U is for Uprising

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

A great book for Young Adults.  Here's what I wrote about it for a review I did for Historical Novels Review:

Set in New York City in 1910-1911, Uprising tells the story of three young women from different walks of life whose lives become connected through the shirtwaist workers’ strike. Yetta is a Russian immigrant who moved to America and works at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in order to earn money to send back to her homeland. Bella is a recently arrived Italian immigrant who is overwhelmed in America and feels like a stranger. She is eager to learn and works at the factory as well. Jane is an unhappy rich society girl who longs for something different in her life but is uncertain about what she can do to change and break free from the cage in which she feels she is trapped.

The hundreds of workers at the factory put up with low wages and unsafe working conditions until one day, a strike is organized. Yetta feels passionate about their cause and quickly becomes one of the strike’s leaders, attending meetings and marching in the picket lines. Soon both Bella and Jane join her, and the girls quickly become friends. Haddix does a superb job of portraying the different aspects of the girls’ lives, from their involvement in the strike, the conditions of working in the factory, and their daily survival.
Chapters alternate between each of the girls, allowing readers to experience three different perspectives of the events that unfold. Not only is Uprising the story of the strike and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that changed American labor forever, it is also a story of friendship, family, choices, and the social classes and rules of society that existed in America in the early 1900s. This book is an excellent read and makes history come alive through all of the well-crafted characters.

T is for A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini , author of the bestselling novel The Kite Runner, again delivers a stunningly beautiful novel spanning a 30 year period in Afghanistan’s history.  A Thousand Splendid Suns is the story of two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, each from different social backgrounds whose lives unexpectedly intersect.  Hosseini provides a look at what life was like for everyday people in Afghanistan over the course of the country’s turbulent recent history from the Soviet invasion through the post-Taliban era.  The novel delves deep into family relationships, the beauty of friendship, feelings of loss and longing, and is a powerful testament to the spirit and strength of women.  A Thousand Splendid Suns is a must read.   

S is for The Serpent Garden

The Serpent Garden by Judith Merkle Riley

Another review I did for Historical Novels Review:

Riley’s exquisite tale The Serpent Garden begins in England in 1514 and follows the life of Susanna Dallet, daughter of a Flemish artist. Susanna is widowed when her unsavory husband is murdered by his lover’s spouse. Before his death, Mr. Dallet was part of a group who recovered a long lost manuscript that threatens to rip apart the French monarchy. Because of her husband’s role, Susanna is unknowingly thrust into peril, caught in the middle of conspirators who will stop at nothing to possess the complete manuscript.

As a widow, Susanna is left to make her own way in the world, no easy feat in the16th century. She begins by painting less than innocent Biblical scenes and portraits in miniature. Soon she is introduced to Cardinal Wolsey who employs her and sends her to France with Princess Mary Tudor’s wedding party to paint the festivities of the union of Mary and the aging Louis XII.

Susanna possesses an extraordinary gift for painting in miniature and is welcomed into the French court, a place full of schemes at every turn. Riley adds a good dose of the supernatural to the story with a demon named Belphagor who was released when the manuscript was unearthed. Belphagor’s goal is to cause chaos, and Susanna becomes a target for the demon’s wrath because of her association with the manuscript.

Riley packs quite a bit into the novel and achieves a nice blend of romance, intrigue, politics, and fantasy. The narration alternates between Susanna Dallet and third person viewpoints which may take a bit to get used to, but soon readers will find themselves engrossed in the tale. Susanna’s sense of humor and the depictions of the French court are only two of the aspects that make this a novel not to be missed.

R is for The Rebel Princess

The Rebel Princess by Judith Koll Healey

Here's a review I wrote for Historical Novels Review:

Healey (The Canterbury Papers) brings readers the second installment of the story of Princess Alaïs Capet, sister to King Philippe Auguste of France. Set in 1207, the tale begins as the court of King Philippe is awash in conspiracies. Alaïs’s aunt, the dowager countess Constance of Toulouse, is acting secretive, the king does not know which of his ministers he can trust, and two monks dispatched by the pope in hopes of persuading the king to support stamping out the Cathars, a Christian sect in the south of France, arrive at court. King Philippe turns to his beloved sister Alaïs for advice. Alaïs vows to help her brother and uncover the mischief at court. What she really longs to do though is finally reunite with and settle down with her lover, William of Caen, and reveal to Williams’ ward, Francis, that she is his mother. The plot deepens when the St. John’s Cup, a relic sacred to the Cathars, is stolen. Following the cup’s disappearance, Constance is absent from court, and Francis is kidnapped. Alaïs takes matters into her own hands and devises a way to search for her son, risking her life and rebelling against William’s explicit instructions to stay at court.


