Book Review: The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb

The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb
ARC, e-Book, 350 pages
Sonnet Press
February 6, 2018
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received for review with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

In this re-imagining of Phantom of the Opera, meet a Christine Daaé you’ve never seen before…

Christine Daaé sings with her violinist Papa in salons all over Paris, but she longs to practice her favorite pastime—illusions. When her beloved Papa dies during a conjurer’s show, she abandons her magic and surrenders to grief and guilt. Life as a female illusionist seems too dangerous, and she must honor her father’s memory.

Concerned for her welfare, family friend Professor Delacroix secures an audition for her at the Nouvel Opéra—the most illustrious stage in Europe. Yet Christine soon discovers the darker side of Paris opera. Rumors of murder float through the halls, and she is quickly trapped between a scheming diva and a mysterious phantom. The Angel of Music.

But is the Angel truly a spirit, or a man obsessed, stalking Christine for mysterious reasons tangled in her past?

As Christine’s fears mount, she returns to her magical arts with the encouragement of her childhood friend, Raoul. Newfound hope and romance abounds…until one fateful night at the masquerade ball. Those she cares for—Delacroix, the Angel, and even Raoul—aren’t as they seem. Now she must decide whom she trusts and which is her rightful path: singer or illusionist.

To succeed, she will risk her life in the grandest illusion of all.

I approach The Phantom’s Apprentice possibly from a different angle than many readers do – I have no point of reference from The Phantom of the Opera to compare to: not movie, stage performance, nor book! So Webb’s treatment here is a completely fresh slate for me.

One thing that drew me to this novel was the exploration of the spiritualist movement sweeping the globe at this time. We still find magic and mysticism fascinating today, but it would be even more so at a point in time where technologies were blossoming and it was easier to pull magic on people, but also it was something that people were afraid of as well. So for me, I wasn’t drawn to Webb’s take on Christine or reimagining of the classic, but more so for the world that the story inhabited. Right from the start, we get thrown into the spiritualist movement and the clashes between those who believe in it and those who are either afraid or find it foolish; this dichotomy is even shown in the perspectives of Christine and her father. The other aspect that fascinated me was the world of the opera. I have only read one other novel that explored this profession, and that one was set States-side, so it was a very interesting perspective with all the intrigue that surrounds it.

From reading the Author’s Note I understand that Webb’s goal was to flesh out a more well-rounded and self-possessed Christine than that provided in the original context. It is always maddening to see a woman pushed to the sidelines of a novel and be wilting or one-dimensional. However, at the same time, I do like to see the characters represented in a way that would be true to societal norms of the time. I felt that Christine walked the line fairly well here and felt that I was able to dig into who she was and what made her tick.

I found the plot to be fun and fascinating. There were moments toward the beginning where it did feel a little bit slow, where Christine is sort of moping for quite some time about her life and not having a direction; however, it does pick up substantially with the introduction of the Phantom. From that point forward the plot barreled ahead and I literally read half of the book in one sitting as I just didn’t want to put it down and find out how it would all resolve itself. I was rather satisfied with the ending too.

While I can’t gauge the enjoyment of someone who is a huge Phantom fan, as someone with no preconceived notions, I did enjoy much about this novel.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Flashlight Commentary
• Linda’s Book Obsession

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Heather Webb:

Becoming Josephine
[My Review]

Rodin’s Lover
[My Review]

Last Christmas in Paris
[My Review]

Fall of Poppies
[My Review]

Find Heather Webb: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Tour Wide Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we are giving away two paperback copies of The Phantom’s Apprentice! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below or on any of the participating blogs. If you have any questions please contact the HFVBT Tour Coordinator.

Giveaway Rules

• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on February 26th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

The Phantom's Apprentice

Follow the Tour!

