GIVEAWAY!! "Banquet of Lies" by Michele Diener~Lively Historical Fiction

SUMMARY :

A young noblewoman flees to London and poses as a servant to evade a murderer in this richly detailed and “compelling” (Publishers Weekly) historical novel.

Frightened for her life after her father, a British spy, is murdered, Giselle Barrington flees with the secret document her father gave her for safekeeping. Needing to hide from those now chasing her, and knowing that no one would look for a wealthy young society lady in a kitchen, she takes a job as a cook for a nobleman, determined to use her anonymity to uncover the murderer. Life below stairs gives her a new perspective on the hard realities of servants’ lives, even though she’s a highly paid one. And when her employer is drawn not only into her investigations, but also to her, they find themselves faced with the power imbalance between servant and master.


PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Publisher:  Gallery Books
Pages:  352  with Reader's Guide
Author:  Michele Diener
Michelle's website


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Michelle Diener writes historical fiction. Her Susanna Horenbout and John Parker series starts with IN A TREACHEROUS COURT. Set in the court of Henry VIII, it features the real historical figures of artist Susanna Horenbout and Henry's Keeper of the Palace of Westminster and Yeoman of the King's Robes, John Parker. It was followed by KEEPER OF THE KING'S SECRETS, also featuring Susanna Horenbout and John Parker, and DANGEROUS SANCTUARY, a short story with the same characters, set between the two books, is currently available as an ebook only.

A new historical novel, set during the Napoleonic Wars in London in 1811, THE EMPEROR'S CONSPIRACY, was released on November 27th, 2012.

Michelle also contributed a short paranormal story to the ENTANGLED Anthology entitled BREAKING OUT. All the proceeds of the sale of ENTANGLED go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Michelle grew up in South Africa, and now lives in Australia with her husband and two children.

For more information, please visit Michelle's website.  You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Michele Diener's new novel "Banquet of Lies" takes us away to the proverbial Upstairs-Downstairs scenario, but this time it's fraught with a mystery and suspense that is adult and unexpected.  I found nothing at all juvenile about this story, which was a pleasant relief from some of the historical fiction I'd read in the past.  Ms Diener has a quick wit that leaves us wanting more.

Her main protagonists are real and accessible with problems that are strong enough to keep you guessing about the different characters they encounter.  Giselle is a bright and independent girl for her time who doesn't let horrific circumstances stop her from finishing an important task set before her...even the attraction she has for her employer.  And, the villains she comes across are truly worthy!

The women in this novel are many, and reflect the strong attachment women can have in this world, both domestic and "top of the stairs," as represented by Giselle.  I was most impressed by the author's willingness to show this.  I loved the group of strong companions who held together in their efforts to support each other against an often male dominated society.

Ms Diener is an accomplished author who knows how to keep your interest and writes a twisting novel of suspense.  It never failed to keep my interest...to keep me guessing to the end with surprises.  She's at the top of her game, and I look forward to what she has brewing for us in her next novel.

Recommended for all lovers of historical fiction with suspense and a thriller component!

Be sure to click here to check out some yummy recipes from the book!
http://www.michellediener.com/books/banquet-of-lies/recipes-from-banquet-of-lies/



4 stars                  Deborah/TheBookishDame

This review was brought to you in cooperation with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, although the review itself is my own opinion and words.  Please follow the rest of the tour with reviews, interviews, author talks and giveaways here:

http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/banquetofliestour/



GIVEAWAY!!!!!       GIVEAWAY!!!            GIVEAWAY!!!

                      A    COPY OF  THIS  NOVEL  IS

                                  BEING   GIVEN AWAY


To Enter Please:


Follow me on GFC at the side and leave your name and email
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Giveaway is for US ONLY

Ends Nov. 1st


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"The Funeral Dress" by Susan Gregg Gilmore~Go Out And Buy It!!

SUMMARY:

A deeply touching Southern story filled with struggle and hope.

     Emmalee Bullard and her new baby are on their own. Or so she thinks, until Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat by her side at the local shirt factory where both women worked as collar makers, insists Emmalee come and live with her.  Just as Emmalee prepares to escape her hardscrabble life in Red Chert holler, Leona dies tragically.

