Clara & Mr. Tiffany - Vreeland

Clara & Mr. Tiffany

Susan Vreeland

Clara works for Mr. Louis Comfort Tiffany at his glass studio. What starts as just jobs in elegant stained glass windows turns into her own personal renaissance when she realizes they can take the same simple principles and make lamps. While Clara fights to establisher herself, and her department of female glass workers she must struggle against the conventions of the early 1900's and the rules Mr. Tiffany sets down. The foremost of which is that married women can not work for him.

Susan Vreeland does a fantastic job of bring Clara, the little know and rarely credited designer, to life. A fully formed character, Clara is eager to place, and to make a name for herself. While she craves love, she values her Independence even more. All of this makes her unique for a story set in turn of the century New York.  Clara is supported by a cast of artists, accountants and friends who can be two dimensional at times, they are endearing.

Clara and Mr. Tiffany is a great example of historical fiction. A New York on the verge of becoming a cultural hub is brought to life without being over worked. From boarding houses to the newly made subway, little snippets of history are tucked neatly into Vreelands pages.

Overall I enjoyed this book, even if at times it felt a bit long. If you're a fan of Vreeland, or similar authors you'll find yourself a reliable read here.

The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse

The Winter Ghosts

Kate Mosse

To Be Released February 3rd

Freddie is haunted by the memory of his brother George, who lost his life during World War I. After years of sadness and a brief stint in a sanitarium Freddie journey's around France. When a snow storm leaves him with a broken car and lost in the mountains he winds up in the village of Nulle, Freddie  finds a girl with a similar past who leads him to a monumental historical discovery.

The Winter Ghosts is a quick read, which is good because it will distract you from the lack of story it has. Mosse took an interesting subject, the Cathars, and made it dull, and ultimately unimportant in her story. Freddie himself, goes from being a character one can pity and really root for to an annoying babbling crazy person.
A big part of the problem is that the story Mosse is trying to tell isn't big enough for the 250 pages she has written. A lot of mindless descriptions and musing happen, and the story moves at a snails pace.
The actually story of the Cathar's is interesting, but as it is told as an unbelievable dream and in short bursts near the end, it felt more like a plot device than a historic even important to the actual story.

Overall The Winter Ghosts wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible, and if nothing else it was a quick read. If you think you can stomach Freddie's whining, you might actually enjoy it.

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky 

Chris Greenhalgh

You've all heard of Coco Chanel, the famous fashion designer? Well this is the story of her amorous relationship with the composer Igor Stravinsky. Over the summer of 1913 she puts up the Stravinksy's in her beautiful estate in Grasse and brings an expected level of chaos into their lives.

Having know little of Chanel but her clothes before picking up this gem of a novel I was surprised to learn of her complicated life. After all a bastard  orphan up-starter isn't exactly what I would picture when I pictured Coco but that is exactly how Greenhalgh portrays her. Chanel is the essence of a modern woman, and because of that woman today will relate to her strength and power. Igor is intriguing. He is described as unattractive, but the intensity of which he works on his music is heart warming, and his inner turmoil over his love for his wife Catherine, and Coco is adorable.

This was the perfect end of summer read. Greehalgh has a way of describing places so you  feel your there. And what better place to spend the last days of summer than 1910's Paris? This was a really great read, and while all of the characters were deeply flawed, most were easy to relate to. Not the best book I've read all summer but still fun.

I haven't seen the movie based of the book. Have any of you seen it?

The Constant Princess

The Constant Princess

Philippa Gregory

Catalina is daughter of two of the greatest monarch's Europe has seen. She has known since she was three that in addition to being an Infanta of Spain she is the Princess of Wales and will one day be Queen of England. Nothing will stop her from claiming these titles that she see's as her birth right. Not the death of her first husband Arthur, her parents refusal to pay the rest of her dowry or her inability to secure a betrothal to Arthur's younger brother, Harry.

I'm a Gregory fan, for the most part. There are always things about her novels that make them slightly irritating, but that rarely effects the breakneck pace I read them at. The Constant Princess was no different. I really enjoyed Catalina/Katherine's thoughts and life as she journeyed from Spain to England. Her life is usually thought of as the First wife of Henry VIII, the woman set aside for Anne Boleyn, and the mother of 'Bloody" Mary I.  It was nice to see her young and in love, even if her first, love filled marriage is short.

Her time waiting to become princess again is a bit long. Catalina's italicized thoughts take up pages and pages where before they book up a page at the very most. Her waiting and scheming would be very irritating if you didn't know she would be successful. All the odds are against her and her attitude, as well as Henry VII and his mother Margaret Beaufort are irritating.

Her actual reign as Henry's queen is  more interesting and gives a lot of insigt into a time I didn't know much about. She was a much stronger woman that I would have previously given her credit for. I'd been putting off reading The Constant Princess because Katherine didn't interest me as much as Henry's other wives/other historical women, but I'm glad I did pick it up. A very enjoyable read.

