For those of you interested in historical fiction. This newsletter
originated in UK, I think, but seems to be edited by USians, now.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [HNSNewsletter] HNS Newsletter - 22nd March 2003
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 18:11:51 -0000
HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 77
22nd March 2003
Editor: Mark Turnbull ([log in to unmask])
Contributing Editors: Sally Zigmond ([log in to unmask])
Sarah Cuthbertson ([log in to unmask])
IN THIS ISSUE...
Section 1: Welcome
Section 2: The Reviews
Section 3: What's on in the UK
Section 4: Snippets
Section 5: Websites of the Fortnight
Section 6: Mini Fiction Corner
Section 7: Interesting Anecdotes and Facts
Section 8: Reader's `Classified' Pages
Section 9: HNS International
### SECTION 1: WELCOME ###
Hi and welcome to issue 77, late out due to PC problems. We have
plenty of reviews and snippets for you. As usual, please feel free
to contribute comments/suggestions or information.
### SECTION 2: THE REVIEWS ###
Headings give title, author, journal, date, name of reviewer,
(Initials of HNS contributing editor)
Wintering by Kate Moses, Guardian 8 March, Natasha Walter (SC)
This novel attempts to recreate the last two years of the life of
Sylvia Plath...It is made up of a series of vignettes, each one
corresponding by title (and often by subject or fictional dateline)
to the poems in Ariel, the volume that made Plath's posthumous
reputation.
Moses has laid out the sequence of these vignettes in the order that
Plath wanted to publish those poems, which is different from the
order in which Ted Hughes edited them for eventual publication.
In this way, Moses seems to be laying claim to a sort of truth about
Plath's inner life that eluded her ex-husband.
Most of the novel takes place through the description of very small
moments in Plath's life - riding a horse, changing a child's nappy,
icing a cake, going shopping, walking through a garden...The failure
of the book is a very basic one - that Moses's ventriloquism is never
successful. For all her careful use of images and words from Plath's
work, she never catches the timbre of Plath's voice."
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, Sunday Telegraph 16 March, Rachel
Simhon (SC)
"Sarah Dunant immerses us in the turbulent world of 15th-century
Florence. Lorenzo de' Medici has just died and the city's complacency
and fabled wealth are threatened - from without by the French army,
from within by the hell-fire fundamentalism of Savonarola. Against
this complex background, Dunant tells the story of Alessandra Cecchi,
the younger daughter of a prosperous cloth merchant. She is 14 when
her father brings an artist to the house to paint the walls of the
family chapel.
Alessandra is intrigued because she has artistic leanings, which are
stifled by Florence's rigid social code. In the accepted manner of
heroines in historical novels, she is difficult, clever and believes
herself to be ugly. In an attempt to fulfil
her dreams to paint, and in order to circumvent society's
expectations, she makes the obligatory Scarlett O'Hara-type ill-
advised marriage.
But forget the clichés. Dunant has created a vivid and compellingly
believable picture of Renaissance Florence: the squalor and
brutality; the confidence and vitality; the political machinations...
Woven around [the] fascinating detail is a tale of artistic genius,
sexual passion, filial jealousy and religious hysteria. Alessandra's
marriage is a sham, a series of gruesome murders makes the city
dangerous, and Savonarola is blaming the world's ills on women and
curtailing their freedom."
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, Observer 16 March, Justine Ettler
(SC)
"Dunant's novel isn't all entertainment and escapism: for those brave
enough to look, it holds up a fairly dark mirror to the contemporary
working woman, a chance to play thank-God-I-wasn't-born-a-woman-in-
Medici-Florence.
By dramatising the relations between work, freedom and gender, and at
the same time casting the action in the harsh, distant past, Venus
will involve readers without being too confronting; a compelling mix.
Dunant has a great story-telling ability and sound instincts."
The Serpent in the Garden by Janet Gleeson, Sunday Telegraph 16
March, Rachel Simhon (SC)
"It is 1756 and Joshua Pope, a fashionable portrait painter, has come
to Astley House to paint a wedding portrait for Herbert Bentnick and
his fiancée, Sabine Mercier. When a body is discovered in the pinery,
Joshua is outraged that the death is treated lightly, and decides to
investigate it himself.