  Grief-stricken, Emmalee decides she’ll make Leona’s burying dress, but there are plenty of people who don't think the unmarried Emmalee should design a dress for a Christian woman - or care for a child on her own. But with every stitch, Emmalee struggles to do what is right for her daughter and to honor Leona the best way she can, finding unlikely support among an indomitable group of seamstresses and the town’s funeral director. In a moving tale exploring Southern spirit and camaraderie among working women, a young mother will compel a town to become a community.


PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Crown Publishing Group
Pages:  368  with Reading Guide
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Author:  Susan Gregg Gilmore
Website:  http://susangregggilmore.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

SUSAN GREGG GILMORE is the author of the novels Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen and The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove.  She has written for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Los Angeles Times and the Christian Science Monitor. Born in Nashville, she lives in Tennessee with her husband and three daughters.



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

 Oh, my, what a storyteller Susan Gregg Gilmore is.  The title of this wonderful book doesn't begin to really give insight into the richness of the tale you'll find in it.  I really couldn't stop reading it, though I found myself stopping momentarily many times, putting the book down and just recalling days in my life that fit the scenarios and places she describes.  This is a treasure of a book.

I want to say something else about the story here.  It is so full and moving as to have made me catch a tear and lump at my throat often.  This is old-fashioned "tear jerker" at its finest, but that's not all it is.  It's a relationship story too.  The women in this novel are deeply and significantly drawn so that you understand who they are and you can't help identifying with them in their struggles.  Their interrelationships are so meaningful.

One of my grandmothers was a mill worker in NC not far from the Tennessee border and the Blue Ridge Mountains where this story takes place.  She was a single mother, raising my mother alone in the 1930's to '40's.  She was such a woman as this book describes.  Dedicated to her work, strong and independent but with a tender heart inside, devoted to her friends at work, talented and helping others, and religious.  She never missed work.  Susan Gregg Gilmore has captured the heart of these women.

The story of Emmalee and her baby sits solidly amidst the rest of the story of Leona's, the older textile worker.  As it flashes back and forth it completes the circle and draws us in to the whole.  I thought the book was completely amazing and so heart-wrenching that my chest was nearly constantly tightening and my eyes welling up.  It's a good thing Crown Publishing sent me a complimentary packet of Kleenex with the book! LOL

This is a novel you can't miss reading.  It's perfect for discussion with friends and book groups.  Please do yourself a favor and don't miss this one!

5 stars               Deborah/TheBookishDame



 

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Another Book Haul~Mostly My Own Purchases!

Book Haul in chair but my books runneth over right now, happily.  I think this is a combination of my striking out on my own buying books for myself, and also Fall being a time when publishers like to get new authors' books out there for Christmas sales.  I'm going to do my best to review these for you so you'll have some ideas for the holidays.  I'm in love with this bunch!


First, I can't help starting with a few of my own purchases:

Quick summary~ 

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing...

I had to have this book because it's a dystopian, which I love, and it has a female, tough protagonist!
Lots of hype about it, too.  Love the cover.

Published by Bloomsbury USA    
Purchase here:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bone-season-samantha-shannon/1114205463?ean=9781620401392





This is not the hard cover copy which came in the mail to me, but the new soft cover volume of the novel.  Nevertheless, "The Twelve" is the sequel to "Passages" which I just reviewed this month with flying colors.  I had to have this as the continuation of the survivors of the apocalypse story.
Published by Random House.  Here's a buying link:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-twelve-justin-cronin/1107957553?ean=9780345504999

 

Quick Overview: 

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time...

 

 

I've been hearing about this series for a very long time.  Dystopian, of course, where children are given plastic surgery to turn them into pretties..but their fates take a bad turn afterwards.  I'm looking forward to this read.  There's a box set which I may get if this first book proves good.  May be a Halloween week read for me!

 

Published by:  Simon Pulse

Purchase:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/uglies-scott-westerfeld/1018150081?ean=9781442419810

 

 

 

Fine.  You can see I'm into the apocalyptic, dystopian, alien books nowadays!  This one is a YA cross over, I believe.  Here's the blurb:

In this heart-stopping postapocalyptic thriller from debut author Demitria Lunetta, one courageous girl must navigate a world that has been overtaken by Them—vile creatures that are rapidly devouring mankind. Perfect for fans of books like Marie Lu's Legend, In the After examines a harrowing place where day-to-day survival is never guaranteed. . . .

In what seems like an instant, Amy Harris's life is changed forever. They arrive and quickly begin killing off humanity one by one...

