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Born in Siberia
Tamara Astafieva, Michael Darlow, Debbie Slater and Luba Ioffe
Book
In 1966 and 1968 Michael Darlow worked in Russia on two major television co-productions between the...
Hog's Exit: Jerry Daniels, the Hmong, and the CIA
Book
It just didn t sit right. Not with his friends, not with his coworkers, not with his hunting and...
LI
Living in Death's Shadow: Family Experiences of Terminal Care and Irreplaceable Loss
Book
What is it like to live with-and love-someone whose death, while delayed, is nevertheless foretold?...
The Gospel of Trees: A Memoir
Book
In this compelling, beautiful memoir, award-winning writer Apricot Irving recounts her childhood as...
ClareR (5784 KP) rated The Hemlock Cure in Books
Apr 6, 2023
The Hemlock Cure was a fascinating insight into the lives of ordinary people during the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) epidemic of 1665-1666. The plague is very much in the background of this story for most of it, though.
The real evil isn’t a disease, it’s being shut in with people who clearly do not have good intentions.
The village of Eyam is well known for the decision to shut itself off from the outside world when its inhabitants started to become ill and die. They understood that the only way to halt the spread of the disease was to isolate themselves - a selfless act.
This novel looks at some of the families and their relationships inside and outside of their family units. The local apothecary and his daughter Mae, are one such family. Mae is desperate to be her fathers apprentice, but this isn’t a time in history where it’s safe for a woman to be working with herbs. So Mae studies with the midwife and a local wise woman (who are both also skating on thin ice, truth be told).
The plague wasn’t a constant in London it appears, and we travel there with one of the main characters. The contrast between the country village and London was quite something to read. I could almost smell the difference off the page!!
I enjoyed the pacing of this book: in Eyam the time crawls, whilst in London everything is all hustle and bustle.
The slow reveal of the terrible secrets in Mae’s family are not so much shocking as terrifying. Wulfric, Mae’s father, is not a well man. It seems to be a race against time for Mae.
I would most definitely recommend this book to historical fiction fans - and if you like a mystery, you may well like this as well.
The real evil isn’t a disease, it’s being shut in with people who clearly do not have good intentions.
The village of Eyam is well known for the decision to shut itself off from the outside world when its inhabitants started to become ill and die. They understood that the only way to halt the spread of the disease was to isolate themselves - a selfless act.
This novel looks at some of the families and their relationships inside and outside of their family units. The local apothecary and his daughter Mae, are one such family. Mae is desperate to be her fathers apprentice, but this isn’t a time in history where it’s safe for a woman to be working with herbs. So Mae studies with the midwife and a local wise woman (who are both also skating on thin ice, truth be told).
The plague wasn’t a constant in London it appears, and we travel there with one of the main characters. The contrast between the country village and London was quite something to read. I could almost smell the difference off the page!!
I enjoyed the pacing of this book: in Eyam the time crawls, whilst in London everything is all hustle and bustle.
The slow reveal of the terrible secrets in Mae’s family are not so much shocking as terrifying. Wulfric, Mae’s father, is not a well man. It seems to be a race against time for Mae.
I would most definitely recommend this book to historical fiction fans - and if you like a mystery, you may well like this as well.
Dutch (59 KP) rated Experimemtal Film in Books
Mar 11, 2019
Experiments in film
When Lois Cairns stumbles upon a mystery that points towards a lost chapter in Canadian film history she jumps at the chance to make a name for herself and revive a career as a film critic that has long been on the slide.
Enlisting the help of a former student she becomes embroiled in the tale of Lady Midday and the tragic Whitcombe family.
The first part of the book very much focuses on Lois, her husband Simon, their autistic son Clark and her mother Lee with whom she has a strained relationship. Lois has seen her career fail, her health is not far behind and she feels guilty at the inability to love her son the way she feels she should.
As the story of Lady Midday unfolds she finds herself sucked into a story much darker and terrifying than she ever could have imagined.
Experimental Film is what I would call a gentle ghost story with the majority of the book focussed on Lois and her family and the struggles she must overcome to maintain her health, her project and ultimately her son.
I enjoyed the story but would not call it a horror story but rather a character focused tale with a subtle dash of the supernatural and a book worth seeking out.
Enlisting the help of a former student she becomes embroiled in the tale of Lady Midday and the tragic Whitcombe family.
