Tag: throwbackthursday

Throwback Thursday: On the Edge of Sunrise by Cynthia Ripley Miller

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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’s book is On the Edge of Sunrise (The Long Hair Saga #1) by Cynthia Ripley Miller. I recently read and reviewed the second book in the series – The Quest for the Crown of Thorns – for a blog tour, so I thought I’d share my thoughts about the first book. Having now read both books, I would say that either could be read as standalones but, at the end of the first book, you’re probably going to want to find out what the future holds for many of the characters.

OntheEdgeofSunriseAbout the Book

AD 450. The Roman Empire wanes as the Medieval Age awakens. Attila the Hun and his horde conquer their way across Europe into Gaul. Caught between Rome’s tottering empire and Attila’s threat are the Frankish tribes and their ‘Long-Hair’ chiefs, northern pagans in a Roman Christian world, and a people history will call the Merovingians.

A young widow, Arria longs for a purpose and a challenge. She is as well versed in politics and diplomacy as any man but with special skills of her own… The Emperor Valentinian, determined to gain allies to help stop the Huns, sends a remarkable envoy, a woman, to the Assembly of Warriors in Gaul. Arria will persuade the Franks to stand with Rome against Attila! When barbarian raiders abduct Arria, the Frank blue-eyed warrior, Garic, rescues her. Alarmed by the instant and passionate attraction she feels, Arria is torn between duty and desire. Her arranged betrothal to the ambitious tribune, Drusus, her secret enlistment by Valentinian as a courier to Attila the Hun, and a mysterious riddle – threaten their love and propel them into adventure, intrigue, and Attila’s camp. Rebels in a falling empire, Arria and Garic must find the strength to defy tradition and possess the love prophesied as their destiny!

Format: eBook, Paperback (384 pp.)                    Publisher: Knox Robinson Publishing Published: 23 March 2015                                     Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

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

Find On the Edge of Sunrise on Goodreads

My Review

The focus of the book is the battlefields of Gaul as the very existence of the Roman Empire is threatened by the marauding hordes of Attila the Hun.  To oppose them, a fragile alliance of Romans and Franks exists, largely on the principle of ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend.’ Against this backdrop, individual struggles for power are played out, plots are made, alliances formed and broken.

The author introduces us to the key characters in the story, some of whose fortunes we will follow in the second book, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns (click here for my review). There’s Arria – recently widowed, accomplished, resourceful, shrewd – determined to fulfil her mission as envoy but aware of the vulnerability of her position, both as a woman and a potentially valuable hostage. There’s Garic – handsome, passionate, brave – attracted to Arria but conscious of the deep divide separating them. There’s Vodamir, Garic’s cousin – cocky, impetuous, loyal – whose daredevil instincts often threaten to place him in danger. There’s Marcella – beautiful, seductive, manipulative – who is seeking to secure a wealthy and powerful patron and who will use all her charms (and we mean all) to get it. Finally, there’s Drusus – handsome, ambitious, possessive and totally ruthless when challenged or threatened.

Passions run high, both on the battlefield and the bedroom. Readers who crave plenty of spice with their historical fiction will be well served (forgive the pun). The author keeps the action moving along apace with many twists and turns. Whilst some of the characters are imagined, many are not and the book makes reference to actual events giving the story an air of authenticity and credibility. It all adds up to a very enjoyable read for lovers of historical fiction who like an element of romance with their history.

I received a review copy courtesy of the author and Sage’s Blog tours in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Compelling, action-packed, passionate

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Cynthia Ripley MillerAbout the Author

Cynthia Ripley Miller is a first generation Italian-American writer with a love for history, languages and books. She has lived, worked, and travelled in Europe, Africa, North America and the Caribbean. As a girl, she often wondered what it would be like to journey through time (she still does), yet knew it could only be through the imagination and words of writers and their stories. Today, she writes to bring the past to life.

