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CITY OF SILVER
Annamaria Alfieri, Minotaur, 2009, $24.95/C$27.95, hb, 336pp, 9780312383862
    In the 17th century, fabulous lodes of silver were mined from the area around Potosi, making the city in the mountains the richest city in the western hemisphere. As part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, the wealth derived from Potosi financed Spanish colonial efforts around the world and supported the infamous Spanish Inquisition. But when the King of Spain discovers that the coins the city has been circulating throughout the world are not pure silver, the city’s very existence is threatened. His prosecutor and the Grand Inquisitor come to Potosi to uncover and punish both the counterfeiters and those who have run afoul of the Church.
    Amid this tension, Inez Morada, the willful daughter of Potosi’s powerful alcalde, dies under mysterious circumstances in the convent run by Mother Maria Santa Hilda. All the signs point to suicide as the cause of death, but the abbess refuses to believe the girl would commit an act that would condemn her soul to hell and buries her within the convent. The abbess finds her own life at stake as a powerful enemy connected to the Inquisition uses that act against her and some of her fellow sisters.
    Annamaria Alfieri weaves together a beautiful tapestry of life in 17th-century New Spain with amazing details; as an example, the reader learns that Spanish newlyweds consummated their marriage through a slit cut into the linen bed sheets. The author also has a great appreciation for the Indian and Spanish cultures of that time and place, as well as for the political and social nuances that made that period so intriguing. This is an engrossing, fast-paced mystery packed full of historical fact that illuminates the story but never overshadows it; a great read, highly recommended. --John Kachuba

REMEMBER ME
Melvyn Bragg, Sceptre, 2009, £7.99, pb, 551pp, 9780340951231
    This is the fourth in Melvyn Bragg’s autobiographical quartet of novels about Joe Richardson, the working-class boy we first meet as a child of seven in The Soldier’s Return (HNR 10). Joe is now in his final year at Oxford in 1960, hurting from the love affair so tenderly evoked in Crossing the Lines. At a party, he meets Natasha, a French art student several years his senior, also nursing a lover’s rejection. With moving, microscopic intensity, Bragg explores their relationship over the following decade, the nature of marital love and conjugal loyalty at a time of rapid social change, London in the sixties, superbly drawn. Joe—idealistic, romantic, works for the BBC and also writes film scripts and fiction—is swept into the spirit of the times, growing his hair and abandoning his tweed sports jacket for crushed velvet. Natasha, captivated by his zest for life, suppresses anxieties, inner darkness, and a troubled childhood.
    The novel is a confessional to their daughter, a brave use of knowledge and imagination to reconstruct the past. Sometimes Bragg breaks from the narrative to address her directly. For the reader, there is the temptation to put real names to fictional faces. Yet the novel demands more than this. In intimate, powerful detail, Bragg captures the emotions that bind two people together and the subtle shifts in thought and feeling that can prise them apart. He adopts an authorial viewpoint, frequently jumping from one character’s thoughts to another’s. This I found a distraction, as I did the references to the ultimate tragedy, so that I was waiting for it to happen. Nothing, however, can detract from the empathy, insight, the visceral emotional honesty of the writing of two damaged characters unable to communicate, and the tormenting power of memory years later. --Janet Hancock

THE DAY THE FALLS STOOD STILL
Cathy Marie Buchanan, Voice, 2009, $24.99, hb, 320pp, 9781401340971 / Hutchinson, 2010, £14.99, hb, 368pp, 9780091925956
    Bess Heath is in her next to last year at the Loretto Academy in Niagara Falls in 1915 when her father loses his job as the director of the Niagara Power Company. Her life, previously one of ease and comfort, changes almost overnight. She won’t be able to return for her senior year, and when she slips away from the school at night, with only her mother to help carry her bulky trunk on the trolley home, the man who offers to assist them will propel the change in her life. He is Tom Cole, a workingman with great knowledge of Niagara Falls, who is obviously not of her social class. While she is drawn to him, her mother battles the attraction. At home, her family life seems to be splintering in front of her eyes. Bess helps her mother, who has had to start working again as a seamstress, and also tries to cajole her older sister, Isabel, back to health. She is torn between the social connections her mother seeks for her, and her feelings for Tom.
    This compelling story is set against the backdrop of the falls and the effect that the emerging hydroelectric power plants are having on them. Should the greed of the business owners and their persuasion of the populace to embrace electrical gadgets be allowed to radically change nature? Readers will learn fascinating details of the river and the falls, both through Tom’s expertise and the newspaper articles sprinkled through the book, which illuminate the action. The novel, the author’s first, was inspired by the life of life of an actual, legendary, Niagara riverman. It is a novel to savor. --Trudi E. Jacobson