The first part of the book very much focuses on Lois, her husband Simon, their autistic son Clark and her mother Lee with whom she has a strained relationship. Lois has seen her career fail, her health is not far behind and she feels guilty at the inability to love her son the way she feels she should.
As the story of Lady Midday unfolds she finds herself sucked into a story much darker and terrifying than she ever could have imagined.
Experimental Film is what I would call a gentle ghost story with the majority of the book focussed on Lois and her family and the struggles she must overcome to maintain her health, her project and ultimately her son.
I enjoyed the story but would not call it a horror story but rather a character focused tale with a subtle dash of the supernatural and a book worth seeking out.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) in Books
Apr 1, 2019
The Winter of the Witch is the conclusion to the Winternight trilogy that began with The Bear and The Nightingale (enjoyable, but a little overhyped) and continued in The Girl in the Tower (fantastic). And ooooohhh what a conclusion it is! Vasya truly comes into her own in this book, dealing with the Russian fae with a confidence and conviction she didn't quite have before. The war between the twin brother spirits - the Bear and the Winter King - comes to a head, with Vasya in the middle. While that war is heating up, so is the war between the Tatars and the Russians, with its climax in a version of the real-world Battle of Kulikovo.
The whole of Vasya's family history is finally revealed, which has surprises of its own. Previously unknown family members appear, and Vasya is no longer as alone in her powers as she thought she was.
It can be very hard to review books in a series - especially concluding books - without spoiling things, so I'll just say this was an epic conclusion to the trilogy and was just as enchanting as the other books. I cried at more than one point in this book, because Vasya's heartbreak is so poignant. Gorgeous book. Beautiful use of Russian mythology. This entire trilogy is just brilliant.
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
The whole of Vasya's family history is finally revealed, which has surprises of its own. Previously unknown family members appear, and Vasya is no longer as alone in her powers as she thought she was.
It can be very hard to review books in a series - especially concluding books - without spoiling things, so I'll just say this was an epic conclusion to the trilogy and was just as enchanting as the other books. I cried at more than one point in this book, because Vasya's heartbreak is so poignant. Gorgeous book. Beautiful use of Russian mythology. This entire trilogy is just brilliant.
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The World of Downton Abbey in Books
Jan 2, 2019
I admit that I have a slight obsession with Downton Abbey. It sucked me in from the start. And now my curiosity as piqued as to what life was really like in the early 1900s. Therefore, I am branching out a bit in the books that I am reading.
The World of Downton Abbey is a companion guide to the second season of the beloved BBC Masterpiece show Downton Abbey. Not only does it outline the lives of the Crawley family during the first World War, but also gives us a peek at the lives of the real aristocracy of England. Family life, style, life in service, romance and war are a few of the topics covered in Jessica Fellowes book.
I greatly enjoyed reading and learning more about British culture. It helps me to understand the characters in the show better, as well as characters in the books I read. There is a lot of history to be found in period dramas and I do love learning about it. I was happy to learn that the show has a historical advisor Alastair Bruce (known as The Oracle) that does not hide in the shadows. He makes certain that everything is proper and accurate. Any Downton enthusiast would enjoy this book, but it is also a great read for learning more about the era.
The World of Downton Abbey is a companion guide to the second season of the beloved BBC Masterpiece show Downton Abbey. Not only does it outline the lives of the Crawley family during the first World War, but also gives us a peek at the lives of the real aristocracy of England. Family life, style, life in service, romance and war are a few of the topics covered in Jessica Fellowes book.
I greatly enjoyed reading and learning more about British culture. It helps me to understand the characters in the show better, as well as characters in the books I read. There is a lot of history to be found in period dramas and I do love learning about it. I was happy to learn that the show has a historical advisor Alastair Bruce (known as The Oracle) that does not hide in the shadows. He makes certain that everything is proper and accurate. Any Downton enthusiast would enjoy this book, but it is also a great read for learning more about the era.
The New Royal Family: Prince George, William and Kate, the Next Generation
Robert Jobson, Arthur Edwards and Niraj Tanna
Book
From the beginning the world had watched with baited breath as the charming prince and his future...
The Story Behind the Story: Biography of a Navajo Medicine Man
Book
Native American traditions are rich and enigmatic to many, with populations sadly dwindling and...