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That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron is a bit of a slog — unless you enjoy reading multitudinous descriptions of nineteenth century clothing and all about the upper crust of Britain. It’s the story of Churchill’s mother, American Jennie Jerome, who moves to England and marries the son of a…
Bloodlands is a series of six e-books available free to members of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited: each book a story of a series of murders in the 19th and 20th centuries. They were serial killers before serial killer became a term. All the books are written by Harold Schechter. They are:…
Skin of the Wolf is a 2017 Netflix offering in Spanish which drags the viewer through the slog of a mountain man who marries two wives, and has no success with either. There’s hardly any dialogue, and hardly any story, and virtually no drama.The screenwriter and director, I suppose, were…
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter, by Hazel Gaynor, is two stories in one: one in 1838, the other in 1938. They are the stories of Grace and Mathilda. The first is the daughter of a lighthouse keeper on an island off Britain, the second is a pregnant Irish immigrant to the…
In this case, the book is better than the movie. I’m talking about Madame Bovary, the 2015 rendition of Gustave Flaubert’s estimable novel, about the sixth since the “talkies” began. Other reviewers discuss how difficult it is to capture the essence of the book on film, and, again in this…
In the Land of the Long White Cloud by Sarah Lark is the story of two women who make their way from London to New Zealand in the 1850s to find husbands. Both marry unhappily, the whole story is one long, big (700 pages) sorry mess. Sorry to the author,…
In the interests of historical fiction, I felt I had to remark on the unfortunate decision by the Association for Libary Service to Children to rename its Laura Ingalls Wilder award. The Association said its decision is based on the fact that “Wilder’s legacy, as represented by her body of…
The Glovemaker, by Ann Weisgarber, isn’t about gloves at all. It’s the story of a Mormon woman, left alone in the Utah wilderness by her husband, who is traveling to the south while repairing wagon wheels. The woman, Deborah, is put in jeopardy when a man she doesn’t know shows…
It’s a creative idea — writing a five part autobiography of the last Tsarina of Russia. The first book, The Funeral Bride, details the early life of the Empress Alexandra, who ultimately was murdered with her husband and five children. The book moves along at a nice pace, and provides…