THE CHILDREN’S BOOK
A.S. Byatt, Chatto & Windus, 2009, £18.99, hb, 617pp, 9780701183899 / Knopf, Oct. 2009, $26.95, hb, 688pp, 9780307272096
    This long-awaited novel, A.S. Byatt’s first since 2001, is extraordinarily difficult to encapsulate and to do full justice to within the confines of this short review. It straddles the last five years of the 19th century and the period leading up to the First World War, narrating the various stories of a related group of disparate intellectuals, writers, artists, and bohemian folk associated with the Arts & Craft movement.
    The novel allows numerous readings and interpretations. It is a splendid historical novel, a family saga, a study of a cultural and artistic movement, as well as a gimlet look at society and family politics, of sex, betrayal, and fidelity and the importance of one’s past and one’s parents to shape a life—as Philip Larkin so pungently observed. It is narrated with the same element of eccentricity that the characters display; it is detailed and slow-paced. Artistic endeavours and clothes are described in minute detail and the historical content is comprehensive and impressive in its depth and accuracy.
    I will not attempt to describe the plot, for it is too ramified to adequately summarise. Save that Byatt gets the reader to care passionately about her large cast of characters and what happens to them, and the ending is moving and sobering. The children’s author Olive Wellwood is based very much on E. Nesbit and her complicated domestic arrangements, and Eric Gill can be seen in the eccentric potter Benedict Fludd and his sexual peccadilloes.
    Occasionally basic history is dumped somewhat awkwardly on the narrative and there a few typographical errors; Rupert Brooke is described as being “beautiful” on a number of occasions within a few pages. But this does not detract from the delights of reading this challenging and demanding book—a work that demands time and dedication from the reader and repays it fully.
--Doug Kemp

THE PALACE OF STRANGE GIRLS
Sallie Day, Grand Central, 2009, $13.99/C$16.99, pb, 344pp, 9780446545860 / HarperPerennial, 2009, £6.99, pb, 304pp, 9780007276073
    This engaging novel takes place during the summer of 1959 in the resort of Blackpool, England. Seven-year-old Beth is there with her family—her parents Ruth and Jack and her 16-year-old sister, Helen, who would have much preferred to stay home and work at the dress shop. Ruth has iron-clad rules, not only for Beth, who recently underwent a heart operation and whose health is uncertain, but also for Helen, who is eager to join in the fun of other adolescents who have far more freedom than she does. There are also tensions between Ruth and Jack, exacerbated by a letter Jack has just received from the woman he loved when he was in Crete during World War II and whom he believed to be dead. Each chapter is prefaced by an item from Beth’s I-Spy at the Seaside book, which has become her favorite possession, and she strives to earn enough points to qualify for an official membership card issued by Big Chief I-Spy. The correspondence between the quote and the action in each chapter is fun to identify.
    The author skillfully interweaves details of what things were like in 1959 to fully transport us to that period. I particularly enjoyed learning more about the cotton manufacturing trade in which Jack is employed. The effect that imports and new synthetic fabrics had on the cotton firms and on those employed by the companies came across vividly. There is an endorsement on the book from Easy Living: "This might just be the most delightful book you read this year." I’ll second that.
--Trudi E. Jacobson