He annoys the Bentnicks; when a valuable necklace disappears, he
comes under suspicion. It is vaguely reminiscent of The Moonstone,
but pompous, timid Joshua is no Sergeant Cuff. [There are] masses of
historical detail...but it seems like so much surface decoration, as
does Gleeson's pastiche Georgian English ('immediately he began to
fret that a headache might be poised to smite him').
In the end, Joshua's deeds and impulses, especially in the
breathlessly action-packed ending, are altogether too modern."
Clea's Moon by Edward Wright, Observer 16 March, Peter Guttridge (SC)
"US journalist Edward Wright won the CWA's Debut Dagger Award
2001.You can see why. This is an impressive, confident debut. What's
particularly impressive is the way that Wright recreates LA in the
1940s...Then there's Hollywood. Wright's main protagonist is a relic
of prewar B movie westerns.
Then he was Sierra Lane, hero to countless youngsters. Now, after two
years in prison, he's John Ray Horn, blacklisted by the studios and
obliged to make ends meet by collecting debts for his former Indian
costar, Joseph Mad Crow.
Horn and Crow make an engaging duo and Wright plots the story - girl
in obscene photos on the run, old friend killed - convincingly
enough. It's the atmosphere I like best, though. More, please."
Courting Shadows by Jem Poster, Sunday Telegraph 16 March, PME, (SC)
"In the winter of 1880, John Stannard arrives in a remote English
village as the architect appointed to restore its crumbling church.
At first, his task seems easy: a straightforward renovation within
bucolic surroundings.
But what follows is a lingering meditation on the undercurrents of
village life and the tale of a troubled man's journey towards an
acceptance of his own imperfections.
Against the backdrop of a bitter English winter, this is a novel of
lasting images and conversations, all of which illuminate Poster's
central objective, which is to expose 'the sheer extraordinariness of
the ordinary'.
This is an impressive debut. Stannard is an ingenious creation, an
architect pitting himself against the overwhelming power of nature,
and an egotist diminished by his dealings with simple people."
Blue Horizon by Wilbur Smith, Sunday Telegraph 16 March, David Robson
(SC)
"Blue Horizon is a sequel to Monsoon and features an extended family,
the Courtneys, trying to hack it in the harsh environment of southern
Africa in the 18th century.
Jim Courtney, the main character, is a romantic young tearaway
straight out of Boy's Own. By page 11, he is hauling an enormous fish
out of the sea, battling the waves in a skiff scarcely big enough to
hold his catch. By page 79, he is rescuing Louisa, a Dutch girl being
held on a convict ship off the Cape of Good Hope.
Smith's prose has a stiff, pawky quality...but he clearly has an eye
for the emotional jugular and, like his female counterparts with
their no-holds-barred bodice-rippers, knows how to tap into escapist
fantasies of the most basic, universal kind.
The result may not be literature, but it is certainly effective in
its own terms: there may not be many Jim Courtneys left on the
planet, but how many millions dream of being Jim Courtneys?"
In Search of Klingsor by Jorge Volpi tr by Kristina Cordero, Sunday
Telegraph 16 March, David Hughes (SC)
"The director of Mexican culture in Paris, Jorge Volpi, cleverly
takes two of the mid-century's darkest episodes - the plot to kill
Hitler, the race to split the atom - and not only blends them into a
metaphor for everyone's quest for truth, but whisks them into a spy
story...The narrative is based on Heisenberg's principle of
uncertainty, which Volpi uses to pull the tension tight. In bleak
lodgings Bacon [the protagonist] encounters the slinky Irene, who
arouses not only his passion but our suspicion that she is acting
under alien orders.
In interviews with crestfallen German scientists (this is the most
sedentary of thrillers) we also learn that physics is just as
fallible as fiction, never provable, only probable. But happily
physicists work in rage or envy, putting one another's egos as well
as theories under the microscope, so there is no shortage of
psychological melodrama in these refreshing pages...Rarely in popular
fiction are you paid the compliment of possessing a mind; here the
brain-cells tingle for the first time since giving up science at
school."
