Sumerford’s Autumn begins in 1497, twelve years after Henry VII won the crown of England by defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. The Earl of Sumerford, who fought on the wrong side, has been doing his best ever since to rehabilitate the family name and keep his family below notice of the king. … Continue reading Book Review – Sumerford’s Autumn by Barbara Gaskell Denvil
Book reviews
Book Review – Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
First published in 1853, Ruth begins with sixteen-year-old Ruth Hilton, raised in a respectable loving family and newly orphaned, working for a seamstress in the town of Fordham. Beautiful, innocent and unworldly, she unwittingly attracts the attention of a wealthy young man, the feckless Henry Bellingham. When he convinces her to let him take her … Continue reading Book Review – Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
Book Review – The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull
The Wild Air begins in 1909 with the arrival in Cleethorpes of fourteen-year-old Cordelia 'Della' Dobbs' great Auntie Betty, after 20 years spent in America. Della is plain, silent and shy, but discovers a kindred spirit in her Auntie Betty who has an interest in engineering and manned flight in particular, having seen the Wright … Continue reading Book Review – The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull
Book Review – First Person by Richard Flanagan
First Person is a first person narrative set in the early 1990s in the depths of the ‘recession we had to have’. Kif Kehlmann, an aspiring writer, is struggling both financially and artistically. He lives in a rundown house in Hobart with his wife Suzy who is expecting twins, and their three year old daughter. … Continue reading Book Review – First Person by Richard Flanagan
One Minute Book Review – The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle
The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History is a delightful collection of books and related facts covering around 3,000 years. The books mentioned are not only literature and notable works but lesser known books in a range of areas. The ninety-nine books selected also tell something of the age that produced them. … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle
Book Review – Wintercombe by Pamela Belle
Wintercombe by Pamela Belle follows a year in the life of the St Barbe family, from October 1644 to September 1645, at the height of the First English Civil War. The St Barbes are a Puritan family and hold the estate of Wintercombe near the village of Norton St Philip in Somerset. Two years earlier, … Continue reading Book Review – Wintercombe by Pamela Belle
Book Review – The Battlers by Kylie Tennant
At the height of the Great Depression of the 1930s it is estimated that 30,000 unemployed Australian men took to the road in search of work, often leaving their wives and children to struggle on in the cities and towns. A few women did the same. They took whatever work came their way, fruitpicking, laboring, … Continue reading Book Review – The Battlers by Kylie Tennant
Book Review – When a Marquis Chooses a Bride by Ella Quinn
This delightful Regency romance is part of a series called The Worthingtons but can be read as a standalone novel. Dorothea 'Dotty' Stern has come down from the country to stay with her friend Lady Charlotte Carpenter for the Season with no immediate thought of marriage. When she meets the the dour and reputedly heartless … Continue reading Book Review – When a Marquis Chooses a Bride by Ella Quinn
Book Review – Crimson and Bone by Marina Fiorato
Near the beginning of Crimson and Bone Annie Stride, the main character of the novel, describes a room in the house of pre-Raphaelite painter Francis Maybrick Gill as 'a jewel box of a place'. Much the same could be said of this novel with its vibrant descriptions of the physical surroundings, of the characters and … Continue reading Book Review – Crimson and Bone by Marina Fiorato
Book Review – Whipbird by Robert Drewe
Whipbird is the story of a family reunion. Hugh Cleary, a Melbourne barrister with a recently acquired vineyard in the Ballarat area, has decided to celebrate the 160th anniversary of his forebear Conor Cleary’s arrival in the colony of Victoria in 1854. Over 1000 of the possible 2946 descendants of Conor and his three wives … Continue reading Book Review – Whipbird by Robert Drewe
