Memory Lane Books
2014
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ Ms. Corona’s vivid portrayal of life in 18th century Venice presents a perfect background to the memorable characters of two remarkable women. I was under her spell until the last page. |
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| ✬✬✬ If you are intrigued with the Romanov story, this is one more depiction of their tragic end, even adding unknown facts to their already well-documented tale. From the first page be prepared to wander amongst lengthy details, repetitious facts and varying stories that often get in the way of the real plot. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ I enjoyed this novel, more for the rich historical detail than the actual love story between Yozo and Hana. I know little about this period of Japanese history and found this aspect of the novel absorbing. The details of the lives of courtesans in Yoshiwara were intriguing, as was Yozo’s story as one of several Japanese who spent time in the west. |
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| ✬✬✬ I tried to connect with Zoli or the other characters but never did; I was often confused by the shifting voices and time periods. As a result, it was an effort with no redeeming pleasure. It seemed long and sometimes redundant. |
2015
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ This is an excellent book, a well-deserved classic of historical fiction. It is so cleverly written, that you forget you are not actually in ancient Greece. The book also offers a fascinating insight into the evolving religious beliefs of Bronze Age Grecian culture. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ The first hundred pages moved a little slow, but I was determined to give it a chance. I am so glad I did. The characters became well developed, and the story began to twist and turn into something I could not put down. |
2016
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| ✬✬ This was a severe disappointment. I struggled through the pages and was so happy when it was over. The whole war aspect was very eye-opening and realistic, but I was not a fan of the romance and just couldn’t get behind the decisions the characters made. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ I enjoyed this book set in the British colonial period as an adventure story set in a historical period. It has lots of action, interesting characters, and the author moves the story along. |
2017
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ An epic story of Queen Eleanor’s champion and a great tournament champion, who spent many years weaving his way through the politics of the Plantagenets. You get chivalry, jousting, crusades, romance, battles, sword fights, treachery, incest, queens, and countesses locked away in prisons and towers, castles, ships, horses and everything else medieval. Elizabeth Chadwick did a fantastic job of researching and bringing this story to life. If you like stories about the middle ages, then you should read this book. |
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| ✬✬✬ The language wasn't especially elegant, the characters were not well developed, the "fantasy" portions were trivial and predictable. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ It’s entertaining and at times heart-wrenching, and it’s worth reading for its technical accomplishments alone - I was a kind of shocked by how clear Atkinson kept a story that repeats very similar plotlines over and over again. |
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| ✬✬✬ A lot of drama and adventure. It was a bit too much for me. I would have liked a little less drama and a little more character building. |
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ This read and the ride it takes us on is mesmerizing and exciting, thrilling and gripping. The end does not disappoint. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more books by Watson. |
2018
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| ✬✬✬ Don't' expect to learn much about the life of Ramesses II from this book. it is full of historical speculations and mostly historically inaccurate. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ I enjoyed this book and seeing Catherine and Leo come together. It definitely made me fall in love with the family more. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ The Lady of the English is an interesting story about this little-known slice of history and the woman who spent so much of her life in truth preparing another and those around her for the role of ruling the formidable Kingdom of England. Fascinating Middle Ages historical fiction! |
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| ✬✬✬✬ This book was very well done. The story is incredible, except that we know it’s true and that the reality was probably much worse than Rattner paints it. And she paints it very well; it’s well organized, and her depiction of her parents is extremely moving. |
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| ✬✬ The characters of this book are one-dimensional and missing of depth, everything seems superficial and the love story between Paul and Marta is unrealistic. The story kept my attention until Marta and Paul run into each other in Paris and after they spent one day together suddenly decided to get married. Everything was so surrealistic that give me more the feeling of an imaginary tale as a historical novel. Very disappointed. |
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| ✬✬ The book lacked a novel’s depth and detail. It hurried through the plot and made escaping to India seem quite easy, throwing in a quick love scene along the way for good measure. I was expecting a lot more. |
2019
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| ✬✬✬✬ Forster does a good job of pulling us into the plight of Wilson, the maid. She demonstrates the selfishness of employers and the desperation of servants in that era. The book is long and sometimes slow and seems to repeat itself in certain points, but overall I liked it and wanted to see how it ended. |
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| ✬✬ It was an all right book, but the author seemed to talk about things that had nothing to do with the plotline, therefore losing my attention. |
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ This is an endearing story, and I like both lead characters very much. The author developed their characters slowly but deeply so that the reader had a good understanding of what they were like by the time their romance reached its culmination. |
