Category Archives: Historical Fiction

The Light After the War, by Anita Abriel

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The above synopsis is provided by the publisher, and can be found here.

Overall, the synopsis is misleading. I did expect a romance based on it’s description, but I also expected other elements too due to the narrative about the two main characters, Vera and Edith, fleeing Budapest during WW2. (Really Vera is the main character and Edith is her best friend that supports her throughout the story…but in some chapters, Edith is barely seen.)
Vera’s time during the war is expressed in flashbacks, and is limited throughout the novel. They are very short flashbacks. Most of the story revolves around Vera and Edith’s hunt to find love and make a home.
In the second half, I started counting Vera’s flashbacks; she has three flashbacks after 50% of the novel. And these flashbacks sometimes have little significance; for example one is her shortly recounting the time she saw a ballet.

I am not sure what exactly the plot was supposed to be, but the story is set during 1946-1950 and centers around Vera who is a 19 year-old that has escaped Nazi-Germany with her friend Edith. It bounced around starting with one path but then would abandon the path it was on and begin another: from romance to grieving back to romance to culture/society back to romance to family back to romance, so the direction and where it was headed was obscure for me.
I kept reading hoping the story would evolve, but there were no huge climatic plot elements. The characters were underdeveloped with little to no penetrating depth in the dialogue, and much of what happens to the girls is filled with happy coincidences.

If you like light romances set during WW2 with romanticized dialogue then you will enjoy this novel very much. The romance is very much stylized like an old fashioned cookie-cutter romance.

The other cover for the book that you might see depending on the region you live in.
Author, Anita Abriel. Visit her book’s page on Simon and Schuster.

Visit Anita Abriel’s website or follow her on Goodreads.

More about this:
There is a rich history for Budapest, especially during and after WW2. (Though it wasn’t strongly presented in this novel.)
Below is a picture of “Shoes on the Danube”, a memorial to the Holocaust victims who were brought to the edge of the Danube river, told to remove their shoes, and then shot.

Read about Holocaust victims murdered at the Danube.

Read about the Death March from Budapest and the Budapest Ghetto.

I received an advance copy of The Light After the War from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions are my own.

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Dreamland, by Nancy Bilyeau

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“Everything is real on Coney Island – and nothing is real.”

Peggy Battenberg is requested to stay with her family on Coney Island. She reluctantly accepts. Peggy feels trapped within her family, their name, their riches, and she wants to shape her own identity. Shortly after arriving to the Oriental Hotel on Coney Island, prejudices are unearthed and a prevalent divide of social classes greet her while making her way to Dreamland. But, women begin to show up dead. Who can she trust and why is she being followed?

“On Coney Island, you can always find someone to do anything.”

Restrictions on women and the treatment of foreigners are spotlighted throughout the story. It focuses on the social structure and the formation of society on Coney Island during 1911 more so than the police procedural. The lush atmosphere was a character in itself and played a dominant role in the movement of the story.

Technical Stuff:
It starts with a woman being murdered in the Epilogue, but the murder is not revisited until the main character, Peggy, begins her extended stay at Coney Island which is sometime during chapter 5. (There are a total of 37 chapters.) However, the story deviates from the murder mystery for quite sometime after this chapter and instead focuses on the main character’s struggle for independence within her rich family, and her new found romantic interest. Because of this, the murder mystery fell to a quiet whisper until chapter 28 (or 78% into the story on a Kindle) when Peggy decides to look for the killer who has been murdering women on the island. That only leaves an eventful 22% left for the reader. I was wanting more suspense throughout the entirety.

The novel was very well researched. Click around below to learn more about Dreamland.

The Oriental Hotel, a Coney Island luxury hotel in the 1890’s. Peggy’s family stays at the Oriental Hotel in the novel.
Hellgate, a boat ride at Dreamland before it burned down. The are several scenes that include Hellgate in the novel.

Visit Nancy Bilyeau’s website to get more information about her books.

Thank you to Hannah Groves from Endeavor Media for providing me with an advance copy. Opinions are my own.

The Whispers of War, by Julia Kelly

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Above is the book synopsis taken from Julia Kelly’s page.

