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Lindsay (1727 KP) rated Freedom's Song in Books

Sep 28, 2021  
Freedom's Song
Freedom's Song
Kim Vogel Sawyer | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Are you a Kim Vogel Sawyer fan? Or a historical fiction fan? Then you will enjoy Kim's newest book to be coming out soon. It is delightful. Kim writes wonderfully, and this book captured my attendance for the entire book.

I was wondering if Sloane would catch up to Fanny. This book pulls you through Fanny's journey, and she will get her freedom. In the process, Sloan will find his freedom as well. There are three main characters throughout this book. We get to see their point of view throughout the book; Most of them are Fanny's point of view. We do see Walters and Sloane's point of view throughout the book as well.

This book talks about slaves. What will happen when Fanny meets Enoch and his family? Will she help them to freedom, and she gets help with being hidden with them. What will Fanny do? Will Sloane learn about keeping his word and about God?

Will Sloan find his riverboat singer? Does he seem to think he is on a goose chase trying to find a singer that seems to sing her way to freedom? The plot thickens, and there will be freedom for Fanny. Will she get what she has been looking for in life. Fanny agreed to help care and watch over Walter's little girl Annlesse. What will happen when Walter's new wife comes?
  
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David McK (3496 KP) rated Hearts of Stone in Books

Feb 9, 2022  
Hearts of Stone
Hearts of Stone
Simon Scarrow | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
6
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Not quite what the blurb makes out
Whilst I do associate Simon Scarrow with the genre of historical fiction, these tend to be set further back in history: mainly around the time of the Roman Empire; there or thereabouts.

Until recently, I've tended to avoid his few works that are more contemporary in nature, only recently (towards the end of last year) reading Blackout as I felt they were 'too close' (if that makes sense) for comfort for me in that there are still people alive who lived through the setting.

I must admit, I did quite enjoy Blackout so thought I would also give this a go, due to the roughly the same (WW2) setting.

This novel flits back and forth between then and 'now' (of 2013), as the descendants of the main 1940s settings character start to discover more about their ancestors - in particular, as history teacher Anna uncovers the story of her maternal grandmother Eleni, who participated in the Greek resistance on the island of Lefkas during 1943.

The whole had-a-German-friend in 1939 thing almost seems incidental to the story (he's not), until roughly about the final third.

And yes, I did pick up on the arguments in favour of teaching history (a subject I did, mostly, enjoy in school) passages.
  
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ClareR (5784 KP) rated The Dictator’s Muse in Books

Jan 10, 2023  
The Dictator’s Muse
The Dictator’s Muse
Nigel Farndale | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This sounded like it was going to be solely about Leni Riefenstahl, but it’s not. This is a really enjoyable mystery set in Germany and England in the pre-war years, and the Berlin Olympics in particular.

Hitler is in power, and one of his most respected film makers, Leni Riefenstahl, has been tasked with filming the Berlin Olympics. She has to tread a fine line between the film-making she wants to create and that of the Nazi propaganda machine.

Meanwhile, back in England, Kit is training for the olympics whilst holding down a full time job and trying to impress his upper class girlfriend. He discovers he can get sponsorship through Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, even though he isn’t by any means a fascist.

Alun is a Welsh Communist, who has been tasked with infiltrating the Blackshirts.

Leni seems to be in a state of permanent dread, because even those who are staunch Nazis aren’t safe from being taken down by the SS.

There’s a lot going on in this book, and it sounds like it should be confusing. But it’s really not. It wasn’t fact, unputdownable.

There’s a great mystery threaded through this, introduced by a modern day character, an academic called Sigrun Meier.

Historical fiction AND a mystery - what’s not to like?!