Nouveau Jane Austen???

Indiscretion by Jude Morgan

No one can publish a book set in the Regency period featuring an independent heroine without getting compared to Jane Austen. It's just a law of nature. Reviewers see the ballrooms and costumes, think "Austen", and think no further. The problem is, most of the books that get this comparison don't even remotely deserve it - even the ones that want it so bad you can see it.

Indiscretion is different. It's the first Austen "wannabe" I've read that actually seems just as spirited and fun as Austen. Except for a few brief slips into modernity, Morgan gets the tone just right on this one. Some of her plot points and characters will seem familiar to Austen fans, but they never quite become derivative. On the whole, it just seems like the book Jane never got around to writing.

The story:

Caroline Fortune is understandably a little sensitive about people referring to her as "Miss Fortune". She's had an interesting childhood on the outskirts of society. After her mother's death, her weak-minded, ex-solider father turned to card games and the stage for a living - and took Caro right along for the ride. Sometimes he made enough money for the both of them to live off of, but most of the time he didn't. So, by the time Caro is of marriageable age, their credit is used up and their luck has run out.

To take herself off her father's hands, Caro finds employment as companion to a cantankerous old widow. Just about the time she's made a good start in a respectable country life, a ghost from her past shows up to upset everything. It's up to her whether to expose the rake - and, with him, her own background.

This is a fun romp through Bath, London and parts of the English countryside. I'd highly recommend it to all Austen fans... or anybody who wants to become one.

Unfinished books

Here's an interesting article on the books Britons are most-likely to buy, but not read all the way through.

It got me to thinking about what books I've started and have just not been able to slog my way through to the end. Two that immediately came to mind were Little Women and The Secret Garden. I have read both of them all-the-way-through now - but it must have taken at least a half-dozen attempts for each one.



The funny thing is, I loved the opening chapter of both of them. I would read the opening chapter with enthusiasm. And then I'd get to chapter 2, which wasn't so great (IMHO). I might push myself to read chapter 3 - but that would be about it.

For years, these books haunted me. I could not get through them. I did finally read Little Women after the Winona Ryder movie came out. I absolutely loved the movie and that gave me the courage to attempt the book again. I read it, enjoyed it, and moved on to Little Men and Jo's Boys. Though - it may be worth noting that I've never attempted a re-read of them.

I did not get around to finishing The Secret Garden until last year - when I resolved I was going to get through all those books in the back of my closet if it killed me. I didn't think much of it, and soon got rid of the copy I'd been holding on to for all those years. However, I also discovered Heidi in my closet-raid, and thought that was a fairly good children's book - even though I'd never given it much of a fair chance when I was a kid. It's funny that I didn't like The Secret Garden, though, because I always loved the first chapter - and Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess was one of the seminal books of my childhood. (I wrote many a piece of juvenilia involving orphans and cruel boarding schools after reading that novel.)

But, I guess that's the reading life. You win some, you lose some.

So, what are some books that you could never get through?

Rutherford's first cousin?

In the vein of Edward Rutherford, I have to recommend The Children of First Man by James Alexander Thom.



This is also a multi-generational epic, exploring the legend of Prince Madoc, a 12th Century Welsh prince some people believe may have colonized America centuries before Columbus arrived.

Thom vividly imagines the kinds of trouble an expedition of Welsh refugees crashing onto American soil at that time might have caused. His group of pre-Colombian settlers causes almost as much upheaval as their European cousins did later, but there are too few of them to overthrow existing societies. Instead, over several generations, they become assimilated into Native American culture, and eventually become known as the Mandan people - a tribe early sociologists believed had European ancestors.

Whether or not the legend is true, it makes for a fascinating story - and it will leave you wondering if maybe, just maybe, that's how it really happened.

Rutherford Rules

Sarum by Edward Rutherford
London by Edward Rutherford
The Forest by Edward Rutherford



In case you haven't guessed by now, I'm a bit of an Anglophile. (It must have something to do with all those hours spent watching Masterpiece Theatre as a child). I love historical novels, particularly those set in the British Isles, and these three are like taking a travelogue through ancient times.