The title explains the book; it is quite literally chatter about the war. There is a lot of dialogue and conversation among the three friends about war coming. There is nothing militaristic except a few mentions of a blackout, and the details of the Jews suffering is negated. The synopsis mentions internment camps. But again the internment camps is only chatter among the friends and it never goes beyond their conversation.

The plot itself transpires around the social transformations during 1939 and 1940 for the three friends Marie, Nora, and Hazel. With various backgrounds, the main drama ensues around Marie who is of German descent living in Britain. Marie is painted as the victim of anti-German sentiments during the onset of WWII. The friends circle around Marie to provide support while politics begin to intrude the homes of Britain and divide families.

I found the dual timeline unnecessary. Samantha (now/present) is to deliver her grandmother’s eulogy, so she travels from America to Britain to visit with her friend Nora in order to learn more about her grandmother (Marie) so that she can write a proper eulogy. There isn’t any puzzle piecing involved with the dual timeline.

Overall, this was an okay read for me. It was a lot of talking and not a lot of happening. There was also plenty of romance, which I don’t mind, but I didn’t find it very pertinent to the storyline.

Julia Kelly is the author of Light over London, a best-selling historical fiction novel.

Visit Julia Kelly’s website to learn more.

https://youtu.be/HXsNOLyaDms

I received an advance copy of The Whispers of War from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions are my own.

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Sin Eater, by Megan Campisi

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“Sins of our flesh become sins of hers through the Eating, praise be.”
After committing a crime, 14-year-old May is condemned to be a sin eater. She begins to follow the elder sin eater to learn her new job. While learning, a deer heart is placed at someone’s Eating although the dead didn’t confess to the sin that matches that food. May decides to discover the truth of the murder mystery, but she finds secrets, witchcraft, and lies along the way and her world is quickly and quietly turned upside down. “My soul carries the sins of this town. I’ll carry them with me until I die.”

Throughout the story, May examines her new purpose and the new freedoms it provides. She internally ponders the meaning of her identity: does the role of a sin eater define her?

“I wish you could show folk your insides the way you show your face. Then they’d know I’m not wicked at all.”

I really enjoyed taking this journey with May. She was a very unique character, and it was both bleak and fun to be inside of her head.

Overall thoughts:  The 16th century setting was phenomenal. It was eerie, dark, and I was easily transported there. The ending was fantastic. I thought I had the mystery all figured out, but I was wrong! Of course, there are a couple of things you might figure out along the way, but the final twist at the end totally caught me off guard. The main character is unique and her burden as a sin-eater is interesting to follow. I love how May names the people that she encounters; she is a quirky character and I loved her. My only complaint is that in the middle it started to get repetitive with May going to someone’s house who was dying, listening to their sins, and then eating the foods to carry on their sins for them. This made the pacing in the middle get a bit slow.

There are several old English words, so you might consider reading this on a Kindle to translate the words that are unfamiliar.

I recommend this to historical fiction lovers who don’t mind imaginative elements. May was awesome and I miss her already. This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley and Edelweiss for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

More about this:

What is a sin eater? -According to Wikipedia

Sin eaters and the lost sacraments

Sin eaters eat your sins

Visit her author page on Simon and Schuster.

Visit her website for events, books, contact info, plays and other stuff!

Read Publisher’s Weekly review for Sin Eater.

Click here to visit Pan Macmillan’s page for Sin Eater, by Megan Campisi.

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Toward the Midnight Sun, by Eoin Dempsey

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In 1897, a young girl named Anna is escorted to Dawson City by two men because her father has sold her as a bride to pay of his debt. She is sold to a wealthy man who has made his fortune off of the gold rush and is called “King of the Klondike”. Along the way, several people doubt her ability as a woman to make the journey. Anna then falls in love with another, but knows she must stay with her fiance in order to secure her families survival.

This map is provided in the novel before the story begins.

