Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Nov 09

26

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 26, 2009
Posted in Classics • Edith Wharton • Historical Fiction  | 21 Comments

 

I scoured my already read list trying decide which book to choose for the letter “A” and it was tough going for awhile.  I thought of a couple a books and then thought, “darn, they are memoirs.  Historical, yes but not fiction.  Then I came up with two great contenders.  Then thought, I reviewed those just last year.  I know they would be acceptable but I was hoping to come up with something better and better, I did!
I read The Age of Innocence back in 2006, before I started my blog and before I started reviewing all the book I have read.  I did keep track of the books I read, with a spiral notebook and pen.  I included the Title, author, my rating, and a few scribbled thoughts.
I think The Age of Innocence deserves more from me.. so here it is.
I saw the movie when it first came out years ago.  I really loved it but didn’t think to read it.  Then a friend recommended the book to me.  She couldn’t believe I hadn’t read it.  She said, “you love the classics but you have never read The Age of Innocence?”  She was almost outraged.  LOL!  So I got a copy and read it.
Since it has been awhile since I read it, I am going to use the description on the back of the book for those of you who haven’t read it:

Into the narrow social world of New York in the 1870s comes Countess Ellen Olenska, surrounded by shocked whispers about her failed marriage to a rich Polish Count. A woman who leaves her husband can never be accepted in polite society. Newland Archer is engaged to young May Welland, but the beautiful and mysterious Countess needs his help. He becomes her friend and defender, but friendship with an unhappy, lonely woman is a dangerous path for a young man to follow – especially a young man who is soon to be married.

My thoughts:
I totally got lost in this sumptuous book.  I had no idea I was reading, as I became a character in the story.  It felt like I was witnessing first hand.  This book is a feast of words,  with biting humour and institutionalized hypocrisy of the upper-class late 19th century New York.  This is a must read for all historical fiction and classics lovers.

4.5/5


Also reviewed by:

Book-a-rama

Did I miss your review?  Please leave me your link in the comments. 


This post is also for Woman on Wednesdays (WOW).  Want to know about other excellent female authors or do you have any to share?  Go to West of Mars’ Rocks ‘n Reads every Wednesday and look for Susan’s WOW post.

Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Nov 09

21

Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 21, 2009
Posted in Guest Reviews • Historical Fiction • Lawrence Hill  | 20 Comments

I won this book back in March from Joanne of The Book Zombie. Can you believe I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Me either since it was one of my most coveted books then. My only excuse is my out of control ARC’s.
Then one day recently, my husband Bill asked me if I had The Book of Negroes. I was surprised he asked because he rarely reads fiction. I handed it over to him with the stipulation that he would have to write a guest review of it for my blog.

Without further ado, here is Bill Rose’s Review:
Book of Negroes, the fourth novel by Canadian author Lawrence Hill, is a truly remarkable work of historical fiction. It details the life of Amanata Diallo, who was kidnapped from her home in West Africa when she was only 11 years old, and sold into slavery. The book opens in 1802 when she is living in London, and being wooed by British abolitionists to speak publicly on behalf of their cause. The reader is then led back into her childhood describing an idyllic life in the village of Bayo, where she was born into a Muslim family and learned midwifery skills from her mother. This life is tragically interrupted one night when she is captured with others and led in chains on a three-month trek to the coastal port where they are placed on a slave ship for transport to America.
It is a voyage many will not survive, and at the end of it she finds herself in Charleston on the way to an indigo plantation on the South Carolina coast. The land is completely strange to her, and she only speaks the languages of homeland. Meena (as she is now called) learns English and is eventually put to work “catching babies”. From there we follow her as she is sold to another, seemingly more benevolent owner who teaches her to read and write, skills she masters well. Eventually he takes her to New York where she teaches English to other blacks (slave and free) while the American Revolution begins. The British offer freedom to all slaves who will fight for them, and with the end of hostilities approaching, she is hired by them to record the names and data of those who will be taken to Nova Scotia. She sails with them to finally be formally emancipated.
The life they find there is exceedingly hard, and when Meena is offered passage to England by an army officer sympathetic to the abolitionist cause, she accepts. Though she is now free, she finds London to be a strange place, and still yearns to return home to her village Africa. At the urging of her abolitionist friends, Meena agrees to be resettled in Freetown, a settlement for freed slaves ironically close to the slaving port she was shipped from decades previously. Our heroine is then faced with the momentous decision whether to risk a long and dangerous journey back to Bayo, without even knowing if it still exists.
This is a story punctuated by marvelous historical detail and character development. The numerous cruelties of the slave trade are detailed in ways that will shock the conscience. That its effects still reverberate to present day race relations, comes as no surprise after reading this book. The narrative voice of our heroine matures throughout the novel and adds to its richness. Though I am not normally a fiction fan, I found this novel certainly deserving of the buzz it has generated and a very rewarding read. It is highly recommended.
5/5

Please note:  In the U.S.A. this same book is titled “Someone Knows My Name”.   Thanks to Wendy of Caribousmom for alerting me to that.

Also reviewed by:
If I missed your review, please leave the link in the comments.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Nov 09

2

Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 2, 2009
Posted in Books Read in 2009 • Historical Fiction • Sheramy Bundrick  | 9 Comments

Rachel, a young prostitute enjoys the peace and beauty of the city garden in Arles. She falls asleep there and when she awakes, she finds a man sketching her. He turns out to be none other than Vincent Van Gogh. After their first encounter, Vincent visits Rachel at her brothel, 1, Rue du Bout d’Arles. He comes with a bouquet of wild flowers in hopes of convincing Rachel to let him paint her. This is the start of their romantic relationship.
As Rachel’s love for Vincent deepens, her friend from 1, Rue du Bout d’Arles, Francois warns her not to get pulled in. She questions Vincent’s love for Rachel and worries that Rachel is being set up for disappointment and possible ruin. Yes ruin, Rachel could be thrown out of the brothel and it’s protection and be out on the street.
Vincent does seem to love Rachel however , he is supported financially by his brother Theo and does not think that he or his family would approve of the relationship. As Rachel and Vincent’s love deepens Vincent all of a sudden goes mad. He comes to the brothel to give Rachel “a gift”, part of his ear that he cut off. Vincent ends up going into a hospital, where Rachel isn’t able to see him very often. From then on he gets better for awhile and then relapse often. Eventually the mental illness Vincent suffers forces him to leave town to get better treatment. Will Rachel and Vincent’s love endure this separation? Read the book and find out.
Sheramy Bundrick writes in first person narrative with Rachel being the narrator. I loved how Bundrick takes Rachel, a little known person and writes an entire book about her. Her beautiful prose describes Van Gogh’s paintings so well that I could picture them in my head.
Bundrick weaves a good tale of romance between Rachel and Vincent but after awhile I found the relationship monotonous. Rachel seemed to have a lot of freedom to come and go from the brothel. She went where and when she wanted to go and I question how realistic this is. Some of the women in the brothel are written as either really good or really bad, hardly any in-between which, also seems unrealistic to me. I also would have liked to have had more of 1889 Aries to bring more of the historical into it.
Once Vincent’s first bought with illness comes, I found that the book picked up and I especially enjoyed the last few chapters. If you love historical romance, you will probably enjoy this book.
3.5/5
Thanks to Sheramy Bundrick for sending me this book. Sheramy did a guest post back in August on my blog, here.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

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