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, The Times, 8th March, Rachel
Holmes (SZ)
This novel tells the story of Sister Lucrezia, artist in residence at
St Vitella's Convent in Florence at the turn of the 16th century, who
lives through the dramatic death throes of the golden age of the
Florentine Renaissance. The daughter of a wealthy cloth merchant, she
grows up cosseted in sumptuary excess.
However she struggles for the expression of her artistic
talents. "Art might be an expression of God, but it was also the mark
of a tradesman and no pastime for a young woman of a good family."
This novel follows her life from young woman to wife to her retreat
into a convent. For this is the time of Savonarola's regime of
austerity and women are barred from participating in the life of the
city.
Durant is in her historical element in Renaissance Florence. Nobody
should visit Tuscany this summer without this book. It is richly
textured and driven by a thrillerish fever.
Taking Liberties by Diana Norman, The Times, 1th March, Fiona Hook
(SZ)
At the end of 'A Catch of Consequence' we left the red-headed
Makepeace Burke the richest woman in the north of England and
revenged on her husband's first wife and about to marry her business
partner, Andra Hedley. Sequels tend never to yield the pleasure of
the first instalment, but 'Taking Liberties; is, if anything, better.
It is 1778. The war with America has been raging ineffectually for
two years and Makepeace's daughter has disappeared on her way back
from the colonies. Making enquiries at the Admiralty, Makepeace meets
Diana, the Dowager Countess of Stackpole recently freed from a
terrible marriage and searching for the son of a childhood friend.
Both quests take them to Portsmouth.
This novel follows the previous one in exploring the status of women
and slaves in 18th century England. Norman wears her enormous
erudition lightly. This is a ripping yarn with a Hogarthian cast of
smugglers, sailors and the obligatory tart with a heart. It moves at
a cracking pace with a stunning denouement.
Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster, 9th March (SZ)
The intimate journal forms an interesting junction between fiction
and documentary so it is no great surprise that it should have been
adopted so readily by novelists. This novel is written as if it were
a real journal. Millicent King is an "ordinary woman" who kept a
diary from the age of 13 to 94. The conceit is that after her death,
her niece by marriage contacts Forster after have read her
biography 'Hidden Lives' and asks her to take a look at them. Forster
agrees to edit them and the result is this novel.
The dominant theme of these diaries is war. Millicent, a middle-class
girl from a family of seven children finds her life repeatedly
derailed by it. Her brother returns shell-shocked from the trenches,
her sister and much of her sister's family is killed in the Blitz,
her lover is taken prisoner and ends up in Changi and her nephew
fights in Korea.
Towards the novel's close, Millicent is anxiously but fervently
supporting her niece's encampment at Greenham Common.
One of Forster's achievements is to paint Millicent as a woman not
naturally interested in politics or international affairs but forced
by events to be so.
But Forster has also constructed a personal life for her that belies
the superficial reality. Whether or not the diary form is the ideal
vehicle remains uncertain. One feels that she has just missed
capturing the true chaos of the ego and its expression in private
papers. Her novel is, however, a creditable and not to be
underestimated attempt.
The Sabre's Edge by Allan Mallinson, The Times, 9th March, Lyn
Macdonald (SZ)
Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an
author's pen and his latest exploits with the 6th Light Dragoons are
as thrilling as the last. In the 6th book in the series of his
adventures, it is 1824.
The 6th Dragoons are "scattered about Bengal engaged in trivial
errands" and Hervey, impatient as ever for action wangles himself a
temporary appointment to the Staff of the Burmese Expeditionary Force
sailing up the Irrawaddy to assault Rangoon. It is not long before he
is ashore with the infantry, not exactly in his element, for fighting
on foot could hardly be compared to the dash of a cavalry charge.
Although a cavalry man himself, Mallinson is well able to plant his
boots in the footsteps of the infantry to evoke the misery of the
jungle.
The depth of Mallinson's research is prodigious, cunningly adapted to
suit his purposes but ringing entirely true. The climax of this book
is the legendary siege of Bhurtpore, brought vividly to life and for
one moment it seems that our hero might meet a gallant end. This book
is a joy for the lover of adventure and the military buff alike.
