Historical Novels

Book Review: Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

February 18, 2009 by Darlene

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is another one of my favorite reads of this year. It is a powerful story that led my emotions on a roller coaster ride. The author completely draws you into this story; so much so that you can feel the story come alive in your mind—you can feel the pain and horrors that the Jewish people went through and you weep tears for them. The story alternates between Sarah back in 1942 and Julia Jarmond in 2002. The way their stories will come together is truly fascinating.

The story starts with ten year old Sarah waking up to pounding on her apartment door. It is the French police. They order her and her mother to get dressed and come with them. In the meantime Sarah’s little brother hides in this secret cupboard in their bedroom. Sarah locks him in and promises she’ll be back as soon as the police release them. This never happens and we don’t find out anything about Sarah’s brother until the end of the story.

Sarah and her parents are taken in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup that night and taken to the velodrome where they are kept in horrific conditions for days without food or drink with thousands and thousands of other Jewish people. Many die there. Later they are taken away again, this time for the death camps. Sarah manages to escape though and her journey to survive is terrifying. Her only thought is to get back to her brother like she promised.

The other viewpoint in the novel is Julia Jarmond, a journalist living in Paris. She’s given the assignment of writing about the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup for the sixtieth anniversary of it’s occurrence. Julia is horrified by what she learns as she had never known that this even happened before being assigned this story. It seems that the roundup of the Jews is never spoken about. Julia pushes on though and does more research. What she ends up finding she could never have imagined–Sarah’s story has such a deep connection with her husband’s family. Julia finds herself really caring about Sarah’s story and needing to find some closure in it for herself.

This novel is very emotional and really not an easy read. There is a lot of disturbing material to get through. Is it a good read and one worth reading–absolutely! It’s also an important book as how many people are out there who didn’t know about this roundup of Jewish people in 1942? I’ve read books on the Holocaust but have never heard of this happening. I was horrified and heartbroken. The story is very well written and never confusing even with jumping into the past and present.

I participated in a chat for this novel and more of my thoughts can be seen in a few of the posts I did here, here and here. To end, I’d like to leave off with a quote that is extremely important. This is a book I won’t soon forget, if ever.

‘Zakhor, Al Tichkah. Remember. Never forget. In Hebrew.’ (pg 288, taken from ARC copy, final published copy may be different)

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Book Review: My Splenid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

January 26, 2009 by Darlene

My Splendid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse is a novel that encompasses true events but is told as a fictional story. It is about Robert Hart, who is often referred to as the ‘Godfather of China’s modernism’. He came from Ireland as a commoner to work in China at the British Consulate as an interpreter in 1854. By the end of his career he was Inspector General of Chinese Mandarin Customs, chief adviser for the Emperor, and the Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparant of the Ch’ing dynasty. Robert Hale had made a place for himself in China, he had immersed himself in their culture and had lived as a Chinese man would. No other Westerner had ever achieved the level of power and success that Robert Hart had.

You might ask why. Well I feel a good part of that success was his sheer determination and the other part was the intense love he felt for his concubine Ayaou. The novel is centered around his first years in China where he met Ayaou and her sister and where he began his education that brought him to be the man he grew to be.

For me, really, this novel is a love story that is rich with Chinese culture. Robert originally comes to China to escape his life in Ireland where he wishes to avoid embarrassing his family by his actions with women in college. In China he finds that his behaviour would not have been considered such a bad thing and his mind is in turmoil. Robert struggles throughout the novel with his Christian upbringing (his father is a pastor) and the way that in China it’s perfectly normal for a man to have concubines. While Robert is fascinated with the idea of the concubines he doesn’t like how they are treated. Where he comes from women are treated as equals and with respect.

The story takes off when Robert meets Ayaou. It is love at first site for him and he has to have her. Ayaou too, has a fiery personality. However in the wings is an evil man, Ward, who has his sites set on her also. Eventually through a fight with the Taipings, Robert has Ayaou with him but also her sister Shao-mei. Shao-mei he owns, Ayaou he doesn’t. Again Robert is torn with his desire for Shao-mei who he feels is just a child but doesn’t act like one and his love for Ayaou. He builds a home with these women and this is where his real education begins. A lot of this education is due to Ayaou asking his teacher if he shouldn’t be learning this or that. She also taught him meanings of symbols and foods-everything in daily life became a lesson in Chinese culture and Robert soaked it up. He never knew what he would come home to but he knew that Ayaou had a reason for everything whether it to teach him something, to improve their lives or to offer protection for their home.

I found the novel fascinating and it should be as it took almost nine years of Llyod Lofthouse’s life to write. It is beautifully written and so rich in details of the Chinese culture. It was interesting to read how fathers sold their daughters in order to care for the rest of the family or young boys were castrated in order to get better jobs and in turn care for their family. In China it is all about family and taking care of them no matter what the cost. It was funny to read that when you are praising your concubines to others you should say that they are ugly. If you praise them in front of others, then they have reason to worry. I felt I learned so much from this novel and I enjoyed every bit.

There is *sexual content in this novel so if that isn’t for you then you may want to skip this book. However, I think it is a part of this story in that it is a part of the culture of China. We also have to keep in mind the age that Robert Hart was. He was a young man in his 20’s with a strong libido who was also deeply in love and he had two young, beautiful women were throwing themselves at him daily. I didn’t personally find the scenes overwhelming.

