Tag: historical fiction

#BookReview The Honey and the Sting by E.C. Fremantle @MichaelJBooks

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9780718180508About the Book

Three sisters. Three secrets. Three ways to fall…

England, 1628. Forcibly seduced by the powerful George Villiers, doctor’s daughter Hester is cast aside to raise her son alone and in secret. She hopes never to see Villiers again. Melis’s visions cause disquiet and talk. She sees what other’s can’t – and what has yet to be. She’d be denounced as a witch if Hester wasn’t so carefully protective. Young Hope’s beauty marks her out, drawing unwelcome attention to the family. Yet she cannot always resist others’ advances. And her sisters cannot always be on their guard.

When Villiers decides to claim his son against Hester’s wishes, the sisters find themselves almost friendless and at his mercy. But the women hold a grave secret. The question is, will what they know be their undoing or their salvation? Because in the right hands, a secret is the deadliest weapon of all…

Format: Hardcover (368 pages)       Publisher: Michael Joseph
Publication date: 6th August 2020 Genre: Historical fiction

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My Review

When George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, tries to claim his illegitimate son Rafe from Hester, the young woman he seduced, she and her younger sisters, Hope and Melis, are forced to flee their home and seek safety in a remote house in Shropshire owned by a loyal family friend. It has to be said the group make rather poor fugitives, risking discovery on their journey by discarding their disguises, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves and through Hope’s dangerous naivety.

The story is told in the first person by Hester and in the third person from the point of view of Hope. The thoughts of Melis and the nature of her strange visions and glimpses of the future, remain unknown to the reader making her all the more enigmatic a character.  Her affinity with bees and her keen sense of the presence of danger her sisters would do well to heed.

It becomes clear that Hester has underestimated George Villiers’ determination to possess whatever he desires or the lengths to which he will go to remove the hold she has over him, a secret which could bring about his downfall. When the name of the individual he engages to remove the threat the sisters pose is revealed, those with any knowledge of the history of the period are likely to be as intrigued as me. From this point on, the way the author blends fiction with fact is imaginative and completely compelling.

As the reader discovers, there are more ways to defeat an enemy than may be supposed. “The bees know it – honey and sting – sweetness and sharpness. That is what you need.”

The Honey and the Sting is the third book I’ve read by Elizabeth Fremantle. Although not quite my favourite (that accolade would go to The Poison Bed), it is still an absorbing story that demonstrates the power of maternal love and women’s ability to determine their own futures, with just a touch of the supernatural. (You can read my reviews of The Girl in the Glass Tower and The Poison Bed by following the links from the titles.)

My thanks to Michael Joseph for my advance review copy of The Honey and the Sting via NetGalley.

In three words: Intriguing, imaginative, mystery

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3k3wyu0L_400x400About the Author

E.C. Fremantle is the critically acclaimed author of The Poison Bed, ‘an electrifying, brilliantly executed thriller,’ and a Times Book of the Year. As Elizabeth Fremantle she has published four Tudor and Elizabethan set novels: Queen’s Gambit, Sisters of Treason, Watch the Lady and The Girl in the Glass Tower. She has contributed to various publications including The Sunday Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. She lives in London.

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#BookReview Belladonna by Anbara Salam

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9780241404799About the Book

It is summer 1956 when fifteen-year-old Bridget first meets Isabella. In their conservative Connecticut town, Isabella is a breath of fresh air. She is worldly, alluring and brazen: an enigma.

When they receive an offer to study at the Academy in Italy, Bridget is thrilled. This is her ticket to Europe and – better still – a chance to spend nine whole months with her glamorous and unpredictable best friend.

There, lodged in a convent of nuns who have taken a vow of silence, the two girls move toward a passionate but fragile intimacy. As the year rolls on, Bridget grows increasingly fearful that she will lose Isabella’s affections – and the more desperate she gets, the greater the lengths she will go to keep her.

Format: ebook (352 pages)            Publisher: Fig Tree
Publication date: 16th July 2020 Genre: Historical fiction

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My Review

I really enjoyed Anbara Salam’s first novel, Things Bright and Beautiful, set on an island in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). For her second novel, she stays in the 1950s but this time the locations are Connecticut and Northern Italy.

Belladonna explores the relationship between two young women – Bridget and Isabella. Seen through Bridget’s adoring eyes, Isabella is sophisticated and mature compared to the other girls at their school. She’s the sort of girl who effortlessly becomes the centre of attention. Conversely, Bridget is an outsider with a home life that she is anxious to conceal. In search of acceptance and a sense of belonging, not least because of her mixed race heritage that makes her the object of insidious racism, Bridget cherishes “the luxury of hope” that Isabella will become her friend.

Always alert for small signs of Isabella’s favour – a glance, a word, a gesture – Bridget is overjoyed when Isabella returns her affection. Even better, there is the prospect of them spending time together studying art along with a group of other girls at the Accademia, housed in the convent of an order of silent nuns in northern Italy.

Arriving first at the Accademia, Bridget feels protective towards Isabella, wondering how the other girls will regard her. “Isabella had such a certain kind of boldness, it was hard to tell how the other girls would take to her. How much she would be hated, or loved.” The fact Bridget imagines Isabella provoking such extreme emotions and not anything in between is in subtle contrast to the quiet restraint exhibited by the nuns.

As term starts, the author really captures the atmosphere of a boarding school-like situation: the petty jealousy, the cliques, the strained friendships, the fallings out over perceived small slights. The reader witnesses how Bridget continually tries to anticipate Isabella’s changing moods, taking heart from small acts of kindness, even relishing being the only one who can understand Isabella’s quirks and then pondering on things she’s afraid she might have said wrong.

The nuanced depiction of the relationship between the young women was one I found fascinating and thought-provoking. I came to think that perhaps Isabella was more dependent on Bridget than Bridget supposed and that Bridget undervalued herself. As the reader witnesses through her dealings with others, Bridget is kind, witty, patient, a keen student. People like her. However, her desire to retain Isabella’s affections – ‘I’d have to be more interesting, more delightful’ – when they seem to be directed elsewhere leads to a series of actions that will have unforseen consequences. In the end, there is a sense of betrayal on both sides.

One of the things I loved about the book was the way the effect of the changing seasons on the landscape surrounding the Academy was described. For example, arriving there for the first time in August, Bridget notices the fields “strumming with cicadas in jouncing waves of noise, the air gritty with toasted grass”. Conversely, in winter, “The wind was sharp and sought out vulnerable skin to slice, slamming unseen doors, whistling frosty arias in the courtyard.” The arrival of spring is marked by the plum trees in the orchards surrounding the convent springing into blossom so that, “The hills around the lake were a mantle of pink and white, a flurry of pastels and silk that flew in the air and settled on the water.”

Belladonna is an acutely-observed exploration of the dynamics of a relationship. As Bridget learns, “Setting your heart on something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea… No matter how much you want it” and that “Sometimes love isn’t enough.”

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Fig Tree via NetGalley.

In three words: Intimate, insightful, intense

Try something similar: Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

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Anbara SalamAbout the Author

Anbara Salam is half-Palestinian and half-Scottish, and grew up in London. She has a PhD in Theology and now lives in Oxford. She spent six months working on a small South Pacific island and her experiences there served as the inspiration for her first novel, Things Bright and Beautiful.

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