📖 Book Review ~ The Chocolate Maker's Wife by Karen Brooks

 

2019

Set against the backdrop of Restoration London, the plague and the Great Fire, this is a tale of cruelty, revenge, redemption, love and hope, and the sweet, sinister temptation of chocolate.

Damnation has never been so sweet...

When Rosamund Tomkins enters the world she is so different, with her darkling eyes and strange laughter, that the midwives are afraid, believing her a changeling. But Rosamund's life is set to be anything but enchanted...

Born into poverty, brutalised and ignored by her family, it is only when she is married off to a nobleman that her life undergoes a wondrous transformation, as he recognises that Rosamund infuses magic she does not know she possesses into everything she touches.

Clever, quick and irrepressible, Rosamund soon becomes the darling of the haute ton, and presides over her luxurious chocolate house where the rich go to be seen and indulge in their favourite pastime, drinking the sweet and heady drink to which they've become oddly addicted.

But Rosamund stands on the brink of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve and will be forced to make a choice: walk away from all she knows and has grown to love with her soul intact, or make a deal with the devil

📖 My Review ...

Rosamund Tompkins is rescued from her life of misery and neglect by Sir Everard Blithman who marries her for his own selfish reasons and then launches Rosamund into his world of chocolate. Whilst Sir Everard is not a chocolatier he does have a head for business and when he launches a new chocolate house, Rosamund charms the customers with her sweet nature. However, all is not so sweet in the world of chocolate and Sir Everard has his own nefarious reasons for setting up the business.

Set in Restoration London during the years 1660-1667 this rambunctious period in English history comes to life. It's the time of great social change, and with the opening of playhouses and theatres and with a pleasure loving Charles II newly on the throne the country is swept by a new and joyous mood which is why the chocolate, and coffee houses, which started to spring up in the city, were so successful.

With secrets, lies and intrigue very much at the heart of the story there is much to take in and the ending of the story, should the author decide on a sequel, certainly lends itself to a follow up. The story is quite long, over 560 pages, or over 20 hours, if like me you listen to the audio book, so it's quite an investment in time but it's an ideal read to listen to during a wintery afternoon.

☕Best Read with... a cup of rich, dark chocolate

About the Author

Karen Brooks is an Australian author, columnist, social commentator and academic. Brooks was born Sydney, New South Wales, and now lives in Hobart, Tasmania, with her partner and two children.

Twitter @KarenBrooksAU

His Fic Saturday...The Illumination of Ursula Flight by Anna-Marie Crowhurst

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to ...Restoration, England

Allen and Unwin
3 May 2018

My thanks to the publishers and LoveReading.co.uk for my copy of this book

Ursula Flight’s journey into the world began on the night of the great comet of 1664. With this auspicious beginning, Ursula was never going to be an ordinary girl. Taught reading, writing and astronomy by her father, Ursula had a thirst for knowledge and desire for adventure which eventually sees her taking to the London stage. However, Restoration England was a brash and vulgar place and to achieve success in this world, Ursula had to use her considerable wits to survive and thrive. 

Ursula isn’t your usual delicate romantic heroine, she is bold and brave and so beautifully depicted that her character literally leaps of the page and grabs you by the hand as she explores the thespian world she so craves. A passionate writer and playwright from an early age, Ursula uses her considerable skill to tell her story with great gusto. Part narrative, part play, part diary, this unusual way of telling the story captured my imagination, and I had great fun in following Ursula’s adventures, both at her home in the village of Bynfield, and later when she makes her mark on the great city of London. 

The author has captured all the essence of Restoration England and brings this rather bawdy world to life in a very readable way. Time and place is captured beautifully and I especially enjoyed the way the story wrapped itself so perfectly around Ursula’s forceful personality. 

Really well done from the very beginning, The Illumination of Ursula Flight is a lively and, at times, mischievous journey through the whims and fancies of Restoration England. 