She holds two degrees and has taught history and teaches English. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthology Summer Tapestry, at Orchard Press Mysteries.com and The Scriptor. A Chanticleer International Chatelaine Award finalist for her novel, On the Edge of Sunrise, she has reviewed for UNRV Roman History, and blogs at Historical Happenings and Oddities: A Distant Focus.

Cynthia has four children and lives with her husband, twin cats, Romulus and Remus, and Jessie, a German Shepherd, in a suburb of Chicago.

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Throwback Thursday: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

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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.

There are some books I feel as if I must be the last person in the world to read.  This week’s book – A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – is a case in point. Published in 2012, it was an international best-seller.  My impetus for reading it now is that it forms part of my From Page to Screen reading challenge. The Swedish adaptation* of the book was shown recently at my local independent cinema, Reading Film Theatre.  I shall be reviewing the film adaptation and comparing the two in a separate post.

*A Hollywood version produced by and starring Tom Hanks has recently been announced

AManCalledOveAbout the Book

A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbour from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heart-warming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

Format: ebook (304 pp.)            Publisher: Sceptre
Published: 3rd July 2014             Genre: Fiction

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

Find A Man Called Ove on Goodreads

My Review

I’m always a little anxious when I start reading a much-lauded, and more importantly, a much loved book.  In fact, I’m aware many people cite A Man Called Ove as one of their favourite books ever. While I liked a lot about A Man Called Ove – I found parts of it moving, funny and quirky – I can’t say I loved it wholeheartedly. I’m going to start by talking about the elements I did really like and then move on to explain my reservations.

I loved the strange and beautiful love story of Ove and Sonja – ‘He was a man of black and white. And she was colour. All the colour he had.’  I thought the picture we get of Ove through Sonja’s love for him and his devotion to her, is the most moving part of the book.  Sonja could see beneath the exterior of the shy rather awkward young man she met on a train to the truthful, loyal, heroic and resilient person beneath. If other words, she could see the colour in Ove that others couldn’t. Despite the contrasts between them, they fitted together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to produce a complete picture.

There are beautiful lines, such as:
‘But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he had never lived before he met her.’
‘He knew better to speak ill of what she loved; after all, he understood very keenly how it was to receive her love when no one else could understand why he was worthy of it.’

Really, I simply loved Sonja and who wouldn’t? She loves books, she loves to laugh, she’s a teacher, she fights for her pupils and inspires them to achieve more than they think they can. In a way, Ove is her most ambitious project and the saddest aspect of the book is that we never get to see what she could have achieved.

So what were the aspects I was less enthusiastic about? Well, I got a little bored with all the Saab references and jokes. Perhaps you have to be Swedish or a car owner (and I’m neither) to appreciate them. And although the book was really funny in parts, at times I found the humour rather predictable and the visual and verbal punch lines easy to see coming.

However, my main reservation was about the development of the character of Ove himself. The author didn’t completely convince me how the socially awkward but essentially decent and likeable young man that Sonja fell in love with became the anti-social, sexist curmudgeon that we meet at the beginning of the book. I appreciate we learn about tragic events in Ove’s life but they didn’t seem to me to sufficiently explain such a change in his character.

Having said this, the author is a skilful writer and although one may not like Ove – and you definitely wouldn’t want to have him as a neighbour – the author makes you care about him. And, in the end, any imperfections in the portrayal of Ove’s character were redeemed for me by the portrait painted of Sonja and their emotional story. That love story, for me, is the beautiful heart of the book.

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In three words: Charming, moving, amusing

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FredrikBackmanAbout the Author

Fredrik Backman is a well-known Swedish blogger and columnist. His debut novel’s protagonist was born on his blog, where over 1,000 readers voted for Backman to write a novel about Ove. In 2011, he became an overnight success when one of his blog entries, ‘Personal message to stressed blond woman in Volkswagen’, about reckless driving and parental love, became the most linked entry on Facebook ever, with 60,000 shares.

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