"Royal Mistress" ~ Richard III Tour by Anne Easter Smith

SUMMARY :

From the author of A Rose for the Crown and Daughter of York comes another engrossing historical novel of the York family in the Wars of the Roses, telling the fascinating story of the rise and fall of the final and favorite mistress of Edward IV.

Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore—but her heart belongs to another. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane Shore from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain and friend, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows his King will find her irresistible.

Edward IV has everything: power, majestic bearing, superior military leadership, a sensual nature, and charisma. And with Jane as his mistress, he also finds true happiness. But when his hedonistic tendencies get in the way of being the strong leader England needs, his life, as well as that of Jane Shore and Will Hastings, hang in the balance.

This dramatic tale has been an inspiration to poets and playwrights for 500 years, and told through the unique perspective of a woman plucked from obscurity and thrust into a life of notoriety, Royal Mistress is sure to enthrall today’s historical fiction lovers as well.


 
PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by:  Touchstone
Pages:  512
Genre:  Historical Fiction
More about the book and author:  Anne Easter Smith


A BIT ABOUT MS SMITH :

Anne Easter Smith is an award-winning historical novelist whose research and writing concentrates on England in the 15th century. Meticulous historical research, rich period detail, and compelling female protagonists combine to provide the reader with a sweeping portrait of England in the time of the Wars of the Roses. Her critically acclaimed first book, A Rose for the Crown, debuted in 2006, and her third, The King’s Grace, was the recipient of a Romantic Times Review Best Biography award in 2009. A Queen by Right has been nominated by Romantic TImes Review for the Best Historical Fiction award, 2011.


A BOOKISH LIBRARIA HAPPILY HOSTS ANNE EASTER SMITH WITH A GUEST POST :

Portrait of a king

by Anne Easter Smith

 

Thanks for hosting me today!

 

So now we know! It was Richard III under the car park in Leicester, and the exciting announcement on February 4th made me cry. Now all of us who are Richard fans will have somewhere to go and pay our respects. It appears Leicester has won out in the re-interment battle between there and York Minster. A ceremony is being planned for early 2014, I understand.

 

Many of you may have seen pictures or videos already of the amazing and wonderful reconstruction of Richard’s face from his skull found in Leicester. I can’t tell you how powerful that was for me to see! You must agree with me, this is not the face of a murderous, evil tyrant. Sure, we have several portraits of him, but none of them is actually from his time. They are copies--estimated to have been done anytime during the 50 years following his death in 1485.

 

So if we have reproductions of actual paintings to look at, why was the facial reconstruction such a delightful surprise? Because we know the portraits were altered to fit the descriptions the Tudor historians had written about King Richard.

 

John Rous, who was writing during Richard’s time but quickly latched on to Henry VII’s coattails wrote that Richard had been in his mother’s womb for two years and emerged with a mouth full of teeth and a headful of long hair. Really! And they bought it? Well, if they bought that, then of course they would buy all the other nasty slanders slung at Richard. That he had a withered arm, that he murdered people and that he poisoned his wife in order to marry his niece. Jezum! What a load of codswallop (as we say in England).

 

There are several portraits of Richard that would have been done during his two-year reign when he was 30-32. On some commentaries you can hear an expert talk about how x-rays revealed the portrait in the Royal Collection was tampered with to create a haggard, older and bad-tempered face, added inches to the right shoulder, and turned the fingers into claws. Now the 16th century public had a portrait they could believe depicted the tyrant usurper Richard III!

 

 

 

However, if you look at the one belonging to the Societies of Antiquities in London, you will notice there is no discrepancy in the shoulder heights, his hands are elegant, and he looks more like a man of 30.

 

Of them all, I’ll take the reconstruction! Nicolas von Poppelau, a German visitor at Richard’s court in 1484, wrote in his journal that Richard was: “...three fingers taller than myself...also much more lean; he had delicate arms and legs, also a great heart...” No mention of a hunchback!

And Archibald Whitelaw, a Scottish Archdeacon, wrote: “Now I look for the first time upon your face, it is the contenance worthy of the highest power and kingliness, illuminated by moral and heroic virtue...never before has nature dared to encase in a smaller body such spirit and strength.”

The experts decided that even though Richard’s skeleton straightened measured 5 ft. 8 in., his scoliosis would have caused him to appear smaller. Scoliosis is quite common--in fact Usain Bolt has it--and Richard must have made up for his lack of inches with muscle and strength to have been able to wield those huge battle-axes and handle a destrier at the same time.

 

If a picture tells a thousand words--even if it’s computer-generated--then I’d say Richard was not evil-looking, but pretty handsome!

 

 

I agree, Anne!!  Thank you for visiting us today with such an interesting discussion.  I highly recommend your historical fiction to everyone, as well.  What a wonderful author you are!

