Review ~ Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield

Atria Books 5 November 2013

Blessed with a charmed life, William Bellman is the epitome of Victorian prosperity, until misfortune introduces him to a mysterious man in black whose macabre hold over William's life forms the basis for this interesting and compelling story of Gothic obsession.

When I first started Bellman and Black, I thought that it was a rather unassuming book as nothing much seems to happen for a good third of the novel. However, there is a stealthy quietness to the story which sneaks up on you, and as the morbid fascination for the ritual of death starts to evolve, the sparseness of the narrative becomes more absorbing and offers a disturbing insight into the Victorian fascination for death and dying.

With great precision, the author has captured the very essence of Victorian funereal etiquette, from the intense and varied quality of the black bombazine used for mourning clothes, to the voyeuristic observation of unseemly grief. There is an almost hypnotic quality to the story and a distinct creepiness which seeps into your mind. 

Reading the story late at night you sense a chill in the air, and almost without realising it you start to observe rooks in a whole new light.






My thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for my review copy of this book

My author spotlight falls on Jenny Barden....

I am delighted to welcome 

Jenny Barden 

Author 

of

Mistress of the Sea

The Lost Duchess

Jenny ~ welcome to Jaffareadstoo. 
Do tell us about your latest novel The Lost Duchess

The Lost Duchess is a sequel to Mistress of the Sea:

That's right, but there's no need to read Mistress of the Sea first to enjoy the story. The Lost Duchess is a stand alone book, though one of the characters (KitDoonan) also appears in my first novel. Both are epic romantic Elizabethan adventures.

What can you tell us about the story that won’t give too much away?

The story follows Emme Fifield, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, and Kit Doonan, a handsome mariner with a troubled past, into the heart of the mystery surrounding the 'Lost Colony of Roanoke'. For anyone unfamiliar with that enigmatic episode in history, it concerns the very first attempt to found a permanent English colony in America. The project was pioneered by Sir Walter Raleigh, and the whole colony of over a hundred men women and children disappeared leaving only a few tantalising clues as to their fate. I won't reveal how the story provides a few possible answers to the questions that have puzzled historians for hundreds of years, or how the relationship ends which deepens between Emme and Kit, despite their disparity and the dark secrets they keep from one another, but I will say that at the heart of the novel is both a high-tension love story and an action-packed adventure with a thriller pace and lots of twists. I hope it will take the reader back to a time when America was a vast unknown wilderness and men and women risked everything to begin their lives afresh in a land that promised much and presented both beauty and terrible danger. 

Do you outline the plot first, or do you let the story go wherever it takes you?

I outline very carefully on the basis of historical fact, but within each scene, and in the context of the overall story arc, the characters will usually take over. So, when the writing is going well, I hear them speaking and see the action unfold within my mind's eye as if I'm watching a film. In a strange way I feel as if I'm not doing anything at all except watching and jotting down what's happening in front of me. Those jottings then become the story. But in the early stages planning is all for me, and I like to work this way because I can get early inputs from those I work closely with - my agent and editor - rather than write a whole book and then possibly have to make major changes. I find their first stage feedback very helpful. My outlines are very detailed, about 10 pages long, and they'll have a summary of the historical accounts interspersed with the story as I envisage it based on this framework. Essentially the story fills in the gaps and brings the history to life - eventually the story becomes central and the history is simply the context.


You have set this book in the New World - how important is location to your story?

Location is crucial. I love exotic and unfamiliar settings, and I really enjoy writing stories that take the reader on a journey. In a way all novels involve an element of this since they take the reader out of their own life and into another fictional world, but my novels, at least so far, have involved long sea voyages and confrontation with the risks associated with such journeys in the past. They've also taken the reader to places that were once wild, savage and little explored. I love that. Researching the settings for my novels is an aspect of the job that I absolutely adore. I relished going to Roanoke Island, in the region known as Virginia in the sixteenth century, now North Carolina, finding locations as close as possible to those where the Lost Colonists would have tried to build their homes and encountered the native Algonquian Indians. I enjoyed poking around the Outer Banks - the outer barrier islands - and travelling all around the vast lagoon now known as the Pamlico Sound, taking pictures of cypress swamp and white sand islands, snakes and butterflies, and anything that might help me imagine the settings for the story. The New World, and Virginia in particular, was viewed as another Eden by many Elizabethans enthralled by the glowing reports brought back by the first explorers. This was a wonderful setting for a story - I was following a man and a woman into a garden of delights, only for them to discover that all was not quite as idyllic as first believed. 

The Elizabeth at Roanoke

Do you have a special place to do your writing?

I like to write in my 'study' which is actually the dining room of the old farmhouse where I live now in Dorset. I have to confess I've taken this over, and the dining table is completely covered with my reference material and notepads! Sitting here I have a lovely view of the fields fronting our house - it's a view that helps free up my thinking! 

This one is especially for Jaffa...