The writing style and dialogue were extremely dry for this novel, and it was completely different from his other novels. The first half which details their trip to Dawson City was really boring. I thought that would be the exciting part, but it wasn’t until Anna reached Dawson City and the drama between her and her fiance ensued that the plot started to pick up the pace; moving slow rather than dragging. There was a small twist at 65% (on a kindle) but it the plot still continued to be dull…..it isn’t until 86% that anything of great interest occurs.

Historically, there is mention and a brief memory of the Battle of Wounded Knee. Women’s inequality is discussed and seen throughout Anna’s journey. The overall atmosphere for the time period in this novel is very bleak. I was expecting to learn a lot about the gold rush in Alaska, but I didn’t learn a lot in this novel.

Technical notes–Anna begins her journey on a ship to Skagaway for the first 10% (on a Kindle). Their stay and encampment at Skagway is detailed from 10-20%. At 20%, they reach the Dyea settlement, and at 21% they begin the Chilkhoot Trail. The Chilkhoot Trail is detailed from 21-45% and on the trail they stop at Canyon City, Sheep Camp, and the Scales. Anna reaches Dawson at 45% and the remainder of the novel happens there focusing on the romance.

For the majority of the story, I was bored and disengaged. I was very disappointed since I really enjoyed his other novels. I will still be looking forward to his next novel, though this one was not my favorite.

Read more about Eoin Dempsey at his website.

Visit his Facebook page to get more updates.

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The Words I Never Wrote, by Jane Thynne

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Two sisters, Irene and Cordelia, find themselves on different political sides of WWII. Irene, married to a high ranking Nazi official, resides in Berlin while Cordelia moves to Paris to work for a journalist reporting on the Nazi’s. Throughout the book, the two sisters periodically communicate through letters.

Underwood Portable typewriter like Cordelia would have used.

It starts out with a modern day character, Juno, in a typewriter shop during 2016. She finds Cordelia’s typewriter from when she was a journalist and purchases it because she also finds a copy of an unpublished novel Cordelia wrote in the typewriter case. Juno goes home and reads Cordelia’s manuscript. Juno’s POV does not pick up again until 59% (on a Kindle).

The first half of the book revolves around the evolving politics of the Nazi party as seen through the eyes of Irene who attends many parties and political events with her Nazi husband. She struggles to accept her role as a wife according to the National Socialist Guide and feels like she must yield in order to survive.

“If you’re going to fit in, you’ll need to accept the way Germans do things.”

Meanwhile, her sister, Cordelia, reports on fashion in Paris while working for a journalist and questions her sisters political allegiance and ethical behavior. Will the two sisters be able to reconcile after the war, or will their political views keep them divided?

“How could a person be dragged screaming into a police care on the streets of a civilized city and not even turn heads?”

Historically : There are lot of prominent historical figures involved in the story such as Martha Dodd, Janet Flanner, Joseph Goebells, Reinhard Heydrich, Sylvia Beach, Arthur Koestler, and Kim Philby. There is dialogue regarding gender inequality; Cordelia has to first work as a secretary because women weren’t seen to be fit as journalist working alongside men, while Irene had to follow the Nazi protocol for being a proper wife and running a household. Degenerate artists are also a considerable subject that are detailed through a character seen in the second half, Oskar Blum, a young artist who is a protege of Liebermann.

“Jew lackeys like Liebermann have a polluting effect. Our culture is cleaner without their entartete Kunst.”

Overall thoughts:  The scenes and descriptions are over-extensive and drawn out which made it feel longer than it had to be. It was slow in some places and a little under halfway through I started to feel eager for the story to climb. (It doesn’t truly reach climax until around 80% on a Kindle.) I enjoyed that the focus was before the war and what led up to it (1936/1937) and then the end of the war (1945/46) rather than what happened during the war. The ending was great and I really enjoyed it. I also loved the political climate that the author creates, and consider the topic of political influence dividing family as relevant today.

(Trigger- rape scene)
Thank you to Random House Ballantine for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Kim Philby’s speech on becoming a double agent. (In The Words I Never Wrote, Kim Philby plays a big role in Cordelia’s life.)
Read about Martha Dodd and her relationship with Nazi’s.









From Jane Thynne:

Visit Jane Thynne’s website to learn more.