Published by:  Harper Collins
You can purchase it here:   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-after-demitria-lunetta/1113200552?ean=9780062105455

 

I'm into such books after having read the recent Nelson DeMille book, I guess, although this one is very different.  Here's the blurb below.  I find it also interesting because it's a series under "A Sigma Force Novel."  Love series novels...

Immortality is not just within our reach—it is already here.

Galilee, 1025. A Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure, a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change humankind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman. Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for a covert rescue mission. Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal that has manipulated events throughout history.

Published by:  Harper Collins
Purchase here:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bloodline-james-rollins/1107443147?ean=9780062257161

OHMG, this one is creepy and a horror story.  You know I never read this type of book but everyone is recommending it to me, so I went there!  I've started it and find it very Stephen Kingish.  I actually think I'm going to like it as a scary story between now and Christmas, believe it of not.  I keep going back to read bits of it.  Here's a quote by one of my favorite thriller authors:

Michael Koryta

"Quite simply the best horror writer of our generation, Joe Hill’s masterful storytelling is on full display in NOS4A2. It is by turns terrifying and hilarious, horrifying and full of heart, and relentlessly compelling."

Great recommendation as far as I'm concerned.  Anyone want to try it with me and let me know what they think?

Published by:  Harper Collins
Purchase here:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nos4a2-joe-hill/1113200611?ean=9780062200587

Actually, I was drawn to this one because it was on the new novel table at Booksamillion and because it was touted as a new version inspired by "Rebecca."  I loved the book "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurei's so I am anxious to give this one a chance.  Sounds good and the cover is just beautiful.  It's also supposed to be a Southern gothic which I can never resist!

Here's a mini blurb:

When Helen Honeycutt falls in love with Emmet Justice, a charismatic television journalist who has recently lost his wife in a tragic accident, their sudden marriage creates a rift between her new husband and his oldest friends, who resent Helen’s intrusion into their tightly knit circle. Hoping to mend fences, the newlyweds join the group for a summer at his late wife’s family home in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Helen soon falls under the spell not only of the little mountain town and its inhabitants, but also of Moonrise, her predecessor’s Victorian mansion, named for its unique but now sadly neglected nocturnal gardens. But the harder Helen tries to fit in, the more obvious it is that she will never measure up to the woman she replaced...


Published by:  Maiden Lane Press
Purchase this one here:   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moonrise-cassandra-king/1113785621?ean=9781940210001

Summary:

With high-tension suspense and cutting-edge technology, Patricia Cornwell—the world’s #1 bestselling crime writer—once again proves her exceptional ability to entertain and enthrall in this remarkable novel featuring chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

On her quest to find out exactly what happened to her former deputy chief, Jack Fielding, murdered six months before, Scarpetta drives to the Georgia Prison for Women to meet a convicted sex offender and the mother of a vicious and diabolically brilliant killer. Against the advice of her FBI criminal intelligence agent husband, Benton Wesley, Scarpetta is determined to hear this woman out.

Scarpetta series #19... I may have this one already in my stacks but I can't find it.  I'm a sucker for Patricia Cornwell.  She's my favorite female author of suspense/thrillers.  So when I saw this one, had to have it quickly.  I particularly like that she has to rely upon a mother of the diabolical killer...mothers always think their "babies" couldn't commit heinous crimes.  Let's see how this one goes!!


FINALLY!!!!   MY BIG AND IMPORTANT PURCHASE!!!

TOP 4 FAVORITE CONTEMPORARY AUTHOR!!!!  I die when I hear he's written another book.  Wally Lamb can't write a bad story...   I've only read the first chapter because I couldn't help myself.  I'm reading 4 books simultaneously right now and I don't want to spoil any of them so I'm moving carefully...   I know this is going to be one of the best.   LOVE, Love Wally Lamb!!!  The cover is raised in spots and is just gorgeously painted like a watercolor.

Published by:  Harper Collins
Purchase:   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-are-water-wally-lamb/1114298558?ean=9780061941023


Last, but not least by any means:

This is a book highly recommended by my YA bookish friends.  They literally can't say enough about the book and the author, Patrick Ness.  Another post apocalypse novel with a strange twist...  This is the first in a series.

