Tag: historical fiction

#BookReview Lily by Rose Tremain @vintagebooks

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LilyAbout the Book

Nobody knows yet that she is a murderer…

Abandoned at the gates of a London park one winter’s night in 1850, baby Lily Mortimer is saved by a young police constable and taken to the London Foundling Hospital. Lily is fostered by an affectionate farming family in rural Suffolk, enjoying a brief childhood idyll before she is returned to the Hospital, where she is punished for her rebellious spirit. Released into the harsh world of Victorian London, Lily becomes a favoured employee at Belle Prettywood’s Wig Emporium, but all the while she is hiding a dreadful secret…

Across the years, policeman Sam Trench keeps watch over the young woman he once saved. When Sam meets Lily again, there is an instant attraction between them and Lily is convinced that Sam holds the key to her happiness – but might he also be the one to uncover her crime and so condemn her to death?

Format: Hardcover (288 pages)             Publisher: Vintage
Publication date: 11th November 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Subtitled ‘A Tale of Revenge’, the narrative moves back and forth in time between Lily’s early years spent with a foster family, her time at the London Foundling Hospital and her subsequent employment at Belle Prettywood’s Wig Emporium. Throughout the book Lily is convinced that the crime she has committed will one day be discovered and that she will be condemned to death as a result. The circumstances of the crime are only revealed towards the end of the book, posing the question whether a crime of this nature can ever be justified even if its motivation is to save others.  

The book has echoes of the novels of Charles Dickens in the way it describes the experiences of those unfortunate enough to find themselves orphans. However, the cruel treatment experienced by the children taken in by the London Foundling Hospital is of a more extreme, and perverted, nature than anything found within the pages of Oliver Twist.  That treatment is in stark contrast to the affection Lily experiences from her foster family, Nellie and Perkin Buck and their three sons, on their farm in Suffolk. That idyllic existence comes to a sudden end when, at the age of six, Lily is removed from the family and returned to the Foundling Hospital. There, along with the other foundlings, she is ordered to ‘forget absolutely’ those who cared for her during the first years of her life; indeed she is told her foster family looked after her only because they were paid. The foundlings’ position is compared to slaves whose masters care nothing for them, but recognise only their monetary value. ‘You are like them… You are like those slaves. For did you not work for the people paid to care for you?’ In fact, Lily is cruelly beaten when, in an early expression of defiance, she attempts to write a letter to Nellie Buck.

A further cruel feature of the system is the way the foundlings are regarded as being the ‘carriers’ of the sins of their mothers – not their fathers, note. They are told they possess an innate wickedness, ‘a blood-wickedness which could lead then into deep thickets of sin and transgression’. Only through obedience and hard work can they pay for the supposed degeneracy of their mothers. As it transpires, wickedness and degeneracy is the province of others, particularly one especially monstrous character.

I found the absence of chapter breaks and the sudden unannounced changes in timeline (at least in my ARC) rather distracting and left me confused at times. However, whatever reservations I may have had about the book’s structure, there’s no doubt about the author’s ability to create beautiful prose. For example, when Lily and her friend, Bridget, travel through the countryside as evening falls in search of a place of refuge. ‘The air they breathed had a taste to it of things burned and gone. And it was not still. It moved in strange patterns, like a wispy black scarf threatening to touch their faces, then suddenly disappearing to reveal the way ahead..’  

A side plot involves Lily search for the mother who abandoned her. The book also depicts Lily’s growing friendship with her employer, the irrepressible and flamboyant Belle, and Lily’s confused feelings towards Sam who is both her guardian angel but also the person who might bring her to justice.

Lily is a character you can’t help rooting for and, although bleak at times, the book has great period atmosphere and a touching ending that offers a little ray of light in the darkness.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Vintage via NetGalley.

In three words: Dark, moving atmospheric

Try something similar: A Book of Secrets by Kate Morrison

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RoseTremainAbout the Author

Rose Tremain’s best-selling novels have won many awards, including the Baileys Women’s Prize, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Prix Femina Etranger. Restoration, the first of her novels to feature Robert Merivel, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She lives in Norfolk and London with the biographer Richard Holmes. (Photo/bio: Goodreads author page)

Connect with Rose
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#BlogTour #BookReview Gods of Rome (Rise of Emperors 3) by Gordon Doherty and Simon Turney @AriesFiction

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Gods of Rome - Blog Tour Banner

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Gods of Rome by Gordon Doherty and Simon Turney, the third and final instalment in the Rise of Emperors series. My thanks to Jade and Andrew at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy.

Gods of RomeAbout the Book

For one to rule, the other must die.