Enter the book giveaway for The Words I Never Wrote. Valid November 3-17, 2019.

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Where the World Ends, by Geraldine McCaughrean

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CILIP Carnegie Medal Winner

This book is true to the blurb. Set in 1727, a group of boys from Hirta go hunting on a sea stac in St. Kilda. No one comes to pick them up as they normally do and they become stranded for many months.

Most of the time, the story dragged. It’s mostly about their day-to-day mundane happenings and a lot of birds. Here and there something of interest happens though. For the most part though, I felt bored and disengaged. Though the dark atmosphere and setting were painted remarkably, the story itself was tedious. There were 2-3 points where I was wanting to know what was going to happen, but they were short-lived moments.

I think middle grade students would find this uninteresting and I think they would also get confused. This is quite possible true for upper grade levels as well. It says this is for ages 10 & up. I do not agree that this is on a 10 year old reading level. This should say 13-14 year old & up because of the vernacular and literary skills necessary.

The novel is very loosely based on a true story. Revealed in the end by the author, the only true part of the story is that in the 1700’s a group of young men did get stranded for 9 months and survive. That is literally all that is known. No other details survive about the true account as to how they survived, etc. The premise for this book, because of the true story, is interesting. But this novel, which details their time being stranded on the sea stac, left me feeling bored except for a a few parts.

I didn’t like the story, but I didn’t completely hate it. It was okay. I received an advanced copy from Netgalley and the publisher. Opinions are my own.

Sea stac at Armin. Visit The Guardian’s photo gallery to view more photos of St. Kilda.

Read praise for Where the World Ends is by Undiscovered Scotland.

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Once Night Falls, by Roland Merullo

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A November 2019 Amazon First Reads pick.

“Why did pain exist? Why did evil exist? Why had God allowed men like Hitler and Mussolini to come to power?”

Beginning with the reprisal killings at Piazzale Loreto, the story goes through Italy’s political and militaristic transitions during Mussolini’s dethronement by the king starting with his banishment/hiding at La Maddalena. It has graphic moments and incorporates a fair amount of history. It recounts the Nazi’s invasion of Italy (though brief) and describes the implementation of antisemitic laws and practices in Italy during WW2. The story runs through each character’s conflict (mostly at night as the title implies) and continues as does Mussolini staying hidden. Each character is connected in some way and wants to learn Mussolini’s whereabouts to either help kill him, help reinstate him, or help imprison him. In this fictional tale, Mussolini’s death is not featured since the story ends beforehand. Because of this, I cannot say that I completely liked the fictional ending. It seemed to stop suddenly and without closure for the reader. The epilogue does account for his death, though the epilogue is a statement of facts.

“Now the king has removed il Duce from power and hidden him away, and everybody is desperately trying to find him– the Allies to take him prisoner, Hitler to rescue him, our comrades to kill him.”

There are a lot of characters in motion, and they skip around quite a bit. The chapters alternate without pattern, and a new character is introduced all the way until chapter 12. This took some adjusting as a reader.
For example- chapter 1 Sarah, chapter 2 Mussolini, chapter 3 Frederico, chapter 4 Luca, chapter 5 Maria, chapter 6 Don Claudio, chapter 7 back to Mussolini, chapter 8 Silvio Merino, chapter 9 back to Luca, chapter 10, back to Sarah, and chapter 12 Otto.
There are not any indicators under or above the chapters such as the location, date, or character POV, so you have to figure it out as you go. Because of this, I do not recommend reading this book over a long period of time or it could be confusing to remember all of the various characters.

The characters POV include members of the Italian resistance, Benito Mussolini, priests, Nazi’s, Jews in hiding, Italians hiding Jews, counterfeit artists.
My favorite chapters were told from Mussolini’s POV and the Don Claudio (the priest) POV.

It is a good entertaining story. The writing is simple and easy to understand. There are traitors and secrets. I still really liked it even though I didn’t completely like the end and though it was hard to get emotionally attached to the characters though since there were so many. There is mild vulgar language and scenes that imply sexual acts.

This was taken from author Roland Merullo’s site.