They aren't really related, except the author wrote them all in a similar style. He takes a few fictional families and weaves their stories into real historical events through the centuries. For example, during Sarum's 10,000-year time frame, we see characters and their descendants build Stonehenge, the Roman Baths at Bath, and Salisbury Cathedral. They also fight in the Norman invasion, the American Revolution and World War II. It wraps up in the mid-1980s, with Prince Charles kicking off a campaign to restore the Cathedral spire.

Rutherford often gets compared to James Mitchner, who wrote the same sort of epic, multi-generational stories, but I think he's better - mainly because he doesn't spend half the book telling you about volcanoes and beavers before the story gets going. He starts out right away with people.

He also has written two books in recent years about Ireland - which I can't recommend because I haven't gotten to them yet. (Me bad.) I'm sure they're just as good as the three that already have a permanent place on my keeper shelf, though.

I've changed my mind about Lucia St. Clair Robson

You may recall my favorable review of Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson, and how I cautioned at the end not to expect much from her other books.

Well, I was wrong. At least about one of them.

Last weekend, I read Shadow Patriots, her most recent foray into historical fiction. And I loved it.



Like Ride the Wind, this one is a bit of a tear-jerker. But also like Ride the Wind it competely drops you into another time and place alongside a sympathetic heroine.

In this case, the time and place is New England, 1776. The Colonies might be going crazy with Revolution fever, but none of the hoopla of War impresses 17-year-old Kate Darby much. She's Quaker and believes its best to leave the politics of this world to others. Then she meets the very suave, very handsome Major John Andrè, aide to British General Howe, and her brother Seth runs off to join George Washington's army, becoming a secret agent.

Eventually, Kate comes to realize her heart does lie with the Patriot's cause - and with one of their army's master spies. Before she knows it, she's in on the intelligence game, risking her life to pass on military secrets, hoping to give the American army a chance at winning the war.

Robson based Kate's story on a mystery that has intrigued historians for 200 years. There was "a lady," code-named 355, who worked in George Washington's spy network during the Revolutionary War. No one really knows who she was, or what her eventual fate was - but Robson weaves the legends about her into this tale that bears more than a passing resemblance to an 18th-Century version of Alias. (Although Kate, unlike Sydney Bristow, doesn't know karate.)

The book is a little slow-going at first. We don't actually meet Kate until chapter four. And I think Robson got a little carried away, trying to include all the colorful historical characters of the period. But you will get caught up in Kate's story; Seth's too. And, I hope, in the sweet story of Kate's first romance. (Her suitor can outrun British soldiers, but he's so smitten with her, he trembles when she's nearby.)

I'm never going to be a fan of Mary's Land, Light a Distant Fire, or Walk in my Soul, but I'm happy to know Ride the Wind wasn't just a fluke.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

This is another of those stories that was simple enough to enjoy as a fifth-grader - but complex enough in theme for me to enjoy as an adult. It examines Puritan culture through the eyes of a complete outsider.

Kit Tyler was raised in the tropical paradise of Barbados by an indulgent grandfather. When he dies, her only options are marriage to a man she doesn't love or a long trip to the cold shores of Connecticut, where an aunt she has never met immigrated with her family years ago. She chooses the latter - having no idea of the culture-shock she's about to experience.

In stern Connecticut Colony, life is all about clean, sober living and manual labor. A woman who shows up in colorful silks, as Kit does, is viewed as highly suspect. She even knows how to swim! Everyone knows only witches can float in water!

But fortunately, Kit is able to meet some like-minded souls. There's an abused little girl, a ship captain's son - and Hannah, the old Quaker woman who lives as a hermit down by Blackbird Pond. Kit's friendships with them make life bearable, but they make her neighbors distrust her even more... Maybe even enough to think she's casting spells about town.

It's when her life is on the line that she discovers where she truly belongs.

Great book, that still has a lot of relevant things to say.

Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi

Before Anya Seton, there was Ann Rinaldi.

Well, that's not exactly true. Anya Seton published her last novel long before my favorite young adult historical author started her career - but I discovered Rinaldi before Seton. When I was in high school, she was one of my favorite authors. I couldn't get enough of her slices of early-American life - especially this one about a young girl surviving the Revolutionary War.

The story is about Jemima Emerson, daughter of a staunch Rebel family in 1770s Trenton. However, loyalties aren't always clear-cut in wartime. Jemima's older sister is married to a British soldier, and her parents employ that sister's old beau - John Reid, a handsome, young British sympathizer - as Jemima's tutor.

Jemima can't stand John. And, with war in the air, she can't understand why her father would hire a Tory in a position of influence over her.

But appearances can be deceiving - her parents know a secret about John that she's about to stumble onto. And that's going to change everything between them.

I've read reviews of this book that don't like the premise of its main romance, but I've never a problem with it. My only real concern is how quickly it zips through the last four years of the War. The epilogue sums up a whole lot of experience into one neat, little package that I would have preferred to have followed in narrative. But I suppose that would have made the book far too long by pre-Harry Potter young adult standards. Anyway, it's a minor quibble about a fine book.

Another YA Saturday Night

I decided to add some more of my young adult favorites tonight, starting with Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt.



Julie isn't your typical teenager. She's quite literate and serious minded - and comes by it honestly; her father and step-mother are college professors and the maiden aunt who raised her teaches at a one-room schoolhouse in the country. That doesn't mean she doesn't suffer through your normal growing pains, though.

This story takes her from feisty primary schooler to high school senior. We mourn her mother's death with her. feel the loss she feels when the older sister she idolizes marries, and enjoy the playground escapades she gets into with her brother and his friend, Danny Trevort. Along the way, we come to appreciate her strict Aunt Cordelia, as she does, and learn about Cordelia's one, true, failed romance. Julie also has a gallant and alcoholic Uncle Haskell, Cordeilia's brother, who always claims to be writing, but who never seems to finish his opus. We learn to pity him, as Julie does as she matures into the writer she wants to be.

Julie's story comes from an era much slower-moving than ours. Its unfolding takes a while. But it's worth it. The ending is perfect.

An oldie, but goodie

I've been slowly rereading The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch the last week or two and have finally concluded it is one of my favorite books.

It took me forever to come to that decision, though, because this nutty family saga is not an easy book to love at first. The first time I read it, I set it down not knowing what to think of it.

My fascination with all-things John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford first directed me to The Wheel of Fortune a couple of years ago because, while ostensibly it's a family saga about this zany clan of aristocrats called the Godwins living on the Welsh/English border in the early part of the 20th Century, in reality, it's about the 14th Century royal Plantagenets. Every character in the book has some counterpoint in the courts of King Edward III and Richard II:

"Robert Godwin" = Edward, the Black Prince
His wife "Ginerva" = Edward's wife, Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent
His brother "Johnny" = John of Gaunt, while Johnny's beautiful mistress Bronwen = Katherine in disguise
"Kester" is Richard II
"Harry" is Henry IV
And "Hal" is Henry V.

I still marvel when I think about how how well Howatch translated events from one century to another. A concept this crazy should not work this well.

Another thing is, the book doesn't just have one narrator - or even two or three. No fewer than six members of the Godwin clan get a chance to tell a part of the story. And each section builds on the points of view that came before it. You only get to hear the deepest thoughts and motivations of one character at a time, but then you move on to another narrator and get a completely different perspective on the character and events you just followed. It can be a frustrating way of telling a story (how I wanted to know what Bronwen was thinking sometimes! You get to hear from nearly everyone else.) - but it's also fascinating to get a new perspective every few hundred pages or so. You're guaranteed to change your opinion of each Godwin about half a dozen times - sometimes even more than once in a chapter.

