Tag: historical fiction

Book Review: Josephine’s Daughter (The Golden City #5) by A. B. Michaels

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Josephine's DaughterAbout the Book

What’s worse than a mother like Josephine? Turning out to be just like her.

In the late nineteenth century, wealthy and headstrong Kit Firestone chafes under the strictures of the Golden City’s high society, especially the interference of her charming but overbearing mother, Josephine. Kit’s secret rebellion leads to potentially catastrophic results and keeps her from finding true happiness.

When her brother nearly dies from a dangerous infection, Kit defies convention and becomes a working nurse. Through her troubled romance with a young doctor and a series of dramatic events, including a natural disaster and her mother’s own critical illness, Kit begins to understand who her mother truly is and what their relationship is all about. She may not get the chance to appreciate their bond, however, because, through no fault of her own, a madman has Kit in his crosshairs.

Format: Paperback, ebook (395 pp.)    Publisher: Red Trumpet Press
Published: 10th March 2019          Genre: Historical Fiction

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

Find Josephine’s Daughter (The Golden City #5) on Goodreads

My Review

Alternating between the experiences of Josephine in 1860s Philadelphia and those of her daughter, Katherine, in 1890s San Francisco,  the book explores the inferior position and powerlessness of women in all aspects of society, even those born in to well-to-do families.  It reveals the ways in which women can fall prey to the whims and desires of men, at times in quite shocking fashion and with long-lasting consequences.

Although Katherine and Josephine struggle with their relationship and often come into conflict with each other, in fact they are more similar than they might like to think.  Both are independent-minded, intelligent and ambitious and seek ways to take back control of their lives in any way they can and to use the power of reputation to punish men guilty of wrongdoing.  The book is packed full of fascinating historical detail.

What the book description doesn’t reveal but, to be fair, the author did make clear in her email to advance readers, is that Josephine’s Daughter is in part the ‘She Said’ version of events involving two of the main characters – Tom and Katherine – from the previous book in the series, The Price of Compassion (which you can read my review of here).  This explains the strong sense of déjà vu I felt when reading the last third of Josephine’s Daughter as scenes and conversations from The Price of Compassion are repeated (in the case of conversations, verbatim) albeit from a different point of view.  I’m afraid for me, having read The Price of Compassion, this change of perspective added relatively little.

However, on the plus side, it means Josephine’s Daughter is perfect as a standalone novel for those who have not read The Price of Compassion (and I have reflected this in my rating on Amazon and Goodreads).   As essentially a prequel to The Price of Compassion, Josephine’s Daughter didn’t completely work for me because of the amount of overlap and repetition between the two books.  However, I enjoyed the earlier parts of the book.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of the author.

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In three words: Dramatic, emotional, spirited

Try something similar…The Cornish Lady by Nicola Pryce (read my review here)

03_A.B. MichaelsAbout the Author

A native of northern California, A.B. Michaels earned Masters’ degrees in history and broadcasting, and worked for many years in public relations and marketing. Now that she’s an empty nester, she has time to write the kinds of stories she loves to read. Her historical series, “The Golden City,” follows characters who make their way in turn of the twentieth century San Francisco. “I love creating flawed characters I can relate to, who have to make difficult choices, and who long for happiness like the rest of us. So much was happening in the early 1900’s that help shape my novels. Once I tear myself away from the underlying research, they are fascinating stories to write.”

Currently Ms. Michaels lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and two furry creatures who are unclear on the concept that they are just dogs. In addition to writing, she loves to read and travel. A dabbler in fabric art, she also plays bocce in a summer league.

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Blog Tour/Book Review: Sunwise by Helen Steadman

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for Sunwise by Helen Steadman, the sequel to Widdershins.   My thanks to Lisa at Impress Books for inviting me to participate in the tour and for my advance review copy.

You can read my review below but do check out the tour banner at the bottom of this post to see the other fabulous book bloggers taking part in the tour.

sunwiseAbout the Book

When Jane’s lover, Tom, returns from the navy to find her unhappily married to his betrayer, Jane is caught in an impossible situation. Still reeling from the loss of her mother at the hands of the witch-finder John Sharpe, Jane has no choice but to continue her dangerous work as a healer while keeping her young daughter safe.