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All the Ways We Said Goodbye, by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

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I would describe this as primarily a mystery of family lineage with the thrill of untangling the relationships of the characters in the past set over three different time periods. Secondly, I describe this as a romance. Each of the main characters has their own romantic relationship that is flourishing.

Summary: In 1914, heiress Aurelie seeks to restructure her future while war breaks out. In 1942, Daisy joins the resistance though her husband works for the Nazi’s. In 1964, shortly after her the death of her husband, Babs decides to find someone code-named “Le Fluer” who was part of the resistance during WW2 but had an alleged relationship with her husband.

Historically: The focus is not on the resistance, their fight, or the war. The reader does see a bit of resistance occur, but it is short-lived because the focus always turns back to the budding romance. The story revolves around their relationships. It very briefly mentions a few things that other novels have included such as Coco Chanel and the Velodrome. The Jews and their suffering are not detailed. The setting is historical, but historically nothing new is learned.

Chapter Organization : Each chapter alternates between three main characters: Aurelie, Daisy, and Babs. This takes adjusting on part of the reader. Each chapter is not short, so when a new chapter started, I often found myself having to internally remind myself which character that was and their background before beginning.

Overall Thoughts: There were a lot of scenes in Babs chapters that I found hard to believe. The story moved at a moderate pace until around 83% when the missing pieces of the lineage and relationship puzzle start to come together. (However, it was easy to predict most of these pieces.) This is a romantic mystery that takes place in the past. Overall, I kept reading to confirm my suspicions about the mystery concerning the relationships set in the past.
Thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and HarperCollins for a copy. Opinions are my own.

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The Secret Messenger, by Mandy Robotham

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1944, Venice: Stella, a member of the Venice Resistance Central Brigade, takes a job working in Nazi headquarters to help pass information to the resistance. Stella, an anti-fascist, risks her life daily by working among Black Brigade fascists and Nazi’s where she helps type and translate documents for them. Working for the enemy, Stella is asked to translate a document that will change her future and cause her to choose between her country or her family.

2017, Bristol: Luisa’s mother dies and she begins to go through her things. She unearths a plethora of artifacts that relate to her grandmother in her mother’s attic. Luisa seeks to find answers about who she is and the roots of her maternal family.

Historically: This is one of the stronger novels that pays homage to the women involved in the movements of resistance. The Jewish ghetto raids, the Bloody Summer of Venice, the bombing of Guidecca, the Riva dei Sette Martiri tragedy, and many others made a detailed appearance in this fictional account. The Nazi reprisals in Venice that were witnessed by Stella really struck a chord with me. The Ca’Littoria and Santa Maggiore jail are mentioned several times in this novel, though never any harrowing details.

My technical notes: Out of forty chapters total, fourteen of those chapters took place during modern day with Luisa’s character in 2017/2018. Luisa’s chapters in 2017/2018 are notably much shorter. Most of the story centers around the past during 1944 in Venice with Stella (26 chapters to be exact). A romance is involved and does play a large role in the story; however, I felt like it did not detract from the historical elements. I felt the romance complemented the story well. No vulgarity and no sexy details.

I really enjoyed this novel and learned a lot about Venice during 1944. I enjoyed the mystery behind Stella’s job and co-workers, which kept me trying to figure out who Stella could trust and who she couldn’t. Sometimes there were too many descriptions of the scenery concerning Venice that caused me to feel disengaged. I did not specifically look forward to Luisa’s chapters until the second half of the book. I appreciated that most of it focused on Stella rather than Luisa. The ending was fast paced and I blew through it. Overall, it really caused me to think about how we measure valor and it was a good read. Lovers of WWII historical fiction will enjoy The Secret Messenger.

Ada Gobetti, a central member of the Italian resistance movement. (Very briefly mentioned in the novel.)
An original vintage 1940S OLIVETTI M44 typewriter. Similar to the one Stella would have used in the story.
The site for the “The Seven Venetian martyrs”.
This image was taken from a travel guide and can be found here to learn more.

Mandy Robotham is the author of The German Midwife, her first novel. The Secret Messenger is her second novel.

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