Review: Above All Things

Author: Tanis Rideout

Title: Above All Things

Description: Novelized account of the explorer George Mallory and his wife Ruth as George begins his third attempt on Mount Everest in the 1920’s.  

Review source: This was a book group book.

Plot: Rideout is fairly limited with the plot, since she follows the historical account closely.

Characters: When an author’s hands are tied in terms of plot, the reader expects a lot from characterization, and here Rideout doesn’t disappoint. She gives us a sense both of what it was like for Ruth to be left at home with three small children and for George, who had failed twice and was determined to succeed on the third attempt.

Writing style: The novel alternates between Ruth’s and George’s story, though George’s spans months, and Ruth’s is basically one long day as she waits for news.  This creates a nice effect, as we experience the sense with Ruth that time drags and that every day is the same, while for George, time is the one thing he doesn’t have; when the monsoon hits, the window of opportunity will close.

Audience: This is literary fiction, but readers of historical fiction and those who enjoy accounts of adventure should also like this book.

Wrap-up: There’s a different experience in reading a book when you already know how it will end. The journey is even more important, and Rideout more than meets expectations here. 5/5*.

Review: Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno

Author: Ellen Bryson

Title: The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno

Description: Bartholomew lives in P.T. Barnum’s American Museum as one of the “oddities”—the thin man. He’s quite content with his life there, and believes that he has been given a gift which he shares with the public who come to view him. He has a close, though non-romantic, relationship with the fat lady, Matina. Everything changes, though, when a new, top-secret curiosity comes to the museum.

Review source: I think I got this at ALA.

Plot: The new curiosity (Iell) is a source of mystery throughout the book. The plot revolves around Bartholomew’s reaction to her and the changes in his life as a result.

Characters: I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the strong attraction Bartholomew feels for the new girl. Part of it is the mystery, but there is nothing in the book that makes her seem so wonderful. Matina is described in much more attractive terms. I do like how the characters in the museum come across as real people regardless of the role they play in the sideshow.

Writing style: I couldn’t help but compare this book to The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb which I read fairly recently. The Barnums come across differently in each book, but they are really the only characters the books have in common. I liked the Autobiography better, I think, because it was more historical fiction, less mystery. And the mystery in this one is sort of a letdown.

Audience: Despite the fact that I keep referring to a mystery, this book isn’t a mystery. It mostly has a mysterious character. But I’d call it literary fiction.

Wrap-up: This book was fairly much of a disappointment, since I didn’t like Bartholomew, didn’t like Iell, and felt like the “payoff” was a letdown. 3/5*

Book Review: The Lincoln Conspiracy

Author: Timothy O’Brien

Title: The Lincoln Conspiracy

Description: Washington D.C. police detective Temple McFadden happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time; he sees a man murdered and ends up with a couple of documents that two powerful, clever, and possibly lethal men want really bad. Lincoln has just been assassinated, and Booth shot, but the Capitol is still buzzing with the aftermath of the crime and the challenges of reforming a nation after the Civil War. When the documents appear to have information about Lincoln’s assassination, McFadden decides to keep them and try to discover why people are so eager to get them.

Review source: Library Thing Early Reviewers

Plot: I love how O’Brien brought in actual historical characters; the research here seemed meticulous and the characters interact with “real people” in an entirely believable way (check out the story of Elizabeth Keckley).  There are plenty of plot twists; it took me awhile to figure out what was actually going on, but O’Brien ties it all together by the end.

Characters: The characters are probably the reason I enjoyed this book so much. I loved the main character and his wife and their friend Augustus; McFadden seems to have devoted friends all over Washington, and they all add color to the story.

Writing style: O’Brien keeps the plot moving but doesn’t neglect character or historical detail to do it.

Audience: Mystery fans, Lincoln buffs, those who like historical fiction.

Wrap-up: You can probably tell I like this book an awful lot. I would read any books in this series that O’Brien writes in the future.  5/5*

Book Review: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb

Author: Melanie Benjamin

Title: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb

Description: Lavinia Warren Bump (Vinnie) was a normal baby, but as a toddler, she stopped growing. She topped out at 32” tall, and her little sister Minnie was just a little shorter. Although she started out as a schoolteacher, she wanted to see the world, and her size gave her an excuse to leave home and travel. After a rough start as a sideshow attraction, she met P.T. Barnum and became one of his wonders.

Review source: I got this ARC at ALA last year, but the book has been out for a year now.

Plot: The author has done some wonderfully thorough historical research here. Her plot follows the incidents in Vinnie’s life.

Characters: It’s definitely a character-driven novel, my favorite kind. Vinnie, Minnie, Charles (Tom Thumb), and Barnum, along with many supporting characters all come to life here.

Writing style: Vinnie narrates the book with a good deal of foreshadowing (“If only I had known then what I know now…”).

Audience: It’s literary fiction; I think all ages and genders would enjoy it.