 

Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 This tour is brought to you by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.  Please see the list of all the tour stops here:   http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/anneeastersmithroyalmistress/

 

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"World Without End" by Ken Follett ~ The Movie

OVERVIEW :

Based on Ken Follett's epic novel of the same name, this eight-hour mini-series set in the Dark Ages finds England preparing for a prolonged war with France as the Black Death descends on Europe. As the war drums begin to beat, Caris and her lover Merthin defy both the church and the crown by forming a sovereign community in Kingsbridge. Meanwhile, an assassin targets the king, and a devastating development threatens to hinder the arrival of a new era of enlightenment.

PARTICULARS OF THE MOVIE :

Produced by:  Sony Pictures
Length:  Over 6 hours
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Taken from:  Novel by the same name and author
More about the novel/series:  Ken Follett


Mini Video of the Series/Movie:

THE DAME REVIEWS:

I was searching Netflix last weekend for something to watch while I was knitting, and fell upon this awesome miniseries made into a movie!  I was up until the wee hours of the morning watching the whole thing...actually, I stayed up until 4AM.  Killer movie!  It is full of stars, and fabulous acting.
I read the book last year, and this show really lived up to it. 

The location and scenery are excellent.  Clothing design is good, albeit some of the fabrics look a bit reproduction Italianette...particularly the ruling class costuming.  The characters are perfectly suited for the roles.  I thought the whole cast was extraordinarily perfect for their parts. 

This is a movie in series not to be missed.  I have the highest regard for it, and have to tell you it's one of my very favorite books to show.  Can't go wrong with this one.  The only thing I'd suggest is that you start early and expect that you won't want to stop watching before it's over!

5 stars            Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"The Last Runaway" by Tracy Chevalier ~ Poignant & Powerful

 

 

SUMMARY: 

New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions and realities that fueled this extraordinary freedom movement.

In New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest historical saga, she introduces Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker who moves to Ohio in 1850, only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape.

Nineteenth-century America is practical, precarious, and unsentimental, and scarred by the continuing injustice of slavery. In her new home Honor discovers that principles count for little, even within a religious community meant to be committed to human equality.

However, drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor befriends two surprising women who embody the remarkable power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs.

A powerful journey brimming with color and drama, The Last Runaway is Tracy Chevalier’s vivid engagement with an iconic part of American history.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by:  Penguin Group
Pages:  320
Genre:  Fiction/Historical Fiction
Purchase:  Barnes & Noble
Find out more here:  Tracy Chevalier


ABOUT MS. CHEVALIER :
 

 

 

Tracy Chevalier first gained attention by imagining the answer to one of art history's small but intriguing questions: Who is the subject of Johannes Vermeer's painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring"?

It was a bold move on Chevalier's part to build a story around the somewhat mysterious 17th-century Dutch painter and his unassuming but luminous subject; but the author's purist approach helped set the tone. "I decided early on that I wanted [Girl] to be a simple story, simply told, and to imitate with words what Vermeer was doing with paint," Chevalier told her college's alumni magazine. "That may sound unbelievably pretentious, but I didn't mean it as 'I can do Vermeer in words.' I wanted to write it in a way that Vermeer would have painted: very simple lines, simple compositions, not a lot of clutter, and not a lot of superfluous characters."

Chevalier achieved her objective expertly, helped by the fact that she employed the famous Girl as narrator of the story. Sixteen-year-old Griet becomes a maid in Vermeer's tumultuous household, developing an apprentice relationship with the painter while drawing attention from other men and jealousy from women. Praise for the novel poured in: "Chevalier's exploration into the soul of this complex but naïve young woman is moving, and her depiction of 17th-century Delft is marvelously evocative," wrote the New York Times Book Review. The Wall Street Journal called it "vibrant and sumptuous."Girl with a Pearl Earring was not Chevalier's first exploration of the past. In The Virgin Blue, her U.K.-published first novel (due for a U.S. edition in 2003), her modern-day character Ella Turner goes back to 16th-century France in order to revisit her family history. As a result, she finds parallels between herself and a troubled ancestor -- a woman whose fate had been unknown until Ella discovers it. With 2001's Falling Angels, Chevalier -- a former reference book editor who began her fiction career by enrolling in the graduate writing program at University of East Anglia -- continued to tell stories of women in the past. But she has been open about the fact that compared to writing Girl with a Pearl Earring, the "nightmare" creating of her third novel was difficult and fraught with complications, even tears. The pressure of her previous success, coupled with a first draft that wasn't working out, made Chevalier want to abandon the effort altogether. Then, reading Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible led Chevalier to change her approach. "[Kingsolver] did such a fantastic job using different voices and I thought, with Falling Angels, I've told it in the wrong way," Chevalier told Bookpage magazine. "I wanted it to have lots of perspective." With that, Chevalier began a rewrite of her tale about two families in the first decade of 20th-century London. With more than ten narrators (some more prominent than others), Falling Angels has perspective in spades and lots to maintain interest over its relatively brief span: a marriage in trouble, a girlhood friendship born at Highgate Cemetery, a woman's introduction to the suffragette movement. A spirited, fast-paced story, Falling Angels again earned critical praise. "This moving, bittersweet book flaunts Chevalier's gift for creating complex characters and an engaging plot," Book magazine concluded.