Before this novel I did not know who Robert Hart was. I must thank Lloyd Lofthouse for this novel as now I feel I’ve been acquainted with a great man from history. One who respected and loved women and fought to make things better. I’ve also been introduced to many aspects of the Chinese culture that I didn’t know and I really enjoyed that. This was a really good novel for me and I was sorry to see it end. Truthfully I would have liked to learn more about how Robert’s and Ayaou’s lives evolved after the emotional ending of this story.

Many thanks to Lloyd Lofthouse for this great novel and also thanks to Dorothy Thompson from Pump Up Your Book Promotion for sending me this book. Make sure to visit Lloyd’s website here and please join me here at Peeking Between the Pages tomorrow for a guest post from Lloyd Lofthouse.

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Book Review: The King’s Rose by Alisa M. Libby

January 12, 2009 by Darlene

The King’s Rose by Alisa M. Libby is a nice blend of history and a good fictional story to make it even more interesting. I was lucky enough to receive a copy from the author and I’m so glad I did as I really enjoyed it. This novel is written for a young adult audience yet I found it perfect for an adult audience as well. It certainly kept me reading to the very last page.

As most who are fascinated with the time period of Henry VIII know, Catherine Howard, who this novel is based on, did not come to a good end. Yet, the author weaved such a good tale around the history of this time that I was completely drawn into the world of Catherine Howard and the Tudor Court was brought to life once again. I really enjoy reading of the parties, balls, and the gowns-one of my favorite things to read about.

Henry VIII had six wives in his lifetime, Catherine Howard was number five. In this time period the point to any existence was how much power you had, how close to the King you could get no matter what you had to sacrifice as a family. The Howards, after Anne Boleyn’s beheading, were having financial difficulties and needed another pretty young face to catch the King’s attention. That pretty girl happened to be fifteen year old Catherine. The story is very well told from Catherine’s point of view and we get a feel of what the Tudor Court and all the responsibility of being a Queen would be like for such a young girl.

I’ve never read a lot on Catherine so this novel really drew me into the story. Many thought she was just a silly girl wanting more pretty things, not to mention she did not have a clean past as a girl marrying the King should. Yet we need to remember she was fifteen. This is still a child. Of course she was silly and romantic and wanted more pretty gowns and jewels. She didn’t have the maturity to be a proper wife; at that age she didn’t have any idea what to do. Catherine was following her family’s wishes as most young girls of that time had no choice but to do. Her family wanted her in the King’s way to be noticed and all of the family worked towards that goal. At the time of Catherine marrying King Henry VIII he was already an old man. Catherine was not in love with him and was taken with another young man at court and it didn’t take long before she was swayed in that direction. She had a taste of love-however any talk of betraying the King is treason.

Catherine’s past is finally revealed to the King along with her current pastimes and this does not bode well for her. He is angry of course and has her confined to her rooms. It has not helped that in the time they were married that Catherine was unable to produce an heir; that may have saved her. Along the way she is willing to risk her life and her family to find a way to become pregnant, keeping in mind that she is always coached from the sidelines by her family. The King leaves and Catherine’s life is decided by The Privy Council with the King’s consent. The author has weaved this story so realistically that I was in tears by the end and very impressed with a young girl approaching death in a very dignified manner.

In any novel of historical fiction I read I am always horrified by the lives of the young girls of this time. Being forced into marriage at such young ages and paraded on dance floors like pieces of meat has always made me angry. Catherine, being a young girl, did as she was told. Many times during the novel she is at her witt’s end because she doesn’t know anymore what to do or what to think. At the end when she is pressured for answers she is distraught because she has always had someone there to tell her what to say and what to do. She never really had a chance to be her own person as I think it was for many women of that time. Towards the end of the novel there is a quote I’d like share:

‘All of my life I felt as if I belonged to someone else: my father’s pretty daughter, my grandmother’s charge. Anne Boleyn’s cousin, betrothed to Francis, beloved of Thomas, then wife to King Henry. I think back now to when I was truly myself, and I can see it in my mind: I’m a child, lying in the grass and singing, the face of a kitten moving close and sniffing the tip of my nose. I had nothing then, or I thought I had nothing, but really I had everything: I had myself. That was truly me, on my own and complete. It makes me smile, just to think of it.’ (pg. 288 from an advance, uncorrected copy-may be different in published copy)

Catherine was fifteen years old when she was beheaded. A girl who never had a chance to become a woman. This novel gives us some insight into how things may have come about for her. It is written with great style and the story keeps moving forward at a good pace. I would recommend it for young adults 14 years and up and it is certainly suitable for an adult audience.

I hope Alisa M. Libby will delve into more historical fiction and if she does I’ll be watching for it. She has a wonderful talent for weaving a great fictional story in among the historical details. I must also mention before I finish here how much I love the cover-it’s beautiful! I like when the cover of the book matches up with significance in the novel itself-you’ll have to read it to know why though. You can visit her webiste here. This book will be available in the US on March 19, 2009 and you can purchase it here and in Canada on March 24, 2009 and you can purchase it here. Many thanks again to Alisa for sending me this wonderful novel!

Check out Melissa’s wonderful review here at Melissa’s Bookshelf.

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