historical fiction

Maria

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Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran

Fran, an aspiring writer, works for Oscar Hammerstein in 1959. He is completing the final songs for a new Broadway show, The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin. Maria von Trapp, unhappy with the script, comes to New York City to request some changes. Fran is sent to take her to lunch and they end up meeting several times. Maria doesn’t like how her late husband Georg is portrayed as a stern parent and thinks that the whole second half of the show is pure fiction. Also, Liesl is really Rupert. Maria was the stricter parent, after being raised by her grandmother in her aunt and uncle’s home. Maria’s father was a musician, who gave her a guitar.

Fran’s story as a working girl in 1959 New York is also quite interesting, as is her romantic life. Maria shares highlights of her life story with Fran, who gets to know Maria and her youngest daughter, and takes detailed notes for Oscar, who is ill. The last song he writes for the show is “Edelweiss,” not actually an Austrian folk song. The real-life stories of Maria and the von Trapp family make for a compelling read, and should appeal to readers of biographical fiction or fans of The Sound of Music.

Brenda

A Letter to the Luminous Deep

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A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall

This is a wondrous and strange story told in letters, journal entries, the equivalent of email, poems, and archives. It reads like historical fantasy, but it might not be. Most people live on or under the sea, with an archipelago of islands the only land around. Two of our characters, Sophy and her sister E. grew up in the Deep House, the only residence built deep underwater, designed by their mother, an architect. E. has anxiety and rarely leaves home. She is affronted when her artist brother arrives unannounced with his fiancée to study a structure that has appeared nearby. E. corresponds with Scholar Henery. Later Henery’s brother Vyell also corresponds with Sophy.

This marine world is described beautifully, as are scientific explorations on and far beneath the surfaces. Most of the characters are scholars, and descriptions of their colleagues and academic departments delight. Emails are known as automated posts. The language is a bit flowery, as of another era, though women are equal with men in academia and gay marriage is common. There are hints of a calamity and plenty of excitement, along with mystery, humor and some gentle romance. Book Two of The Sunken Archive is planned.

Brenda

A Daughter of Fair Verona

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A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this historical rom com, set 20 years after the events of Romeo & Juliet. In this version, Romeo and Juliet have a different ending, and are raising a family in Verona. Oldest child Rosaline is almost 20 and still unmarried. She’s had a few fiancés, but has matched them with other young ladies. Then Duke Stephano, widowed multiple times, encounters Rosie and wants to marry her, even without a dowry. Rosie is enamored of fair Lysander, who climbs into the Montague compound with a special ladder, and they have a few humorous encounters. Then there’s the scarred Prince Escalus, who’s raising his young sister, Princess Isabelle. Rosie’s whole family likes Isabelle, and she enjoys their lively and boisterous household, with loving parents. Many women are attracted to Romeo, but he only has eyes for his Juliet, who is pregnant, again. Romeo still has a temper, as does Rosie.

Rosie spends time at the apothecary shop run by Friar Laurence, escorted by her formidable Nurse. They all go to the scene when a young man is poisoned, and later find another apothecary dead. Rosie is soon suspected of murder and needs to clear her name lest she be sent to a nunnery, so she investigates. The investigation makes this novel a mystery, but it’s mostly a family story set in Verona with some romance and quite a lot of humor. I enjoyed the setting and the characters, and look forward to a planned sequel. The recipe for Juliet’s fruit and nut bread is available on the author’s website, here.

Brenda

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

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The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

In 1919, Constance Haverhill has lost her mother to influenza and then her nephew. She helped run the local estate during the war, but now is sent to a seaside hotel in Hazelbourne as companion to Mrs. Fog, convalescing from the flu. Constance has no home or permanent job since her mother’s death. This historical novel seems to be meant to occasionally move the reader to anger or indignation on how some of the characters are treated, by other characters or society at large.

Captain Harris Wirrall, a pilot in the war, lost a leg and can’t get work as a pilot. His sweetheart doesn’t want him, and his mother is remodeling Penneston Hall with funds he doesn’t have. His sister Poppy runs a women’s tax business: motorcycles with side cars. Hotel waiter Klaus, with German ancestry, has daily indignities to face, and more. Mr. Pendra gets discriminated against simply for being Indian, though he served valiantly in the war. A German U-boat is stranded on the beach, and the leaders of Hazelbourne try a variety of ways to have it removed or destroyed.

I attended Jane Healey’s Historical Happy Hour recently where she interviewed author Helen Simonson. Helen, who lives in Sussex and is best known for her book Major Pettigrew Takes a Stand, researched this novel from home in 2020. Among other digital resources, Helen read digitized issues of early motorcycling magazines, and learned about another town with a stranded U-boat. Her grandparents had a motorcycle with a sidecar.

Constance’s childhood friend, Mrs. Fog’s granddaughter, is coming back to Hazelbourne for a wedding to a rather unpleasant American. Mrs. Fog reconnects with her old sweetheart from Barbados, but her family doesn’t approve. Constance finds herself taking a few flying lessons, and stands in as a copilot when someone else gets cold feet about flying in a Sopwith Camel.