Which authors inspire you?

I have a long list of favourite authors. Some of those who have been profoundly influential, in no particular order, are: Rose Tremain, Hilary Mantel, Bernard Cornwell, Robert Graves, Louis de Bernieres, Stef Penney, Sebastian Barry, Tracy Chevalier, Barbara Ewing, Sebastian Faulks, Gore Vidal, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Barry Unsworth, Philippa Gregory, Suzannah Dunn, Ian McEwan... I'm afraid I could just keep on going with this, but as you can see my tastes are eclectic and straddle literary and commercial fiction.

Can you tell us what you are writing next?

Next will be another epic Elizabethan romantic adventure, this time based on the threat of invasion by the Spanish Armada, but it's in the very early outline stages at the moment. Hopefully I'll have more to say about this in a few months' time!...


Thank you so much for this interview and your interest in my work, it's been a huge pleasure to talk with you.

A little more about me and my writing can be found here:

www.jennybarden.com
twitter @jennywilldoit
facebook jennybardenauthor
goodreads Jenny Barden

Jenny has very kindly offered a giveaway copy of her book The Lost Duchess to one lucky winner

**This giveaway is open Internationally**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jenny ~ thank you so much  for spending time with us. Jaffa and I have loved having you visit our blog. We wish you continued success with your writing career.

Come back and see us again soon

***

Historical Novel Society...

Earlier this year I became an Indie Reviewer for the Historical Novel Society. Not only was it a chance for me to get to read some really diverse historical fiction, but it was also an opportunity to give a voice to the hundreds of Indie authors who need to get their work out into the public domain.

Here's  a round up of my recent reads....

All reviews can be found on the Historical Novel Society website

The Second Footman by Jasper Barry

Maria's Papers by Stephen F Clegg

Running With Crows by D J Kelly

Thwarted Queen by Sally Haggard

Princes in Exile by Richard Denning

The Night I Danced with Rommel by Elisabeth Marrion

***

Review ~ Until You're Mine by Samantha Hayes

This tense and rather sinister psychological thriller held my attention from the beginning and without giving too much of the plot away, it is the intertwined story of three very different women who at first seem to have very little in common, and yet as the story progresses, the strands that bind them together are revealed in scary detail. We have Claudia, heavily pregnant who lives a fairly solitary life when her naval husband, James, is away at sea. She welcomes Zoe into her home to help as a nanny, but there’s something about Zoe which makes Claudia uneasy. And then there’s Lorraine, a police officer who is investigating some pretty horrific crimes against pregnant women. All three are strong women, capable in their own way but crucially flawed when it comes to their capacity to believe in themselves.

This is definitely not for the faint hearted and whilst the graphic nature of the narrative certainly cranks up the tension, the power of the writing comes from the observation of what makes these women behave as they do.

The story will appeal to those who have enjoyed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn but it's probably not a story for anyone who is expecting a baby in the coming months !

My thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone for my copy of this book.

My author spotlight falls on ~ Nadine Christian

Author 

of

The Bounty's Retreat Series

Nadine ~ welcome to Jaffareadstoo and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

Quintal's Return is the first book in your Bounty's Retreat series - what can you tell us about the story?

I wrote QR on the premise of a hotel and airport being built on the island. Considering that the island isn't really big enough to support an airport, and we do home-stays as there is no hotel, it was more than fiction --- more like a pipe-dream!   It ended up being fun designing a resort that would still merge in with the surroundings and creating an airport out of nothing.

Do you outline the plot first, or do you let the story go wherever it takes you?

Uh, for Quintals I let the story lead me. It had been burning a hole in my brain for a long time, and when I finally did get it down on paper it needed a ton of revision. I think I re-wrote the first chapter three or four times.  Nowadays I tend to do an outline and go from there.

Do you ever base your characters on people you know?

I really can't say. There are too little people here on island to say yes -- they might get offended! LOL Seriously though I think I take a little personality from everyone. The nasty characters I write are things I've seen, and felt myself -- it's sort of cathartic to write them! 

How important is location to your story?

Very. I've based all my books on the island. Where I live is so vibrantly different to anywhere else. Isolated, unpolluted, time stops according to weather or whim! It's historic -- not only because of the Bounty Mutineers, but because the stone here mined by the early Polynesians can be found all over the South Pacific! This island was once a quarry for the ancients!

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I always wanted to be a reader. I LOVE books. I can sit down and devour a book in a day, look up and wonder where I am. I just dissolve totally into a good story. I wanted to see if I could do that to someone -- totally immerse them in my world. I hope I can do that.

When do you find the time to write, and do you have a favourite place to do your writing?

I usually write when the kids are at school and my wee one is having her daily nap. Music off, TV off, and hands on the keyboard! No favourite place, just need to have my laptop, a coffee and quiet.

Can you tell us what you are writing next ?

Definitely not a romance! I'm three chapters into something outside the box and enjoying it! I hope to be able to share it with you soon! 