A GENTLEMAN OF FORTUNE
Anna Dean, Allison & Busby, 2009, £19.99, hb, 335pp, 9780749007256
    This is the second novel featuring amateur detective Miss Dido Kent and is set during the Regency period. This was a new author for me and a very welcome one at that; although second in a series, the book stands alone without any confusion.
    An old lady is apparently murdered by an overdose of ‘Black Drop’ and her beneficiary, a handsome young man, is thought to be the guilty party and so faces a terrible fate. Convinced that the explanation is more complex than this and inclined to believe in the man's innocence, Miss Kent decides to find the real culprit. By means of opening the novel with a letter, the author introduces the characters and central premise of the novel skilfully. The central character is believable, likeable, and convincing while the historical details are beautifully rendered, subtle, and unobtrusive yet adding an unmistakable sense of period and place.
    In some ways it is reminiscent of Cranford with its small town full of women with little to do except gossip and keep an eye on each other. There are sly subtle comments about the status of women at this time, particularly commenting on the difficult and often unpleasant situation of spinsters and governesses, those without money or a chance of marriage. The plot is full of twists and turns with mysterious visitors, disguises, and lots of secrets discovered by Miss Kent. There is never a dull moment and I didn't want it to end. Overall, a wonderful book which I recommend very highly. I will definitely be getting the first in the series and looking forward with great anticipation to the third.  --Ann Northfield

THE MAGICIAN’S DEATH
Paul Doherty, St. Martin’s Press, 2009, hb, 288pp, $24.95, 9780312565626 / Headline, 2004, £7.99, pb, 384pp, 9780755307753
    The Magician’s Death is the fourteenth of Paul Doherty’s Hugh Corbett medieval mysteries. Playing on the rivalry between England’s Edward I and France’s Philip IV, Doherty draws the reader into multilayered political conspiracies that would make any spy’s heart flutter with envy.
    The top layer of the intrigue surrounds Roger Bacon’s impenetrable text, the Secret of Secrets, in which both sovereigns have developed an inexplicable interest. A collaboration is arranged to attempt translation of the mysterious tome. The symposium of scholars will meet through the bitter cold winter of 1304 at remote Corfe Castle, near the coast of Devonshire.
    While France’s top schoolmen puzzle over the arcane text, young women—six is the final tally—have their throats slashed, Flemish pirates are sighted too near the coast, and local bandits find a corpse hanging in the forest. Then, one after the other, France’s three scholars suffer unfortunate deaths. Add to the mix the mysterious Father Matthew, the castle’s chaplain, who is not what he purports to be. Corfe’s winter blizzards are a fitting metaphor for the swirl of puzzle pieces and hidden motives that confound Sir Hugh until at dawn’s first light (another apt metaphor) the pieces fall into place just in time…for an excellent climax.
    The Magician’s Death is a rollicking good story, but what gives special pleasure is the gracefulness of the story’s development. It is like a finely executed dance—one scene flowing into the next, in a measured, accelerating pace to a beautifully crafted climax. It’s the work of a writer at the height of his skill. Most highly recommended! --Lucille Cormier

TUTANKHAMUN
Nick Drake, Bantam, 2009, £10.99, pb, 384pp, 9780593054024
    Thebes, 1324 BC. Tutankhamun has inherited an empire that should be at the height of power and glory. The king, only just 18 years old, faces the political conspiracies of the court and a bitter struggle for ascendancy. When his own security is threatened by an intruder in the palace, he summons Rahotep, chief detective, to track down the traitor. The detective is already involved in solving a series of brutal murders where the cryptically mutilated bodies of several young people are threatening to destabilise a ruthless regime already made precarious by corruption, dissent, the strain of distant wars, and the appalling divide between rich and poor. What he discovers at the dark heart of power will put his life and his family in grave danger.
    This is the second novel featuring Rahotep, and judging by the quality of this book there will be many more to follow. The characters are well drawn and believable, and the use of the first-person narrative brings an immediacy and excitement to the book. The reader is drawn in to the culture, sights, smells, and life of ancient Egypt without being overwhelmed by pages of descriptive passages. If you like the genre, you will undoubtedly like this atmospheric and intriguing novel. --Mike Ashworth