Overview:   Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

Published by:  Candlewick Press
Find the book here:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/knife-of-never-letting-go-patrick-ness/1100306233?ean=9780763645762

This is my little Yorkie, Clara wondering why I'm not sitting in my chair reading.  I put my quilt over me and she sits on top of it while I read.  We have a system going.  You can barely see the stacks by my chair.  Did I tell you I also make quilts for a hobby when I'm not reading? And, I've just taken up riding my bike at night because I'm getting too sedentary reading all these books every day and night!!



I'M  CURRENTLY READING:

"The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt
"The Funeral Dress" by Susan Gregg Gilmore
"We Are Water" by Wally Lamb
"Nos42" by Joe Hill
"NightFilm" by M. Pessl



Please let me know what you're reading and which of my books above you like...  :]   Other books pictured above will show up in my next Book Haul...

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"The Imposter Bride" by Nancy Richler~Beautifully Written...

SUMMARY:

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. Out of pity, his brother Nathan decides to marry her instead, and pity turns into a deep—and doomed—love. It is immediately clear that Lily is not who she claims to be. Her attempt to live out her life as Lily Azerov shatters when she disappears, leaving a new husband and a baby daughter with only a diary, a large uncut diamond – and a need to find the truth...

Who is Lily and what happened to the young woman whose identity she stole? Why has she left and where did she go? It's up to the daughter Lily abandoned to find the answers to these questions, as she searches for the mother she may never find or truly know.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:

Published by:  St. Martin's Press
Pages:  368
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Author:  Nancy Richler
Website:  http://nancyrichler.com
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

NANCY RICHLER's short fiction has been published in various American and Canadian literary journals, including The Fiddlehead, Room of One’s Own, and The New Quarterly. Her previous novel, Your Mouth is Lovely, published in eleven countries, won the 2003 Canadian Jewish Book Award for fiction and Italy’s 2004 Adei Wizo Award. Nancy is the cousin of the famed Canadian writer and literary critic Mordechai Richler. She lives in Montreal.



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

What could be more heart-breaking than to arrive in a strange town after a grueling journey, only to find those you hoped would greet and accept you warmly reject you?  Such is the beginning of this novel.  Nancy Richler holds us spell-bound in a trance showing us the pain of rejection, and then the humility of being taken up by another in a town that has its "eye" on you.  I was cringing and feeling for the protagonist from the start.  But, more than that, I was caught up in the beautiful writing of this author.

This is a psychological novel of loss and redemption.  We are told bits and pieces of the story through the characters, but mostly through the eyes of Lily's daughter, Ruth.  Throughout the novel, the author focuses on the emotional and psychological responses of her characters to the situations they find themselves in.  She highlights mother-daughter relationships throughout. She also focuses on the cultural "heritage" and abuse the Jewish community has  experienced through the horrors of WWII.

Nancy Richler is an author whom I highly regard.  Her style is strong and her prose is beautiful.  I love the strength with which she draws Lily.  Lily is not a victim of her time and circumstances, rather she is a heroine, a strong and educated woman, and a woman who chooses her path in life.  While her choices are not always those all of us would make, we still recognize the courage and will to survive in Lily.  Richler examines this spirit of humanity in the face of what seems or is real impending "death," whether physical, emotional or psychological.  An amazing study.  Lily's resilient spirit is seen, as well, in Ruth's tenacity to find the mystery of who her mother was and why she left her as a child.

While I started out thinking this was just another book about a WWII refugee war bride, I came away with much more.  This is a novel I can strongly recommend for the reasons stated above.  The story is captivating, but the writing is amazing!

5 stars               Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Book Haul: Finishing Up from Last Couple of Weeks...

This represents a scramble of books I received a couple of weeks ago and just didn't get a chance to write about last week.  Quick blurbs and I'm off to the next batch!

1)  Pilgrim's Wilderness~A True Story of Faith and Madness in the Alaska Frontier by Tom Kizzia.

     Inside Cover:

 "Into the Wild" meets "Helter Skelter" in this riveting true story of a modern-day homesteading family in the deepest reaches of the Alaskan wilderness--and of the chilling secrets of its maniacal, spellbinding patriarch."

I couldn't resist this one...with thanks to Crown Publishing.