About the author

 Nadine Christian lives on Pitcairn Island, a small isle in the middle of the South Pacific, with her husband, five children, four goats, two cats and thirty chickens. With its rich maritime history, Pitcairn’s romantic past comes alive in her novels, capturing the taste of life on an isolated tropical island, miles from the rush and bustle of normal city life.

Book 2

Home Again, Home Again

 Bounty's Retreat series

Published 1 November 2013

Eternal Press

Nadine ~ thank you for spending time on our blog. Jaffa and I wish you continued success with your writing career.

 ***

My thoughts on Quintal's Return

When Kate Quintal and her sister Jen return to Pitcairn Island to take over the running of a new luxury hotel, they are little prepared for the events which unfold. All is not well in this corner of paradise, and the added complication of a promising romance with a handsome islander only makes life even more difficult for Kate.

I was drawn into Kate and Jen’s story from the beginning. The author writes with great conviction and makes both the characters and the delicious backdrop of Pitcairn come gloriously alive. The author has a real talent for storytelling, she brings the scenery, place and people together in such a way that I imagined that I had actually been to the island, and could well imagine the sights and sounds for myself. Only someone who knows the island and islanders well could have made this story so believable, it is obvious that the author has a real love for, and an affinity with,  this corner of the South Pacific.

The second book in the Bounty Retreat Series is Home again, Home again. It is published on the 1st November 2013. I am sure that Nadine’s countless fans are eagerly looking forward to a continuation of the story.

***

Review ~ The King's Grave by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones

St Martin's Press
October 2013

The idea that an anointed King of England could have lain undisturbed for the last 500 years under the concrete of a Leicestershire car park caused a flurry of excitement. Along with the rest of the world, I waited in hopeful anticipation that the achingly vulnerable skeletal remains would indeed prove to be those of Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet kings and the last king of England to be killed in battle.

In The King’s Grave, both authors give their view on the results of the archaeological dig, which took place in the summer of 2012. From Michael Jones, we are given the historical background into the life and times of Richard III, putting into context, not just Richard’s fight for the crown, but also shedding light on the complicated politics which followed the premature death of Edward IV, in 1483. Philippa Langley’s epic contribution demonstrates her absolute conviction that Richard lay beneath the letter “R” in the social services car park, and demonstrates her dogged determination in getting this project, which was so dear to her heart, from the planning stages to its ultimate conclusion.

The book is exceptionally user friendly. It enthrals like a well written historical novel, with at its centre the almost unbelievable story that a King of England could have been left alone and vulnerable for so long. As we know, the events which unfolded as Richard’s remains were uncovered are far from fiction, and only the absolute conviction from those enthusiasts who gave so willingly of their time, money and energy, meant that this project ever saw the light of day.

I stayed up long and late to finish this book, interspersing my time, with watching clips of the dig, which can be easily found on YouTube. I found the whole project fascinating to behold, not just the professionalism of those who had the difficult task of extracting Richard’s skeleton but also in the sheer skill of those experts who gave so willingly of their time to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Richard, the last Plantagenet King of England, had indeed been found.

My thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for my ecopy of this book.

Review ~ Working Lives by David Hall

Bantam Press
2012

 The forgotten voices of Britain’s post-war working class.

I was born into a working class family in the industrial North of England, so the stark picture of the three coal miners who gaze enigmatically out from the front cover of Working Lives, is a scene which is entirely familiar to me. As a child, I watched as my coal miner father washed off the worst of the coal dust in a bucket of water in the backyard, and I grew up with tall tales of shot firing, coal seams and underground explosions.

David Hall’s interesting and informative social history explores the lives of the working classes in post-war Britain. The inherent danger of the northern coal fields and the noise and dust of the Lancashire cotton weaving sheds formed a landscape which was difficult to escape. And, likewise, the vivid descriptions of the frenetic activity of the North Eastern ship builder, through to the heat and bellow of the Yorkshire steel works, gives the narrative a uniquely individual voice, which neither glorifies this post-war period as halcyon days, nor does it allow the facts to outweigh personal perspectives. The anecdotal stories which are interspersed amongst the factual evidence are fascinatingly poignant and are reminiscent of long lost industrial pride.

The five main chapters are well divided with some minimal overlapping as one industry is occasionally reliant on another. These sections explore in great detail the effect that these industries had on the communities they served, and the structure and political ramifications as Britain became the most urbanized industrial nation in the world.

As someone who was born well into this post war industrial period, I am always rather shocked to consider that this is now seen largely as a historical period, but there is no doubt that we owe a huge debt of honour to the sagacity of those intrepid workers who maintained the status quo during this uniquely industrial time in our nation’s history. 

In this post-war examination , David Hall has done them proud.

 My thanks to Elizabeth Masters at Transworld Publishers for my copy of this book.

Transworld Historical Reading Challenge 2013