SUNNYSIDE
Glen David Gold, Knopf, 2009, $26.95, hb, 560pp, 9780307270689 / Sceptre, 2009, £17.99, hb, 559pp, 9780340829813
    Gold’s panoramic novel of World War I and early Hollywood opens with a mass delusion: film actor Charlie Chaplin is simultaneously spotted in more than eight hundred places across the United States. Sunnyside’s main characters, though they never connect, are affected by the incident: Leland Wheeler sees Chaplin drown in a boat off the rugged northern California coast, and Hugo Black witnesses a riot in a small Texas town where the residents are disappointed that Chaplin has snubbed them by not appearing on a train. Chaplin, however, is safely ensconced in southern California—while he is famous, he hasn’t reached the level of celebrity or legend that we associate with him. Gold follows Chaplin, Wheeler, and Black as they navigate difficult personal situations, the war in Europe, and their desire for fame and recognition.
    It’s difficult to describe what type of novel Sunnyside is, since it is so many things all at once—a war novel, a romance, a comic novel, biographical fiction, a portrait of a nation on the brink of a new era. The threads of the story connect in unsuspected ways, and readers will find themselves learning things that they did not know about WWI-era film and how it influenced the way Americans (and, through the long arms of cinema, much of the Western world) think about war and celebrity. By delving into stories and legends both well known and long forgotten, Gold captures the moment where the modern era of celebrity and American cultural dominance begins—and he does it with style. At the end of Sunnyside, you’ll find yourself awed by the lasting influence of a few seemingly minor incidents in American cultural history. --Nanette Donohue

    Historical novels usually take themselves rather seriously, even the romantic fantasies. It is rare to find an historical novel which is intentionally humorous. Sunnyside is an exception; indeed, it is exceptional in many ways.
    Sunnyside is an exuberant, hilarious, anarchic book. It is definitely historical since it is firmly anchored in the years 1916 to 1919 and takes in great historical events such as America’s entry into the Great War, the Western Front, and the Allied intervention in the Bolshevik Revolution, as well as the early history of Hollywood and the career of Charlie Chaplin. It is more difficult to decide if this is a novel. There are several different stories told concurrently, all of them fantastical but clearly with elements of historical fact (the author adds the usual appendix which explains which is which but deliberately leaves large areas in doubt). Each story has its own protagonists and even at the end they do not link up, although they touch each other at points.
    Gradually the reader realises that the book is itself like a Charlie Chaplin film, the shooting of which is one of the story lines. We laugh because it touches on things which are too deep for tears, as when Charlie laughs during the funeral of his baby son. The stories are about love and betrayal—all sorts of love including Charlie’s mix of love and shame for his half-mad East End mother and a soldier’s love for the puppy he finds on the battlefield—about death and life, the meaning and the meaningless of life and the capriciousness of fate. You will laugh as you read this book and feel like weeping for the pity of it all when you reach the end. --Edward James

THE SINS OF THE FATHER
Catherine Hanley, Quaestor2000, 2009, £9.99/£14.99 (large print), pb, 200pp, 9781906836115/9781906836122 (large print)
    England in 1217 is in turmoil. Many nobles have rebelled against King John and invited the French prince Louis to take the throne. Because of John’s sudden death the year before, William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and Lord of Conisbrough Castle in Lincolnshire, switches his allegiance away from Prince Louis and declares for the young King Henry III and his regent William Marshal. William Marshal calls for the loyal forces to muster at Lincoln, but when another lord and his retinue arrive at Conisbrough for a stopover on the way to Lincoln, there is a murder in the night.
    Such a crime would normally be dealt with by Conisbrough’s bailiff, but he is mortally ill, so his son Edwin is ordered to solve the mystery within two days, before the combined retinues leave for Lincoln.
   The story is mainly told from Edwin’s point of view, but there are frequent excursions into the minds of other characters. This results in the reader having more information than Edwin does, which makes it too easy to spot the murderer. The Sins of the Father is gripping, nonetheless, with interesting characters who are credibly mediaeval. The author is an academic expert on the period, but she doesn’t deliver a history lesson. Instead, we get a fascinating glimpse of how a mediaeval murder might really have been investigated. Highly recommended. --Alan Fisk

THE STING OF JUSTICE
Cora Harrison, Macmillan, 2009, £16.99/C$34.99, hb, 355pp, 9781405092272 / Minotaur, Nov. 2009, $25.99, hb, 368pp, 9780312372699
    Mara, the Brehon judge, attends the funeral of a local priest little expecting that his will not be the only dead body in the church that day. Sorley Skerrett, silversmith and local mine owner, has been stung to death by bees. Mara becomes convinced that his death is no accident and is soon on the murder’s trail.
    Her efforts are hampered by the multitude of suspects available, ranging from his wife, his son, and his daughter to his apprentice. Even Mara’s own fiancé might be implicated in the gruesome death. A man as unpleasant and as harsh an employer as Sorley is bound to have hidden enemies, too, and the innocent are relying on Mara to clear their names.
    With her superb attention to detail, Cora Harrison brings medieval Ireland into vivid life, being equally skilful at portraying the good, the bad, and the ugly. Her research appears impeccable and is always included using a lightness of touch.
    Mara is up there with the great fictional detectives. Her formidable intellect is beautifully balanced by her humanity and ability to empathise even with those she dislikes. She is a creation to be proud of and one assured a long stay on my bookshelves. --Sara Wilson