The Red Queen

The Red Queen
The Cousins War - Book 2

Philippa Gregory

The Red Queen follows Margaret Beaufort, starting as a young girl dreaming of being the next Joan of Arc. We watch her marry at the young age of 12 and shortly give birth to Henry Tudor. Her son fills her with purpose, and while she is separated from him for most of his life this never stops her from plotting to make him King of England.

Margaret Beaufort is one of Gregory's least likable characters. She is strong willed, but believes that all of her wants are the will of God. It's easy to how being shuffled from husband to husband has made her into the pious woman she thinks she is. My biggest annoyance with her is her unending hatred of Elizabeth Woodville. Especially since she interacts with and serves her for several years. Her petty jealousy is annoying to read, and made me long for the pages of The White Queen, with it's more accessible heroin. Even with her annoying characteristics she is a perfect love to hate character.

The Red Queen reads like any Gregory novel. It's very straightforward and easy to follow. It is especially interesting to read this having already read The White Queen. The stories completely intersect for the latter third of the novel, detailing the death of Edward Vi, the rise and fall of Richard III and yet another take on what happened to the Princes in the Tower.

Worth the read if your a Gregory fan, and are ready to put up with the typical historical inaccuracy's.
My Rating : 4/5

The Blind Contessa's New Machine

The Blind Contessa's New Machine
Received from Goodreads, Now on Sale

Carey Wallace

Carolina Fantoni is an interesting girl. Despite the time frame she spends a lot of time alone at her man made lake. She, like the others in town harbors a secret hope that she will win the heart of the handsome and charismatic Pietro. Turri has all the locals shaking their heads. He muses about unimportant things and conducts odd experiments. Carolina and Turri become fast friends, watching the rain together and coming up with various improbable experiments. That is until she is married and quickly goes blind.  While their relationship will blossom, Turri makes her a machine to write with making her the envy of the town.

My cookie cutter description is a lot like how The Blind Contessa's New Machine reads. It's interesting, but very predictable. For a true story it does alright by it's characters. Carolina is hard to understand, her blindness doesn't seem to bother her. Nothing really seems to bother her until she can't see Turri. Pietro is easier to understand, he's beautiful and privileged and because of that he has a kind of arrogance that only comes out when all other charming have failed.  Lastly there's Turri. I loved Turri, he was excentric and didn't mind being the talk of the town. Even so he acknowledged his reputation as a crazy man making crazy machines.  He's a treat to read because he is so full of wonder.

The story itself is nothing special. Girl is friends with Boy, Girl likes other Boy, Girl and Boy 2 get married and Girl starts and affair with original Boy. Place everyone in the early 1800's and make the Girl blind and that is The Blind Contessa's New Machine. Even though it's fairly simple it was an enjoyable read. Carolina's blindness left me pondering my own vision. She had so much to overcome once she lost her sight, especially since she was in a new house, and I wondered how I'd hold up in the same situations. Her dreams were less of a pleasure to read. There were far to many and they were all about her running around her house and her lake and looking for Turri. They got really repetitive and at some points were happening ever three or four pages.

In short, if you like historical fiction, novels set in Italy or novels the deal prominently with blindness, The Blind Contessa's New Machine is worth picking up, just don't expect to much from it.

My Rateing:
3/5

Juliet

Juliet
On Sale 8.17.2010

Anne Fortier

The story begins with one Julie Jacobs. Julie has been entranced with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet her entire life. When her Aunt dies and leaves her a letter explaining that she is in fact Giulietta Tolomei and that her mother died while investigating a family treasure Julie/Giulietta leaves on the first plan for Siena, Italy. While in Siena she learns that family ties run deep, and that no only were Shakespeare's most infamous lovers real, she is related to the real life Juliet.

When I got Juliet in the mail last week I was both excited and a little concerned for what it would turn out to be. The story itself seems forced. Julie is not likable. Having her goals in live grow from her desperate need to be different from her sister Janice made them both petty and unrelateable.

The story of Siena, and the flashbacks to 1340 were helpful and interesting, but they felt like, with a little more detail they could have been their own novel. This was also a case where I would get to an end of a chapter and be upset that there was a drastic change in time and situation. It would only take a few pages to get back into the groove of that specific story but still, it's never fun to "suffer through" a chapter just so you understand what is going on. I was frustrated all through the middle of the novel, when there was little being discovered and much whining and disbelief.

The romantic elements were definitely the strongest in both storylines. The Romeo and Juliet love through time was less creepy then I thought they would be. In a way modern day Giulietta's journey to love is sweet and understandable, and while it's hard to get into a 1340's mind frame, the original Romeo and Juliet story has its own charms.

All in all, a good summer read, but it took far longer and a lot of suspension of disbelief to get through.

My Rating:
3/5

A huge thanks to the LibraryThing early review program for the copy.

Claude & Camille

Claude and Camille

Stephanie Cowell

You've probably heard of Claude Monet, the painter, does lots of flowers and lily pads? Well this is the story of how he became the impressionist that is known and loved. He struggles with his art, with his friends and of course with his love life. He meets Camille, who turns out to be the love of his life, but does she have a secret? Though they come from different classes and have a difficult life today they are truly in love.