2)  Love Waltzes In" by Alana Albertson

Summary:  "With the rising popularity of dance-related reality shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, the real world of competitive dance is still much of a mystery.  Novelist and former competitive ballroom dancer Alana Albertson pulls back the curtain and exposes the sex, lies and secrets that remain hidden behind the glitzy costumes and fast moves in her award-winning debut novel... (Bolero Books, November 2013)

WoooHooo!  Can't wait to read this one.  So appreciate to Bolero Books for sending this one to me!


3)  Isabella, Braveheart of France by Colin Falconer

Cover Story:

"12 year old Isabella, a French princess marries the King of England (Edward II) -- only to discover he has a terrible secret.  Ten long years later she in utter despair -- does she submit to a lifetime of solitude and a spiritual death -- or seize her destiny and take the throne of England for herself?"  In the tradition of Philippa Gregory and Elizabeth Chadwick...

Many thanks to the author and his publisher for the opportunity to review this book!


4)  Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard (The Renegade Royals) by Vanessa Kelly

Summary :

"Accomplished spy Aden St. James prefers to stay away from the frivolous ton, especially after the way his mother was used by the Prince Regent.  But his latest mission compels him to guard unconventional, vibrant Lady Vivien Shaw.  Rescuing her from kidnappers was easy.  Resisting her beauty is not.  Duty demands he keep an eye on her--and naturally, his lips soon follow.  For someone who views entanglements as a weakness, this is pure, delicious folly."

A new series set in Regency England...introducing The Renegade Royals.   With much appreciation to Kensington Publishing for this little book.  A new adventure for me.  :]


5)  The Seventh Victim  and  No Escape by Mary Burton

Quick notes:

"The Seventh Victim" --  ...Austin-based Texas Rangers are confronted with multiple murders in The Seventh Victim.  "Dark and disturbing, a well-written tale of obsession and murder" ~ Kat Martin, New York Times bestselling author

"No Escape" -- ..."Even behind bars, serial killer Harvey Day Smith exudes menace.  Psychologist Jolene Granger has agreed to hear his dying confession, vowing not to let the monster inside her head.  And Harvey has secrets to share--about bodies that were never found, and about the apprentice who is continuing his grisly work..."


Wow!!!  Scary!!  Halloween coming up!  I can't wait to jump into these two!  Thanks Kensington Publishing!



NOW...I'm caught up.  But I have another huge stack which came in this past week which I'll have to get to next Sunday.  I'm not complaining, just reading to beat the band.

Wish we lived nearby and I could share with you.  My neighbors are enjoying my already "reads."

Let me know what's in your book haul this past couple of weeks.


Deb/TheBookishDame

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"The Quest" by Nelson DeMille~Nobody Writes Like Him!

SUMMARY :

A sweeping adventure that's equal parts thriller and love story, Nelson DeMille's newest novel takes the reader from the war torn jungles of Ethiopia to the magical city of Rome.

While the Ethiopian Civil War rages, a Catholic priest languishes in prison. Forty years have passed since he last saw daylight. His crime? Claiming to know the true location of Christ's cup from the Last Supper. Then the miraculous happens - a mortar strikes the prison and he is free!

Old, frail, and injured, he escapes to the jungle, where he encounters two Western journalists and a beautiful freelance photographer taking refuge from the carnage. As they tend to his wounds, he relates his incredible story.

Motivated by the sensational tale and their desire to find the location of the holiest of relics, the trio agrees to search for the Grail.

Thus begins an impossible quest that will pit them against murderous tribes, deadly assassins, fanatical monks, and the passions of their own hearts.

THE QUEST is suspenseful, romantic, and filled with heart-pounding action. Nelson DeMille is at the top of his game as he masterfully interprets one of history's greatest mysteries.

 

 

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

 

Published by:  Center Street/Hachette Book Group

Pages:  455

Genre:  Fiction/Suspense/Thriller

Author:  Nelson DeMille

Website:  http://www.nelsondemille.com

 

 

ABOUT MR. DeMILLE :

 

Nelson DeMille is the author of eighteen acclaimed novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Night Fall, Plum Island, The Gate House, The Lion, and The Panther. His other New York Times betsellers include Wild Fire, The Gold Coast, and The General's Daughter. For more information on the author, you can go to www.NelsonDeMille.net. - See more at: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/authors/nelson-demille/#about

 

 

 

 CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH VIDEO:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1eHP28_t_g



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

 

Just want to start out by saying Nelson DeMille never lets me down personally, and he's one of my favorite suspense/thriller authors from way back!  I can honestly say that when he writes a book, I just take it without even looking at what it's about.  I know it's going to be a thriller.  In short, I'm a huge fan.  Seriously, a bookseller recommended "The Charm School" to me in the late 1980's and I was absolutely hooked--forever.