On HFVBT Website or on Twitter: #ThePhantomsApprenticeBlogTour

Monday, February 5
Review at The Maiden’s Court

Tuesday, February 6
Review at The Lit Bitch
Feature at A Bookaholic Swede

Wednesday, February 7
Review at Just One More Chapter
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Thursday, February 8
Review at A Bookish Affair

Friday, February 9
Review at Trisha Jenn Reads

Saturday, February 10
Review at Bookish

Monday, February 12
Review at Creating Herstory

Tuesday, February 13
Review at Linda’s Book Obsession

Wednesday, February 14
Review at Clarissa Reads it All

Thursday, February 15
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Friday, February 16
Review at Baer Books

Monday, February 19
Review at Cup of Sensibility
Review at Let Them Read Books
Review at Bookworms Anonymous

Tuesday, February 20
Feature at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, February 21
Review at Writing the Renaissance

Monday, February 26
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Copyright © 2018 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Paperback, 384 pages
William Morrow Paperbacks
October 3, 2017
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received for review with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.

But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?

Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…

Last Christmas in Paris was my first truly epistolary style novel that I have read. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this type of novel, it is a novel written almost entirely of letters between characters and not in the typical prose style that a novel usually contains. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this style. Thinking about it conceptually it could be more difficult to move the plot forward because how much drama can be put forth in correspondence! Additionally, given the time frame where this novel takes place, the letters were more constrained between the home and the front as both sides tried to keep the other’s spirits up and away from the grotesques of the war. But I have loved the work that I have read from both of these authors and I enjoy reading books set in this time period, so I was sure it would be handled well.

The book is framed within a narrative set in 1968 as Thomas is looking back at the letters from his time in the war as his health is failing – so there is some prose, but not much. The bulk of it is letters, with the majority being between Evie and Thomas, but also to some secondary characters of their friends, family, and business associates. These secondary characters were sometimes critical to advancing the plot and the groundwork for their inclusion was laid right from the start, even before their need was necessary. With letters just between two people the scope of the world is limited in ways similar to first person dialogue. These letters to friends who were located in different places and experiencing different things allows the reader to have a more rounded world view. Evie’s friend Alice goes to the front early on and Evie gets a view of the battlefield from a woman as well as that from Tom. We also learn about world events through Tom’s correspondence with the colleagues at the newspaper his family runs, which also helps with events too.

I think that the authors touched on SO many different aspects of the war that it felt so true to life for me – it is clear that they put time into the research. From small little details about daily life in the trenches, to large scale events like battles, it was all there. And what I think was really unique here was that we see what is transpiring on both sides at the same time – not chapters apart from each other like you might experience in a standard structure novel, which made it feel more real. Oh, and one of the things that I loved the most and made the letters real – the censoring that shows up in the book itself! Letters being sent from the front to their families back home were oftentimes heavily censored by the military before being released so that no locations or wartime data that they didn’t want the opposition to get their hands on would go out. Well, here in the letters from Tom we see actual blacked out portions of the letter, just like Evie would have seen if she was receiving that letter. This was excellent.

I felt that I truly was able to know Tom, Evie, and friends through their letters in ways that I might miss in another novel. In letters you can pour your heart out without the guard that we tend to put up sometimes when speaking directly with someone in person – which Evie actually addresses several times in her letters. I may have shed a few tears throughout this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed Last Christmas in Paris and can’t wait to read more, not only from these authors, but to give other epistolary novels a chance.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• A Literary Vacation
• Flashlight Commentary

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Heather Webb:

Fall of Poppies
[My Review]

Rodin’s Lover
[My Review]

Becoming Josephine
[My Review]

The Phantom’s Apprentice
Coming 2018!

Also by Hazel Gaynor:

Fall of Poppies
[My Review]

The Cottingley Secret

The Girl Who Came Home

A Memory of Violets

The Girl from the Savoy

Find Heather Webb: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Find Hazel Gaynor: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Tour Wide Giveaway

As part of the blog tour we have a tour wide giveaway open for 2 copies of Last Christmas in Paris! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on October 20th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open to residents in the US & Canada only.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
• If you have any questions please contact the tour coordinator as I am not involved in the giveaway administration.  Good luck!