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| ✬✬ It was well written and the idea behind it was compelling. But I had a hard time getting into the book. Maybe it wasn’t what I was in the mood for or maybe it was just lacking something that I can’t quite put my finger on. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ This is a beautifully written Historical Fiction novel about Sofonisba Anguissola- a female artist of the Renaissance who studied under Michelangelo and at King Felipe II of Spain’s request became a lady-in-waiting/painting instructor for his wife. Within this book, you can find romance, mystery, travel, historical facts, treachery, and so much more. |
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| ✬✬ The concept of the story was nice, however, the events that followed wasn’t. I like the ending scene, but I didn’t like that it ends abruptly. The characters are dumb in every way and the lack of common sense is painful to read. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ The book is alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of Ethiopia, of family, of love and betrayal, of life and death and eventual redemption under tragic circumstances. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ The characters are well written as well as the story. Faulkner makes you feel like you are there with the characters and in that time. As you read you will forget the year you are in, that’s how much he draws you into his characters and their stories. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ This book is a delight to read for the clear amount of research that’s been done. This tale is often grim, but the writing is superior at every point during the book. The characters are well-drawn and interesting, with a wide range of flaws. Even when you might want to hate a character, you find yourself drawn to the humanity displayed. |
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ A beautiful, touching story of true love, with its happy times and sad times. Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas portrays the importance of letting our loved ones know how we feel and making the most of every second that we have on this earth. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ This is a well written and fascinating background to the Dreyfus Affair. I enjoyed the read, as it moved very much like a spy thriller novel, and kept me engaged throughout the progression of the narration. |
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| ✬✬✬ The characters lacked imagination and were untrue to themselves and the reasoning behind the plot was sketchy. The story got slightly better halfway through. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ A delightful love story of Jewish survivors from the concentration camps after WW II. The author is a Hungarian film director. He based the story of love letters between his parents he found after their deaths. |
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| ✬✬✬ The pacing drags in the beginning but picks up about mid-way through. There are many historical references throughout, and the story blends both fact and fiction into what should have been a compelling tale. The book had an interesting premise, but it just did not deliver. |
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| ✬✬ The story was slow moving, so disappointing, especially considering how long I have waited for her to venture back into the historical romance genre. |
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| ✬✬✬ The story and heroine in this novel were boring. The plot was very repetitive, and I found it hard to care what happened to the characters by the end of the story. |
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| ✬✬ I was very disappointed by this book - by both the author's writing style and the premise of the story. Not enough historical truth or even plausibility for a true lover of historical fiction. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ This writer shared so very much about life in India - it was fascinating! The title was true to the story. The life of this young child and the reality of life with and between her parents of different nationalities was understood when they all took leaps of faith. Even if these leaps were taken for different reasons for all of them. The writer brought it all together beautifully in the last quarter of the book. |
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ Secrets of the Lighthouse is a fascinating paranormal family drama with an intriguing relationship triangle. The cast is solid and the vivid location enhances the entertaining plot. Although the climax seems too obvious, readers will remain spellbound throughout. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ History is filled with drama, and the author captures this drama in the story of Hugh and Bess, who lived under the reign of Edward III. After agreeing to an arranged marriage with an older man, it surprise Bess to discover that she and Hugh have a love-match. However, this love is tested by distance. Hugh is often away at battle, and when the dreaded pestilence arrives, there is a new cause for concern. I am an avid reader of historical fiction, and this is an exciting book I would recommend to anyone who likes English history or just a great medieval read. |
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| ✬✬✬ Our main heroine was rather silly; we're told she's very intelligent, which makes her mindless determination to marry a cad like Villiers incomprehensible. I liked the use of chess as a sub-plot, but the rest of the book was just a major disappointment from an author who can do so much better. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ This story takes place from the time of Elizabeth Woodville’s marriage to Edward IV, through the reign of Richard III. It is told from Katherine, Elizabeth’s youngest sister, and her husband Henry, Duke of Buckingham. The first person point of view switches back and forth between that of Katherine and Henry, which I felt made the novel quite interesting. I enjoy learning about important eras in history from some more minor players. |
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| ✬✬✬✬✬ The Secret Bride is based on the true romance of Princess Mary and Charles Brandon. Several side plot lines within the novel add color and intrigue to Mary’s story. While it is a work of fiction, the basic facts are historically accurate. I enjoyed the way Haeger wove fact with fiction to bring alive a historical romance. Her characters are very believable and true to the known facts of the people on whom they are based. Each one’s personalities, ambitions, and aspirations are well developed. |
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| ✬✬✬✬ The Sumerton Women is a book of intertwined destinies, a book of joy, heartache, forbidden attraction, betrayal, and almost unbelievable secrets with some mentions and a cameo of Tudor England’s elite. |
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