historical fiction

Dear Miss Lake

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Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce

Another Emmy and Bunty book! This is the fourth novel set in wartime London, where journalist Emmy Lake is trying her hardest to help the readers of Woman’s Friend magazine cope until peace arrives. Starting in July 1944, the war in Europe is being won by the Allies, but times are still tough for the soldiers, nurses, and everyone on the homefront.

Emmy and her brother-in-law move the staff of the magazine, along with their spouses and three children to a country estate owned by Bunty’s grandmother. Emmy gets her dream work assignment, as an official war correspondent, and travels to Belgium. Bunty’s sweetheart proposes, a wedding is planned, but Emmy’s husband has to leave England on a secret assignment. Emmy connects with other women who are waiting and waiting for their husbands, sweethearts, or sons to come home. Will the war ever end? And when one of the magazine’s younger staff is overwhelmed by events and leaves without giving a forwarding address, there is plenty to worry about.

This doesn’t sound like a very cheerful read. And yet, this is heartwarming, sad, joyous, and funny in turns. The characters are the stars of this series, from best friends Emmy and Bunty, to their partners, coworkers, and the children in their lives. If you’re up to a few tears, this is an absolutely lovely and charming read for fans of historical fiction set in England. The first book is Dear Mrs. Bird, and the others are Yours Cheerfully and Mrs. Porter Calling.

I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

Brenda

Knave of Diamonds

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Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King

In 1925, Mary Russell encounters her uncle, Jacob Russell, for the first time in many years, after a Holmes family celebration near Paris. Jake is the family black sheep, and is looking for the Irish Crown Jewels that were stolen from Dublin Castle in 1907. The Jewels are known as the Order of St. Patrick. Jake may or may not have been involved in the theft.

The first mystery novel featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, was published 30 years ago, and there are now 19 novels and a collection of short stories. I’ve read and enjoyed most of them, and thoroughly enjoyed this adventure of Mary and Jake Russell and Sherlock Holmes, bouncing between England and Ireland, somewhat to Mary’s distress, as she does not care for sea crossings. They travel by train, car, donkey cart, and afoot as they trace the people and places connected with the Jewels, including The O’Mahony, and find that they are not alone in their search. Along the way, Mary and Sherlock acquire a housekeeper to replace Mrs. Hudson at their Sussex house. Mary, Sherlock, and Jake take turns narrating the chapters, which makes for entertaining reading. Uncle Jake, the possible jewel thief, is rather nervous to be under the close scrutiny of Sherlock Holmes. Mycroft Holmes also has a brief appearance, but the brothers are not seeing eye to eye here, and Sherlock mysteriously gives Mycroft an address in France to check out. Great fun, and a fairly low stakes mystery. What the reader doesn’t know until very late in the story is what plans Jake has for the Jewels if and when they’re found.

Brenda

The Lost Letters from Martha’s Vineyard

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The Lost Letters from Martha’s Vineyard by Michael Callahan

Another good beach read, this one a dual timeline novel set in 1959 and 2018. Actress Mercy Welles leaves Hollywood after a breakup to spend the summer of 1959 on Martha’s Vineyard. Going by her real name of Edie, she is soon recognized as Mercy, and is asked to star in a new play in an island theater. She also meets a charming oysterman, Ren.

In 2018, Kit O’Neill, a young tv producer in New York City, helps her older sister Claire clear out their late grandmother Nan’s house. In the attic, Kit finds mementos of Mercy Welles, and is stunned to learn of her grandmother’s hidden past. Unwisely, Kit doesn’t immediately share the news with Claire, telling her demanding producer Lucinda instead. Kit travels to Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Martha’s Vineyard to research Mercy’s life, where she also meets an attractive man, historian Seth.

Most of the chapters are told from Mercy’s point-of-view, and are hard to put down, if overly dramatic. Many family secrets are uncovered on Martha’s Vineyard, and there are a few similarities between her summer and the Nancy Drew mysteries she enjoys reading. Island life is appealing and the play sounds promising. A young but acclaimed actress, she is considering her next move when she’s asked to read for a starring role in a new movie based on Wuthering Heights. She and Ren bake apple pie, he teaches her to swim, and she meets the matriarch of one of the island’s first families, and falls in love.

Why did Mercy never share her story with her granddaughters, who she raised after their parents’ early deaths in a car accident? Kit, meanwhile, is trying to reconcile her memories of a very loving but occasionally tough grandmother with what she’s learning of a lovely young starlet. Mercy and the Martha’s Vineyard setting make this an immersive and memorable read, with plenty of romance and adventure.