Last Christmas in Paris

On the HFVBT website
or on Twitter: #LastChristmasinParisBlogTour

Monday, September 25
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Review at Books of All Kinds

Tuesday, September 26
Review at The Lit Bitch

Wednesday, September 27
Review at Just One More Chapter
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Thursday, September 28
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

Monday, October 2
Review at Let Them Read Books

Tuesday, October 3
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, October 4
Review at A Literary Vacation

Friday, October 6
Review at Library Educated

Monday, October 9
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at Suzy Approved Books

Tuesday, October 10
Interview at A Bookish Affair

Thursday, October 12
Review at Creating Herstory

Friday, October 13
Review at Pursuing Stacie

Monday, October 16
Review at Curling up by the Fire

Tuesday, October 17
Review at Faery Tales Are Real

Wednesday, October 18
Review at The Maiden’s Court
Interview at Faery Tales Are Real

Thursday, October 19
Review at A Holland Reads

Friday, October 20
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Giveaway: Last Christmas in Paris by Heather Webb and Hazel Gaynor

Good morning everyone!  I’ve teased it all weekend on my Facebook page, but I received an extra copy of the ARC Last Christmas in Paris by Heather Webb and Hazel Gaynor and I’m offering it up as a giveaway to you all!!  I’m super excited to read this book and it is currently in the small pile on my bedside table.  Individually I have enjoyed books by both of these authors, so I’m excited to see what they can do together.  Here is a little bit about the book:

Book blurb:

New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.

August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.

But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?

Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…

Sounds good right?!

The Details:

• I have 1 Advanced Readers Copy of Last Christmas in Paris, please note that this is a proof copy and may have errors or changes before the final copy is set.
• Open to USA Only
• Giveaway is open from August 14th 2017 through August 25th 2017
• Entries are made via the Rafflecopter below
• If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.  Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Fall of Poppies by Heather Webb, Hazel Gaynor, Beatriz Williams, Jennifer Robson, Jessica Brockmole, Kate Kerrigan, Evangeline Holland, Lauren Willig, and Marci Jefferson

Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War
by Heather Webb, Hazel Gaynor, Beatriz Williams, Jennifer Robson, Jessica Brockmole, Kate Kerrigan, Evangeline Holland, Lauren Willig, and Marci Jefferson
ARC, e-book & paperback, 368 pages
William Morrow Paperback
March 1, 2016
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Anthology

Source: Received from the publisher for review via Edelweiss

November 11, 1918. After four long, dark years of fighting, the Great War ends at last, and the world is forever changed. For soldiers, loved ones, and survivors, the years ahead stretch with new promise, even as their hearts are marked by all those who have been lost.
As families come back together, lovers reunite, and strangers take solace in each other, everyone has a story to tell.

In this moving, unforgettable collection, nine top historical fiction authors share stories of love, strength, and renewal as hope takes root in a fall of poppies.

I have been loving the trend recently for historical fiction authors to come together in between their individual works and put together anthology collections. It’s excellent for the community and the themes that the projects have focused on have been different and compelling. So far, of these collections, I have read: Grand Central (revolving around a single day at Grand Central at the end of WWII), A Day of Fire (the day of the volcano eruption that destroyed Pompeii), and A Year of Ravens (they year of Boudica’s rebellion). This was my 4^th foray into these anthologies and this one focused on different experiences in different places at the time of the end of WWI. I’m first going to comment a bit about the book itself and then break down each of the stories a little bit as you can buy the stories that interest you individually as well as part of the collection.

This collection is structured like a standard anthology that revolves around one point in time. The stories do not connect or relate to each other as A Day of Fire or A Year of Ravens do, rather each is a self-contained, stand-alone short story. One of the things that I loved about this collection is the breadth of experiences and locales that are featured. Of the settings we are treated to: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, England, and America. We see experiences of those who fought in the trenches, those who flew airplanes, those who stayed at home, and those who tended to the injured. I felt that the stories very well represented a little bit for each element of the war. For me, there did not appear to obviously be any strategy to the organization of the book as far as which stories appeared in which order, but with a collection that is set at a specific point in time I don’t know that this would matter much. I was well versed with the works of Marci Jefferson, Heather Webb, and Kate Kerrigan, having read two novels each and was interested in seeing how they would tackle short stories. I had heard of (and even met) several of the other authors in this collection, but had yet to have time to read their solo works – hopefully that will change after having read these stories.

