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Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner & Sharmini Kumar

Apr10

Reminiscent Of Jane Austen

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner & Sharmini Kumar is a light-hearted historical novel that entertained me from the start.

Fans of Jane Austen will immediately recognize Miss Caroline Bingley from Pride & Prejudice. She is Mr Bingley’s sister. On page one of Pride & Prejudice we read a very famous word sentence, which opens this book, though slightly altered. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single lady in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a husband.” Straight away the reader realizes that we are in for a real treat. As with the original novel, this book is also witty and also pokes fun at the conventions of the day.

The novel is set at the beginning of the nineteenth century, just two years after Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy married Jane and Elizabeth Bennett.

Miss Caroline Bingley is very reminiscent of Elizabeth Bennett. She is intelligent & knows her own mind. She is also brave and with a social conscience. As a female she has to work within the constraints of the day as she sets about her amateur super sleuthing.

The reader travels from snowy Derbyshire to snowy London. It is here that Miss Caroline Bingley begins her search for Georgiana Darcy’s maid who has gone missing. Her maid is Asian and the reader sees the evils and prejudices of the day as the characters are a part of the evils of slavery. This is highlighted as the reader is introduced to the East India Company.

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The Last Song Of Winter by Lulu Taylor

Apr2

So Beautiful

The Last Song Of Winter by Lulu Taylor is a most beautiful dual timeline novel that consumed me from the start.

The stories are set in the 1940’s and in present day. Both time periods are linked to a couple of families. The war consumes characters in the 1940’s. In present day there is a search for the truth. A resistance member ‘disappeared’ and her family and descendants really need to know what happened to her so that they can put the past to bed.

The novel is one of discovery as characters learn just who they are. A teen in the 1930’s is ‘helped’ to blossom as she is taken under the wing of a Parisienne lady. Her time at finishing school opens her eyes to new possibilities under the guidance of the older, more sophisticated female.

A lonely island off the Pembrokeshire coast holds its own secrets. The wild, untamed landscape appeals to some characters but not others. It contrasts sharply with the gay sophistication of Paris before the war.

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Eva Is Waiting by Romola Farr

Apr1

Highly Entertaining

Eva Is Waiting by Romola Farr is a gripping historical novel that I read in just two sittings.

The action is set in 1965 at a girls school. It is a time of uncertainty, only twenty years since World War II ended and is fresh in the minds of all. It is now at the height of the Cold War – a time of mistrust.

Historians will know of Berlin being split into four zones. The Stasi had far-reaching fingers and underhand tactics.

We see that war criminals hid in plain sight, blending in and denying their past.

The lead character is a teenager who finds herself haunted by a young Jewish girl who disappeared ten years earlier. Shadowy figures are seen, and the past is re-lived through dreams.

It is a time of awakening as the teen is on the verge between adulthood and childhood. The swinging sixties were definitely swinging in the girls boarding school!

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All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean

Mar25

The Greatest Love

All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianna MacLean is the most beautiful novel that I read in just one sitting.

The novel spans a lifetime as it is set in 1946, the following few years; and then into 1995.

The main setting is a wild and rugged small island off the mainland of Canada. The landscape is at one with nature – but nature can be dangerous.

The book is about the greatest love. It is a love that will never die, despite attempts by others to thwart it. People come and go; the years move on; relationships and people die – but this is a love that lasts. Like a diamond refined by fire. This is a love that only gets stronger.

All the characters were well drawn, likable and believable. I found myself cheering on the leading pair, willing their love to last.

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