Chevalier continues to pursue her fascination with art and history in her fourth novel, on which she is currently at work. According to Oberlin Alumni Magazine, she is basing the book on the Lady and the Unicorn medieval tapestries that hang in Paris's Cluny Museum.


Book Trailer:

 

 

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

 

It is such a pleasure to read and review a really good book.  Tracy Chevalier's "The Last Runaway" was just that...a very good book.  I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.  It was completely engaging from the start and I found myself missing the characters when I would put the book away to do housework or errands.  This is one of those books I would absolutely have no problem recommending to everyone.

 

Chevalier is a master storyteller.  The plot is driven by her fabulous cast of characters.  These are characters that wedge themselves deep in your heart and psyche.  I was smitten from the start with the "bad boy" of the novel,  Donovan, for instance.  I'm sorry...he was just too juicy a creation even though he was a villain. But, each and every one of her people are truly remarkable in their own right.

 

I loved her main protagonist, Honor Bright for her innocence, her courage and her needle working skills.  Chevalier showed intimate understanding of the meditative quality of needlework and fixed that into her character.  She was able to convey the serenity Honor maintained through this medium, as well as her other Quaker ways.   Honor's growth as a young woman in the wilds of a new America comes full circle as we read, bringing such depth to her personality.

 

The human conflicts in the novel are masterfully composed.  I thought the situations involving slaves and the Underground Railroad were richly captured.  Ms Chevalier is a wonder at conveying personal interactions and tragedies throughout the book.  I had a gut reaction several times to things that happened to Honor.

 

This is a book that should appeal to many across the board whether you like contemporary fiction, historicals or a bit of suspense.  I had a hard time leaving the book at the end.  No doubt another best seller for Tracy Chevalier...

 

5 stars           Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 

 

 



 

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Books In The Mail This Week! Mostly Murder...

 

 

 

 

 

Happily, I received a dual book from Grand Central/Hachette Publishing called "The Abbey" and "The Outsider."  I love fast paced murder mystery/suspense and these seem to fit that bill.  This author first started out as a self-published ebook author...with over 750,000 copies of his book selling!!  Now, it's in print.  I'm so excited to read both of the books.

 

Here's a brief tidbit on "The Abbey:"

 

Few things ruin a wedding anniversary faster than a corpse. Detective Ash Rashid should know; corpses have ruined more of his than he cares to remember. Unfortunately, the most recent is his niece.

When the only witness to his seemingly perfect niece's death claims she died after drinking a vial of blood, Ash doesn't know what to think...

 

 

 

Next:

 

 

 

Sweet summary:

 

Introducing Alice Quentin, a London psychologist with family baggage, who finds herself at the center of a grisly series of murders.

Alice Quentin is a psychologist with some painful family secrets, but she has a good job, a good-looking boyfriend, and excellent coping skills, even when that job includes evaluating a convicted killer who’s about to be released from prison...

Wow!  St. Martin's Press/Minataur Books, I thank you for this one which I'm dying to read.  I love a psychologist with her own family secrets!  This should be a very good one...

 

 

Of course, if you're reading my blog at all, you know I've already posted a review on this one.  I hope you'll take time to buy it when it comes around on the bookshelves next May.  Very seductive book.  It isn't a romance novel in the sense that we may think of it today...but it is in the old, more formal sense.  Gothic and romantic.  I'll be giving this copy away in May...stay tuned.

 

 

 

Quick summary:

 

Scottish Barrister Rex Graves and his fiancée Helen have traveled to Aston-on-Trent in Derbyshire, England to attend the wedding ceremony of one of Helen’s former students. The dreary gray skies and bickering families underscore Rex’s private reservations about the unlikely couple’s long-term prospects. But when people connected to the ill-fated wedding start falling faster than the gloomy May rain, Rex must determine who among the sniping wedding guests is the killer in this traditional locked-room mystery. ..

My husband is an author, and one of his friends from his writing group is C.S. Challlinor.  She's a wonderful writer.  I'll be reviewing this book of hers this spring.  The book has gotten 5 star ratings on Amazon.  Go see!

 

 

Small Synopsis:

 

The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler is an unforgettable novel about a mysterious mail-order bride in the wake of WWII, whose sudden decision ripples through time to deeply impact the daughter she never knew.

In the wake of World War II, a young, enigmatic woman named Lily arrives in Montreal on her own, expecting to be married to a man she’s never met. But, upon seeing her at the train station, Sol Kramer turns her down.

I'm very interested in reading this novel from St. Martin's Press.  I love WWII stories, and this one is so similar to a mail order bride situation, I'm completely intrigued.  I was delighted to receive this copy for review.