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The Daughter of Belgium by Marci Jefferson

This was the story that I loved the setting of the story the most as I have never read any WWI story set in Belgium. So that element was refreshing. The Germans are falling back as the war is drawing to a close and we hear about and see the devastation that is being wrought during this time: loss of property, attacks on people/women, etc. This was a story of the drama beyond the front lines, the revolutionaries and the stirring up of the homefront. The story of Mistress Cavell, a nurse who was executed for revolutionary activity, had to have drawn some interest from the author’s own life experiences as a nurse. This story brought danger and drama at every turn and contained action packed, fast-paced scenes. A great story to kick off the collection as it had a little bit of everything in it and this remained one of my favorite stories throughout the whole collection.

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The Record Set Straight by Lauren Willig

This was a sweeping, epic, family drama story about dealing with love, war injuries, and family conflict. You get a lot from this story; it felt like what you should get in a full length novel which made the short length feel more robust. Surprisingly, it didn’t feel rushed at all. I spent much of the first portion of this story trying to put the pieces together of just who everyone was, which I found to be a little confusing. I thought this story was overall very well-written and had a great reveal at the end.

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All for the Love of You by Jennifer Robson

This story tackles another element that you do not see reflected very often, that of dealing with war injuries, particularly those that disfigured the face. I loved learning about how these face masks were made and how they were the forefront of technology to deal with disfigurement. It was also a sweet romance story about the connections that can be made over life changing experiences. However, I did struggle to get into this story a little bit. The beginning did not grab my attention right from the start and I would have liked a better hook. I actually put this book down at this point for a couple months because I just couldn’t get into it. I thought the story picked up once we hit the flashbacks and I honestly could have done without the more contemporary of the parts of the story. I’m glad this wasn’t the kick-off story as it might have colored my opinion for the whole collection.

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After You’ve Gone by Evangeline Holland

This was the second story in a row that I struggled to connect to. This one takes place in Paris with a woman who has been left behind after the loss of her cohort to various war reasons. She is simply struggling to get through day-to-day until she runs into a group of American tourists who appear interested in helping her out. I had difficulty getting into any of the characters as I didn’t feel like I had enough descriptors to draw a solid mental picture of who they were. I thought the revelation at the end should have been a little more shocking but again I didn’t understand the characters enough to feel the impact.

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Something Worth Landing For by Jessica Brockmole

This was one of my favorites among this collection. This is one of two stories within this collection that focused on pilots and both of the experiences were very different. Brockmole’s story was a bit more lighthearted that what we would later see from Beatriz Williams. The relationship that transpires in this novel didn’t feel the slightest bit contrived because relationships happened differently during times of war. I loved that there is an element of the epistolary style of Brockmole’s earlier novels and I enjoyed the revelation of character that can come through in a letter.

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Hour of the Bells by Heather Webb

This story was another that I enjoyed, it was evocative of what it might be like to live with the ghosts of loss – those voids that exist when someone isn’t there and what it is like to be a survivor and try to continue on. That is stressful in a normal world and even more so in a world at war. Webb’s writing brings you right into the world that she is writing about. The feelings of retribution that Beatrix feels were believable and full of pain, but I couldn’t quite place myself in her shoes.

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An American Airman in Paris by Beatriz Williams

Another one of my favorites in this collection and very different than the other airman story previously seen in Something Worth Landing For. It was darker, grittier, and dirtier in not only subject, tone, language, and writing style. This story was also a bit different in that you are within the head of the main male narrator and told in retrospect. It’s a story of bravery in the face of things that go wrong and what that does to a person. Loved every minute of this and look forward to jumping into one of Williams’ full length novels soon.

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The Photograph by Kate Kerrigan

This was the most different and unique story in this collection and wasn’t exactly what I expected – maybe in a good way. This story draws on Kerrigan’s tales of Irish identity and the scope of this story is set during the Irish Revolution which ran concurrently with the Great War. It carried a different tone because WWI is just a idea at the back of the storyline that is occurring elsewhere, while the Revolution is in the forefront. While I thought that it was really unique to include that element because it was occurring at the same time and involved those British soldiers who were not sent to the front which built out the whole world, I waver as to whether it felt appropriate to be included in this collection. I loved the story being told though, both the contemporary framework and the historical story: a forbidden love based on ethnicity, family perceptions, the animosity between Irish and British. My perception of the story is about the same as how I have felt about Kerrigan’s novels, story is well told, but maybe not my cup of tea.

