Well, what a surprise! I was expecting quite a drop this month, fancying that a lot of you were off Christmas shopping but no, nearly as many books reviewed as last month – 19 reviews – 16 books and 14 authors. The two authors with multiple reviews are Hannah Kent with Burial Rites reviewed by Nancy at ipsofactodotme and Jonathan at Me Fail? I fly!. And Anna Romer for Beyond the Orchard (which I highlighted last month) reviewed by Jennifer at Goodreads, Jeannette at readroundoz and Sam at Sam Still Reading. The two authors with two books each are Hannah Kent (her new novel The Good People has been highlighted recently) and Sulari Gentill, see below.

captive-of-sin-anna-campbell

In Captive of Sin by Anna Campbell, “Sir Gideon Trevithick returns to Cornwall in 1821 after a horrific imprisonment in India and stumbles upon a beaten and frightened girl. Gideon feels an affinity for the waif’s suffering and offers help—little does he realize the girl is Lady Charis Weston, England’s greatest heiress.” Eleni at Goodreads was enthusiastic. “Loved the characters from the first but adored them as time when on and I learned more about them. A story of redemption and healing. A must read for those who love historical fiction.” 

Catherine Gaskin, I know my love

Jumping ahead to the Goldfields era we have the classic I Know My Love by Catherine Gaskin. “The story of two women – and a man; of Emmy and Rose, bound to each other irrevocably by ties of friendship and love, and still locked in a ceaseless struggle for the same man, Adam.” Brona at Brona’s Books concludes, “Books like this (and Henry Handel Richardson’s, Fortunes of Richard Mahony) clearly showed the number and hard-working role of the women who lived on the goldfields of Victoria. It was only the history texts that forgot that women were there!” How true!

A Donation of MUrderAnd on to another prolific author Felicity Young and A Donation of Murder. “Forensic doctor Dody McCleland is horrified when the seemingly dead body of a well-dressed woman she has just sliced with her scalpel bolts upright with a howl.” Bernadette at Fair Dinkum Crime writes, “As is always the case with this series readers are introduced to an aspect of life in the era which is fascinating and troubling all at once. Here we see the operation of a criminal gang and the lack of value gang leaders place on the lives of those that work for them.”

The Prodigal Son

Due to popular demand (an unruly mob of impatient historical fiction readers who couldn’t wait till September 2017 for No 8 in the Rowland Sinclair Series) The Prodigal Son by Sulari Gentill has been released as an ebook (to help them endure the wait) and is set in 1928. Brona from  Brona’s Books.observes, “The Prodigal Son was a quick, easy read and it helped to satisfy my curiosity about how Rowly, Edna, Clyde and Milton met. Naturally there was a little mystery and a little criminal activity which colluded to bring our four loveable characters together for the first time.”

cover-give-the-devil-his-due-gentillAnd now to the seventh instalment in the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries by Sulari Gentill, Give the Devil His Due. “When Rowland Sinclair is invited to take his yellow Mercedes onto the Maroubra Speedway, renamed the Killer Track for the lives it has claimed, he agrees without caution or reserve.” Bernadette at Fair Dinkum Crime concludes, “Rowly has a pretty rough time of it in this instalment – both physically and emotionally. There’s a truly poignant passage in which he discovers that one of his artistic heroes is anti semitic and this really puts poor Rowly in a spin but I love the way Gentill depicts this and shows his friends helping him to deal with it. And, of course, it too is a ripper yarn.”

Mackenzie Crossing

In Mackenzie Crossing by Kay Dobbie “An old photograph holds the key to a missing man, a past love and a long-lost mountain village.” Brenda at Goodreads writes, “Told in Neville’s voice back in 1939 and Skye’s in 1997 with a few diversions to Skye’s past, it was extremely well done.”  Pity about the cover, for me it evokes a storyline set nearly 100 years before.

 

Looking forward to finding out what you are all reading in the month of December. Some Christmas presents maybe in that last week of 2016? I will be back in January for the roundup of 2016 and my last post with the Australian Women Writers Challenge. It has been a fun and hectic two years.

My name is Debbie Robson and I am a bookcrosser, booklover and author. I love researching the 20th century and finding those small but relevant details that can make the past come alive. You can find me on twitter: lakelady2282