This is the tenth in the Tea Shop Mysteries series. Childs is also the author of the Scrapbooking Mysteries and the new Cackleberry Club Mysteries. I've read samplings of the Scrapbooking series, set in New Orleans, but this is the first time I've picked up one of Childs' Tea Shop Mysteries. I've been missing out.
For one the setting for this charming series is Charleston, SC, one of the world's most beautiful and atmospheric cities. Childs does a terrific job of weaving in Charleston locations and lore in this novel, and I'm sure the same is true of the earlier ones. Secondly, her characters are as likable and interesting as the setting. Third, I happen to be a tea lover, so I can relate to issues of running the Indigo Tea Shop and making the tea, scones and tea sandwiches featured in the book. The main character, Theodosia Browning, is likable and interesting.
I can't say that the plot is all that original or believable. In fact, it is quite contrived. But the characters and description of the location make up for it in a way and I was compelled to read the book in only a couple of sittings.
I plan on checking out more in the Tea Shop series and drinking in a little more Charleston atmosphere.
Liz Nichols
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Bordeaux by Paul Torday
"Bordeaux" is quite a unique and extraordinary novel by the author of "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," Paul Torday. This is my first experience reading this author and I look forward to reading more by him.
The way this novel is structured is one of the unique elements, as well as the way the author plumbs the depths of the psyche of the main character, Frank Wilberforce. Each section of the book goes back a year in time. So the in the first section, 2006, we find out that Wilberforce is in seriously ill-health due to alcoholism and still in denial about his habit. It does not seem as if he has more than a few months to live, and may already have suffered irreversible dementia and other damage as a result of a 4 bottles of wine per day habit that has gone on for around 3 years. That first part is really quite painful to read, especially for anyone who likes to drink wine regularly.
The earlier chapters are easier to read because the first person chronicle makes a little more sense to the reader. Still, one catches Wilberforce in a tangle of illogical thinking and self-lies that become his reality over time. By the time one reads the last section, for the year 2002, it is easy to put all the puzzle pieces together to see how Wilberforce ends up the way he does.
This is not a particularly enjoyable book to read, but it is an instructional cautionary tale and one that could well save lives for current alcoholics and their friends and family.
Liz Nichols
The way this novel is structured is one of the unique elements, as well as the way the author plumbs the depths of the psyche of the main character, Frank Wilberforce. Each section of the book goes back a year in time. So the in the first section, 2006, we find out that Wilberforce is in seriously ill-health due to alcoholism and still in denial about his habit. It does not seem as if he has more than a few months to live, and may already have suffered irreversible dementia and other damage as a result of a 4 bottles of wine per day habit that has gone on for around 3 years. That first part is really quite painful to read, especially for anyone who likes to drink wine regularly.
The earlier chapters are easier to read because the first person chronicle makes a little more sense to the reader. Still, one catches Wilberforce in a tangle of illogical thinking and self-lies that become his reality over time. By the time one reads the last section, for the year 2002, it is easy to put all the puzzle pieces together to see how Wilberforce ends up the way he does.
This is not a particularly enjoyable book to read, but it is an instructional cautionary tale and one that could well save lives for current alcoholics and their friends and family.
Liz Nichols
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton
This is Bolton's first novel, and she promises to be a mainstay of British thrillers for a long time to come.
The author blurb indicates that the novel is borne out of Bolton's fascination for British folklore, and the basis for this book is a blood curdling folktale from the Shetland Islands that goes back to the Viking heritage of the isles. The heroine, obstetrician, Tora Hamilton, is a transplant from the mainland who moves to the Shetlands with her native born husband, Duncan Guthrie and discovers while trying to bury her fallen horse on their newly purchased farm a dead body of a woman who has both recently given birth and had her heart torn out from her body while she was still alive. Naturally, this sets off a forensic hunt for the killer or killers.
The frigid land and reserved people are finely drawn in this chilling tale. It is hard to know who to trust and whether most of the people Tora meets are in on a huge conspiracy to hide an ancient, bloody practice.