As I said before, this book isn't an easy one to love. It especially gets bogged down in "Hal's" section as he tries to play amateur detective and solve a murder mystery from a previous generation. But the more times I read it, the more I get hooked on the characters and their obsessions. It's easy to believe that if we could jump into a time machine to the 14th Century, we'd find Howatch got her psychological "facts" just about right.

Sweetgrass by Jan Hudson

I discovered Sweetgrass when I was 11 and immediately fell for its vivid prose. I've read it over and over again and still love its mix of innocent romance, medical drama, and Blackfoot culture.

It starts out simple: Sweetgrass just wants to be able to convince her father that she's mature enough to marry, and that her old playmate Eagle Sun would make a better husband than any of the old men of her band who already have several wives. Little does she know she's about to take part in a much bigger struggle, one with life or death consequences that will change her family forever.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

The Perilous Gard is about a girl who's been sent away to a castle that's full of all kinds of mysterious happenings: disappearing heiresses, pilgrims trekking to a wishing well, and sinister strangers lurking about in the forest.

Kate doesn't really believe the superstitious stories she hears about the "fairy folk" who live near Elvenwood until she finds herself a captive of the People of the Hill - an ancient, mystical tribe who are still practicing the old Celtic religion during the Elizabethan age.

I can't say I'm usually a big fan of this type of thing, but Kate's just the kind of intelligent heroine I most enjoy reading about, and her love interest is just as compelling. It's worth a look, even if you don't normally like fantasy.

The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye

I decided to turn my attention to children's lit tonight and share with you some of my favorite books for kids and young adults. These are the ones that came from the "Books I'm not supposed to like anymore (but still do)" section of my old Poohba's Bibliotèque website.



The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye can truly be called an upside-down fairy tale. There are certain rules and expectations about princesses: they must be blonde, slender, beautiful, and gentle - and poor Amy doesn't fit the bill. At her christening, Princess Amy's fairy godmother decided to proclaim her "ordinary," so instead of growing up like her six perfect older sisters, she turns into a freckled tomboy that no respectable prince wants to marry.

That suits Amy just fine. Being ordinary, she can run off and have adventures her sisters couldn't even dream of - and she winds up with the best husband in the end, just being herself.

I have to admit this book was one of my inspirations for Thorn of the Kingdom - though it's much funnier and more clever than anything I've ever written.

If you've ever read Kaye's The Far Pavilions you might be surprised to know she also wrote this children's book in such a completely different style. I hate this cover art, by the way, because it makes it look like Amy's about 5. She's actually a teenager through most of the story.

Merry Christmas!

Here's an old favorite to get you in the mood.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson



I love the voice of the unnamed narrator in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. She really tells it like it is, calling the Herdman family "absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world."

She should know. She and her younger brother - and all of Woodrow Wilson School - have been terrorized by the six unruly Herdman siblings (who "lie, steal and smoke cigars - even the girls") for what seems like forever. They all have learned the tricks of staying out of the Herdmans' way.

But then little bro, Charlie, tired of having goodies stolen from his lunchbox, tells Leroy Herdman that the minister gives kids all the cake and cookies they want at Sunday School.

Inevitably, all six Herdmans show up at church the next Sunday... And the next thing you know they have the leading roles in the traditional (read: boring) Sunday School Christmas pageant, the fire department has to be called in, and the minister's running around town in his bathrobe.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has been a holiday tradition at my house forever. It's a funny, funny story, but it also carries a deeper meaning. The Herdmans remind us Christmas is about more than just trappings and traditions.

As Gladys Herdman says it, "Hey, unto you a child is born!"

Love Books? Need a Good Laugh?

I can honestly say that the Thursday Next books by Welsh author Jasper Fforde are some of the most intelligent gut-busters I've ever read.

Detective stories don't normally do much for me - but crime thrillers set in an alternate universe where characters from famous books can (and do) get kidnapped, cloned dodos and neanderthals wander and people can get arrested for fooling around with Shakespeare - now that's entertainment.