ALL OTHER NIGHTS
Dara Horn, W.W. Norton, 2009, $24.95/C$27.50, hb, 363pp, 9780393064920 / Old Street, 2009, £11.99, pb, 388pp, 9781906964054
    The title to this brilliant and thought-provoking novel comes from a question asked to the youngest participant at a Passover seder: Why is tonight different from all other nights? For Jacob Rappaport, a young Jewish soldier from New York City serving in the Union Army, the answer is provided to him by his commanding officers. Jacob is to go to New Orleans and, at the first seder of Passover, 1862, to murder his uncle, a man who is conspiring to plot the assassination of President Lincoln.
    Jacob is so successful a secret agent that he is recruited again, not to murder, but to marry in order to break up a spy ring in Virginia. What Jacob encounters there tests the bounds of family ties and tradition. It also brings him face-to-face with what he values most in life.
     The novel reads so beautifully, it virtually sings. The characters are fully fleshed out—Jacob is a gem of a creation. The plotline is tight, and one event runs seamlessly into the next. The introduction of historical figures like Judah Benjamin, Jefferson Davis’s second in command of the Confederacy and himself a Jew, is by no means a "throw away"—Benjamin becomes a focal character in the second part of the book. Horn introduces us to the workings of the slave spy network. She leads us inexorably through the self-destruction of the city of Richmond. The Author’s Note is a wonderful addition, helping us to put the events in perspective.
    What is clear is how we continue, over 140 years later, to confront many of the same conflicts that confronted Jacob—conflicts over heritage, religious tradition, and equal rights.
    This is a must read and highly recommended. --Ilysa Magnus

HIGHLAND REBEL
Judith James, Sourcebooks, 2009, $6.99, pb 450pp, 9781402224331
    Set during the religious warfare in the reign of James II of England (1685-1688), this rousing historical romance pits the fearless Catherine Drummond, the daughter of a Highland laird, against Jamie Sinclair, a seasoned soldier, adventurer, and spy who lives by his wit and sword.
    After Jamie impulsively marries Catherine on the battlefield to keep her from being defiled and executed by the king’s mercenaries, their lives and fortunes become entwined. Whether in the Highlands, on Jamie’s estate, or in the London court of King James, they navigate through intolerance and ever-shifting political and personal alliances of Restoration England, Jacobite Scotland, and Ireland. They grow to respect, protect, and love each other over the course of adventures that test friendship, family ties, and intimacy.
    Highland Rebel represents the best of the genre: carefully researched, with complex, compelling characters and a good, galloping plot that, despite a slightly sagging middle, is sure to please. Upscale historical romance at its best! Highly recommended. --Eileen Charbonneau

THE DEVIL’S COMPANY
David Liss, Random House, 2009, $25.00, hb, 384pp, 9781400064199
    Fans of David Liss’s Benjamin Weaver series will not be disappointed by his latest installment. Benjamin Weaver makes his living as an independent thief-taker, detective, bodyguard, and sometimes thug. But after a seemingly simple job goes wrong, he is forced to work for the mysterious Jerome Cobb, who has threatened to ruin Weaver’s family and friends if he does not comply.
    Filled with Dickens-like characters and descriptions of London’s dangerous back streets, The Devil’s Company finds Weaver forced into the heart of the British East India Company where he must negotiate a world of foreign spies, corporate secrets, and deadly rivals. At the heart of this tale is the Company’s attempt to remain the primary importer of textiles despite growing competition from France and the American colonies, the machinations of Indian suppliers to secure a more equitable relationship with the Company, and Parliament’s attempts to protect the British wool industry.
    Liss’s ability to slip into the story historical tidbits and lessons in 18th-century manners, fashion, and commerce is masterful, as it neither feels pedantic nor contrived. Also, his period vocabulary is authentic without being archaic. But what makes the Benjamin Weaver series so compelling is the protagonist himself. Born in London to Portuguese-Jewish parents, Weaver stands between two cultures, often defying the expectations of both of them while trying to figure out his place in the world. This is a character Liss’s readers admire for his uncommon streets smarts, but care about because of his personal struggles with religious bigotry and difficult relationships with his family and his people. --Patricia O’Sullivan