That's it this week for me....     WHAT DID YOU FIND IN YOUR MAIL THIS WEEK...OR ON YOUR LIBRARY TRIP?

Which should I read for review first?????

Deb/TheBookishDame

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"Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker" by Jennifer Chiaverini ~ Disappointing

 

SUMMARY :

 

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini illuminates the extraordinary friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a former slave who won her freedom by the skill of her needle, and the friendship of the First Lady by her devotion.

In Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, novelist Jennifer Chiaverini presents a stunning account of the friendship that blossomed between Mary Todd Lincoln and her seamstress, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Keckley, a former slave who gained her professional reputation in Washington, D.C. by outfitting the city’s elite. Keckley made history by sewing for First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln within the White House, a trusted witness to many private moments between the President and his wife, two of the most compelling figures in American history.

In March 1861, Mrs. Lincoln chose Keckley from among a number of applicants to be her personal “modiste,” responsible not only for creating the First Lady’s gowns, but also for dressing Mrs. Lincoln in the beautiful attire Keckley had fashioned. The relationship between the two women quickly evolved, as Keckley was drawn into the intimate life of the Lincoln family, supporting Mary Todd Lincoln in the loss of first her son, and then her husband to the assassination that stunned the nation and the world.

Keckley saved scraps from the dozens of gowns she made for Mrs. Lincoln, eventually piecing together a tribute known as the Mary Todd Lincoln Quilt. She also saved memories, which she fashioned into a book, Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. Upon its publication, Keckley’s memoir created a scandal that compelled Mary Todd Lincoln to sever all ties with her, but in the decades since, Keckley’s story has languished in the archives. In this impeccably researched, engrossing novel, Chiaverini brings history to life in rich, moving style.

PARTICULARS OF THE NOVEL :
Published by:  Penguin Group
Pages: 352
Genre:  Historical Fiction
More about the book:
Find it for Purchase:    Barnes & Noble


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
 

 

JENNIFER CHIAVERINI is the author of the New York Times bestselling Elm Creek Quilts series, as well as five collections of quilt projects inspired by the novels. Her original quilt designs have been featured in Country Woman, Quiltmaker, and Quilt, and her short stories have appeared in Quiltmaker and Quilters Newsletter. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, she lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

See this trailer to find a download of part of the novel :

 

 

 

MORE ABOUT ELIZABETH KECKLEY :

 

 

 

THE DAME'S REVIEW:

 

For all its hype, I have to tell you I was sorely disappointed in "Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker."  It was absolutely not what I expected.  What I'd expected was a novel.  What I got was a loosely disguised history of the civil war couched in the fabric of a story of Elizabeth Keckley and Mary Todd Lincoln.  There is very little about their relationship.  I was disappointed.

 

I have read many accounts of the civil war, Abraham Lincoln, and Mary Todd Lincoln, in particular.  In fact, Mrs. Lincoln is probably my favorite historical woman.  She is vastly interesting in all aspects.  Her White House years are stunning in account from her renovations to her years of purported "madness."  Ms Chiaverini had so much fodder for a novel, it's a shame she didn't take advantage of it! 

 

This is a dry and uninspiring novel.  There is no warmth between Mrs. Keckley and Mrs. Lincoln in the book.  There is no real communing of spirit as there is said to have been in real life.  No confidant relationship shown in any depth. 

 

If, on the other hand, you want a book about history and a well-researched regurgitation and a shallow intercourse between a dressmaker and her client, this is the book for you.  It certainly would give the history of Mrs. Keckly, however, I would suspect the author had little to go on in that respect. As I've said above, I was looking for more.

 

2 stars     Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

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"Seduction" by M. J. Rose

SUMMARY :

In 1843, novelist Victor Hugo’s beloved nineteen-year-old daughter drowned. Ten years later, Hugo began participating in hundreds of seances to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communed with the likes of Plato, Galileo, Shakespeare, Dante, Jesus—and even the Devil himself. Hugo’s transcriptions of these conversations have all been published. Or so it was believed.

Recovering from her own losses, mythologist Jac L’Etoile arrives on the Isle of Jersey—where Hugo conducted the seances—hoping to uncover a secret about the island’s Celtic roots. But the man who’s invited her there, a troubled soul named Theo Gaspard, has hopes she’ll help him discover something quite different—Hugo’s lost conversations with someone called the Shadow of the Sepulcher.