Other than mysteries, I haven’t read many books set immediately after World War I.  The author’s research helped Constance’s daily life and the seaside setting come to life. This is a memorable though bittersweet read, as women find it hard to keep jobs after the war and everyone is grieving the loss of someone from either the war or influenza. Constance, Harris, Poppy, and Mrs. Fog are all vividly drawn characters, and I wanted to read more about them.

Brenda

The Air Raid Book Club

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The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons

This is a heartwarming historical novel, set during World War II, on the Home Front in England. My sister suggested the book to me, and her book club is planning to discuss it later this year. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jilly Bond. I took three weeks to savor the audiobook, and found myself thinking about the characters and the story at other times. It is very British, and often funny, even though it’s set during the war.

Gertie Bingham misses her late husband Harry so much that she is thinking of retiring and moving to a beach side town with her dog, Hemingway. She wants to sell Bingham Books, on the outskirts of London, to another bookseller, but her realtor hasn’t found the right buyer. Gertie’s assistant Betty is continuing to run their longtime book club, but Gertie’s stopped participating. Gertie’s Uncle Thomas, who owns a bookstore in London, is dismayed at her plans, as is her longtime friend Charles. Instead, Charles wants Gertie to consider fostering one of the Jewish children he is helping rescue from Germany. Reluctantly, she agrees, but only if the child is a girl who can already read. Enter Hedy Fisher, a serious young teen. First there’s the language barrier, and Hedy’s homesickness for her parents and brother Arno. Hemingway the dog and Betty become Hedy’s friends. Gertie and Elsa, Hedy’s mother, correspond, and gradually Hedy and Gertie learn to understand each other. When war is declared between Germany and Great Britain, all Hedy’s family can send are 25-word telegrams. Then the air raids begin in England.

The community comes together in the war effort, and they discuss books in the bookstore’s air raid shelter. A few women in the neighborhood are prickly types, but have soft hearts underneath. There are some romances and a few wartime marriages, and the book club extends its reach by mail all over Europe. While there are dark days in plenty here, the war violence is off screen. I won’t share more of the plot as it might take away from the experience of reading this deeply satisfying and engaging story. Gertie and Hedy, along with Hemingway, should win the hearts of many readers.

Brenda

The Great Divide

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The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez

This historical novel is set in 1907 in Panama and Barbados, during the building of the Panama Canal. It takes a while for the varied characters to have their stories connect, but individually they are interesting and the connections are intriguing. Fisherman Francisco Aquino sells the fish he catches to Joaquín. Francisco’s son Omar doesn’t like being out on the water. His mother apparently drowned many years ago. Omar goes to work on the canal, to the disapproval of his father. They don’t speak anymore, just eat dinner together then go to sleep. When Omar doesn’t come home for a few weeks, Francisco worries, but isn’t sure what to do.

Joaquín resells the fish she buys from the fisherman. His wife Valentina and her sister grew up in the town of Gatún, which is to be moved for the canal. Valentia takes Joaquín to Gatún for a visit, and wants him to start a protest.

The working conditions on the canal are terrible, though the men are made to take quinine to try to prevent malaria. Omar gets malaria anyway, and collapses. He is helped by Ada and a doctor. Ada Bunting, 16, comes from Barbados. She is looking for work in Panama because her sister needs expensive medical treatment. They grew up in a house that her mother had moved when she was a baby. Ada’s mother is a seamstress and dress designer. The doctor, John Oswald, is impressed by Ada, and hires her to tend his wife Marian, who is ill.

Eventually Omar returns home to his silent but very relieved father. There are more characters and plot twists, but the focus is on the canal and how it is affecting the workers and the villagers. I really enjoyed Henríquez’s contemporary novel The Book of Unknown Americans. The Great Divide is a compelling read, but not as memorable as I’d hoped. This is a Read with Jenna selection.

Brenda

The High Society Lady Detective Series

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Murder at Archly Manor, Murder at Blackburn Hall, and The Egyptian Antiquities Murder by Sara Rosett

I’m always looking for new mystery series to read. I enjoy cozy and historical mysteries, and some British police procedurals but have started reading quite a few mystery books that are either too light and fluffy to keep my interest or written to a formula and not distinctive enough to be memorable. Other mysteries are darker than I’m in the mood to read. So, I’m happy to discover the High Society Lady Detective Mysteries by Sara Rosett. I’ve enjoyed her contemporary series featuring Ellie Avery, a military spouse and mother who has become an expert at organizing and moving, and talented at solving mysteries as well. There are already seven titles in this historical series featuring Olive Belgrave, and I was impressed by the first three titles. They are set in London in 1923, and in houses in the English countryside.

Olive is living in a boarding house in London, looking for steady work, when her aunt asks her to investigate the background of her daughter Violet’s fiancé Alfred Eton. With the help of her cousin Gwen (and Gwen’s hand-me-down gowns) and her friend Jasper Rimington, Olive sets out to uncover the mysterious Alfred’s past. An unfortunate accident during a fireworks show has Olive searching for a possible murderer.

