Tag: historical fiction

Throwback Thursday: Across Great Divides by Monique Roy

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ThrowbackThursday

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at It’s Book Talk. It’s designed as an opportunity to share old favourites as well as books that we’ve finally got around to reading that were published over a year ago. If you decide to take part, please link back to It’s Book Talk.

This week I’m sharing my review of Across Great Divides by Monique Roy, published in 2013.  It’s the powerful story of a Jewish family’s struggle for a place to call home against the backdrop of war and apartheid.

DividesAbout the Book

When Hitler comes to power in 1933, one Jewish family refuses to be destroyed and defies the Nazis only to come up against another struggle – confronting Apartheid in South Africa.   As Jews, life becomes increasingly difficult for identical twin sisters Eva and Inge under the oppressive and anti-Semitic laws of Nazi Germany. After witnessing the horrors of Kristallnacht, they flee their beloved homeland, finally finding a new home for themselves in the beautiful country of South Africa; however, just as things begin to feel safe, their new home becomes caught up in its own battles of bigotry and hate under the National Party’s demand for apartheid. Will Eva and Inge ever be allowed to live in peace? Across Great Divides is a tale of one family’s struggle to survive in a world tainted with hate, and the power of love that held them all together.

Format: ebook (223 pp.), paperback (222 pp.)
Published: June 2013         Genre: Historical Fiction

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

Find Across Great Divides on Goodreads

My Review

As the book opens, the author depicts how life gets increasingly difficult for the family with the rise of Hitler. There are detailed descriptions of events in Berlin such as the book-burning and violence of Kristallnacht. I did feel that one or two sections read more like straight history rather than being illustrated through the experiences of Eva or her family. The author has clearly undertaken extensive research because as well as a wealth of information about events in Germany there are fascinating details about the diamond cutting and trading business.

Eva and her brother, Max, get the most page time with other members of the family, including Eva’s twin, Inge, more in the background. The unique connection between the twins is explored early on and returned to briefly later but it would have been interesting to have more focus on this.

The family’s struggle to escape from Nazi Germany illustrates the bravery and resourcefulness of those in real life who aided Jews to escape death in the concentration camps but also the opportunity for corruption for those prepared to take advantage of the situation. The family have a number of lucky escapes and are fortunate to have a seemingly unlimited stock of diamonds to ease their passage. One wonders how those without such resources would have fared.

Although powerfully told, I found some of the story lines a little convenient and there are a couple of coincidences along the lines of “of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine” (Casablanca) or, in this case, tent. However, I really liked the impression the author created of the family’s sense of uprootedness, of feeling no longer welcome somewhere they had considered home and being viewed as a hated “other”.

‘Our home was everything and then we felt like we existed nowhere. The place where I thought I would live all my life was no longer the place where I could exist at all.’

In the latter section of the book, the author juxtaposes the persecution suffered by Jewish families at the hands of the Nazis with the discrimination meted out to black South Africans through the apartheid system. Of the family, only Max and Eva really seem to see the parallels and some of the responses of other family members are surprising given their own experiences. The author’s love of South Africa is clear from the wonderful descriptions of the landscape and scenery of Cape Town. I enjoyed the book and admire the author for attempting to explore some weighty themes.

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MoniqueRoyAbout the Author

Monique was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and her grandparents were European Jews who fled their home as Hitler rose to power. It’s their story that inspired her to write Across Great Divides. She is also the author of a middle-grade book, Once Upon a Time in Venice, and Monique is working on her third novel, which also takes place during the World War II.

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Guest Post: A Queen’s Spy by Sam Burnell

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Today’s guest on What Cathy Read Next is Sam Burnell, author of A Queen’s Spy. As a fan of historical fiction, especially if it’s set in the turbulent Tudor period, I couldn’t resist Sam’s offer to read her book. Unfortunately, that won’t be for a little while yet but, in the meantime, I’m delighted to bring you a guest post from Sam about how her love of history has inspired her writing.

Sam’s next book, A Queen’s Traitor, which involves a plot to steal Princess Elizabeth from England and spirit her away to Holland, is due out towards the end of 2017. The Tudor Heresy, a short 7,000 word introduction to the series as a whole, was published in July 2017.