I was pleasantly surprised with this novel. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, and if you share that love this is most likely a story for you. Told entirely from Monet's perspective you get a real feel for the life of a poor artist in Paris. It was interesting to see the interactions of Monet with his other artists friends, like Renoir, Cezanne, Dega's and Manet.. Monet is a flawed character, and his drive to paint nearly costs him everything on several occasions. While this isn't the most original story it was good and engaging. Like i said, if you're a fan of the likes of Chevalier and Vreeland this is a novel for you.

My Rating
4/5

Thanks to Jen at The Introverted Reader for the ARC copy

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Katerine Howe

Connie Goodwin has just completed her orals and as her PhD in sight. If only she didn't have to spend the summer cleaning out her grandmothers old house. The house, covered with vines and mostly hidden, contained many secrets. The first which is discovered is the name Deliverance Dane and a key inside of an old bible. Connie. Connie's research leads her to the Salem Witch Trials and to meet Sam, a church restoration specialist with a tough side. Connie's quest to find out more about Deliverance turns into an obsession with the book she left behind, but she isn't the only one who wants it. Told from alternating perspectives of Connie and Deliverance (and sometimes her children), Howe offers a new perspective on the Salem Witch Trials.

I was intrigued by the story being told here. It seemed fresh and interesting. The further in I got the writing style and all of the unnecessarily long interludes sections where Deliverance and her children live made it difficult to stay interested. Connie's story is more interesting, she has several important historic discoveries and is an all around likable character. The introduction of real magic is a bit much, given the academic background the story originally had. Other than that, the villain was the most transparent character I have read in ages, but the rest of the supporting, modern, cast is delightful.

I really wanted to like this book, and was willing to overlook some of the weirder aspects of it. However it didn't live up to my expectations, and was really a bit of a disappointment.

My rating
3/5

Remarkable Creatures

Remarkable Creatures

Tracy Chevalier

Remarkable Creatures follows Mary Anning, one of the first women to discover important fossils and reserve any credit. The story centers on her fossil hunting in her home of Lyme Regis. Told from two prospectives Remarkable Creatures gives a solid portrait of 19th Century ideology as well as social practices. Elizabeth Philpot, a spinster new to Lyme shares Mary's love for fossils  and they become fast friends. The story is filled with ups and downs, social faux pas, exciting discoveries and many forms of loss.

Chevalier (Girl with a Pearl Earring) remains true to her historical roots. Her writing style is simple and clean, making for a quick read. Though the subject matter will only really interest a small amount of people, the need for respect and credit for the specimen Mary found are universal.  

While Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot are both strong women they both seem to be lacking as characters. Unlike in other Chevalier novels I had a hard time seeing this woman as anything as caricatures. Even with these character faults the novel is still enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone with any interest in fossils, but if you don't be weary, Mary and Elizabeth have nothing else on their minds.

My Rating:
3/5

Arcadia Falls

Arcadia Falls

Carol Goodman


Meg Rosenthal and her daughter Sally moves to storybook Arcadia after her husband dies and leaves them with nothing. She has lucked into a position teaching at an elite boarding school for artists. This is a dream job for Meg, as her dissertation will be on the fables written by the schools founders Vera Beecher and Lily Eberhardt. The school already has it's superstitions and an accident at the beginning of the year only reinforce the ideology of the school. 


Part fairy tale, mystery and historical fiction Arcadia Falls is a surprising gem. The characters are deep and interesting. They make the enchanting school of Arcadia even more realistic. Arcadia itself seems real, like the sleepy towns everyone dreams about at one time or another. The mystery itself is a little lack luster, but the information that is conveyed through Lily's journals is interesting and transporting. The projects the children do paired with the artwork and the Changeling Story give the artist atmosphere room to thrive. 


The structure and writing style wasn't perfect, and sometimes the twists seem overworked and a bit contrived but all in all this was a really fantastic read. I was very sorry for it to end. Definitely worth checking out if you're into fairy tale situations, historical fiction and a little tinge of mystery. 


My Rating 4/5

The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars

Frank Beddor

Alice is really Alyss, and wonderland isn't anything like Carrol wrote. Wonderland has been taken over by Redd, Alyss's aunt and Alyss is stuck in Victorian London where nobody believes in Wonderland. Now Alyss must be brought back to lead the Alyssians  who have been fighting in her name and defeat Redd and her Black Imagination.

Now, I was never a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland. I didn't like the book, I didn't like the Disney movie and I get sick of all of the references of going 'down the rabbit hole', but I did enjoy Beddor's interpretation. I liked Alyss's growth. At times the writing was a little to fast paced for me, glossing over major events and relaying on a timeline in the back to give out information about Redd's Reign. For me, the only thing I liked about the original Wonderland was how classic and beautiful it seemed. This Wonderland still has its charms, but this are shinny and new and remind me of futuristic weapons. The story was well thought out. Even when I wasn't enjoying what I was reading I was very interested in how things would resolve themselves. It was an enjoyable enough read, not something I plan on picking up again and not something I would be willing to spend much money on.

My Ratings:

3/5