But, as Tom searches for a way for him and Jane to be together, the witch-finder is still at large. Filled with vengeance, John will stop at nothing in his quest to rid England of the scourge of witchcraft.

Inspired by true events, Sunwise tells the story of one woman’s struggle for survival in a hostile and superstitious world.

Format: Paperback, ebook (212 pp.)    Publisher: Impress Books
Published: 1st April 2019    Genre: Historical Fiction

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

Find Sunwise on Goodreads

My Review

Sunwise is the sequel to the author’s debut novel, Widdershins.  Although Sunwise can be enjoyed as a standalone, it does refer to events in the previous book so I would definitely recommend reading Widdershins first.  Both books are fairly short, so no excuse on that count!  In her afterword, Helen Steadman describes how writing a sequel to Widdershins came about because its two main characters –  John Sharpe and Jane Chandler – kept reappearing in her mind.  She explains, ‘they continued to haunt me with their unfinished business’.

Like Widdershins, the events in Sunwise are recounted through the alternating narratives of witch-finder, John, and herbalist, Jane, who is now married to Andrew Driver and bringing up her daughter, Rose, the child of her first love, Tom.   Once more, their two stories run separately but throughout the book the reader has the sense of the underlying inevitability that they will converge at some point.   I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say that when they do come together it’s in the most dramatic and shocking way, delivering an unforgettable climax to the book.

I can completely understand how the character John  Sharpe would continue to haunt the author’s mind because, as I wrote in my review of Widdershins, he seems to be the incarnation of pure evil.   In fact, this is where those who have read Widdershins have an advantage because the insight the first book gives into his early life perhaps provides some explanation (but certainly not justification) for his future actions.  Demented, delusional, violent, misogynist are just some of the adjectives that come to mind when trying to describe John.  His hypocrisy and arrogance is quite staggering and, at times, almost laughable.  For example, seeking to justify giving into sexual temptation on his travels, he argues the women concerned, “In giving up their flesh to me […] felt themselves brought nearer to God, and that was something I could do for them.  A small sacrifice of my own morals and these women could experience the Godhead”.  I suspect I’m not the only reader who gave a little cheer when the consequences of John’s sexual indulgence are revealed. (If you’re interested in learning more about the real life witch-finders who inspired the character of John Sharpe in Widdershins and Sunwise, you can read the author’s guest post here.)

Those who have read Widdershins will also have additional insight into how Jane comes to find herself in the situation she does at the beginning of Sunwise – (en)trapped in an unhappy marriage to Andrew, the best friend of her true love, Tom, and now pregnant with Andrew’s child.  Despite resistance from Andrew (and the ever present risk of accusations of witchcraft), Jane is determined to continue offering her services as healer and midwife to the local community using the knowledge passed down from her mother.  I loved the details of herbal remedies and their uses scattered through the book which had an almost poetic quality from the use of alliteration: rosemary for remembrance, mandrake to soothe mania, snowdrop to slow senility, ivy to take down inflammation.

20190225_094947-1Other lovely touches in the book were the descriptions of seasonal rituals such as constructing the corn dolly and kern baby for the harvest supper (read the author’s fascinating guest post about corn dollies here) or the celebration of Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring.  I also liked the use of phrases from chapters as chapter headings, such as ‘A Pale Green Powder’.

I described Widdershins as ‘a fantastically atmospheric book that immerses the reader vividly in seventeenth century north east England’ and I consider the author achieves the same feat in  Sunwise delivering another compelling and powerful story.  I was pleased to learn the author is working on another book set in the 17th century and I, for one, will very much look forward to reading it.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Impress Books.

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In three words: Compelling, dramatic, atmospheric  

Try something similar…Witch Wood by John Buchan (read my review here)

HelenSteadmanAbout the Author

Helen Steadman lives in the foothills of the North Pennines, and she particularly enjoys researching and writing about the history of the north east of England.

Following her MA in creative writing at Manchester Met, Helen is now completing a PhD in English at the University of Aberdeen to determine whether a writer can use psycho-physical techniques to create authentic fictional characters.

(Photo credit: Goodreads author page)

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Final blog tour