The second book, Murder at Blackburn Hall, finds Olive back in London, with most of her sleuthing involving locating missing pets. Then a publisher contacts her to locate a missing mystery author, whose latest manuscript is overdue. The challenge is that no one knows what the author looks like. A body is found on the riverbank near Blackburn Hall, possibly an accidental death. There are a couple of big secrets for Olive, and occasionally Jasper to uncover, when not playing golf or attending formal dinners at the Hall. The setting is described in just enough detail, and I liked that Olive is smart, not unnecessarily putting herself in danger. The Egyptian Antiquities Murder, set at a large town house in London owned by an amateur archaeologist, is atmospheric without being spooky, and the mystery is quite clever. I actually listened to the audiobook of Blackburn Hall, with a very good narration by Elizabeth Klett, before I read the other two books, I look forward to reading the other books in the future.

Good Night, Irene

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Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea

This is stunning, emotional read. Inspired by the experiences of his mother Phyllis in World War II, the author did a lot of research with his wife and daughter in the United States and western Europe to tell the fictional story of Irene, Dorothy, and an assortment of Third Girls. Irene and Dorothy joined the American Red Cross in 1943 and traveled to England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Driving a truck called Rapid City, they provided comfort and cheer to the American troops, serving up coffee and donuts, playing records, and handing out gum candy and cigarettes. Sometimes they got too close to the front lines and had as much emotional trauma to deal with as the soldiers and aviators they supported. But there was camaraderie, romance, and occasional rest breaks in places like Cannes on the French Riviera.

While this is very different from Naperville author Urrea’s amazing book The House of Broken Angels, they are both compelling reads and unforgettable stories. Good Night, Irene is heartwarming, hard to put down, very grim in parts, and is vividly written. It was especially interesting to read after The First Lady of World War II, in which Eleanor Roosevelt visited Red Cross sites in the South Pacific. If your book group reads some historical fiction and is looking for their yearly World War II novel, this would be a good selection, along with Mrs. Porter Calling by A.J. Pearce. A fascinating epilogue and the author’s notes are a must read.

The Housekeepers

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The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

This historical thriller is set in fashionable Mayfair, London in 1905. The DeVries mansion on Park Lane will be the location for a lavish costume ball in June, and possibly a grand heist to rival that of Ocean’s Eleven. The housekeeper, Mrs. King, has just been fired. She has an unexpected connection to the recently deceased Wilhelm DeVries. Wilhelm was originally Danny O’Flynn, who made his fortune the South African diamond trade, funded with a loan from his sister, Mrs. Bone. Winnie is the previous housekeeper, Alice is seamstress to Miss DeVries, Hephzibah is an actress, and Janes One and Two are temporary parlormaids as well as trapeze artists.

Previous maids have disappeared; perhaps they learned too many secrets, or were pregnant. The seven women, headed by Mrs. King, decide to clean the house of all its valuable contents the very same night of the ball. The costume ball is Egyptian themed, including camels, a miniature pyramid, and a water feature.

Can the women agree on an equal partnership, find the funds to hire specialized help, and come up with a detailed plan, as well as backup plans? Mrs. King must decide if the handsome footman William needs to be included, and what to do about the creepy Lord Ashley, possible suitor to Miss DeVries. The ball and the heist are both astounding, and well detailed. Neither the ball or the heist goes to plan, of course, and very important guests might arrive just as the heist is taking place.

Very cleverly plotted and entertaining, with an intensifying pace. Although I don’t believe film rights have been sold, this debut novel would be visually stunning and very witty as a movie.

Brenda

Courting Dragons

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Courting Dragons: A King’s Fool Mystery by Jeri Westerson

This historical mystery is set in Greenwich, London, at the court of King Henry VIII, in 1529. Yes, that Renaissance King Henry. Court Jester Will Somers is in his mid-20’s and has challenging work, entertaining the King and his court, tumbling, making music, sharing gossip, teasing the nobility, and also being a good confidant for the young king, who he calls Harry or Uncle. Will was a real person, and was a jester for King Henry and even young Queen Elizabeth, and had his portrait painted at least twice. This is the first book in a planned series.

Many of the book’s characters are fictions, including Lady Marion, an embroideress who Will loves. Will also likes men, dallying with a servant and a visiting Spaniard. This secret is dangerous, and he could be blackmailed. As this is a mystery, Will also turns sleuth, when one man is killed, someone else is attacked, and Marion is almost killed. Was Marion the target, or was it one of Anne Boleyn’s ladies in waiting. Anne is not yet queen, as Henry is still married to Catherine of Aragorn, his first wife. The colorful daily life of Henry’s court comes to life, especially as a fool can go almost anywhere. This mystery really kept my interest, and I look forward to reading a sequel.

Readalikes include Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon, the first of six Fool’s Guild mysteries and A Play of Isaac by Margaret Frazer, the first of seven mysteries featuring Joliffe.