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Hush by Hazel Gaynor

As I loved the first story in this collection, just the same I loved the story that concluded it. I loved how this story juxtaposed the lack of air and quiet on the battlefield with the same experience in the birthing room. The manner in which it is written and how it moves seamlessly back and forth between the two settings brings the home front and the battlefield closer. It also addressed the experiences of being a postman during this time (which is not something I would have wanted to do at the time) as well as those who remained at home due to dissenting from the war. An excellent inclusion in the collection.

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Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Reading Lark
• 27 Book Street

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

 

Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Cover Reveal, Excerpt, and a Giveaway - Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War

Good afternoon everyone!!! I'm so excited to share this cover reveal and excerpt with you today for the upcoming historical short story collection, Fall of Poppies, by the following authors: Heather Webb, Hazel Gaynor, Beatriz Williams, Jennifer Robson, Jessica Brockmole, Kate Kerrigan, Evangeline Holland, Lauren Willig, and Marci Jefferson.  Wow! That is QUITE the collection of authors!! I have reads works by 4 of them and 3 on my TBR, and a couple who are relatively new to me and I need to go look up their works!!  I have loved seeing the couple of collections that have come out in the last couple years (I have read and enjoyed both Grand Central and A Day of Fire). 

To drag out this cover reveal just a little bit more, I first want to share the blurb to whet your appetite!

Top voices in historical fiction deliver an intensely moving collection of short stories about loss, longing, and hope in the aftermath of World War I—featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather Webb.

A squadron commander searches for meaning in the tattered photo of a girl he’s never met…

A Belgian rebel hides from the world, only to find herself nursing the enemy…

A young airman marries a stranger to save her honor—and prays to survive long enough to love her…The peace treaty signed on November 11, 1918, may herald the end of the Great War but for its survivors, the smoke is only beginning to clear. Picking up the pieces of shattered lives will take courage, resilience, and trust.

Within crumbled city walls and scarred souls, war’s echoes linger. But when the fighting ceases, renewal begins…and hope takes root in a fall of poppies.

Ok, doesn't that sound awesome!!!?? But I know you are here for the cover reveal, so let's get on to it!!!

**COVER REVEAL**

AHHHH!!! GORGEOUS!!! Understated and beautiful!! I hate that it isn't coming out until March 2016!!! That is SOOOOO far away!!! To hold you over, I have an excerpt of this one of the short stories from this book titled, "Hour of the Bells".  Enjoy!

Excerpt from “Hour of the Bells”

A short story included in Fall of Poppies

Beatrix whisked around the showroom, feather duster in hand. Not a speck of dirt could remain or Joseph would be disappointed. The hour struck noon. A chorus of clocks whirred, their birds popping out from hiding to announce midday. Maidens twirled in their frocks with braids down their backs, woodcutters clacked their axes against pine, and the odd sawmill wheel spun in tune to the melody of a nursery rhyme. Two dozen cuckoos warbled and dinged, each crafted with loving detail by the same pair of hands—those with thick fingers and a steady grip.

Beatrix paused in her cleaning. One clock chimed to its own rhythm, apart from the others.

She could turn them off—the tinkling melodies, the incessant clatter of pendulums, wheels, and cogs, with the levers located near the weights—just as their creator had done before bed each evening, but she could not bring herself to do the same. To silence their music was to silence him, her husband, Joseph. The Great War had already done that; ravaged his gentle nature, stolen his final breath, and silenced him forever.

In a rush, Beatrix scurried from one clock to the next, assessing which needed oiling. With the final stroke of twelve, she found the offending clock. Its walnut face, less ornate than the others, had been her favorite, always. A winter scene displayed a cluster of snow-topped evergreens; rabbits and fawns danced in the drifts when the music began, and a scarlet cardinal dipped its head and opened its beak to the beauty of the music. The animals’ simplicity appealed to her now more than ever. With care, she removed the weights and pendulum, and unscrewed the back of the clock. She was grateful she had watched her husband tend to them so often. She could still see Joseph, blue eyes peering over his spectacles, focused on a figurine as he painted detailing on the linden wood. His patient hands had caressed the figures lovingly, as he had caressed her.

