Tag: historical fiction

The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson #BookReview @HoZ_Books

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson, which is available now as an ebook and will be published in hardback on 3rd September 2020. My thanks to Vicky Joss at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy via NetGalley. You can read my review below but do also check out the post by my tour buddy, Frankie at Chicks, Rogues and Scandals.

cover181972-mediumAbout the Book

One house, two women, a lifetime of secrets…

Following the death of her mother, Becky begins the sad task of sorting through her empty flat. Starting with the letters piling up on the doormat, she finds an envelope post-marked from Cornwall. In it is a letter that will change her life forever. A desperate plea from her mother’s elderly cousin, Olivia, to help save her beloved home.

Becky arrives at Chynalls to find the beautiful old house crumbling into the ground, and Olivia stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her home is made habitable.

Though daunted by the enormity of the task, Becky sets to work. But as she peels back the layers of paint, plaster and grime, she uncovers secrets buried for more than seventy years. Secrets from a time when Olivia was young, the Second World War was raging, and danger and romance lurked round every corner…

The Sea Gate is a sweeping, spellbinding novel about the lives of two very different women, and the secrets that bind them together.

Format: ebook (448 pages)           Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 4th June 2020 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Sea Gate on Goodreads

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My Review

I was first introduced to the writing of Jane Johnson when I read her book Court of Lions. That book’s setting (Granada) was a little different from the Cornwall of The Sea Gate but the two novels share similarities. For example, they both feature the interweaving of past and present story lines and a plot involving hidden secrets.

I recall finding the storyline of Court of Lions set in the present day slightly less engaging than that set in the past, although to be fair that was largely because the latter was so powerful. However, in The Sea Gate I had no such difficulty as the author gives the reader equally compelling stories and sympathetic characters in both time periods.

The Olivia the reader encounters in the present day initially appears a rather irascible and difficult old lady. However, as Becky soon discovers, she’s incredibly spirited and tougher than she seems. “There’s still so much fire in her, so much character, a sort of fierce, frail heroism. I wish I’d known Olivia when she was younger.” The reader is granted Becky’s wish as the story moves back to 1943 and Olivia’s wartime childhood at Chynalls. With her mother away in London and her father serving abroad, Olivia is left largely to fend for herself. Her life is changed through a chance meeting brought about, as she puts it, by “misunderstanding and xenophobia”. Despite being the “epitome of difference”, she and the other character form an unbreakable bond and a chain of events is set in motion that will have far-reaching consequences.

Becky’s discovery of the letter from Olivia in her mother’s belongings, gives her just the project she needs to distract her from recent events in her life, doubts about her relationship with partner Eddy, and worries about the future. She decides, “It’s time to take some responsibility for a change, to try to do some good in the world, to help my elderly cousin as I was never able to help my own mother.” The fact Olivia lives amid the glorious landscape of Cornwall helps Becky’s decision too. “Sea and sky fuse at the distant horizon. Spangles of light glitter like spilled treasure, undulating with the rolling of the waves… This is the Cornwall I have always imagined. The sense of wildness and isolation, of fairy tale and possibility.”

I particularly liked the way Becky’s renovation of Chynalls mirrors her own psychological and physical “renovation”. It was truly heart-warming to witness her growing self-confidence, independence of spirit and the reawakening of her creativity. As Becky admits herself, “Fear has trapped me, rendered me immobile and powerless…fear of everything, really. I’d forgotten I even had wings, let alone how to use them.” Becky’s inner strength doesn’t escape Olivia’s observant eyes though, recognising in Becky “That family gumption. The never-give-up look.” The nature of Becky’s gumption will become evident in the most satisfying way later in the book.

Alongside supervising the renovation of Chynalls by brothers, Mo and Reda, Becky becomes curious to find out more about Olivia’s past. Sorting through old letters and photograph albums, she concludes, “Cousin Olivia is, like Chynalls, stuffed with secrets, and I feel compelled to find out what I can.” What is the meaning of the symbols carved on the sea gate, for instance, or the identity of the artist whose paintings line the walls? Deliciously for the reader, Becky starts to feel “Little mysteries surround me, deliberately withholding themselves, trembling on the edge of revelation.”

I mentioned earlier the subtle connections between the stories of Olivia and Becky. These only increase as the book progresses. Echoes upon echoes, if you like. For example, both Olivia and Becky find themselves in need of guardian angels to protect them from those who would take advantage of them. And I must give a special mention to something else Olivia and Becky share – the gloriously foul-mouthed parrot, Gabriel, to whom it’s definitely worth paying attention.

In the second half of the book, as Becky gets closer to discovering the secret hidden for so long, the pace accelerates, the tension really ratchets up and there are moments of melodrama. The creaks of an old house, the sudden striking of a grandfather clock that has up until then been silent and a thunderstorm are just some of the ingredients that help to create a distinctly spine-tingling atmosphere. For Becky, “The house is full of secrets, and sometimes they come out and whisper together in the night.” However, secrets have a way of not remaining hidden and reading a book such as The Sea Gate wouldn’t be half so satisfying if they did, would it? Never fear, there’s a lot to be discovered before the full picture is revealed.

The Sea Gate is a skilfully crafted dual time story about two women from different generations who are nevertheless bound together by shared experiences and by a cliff-top house that has carefully guarded a shocking secret for decades.