Brenda

The Eights

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The Eights by Joanna Miller

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical novel set at Oxford University in 1920 and 1921. The Eights are four women entering St. Hugh’s College at Oxford. They are in the first group of women to matriculate at Oxford. Before 1920, women could study at Oxford but weren’t awarded degrees. World War I has been over for almost two years and women over 30 now get to vote in Great Britain.

Eight is the group’s corridor number. Beatrice is very tall, and her mother is a famous suffragist. Beautiful Dora is still mourning her brother and fiancé and struggles a bit with math. Otto (Ottoline) is brilliant at math, wealthy, the youngest of four sisters and doesn’t get on with her mother at all. Otto smokes, drinks, and likes to bend the rules. Marianne is devoted to her father, a rector, and goes home every other weekend to help out with his church work. She needs to do well on her exams to get a scholarship in English, and hopes to become a teacher.

The male Oxford students are not a very welcoming bunch. They tease and play pranks, though some are charmed by Dora and Otto. The reader is immersed into college life along with the Eights, and Oxford is lovingly described along with the many rules the women must follow and the mediocre food. There are a few flashbacks to their lives during the war. This memorable first novel makes me want to reread Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, set at Oxford a decade later, or Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. More, please!

Brenda

Eleanor and the Cold War

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Eleanor and the Cold War by Ellen Yardley

Read this mystery to view Washington, D.C. and New York in 1951 through the eyes of Kay Thompson, temporary secretary to Eleanor Roosevelt. Kay is 25 and very pretty, and expects to find an attractive, well-off man to marry rather than have a career. Working for Mrs. Roosevelt is quite the eye-opening experience. While many historical characters are featured, Kay is fictional, as is the mystery, the first in a planned series featuring Eleanor Roosevelt.

Eleanor is 66, and working with the United Nations. Kay is filling in as secretary for her aunt. Atomic scientist Elsa Meyer contacts Eleanor from Sweden, looking for her daughter Susan. Eleanor makes contact and arranges to meet her at Union Station in Washington. Kay and Eleanor instead find her body on the train. Detectives Barlow and O’Malley investigate, but Barlow assumes a Soviet communist is to blame, and doesn’t look further. Kay has reason to think the Russian is innocent, as is the train porter, and helps Eleanor investigate. Young politicians, another scientist, a man investigating Communists, and even young Jacqueline Bouvier, a newspaper photographer, are all involved. New York City, Washington, and Long Island are clearly described, with the historical figures, clothing, meals, drinks, department stores and women’s roles setting the story firmly in the early 1950s.

I look forward to another book in the series, and enjoyed reading about Kay and Eleanor. The author studied Eleanor’s autobiography and her many My Day newspaper columns to bring her character to life. A clever mystery that is perhaps deliberately tricky to figure out, but the characters and immersive setting make for an excellent read.

Brenda

The Secret War of Julia Child

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The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana Chambers

Diana Chambers takes the known facts of the life and work of Julia McWilliams (later Julia Child) from 1943 to 1945 and adds plenty of adventure, undercover work, and near-death experiences to create an exciting World War II novel set in Asia. Julia did work for the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, during the war in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and China, but didn’t talk much about her work. She certainly handled highly classified documents. Julia did meet and fall in love with mapmaker Paul Child, and they both enjoyed their introduction to Chinese food. The author traveled Julia’s route from India to Sri Lanka, then over the Himalayans to Kunming in western China, and her research brings the settings to life, along with the other historical characters. Readalikes include My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme and A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute.

Brenda

The Paris Gown

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The Paris Gown by Christine Wells

This engaging novel is set in Paris in 1956, featuring three women who met at Le Cordon Bleu several years ago. They have lost touch but reconnect in Paris. Parisian Claire is cooking at her father’s brasserie, but has dreams of cooking haute cuisine; especially challenging for a woman at that time. American Gina has broken off her engagement to Hal, an aspiring politician, after her father lost his fortune. She is writing a novel and works part-time at a bookstore.

Margot has returned from Australia, but is now going by Marie. She is working as a shop assistant at The House of Dior, and hasn’t let Claire know she’s back in Paris. Claire is gifted a gorgeous Dior gown, but has no occasion to wear it, so gives Gina the first chance to be fitted for the gown. Gina is invited to a ball where she’ll encounter her former fiancé Hal, who she still loves.