312 AD is a year of horrific and brutal warfare. Constantine’s northern army is a small force, plagued by religious rivalries, but seemingly unstoppable as they invade Maxentius’ Italian heartlands. These relentless clashes, incidents of treachery and twists of fortune see Maxentius’ armies driven back to Rome.

Constantine has his prize in sight, yet his army is diminished and on the verge of revolt. Maxentius meanwhile works to calm a restive and dissenting Roman populace. When the two forces clash in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, there are factors at work beyond their control and soon they are left with carnage.

There is only one way Constantine and Maxentius’ rivalry will end. With one on a bloodied sword and the other the sole ruler of Rome . . .

Format: Hardcover (464 pages)                Publisher: Aries
Publication date: 11th November 2021    Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Gods of Rome is the final instalment in the trilogy that began with Sons of Rome and continued with Masters of Rome (which I have yet to read). Gods of Rome represents the culmination of the story of the relentless battle between Constantine and Maxentius to become Emperor of Rome. For those who have not read the earlier books, Gods of Rome can certainly be read as a standalone as there are brief references to previous events dotted throughout the book.  However, the events in Gods of Rome take place over a much shorter time period than the previous two so to gain a full sense of how two former friends were transformed into implacable enemies,  I’d recommend reading the series from the beginning.

As in the previous two books, the chapters alternate between the first person points of view of Constantine and Maxentius, providing an intimate insight into each man’s character. At one particular point, just before the momentous Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the reader witnesses the same scene from each man’s point of view, which I thought was a brilliant concept.

So what do we learn about the two men? Constantine is driven, battle-hardened and a skilled tactician. However, he is hampered by religious differences within his army which at times threaten to reduce it to a squabbling rabble rather than a united fighting force. It’s not until late in the day that he finds a way to bring the different factions together under a single credo, one which proves decisive.

Maxentius is a planner and more inclined to adopt a defensive strategy. Of the two, he is the one who finds it more difficult to come to terms with the fact his former friend is now his foe. Having said that, both have justifiable reason to hate each other for past actions. One gets a sense of two men fighting a very personal battle but one which has consequences for many hundreds of thousands of others.

Talking of battles, the battle scenes in the book are brilliantly described in all their visceral, chaotic and gory detail, demonstrating not only the authors’ ability to write thrilling and immersive scenes but also their in-depth knowledge of Roman weaponry, military structures and strategy. For example, this as Constantine’s forces attack the city of Verona held by Maxentius. ‘A single sound composed of a thousand threads at any one time, all of them screams or thuds or metallic rasps, whistles, shouted orders, death rattles, cracking stone, surgeons’ saws, fiery explosions, neighing, struggling. Death, death, death.’ Or this, as Constantine leads the attack at the climactic Battle of the Milvian Bridge. ‘Chaos reigned: whinnying, screaming, weapons whacking into flesh, bursting heads and limbs spinning free of bodies, horses rolling, hooves flailing, enemy riders peeling from the saddle, hacked and cleaved from shoulder to gut.’

Obviously the book is dominated by the figures of Constantine and Maxentius, but I found their wives – Fausta and Valeria – equally fascinating. Both are the objects of strategic marriages which in fact have divided more than they have united the rival families.  Valeria acts as a confidante to Maxentius, is never afraid to voice her opinion and exercises power in her own subtle way. Indeed, had she been born male, I suspect she would have made a formidable adversary.  Because of past events, Fausta maintains a relentlessly cold attitude towards Constantine. However, she is also the person who probably understands him best. ‘I know what you are, Constantine. A creature bred in battle, reared on a diet of blood.’  Fausta is a fierce opponent of the war between the two men, not only because Maxentius is her brother and a victory by Constantine would result in his death, but also because she is appalled at the waste of human life – on all sides – that their conflict involves.

In their historical note at the end of the book, the authors explain where fact meets fiction and, where there is either a lack of contemporary sources or a conflict between different sources, the basis for their speculations.  There’s also a useful glossary for those who can’t tell their spatha from their spiculum.

Although students of history will be aware how the conflict between Constantine and Maxentius ends, it takes nothing away from the tension of the final chapters. Gods of Rome is a terrific end to an enthralling series. If you have an interest in Roman history, military history or just like your historical fiction to be action-packed, this is the book (and series) for you.

In three words: Action-packed, gripping, authentic

Try something similar: Legionary: The Blood Road by Gordon Doherty, Caligula by Simon Turney

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About the Authors

Simon Turney is the author of the Marius’ Mules and Praetorian series, as well as The Damned Emperor series for Orion and Tales of the Empire series for Canelo. He is based in Yorkshire.

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Gordon Doherty is the author of the Legionary and Strategos series, and wrote the Assassin’s Creed tie-in novel Odyssey. He is based in Scotland.

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