In Fair Helen Andrew Greig takes the Border ballad 'Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea' and weaves a story of intrigue and doomed love in the Scottish border lands of the late 16th century. The not quite reliable narrator is Harry Langton cousin of Helen Irvine and best friend of Adam Fleming, the Scottish Romeo and … Continue reading One Minute Book Review- Fair Helen by Andrew Greig
Historical fiction
One Minute Book Review – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
I have resisted reading this book for a very long time. Workmates have raved about it, swooning over Jamie Fraser, but those who know me best warned me away from it – ‘You won’t like it – too many things for you to criticize’. Although I do have a nose for historical inaccuracy, I don’t … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
One Minute Book Review – Wild Island by Jennifer Livett
Wild Island by Jennifer Livett is set, for the greater part, in Van Diemen’s Land in the 1830s, a time when, although it was primarily penal settlement, some were beginning to envisage a different future for the colony. The story is told through dual narratives, in the third person concentrating on Charles Booth, the Commandant … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Wild Island by Jennifer Livett
Language in Historical Fiction
I suppose I am getting ahead of myself blogging about the way I write historical fiction when I have nothing published yet, so these are as much the thoughts of a reader as a writer. While the details of place, and manners and customs play a large part in creating the historical world, the style … Continue reading Language in Historical Fiction
One Minute Book Review – Doc by Mary Doria Russell
I am generally not a reader of American fiction set in the Old West; however, this review of Doc piqued my interest. This is a thoroughly researched engaging novel where even the minor characters, most of whom are based on real people, are well drawn and multifaceted with small vignettes rounding out their characters. The … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Doc by Mary Doria Russell
One Minute Book Review – Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
This is the book which, in my opinion, should have won the Man Booker Prize in 2016. The story begins in Canada in 1991 with the daughters of two musicians, Marie raised in Canada and Ai-Ming who has arrived from China in the wake of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The story weaves back … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
One Minute Book Review – The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
Set initially on a hop farm in Kent at the end of the 19th century, The Visitors is the story of Adeliza Golding, a girl born with limited sight who in early childhood contracts an illness which renders her both deaf and completely blind. Her only communication is with the Visitors, ghosts she speaks to … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
One Minute Book Review – Umbrella by Will Self
I picked this book up after hearing that it dealt, in fictional form, with similar experiences to Oliver Sach's Awakenings. I put it down after a single page as I had no desire to force myself through 400 pages of unpunctuated stream of consciousness. Months later I came across the audiobook (someone else had done … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Umbrella by Will Self
One Minute Book Review – A Woman So Bold by L. S. Young
This is an engaging first novel, categorized as historical romance, better described as historical fiction with a strong romance element. It is the story of Landra Andrews’ growth from childhood to womanhood and her struggle against both family and a narrow society to live and love on her own terms. Set in north Florida in … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – A Woman So Bold by L. S. Young
One Minute Book Review – The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells
The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells is a novel with dual intertwining timelines. The modern strand involves Australian lawyer Liz Jones who, under the pretence of writing a novel about the 18th century Lady Nash, goes to the Isle of Wight to discretely investigate her employer’s claim to descent from Delaney Nash. As she delves … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells
Catherine Meyrick 