The Rebel Princess is a fast-paced historical mystery with plenty of suspense and intrigue. With every turn of the page there was the threat of bloodshed due to the rising conflict between the bishops and the Cathars. Healey does a fantastic job rendering the touching story of the intense bond between Alaïs and her son. Equally compelling is the exploration of Alaïs’s regret over the harsh parting words between her and William. I am looking forward to more in this series and hope that the love story between William and Alaïs unfolds even more. A very enjoyable read.

Q is for The Queen's Devotion

Jean Plaidy has always been one of my favorite historical fiction writers.  The following is a review that appeared in Historical Novels Review. 

The Queen’s Devotion, a novel in Plaidy’s Queens of England series, is a reprint of the previously published William’s Wife, and depicts the story of Queen Mary II. When the novel opens, Mary and her younger sister, Anne, are carefree princesses with loving and devoted parents. The girls’ father, the Duke of York, is in line for the throne if their uncle, King Charles II and his wife fail to produce a male heir. Because of the tumultuous political and religious climate in England, the girls are raised as Protestants. Mary and her sister are blissfully unaware of the trouble that is looming in the future. Once Mary turns fifteen, her life changes when her father informs her that she will be marrying her cousin, William, Prince of Orange, and will be moving to his homeland of Holland.


Mary is very young and naïve when she is married and feels that her world has been turned upside down- she is unhappy with the ladies accompanying her to her new home, she must leave behind her beloved father and sister, and she does not like her husband, who treats her very coolly.

When Mary’s uncle, the king, dies without an heir, her father becomes King James II. Unpopular with the people because he is a Catholic, numerous plots begin to brew. As time goes on, rumors drift their way across the Channel, and Mary realizes that soon she will have to choose between her loyalty to her father or her husband.

Plaidy’s detailed writing style evokes sympathy for Queen Mary. She effectively writes of the prominent scandals that were sprinkled throughout the queen’s life and superbly shows the tension and guilt that Mary faces, as she and William eventually become the co-regents of England.

P is for Portrait of an Unknown Woman

I absolutely loved this book by Vanora Bennett.  I ended up listening to it on audiobook, which I highly recommend because the narrator, Josephine Bailey, has such a pleasing voice.  Thomas More really came alive for me in this book.  You definitley get to see another side to him.  Here's the description from the book:

In the year 1527, the great portraitist Hans Holbein, fleeing the Protestant Reformation, comes to England under commission to Sir Thomas More. Over the course of the next six years, Holbein paints two nearly identical portraits of the More family, his dear and loyal friends. But closer examination of the second painting reveals several mysteries. . . .

Set against the turmoil and tragedy of Henry VIII's court, Portrait of an Unknown Woman vividly evokes sixteenth-century England on the verge of enormous change—as viewed through the eyes of Meg Giggs, More's intelligent, tenderhearted, headstrong adopted daughter, who stands at the center of this sweeping, extraordinary epic. It is a tale of sin and religion, desire and deception—the story of a young woman on the brink of sensual awakening and a country on the edge of mayhem.

I started her latest book, The Queen's Lover, a few months ago, but I couldn't get into it.  I will try again later.  I have her second novel, Figures in Silk, waiting on my bookshelf.  So many books, too little time!

O is for O, Juliet

Robin Maxwell is one of my favorite authors.  I especially love the cover of this one.  I had the pleasure of reviewing this novel for Historical Novels Review back in February.  Here is my review:

Maxwell delivers a mesmerizing retelling of the famous star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, in her latest novel, set in Italy at the beginning of the Renaissance. Juliet Capelletti is a headstrong, intelligent young lady who is facing an arranged marriage to Jacopo Strozzi, her father’s new business partner. She does not look forward to her match but knows that it will make her parents happy. Juliet’s entire future is forever changed one night at the engagement party of her best friend, Lucrezia, when she meets the handsome Romeo Monticecco. Romeo is at the party to seek reconciliation between his family and the Capelettis, who have been feuding and retaliating against each other for years. Juliet and Romeo find a chance to talk together alone under the stars and their destiny unfolds. Both are surprised by the other’s passion for poetry and shared interest in Dante Alighieri’s Vita Nuova. After their first meeting, Juliet is determined to find a way out of her upcoming marriage to Jacopo, even though this means defying her family’s wishes for her and possibly destroying the business between her father and her betrothed.


What unfolds is a beautiful love story between the soul mates Romeo and Juliet. Maxwell realistically portrays the torment that Juliet is faced with as she wonders what her future holds. One of the things I enjoyed the most about the novel was how Maxwell drew parallels between Dante and his love, Beatrice, and Romeo and Juliet and her use of poetry and quotes from Dante throughout the novel. Readers will savor this exquisite and magical love story.