What follows is an intricately plotted and atmospheric tale of suspense with a spellbinding ghost story at its heart, by one of America’s most gifted and imaginative novelists.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:

Published by:  Atria Books

Pages:

Genre:  Historical Fiction

More about the author here:  M. J. Rose
Preorder for May, 2013:  Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

 

 

 

M.J. Rose, is the international bestselling author of 12 novels;Lip Service, In Fidelity, Flesh Tones, Sheet Music, Lying in Bed, The Halo Effect, The Delilah Complex, The Venus Fix,The Reincarnationist, The Memorist, The Hypnotist, and The Book of Lost Fragrances.
Rose is also the co-author with Angela Adair Hoy of How to Publish and Promote Online, and with Doug Clegg of Buzz Your Book.
She is a founding member and board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She runs two popular blogs; Buzz, Balls & Hype and Backstory.
Getting published has been an adventure for Rose who self-published Lip Service late in 1998 after several traditional publishers turned it down. Editors had loved it, but didn't know how to position it or market it since it didn't fit into any one genre.
Frustrated, but curious and convinced that there was a readership for her work, she set up a web site where readers could download her book for $9.95 and began to seriously market the novel on the Internet.
After selling over 2500 copies (in both electronic and trade paper format) Lip Service became the first e-book and the first self-published novel chosen by the LiteraryGuild/Doubleday Book Club as well as being the first e-book to go on to be published by a mainstream New York publishing house.
Rose has been profiled in Time magazine, Forbes, The New York Times, Business 2.0, Working Woman, Newsweek and New York Magazine.
Rose has appeared on The Today Show, Fox News, The Jim Lehrer NewsHour, and features on her have appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, including USAToday, Stern, L'Official, Poets and Writers and Publishers Weekly.
Rose graduated from Syracuse University and spent the '80s in advertising. She was the Creative Director of Rosenfeld Sirowitz and Lawson and she has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
She lives in Connecticut with Doug Scofield, a composer, and their very spoiled dog, Winka

THIS IS A TRAILER ABOUT "THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES" but I thought it was a good introduction into the mind of MJ Rose:

 

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

 

This is my first M.J. Rose book.  I say that because I know it will not be the last I read of her books.  I missed out on her first book, "...Lost Fragrances," and I hope to correct that asap.  Her style is heady and gothic and has just the right blend of the exotic to keep me on my toes.  I enjoyed reading "Seduction," but I don't think it's for everyone.

 

M.J. Rose is nothing if not a visual author.  Her story is beautifully painted with every note rising in technicolor off the pages.  In addition, her added pieces on fragrance and psychology just make her book a treasure trove.  I found the story somewhat an average one at times, but the magical details around it were just mesmerizing.  I stayed with it because I couldn't resist knowing about the seances, the ghosts, the tapestries, the perfumes, and the reincarnations!

 

A ghost story in nature, this one is edged with reincarnation and mysteries of druids and such.  There's a bit of the mystical for everyone.  I thought the sections on Victor Hugo were the most interesting in terms of his ghostly encounters.  And, the modern-day storyline of Jac searching for mythological proofs and connecting to her old boyfriend were very engaging.  However, the mix of the two sometimes was jarring, and didn't do much to enhance the story for me all together.  Two separate books would have worked better, I thought, though it was tied together as the book progressed.  Again, it was the surrounding and accompanying details that made the book most enjoyable for me.

 

All in all, though sometimes I found this book a mixed bag, there were some excellent parts...gothic and devilish! There was always the pull of the beautiful in aesthetic detail, as I've said.

 

At times I was reminded of a longish Poe novel. I found it too long for my tastes, truth be known. 

 

I have to recommend this book with reservations.  I enjoyed it, but I don't think it's for everyone.  The cover is beautiful, as you can see, and will draw people who collect!!

 

 

4 stars     Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 

 

 

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"Last to Die" Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen

 

SUMMARY :

 

For the second time in his short life, Teddy Clock has survived a massacre. Two years ago, he barely escaped when his entire family was slaughtered. Now, at fourteen, in a hideous echo of the past, Teddy is the lone survivor of his foster family’s mass murder. Orphaned once more, the traumatized teenager has nowhere to turn—until the Boston PD puts detective Jane Rizzoli on the case. Determined to protect this young man, Jane discovers that what seemed like a coincidence is instead just one horrifying part of a relentless killer’s merciless mission.

Jane spirits Teddy to the exclusive Evensong boarding school, a sanctuary where young victims of violent crime learn the secrets and skills of survival in a dangerous world. But even behind locked gates, and surrounded by acres of sheltering Maine wilderness, Jane fears that Evensong’s mysterious benefactors aren’t the only ones watching. When strange blood-splattered dolls are found dangling from a tree, Jane knows that her instincts are dead on. And when she meets Will Yablonski and Claire Ward, students whose tragic pasts bear a shocking resemblance to Teddy’s, it becomes chillingly clear that a circling predator has more than one victim in mind.

Joining forces with her trusted partner, medical examiner Maura Isles, Jane is determined to keep these orphans safe from harm. But an unspeakable secret dooms the children’s fate—unless Jane and Maura can finally put an end to an obsessed killer’s twisted quest.