UNDER THIS UNBROKEN SKY
Shandi Mitchell, Harper, 2009, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9780061885266 / Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2009, £12.99, hb, 368pp, 9780297856580
    Lured by promises of prosperity and fertile land for farming, Theo Mykolayenko and his family immigrated to Canada to escape the political and social unrest and harsh conditions of Stalin’s regime. As the novel opens, he is returning from prison—he was imprisoned for ”stealing” grain from his harvest to feed his family. His experiences in prison haunt him throughout the novel as he struggles to tame the land and care for his family. Both nature and civilization seem to be against the family’s success; they are faced with fires, wild animals, blizzards, and inhospitable locals, among other challenges. Theo’s greatest challenge, however, is his sister Anna, who owns the deed to the land Theo farms and whose husband, Stefan, wants a prosperous life without exerting any effort.
    Mitchell’s unflinching debut chronicles the harsh conditions for immigrants to the prairie provinces during the 1930s. The region was still an unsettled frontier, and the challenges of ekeing out a living were overwhelming. Yet despite all the despair, there’s a light of hope that permeates this novel. Mitchell based the story on her own family’s experiences settling in the prairie provinces, and there’s a love for the land and the immigrant spirit throughout the book. This is one of the finest novels I have read this year—a lyrical, evocative tale of pioneer life from an immensely talented debut author.
--Nanette Donohue

LADY OF THE BUTTERFLIES
Fiona Mountain, Preface, 2009, hb, £12.99, 400 pp, 9781848091641
    After Cromwell, 17th-century England has entered a time of enormous changes. Politics are driven by the intense demands of religion and commerce. In the great maritime city of Bristol, ruthless men of business are intent on draining the peat moors of Somersetshire and turning the land over to farming. The inhabitants should gain in health and comfort but are dead set against losing their way of life. Over many generations they have gained knowledge and expertise, using their environment to the greatest advantage.
    Eleanor Goodricke, lady of the manor of Tickenham, loves her changeable, water-filled land of wide skies, streams and springs, causeways, and bog and marsh, home to an extraordinary variety of wildlife. For Eleanor that means her lifelong obsession of the beauty and mystery of butterflies, which she identifies, names, and collects. Her struggle to protect her moorland brings powerful enemies and, ironically, hostility and suspicion from her tenants: a woman who chases after butterflies must at best be insane, at worst a witch.
Adored by her malleable husband Edmund and tantalised by Richard Glanville, her beautiful prince of darkness whose temperament matches her own sensuality, she finds that only James the London apothecary understands her restless spirit. When she seems to have lost everything, he points out the dangerous and difficult path she must take. Sadly, her own kinsmen have proved to be her worst enemies.
    A serious and impressively researched work of exciting historical fiction that gathers momentum after a slow-paced start up to a thrilling finale.
--Nancy Henshaw

PATHS OF EXILE
Carla Nayland, Quaestor2000, 2009, £9.99, pb, 221pp, 9781906836092
    Paths of Exile is a wonderful story, one that conjures up this long-gone age in extraordinary detail and reveals a profound understanding of its politics, cultures, and religions based on extensive research. It may be true, as Nayland admits, that “solid facts are rare indeed in 7th-century Britain”, but these characters—some real, others pure fiction—are so solid and credible that they will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
    There will, I’m sure, be more to come, as this is just the first stage of Eadwine of Deira’s story. He and his loyal companions—Lilla, Ashere, and Drust—escape after the disastrous battle outside Eboracum (modern York) at which Aethelferth the Twister, a powerful ruler from the northern kingdom of Bernicia, routs the army led by Eadwine’s father, Aelle, contemptuously known as “Ox Brains.” Who else would relinquish a stronghold like Eboracum? Eadwine flees south, but as he knows well, there is no a safe haven if you have a price on your head—particularly when loyalty demands that he first solve the mystery of his brother Eadric’s death and then avenge it.
    Nayland is an author who confidently weaves together an intricate and thrilling series of subplots, revealing more about the individuals whom Eadwine meets while in exile and the widely diverse groups that occupied areas now so familiar to us. Severa, a keenly intelligent young Christian woman and a healer whose skill exposes her to accusations of witchcraft, is a particularly unforgettable character. One controversial hurdle that Nayland has, to my mind, cleared in every respect is her wholly convincing dialogue that satisfies the modern ear while also distinguishing between the various accents and languages then in use. In all, a compelling tale and an authoritative new voice: one to watch. --Lucinda Byatt