The Thursday Next books (The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots and Something Rotten) are kind of a cross between hard-boiled crime novels, literary exposés, and the silliest political statements you'll ever find. Thursday (yes, that's her real name) is a "literary detective" in (as the book jacket copy calls it) "a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985." Her job involves tracking down the bad guys who perpetrate crimes against books - such as kidnapping Jane Eyre right out of the pages of her own novel.

I'm convinced Jasper Fforde must have a very interesting mind to think up all of this stuff. He's recently moved on to a second, equally-loony series based on crimes against nursery rhyme characters.

If you've ever wanted to jump into the pages of a favorite book, you need to give these a try. My favorites are actually number 2 and 3.

The Fool's Tale by Nicole Galland

This book is all about the characters.

It could have so easily just been another anachronistic, Medieval love triangle about a Welsh king, a queen he married for politics, and a courtier who fights the growing attraction he feels for the queen because the king is his oldest and dearest friend.

(Getting any Camelot vibes yet?)

There's where the similarities end, though. Gwirion (the friend) isn't exactly Sir Lancelot. He's more like the court jester; a perpetual adolescent who's always up to some prank or other. Noble (the king) keeps him around because Gwirion amuses him, but also because when they were boys, Gwirion once went through a terrible experience to save Noble's life. The horrors Gwirion survived are alluded to in the prologue, but never really fleshed out. However, the incident does add depth to the men's friendship and go a long way towards explaining how Gwirion and Noble grow to be like they are.

As you might imagine, Gwirion's less than thrilled when Noble decides to marry. There goes all their bachelor fun. What's worse is Noble's bride is the simpery, little niece of his worst enemy. Gwirion doesn't think much of Isabel from the start - and the feeling is completely mutual.

Isabel isn't completely happy with her husband either once she realizes Noble never intended to give up his playboy ways just because she entered the picture. Simply said, she and Gwirion don't stay worst enemies forever. Most of the suspense of the second half of the book comes from whether they can keep their love affair a secret from their friend and king - and what the sometimes-cruel Noble would ever do if he found out.

Just when you find yourself despising Noble for being a callous adulterer - or Isabel, for being judgmental - or Gwirion, for going too far with his tomfoolery, Galland turns around and creates a completely different view of a sympathetic character. It's been a long time since I've read about such three-dimensional people in a novel.

I couldn't put it down. I had to know what happened to them.

And the denouement... Well, it's stunning. I don't think I can say too much more without spoiling it.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

And now for something completely different...

Well, actually this one kind of is. The Blue Castle is an L.M. Montgomery book, but one a lot different from her usual fare. For one, the heroine doesn't start out as a child. Valency is almost 30 - and, as her domineering family keeps reminding her, unmarried.

Then, her doctor tells her she has a year to live - at most. Suddenly, she has an excuse to throw off her drab, dreary existence and start to make every day count.

There's a fascinating, rakish man involved, of course - though he doesn't turn out to be nearly as wicked as he seems at first. Moving into the "Blue Castle" of her dreams, Valency learns to live the life she was meant to (and uncovers a secret or two along the way).

The ending is not going to shock any long-time L.M. Montgomery fans (I saw it coming a mile away), but this book is a testament to living "the road less traveled by". A great story.

More L.M. Montgomery

I had to get around to listing one of my favorite series of all-time sooner or later.

I have been a fan of the "Anne Girl" since a day when I was about 8 or 9. I caught my mom laughing uproariously over a book and it turned out she was reading Chapter II of Anne of Green Gables - the chapter that introduced the immortal Anne Shirley to the world. Well, knowing that something funny was on the way, I slogged through the very-boring first chapter of Green Gables (no modern editor would have let L.M. Montgomery get away with that) and entered the world of Anne.

Shortly thereafter I was introduced to the CBC/PBS miniseries starring Megan Follows. Between the movie (which ranks right up there with the BBC/A&E version of Pride and Prejudice as one of the best film adaptations ever) and, with the remaining seven "Anne" books, I was hooked for life.

Trust me, if I ever have a daughter someday, she's probably going to wind up being an "Ann with an e".