 

 

PARTICULARS OF THIS BOOK :

Published by:  Ballantine Books

Pages:  338

Genre:  Fiction/Suspense

More about the author:  Tess Gerritsen

Purchase your copy:  Barnes & Noble

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

  

 

 

While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction. In 1987, her first novel was published. Call After Midnight, a romantic thriller, was followed by eight more romantic suspense novels. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift”, which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.
Tess’s first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her suspense novels since then have been: Life Support (1997), Bloodstream (1998), Gravity (1999), The Surgeon (2001), The Apprentice (2002), The Sinner (2003), Body Double (2004), Vanish (2005), The Mephisto Club (2006), The Bone Garden (2007), The Keepsake (2008; UK title: Keeping the Dead), Ice Cold (2010; UK title: The Killing Place), The Silent Girl (2011), and Last To Die (August 2012.) Her books have been published in forty countries, and more than 25 million copies have been sold around the world.
Her books have been top-3 bestsellers in the United States and abroad. She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon). Critics around the world have praised her novels as “Pulse-pounding fun” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “Scary and brilliant” (Toronto Globe and Mail), and “Polished, riveting prose” (Chicago Tribune). Publisher Weekly has dubbed her the “medical suspense queen”.

Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.
Now retired from medicine, she writes full time. She lives in Maine.

Book Trailer:

Ms Gerritsen Talks About Her Characters:

 

 

A BOOKISH REVIEW :

 

I have to admit that I put off reading this novel because many years ago I read a Tess Gerritsen novel and wasn't impressed.  When Ballentine Books sent me a request to review this one, I decided to get off my high horse and try her again.  I'm so glad I did.  Ms Gerritsen has come a long way!  "Last to Die" is a great suspense thriller with plenty to keep any who love a fast paced novel flipping pages.

 

I had not seen the television series.  Really had no interest as I have my other favorite shows and you know, I do so much reading, so no time.  I much prefer reading to watching, anyway.  So I had no preconceived notions about Rizzoli and Isles when I picked up this book.  I'm glad for that.  I think if I had it may  have spoiled it for me. Now, though, I would watch the show.

 I prefer my own perceptions which are a little different than the tv characters, however.

 

I love Ms Gerritsen's hard core Rizzoli with her snappy comebacks and her bravery, and Isles's intelligence and ability to rise to the occasion.  Both are very interesting and vibrant in their roles.

Both balance the novel beautifully.

 

This particular book is a kicker!  I was completely in the dark most of the way through it.  Couldn't figure out the mystery of it for the life of me until about midway through.  I loved it.  The premise is strong and engaging.  Loved the twists in the plot and the eccentric children invested in it.  Actually, they played a larger role than the villian and I liked that about the book.

 

I'm now a believer in both Tess Gerritsen as an author and her creations, Rizzoli and Isles.  I'll be coming back for more in this series.  Couldn't recommend them more although this is not writing that will tax the most brilliant of brains.  It's for the above average and it's extremely good reading!

 

4 stars        Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 

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"The Uninvited" by Liz Jensen ~ Weird and Wise, Wildly Recommended!

 

THE SUMMARY :

 

A seven-year-old girl puts a nail gun to her grandmother's neck and fires. An isolated incident, say the experts. The experts are wrong. Across the world, children are killing their families. Is violence contagious? As chilling murders by children grip the country, anthropologist Hesketh Lock has his own mystery to solve: a bizarre scandal in the Taiwan timber industry.

Hesketh has never been good at relationships: Asperger's Syndrome has seen to that. But he does have a talent for spotting behavioral patterns and an outsider's fascination with group dynamics.

Nothing obvious connects Hesketh's Asian case with the atrocities back home. Or with the increasingly odd behavior of his beloved stepson, Freddy. But when Hesketh's Taiwan contact dies shockingly and more acts of sabotage and child violence sweep the globe, he is forced to acknowledge possibilities that defy the rational principles on which he has staked his life, his career, and, most devastatingly of all, his role as a father.

Part psychological thriller, part dystopian nightmare, The Uninvited is a powerful and viscerally unsettling portrait of apocalypse in embryo.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by:  Bloomsbury USA
Pages:  320
Genre:  Fiction/Dystopian/Apocalyptic
Find your copy here:  Barnes & Noble  or  Amazon
Author's website:   Liz Jensen


FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MS JENSEN :

 

Liz Jensen was born in Oxfordshire, to an Anglo-Moroccan librarian mother and a Danish violin-maker father. She studied English at Somerville College, Oxford and worked first as a journalist in Hongkong and Taiwan, then a TV and radio producer for the BBC in the UK.

In 1987 she moved to France where she worked as a sculptor and freelance journalist, and began writing her first novel, Egg Dancing. This was published in 1995, after her return to London, where she wrote Ark Baby (1998), The Paper Eater (2000), War Crimes for the Home (2002), The Ninth Life of Louis Drax (2004), My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time (2006) and The Rapture (2009). She is currently working on her eighth novel, a ghost story.

Liz Jensen’s work has been short-listed for the Guardian Fiction award, nominated three times for the Orange Prize, developed for film, and translated into more than 20 languages. She has two sons, and shares her life with the Danish writer Carsten Jensen, best-selling author of We, The Drowned. She divides her time between London and Copenhagen.

