Historical Fiction

Book Review: THE SQUARE OF SEVENS by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

| Jessica Crawford

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson is a twisty 528 page novel published in 2023 by Atria Books.

Genre:

Historical Fiction

Opening Line:

People like to say they seek the truth.

Synopsis:

An orphaned fortune teller in 18th-century England searches for answers about her long-dead mother and uncovers shocking secrets in this immersive and atmospheric saga perfect for fans of Sarah Waters and Sarah Perry.

Cornwall, 1730: A young girl known only as Red travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient Cornish method of the Square of Sevens. Shortly before he dies, her father entrusts Red’s care to a gentleman scholar, along with a document containing the secret of the Square of Sevens technique.

Raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendor of Bath, Red’s fortune-telling delights in high society. But she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him?

The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholomew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red’s quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads to grave danger.

Laura Shepherd-Robinson, “the queen of modern Georgian literature” (Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora), has written a dazzling and Dickensian story of mystery and intrigue, with audacious twists and turns.

My Thoughts:

Three cheers and a round of applause for The Square of Sevens!

Our story takes place in eighteenth century England. Our main character is Red, a girl who travels the countryside with her father, the two of them telling fortunes for money and never staying in one place long. When her father falls ill, he asks a kind gentleman to take his daughter in after he dies, explaining that her mother was a lady and he wishes her to be raised as one as well. The man balks at first; surely there is family who can look after her? But the answer comes that her father has no family, and her mother’s family does not know she exists, and must never know.

Years later, sixteen year old Red is filled with curiosity to know who her mother was. She finds some hints in the belongings her father left behind, and comes to believe her mother was part of the wealthy De Lacy family of British high society. Her father probably only said what he did about it being dangerous for them to learn of her existence in order to persuade her guardian to take her into his care…right?

The De Lacys are a family at war with one another, in the midst of years of legal proceedings arguing who the rightful heir to the family fortune is. Red coming in and announcing herself as the late patriarch’s oldest grandchild is going to look like she is lying for the sake of putting in a claim of her own. So Red keeps her true identity hidden while infiltrating her own family, searching for proof to offer them in order for them to accept that she is actually one of them.

I enjoy family sagas and love court intrigue and machinations in my books, and this was a combination of these things. The story reaches from the fortune teller tents of county fairs to the grand estates of nobility. While attempting to uncover proof of her legitimacy as a De Lacy, Red digs up plenty of other dark family secrets as well. And I loved every minute of it!

AND THEN…I think my jaw literally dropped with the final reveal of many. I mean, this is historical fiction, not a psychological thriller – who would have expected such a twist?! Wowee!

I did notice that this book seemed very long. As I was enjoying it all along, this did not bother me, but I can definitely see how some readers might take issue with the length. As it is, this is hands down my top pick for books I have read so far this year!

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Book Review: KING NYX by Kristen Bakis

| Jessica Crawford

King Nyx by Kristen Bakis is a 320 page hardcover standalone novel published February 27, 2024 by Liveright (W. W. Norton & Company).

Genres: Historical Fiction, Gothic, Mystery

Opening Line:

Last night I dreamed my husband came back.

“This woman cannot think, she feels.” So the novelist Theodore Dreiser once wrote about Anna Fort, wife of the crypto-scientist Charles Fort. It was this line that inspired author Kristen Bakis to write a story of Anna’s own, albeit a fictional one.

I had heard this book was a Gothic tale that was more about vibes than plot, and I supposed that is pretty much the case (there is certainly plot, but I do think I’d say the pacing is on the slower side). But there were a lot of other elements to this story that I was not expecting.

Anna’s husband writes about verified anomalies that science has failed to offer sufficient explanations for, and who then proposes his own rather outlandish theories. A wealthy recluse invites them to stay on his private island estate while Charles finishes writing his book. But all is not well on Prosper Island.

We learn a lot about Anna’s memories from before her marriage, at a time when she herself experienced something unexplainable and wound up having a mental break and spending time in a sanatorium. This history has her questioning when she can and cannot trust herself and her own thoughts and perceptions. She discovers that one can perform any number of mental gymnastics in order to keep one’s view of the world palatable.

Visitors to Prosper Island are made to quarantine in cabins in the woods for two weeks upon arrival, and it is here Anna and her husband meet another couple, a psychologist and his wife with an oddly antagonistic relationship, who are also guests of the eccentric Mr. Arkel. In fact, the story doesn’t actually arrive at the house itself until very near to the end, and then only briefly.

The story also includes: missing girls (pulled from the penal system and put into a school for domestic service), creepy automata (the most horrifying part of this book, IMO!), and a toy bird elevated to the status of deity. Oh, and several pet parakeets. I wasn’t expecting all of these elements, but they still wound up telling a decent Gothic mystery.

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Book Review: THE FOX WIFE by Yangsze Choo

| Jessica Crawford

An emotional and intriguing tale incorporating elements of Chinese folklore, presented as historical fiction with a side of magical realism.

