Diamond Hunter (Jack Lark #11)
Book
JACK SOLDIER, LEADER, IMPOSTER. The eleventh book in the gripping military adventure series for...
Savage Beasts
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Bengal is on the brink of war. The East India Company, led by the fearsome Sir Peter Chilcott, are...
Historical fiction Mythology Retellings India Colonialism
The Women
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From the worldwide bestselling author of The Four Winds, The Nightingale and Firefly Lane (a Number...
Historical fiction Vietnam war
Venator (Roman Equestrian #1)
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Britannia, AD 59. Decimus is a long-serving senior centurion who dreams of retirement in Rome....
Historical Fiction Ancient Rome Ancient Britain
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The German Nurse in Books
Apr 1, 2024
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The German Nurse
By M.J. Hollows
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Her past could kill you.
Guernsey, 1940. As war storms through Europe, Churchill orders the evacuation of all military personnel from the island. Boats ferry soldiers and vulnerable young children to England, leaving their parents and loved ones behind to face the invading German army on their own.
Her love could save you.
One of the few remaining policemen on the island, Jack must protect not only his friends and family, but also the woman he loves: Johanna, a Jewish nurse from Germany, whose secret faith could prove fatal to them both.
Her fate is in your hands.
When the Nazis arrive, everything changes. Jack is forced to come to terms with the pain and loss of a world re-making itself around him. And then a list of Jews on the island is drawn up, and he must make an awful choice: write down Johanna’s name and condemn her, or resist and put his family in immediate danger…
A good read for those who love historical fiction. This was definitely a heartbreaking story.
Set during German occupation of Gernsey.
ClareR (5674 KP) rated The Beasts of Paris in Books
Oct 1, 2024
There’s Victor, the assistant vet at the Menagerie; Anne has been an inmate at the women’s Salpetriere asylum for many years, provided entertainment for paying Parisians thanks to the immoral Dr. Jospin, and now comes to work as the Chief Vet’s maid at the Menagerie; Ellis is hiding his trauma from the American Civil War where he was a doctor, and is attempting to become a poet; and Lawrence is a Canadian Photographer.
We learn of the horrors of the siege and the further horrors of its aftermath. The descriptions of these events and how the Parisians both live through and cope with deprivation and fear, are emotional and engaging.
I was left wondering who exactly the Parisian beasts were; those inside or outside the menagerie?
Just an excellent story.
Their Castilian Orphan (The Castilian Saga, #4)
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It is 1294 and Eustace de Lamont is back in England after five years in exile. He will stop at...
Historical Fiction Romance Medieval England
The Agincourt King (The Plantagenet Legacy #5)
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From the day he was crowned, Henry V was determined to prove the legitimacy of his house. His...
Historical Fiction Henry V Agincourt Plantagenet
Song of the Huntress
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A must-read for fans of Circe, Song of the Huntress recasts the folklore behind the Wild Hunt into a...
British Myth Historical fiction
Hazel (1853 KP) rated In a Land of Paper Gods in Books
May 25, 2017
“My name is Henrietta S. Robertson. That’s my English name… My Chinese name is Ming-Mei.”
As the child of members of the Interior Alliance Mission, Henrietta has grown up between two cultures: English and Chinese. From the age of six she was sent to boarding school on a mountain in the Jiangxi Province, where four years later she remains as a small, pale, lonely girl.
For a girl as young as ten, Etta has a big imagination. She decides that God has called her to be a prophetess, and encourages the other girls in Dormitory A to join her in a Prophetess Club. This results is Etta getting into all sorts of trouble as she naively goes about inventing prophecies; all the while the Second Sino-Japanese War gets closer and closer to their mountain sanctuary.
Told mostly from Etta’s point of view, In a Land of Paper Gods is a hilarious historical novel about a young girl’s innocence. A large part of the story is about the missionary school rather than the ongoing war, therefore the focus is on Etta’s interpretation of the bible and her understanding of the differences between Western Christian and Chinese culture. However, once America joins the war effort, it is shockingly quick how the tale can go from humorous to heartbreaking.
The other character who plays a large part in this novel is Muriel, a dorm aunty, whom Etta regards highly. Muriel wanted to be a missionary but instead has found herself working at the Lushan school, keeping an eye on the ten and eleven year old girls. Although most of the book is written in Etta’s first person narrative, Rebecca Mackenzie has also included the occasional diary entry from Aunty Muriel. Since these are so few, it is not clear what their purpose is, as the story could easily continue without them.
Despite being an historical novel, In a Land of Paper Gods focuses less on fact and more on the impact the times had on a young girl. It is interesting to see the character development of Etta as she goes from a naughty, attention-seeking schoolgirl, to a young woman who must fend for herself. All the while she has her belief in God to resort to for explanations about the world she is living in. The reader also witnesses the growth of a relationship between Aunty Muriel and Etta. To begin with it is that of an adult and child, however it ends with them being equals in their suffering.
In a Land of Paper Gods is a pleasure to read. It is comically entertaining to begin with as the reader grows to love the characters, particularly mischievous Etta. It is hard to put the book down due to pure delight of the storyline, yet when the story turns darker it is just as difficult to put down, as we want to find out if the characters are going to be okay.
For some people, the Christian content will not mean anything, however it is possible to enjoy the novel without a religious background. For those, like myself, who do have a Christian upbringing, this aspect makes the story even better. Readers may recognize themselves or of their childhood in Etta, particularly her understanding of the bible.
Overall I loved this book. I was not sure what to expect, and have often found historical novels set in China to be rather dull. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised to discover how good this book was. I encourage others to read In a Land of Paper Gods, and I look forward to reading what Mackenzie writes next.