 

 

BOOK TRAILER:   Viewer Discretion Advised!  :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME'S REVIEW :

 

I received a galley of this book from Netgalley, started it a couple of months ago and didn't finish it, reported that I didn't find it at all interesting and shut the door on it.  But, the book wouldn't shut the door on me...  I kept thinking about it.  It kept creeping up on me at odd times.  When I was in book stores, the cover would glare at me.  And then I'd start wondering if I'd given Hesketh half a chance.  So, I went back and decided to reread.  This is the first time I can ever remember doing anything like this.  The book just had its claws in me and wouldn't let me go until it was done!!

I'm so glad I did read it through, but I'm not sure I can give justice to it in a review.  Please bear with me.

 

"The Uninvited" is one of the most genius and bizarre pieces of literature I've read in a very long time.  It's really something on the cusp of "out there"...  It's quantum physics meets apocalyptic. 

 Flat footed as that may sound, that's what it is. 

 It is a far-fetched and imaginative a novel.

Part of the beauty of this book is its mind stretching ability.  It makes one think outside the proverbial box.

 

As far as characters go, I will forever remember Hesketh, the anthropological would-be-father with Asperger's syndrome.  What an amazing and powerful figure he is.  So beautifully constructed in every way.  He is the symbolic epitome of the supposed unfeeling human being of our time with "stuffed feelings" that he doesn't know how to express, and/or that he doesn't have.  He's a remarkable character.  I loved his scientific mind coupled with the creative origami for all occasions.  What a masterful creature to head an investigation of seemingly warped and off-target children and adults!  Genius!

And what love and compassion he shows for his child in the face of danger. A complex and beautiful character.

 

I'm not sure I understood all that this book was meant to convey.  It felt as if I might need to read it again to get all the symbolism and details.  A reading and discussion with someone else would be preferable with this one.  At the end, I grasped the meaning, though, and it held my rapt attention.  Thinking for a while, I was reluctant to put the book aside. 

 

This is a book that will appeal to those who liked Orwell's "1984" and the best of "futuristic" novels, as we used to call them.  It's dystopian, but it's more than that.  It's a warning about the state of our world, absolutely, but it has elements of Stephen King and Stephen Hawkings.  I have to say it was unusual.  Weird and wise.

 

I highly recommend it.  I think if you don't read this one this year, you'll be left behind on what will be known as one of the hottest books of the year.  But, this one is going to take some patience up front.  It's not going to be a walk in the park from page one....take my word for it, if you don't stick with it, it will come after you!

 

5 stars       Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Weekly Book Haul~Decidedly Eclectic Group!

 

This is a very strangely placed picture of my haul this week, which was a bit weak, I think.  Didn't get the ordinary heavy stack of books, but I'm not complaining since there's plenty of good stuff here for me to plough through.

 

 

 

 

And here's another view which was less satisfying to me, but which will give you a peek inside of the mess of some of the books I have stacked on my library table behind the sofa, and a corner of one of my bookcases.  Sigh....  My son and daughter-in-law (who are both sticklers for the no clutter policy are going to die!) are coming to visit with my grandchildren in a couple of weeks.  I'll never get this gaggle of books (clutter) cut down in size. 

 

When I was younger, I had this wish that someday I would have a  house with a living room that looked like a Dickens library or an absent-minded professor's office.  I wanted clutters of gorgeous books stacked upon books, beautiful and different papers and journals, lots of pens and pencils of exotic types to choose from.  An assortment of oddities and collectibles...

 

Now that I'm older, I've achieved it.  I'm shocked that I have, actually.  And, suddenly, I'm a little embarrassed because all of my neighbors and friends have these nicely decorated and stream-lined living spaces with very few of the things I have.  They aren't bookish, and they aren't artists and writers.  So, I feel odd.  I am odd, I suppose.  But, I really feel it. 

 

I often feel I need to make excuses about my house because of it, yet when I'm home, I love it.  When I'm away from home, I miss it and am happy to come back and sink into my chair that's surrounded by bookish things with a view of bookish things. 

 

I live with the guilt of this clutter because I'm so happy most of the time!!  Can you help me here????

 

Do you know much about me as a person?  I knit, quilt, paint and make jewelry as well...  And, I'm a grandmother of 7.  :]   I'm just learning to play a card game so I can get out with friends once a week, and I do Tai Chi every other day with friends.

 

 

So...on to the books in the box!!

  

 

 

 

A petite snippet:

 

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

 

 

Oh, yes, a view of Dr. Moreau from his poor daughter's perspective?  I was all over this book.  Had to have it and ordered it myself.  Can't wait to start this one...   If you haven't read it "The Island of Dr. Moreau" is a good, classical read to preview this one.