I must confess this book was hard to put down and I read it cover to cover in only two or three sittings, ignoring all kinds of other things I should have been doing.
This book is not for the squeamish, but those who can stomach a little gore will be well rewarded by the intrigue and twists and turns in the plot.
I can't wait for more by this new British author.
Liz Nichols
The author blurb indicates that the novel is borne out of Bolton's fascination for British folklore, and the basis for this book is a blood curdling folktale from the Shetland Islands that goes back to the Viking heritage of the isles. The heroine, obstetrician, Tora Hamilton, is a transplant from the mainland who moves to the Shetlands with her native born husband, Duncan Guthrie and discovers while trying to bury her fallen horse on their newly purchased farm a dead body of a woman who has both recently given birth and had her heart torn out from her body while she was still alive. Naturally, this sets off a forensic hunt for the killer or killers.
The frigid land and reserved people are finely drawn in this chilling tale. It is hard to know who to trust and whether most of the people Tora meets are in on a huge conspiracy to hide an ancient, bloody practice.
I must confess this book was hard to put down and I read it cover to cover in only two or three sittings, ignoring all kinds of other things I should have been doing.
This book is not for the squeamish, but those who can stomach a little gore will be well rewarded by the intrigue and twists and turns in the plot.
I can't wait for more by this new British author.
Liz Nichols
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Stealing Athena by Karen Essex
This is the kind of book I thoroughly enjoy from first page to last. It takes a small historical fact and builds a story around it that is, at least, plausible, if not in every detail true. I came away feeling I knew a lot more about both the British Georgian empire-building period and the Age of Pericles when the Parthenon was built.
The two simultaneous stories take the "diplomatic" coup of British Earl of Elgin in bringing to Great Britain a number of the frieses and columns from the Parthenon during his stay as Ambassador to Turkey. Despite what we may feel about the appropriateness of taking another country's artifacts, during the Napoleonic period it was really a matter of seeing them destroyed by the French or the Turkish, or taking possession of as many artifacts as possible for Great Britain.
The heroine of the 19th century part of the tale is Mary, Countess of Elgin, who was a trail-blazer as a woman in diplomatic circles within an Islamic country and managed to charm both men and women among the Turkish. Without her persistence and charming, and culturally sensitive social skills, her husband would never have been able to pull off the artistic and cultural feat of bringing so much of Greek antiquity to Great Britain.
The additional, and more speculative story, is that of Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, who may have been the inspiration for the face of Athena at the Parthenon. This ancient story is not exploited in as much detail, but we do get a flavor of the Greek world in the Age of Pericles and the role of women during that time.
I strongly recommend this title for anyone who enjoys historical fiction for either the Napoleonic period, Ottoman Empire history or the history of the Greek Golden Age.
The two simultaneous stories take the "diplomatic" coup of British Earl of Elgin in bringing to Great Britain a number of the frieses and columns from the Parthenon during his stay as Ambassador to Turkey. Despite what we may feel about the appropriateness of taking another country's artifacts, during the Napoleonic period it was really a matter of seeing them destroyed by the French or the Turkish, or taking possession of as many artifacts as possible for Great Britain.
The heroine of the 19th century part of the tale is Mary, Countess of Elgin, who was a trail-blazer as a woman in diplomatic circles within an Islamic country and managed to charm both men and women among the Turkish. Without her persistence and charming, and culturally sensitive social skills, her husband would never have been able to pull off the artistic and cultural feat of bringing so much of Greek antiquity to Great Britain.
The additional, and more speculative story, is that of Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, who may have been the inspiration for the face of Athena at the Parthenon. This ancient story is not exploited in as much detail, but we do get a flavor of the Greek world in the Age of Pericles and the role of women during that time.
I strongly recommend this title for anyone who enjoys historical fiction for either the Napoleonic period, Ottoman Empire history or the history of the Greek Golden Age.
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