The memory of him sliced her open. She laid her head on the table as black pain stole over her body, pooling in every hidden pocket and filling her up until she could scarcely breathe.

“Give it time,” her friend Adelaide had said, as she set a basket of jam and dried sausages on the table; treasures in these times of rations, yet meager condolence for what Beatrix had lost.

“Time?” Beatrix had laughed, a hollow sound, and moved to the window overlooking the grassy patch of yard. The Vosges mountains rose in the distance, lording over the line between France and Germany along the battle front. Time’s passage never escaped her—not for a moment. The clocks made sure of it. There weren’t enough minutes, enough hours, to erase her loss.

As quickly as the grief came, it fled. Though always powerful, its timing perplexed her. Pain stole through the night, or erupted at unlikely moments, until she feared its onslaught the way others feared death. Death felt easier, somehow.

Beatrix raised her head and pushed herself up from the table to finish her task. Joseph would not want her to mourn, after two long years. He would want to see her strength, her resilience, especially for their son. She pretended Adrien was away at school, though he had enlisted, too. His enlistment had been her fault. A vision of her son cutting barbed wire, sleeping in trenches, and pointing a gun at another man reignited the pain and it began to pool again. She suppressed the horrid thoughts quickly, and locked them away in a corner of her mind.

With a light touch she cleaned the clock’s bellows and dials, and anointed its oil bath with a few glistening drops. Once satisfied with her work, she hung the clock in its rightful place above the phonograph, where a disk waited patiently on the spool. She spun the disk once and watched the printed words on its center blur. Adrien had played Quand Madelon over and over, belting out the patriotic lyrics in time with the music. To him, it was a show of his support for his country. To Beatrix it had been a siren, a warning her only son would soon join the fight. His father’s death was the final push he had needed. The lure of patrimoine, of country, throbbed inside of him as it did in other men. They talked of war as women spoke of tea sets and linens, yearned for it as women yearned for children. Now, the war had seduced her Adrien. She stopped the spinning disk and plucked it from its wheel, the urge to destroy it pulsing in her hands.

She must try to be more optimistic. Surely God would not take all she had left.

Reprinted Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers

Oooh, I'm intrigued now!  I can't wait to get my hands on this one! 

**GIVEAWAY**

In the meantime, to hold us over until March, I have a special giveaway to offer you: print copies of After The War is Over by Jennifer Robson, A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor, and Land of Dreams by Kate Kerrigan.  This giveaway is being run by the publisher and all rules are theirs.  They will be selecting the winner as well.  Good luck!  Those books look wonderful!  I have After the War is Over to read soon myself.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb

Rodin’s Lover by Heather Webb
Paperback, 320 pages
Plume
January 27, 2015
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Art Fiction

Source: Received from publisher for review for HFVBT blog tour

“A mesmerizing tale of art and passion in Belle Époque France.

As a woman, aspiring sculptor Camille Claudel has plenty of critics, especially her ultra-traditional mother. But when Auguste Rodin makes Camille his apprentice—and his muse—their passion inspires groundbreaking works. Yet, Camille’s success is overshadowed by her lover’s rising star, and her obsessions cross the line into madness.

Rodin’s Lover brings to life the volatile love affair between one of the era’s greatest artists and a woman entwined in a tragic dilemma she cannot escape.”

I love the historical fiction sub-genre of art fiction. You get not only the atmosphere of the time period being explored, but are also treated to the beauty of the artist’s pieces. It requires that the author be both knowledgeable of the time period and art. It is not an easy feat to describe through words what a masterpiece looks like – it is so much easier to just look at it – but that is what the author must do here. It’s an extra challenge and can add so much depth to the narrative.

In Rodin’s Lover, Heather Webb does an admirable job of meeting this challenge. I have no prior knowledge of the works of Camille Claudel, however I do have some knowledge of the works of Rodin to draw from. Webb draws comparisons between the two artists, tutor and pupil, which allowed me to create enough of a visual in my head to imagine Camille’s own art pieces. Additionally, the setting was well modeled, creating a tactile experience to Paris which is lacking in some other novels that I have read of the period. There is one scene that stands out in particular in my mind that perfectly illustrates this skill – when Camille takes her brother Paul to his first salon experience. There is an opium smoke filled room, lovers in dark shadows, ample imbibing of alcohol, and more. A beautifully expressed scene.