 

I wish I could put my finger on what his magic is.  I know his characters are so alive they grab you from the first pages.  You feel like you know them intimately, and you feel as if you're taking their dangerous trip with them.  The drama is high.  The situations in the plot are extreme and seemingly insurmountable.  The humor amidst it all is grand, dry and irreverent...it will have you laughing out loud.  The mix of all the above in this book keeps you turning the pages faster than you can believe as the story melts away.

 

In this particular novel, as well,  DeMille takes us on a wild ride through war torn Ethiopia searching for a lost monastery and the Holy Grail.  It's a story told by others in other genre, but not in the style of this master thriller author.  He puts in the twist of a menage a trois and their captivity by a sexual deviate, psychotic warlord...not to mention the other violent near misses of their horrifying search and obtain mission.  The other element  I found new for this author is the spiritual content.  Very interesting in the possibly agnostic hands of DeMille...or at least what is his telling of the different sides of the various spiritual players and their quest for the Grail.

I usually find DeMille's books so compelling that I can't put them down.  This book kept me reading all day, but for another reason.  Frankly, because I thought it would pick up more at some point.  It did as it ran toward the end, but I thought that was an awfully long time to wait.  Not your typical for him...it's usually very high octane from the start.

I recommend "The Quest" for all his fans, absolutely.  However, I'm not sure it's the best of his books.  Although, even one of his second-best books is better than anyone else's top-level trys!

4 stars                  Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 

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"Havisham" by Ronald Frame~The Whole Story!

SUMMARY :

IN THE TRADITION OF WIDE SARGASSO SEA, HAVISHAM IS THE ASTONISHING PRELUDE TO CHARLES DICKENS'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

Before she became the immortal and haunting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, she was Catherine, a young woman with all of her dreams ahead of her. Spry, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the arresting letters on the brewhouse wall—HAVISHAM—a reminder of all she owes to the family name and the family business.

Sent by her father to stay with the Chadwycks, Catherine discovers elegant pastimes to remove the taint of her family's new money. But for all her growing sophistication, Catherine is anything but worldly, and when a charismatic stranger pays her attention, everything—her heart, her future, the very Havisham name—is vulnerable.

In Havisham, Ronald Frame unfurls the psychological trauma that made young Catherine into Miss Havisham and cursed her to a life alone, roaming the halls of the mansion in the tatters of the dress she wore for the wedding she was never to have.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:

Published by: Picador
Pages:  368
Author:  Ronald Frame
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Purchase:  Barnes & Noble


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Ronald Frame was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and educated there and at Oxford University. His novel The Lantern Bearers was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, named the Scottish Book of the Year, and cited by the American Library Association. He is also a dramatist and winner of the Samuel Beckett Award. Many of his original radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC. He lives outside Glasgow.

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

"Havisham" is one of those books that starts off slowly and then builds to a crescendo as it moves along.  Written with the hand of a clear and clean storyteller, it flows inevitably, grabbing our interest as Miss Havisham grows aware of her own world and circumstances.

Ronald Frame is an author of strong imagination who is obviously well-acquainted with Dickens and his London.  While he doesn't seek to copy Dickens's style, he does keep to the rhythm of the times and the pace of the original story.

The easy characterization in this novel caused me to fall in love all over again with Miss Havisham.  Frame gives us the bones of her naivete, her delicate mind and nature; and her vulnerability to love.
What a venerable and unique subject she is for literature, and what a worthy job he does of describing her to us.  I've always loved her strange ways and delighted in France's exploration of her mysterious background.

This is a book for all fans of Dickens's Miss Havisham.  Those who have wondered what happened to shape her and what happened to cause her to ultimately live the bizarre and fatalistic way she did; seeking to warp and destroy the lives of innocent others.

I recommend this book but warn once again that while it's not written exactly in the style of Dickens, Mr. Frame has his own hand at storytelling that is unique.  His use of classical literary quotes sprinkled throughout makes the book seem both ethereal and beautifully timeless.  It is not by any means an ordinary historical fiction read.

4 stars                     Deborah/TheBookishDame

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