Tag: historical fiction

Blog Tour/Review: Court of Lions by Jane Johnson

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Court of Lions PB blog tour

I’m delighted to be co-hosting the first stop on the blog tour to celebrate the publication in paperback of Court of Lions by Jane Johnson.  I really enjoyed this book when I read it last year and I love its gorgeous new cover (although the previous cover was pretty special too).  Below you can read my review of this fascinating story which moves between the city of Granada in the 15th century and the present day.

Oh, and do pop over and visit my co-host I’ll Be Fine Alone Reads to read an extract from Court of Lions.

COURT OF LIONS_PBAbout the Book

Kate Fordham, escaping terrible trauma, has fled to the beautiful sunlit city of Granada, the ancient capital of the Moors in Spain, where she is scraping by with an unfulfilling job in a busy bar. One day in the glorious gardens of the Alhambra, once home to Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed, also known as Boabdil, Kate finds a scrap of paper hidden in one of the ancient walls. Upon it, in strange symbols, has been inscribed a message from another age. It has lain undiscovered since before the Fall of Granada in 1492, when the city was surrendered to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Born of love, in a time of danger and desperation, the fragment will be the catalyst that changes Kate’s life forever.

Court of Lions brings one of the great turning-points in history to life, telling the stories of a modern woman and the last Moorish sultan of Granada, as they both move towards their cataclysmic destinies.

Format: Paperback (448 pp.)                                    Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published in paperback: 11th January 2018        Genre: Historical Fiction

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

Find Court of Lions on Goodreads

My Review

The story of Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed, known as Momo, is related through the eyes of Blessings, a slave brought as a young orphan from a desert tribe to be companion to the then Prince.   Despite their different status, Blessings and Momo quickly form a deep and lasting friendship although for Blessings, the relationship becomes more than friendship. Their relationship will be tested over the years of political turmoil and war as Granada fights for its survival against the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and to protect the Muslim faith of its people.

I found the story of Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed utterly compelling and admired the way the author brought it to life in such vivid and colourful detail.  For me, there was a perfect balance between the intimate, personal story of Momo and Blessings and the wider story of the historical events of the time – the plots, alliances, treaties, battles and, ultimately defeats.     In the end, both Momo and Blessings are forced to make heart-breaking compromises.

In the contemporary story, Kate’s troubles are domestic in nature and gradually revealed throughout the novel.  For her Granada is a refuge and a chance to leave behind unhappy memories and traumatic events.   The scrap of paper she finds in a crevice in the walls of the Alhambra and a chance encounter eventually provide the opportunity for her to move on in her life but not before she is forced to confront her traumatic past.  I was slightly less drawn to Kate’s story than to the parts of the book set in the past but that’s a personal thing because the modern day story is expertly told.  There are subtle connections between the two story lines: secrets, religious fundamentalism and discrimination.

I received a review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Compelling, well-researched, intimate

Try something similar: Secrets of the Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford

JaneJohnsonAbout the Author

Jane Johnson is from Cornwall and has worked in the book industry for over 20 years, as a bookseller, publisher and writer. She is responsible for the publishing of many major authors, including George RR Martin.  In 2005 she was in Morocco researching the story of a distant family member who was abducted from a Cornish church in 1625 by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa, when a near-fatal climbing incident caused her to rethink her future. She returned home, gave up her office job in London, and moved to Morocco.  She married her own ‘Berber pirate’ and now they split their time between Cornwall and a village in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. She still works, remotely, as Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins.

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Book Review: The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements

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TheCoffinPathAbout the Book

Maybe you’ve heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moor top. They say there’s something up here, something evil.

Mercy Booth isn’t afraid. The moors and Scarcross are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father’s study, the shadowy figure out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.

When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can’t see it yet.

Format: Hardcover, eBook (284 pp.)           Publisher: Headline Review
Published: 8th February 2018                       Genre: Historical Fiction

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

Find The Coffin Path on Goodreads

My Review

The Coffin Path’s striking opening line – “I was born with blood on my hands” – sets the scene for a story full of atmosphere and chilling moments.  Ancient curses, family secrets, a remote moorland setting and a crumbling old house reached only by an ancient track called the coffin path – what more do you want?

Very much in the tradition of M. R. James, the sinister atmosphere the author creates comes more from suggestion than full-blown in your face horror.   Noises from empty rooms, objects moving or disappearing without seeming human intervention, sudden chills or unusual scents are far scarier and unsettling to my mind than coming face-to-face with a monster.  There is one particular scene that definitely made me want to draw the bedcovers up over my head!  All the time the reader is made to wonder whether there is malicious human agency behind the goings-on, whether they are the product of a feverish or disturbed imagination – mass hysteria, even – or there is an actual supernatural presence.

As word of the strange occurrences at Scarcross Hall reach the wider community it’s not long before superstitious minds see the work of the Devil behind them and seek to assign blame.   Like other women down the ages, Mercy, as an independent-minded, unconventional and most importantly unmarried woman, is an easy target for their suspicions, especially when fuelled by grudges of a more personal nature.

Alongside the strange events in the house, the author presents a convincing and detailed picture of the everyday struggle to eke out a livelihood on a remote moorland farm.  There is some wonderful descriptive writing that conjures up the wild beauty of the moor that surrounds Scarcross Hall.  ‘Now, in this moment, the wind brings it to him: the rich savour of damp peat, must and decay, the metallic, coppery scent of snow and ancient, rainwashed stone, a hint of salt and sea storms.’  I also liked the use of alliteration in lines like, ‘He craves the comfort of it, longs for the liquidity of limbs, the gradual sink into silent contemplation.’

I have to say that although the story is set in the 17th century, I didn’t get an overwhelming sense of that period for a lot of the book.  It felt that events could believably have been taking place in the 18th or 19th century and that Mercy might easily have run into Emily Brontë whilst out on the moor.  However, this does change towards the end of the book as the events and upheaval of the recent Civil War become very central to the story.

The Coffin Path is a satisfyingly creepy ghost story that builds slowly to a dramatic climax as secrets are finally revealed.   I received an advance reader copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers Headline in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Atmospheric, creepy, sinister

Try something similar…The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (click here for my review) or The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Katherine ClementsAbout the Author

Katherine was born in Littleborough, Lancashire and grew up in Surrey and Sheffield. She studied Ancient History and Archaeology at Manchester University, followed by a varied career in media, the charity sector and education. Most recently she worked for a national examination board where she led the development and launch of the UK’s first A Level qualification in Creative Writing.

Katherine’s critically acclaimed debut novel, The Crimson Ribbon, was published in 2014 and her second, The Silvered Heart, in 2015. Her work has been compared to the likes of Sarah Waters and Daphne du Maurier. Her third novel, The Coffin Path, will be published in February 2018.   Katherine is editor of Historia, the online magazine of the Historical Writers’ Association, and is a member of the HWA committee. She is a member of the Society of Authors and authors’ collective the Prime Writers and is an occasional contributor to Northern Soul. She is currently Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Manchester University.

She lives in Manchester and is working on her next novel.

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