Wrap-up: I wasn’t expecting much out of this book, but it snuck up on me and grabbed me! Rarely do I read a book straight through (I’m usually reading it along with 20 or so others); this one merited a Saturday/Sunday read! I think I enjoyed the historical veracity along with a chance to imagine what it could be like to live such an unusual life. Highly recommended! 5/5*

Book Review: Chatterton

Author: Peter Ackroyd 

Title: Chatterton

Description (source):  Charles Wychwood, a sickly man who struggles to write poetry, comes across a portrait in an antique shop. He comes to the conclusion that the portrait, although it is of an elderly man, is actually of Thomas Chatterton, who supposedly had committed suicide as a teenager. The book moves back and forth in time between the present day and Chatterton’s lifetime, as well as the nineteenth century and novelist George Meredith who posed as the dead Chatterton for a famous painting by Henry Wallis—who absconded with Meredith’s wife.

Plot: As Charles tries to prove that Chatterton faked his own death and lived a long and successful life as a forger, Charles’ former employer, formerly successful novelist Harriet Scrope plots to get her hands on the painting in order to revive her dying career.

Characters: The majority of the action is set in the modern day, where none of the characters are attractive enough to the reader to inspire any regard whatsoever. The past, both Chatterton’s and Meredith’s are fragmentary and one never gets a sense of either of them as a person.

Writing style: I disliked Ackroyd’s writing style, probably because I disliked the characters so intensely that I begrudged spending my time with them. Charles, the protagonist, is so passive as to be slapworthy. Harriet is simply repulsive and refers to herself as “Mother.” Other more interesting characters such as Chatterton himself, come across as bit players, which in itself is frustrating.

Audience: this is literary fiction.

Wrap-up: The idea of a novel that features Chatterton, the famous painting of Chatterton, and the attempt to unravel their mysteries still beguiles me—and the idea is so much better than the execution that it’s a severe disappointment! 2/5*

I'm claiming this book for two reading challenges: the new author challenge (7/15) and the unread books challenge.

Book Review: Moloka'i

Author: Alan Brennert

Title: Moloka’i

Description (source): If you are familiar with the name Moloka’i at all, you probably know what this novel is about. Moloka’i is a Hawaiian island famous for its leper colony (Father Damien’s domain). Rachel is just a small child when leprosy strikes and she is separated from her family and sent to live on Molokai. The book follows Rachel’s life there as it is affected by events in Hawaii (the book opens while Hawaii is still under the monarchy) and by advances in medicine. 

Plot: The kind of book you’d classify as “sweeping narrative.” It basically follows one woman’s life from start to finish.

Characters:  Rachel, the heroine, is a very sympathetic character, and the reader identifies with and roots for her throughout the book. There are many interesting secondary characters as well, including some who are actual historical figures.

Writing style: This is one of the best-researched books I have read in a long time. Brennert is not a native Hawaiian, but the amount of historical detail is impressive, and it all rings true (though I don’t know enough about Hawaii to know for sure).

Audience: I think this book will mostly appeal to women, as it is woman and family-centered, though men who are interested in Hawaiian history or mission work with lepers would also enjoy it.

Wrap-up: Achingly sad at times, the book overall is the story of a life’s narrative, with some great times and some long, difficult trials. While it is educational due to the amount of medical and state history that is included, it never feels didactic. Our book group read this book, and I think it was unanimously enjoyed. 4/5*

Book Review: Cottage by the Sea

Author: Ciji Ware 

Title: Cottage by the Sea

Description: As the book opens, Blythe Barton Stowe is finalizing her divorce from her film director husband, who indicated his dissatisfaction with their marriage by getting her sister pregnant. She escapes the paparazzi by fleeing to Cornwall, where her family claims they originated. Stunned by the betrayal, she engrosses herself in planning a business with her new landlord, Lucas Teague. Meanwhile, she finds that Lucas has an ancestor who shares her name, and before she knows it, she is travelling back in time to share the experiences of the first Blythe Barton. Blythe’s time travelling experiences, her romance with Lucas, and her eventual confrontation with her ex-husband and her sister make up the plot of the novel.

Review source: this was a free book for kindle.

Plot: The most interesting part of the book for me was the business that Lucas and Blythe started. I’ll bet that wasn’t supposed to be the most interesting part. The time travel was interesting, since the reader really wasn’t sure what would happen—the modern-day Blythe only viewed events as if they were a movie; she didn’t participate in them.

Characters: The historical love triangle featured three really nasty characters who were difficult to care about, while Blythe and Lucas weren’t nasty, but they also weren’t really interesting.  Lucas’ relationship with his 10 year old son Richard provided some relief from boredom, as did the nasty Chloe, rival for Lucas’ affections.

Writing style: the author seemed to have an agenda promoting some weird DNA inheritance theory (i.e. Blythe’s troubles were partly caused by her ancestress’ flaws); too much print was wasted on this. Just call it bad karma and move along. Also, Blythe is from Wyoming, and the frequent “Wyomingisms” that she spouts are a bit much.

Audience: I had this book in the “fiction” folder on my kindle, but it was more of a romance.

Wrap-up: If you are a total sucker for time-travel romance, or romance of women who are betrayed by their own sisters, this book is for you. Otherwise, probably not. 2/5*

I'm claiming this book for three reading challenges: the new author challenge (1/15), the unread books challenge, and the Why Buy the Cow challenge.