Webb also crafts very real characters – all with their own types of flaws. You can respect Camille and her desire to make a name for herself in a male dominated world, but at the same time be pulled in the direction of the heart as well. She is a brutally honest, no-nonsense type of woman, who will tell you what she thinks – and she isn’t someone that you exactly like all of the time. Rodin I sometimes found to be whiny and clingy, despite his great artistic drive and desire to try to enhance Camille’s art. But these are the things that make characters on a flat page, have three-dimensional depth.

Heather Webb has knocked this book out of the park and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Author Heather Webb also has written Becoming Josephine. You can visit Heather’s website or blog for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

My reviews of other books by this author:

• Becoming Josephine

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Unabridged Chick
• Sufficiently Distracted

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

If you are interested in see some images of Camille’s works, you can check out the Musée Rodin.

You can follow along with the rest of the tour by visiting the HFVBT site or on Twitter with the following hashtag: #RodinsLoverBlogTour. 

 

 

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Becoming Josephine by Heather Webb

Becoming Josephine by Heather Webb
ARC, eBook, 320 pages
Plume
December 31, 2013
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from publisher for review as part of HFVBT tour

“A sweeping historical debut about the Creole socialite who transformed herself into an empress.

Readers are fascinated with the wives of famous men. In Becoming Josephine, debut novelist Heather Webb follows Rose Tascher as she sails from her Martinique plantation to Paris, eager to enjoy an elegant life at the royal court. Once there, however, Rose’s aristocratic soldier-husband dashes her dreams by abandoning her amid the tumult of the French Revolution. After narrowly escaping death, Rose reinvents herself as Josephine, a beautiful socialite wooed by an awkward suitor—Napoleon Bonaparte.”

I have heard a lot about Josephine in my time reading historical fiction, but I have not read a book about her – despite owning the trilogy by Sandra Gulland for several years now. My fascination has never been with fiction set in France nor Napoleon in general. However, I did find Josephine fascinating in Webb’s novel.

First of all, this woman was pretty amazing. She survived the French Revolution (just barely!), was successful as a businesswoman, was married twice, and was beloved by most of France. She had to reinvent herself so many times and continued to make her way in the world. I appreciated that she was a woman of substance and not entirely superficial. By contrast, I still very much dislike Napoleon – and I’m sure that is not because of the author’s portrayal of him, as she was fairly even handed with his characterization. Webb did an excellent job of getting into Josephine’s head.

Webb also did an excellent job creating a truly atmospheric France. In every scene I could clearly picture what has happening and what it looked like – from the beauty of pastoral Malmaison to the desecrated and vandalized Tulieries. You also can feel what the characters are experiencing as if you were there; one scene where they are hiding in the basement during The Terror and their fear stands out vividly in my mind.

One area that I thought could be stronger was the pacing of the novel. Toward the beginning of the novel it felt uneven. Very, very quickly we were introduced to the characters and events in Martinique and then moved on. I didn’t make the connections here with Josephine’s family and homeland/culture that I think was intended. Thus, I didn’t care much when tragedies struck

there. It was still a little awkward through her first marriage. The novel really found its stride around the Revolution. From that point it seemed smoother sailing.

Overall, I appreciated this perspective of Josephine as Webb really gets at her soul and character where I think many other authors gloss over her, especially her early life, choosing instead to focus on her time as wife of Napoleon. I would certainly recommend this book to fans of French history and those who want to know more about this woman.

This is the debut novel for author Heather Webb. You can visit Heather’s website or blog for additional information about the book.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Broken Teepee
• Enchanted by Josephine

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

You can follow along with the rest of the blog tour by visiting the HFVBT website or on Twitter with the following hashtag: #BecomingJosephineTour.

I also have a giveaway for US and Canada residents courtesy of the HFVBT tour.  Make entries through the Rafflecopter below.  Last day to enter is February 2nd, 2014.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court