In three words: Atmospheric, suspenseful, emotional

Try something similar: The Walls We Build by Jules Hayes

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Jane JohnsonAbout the Author

Jane Johnson is a British novelist and publisher. She is the UK editor for George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb and Dean Koontz and was for many years publisher of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Married to a Berber chef she met while researching The Tenth Gift, she lives in Cornwall and Morocco.

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The Flowers of Adonis by Rosemary Sutcliff #BookReview #ccspin

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adonisAbout the Book

The 5th Century BC. The Greek city-states are engaged in perpetual war. But one man towers above the chaos. His name is Alkibiades. He is at once a pirate, statesman and seducer whose adventures rival those of Odysseus himself.

Citizen of Athens, friend of Socrates, sailor, warrior and inveterate lover, Alkibiades flees persecution in his native city to join the Spartan cause.

However, his brilliant naval and diplomatic victories on their behalf do not save him from the consequences of impregnating the Spartan queen, and once more he takes up the outcast’s mantle.

Format: ebook (384 pages)       Publisher: Endeavour Press
Publication date: 2014 [1969] Genre: Historical Fiction, Classics

Find The Flowers of Adonis on Goodreads

My Review

The Classics ClubThe Flowers of Adonis is the book from my Classics Club list chosen for me in the latest Classics Club Spin.  Having devoured Rosemary Sutcliff’s books, such as The Eagle of the Ninth, when I was younger I was delighted when the spin result was announced.  The book also fulfils one of the categories for the When Are You Reading? Challenge 2020hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Flower of Adonis is a fictionalized account of the life of Alkibiades, an Athenian General. In her Author’s note Rosemary Sutcliff describes her protagonist as “an enigma”, going on to remark, “Even allowing that no man is all black and white, few men can ever have been more wildly and magnificently piebald”. Well, that’s one way to put it!

I know some readers have struggled with the multiple narrators and the frequent switching between them, sometimes within the same chapter. Personally, I didn’t find that any barrier to my enjoyment of the book. In fact, I felt it helped to provide insights into the different facets of Alkibiades’ character whether from the point of view of those who were his close companions, those who served with him in a military capacity or those who knew him only as a public figure. What did slightly grate for me was that the narrators continued to be referred to in the section headings by their occupations or status – The Soldier, The Seaman, The Citizen, and so on – even after the reader learns the names of the main ones (Arkadius, Antiochus and Timotheus respectively). I appreciate this may have been an editorial decision for consistency or perhaps it was to emphasise their role as representatives of different strands of society.

I found myself most uncomfortable with the way the sections from the point of view of Timandra, the slave girl who becomes the long-time companion of Alkibiades, are headed ‘The Whore’. Perhaps it’s because I found those sections the most affecting that it rankled so much. If Timandra is ever a ‘whore’ it’s because she was captured and sold into slavery but she is always utterly faithful to Alkibiades. The same cannot be said of him. And as for his treatment of the Spartan Queen…!

The Alkibiades portrayed by Rosemary Sutcliff is indeed an enigmatic figure. He’s bold, resourceful, courageous in battle, a skilful negotiator and an accomplished tactician who inspires devotion in those who serve with him. He’s also mercurial, ruthless, impetuous, easily bored and possesses a supreme belief in his own ability. Of one bold plan, he observes, “It’s a gamble – a glorious gamble, but I can pull it off for you, and there’s not another man who can!”

With promises such as that, to begin with he is viewed as the saviour of an Athens desperate for a victory after a series of defeats. However, as we have seen in modern times, having the hopes of a population riding on you can be a heavy burden and the fall from grace if success is not delivered can be even swifter than the rise. As Timotheus observes sadly at the end of the book, ‘Something that was in Athens when I was a boy will not be there for my sons’. Or in the words of the song, “Don’t it always seem to go, That you don’t know what you’ve got, Till it’s gone’.

I’ll confess that much of the forming and breaking of alliances, the political intrigue and the conquest, loss and often re-conquest of cities and territory left me slightly confused. However, I enjoyed the exciting battle scenes and the wealth of fascinating historical detail about life at that time. Apart from Timandra, my favourite character was Antiochus, Alkibiades’ trusted and loyal right hand man. Alkibiades himself I found intriguing but difficult to like.

The Flowers of Adonis (the title refers to a religious celebration that features at the beginning of the book and is cleverly echoed at its moving ending) is an accomplished piece of historical fiction by a writer who knew how to bring the past alive. Reading the book reminded me I have Rosemary Sutcliff partly to thank for my enduring love of historical fiction.

In three words: Epic, action-packed, detailed

Try something similar: The New Achilles by Christian Cameron

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239432About the Author

Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-1992) wrote dozens of books for young readers, including her award-winning Roman Britain trilogy, The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and The Lantern Bearers, which won the Carnegie Medal. The Eagle of the Ninth is now a major motion picture, The Eagle, directed by Kevin MacDonald and starring Channing Tatum. Born in Surrey, Sutcliff spent her childhood in Malta and on various other naval bases where her father was stationed. At a young age, she contracted Still’s Disease, which confined her to a wheelchair for most of her life. Shortly before her death, she was named Commander of the British Empire (CBE) one of Britain’s most prestigious honours. She died in West Sussex, England, in 1992.

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