The Master of Measham Hall by Anna Abney begins in London in 1665 where Great Plague already is taking hold. It is only five years since the restoration of the monarchy and the divisions that brought about the Civil War still exist beneath a thin veneer of conformity. Althea Hawthorne, a young gentlewoman, has been … Continue reading Book Review – The Master of Measham Hall by Anna Abney
Book reviews
Book Review – The Fall of the House of Thomas Weir by Andrew Neil MacLeod
‘… I have often said that when you have eliminated the natural, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the supernatural.’ - Dr Samuel Johnson The Fall of the House of Thomas Weir by Andrew Neil MacLeod begins with Alexander Boyle, the rational nightwatchman of Greyfriars Kirkyard, the place with the reputation of the most haunted … Continue reading Book Review – The Fall of the House of Thomas Weir by Andrew Neil MacLeod
Book Review- Soldier of Fate by Brook Allen
Brook Allen’s Antonius trilogy follows the life of Marcus Antonius from his beginnings as the son of a man disgraced by failure through to the military commander and lover of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, tracing his exploits as a military leader and his family relationships. The first, Son of Rome, concentrates on the period from the death … Continue reading Book Review- Soldier of Fate by Brook Allen
Book Review – Beware the Lizard Lurking by Vivienne Brereton
Beware the Lizard Lurking is the second book in Vivienne Brereton’s House of the Red Duke series which follows the fortunes of the House of Howard and the 2nd Duke of Norfolk, the elderly Thomas Howard. While Phoenix Rising, the first book, ranged over the years between 1497 and 1520, Beware the Lizard Lurking follows … Continue reading Book Review – Beware the Lizard Lurking by Vivienne Brereton
Book Review – A Woman’s Lot by Carolyn Hughes
A Womans Lot is the second book in Carolyn Hughes’s The Meonbridge Chronicles which are set in the fictional village of Meonbridge in the Meon Valley, Hampshire. It begins in the Spring of 1352, two years after the end of Fortune’s Wheel, a wonderful novel which put a human face to the struggles of ordinary … Continue reading Book Review – A Woman’s Lot by Carolyn Hughes
Book Review – Weave a Web of Witchcraft by Jean M Roberts
Firmly based on fact, Weave a Web of Witchcraft tells the story of Hugh Parsons, a man accused of witchcraft by his wife Mary and tried in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1652. The novel begins in England with fifteen-year-old Hugh reluctantly beginning an apprenticeship as a brickmaker. This has been arranged by his father because although … Continue reading Book Review – Weave a Web of Witchcraft by Jean M Roberts
Book Review – A Plague on Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift
Elizabeth Bagwell figures in the diary of Samuel Pepys, the seventeenth century Naval administrator, as one of his most enduring mistresses. The diary provides us with no hint of how Elizabeth, a married woman, achieved this position, especially as Pepys initially described her as ‘a virtuous modest woman’ who he had ‘a kindness’(!) for. In … Continue reading Book Review – A Plague on Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift
Book Review – A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M Wolfe
A Murder by Any Name is set in 1585, a time when England was providing arms and support to the Dutch in their fight against Spain, the King of Spain had already begun building his great armada and the English government was ever alert to plots against the life of Queen Elizabeth I. The story … Continue reading Book Review – A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M Wolfe
Book Review – This is Happiness by Niall Williams
This is Happiness begins with the sky clearing and the rain stopping just after 3 o’clock on the Wednesday afternoon of Holy Week in 1958 while the people of Faha in county Clare are at Church. This is a rare occurrence in Faha as rain 'was a condition of living'. Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe, known as … Continue reading Book Review – This is Happiness by Niall Williams
Book Review – A Slanting of the Sun by Donal Ryan
A Slanting of the Sun is Donal Ryan's first collection of short stories. It is written in the same beautifully crafted poetic and uniquely Irish prose as his novels. All but one of the twenty stories are told in the first person, each with a distinctive voice. The characters cover a range of ages, sex … Continue reading Book Review – A Slanting of the Sun by Donal Ryan