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AQueensSpyAbout the Book

Richard Fitzwarren is a Tudor nobleman with a dubious past who takes risks for a living. His close friendship with Princess Elizabeth leads to his banishment to France. He returns to England a self styled Tudor soldier of fortune selling his services, and those of his mercenary band, to the highest bidder. But he remains loyal to the lady Elizabeth and soon he is embroiled in Tudor intrigue as he tries to keep her safe.

At his side is Jack, his bastard sibling; their relationship a troubled one. Impatient, impulsive and impetuous, Jack is everything Richard is not. There is a dark family secret Richard had always suspected; the final discovery of it changes the relationship

Format: ebook (406 pp.), paperback (404 pp.) Published: 19th April 2017 Genre: Historical Fiction

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

Find A Queen’s Spy on Goodreads

 

Guest Post: ‘Why History?’ by Sam Burnell

‘As a little girl, I wanted to live in a castle, one with turrets, a great hall and painted ceilings adorned with lions and unicorns. I was indeed lucky enough to live in a castle whilst at University and spending my days and nights in such a wonderful magical place had a lasting effect. Forever was I wondering what had happened in the rooms, musing on who had walked the corridors before me, and what crimes the inmates had committed, who had been interred in the rooms I now occupied which had once been used as a prison. To live in a place where Princes, Bishops and Kings had once walked was a true privilege.

I’ve always found the life of Elizabeth I to be utterly fascinating. The trauma she experienced as a child must have been terrible, as first her mother and then a succession of other women to whom she became close, perished either in child birth or at the behest of the axe. An incredibly intelligent girl, educated as a Prince, with her father’s iron will, and her mother’s ability to dissemble; it comes as no surprise that she never succumbed to marriage.

In my book, A Queen’s Spy, the character who starts the chain of events is Thomas Seymour. His life story is incredible; extremely charismatic and yet also fatally flawed by own ambition. A man motivated by greed; a man who had nearly everything and yet it was still not quite enough. A man who had risen further than you could imagine was possible, and yet he still wanted to rise further. Thomas Seymour was a man who would be King. He was Uncle, and a beloved Uncle, to a King, he was married to a King’s Widow, and he had custody in his household of a dead King’s daughter. None of it though was enough for Thomas. Incredibly this man eventually persuaded a ten year old boy, Edward VI, to back him in a plot to seize power from his brother. It was highly probable that Edward was a willing participant in Thomas’s plot to steal the young King away from Hampton Court, and name himself as Lord Protector. His manipulation of this young sovereign was a step too far for the Privy Council, and it led it him to the block. His defence that he acted only in the name of the King failed to save him.

There is nothing more offensive that when Hollywood decides to re-write history in the name of entertainment. For many of us we get our historical information from television programmes, films and books. I feel it is very important for the historical context to be correct. My main characters are indeed fictional, but their playground is Tudor England, and the places and dates are ones Elizabeth I would recognise. My bookshelves are stocked with well thumbed dusty historical works bristling with post it notes.’

SamBurnellAbout the Author

Sam Burnell lives in the North East of England and has had a passion for history and archaeology all her adult life. Originally trained as a Solicitor, whilst studying for a law degree at Durham University she discovered a love for legal history. Various jobs followed, including researcher for a local museum, public sector audit work and finally now running her own successful scuba diving business both on-line and in a bricks and mortar store. During a career break a return to University was possible where she studied Archaeology, and Sam is never happier then when she’s stood in a castle wondering what when and why and trying to unlock the secrets in the stones.

Sam Burnell’s passion is the Tudor period, and her fiction is meticulously researched, and her historical fiction has the true flavour of the period. The Tudor period is replete with mystery and intrigue ready to be turned into entertaining fiction that also provides the reader with a greater insight into the history of the period. The Tudor Heresy serves as an introduction to A Queen’s Spy and provides an opener to the series and an introduction to the main characters. The next book in the series, A Queen’s Traitor, will be available in September 2017.  Sam’s favourite reading material would be anything by Phillipa Gregory, C J Sansom or Alison Weir, all Tudor historical fiction, medieval mysteries and medieval fiction.

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