Chapters alternate between two POVs. Snow’s chapters are told in first person past tense (presented as her diary entries), Bao’s in third person present. Both were equally fascinating, although I did at times take issue with being pulled from one storyline at a particularly good part to shift back to the other. But chapters were never super long, so you never have to wait long to switch back.

Snow is a fox, the kind that can take the form of a human. Once she planned on making the thousand-year journey, a morally refining spiritual pilgrimage, with her mate. But after the greed and cruelty of humans shatters their world, she sets out on a mission of vengeance instead.

Meanwhile, Bao is an older gentleman who has had the ability to hear when someone is lying ever since his childhood nanny prayed to a fox spirit for him. Using his talent, he has become a freelance investigator of sorts. When he is tasked with discovering the identity of a woman found frozen to death in an alleyway, he finds himself on a path that seems to be leading him ever-closer to the subject of a lifelong fixation of his: foxes.

I really liked the unique and fully fleshed characters in this book. The mythological elements added a very nice mysterious and enchanting touch (what is just superstition, and what is something more?). But what resonanted the most with me was the story of grief, and the changes people go through as they process it. I love how the Yangsze Choo’s novels always feature this beautiful mix of magical and moving.

There were several fantastic quotes in this book that had me wishing I was reading it on my ereader so I could highlight them with the swipe of a finger, but I was too lazy to note them any other way. Maybe the quotes other readers submit here on Goodreads will help me out here.

I definitely enjoyed this book a lot more than The Night Tiger (which I still really liked!), but I don’t know if it can oust The Ghost Bride’s spot for number one in my esteem — I think perhaps a reread of that is called for to be sure!

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Book Review: THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS by Katherine Arden

| Jessica Crawford
A new standalone historical fantasy novel by the author of The Winternight Trilogy

This an emotional and harrowing story about World War I, the physical and emotional toll it took on individuals as well as the changes it wrought on civilization itself. In some ways, this war marked the end of the world–and the start of a new one.

The chapters of this book alternate between following combat nurse Laura in 1918, and her brother Freddie beginning the year prior, before the army sent her his effects saying that he was missing and presumed dead. Laura decides to return to the field to attempt to discover what happened to her brother.

Freddie’s chapters are heart wrenching, and the bond he forms with another soldier when the two have only each other left was very touching. The nightmare these people are living is what allows the author to introduce her signature mythological/magical realism seasoning to the story. It begs the question, “Was remembered agony better than feeling nothing at all?” and allows Arden to address the idea she puts into words in the Author’s Note: “What would a devil of the old world do if he found himself in the hell of a new one?” War stole away the pleasure of shattering human hearts.

This story was full of great characters, from the indomitable Laura herself, to German soldier Hans Winter, and the genteel woman whose “bright sweet nature” may be hiding the true darkness of her own grief. (I’m not sure I found Freddie that likable, but the whole point is that after the things he’s been through, there’s not much left to like or not).

The book ends with things wrapped up a little too pat for Laura, but overall I was pleased with this historical fantasy with its heavy and moving themes.

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Book Review: THE BULLET SWALLOWER by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

| Jessica Crawford

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Pride has ruined me far more than disease,” he said, “and so I fear it has ruined you.”


Wow! I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this Western (not a genre I feel any particular way about) laden with magical realism (which can be hit or miss for me), but I loved this book!

The author’s great-grandfather was a bandido who escaped from a prison in Texas, survived being shot in the face by Texas Rangers (and thereby earning the nickname “The Bullet Swallower”), and made his way home to Mexico. Using this as a springboard, she has spun a stunning and emotional tale spanning more than a century, transporting readers to a lawless Texas-Mexico border as well as an affluent part of Mexico City, touching on issues of colonialism, racism, and more.

Chapters alternate between film star Jaime Sonora and his ancestor, the eponymous bandido, Antonio Sonora. The latter plans a train heist, hoping to steal enough riches to lift his little family out of poverty, but gaining only a personal vendetta against a trio of Texas Rangers instead. I was completely invested in this story line – the setting was gorgeously depicted, as we blazed trails through the chaparral beneath a luminous sky. I adored the relationship Antonio winds up forging with sharpshooter Peter Ainsley, “The Gentleman Assassin”. The link between Antonio’s story and that of his descendant, Jaime, is the shadow of retribution, a literal dark figure who is tasked with collecting souls, and the Sonoro family is deep in cosmic debt…

[He], for all of his faults, woke up every morning and tried to be better. And maybe that was all there was and all there ever would be: a daily dedication to the light.

Jaime’s chapters didn’t resonate with me quite as much (there were some A-holes in the Sonora lineage, but it hardly seems like every single one of them was evil; and what did the woman who wrote an entire history about their family have to do with them in the first place?), but were still fine, especially in how they represent the completion of Antonio’s story.

The author is without doubt a talented writer, and this story got me right in the feels. And that cover! An all around beautiful book.

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Book Review: THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese

| Jessica Crawford

THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese is literary historical fiction. It is a long book that is in no hurry to get where it’s going, but if you just sit back and relax, there’s much beauty to enjoy along the way. If you require your books to be plot-driven and action packed, look elsewhere. If you prefer your reads constructed around realistic characters and their loves, griefs, sacrifices and ambitions, then treat yourself to the family saga told through evocative writing here.