  

 

 

 

Small synopsis

 

The setting is Tonkin (northern Vietnam) at the turn of the 20th century. A boy, Tai, witnesses the beheading of his father, a notorious bandit, and sets out to recover his head and then to find the man who betrayed his father to the authorities. On this quest, Tai's entire world will shift. FLESH takes the reader into dark and delightful places in the human condition, places where allies are not always your friends, true love hurts, and your worst enemy may bring you the most comfort.

 

When I was approached to read this one, I had to stand back a minute.  It's nothing like I'm used to reading, but it drew me in because of the Vietnam element.  Having been a child of the '60's and the Vietnam situation, I've always wanted to read more about it from a cultural but personalized perspective.  A fictitious account seemed a perfect opportunity. 

 I'm curious about this one for many reasons.  We'll have to see... 

 I've started it, and the author is quite good!

  

 

 

 

A Summary of Sorts:

 

A NOVEL OF MYSTERY, VIDEOGAMES, AND THE PEOPLE WHO CREATE THEM, BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE.

When Russell joins Black Arts games, brainchild of two visionary designers who were once his closest friends, he reunites with an eccentric crew of nerds hacking the frontiers of both technology and entertainment.

This has got to be my wackiest Weekly Haul in a long time!  I love this strange little book!  Not my usual fare, but I read a bit of it and it's so well written and just snagged me into wanting to continue reading.  It's a sort of mystery, as well.  Love it!  I'll be reviewing it soon.  From my great friends at Mulholland Books.  Thanks, Mulholland!

 

 

Snapshot summary:

 

Raised in Chicago's Latino working class community during the Sixties, Alicia Barron uncovers her mother's Caucasian roots when she inherits a time-worn mansion, the remnant of the estate of a Chicago industrialist who, she discovers, is her grandfather. Her search of the house takes her into the lives of past generations of women whose love carried them across forbidden boundaries, and into the conflict of class, nationality, and race that is the history of the city itself.

 

Interesting to read about this segment of Chicago's history.  I'm very unfamiliar.  It sounds like a good story, and it's about women and their history which hits two of my favorite subjects.  Looking forward to finding out more about this one.  Thanks to Judith for the book!

 

 

 

 

Summary:

 

In 1972, professional dancer Joan Wulfsohn underwent a double mastectomy. And her soon-to-be-ex-husband abducted their three children and spirited them away to a foreign country. “I should have died,” Joan writes. But she didn’t. Stalking Carlos Castaneda chronicles her journey back to life by way of lessons learned from stunning transvestites and music hall dancers, teen porn stars, a brain damaged boy, Eastern holy men, Western supermodels and a certain aging sorcerer. It is the story of how one woman learned to live a magical life—bound not by spells and hexes but rather filled with wonder and transcendence.

 

Seriously, can you resist this book!??  I couldn't.  Sorry for the Amazon cover image, I couldn't find a better close up of it.  It's gotten 5 stars on Amazon.  Robert Duvall gave a foreword on the book that was stellar.  This one is a real reach for me, but I'm trying to work outside my comfort zone...  :]

We'll see what  happens!

Many thanks to Water Street Press Books for this opportunity!

 

 

now on to my fabulous Macmillian Audio Books!!  Yay!!

 

 

 

 

Such a small bit of a summary!

 

How can you prove you're not an alcoholic?

You can’t.

It's like trying to prove you're not a witch.

Hildy Good is a townie. A lifelong resident of an historic community on the rocky coast of Boston’s North Shore, she knows pretty much everything about everyone. Hildy is a descendant of one of the witches hung in nearby Salem, and is believed, by some, to have inherited psychic gifts. Not true, of course; she’s just good at reading people. Hildy is good at lots of things...

Love love love!!!  I've already started this one and it's so hilarious I can't wait to write a review for you on it.  Hildy is the perfect snooty, smart New England character.  I love her!

 

 

Summary:

 

From the award-winning novelist and writer of Upstairs Downstairs, the launch of a brilliant new trilogy about what life was really like for masters and servants before the world of Downton Abbey

As the Season of 1899 comes to an end, the world is poised on the brink of profound, irrevocable change. The Earl of Dilberne is facing serious financial concerns. The ripple effects spread to everyone in the household: Lord Robert, who has gambled unwisely on the stock market and seeks a place in the Cabinet; his unmarried children, Arthur, who keeps a courtesan, and Rosina, who keeps a parrot in her bedroom; Lord Robert’s wife Isobel, who orders the affairs of the household in Belgrave Square; and Grace, the lady’s maid who orders the life of her mistress.

Can't wait to listen to this one.  I'm getting lots of knitting done while I listen to these new audio books, which I must say are exceptional from Macmillian.  They choose exemplary narrators.  I think that makes all the difference.  More on this later...


                                             And, that's all from me today
with what came in the mail or that I purchased for my library this week.  What did you get?  

Are you particularly interested in anything new in audio???

Send me a note via comments, I'd love to hear what you're thinking.

Deb/TheBookishDame

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