Any day now, we’ll be wondering where the summer went. Beaches and beach reads, backyard barbecues, weeks spent in much-needed rest and relaxation—what better companions can you have for those still respectably long evenings and energy-sapping heat waves than our latest collection of books we loved? Again, we have three historical novels to recommend.
The first book links the lives of three women four centuries apart, connected through blood ties and a cottage in Cumbria, England. The second intertwines a family mystery from the early 1990s with an earlier tale that encompasses the entire history of the Soviet Union. The third features a mismatched couple charged with finding a missing heiress in Regency London. Depending on your interests and your mood, any one of them may enliven those late summer days.
Emilia Hart, Weyward (St. Martins Press, 2023)
Weyward, a historical novel set in England, features three protagonists in three different time periods. Kate, whom we meet in 2019, realizes she must leave her physically and psychologically abusive husband when she learns she is pregnant. This is a huge step for her because Simon has remodeled her into the submissive woman he always dreamed she could be. It is only her fear that her child may one day become the object of his cruelty that gives her the courage to seek out a cottage—the Weyward cottage, located in Cumbria—that she inherited recently from a great-aunt, her grandfather’s sister, whom she met when she was a child and remembers only vaguely.
The story of this great-aunt, Violet, takes the reader to 1942. Violet’s father’s estate is not far from the cottage Kate will one day inherit. But Violet doesn’t know of the cottage herself when we first meet her at age sixteen because she is more or less a prisoner on her father’s estate. Not only is she denied a formal education but she is not even permitted to pursue her own interests in the natural world, and no one will share with her any of the details surrounding her mother’s mysterious death. Violet is banished to the cottage by her father when he learns she is pregnant, having been raped by her cousin, her father’s minion. The third protagonist is Altha, who, in 1619, finds herself on trial for the crime of witchcraft, not uncommon in that time and often attributed to women like her who dabble in the healing arts.
Besides the fact that all three women are related (through the Weyward bloodline), they also share an infinity for the natural world. Altha learns to love nature—to trust the messages of crows and the healing powers of plants—from her mother. Violet’s mother was not around to instruct her, but the magical elements of the natural world reach out to her, and she learns even more of them, as well as secrets concerning her mother, when she is banished to the Weyward cottage. Kate is almost adverse to nature initially because of an incident having to do with her father’s early death, and perhaps too as a result of living in modern times, but she too becomes a believer during her time in the cottage.
Weyward was an instant hit when it first appeared in early 2023. Now, more than a year later, the book is even more important. Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, but since then the stakes have gotten higher. With some major political leaders suggesting that every woman has an obligation to give birth, and feminists being silenced in countries worldwide, books about “wild women” finding their mettle are crucial. Ultimately, the three women in this novel gain power through a keener understanding of the natural world as well as in their connection to one another. But all this is not to say that Weyward is merely instructive. It is highly readable and extremely well-written entertainment. It is marvelous and magical—a true page turner.—JS
Kristen Loesch, The Last Russian Doll (Berkley, 2023)
This lovely and at times haunting exploration of the Soviet past and the early 1990s, when it seemed that Russia might overcome its own history, seems particularly timely as Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war on neighboring Ukraine—an effort specifically aimed at restoring Russian hegemony in the region—drags on.
The novel begins when Raisa, who has spent the last fourteen years of her life in Oxford under the name Rosie, accepts an offer to accompany a noted dissident back to her home city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), then in the throes of reform. Raisa has a mission: to discover who murdered her father and sister and why.
Loesch contrasts Raisa’s/Rosie’s story with that of Valentin, a Bolshevik, and the love of his life—Antonina, the young and disillusioned wife of a rich merchant. Their narrative begins in 1916 and follows their twisted fortunes through the early successes of Bolshevism, Stalin’s ascent to power, and the recurring terror of the 1930s and 1940s. The novel touches on events less well known to readers of historical fiction, such as the building of the White Sea Canal using forced labor, as well as others that have received wider treatment like the Siege of Leningrad in 1941–42.
The writing is rich and rewarding, and all the strands tie together in the end in emotionally satisfying ways. The connecting element of the porcelain dolls is both expected and just a little different, a perfect symbol of this beautifully conceived and executed book.
Find out more from my written Q&A with the author when the hardcover came out last year. Berkley released the paperback at the end of July.—CPL
Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe, The Missing Diamond (Marketing Chair Press, 2024)
This first of the Crown Jewels Regency Mysteries, of which three have come out since May, introduces Lady Grace Tilbury and Roland, Lord Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland. Each of them, in their own way, faces challenges in the London marriage market—Grace because she knows she is less attractive than her best friend, Charity, and has more interest in convincing her mother that she actively seeks a husband than in actually finding someone; and Roland because his long career in the military and memories of his parents’ dismal relationship leave him unwilling to bow to his grandfather’s demands that Roland marry by the end of this London season.
When Lady Charity goes missing, Queen Charlotte demands that Grace and Roland unite to recover her favorite, known à la Bridgerton as the Queen’s Diamond, before Charity’s absence can wreck her reputation and thus any chance at matrimony.
Grace and Roland cannot ignore a royal command, so they must work together to find a solution. As they do, they discover that love and marriage may not be such a hideous prospect after all.
It is characteristic of this well-written, intriguing series that the missing diamond of book 1 is not a jewel, except in the metaphorical sense. Grace and Roland make a quirky and entertaining pair, and the story moves along at a rapid yet satisfying clip. I have already finished book 2, The Ruby Dagger, and look forward to reading The Sapphire Intrigue this month.—CPL
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