Friday 22 June 2018

Regency Romance



Reviewed by Francine:

When a book has been read and put aside with sense of contentment, which one derives from a good book, and a month later one can remember the characters and the name of a schooner as vividly as when reading the story, then the author has achieved his or her aim. As with straight historical fiction, onus lies with authors of Historical Romance to likewise depict a chosen historical period with sense of historical knowledge, not merely place characters in a historical setting and assume readers will truly feel transported to the past. Thus, I can commend and recommend this novel as a thoroughly entertaining and compulsive read. Not only are the characters fully-fleshed, their quirks, and inner anxieties add to the tensions of traversing dangerous waters in which Barbary pirates abound, For Kit Hardacre, captain of the Calliope, the past could so easily repeat itself, he fears it, he knows the pain and humiliation of becoming a Captive of the Corsairs, and he has the responsibility of two genteel women passengers to protect and deliver safe to foreign shores. To reveal more of this action adventure would be to spoil it for future readers, suffice to say, from the shores of England to the shores of Sicily, the rigours of seamanship, sense of revenge, and romantic notions, test the resolve of both Kit and Sophia Greene as each battle inner emotions en route. Whilst for Kit, the consequences of recognisable sails on the horizon indeed spell imminent disaster and a fate worse than death for all. A thrill-packed read!  

Reviewer asides: This novel is set at a time when the American navy having previously engaged in war with the Barbary Pirates from 1801-1805 and again later in a second war, but it didn’t deter or prevent the pirates continuing with heinous crimes. Hence, by 1815 a concerted effort between the British and Dutch navies with assaults on the North African coast, and raids on other ports around the Mediterranean Sea, by the close of 1816 the Barbary pirates were brought to book, crushed, and suffered a slow and gruesome death in the Port of Bristol. Subsequently, 4,000 + Christian slaves were rescued and repatriated to homelands.



Saturday 16 June 2018

Lorna Doone - a classic love story!

A Highly Recommended Read for lovers of English Historical Romances - Fictional Love Stories)  



Review of much loved childhood owned novel. 

Reviewed by Francine:

Lorna Doone, is for me, a step back in time to my home county, a place I love and a place I often feature within my own novels. Although Richard D. Blackmore has written this novel in first-person narrative, thus depicting the defined sentiments of the gentle giant John Ridd, he manages to convey others' perspectives via dialogue. Great sense of time and place is derived from his descriptions, and the rich local dialect, which is very much on a par with Thomas Hardy novels. Set during the time of the Rye House Plot, Charles II's death, and the Monmouth Rebellion, Blackmore sets the scene for a period in history that was indeed peppered with rogues and vagabonds in the cities and that of highwaymen and livestock rustlers in the rural districts, Hence the Doone's are the baddies, and Doone country is safe for no man. Add a love tryst betwixt John Ridd and Lorna Doone, and the complication of a jealous suitor (Carver Doone), thus love, loss and revenge is the key to suspense and intrigue. Blackmore delivers on all counts through John Ridd's latter day verbal journal of events; as they unfolded in earlier times.

Lorna Doone is a masterful stroke of fictional genius allied with local legend and factual events. Having read this novel at a young age, sadly, somewhere along life's path I lost the book. For years I kept promising myself I would purchase another copy of Lorna Doone, but I couldn't find an early illustrated edition so I downloaded an e-book version at Amazon. I have since acquired an early illustrated copy which I shall now treasure.

Reviewer asides: There are many people who struggle with works of great literary merit, not least, convoluted sentence structure the like of Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy et al. I don't mean the former as slight, but when readers are familiar with modern mass market fiction text, and are suddenly confronted with recommended reads in original text format, such can be quite a shock and often referred to as boring and long-winded passages. But there are revised modern editions available for readers who prefer a more modern approach.  This version is the original. 

   Amazon UK

Due to requests!



Due to requests from readers as well as authors, the review blog will be reinstated, but it may not be as prolific review wise as it was beforehand. In fact I've been trawling my archives of past stashed reviews, which I happened upon by accident whilst in search of another file. Many of the listed reviews were lost from this blog when it was closed for a short while after a major blog hack, the backed up text files were on a pen stick and it has since come to light of day from the back of a desk drawer. The only problem I don't have the names of the reviewers, but reviews are reviews and I'll post them from top to bottom as and when I can find the time. 

Either way, I thought it would afford some older books a new lease of life with a little exposure.