The story follows three generations of a family in India over the course of the twentieth century. The crux is that there seems to be an inherited condition in the family, and there is hope that someday someone will figure out what it is and how to treat it. Alternate sections of the book tell of a Scottish surgeon who joined the Indian Medical Service; his story and that of the afflicted family eventually come together, but not in the ways you might expect.

Verghese expertly summons forth a strong sense of place and time, and readers find themselves inserted into daily life for Saint Thomas Christians in the part of India that eventually became Kerala. Sociopolitical issues, such as India’s caste system, are addressed in a adroit manner.

Some readers are turned off by the book’s many graphic surgical scenes, though I personally found them of great interest–which is no surprise, since my husband has had to repeatedly ask me to stop sharing stories from my job at the hospital with him. Different strokes for different folks!

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Book Review: NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason

| Jessica Crawford

Sometimes, overwhelmed, she retreats into the forests of the past. She has come to think of them as her private Archive, herself an Archivist, and she has found that the only way to understand the world as something other than a tale of loss is to see it as a tale of change.

The gorgeous, lyrical prose of North Woods by Daniel Mason transports readers to a parcel of land and shows them the changes it undergoes over the course of centuries. A love poem for nature, it teaches of the land’s native flora and fauna, as well as how various outside seeds, spores, insects, and microorganisms make their way there and work changes upon it. Each vignette tells of the succession of people who find their way onto this land, live out their messy lives there, and leave their own indelible marks.

Interspersed with fictional primary accounts such as letters, songs, and speeches, we get peeks into the lives of several generations of people. There are the lovers who flee their Puritan Massachusetts colony to make a life for themselves in the woods, the woman and her child taken captive by native peoples, the escaped slave making her way north to Canada. There is the ex-soldier apple orchardist and his twin daughters, and the landscape painter harboring an illicit love in his breast (“Nature doing her best to draw me into her cloak of melancholy, but I have the memory of my friend”). The robber baron with dreams of a hunting lodge, the vulnerable woman who accidentally invites danger to her home, and the schizophrenic whose hallucinations might be more than they seem (“Diabolical tools, a ruptured earth, words which froze in winter; were it a poem, not a disease, she might find it fascinating”). The amateur historian looking to dig up the past. And then there is the wildlife that makes the place its home in between the people. Sprinkled amongst the stories are love, lust, murder, art, and more.

This literary novel is not for readers looking for fast-paced plot driven stories. I had to take my time reading each line, allowing myself to fully absorb the beauty of it all. And I loved every minute of it!

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Book Review: OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY by C. E. McGill

| Jessica Crawford

Likely capping off my spooky season reading, this is OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY by C. E. McGill.

But I have never been a sensible soul. I have only ever, always, been angry.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Mary and her husband are scientists with particular interests in fossils and prehistoric creatures. As a woman (and a bastard), Mary has to work twice as hard to even attempt to be acknowledged in the field. Through poor decisions on her husband’s part, they find themselves at risk of losing the respect of the scientific community, as well as in great financial debt.

That is when Mary finds the notes of her great uncle, Victor Frankenstein.

“One cannot afford principles, if one is trying not to drown.”

According to the author’s note, they first pitched this story idea to their academic advisor as, “Frankenstein, but, like, with dinosaurs?” And I enjoyed it very much! It’s Gothic, concerns itself with academics in Britain’s scientific community in the Victorian era, deals with grief as well as caring over credibility, and is full of feminist rage. Although she is married to a man, Mary also develops romantic attachments to women. And, oh, how I adored that Creature! My only complaint would be that the pacing seemed a bit off, with things dragging a bit in the middle. Overall, I loved it!

It will not have been for nothing, I wanted to cry, no matter what happens-don’t you see? Don’t you see? Because it is already worth something. It is worth something, even in the dark. Even if no one else ever loves it but me.

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Book Review: HOMECOMING by Kate Morton

| Jessica Crawford

“Homecoming” by Kate Morton is literary fiction featuring dual timelines, with a touch of mystery and a dash of family saga.

“Home is where the heart is, and the heart can be a dark and damaged place.”

In 1959, a family in Australia is found dead under suspicious circumstances, the youngest child missing. In 2018 a woman is just learning about this family history that her grandmother wanted to keep secret from her. Not everything was answered satisfactorily back then, but can she put all the pieces together now?

“There was no clear corollary between the two, and yet the first and firmest human addiction is to narrative. People seek always to identify cause and effect and then arrive at meaning…”

The overall story was pretty good (the mystery, the family tensions, the relationships), but honestly the choice to present much of the earlier timeline as a true crime book being read by characters within the story made for some boring reading. It wasn’t until around page 400 that things became more engaging.

“There was a truth observed by all good preachers, leaders, and salesmen: tell a good story, tell it in simple language, tell it often. That’s how beliefs and memories were formed. It was how people defined themselves, in a reliance upon the stories about themselves that they were told by others.”

Decent story, good prose, presentation was a swing and a miss (for this reader, at least)

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