of the goals of their mission. 

Other books I have read by this author: The Other Queen, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Constant Princess, The Last Tudor, The Taming of the Queen, The Queen's Fool, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Kingmaker's Daughter, The White Princess, The Red Princess, The King's Curse, The Virgin's Lover, Three Sisters, Three Queens, Changeling

My Thoughts
I accidentally bought Stormbringer first, thinking it was the first in the series, so I borrowed Changeling from the library. It was almost impossible to find Fool's Gold anywhere on its own, so I bought the reprinted version that has all 3 novels in the same book. I think this is the way to go if you are interested in reading this series because it really feels more like one continuous story than three separate novels. 
Volume II, Stormbringer, is interesting at first, slow in the middle, and then picks up again at the end enough that you are still intrigued enough to continue on into volume III, Fool's Gold. In volume III the young characters begin to explore the freedom being on the road gives them. Leaving the monastery makes Luca reconsider what he wants from life. Not being held to the standards of a lady running an estate allows Isolde to dream of a life where she can choose with whom she wants to be friends.  
The end of volume III wraps things up nicely but also leaves a bit of mystery to set up for the next book in the series, published this past year. I look forward to reading it soon, but will be taking a break to read something a little different first!

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Changeling by Philippa Gregory

Title: Changeling: Order of Darkness Volume I
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis: Italy, 1493: Luca Vero grew up in the church after being orphaned Asking too many questions got him noticed by the Order of Darkness, a secret society within the church seeking out signs of the end of days. Luca becomes an inquisitor and is sent out with Brother Peter and their servant, Frieze. Their first mission is to inquire about strange happenings at a convent on the property of Lord Lucretilli, whose sister had been sent against her will to become the Abbess. 

Other books I have read by this author: The Other Queen, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Constant Princess, The Last Tudor, The Taming of the Queen, The Queen's Fool, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Kingmaker's Daughter, The White Princess, The Red Princess, The King's Curse, The Virgin's Lover, Three Sisters, Three Queens

My Thoughts
I was thoroughly entertained by this novel. Even though this is categorized as YA, it doesn’t feel overly like YA that is currently being written. True to form, Gregory includes diverse female characters who work against the social norms of the time. Unlike most of her novels, the story also follows a young male protagonist and it is set outside of Medieval England. 
I find the storyline of a secret church society very intriguing and it is incredibly well done. I have already started the second book in the series because I was so excited to read more after finishing this one.


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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling

Title: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Original Screenplay
Author: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy

Other books I've read by this author: The Harry Potter Series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Synopsis: Newt Scamander tries to save Credence while Grindelwald wants to use him for his own benefit and The Ministry of Magic wants him dead.

My Thoughts
I haven't read a screenplay before and it is similar to reading a play but still a bit different. Both of them require some getting used to, but once you get into it you start to see the story in your mind like when I'm reading any other book. 
If you have seen the movie you know exactly what to expect, but it is helpful to read it. Reading it allows you to notice all the small details you may have missed or might not have come across the way it was intended in the film. For example, completely missed that the woman who was cursed to turn into a snake was named Nagini, the name of Voldemort's snake in the Harry Potter Series.
I got this as a Christmas present and am glad that I saved it for when I needed a Harry Potter fix. If you haven't seen any of the Fantastic Beasts films, but you like Harry Potter, they totally stand up and are a fun way to get back into the Harry Potter Universe.


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Dollface by Renee Rosen

Title: Dollface
Author: Renee Rosen
Genre: Fiction

Other books I've read by this author: White Collar Girl

Synopsis: Vera's main goal in life is to not end up like her mother, a single business owner of a slaughterhouse with no time for fun. Ordinary is the last thing she wants to be. Working and living downtown in 1920s Chicago is expensive but Vera and her friend and roommate, Evelyn, are determined to live a glamorous life. When their hunt for glamour introduces Vera to Shep and Tony it might lead to more excitement than she and Evelyn could ever imagine.

My Thoughts

When I saw this book on the shelf and read the back cover I just wasn't excited enough by what it described to buy it. Then recently it was lent to me by a colleague who has similar taste in books and I figured it was worth a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find a story with much more depth and complexity than is portrayed by the back cover. (Insert book judging cliche here.)
Dollface is more than just a 1920 speakeasy and gangster story, it's about a woman coming of age in a time where women weren't supposed to make it on their own and those who had to were looked down upon. This book examines the different versions of oneself and what it means to choose one over the other. Don't worry, it has all that depth and also the speakeasies and gangsters you hope for in a roaring twenties novel.

The last few novels I was reading were set in Europe and this was a great book to bring me back state-side. 



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The Gown by Jennifer Robson

Title: The Gown
Author: Jennifer Robson
Genre: Fiction

Other books I have read by this author: Moonlight Over Paris

Synopsis: After WWII the British people look forward to celebrating the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Phillip Mountbatten. Working at Hartnell's embroidering the extravagant wedding gown for the princess changes both Ann and Miriam's lives. In 2016 after the death of her grandmother, Heather finds there was more to her nan's life in London in the 1940s than she knew. 

My Thoughts

My love for the British royal family drew me to this book, but it is really more the story of the common people following WWII and finding hope in the celebration of a royal wedding. I always love a story told from multiple perspectives and this has Ann, a London native, and Miriam, a French transplant, working together to create the princess's gown and trying to survive as single women after the war. 
There is a bit of mystery in this novel as well when the story is seen through the eyes of Heather in 2016 who is trying to find out why her grandmother had left her an old box of embroidery upon her death with no explanation. You can always tell I am intrigued by a story when the time between my reviews is so short. I looked forward every day to finding out what was going to happen for Ann and Miriam as the story progressed.
Beyond the delightful storyline, the author includes portions of her interview with an actual Hartnell's employee who worked in the shop at the time the gown was being made. I love seeing how actual historical references fit into the fiction. It was also fun to find the recipe for a dish much discussed in the story at the end of the novel as well. I plan to make it for dinner this week. I look forward to reading other novels by this author! 


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Golden Hill: The Sensational Novel of Old New York by Francis Spufford

Title: Golden Hill: The Sensational Novel of Old New York
Author: Francis Spufford
Genre: Fiction


Synopsis: Richard Smith arrives in the colony of New York in 1746 with a bill for quite a sum of money and an air of mystery. He will only say that he has come from London but gives no hints into his past. News of this mysterious man spreads through the small town of Manhattan raising all kinds of questions? Who is this man? How did he come into so much money? What is his purpose in New York? Love, friendship, and mistakes only a young man in a new place can make reveals more about Mr. Smith than he realizes.

My Thoughts

Beyond children's books and The Scarlett Letter, there is very little fiction set in Colonial America pre-Revolutionary War. I was looking for something out of the ordinary to read and I was excited when I found this novel at Barnes and Nobel.
I really like the style in which it is written, the language feels authentic to the time period. The fact that the reader is kept in the dark about Mr. Smith's purpose in New York, as well as his past, keeps an air of suspense throughout the novel. The author paints a clear picture of Colonial Manhattan, a strikingly different place than what the modern reader knows of Manhattan today. 
There was only one portion of the story where the scene felt too long. Mr. Smith's letter to his father from prison was seemingly neverending. I admit to skimming through it because it was repetitive and uninteresting. I'm sure the intention was to give the reader a sense of the monotony of days spent in a prison cell, but for me, it was too much.  
The story also has some unexpected elements and as more is revealed about Mr. Smith the more surprising it becomes. I especially loved when the narrator of the story is revealed, providing so much context for the entire story. It may be worth reading it again knowing who is telling to see if there were clues early on that I missed.

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