Countless rereads later, I can honestly say I still enjoy visiting Green Gables (and the House of Dreams and Ingleside). I get something different out of the hijinks of Anne, her best friend Diana and her sworn enemy/later beau Gilbert Blythe every time I read them. The later novels in the series aren't just the children's books they're often shelved as (Anne's House of Dreams and Rilla of Ingleside, especially).

One thing I always did wonder was why I found Book #4 Anne of Windy Poplars and Book #6 Anne of Ingleside too be rather flat compared to the others. I found the answer a few years ago reading a bibliography of L.M. Montgomery's work. Although Windy Poplars and Anne of Ingleside are chronologically Book #4 and Book #6, L.M. actually published those two last - at the insistence of her publisher and long after she'd run out of fresh ideas for Anne. They're actually comprised mainly of worked-over short stories from her early writing career (which goes a long ways towards explaining why the stories suddenly veer off in the direction of some very minor characters in spots.)

Ever since I've felt justified in recommending people read the "Anne" Books in their original order so they don't get bogged down by the weaker books:

Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne's House of Dreams
Rainbow Valley
Rilla of Ingleside
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne of Ingleside

Reading them in this order also makes the final chapter of Anne of Ingleside that more poignant. You'll know what I mean when you get there.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

This is an obvious choice. I already told you I dig Pearl S. Buck, so, of course I'm a fan of her most acclaimed novel.

In case you somehow got through high school without having to read it, The Good Earth is the story of Wang Lung, a peasant farmer in a rural part of China yet-untouched by the modern world. Along with his good wife, O-lan (who he completely fails to appreciate), he survives flood and famine - always striving for something better. But when he gets the life of his dreams, it doesn't make him nearly as happy as he thought it would.

Putting it like that makes the book sound like a sappy, morality play. It's not. Buck shapes her simple prose so beautifully you can actually see the sweat dripping off Wang Lung and O-lan's brows as they work together in the fields. This is another book that won the Pulitzer Prize for a reason.

Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck

Pearl Buck is on my short list of favorite authors (along with Anya Seton, L.M. Montgomery and Diana Gabaldon). Even a bad novel by her is still pretty good compared to most of the stuff that gets published.

Imperial Woman is based on the true story of the last Empress of China. Tzu Hsi (a contemporary of Queen Victoria)gave up the great love of her life to become one of the most powerful women in the world. It makes for a great and heartbreaking story of triumph and endurance.

I recently read another novel about Tzu Hsi, called Empress Orchid, by Anchee Min which gave me a whole other perspective on her life. It's hard to say whether I still like Imperial Woman best because it's the definitive novel on Tzu Hsi, or because it's simply the one I read first. In any case, both are worth a look.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

Since I seem to be on a faith-based theme tonight, I'll stick with it and make my final recommendation of the day The Chosen by Chaim Potok.

I've loved this book since I first read it as a high school sophomore. It's another slow-mover, but one with a lot to say about friendship and the relationship between fathers and sons.

Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders are both Jewish boys growing up in Brooklyn during World War II - but on first appearance, they seem to have nothing else in common. In fact, the first time they meet, during a school-league baseball game, they take such a violent dislike to each other that Danny tries to murder Reuven with a ball aimed at the head. The resulting injury puts Reuven in the hospital, but that's where he learns to appreciate his repentant attacker.

Danny is the son of an ultra-conservative rabbi and is supposed to inherit leadership of the flock someday. Unfortunately for him, he's possessed of a brilliant mind and has different plans for the way he'd like to spend his life.

Sensing that Danny is close to rebelling from his father completely, Reuven's father has secretly been mentoring him for months. Now Mr. Malter tells Reuven that Danny needs a friend like him.

And so, Reuven and Danny forge an unlikely friendship, becoming close as brothers. The Chosen takes the two boys through college graduation and into manhood during the turbulent post-War years, until Danny finally has to make the ultimate decision about his future.

The sequel, The Promise is a good follow-up, but I'd be happy simply reading this one over and over again. It's a beautiful story.