Book Review: Year of Wonders

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Title: Year of Wonders

Description: In the 1600’s in a small village in rural England, an itinerant tailor sickens and dies. Although he had told his landlady to burn everything, those who had bespoken clothing demanded it, finished or not, and the plague started. Narrated by the tailor’s landlady, who also kept house for the local minister, Year of Wonders, based on a true story, tells how this village determined to isolate itself in order to avoid spreading the plague, and eventually lost two-thirds of its residents. The ill-educated townspeople tried everything they could think of to ward off the plague, after prayer seemed to have failed them, so the village dealt with accusations of witchcraft and religious fanaticism, as well as with those who would take advantage of others’ plight.

Plot: In a note at the end of the book, the author explains how she came across the story and which portions of it she fictionalized. Brooks deals deftly with a plot in which two-thirds of the main characters die.

Characters: Anna, the narrator, is all you could ask for in a protagonist. Though she was raised poor, she learned to read and write, and used the events she had to deal with to grow and even to gain knowledge. Her metamorphosis from uneducated peasant to woman of wisdom is skillfully portrayed. The secondary characters are also beautifully drawn, especially the Rev. Mompellion and his wife Elinor, Anna’s best friend, and Anna’s wretched father and step-mother.

Writing style: Brooks manages to write this story of death without being maudlin. The style is spare—the book is quite short—but eloquent.

Audience: This is literary fiction which would also be enjoyed by those who are interested in history or women’s studies.

Wrap-up: I really liked this book, which amazed me, since it is about the plague. The key, I think, is in Brooks’ choice of narrator; Anna is engaging and the reader cannot help but cheer for her as she bravely faces one disaster after another. One of my Top 11 for 2011! 5/5*

Book Review: The Apothecary's Daughter

Author: Julie Klassen 

Title: The Apothecary’s Daughter

 As we meet Lilly, the apothecary’s daughter, she stands on a bridge, wistfully looking for her mother, who deserted the family several years earlier.  Meanwhile, the apprentice apothecary her father recently acquired moves in but has difficulty learning the trade. Lilly’s life revolves around the shop, her family, including her mentally disabled brother, and her best friend, Mary, who suffers from epilepsy. When relatives of her mother visit, Lilly is given the chance to leave her small country village to taste life in London. Although she is courted by several young gentlemen, her status as the daughter of a tradesman and her past, tainted by her mother’s disappearance, hold her back from feeling free to marry. When her father’s serious illness calls her home, Lilly must choose between life as a young lady in London and life as a tradesman’s daughter in her small village.

This book wasn’t what I was expecting; genre-wise, it was more historical fiction than romance. While most romances revolve around the relationship of the hero and the heroine, The Apothecary’s Daughter definitely has a heroine, but several suitors vie for the hero’s role. This more realistic view of a courtship and eventual marriage identifies the book as historical fiction with romantic elements.  I found the details of the business—the apothecary’s shop, the medical treatments of that time, and the interaction between the various medical professions—to be the most fascinating aspect of the book.  For example, during the early to mid-nineteenth century, at least three professions—physicians, apothecaries, and surgeons—competed for patients. As a young woman, Lilly is not free to practice any of these professions, yet her intelligence and her familiarity with her father’s practice make her a natural to follow in his shoes. Her desire to help those in medical need often conflicts with the customs of the time, with potentially damaging results. There was a plot twist at the end of the book that seemed to change the book’s tone more than the author prepared us for—but it wasn’t enough to make me dislike the book.

Lilly is a sympathetic protagonist, if a little passive (actually, she is much less passive than women at that time are supposed to be, but more passive than I like heroines to be). Her friend Mary, the other residents of the village, and Lilly’s suitors are also well-drawn secondary characters. I enjoyed Klassen’s writing style for the most part. The story was engaging, the plot kept moving, the ending was not obvious, and the Christian content did not overpower the rest of the story. Speaking of Christian content, this book marked the continuation of a small trend for me. I tend to put books on my kindle and read them when I get around to it. The books are very generally classified into fiction, non-fiction, or romance, so I don’t know much about them when I start reading, since it has usually been several months since I downloaded the book. Recently, I’ve been surprised by several books which “turn out” to be Christian, sometimes as far as midway through the book. One book that I read all the way through without identifying it as such turned out to be aimed at the Christian market. I’m not sure if Christian fiction is attempting to broaden its appeal as a genre, or if writers are just becoming more subtle. At any rate, this book is marketed as Christian fiction. Both readers of romance and of historical fiction would enjoy the book, and I’d recommend it to young adult readers who like historicals.

I found Klassen’s approach to the “Christian” aspect of the book a little unusual. It seemed that for these characters, Christianity = prayer. So characters who pray in the book are “better” than characters who don’t; characters who stop praying are headed downhill, and their return to better times is heralded by more praying. There is a little bit of church attendance, but mostly, they just pray. This book was enjoyable and held my interest, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to seek out another by Klassen.  

Article first published as Book Review: The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen on Blogcritics.