About the Author

Anna-Marie Crowhurst read English at King's College London and has worked as a freelance fashion and culture journalist for more than 15 years, contributing to publications including The Times, The Guardian, Time Out, Stylist and Emerald Street, for whom she currently covers books, entertainment and lifestyle, as well as writing a weekly column going out to 150,000 like-minded women every Sunday:

Her debut novel The Illumination of Ursula Flight was written during her recent MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and was supervised by the award-winning novelist Tessa Hadley. Anna-Marie graduated with distinction in 2017. She lives in London.

Twitter @Writercrow #UrsulaTakesFlight

@AllenAndUnwinUK

Amazon UK

  I read this book as part of the Love Reading Review Panel. You can read more reviews here

  

Hist Fic Saturday ~ Blood's Game by Angus Donald

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to .....Restoration England and London 1670

Zaffre
September 2017

I think most of us have heard the story, and marveled at the audacity of Captain Thomas Blood, the man, who in 1671, stole the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. And whilst I knew the vague details of the story, I wasn't aware that Thomas Blood had in fact been captured, imprisoned and then by some sheer twist of fate, had not only been freed without trial, but had been granted a generous gift of lands by the gracious permission of King Charles II. This novel explains , perhaps, just how this all came about...

Blood's Game is a real romp into Restoration England. All of its glorious bawdiness comes alive with descriptions of the King's court, his amorous exploits, and the schemes and machinations of unscrupulous individuals. Into this scheming hotchpotch comes Holcroft Blood, Thomas Blood's youngest son, who has real flair for doing things in a quite unusual way. Holcroft becomes enmeshed in the plots and schemes of the notorious, Duke of Buckingham, and learns of information which will ultimately make or break those dearest to him.

The author writes with skill and understanding, and brings to life his characters, both real and imaginary with such  a fine eye for detail, that I felt like I was a fly on the wall and observing events first hand. Even the notorious criminal, Thomas Blood comes across as a rather likeable rogue and I couldn't help but be drawn into his story, which is regaled with great gusto. Holcroft Blood is rather the hero of the story and I thought that his character, and his rather special personality, was handled with sensitivity, and yet totally in keeping with the time in which he lived.

Blood's Game is the start of  a new series for this talented writer, who in his previous novels gave us the excellent series about Robin Hood. Moving forward by several hundred years now gives the author scope to take his historical fiction into a new direction. I can't wait to see where the next book takes us.

About the Author

You can read a guest post by the author explaining the background to Blood's Game by clicking here.

Follow on Twitter @angus_donald #BloodsGame


Visit on Facebook

Huge thanks to the author for sharing his work with me and also to Emily at Bonnier Zaffre for sending a copy of Blood's Game to me .

~***~

Review - The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell

I've wanted to read this book since I saw it in a review in early August 2011.

The Restoration is such a wonderful time to write about - I'm surprised that so many authors seem to bypass it - and either go back to the Tudor period, or forward to Regency England. I was completed hooked on this time in English history when I read the novels of Jean Plaidy as a teenager - the love story of Nell Gwynne and King Charles II can be found in the Charles 11 Trilogy . Their content is a bit dated now, and yet,  the books capture the historical period very well.

Avon 2011

 

Nell Gwynne is a ragged ten year old when she watches King Charles II make his triumphant return to London in the Spring of 1660. London is rejoicing following the end of Cromwell's rule, and the city is soon to become the debauched centre of Europe. Into this world of prostitution and corruption young Nelly makes her way, first as an orange seller in the flourishing theatres, and then as one of the first female actresses.

Nell is a lively and very popular attraction, and as such is the focus of incessant male attention, but it is her relationship with King Charles that will alter the course of her life forever.



The book is a beautifully written and lively romp through Restoration England. Gillian Bagwell has captured the very essence of the period with a charm and wit that keeps you turning the pages.

The Darling Strumpet is saucy, and sexually explicit throughout, but overall the humour and the sheer joie de vivre shines through, and emphasises the utter glory of being alive and young in one of the most glittering of Royal courts.

It  comes with a recommendation by one of my favourite authors 

" Richly Engaging" Diana Gabaldon 

I loved it.

*****

I'm delighted to discover that Gillian will have a new book The September Queen  out in the US in November 2011, and then published later in the UK in 2012.......and there are already plans for a third book about Bess of Hardwick.


Don't you just love it when you find a new favourite author !!!!