DEATH ON THE ICE
Robert Ryan, Headline Review, 2009, £12.99, hb, 500pp, 9780755348350
    As every British schoolchild used to know, Captain Robert Falcon Scott led an expedition to win the South Pole for King and Empire in 1910-13, only to be beaten by the Norwegian, Amundsen. Scott’s party perished on the return journey, leaving the expedition to be remembered as an Heroic Failure.
Death on the Ice opens in 1917 when Scott’s widow, Kathleen, asks Tryggve   Gran, Scott’s Norwegian ski expert, to contribute to a book she is writing about the expedition. Gran is not sure that she and the British public are ready for ‘the true story’. He was amongst those who found the frozen remains and had become a close friend of Captain Lawrence ‘Titus’ Oates, who had been critical of Scott but famously sacrificed himself in a blizzard to give his companions a chance of survival. Thus the story awakes from the memories of those who knew Scott, starting with Shackleton, a member of Scott’s earlier Antarctic expedition, who became his bitter rival.
    Although Ryan introduces a few fictional elements, he stays close to the record, venturing into imaginative speculation only at the end. He celebrates the men’s courage and endurance whilst acknowledging mistakes and recognising that this was a serious scientific expedition. Characters and conflicts are shown in deft, vivid brushstrokes but because we see Scott mainly through the eyes of others, he himself remains enigmatic.
Ryan is particularly good on the austere beauty of Antarctica and the horrific toll taken on the brave but astonishingly (to us) underequipped explorers by the harsh landscape and cruel weather.
    This is a thrilling and thoughtful novel which puts flesh on the bones of history and allows us to look on the past with deeper understanding.
--Sarah Cuthbertson

THE FRENCH MISTRESS: A Novel of the Duchess of Portsmouth and King Charles II
Susan Holloway Scott, New American Library, 2009, $15/C$18.50, pb, 400pp, 9780451226945
    Susan Holloway Scott’s latest novel revolves around the life of the controversial and much-maligned Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, lover of King Charles II. Like many other well-born girls, she is sent to the glittering royal court of Louis XIV to make her fortune as maid of honor to the English Princess Henriette. During her service to the princess, Louise is initiated into her mistress’s innermost confidence, wherein lie ugly and treacherous secrets. After the princess’s mysterious death, Louise is sent to the English court, where she had previously caught the lustful eye of King Charles II. Her dual roles as spy for the French king and lover to the English king cause Louise many perils, but in the midst of it all, she uses her wit and ambition to create her own destiny in a dangerous dance of intrigue between two kings—and two countries.
    This is the first of Susan Holloway Scott’s novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and it won’t be the last. Her grasp of period detail is impressive and colorful. She fleshes out these well-known historical figures’ psyches so they become alive and human, and her words evoke the senses—one can feel silk and wool against skin, experience the discomfort from long hours of standing in an overheated ballroom, and witness the first shocking view of London from a Frenchwoman’s perspective. She expertly weaves the complex political events of the time into the flow of the story, which makes for a thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable, and intellectually stimulating read. Highly recommended. --Andrea Connell

