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Rachel King (13 KP) rated The Season in Books

Feb 11, 2019  
TS
The Season
Sarah MacLean | 2009
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Most of the main characters had traits that separated their personality from one another, but I had trouble distinguishing between Alex's three brothers, as they all seemed to behave alike. The plot seemed to falter everytime there was a journal entry by the antagonist, especially since what would happen in the plot following them didn't usually match up with what was in the journal entry. All of the loose threads were accounted for in the end, though. The book came to me classified as a mystery, but I found that aspect of the text to be lacking most of the time, especially when focusing on the romance part of the text. I'm not usually a fan of mysteries, but the mystery of Gavin's father's death really seems to take a backseat to the budding romance between Gavin and Alex. The text claimed to fall in the year 1815, and there were lots of little details that made the text seem authentic, such as the three young women discussing the works of Jane Austen while identifying her as an anonymous author, the proper clothing attire for both men and women, and the proper decorum of both as well. Alex did seem to break with decorum a questionable number of times, but I'll attribute that to her personality and not a fault in background. While it's not likely I would have picked this particular book off the shelf if it were not for a recommendation, I have read similar works in the genre of historical romance for adults, and I have plans to read more of this genre in the future. I did enjoy this book and I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars.
  
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ClareR (5955 KP) rated Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter in Books

Jul 19, 2022  
Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter
Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter
Lizzie Pook | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Moonlight and the Pearler’s daughter ticked a lot of the boxes on my ‘favourite books’ list:
Historical fiction ✅
Set somewhere completely out of my previous knowledge ✅
A strong female character, operating in a difficult situation ✅
A bit of a mystery ✅ (I don’t really want to try and solve it, I just like the big reveal!)

As is often the case, the expectation of women in historical fiction is to stay at home, look after the house, wait to get married and have babies. But Eliza won’t stay at home when her father goes missing - she doesn’t assume he’s dead like the rest of the townsfolk.

There’s a real feeling of danger in a town where there appears to be no law keepers - not honest one’s, anyway. And if the corrupt, prejudiced townsfolk don’t get you, the climate and the wildlife (jellyfish, crocodiles!!) will.

This is a gripping, descriptive novel, that puts the reader firmly in Eliza’s world. I certainly had more of an idea of the hardships of living in NW Australia at this time. What will stay with me however, is Eliza’s determination to save her father and her family. She’s single-minded in her quest to find him, and determined not to let anyone else take the blame for his supposed death. It’s unnerving at times, when the attitudes of the white settlers towards the Aboriginals and other people of colour are starkly described.

A dark time in history, indeed.
And I’d highly recommend this. It’s wonderfully told.
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Havana Sleeping in Books

Dec 17, 2018  
HS
Havana Sleeping
Martin Davies | 2014
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>

<i>Havana Sleeping</i> is a historical mystery novel by British author Martin Davies, which is based on real events that occurred in Cuba during the 1850s. Although the Slave Trade had been abolished in England, there were still people in America and Cuba who would be happy for slavery to remain legal. George Backhouse was posted to Havana, Cuba as a British Judge to take a stand against the illegal slave trading.

Backhouse ends up getting involved in a lot of complicated situations that could potentially spark a devastating war. His path also becomes tied up with the other main character, Leandra Leigh. Whilst most of the characters are real historical figures, Leandra appears to be fictional. A dear friend of hers, a watchman, was murdered during a supposed robbery and although the matter has been closed for a couple of years Leandra is determined to find out the truth – something of limited value in Havana. To begin with Backhouse and Leandra’s investigations seem unrelated, but a connection begins to build up as the story goes on.

In all honesty, the novel was very difficult to get into. There is nothing wrong with the actual writing as such, it is in fact written well and grammatically correct, however there was a lack of excitement in the narrative. It was also difficult to keep track of the characters – admittedly that may have been the point in the case of a couple of people, but as a result it was impossible to connect story. There were a few attempts of showing emotion, mostly surrounding Leandra’s character, yet this failed to arouse much interest.

From a historical point of view, those interested in Cuban and British history of this time period may be interested in reading <i>Havana Sleeping</i> and the author also includes some factual notes at the end of the book, but anyone hoping to get a story of some kind is bound to be disappointed.