Tag: historical fiction

About the Book

It’s 1959 and time for eighteen-year-old Sophie’s real life to start. Her existence in the village of Poynsdean, Sussex, with her austere foster-father, the Reverend Osbert Knox, and his frustrated wife Alice, is stultifying. She finds diversion and excitement in a love affair, but soon realizes that if she wants to live life on a bigger canvas she must take matters into her own hands.

She dreams of escape to Paris, the wartime home her French mother fled before her birth. Getting there will take spirit and ingenuity, but it will be her chance to discover more about her family background, and, perhaps, to find a place where she can finally belong.

When Sophie eventually arrives in the Paris arising from the ashes of the war, it’s both everything she imagined, and not at all what she expected…

Format: eARC (448 pages) Publisher: Corvus
Publication date: 4th April 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Fifteen years might seem a long time after the end of the Second World War but in fact its impact lingers on, as the author deftly explores in Bonjour, Sophie. For some, like Sophie’s foster mother Alice, war had been so much a battle for survival that even the slim pickings of life offered afterwards are, if not enough, then better than nothing. For others, there are physical scars but also mental scars from the things they saw and the things they were forced to do in order to survive.

Along with her dream of a more fulfilling and independent life, Sophie harbours a deep need to know about her father, a man she never met, including how he died. Was he the hero of the French Resistance she has always believed him to be?

Having made it to Paris, her first job involves contact with people who also looking for someone but for quite different reasons. She describes them to her friend Hettie as ‘drenched in yearning’. Her own search for answers involves some subterfuge, as well as ignoring the warnings that she may not like what she finds out. ‘War triggers vendettas. Paris was, and is, not exempt. Asking questions exposes secrets, and some are best left hidden.’ A brief glimpse of a more luxurious lifestyle proves tempting but, she realises, would bring the sort of obligations and constraints she has set her face against.

Paris offers Sophie myriad new experiences which help to banish, albeit not completely, memories of the disappointments, losses and unpleasant experiences of her life in Sussex. Yet even here, the buildings carry the marks of conflict. ‘The war was over. The war was not over. Peeling paint. Damaged stonework.’

Sophie makes a spirited and engaging heroine. She’s intelligent, witty and once she has decided on a course of action she is resolute – and resourceful – in following it through. I also liked the storyline involving Sophie’s friend and confidante, Hettie, who belatedly embarks on her own journey from the constraints of parental and societal expectations.

Bonjour, Sophie is an engaging, nuanced coming-of-age story that captures a world on the cusp of social change and I very much enjoyed spending time with Sophie on her journey.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Corvus Books via NetGalley.

In three words: Absorbing, insightful, emotional
Try something similar: A Complicated Matter by Anne Youngson

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About the Author

Elizabeth Buchan was a fiction editor at Random House before leaving to write full time. Her novels include the prize-winning Consider the Lily, international bestseller Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman, The New Mrs Clifton and The Museum of BrokenPromises. Buchan’s short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She has reviewed for the Sunday Times, The Times and the Daily Mail, and has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot literary prizes. She was a judge for the Whitbread First Novel Award and for the 2014 Costa Novel Award. She is a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and co-founder of the Clapham Book Festival.

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About the Book

In the glittering and ruthlessly competitive world of opera, Maria Callas is known simply as la divina: the divine one. With her glorious voice, instinctive flair for the dramatic and striking beauty, she’s the toast of the grandest opera houses in the world. Yet her fame has been hard won: raised in Nazi-occupied Greece by a mother who mercilessly exploited her, Maria learned early in life how to protect herself.

When she meets the fabulously rich shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, her isolation melts away. For the first time in her life, she believes she’s found a man who sees the woman rather than the legendary soprano. Desperately in love, Onassis introduces her to a life of unbelievable luxury, mixing with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

And then, suddenly, it’s over. The international press announce that Onassis will marry the most famous woman in the world, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, leaving Maria to pick up the pieces.

Format: eARC (336 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 14th March 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

It’s 1956 and Maria Callas is at the height of her fame but conscious that her extraordinary vocal ability cannot last forever. Her life is a whirlwind: travelling to different cities across the globe for performances, having dress fittings with her couturier and attending glamorous parties – the sort of parties where Cary Grant greets you as he walks past your table, Maurice Chevalier comes over to wish you happy birthday, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor pop over for a chat.

But maintaining the persona of la divina comes at a cost. Conscious of having been overweight as a child, Maria seemingly subsists on a diet of steak tartare and green salad in order to maintain an unnaturally trim figure, hides her shortsightedness behind sunglasses and avoids anything that might risk damaging her voice.

The author shows us Maria the woman, not just the diva. Maria’s relationship with her mother – never strong because of Maria’s suspicion that she always favoured her sister – has broken down completely and will later descend into a war of words and accusations. She’s in a stale marriage in which her husband has become more a manager of her theatrical engagements than a lover. (He, however, remains fiercely devoted to her and I felt great sympathy for him.) Although surrounded by people, she comes across as rather lonely, with her maid the only person she can truly rely on or confide in.

It’s no surprise then that Maria is attracted to Aristotle Onassis, who showers her with attention and a constant stream of expensive gifts. She believes it is Maria Callas the woman he desires, not Maria Callas the opera star. They embark on a passionate affair, under the nose of Onassis’s wife who is finding her own pleasure elsewhere. (I confess I found the sex scenes between Onassis and Maria a little squirmy.) Ignoring the warnings of others and despite being aware of Onassis’s many past dalliances, she believes their relationship is different. ‘Maria knew that she was not some conquest, she was his equal: a Greek of humble origins who had made herself into a world-famous star but who, underneath, was like him – a simple soul.’

Oh dear, how wrong can she be… As she eventually discovers – and only after an act of the utmost cruelty and a very public humiliation – she’s just one in a long line of conquests. Another notch on his bedpost, if you like. While he’s servicing the current conquest, he’s already grooming the next one. And setting his sights higher than the world’s most famous opera singer, as it turns out.

In the end, all Maria is left with is what dignity she can muster and her ability to hold an audience spellbound with that glorious voice, a thing that only time can take away.

Diva gives us the highs and lows, the triumphs and tragedies of Maria’s life. It’s an absorbing work of fiction but necessarily departs from fact in some places.

If you’re keen to learn more about the life and career of Maria Callas, The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography by Sophia Lambton contains never-before-seen correspondence, including letters between Callas and her manager, and interviews with friends of Callas, many of whom have rarely spoken before.

The Callas Imprint was published on 2nd December 2023, the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’ birth. You can find more details about the book here.

I received a digital review copy of Diva courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Romantic, glamorous, compelling
Try something similar: The Second Marriage by Gill Paul

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About the Author

Daisy Goodwin’s work as a TV producer and presenter includes Reader I Married Him, Bookworm and The Nation’s Favourite Poems; she is also the creator of Grand Designs and the hit Itv drama Victoria, which has sold to 134 countries. She has edited numerous poetry anthologies, including the bestselling 101 Poems That Could Save Your Life, and is the author of Silver River, a memoir, as well as three bestselling novels: My Last Duchess, The Fortune Hunter and Victoria. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages. (Photo/bio: Publisher author page)

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