Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

 

Title: Washington Black

Author: Esi Edugyan

Genre: Fiction


Synopsis: "Eleven-year-old George Washington Black—or Wash—a field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation, is initially terrified when he is chosen as the manservant of his master’s brother. To his surprise, however, the eccentric Christopher Wilde turns out to be a naturalist, explorer, inventor, and abolitionist. Soon Wash is initiated into a world where a flying machine can carry a man across the sky, where even a boy born in chains may embrace a life of dignity and meaning, and where two people, separated by an impossible divide, can begin to see each other as human.

 
But when a man is killed and a bounty is placed on Wash’s head, they must abandon everything and flee together. Over the course of their travels, what brings Wash and Christopher together will tear them apart, propelling Wash ever farther across the globe in search of his true self. Spanning the Caribbean to the frozen Far North, London to Morocco, Washington Black is a story of self-invention and betrayal, of love and redemption, and of a world destroyed and made whole again." - Back Cover

My Thoughts

After I finished reading my last book, I used my Christmas and birthday gift cards to go on a book buying spree and purchased 7 books that were on my TBR list, this was one that had been on my list for a while.

I loved Wash's story, especially his transition from enslaved field worker to young artist while assisting Titch. Having his passion for art lead him to the Goff family and allow him to renew his passion for drawing wildlife as a young adult was an inspired choice by the author, and I enjoyed his transition to life in England.

In the end, I felt let down by the last section of the book when Wash travels to Morroco. This portion of the story felt rushed and at odds with the rest of the writing. I felt the ending was unresolved, not in a good way that keeps you wanting more, instead, the reader feels like, 'Oh, that's the end?' I think an epilogue may have been appropriate, if not another chapter, to make the novel feel complete.

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Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini

                                                            

Title: Resistance Women
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Genre: Historical Fiction


Other books that I have read by this author:
Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker: A Novel, The Spymistress: A Novel, Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule, Fates and Traitors, Mrs. Lincoln's Rival, Enchantress of Numbers

Synopsis: "After Wisconsin graduate student Mildred Fish marries brilliant German economist Arvid Harnack, she accompanies him to his German homeland, where a promising future awaits. In the thriving intellectual culture of 1930s Berlin, the newlyweds create a rich new life filled with love, friendships, and rewarding work—but the rise of a malevolent new political faction inexorably changes their fate.

As Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party wield violence and lies to seize power, Mildred, Arvid, and their friends resolve to resist. Mildred gathers intelligence for her American contacts, including Martha Dodd, the vivacious and very modern daughter of the US ambassador. Her German friends, aspiring author Greta Kuckoff and literature student Sara Weitz, risk their lives to collect information from journalists, military officers, and officials within the highest levels of the Nazi regime.

For years, Mildred’s network stealthily fights to bring down the Third Reich from within. But when Nazi radio operatives detect an errant Russian signal, the Harnack resistance cell is exposed, with fatal consequences." - back cover

My Thoughts

I loved everything about this book. The story was gripping, the characters realistic and relatable, and it's a WWII novel unlike any I have read before. It is set in Germany and is told from the perspective of different women living in Germany during Hitler's rise to power and during the war.

 I have often read WWII novels set in concentration camps or in England, highlighting the plights of the people being persecuted and attacked by the war. It is really intriguing to read about people living in Germany who did not condone or understand the support that the Nazis were receiving from so many of the German citizens, or why the League of Nations did so little to stop their rise to power. It shows just how easily a democratic country can slip into a fascist dictatorship if people stand by and let it happen. 

The four main women depicted in the story are all working to overthrow the Nazi regime. Mildred is an American ex-pat living in Germany with her antifascist German husband. Greta is a german-born student who studied in Wisconsin, having met Mildred and her husband during her time there. Sara is a native German whose family loses everything as the rights of Jewish people are taken away one-by-one. Finally, Martha is the daughter of the American ambassador living with her parents and brother in Germany while their father performs his duties. Three of the women are based on actual historical figures, and Sara is based on many Jewish women living in Germany at the time.

Reading about their resistance efforts in a time when being caught was treason and almost certain death is unbelievable. They believed in the good and beautiful Germany of their youths and were fighting against the horrific actions of the barbaric group allowed to take over the government.



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The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

                                                              

Title: The Fiery Cross

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

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

Synopsis: 
"The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge.

Born in the year of Our Lord 1918, Claire Randall served England as a nurse on the battlefields of World War II, and in the aftermath of peace found fresh conflicts when she walked through a cleftstone on the Scottish Highlands and found herself an outlander, an English lady in a place where no lady should be, in a time—1743—when the only English in Scotland were the officers and men of King George’s army.

Now wife, mother, and surgeon, Claire is still an outlander, out of place, and out of time, but now, by choice, linked by love to her only anchor—Jamie Fraser. Her unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead—or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes....

Grand, sweeping, utterly unforgettable, The Fiery Cross is riveting entertainment, a vibrant tapestry of history and human drama." - Back Cover 

My Thoughts

Approximately 1,400 pages later, The Fiery Cross got me through most of December and into the new year! This is the first review of 2021, and the fifth in the Outlander series that I began in 2020. 

This novel really starts to step away from the television series, while some of the main events still occur, most of the novel and specifically the small details of how the main events come about really starts to change.

Brianna and Roger really start to settle in to living in the 1770s and raising their son Jeremiah with the help of Claire and Jamie. Claire's role as a healer has been firmly established in the area, and Jamie has firmly cemented himself as the leader of the community on Fraser's Ridge. 

Many of the storylines started in Drums of Autumn are continued and resolved in this novel and start to set up new ones for the next installment in this series.

Can't wait to continue reading this series! 

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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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