SHANGHAI GIRLS

Lisa See, Random House, 2009, $25.00, hb, 360pp, 9781400067114 / Bloomsbury, 2009, £11.99, hb, 336pp, 9780747597384
    Pearl and May are two sisters born in Shanghai, China in the early 20th century. Raised in luxury with traditional Chinese parents, they become the “beautiful girls” adorning Chinese posters advertising modern products. On the cusp of what appears to be a bright future balancing tradition and modernity, their father loses everything and arranges their marriage to “Gold Mountain men” living in San Francisco, California. Horrified by this loss and the fear engendered by this arrangement, they seek to escape this future and instead are plunged into the nightmare of the Japanese invasion of China.
    Betrayal, unspeakable violation by the invaders, and dire poverty force Pearl and May to compromise everything true for the sake of survival. They arrive in America in the early 1930s and undergo a lengthy, torturous investigation at the infamous Angel Island, a place designed to permit entry to those with legitimate connections and deport anyone with suspicious backgrounds. The birth of Joy facilitates a quick entry, and the remainder of the tale harbors the sorrows and joys borne out of a series of fabricated stories. Later tragedy will again result from the family’s exposure to the little-known “Confession Period” of American history rooted in the fear of encroaching Communism.
    The outstanding quality of this novel is the way Lisa See has captured the essence of those clinging to the traditions of their ancestral home and embracing the beauty and boundless possibilities of American life. The fear, conflict, joy, and love of every scene are so palpably described that the reader is vicariously living each event, thought and consequence, including the endearing, complex relationship of siblings caught up in the vicissitudes of immigration. Shanghai Girls is another phenomenal addition to Lisa See’s masterpieces of historical fiction. Stunning! --Viviane Crystal

ONCE ON A MOONLESS NIGHT
Dai Sijie (trans. Adriana Hunter), Knopf, 2009, $24.95/C$28.95, 288pp, hb, 9780307271587 / Chatto & Windus, 2009, £12.99, hb, 224pp, 9780701182458
    This latest novel from the author of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is another tour de force of intertwined language and love. The unnamed narrator is a young French woman studying languages in Peking in the late 1970s; a young greengrocer, Tumchooq, introduces her to some of the local customs, and, as their relationship deepens, to the story of his lifelong search for the lost language for which he has been named.
    Legend holds that when Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor, was exiled to Manchuria in 1924, he took with him a silk scroll containing a Buddhist sutra in an unknown language. The scroll was torn and the last segment of the sutra was lost. A French linguist, Paul d’Ampere, illegally obtained the first part of the scroll and successfully translated the beginning of the sutra, but the missing piece of the tale torments d’Ampere, Tumchooq, and the narrator in turn, as each devotes a lifetime to locating and translating the missing segment. They all suffer for their efforts, whether their prison is emotional or physical.
    The interconnectedness of the three characters and the larger meaning of the sutra makes for a captivating and well-told story. The strictures of China during the mid-20th century, the history of the emperors and their collections of treasures, and excursions to France, Africa, and Manchuria, are revealed through flashbacks, diary entries, and inserted chapters of scholarship. Together, these tales weave together a powerful story of love, language, and heritage which will follow the reader long after the last page is turned.
--Helene Williams

THE VIRGIN’S DAUGHTERS
Jeane Westin, New American Library, 2009, $16.00/C$20.00, 400pp, pb, 9780451226679
    It seems as though everything that could be written about the Tudors has been done in recent years, with a glut of books retreading the same tales saturating the market. So it was with mild trepidation that I opened Jeane Westin’s The Virgin’s Daughters, wary yet hopeful that maybe this novel would succeed where others had become stale. After literally racing through its 400 pages, I happily breathed a contented sigh of relief that yes, indeed, this is a Tudor novel not to be missed.
    The Virgin’s Daughters is actually two tales woven together by service to Elizabeth I. The first half of the book focuses on Lady Katherine Grey, sister to Lady Jane, whose illicit love affair and marriage with Lord Hertford leads to disaster when discovered by Elizabeth. Katherine’s nearness to the throne and her impetuous nature fuel this part of the story as she runs headlong past her cousin’s adamant dictate that she remain an unmarried virgin. In the second part of the novel, set almost forty years later, young Mary Rogers begins her service to Elizabeth with good intentions of remaining devotedly virtuous, yet still manages to find herself in love with one of the queen’s godsons. Though much time has passed, Mary’s story begins to echo Katherine’s; time alone will show whether or not she retains the fortitude to withstand her beloved’s advances.
    Well told and well researched, this book gripped me from its earliest pages and wouldn’t let go until I’d read all the way through the reader’s guide at the end. I became caught up in the lives of these two relatively unknown ladies of Elizabeth’s court, and the way Westin ties both tales together is unique and riveting. What might have been merely two love stories truly became history brought to life. Highly recommended. --Tamela McCann