Tag: historical fiction

#BlogTour #BookReview Entertaining Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift @swiftstory @AccentPress

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Headline Blog Tour final

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Entertaining Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift, published today in paperback by Headline Accent but also available as an ebook. Entertaining Mr Pepys is the third in the author’s trilogy bringing to life the women in Pepys’ diary. Each novel features a different character and can be read as a standalone book.

Entertaining Mr PepysAbout the Book

London, 1666. Elizabeth ‘Bird’ Carpenter has a wonderful singing voice, and music is her chief passion. When her father persuades her to marry horse-dealer Christopher Knepp, she suspects she is marrying beneath her station, but nothing prepares her for the reality of life with Knepp. Her father has betrayed her trust, for Knepp cares only for his horses; he is a tyrant and a bully, and will allow Bird no life of her own.

When Knepp goes away, she grasps her chance and, encouraged by her maidservant Livvy, makes a secret visit to the theatre. Entranced by the music, the glitter and glamour of the surroundings, and the free and outspoken manner of the women on the stage, she falls in love with the theatre and is determined to forge a path of her own as an actress.

But life in the theatre was never going to be straightforward – for a jealous rival wants to spoil her plans, and worse, Knepp forbids it, and Bird must use all her wit and intelligence to change his mind.

Based on events depicted in the famous Diary of Samuel Pepys, Entertaining Mr Pepys brings London in the 17th century to life. It includes the vibrant characters of the day such as the diarist himself and actress Nell Gwynne, and features a dazzling and gripping finale during the Great Fire Of London.

Format: Paperback, ebook (400 pages)    Publisher: Headline Accent
Publication date: 21st November 2019   Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase links*
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Entertaining Mr Pepys (Women of Pepys’ Diary, #3) on Goodreads

My Review

In Entertaining Mr Pepys, the reader gets a portrait of (at least) two unhappy marriages: that of Bird and her uncouth husband, Christopher Knepps; and Elisabeth, long-suffering wife of diarist Samuel Pepys who possesses a roving eye when it comes to the ladies.

Despite what you might expect from the title, it’s quite a way into the book before Bird and Pepys encounter each other in any meaningful way. (In the author’s historical note she records there are 108 references to Elizabeth Knepp in Pepys’ diary.) Once they do meet their relationship develops through a shared love of music and the theatre. Up to that point, this is largely Bird’s story and it’s a powerful tale of a woman trying to rise above the confines of marriage, domestic drudgery and social convention to exert her own independence.

The author gives the reader some insight into the past of the detestable Knepp in an attempt to make him a less unsympathetic character. I have to say it didn’t completely succeed with me and both he and his arch-rival, Viner, seemed to deserve each other.

Set against the backdrop of Restoration England, it’s a time of political intrigue, spies and the threat of war. There are a few nods to issues that have contemporary relevance such as gender identity, religious and racial prejudice.

I loved the descriptions of the theatre that so dazzles Bird when she first experiences it and the details of everyday life help to immerse the reader in the atmosphere of the period. Later in the book there are some dramatic and vividly depicted scenes of key events in London’s history.

Entertaining Mr Pepys has an interesting cast of supporting characters (some invented, some based on real people as the author’s historical note reveals).  These include maidservant Livvy, watchmaker Robert Hubert and troubled actor Stefan. They add background colour to the main storyline and, in some cases, will turn out to play a pivotal role in events.

I received a review copy courtesy of the author and Headline Accent.

In three words: Well-researched, spirited, dramatic

Try something similar: The Illumination of Ursula Flight by Anne-Marie Crowhurst (read my review here)

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DeborahSwiftWEB-1001-e1471257229857About the Author

Deborah lives in North Lancashire on the edge of the Lake District, a beautiful area made famous by the Romantic Poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge. In the past she used to work as a set and costume designer for theatre and TV, so she enjoys the research aspect of creating historical fiction, something she loved doing as a scenographer. Each book takes about six months of research before she is ready to begin writing. More details of her research and writing process can be found on her website. Deborah likes to write about extraordinary characters set against the background of real historical events. (Photo credit: author website)

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#BookReview The Tide Between Us by Olive Collins

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The Tide Between UsAbout the Book

1821: After the landlord of Lugdale Estate in Kerry is assassinated, young Art O’Neill’s innocent father is hanged and Art is deported to the cane fields of Jamaica as an indentured servant. On Mangrove Plantation he gradually acclimatises to the exotic country and unfamiliar customs of the African slaves, and achieves a kind of contentment. Then the new heirs to the plantation arrive.

His new owner is Colonel Stratford-Rice from Lugdale Estate, the man who hanged his father. Art must overcome his hatred to survive the harsh life of a slave and live to see the eventual emancipation which liberates his coloured children. Eventually he is promised seven gold coins when he finishes his service, but he doubts his master will part with the coins.

One hundred years later in Ireland, a skeleton is discovered beneath a fallen tree on the grounds of Lugdale Estate. By its side is a gold coin minted in 1870. Yseult, the owner of the estate, watches as events unfold, fearful of the long-buried truths that may emerge about her family’s past and its links to the slave trade. As the body gives up its secrets, Yseult realises she too can no longer hide.

Format: ebook, paperback (372 pages) Publisher: Poolbeg Press
Publication date: 7th September 2017 Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Tide Between Us on Goodreads

My Review

In the first and, for me, the most powerful part of the book Art O’Neill sets out to record, for the benefit of his children, the story of his life from the time he was transported to Jamaica from Ireland and forced to work as an indentured servant on the Mangrove Plantation. The author vividly depicts the cruelties and privations of the voyage and Art’s sense of unfamiliarity with his new environment. The book also exposes the harsh conditions and savage treatment meted out to slaves on the plantation.

Over the next decades Art experiences love, marriage and the birth of children but also the loss of loved ones. He is witness to turbulent events on the island, including slave rebellions and outbreaks of disease. Rising to the position of overseer, he faces moral dilemmas over the treatment of slaves under his control. And, underlying it all, is the ever present hatred he bears towards the Stratford-Rice family that at times seems to provide the only meaning in his life.

In the second part of the book, the reader sees events from the point of view of Yseult and, briefly, from the point of view of her daughter, Rachel. Yseult and Rachel have a rather strained relationship with Yseult dismissive of Rachel’s ideas for developing the Lugdale Estate. I’ll confess I found Yseult an unsympathetic character and difficult to warm to. Interspersed with events following the discovery of the skeleton are Yseult’s memories of her childhood including her friendship with Mary O’Neill whose family owned land adjoining Lugdale.

Eventually the unfinished stories of the characters from the first part of the book are brought to completion, revealing a tale of secrets, revenge and feuds continuing down through the generations.

You can read my earlier interview with Olive here in which she talks about the inspiration for The Tide Between Us, the historical background to the events in the book and her view that we must examine the past in order to fully understand the present.

I’d like to thank Olive for providing me with a review copy of The Tide Between Us and apologize for the length of time it’s taken to reach the top of my review pile.

In three words: Dramatic, authentic, powerful

Try something similar: Sugar Money by Jane Harris (read my review here)

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Olive CollinsAbout the Author

Olive Collins grew up in Thurles, Tipperary, and now lives in Kildare.

For the last fifteen years, she has worked in advertising in print media and radio. She has always loved the diversity of books and people. She has travelled extensively and still enjoys exploring other cultures and countries.

Her inspiration is the ordinary everyday people who feed her little snippets of their lives. It’s the unsaid and gaps in conversation that she finds most valuable.

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