Cooking, fashion, and writing fill their days as the three women slowly reveal their secrets and alternately argue with and then support each other. Life for career women in 1950s Paris is challenging, and they all have decisions to make, as well as the chance for romance. Mid-century Paris is brought to life, making for an absorbing read that is neither lighthearted or too dark. Readalikes include Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah and Jennifer Robson’s The Gown and Coronation Year.

Brenda

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

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The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman

After her mother’s death, Augusta Stern’s Great Aunt Esther moves into the family apartment above their drugstore. Solomon Stern is the pharmacist, older sister Bess sells cosmetics, Irving Rivkin is the delivery boy, and Augusta is a cashier who learns about medicine and healing from her father and her aunt. Esther treats patients in the apartment with soup and herbs. The book title is a bit misleading, as neither Esther or Augusta makes a love elixir, although there is a bit of magical realism to Esther’s methods.

Set in Brooklyn in the early 1920s, and in south Florida in 1987, this is a heartfelt and enjoyable historical novel. It’s unusual in that the same main character is featured in both timelines. At almost 80, Augusta is still working as a hospital pharmacist, having altered her birthdate. She is finally ready to retire and her niece Jackie finds her an apartment at Rallentando Springs, a development for seniors, most of them Jewish, that includes a swimming pool and a book club. Augusta swims in the pool daily, and is stunned to meet Irving, who was her teenage sweetheart. She also encounters her late friend Evie’s handsome husband Nathaniel, who is not friendly with Irving. I appreciated that the seniors here are depicted as vibrant, active, and fairly healthy.

The author was inspired by the story of her husband’s great grandmother Goldie, a pharmacist, and by her father’s move to an assisted living residence in south Florida. Daily life in Prohibition era Brooklyn really comes to life and it was fun to read about the fashion trends of the 1980s. I found this book to be quite a good read, though her previous book, The Matchmaker’s Gift, is my favorite.

Brenda

Murder Among the Pyramids

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Murder Among the Pyramids by Sara Rosett

A new historical mystery series from Rosett is always welcome news. I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla Digital, with excellent narrating by Elizabeth Klett. Rosett researched 1930s Egypt, lady explorers, and more to creating the first Lady Traveler in Egypt mystery, featuring Blix Windway and Hildy Honeyworth. Blix was introduced in the 6th High Society Lady Detective series, Murder on a Midnight Clear. The author intends to continue the earlier series.

Blix is a resourceful young woman, traveling the world, taking photos, and delivering lectures to women’s groups. Often, she works as a lady’s companion to fund her travels. Arriving in France after a rough channel crossing, Blix needs to find a new patron to cover her travel past Paris. In Paris, Blix and her new traveling companion, Hildy Honeyworth, participate in an exciting road race in Paris.

They travel on to Marseilles, Alexandria, and then to Cairo, Egypt. There is a death in a tent near the pyramids, and an Egyptian diary and expensive jewelry go missing. When society gossips start whispering that Hildy is a suspect, Blix investigates. With the help of reporter Mr. Denby and the scornful Mr. Heathcliff, who works with but not for the police, Blix finds many clues, and almost gets caught up in a street riot. Egypt of the 1930s is vividly described, and Blix is a very appealing amateur detective. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery, which is wonderful historical armchair travel. I look forward to Blix and Hildy’s next adventure, on a trip down the Nile.

Brenda

What Time the Sexton’s Spade doth Rust

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What Time the Sexton’s Spade doth Rust by Alan Bradley

After a five-year wait, another Flavia de Luce mystery is most welcome. Flavia is a young teen in early 1950s England, a skilled chemist, and an amateur sleuth. Her clever younger cousin Undine has come to live in the large family house in Bishop’s Lacey, and constantly shadows Flavia. Flavia’s sister Daffy is still there, but oldest sister Ophelia is now married. Dogger and Mrs. Mullett look after the three girls and the house since their father’s death. Flavia and Dogger have long chats in the greenhouse.

Mrs. Mullett has also started cooking meals for Major Greyleigh, her long ago sweetheart. When he is found dead, she is suspected of cooking him poisonous mushrooms for breakfast. While sleuthing, Flavia uncovers a huge family secret and learns that Mrs. M also knows. Does Dogger? British intelligence is operating nearby and it looks like Flavia, Dogger, and also cousin Undine will have more fiendishly clever cases to solve in the future, to the delight of Flavia’s many fans.

Brenda