Parzifal and the Stone from Heaven by Lindsay Clarke, The Times, 15th
March, Fiona Hook (SZ)
In the 13th century the minstrel Wolfram von Eschenbach told how the
noble Parzival was raised in a wood by his mad mother until destiny
called him, a holy innocent in sackcloth, to seek his spurs at King
Arthur's Court. His quest for wisdom and self-knowledge, which he
will not attain until his journey's end, leads to the wounded Fisher
King and a glimpse of the Grail.
In an age in which the quest to find one's self has become a pressing
pre-occupation, the medieval tale is sharply relevant and Clarke's
luminous and sparkling retelling bowls you along with its energy and
charm.
Clara by Janice Galloway, The Times, 15th March James Urquhart (SZ)
Clara walks on eggshells around her vituperative father, an eminent
piano tutor, and then again around her husband, the tormented Robert
Schumann. Famous as a concert pianist and composer, she tours
tirelessly to stave off penury but is hampered by persistent
pregnancy, her husband's erratic behaviour, the spite of her father
and the sneering misogyny of society manners. Galloway captures her
endurance in this ultimately sorrowful novel.
An Act of Treachery by Ann Widdecombe, The Times, 15th March Sam
Coates
In this novel, the author examines loyalty and betrayal in Vichy
France through the eyes of Catherine, a Parisian who falls in love
with a married German officer. But the scars of occupation run so
deep that after the liberation she is forced to choose between her
lover and her family, for whom she remains the enemy.
Widdecombe displays profound emotional sensitivity and negotiates
delicately the complex web of relationships that she has created. But
her writing suffers from a tendency to show off her classical
erudition with over-prosaic passages and a propensity for formal
rhetoric.
### SECTION 3: WHAT'S ON IN THE UK ###
CAMBRIDGE HISTORY FESTIVAL - update
The HNS day (Sat 6 September) has taken final shape.
Speakers: Tracy Chevalier (Girl With a Pearl Earring, et al); Paul
Doherty (classical fiction and non-fiction); Lindsey Davis (The Falco
mysteries); C J Sansom (exciting new author of Dissolution); Philip
Gooden (Shakespearean whodunits); Beryl Bainbridge (According to
Queeney, etc); Nigel Wilcockson (editor of Penguin Classics); Louis
de Bernieres (Captain Correlli's Mandolin); Jane Stevenson (17th
century Astraea trilogy); David Roberts (The Hollow Crown); Barbara
Cleverly (The Damascene Blade).
Exclusive free HNS lunch sponsored by Constable and Robinson in
Corpus Christi College great hall.
Gala Dinner with guest speaker David Starkey
History Channel TV interviews with speakers and visitors
Late night entertainment by internationally acclaimed The
Shakespeare Revue
A free wine tasting
Young historians' essay prize.
And all that is just on the one day! There are numerous other
goodies during the festival, which runs from the evening of Thursday
4th to the afternoon of Sunday 7th September. Other points to bear in
mind:
There is a discount on Saturday for HNS members (ask for it when
applying for a booking form).
There will be several commissioning editors in attendance. So, if
you want to make contacts ...
This unique event will be the most exciting in the world of
historical fiction for a long time, and it's booking fast with
history lovers at home and overseas.
For programme/booking form email : [log in to unmask]
Phone : 01598 760367
DEREK and RUTH WILSON
Cambridge History Festival
Tel 01598 760 367
Indicombe, West Buckland, Barnstaple EX32 0SE
www.histfest.com
The Cambridge History Festival takes place at Peterhouse, Cambridge
from 4 to 7 September. Speakers include: David Starkey, Beryl
Bainbridge, Louis de Bernieres. Presentations by the British Museum,
National Portrait Gallery and National Maritime Museum.
Entertainment by The Shakespeare Revue company and The Elizabethan
Consort.
### SECTION 4: SNIPPETS ###
Sandra Garside-Neville provided these snippets:
Valerio Massimo Manfredi, author of The Spartan, The Last Legion and
an Alexander the Great trilogy, writes in The Guardian about bringing
the ancients back to life:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,908975,00.html
A gloss on grief: Who could possibly mimic Sylvia Plath and carry it
off? Kate Moses tries to recreate the last two years of the poet's
life in Wintering:
Wintering by Kate Moses
352pp, Sceptre, £14.99
http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,6121,908994,00.ht
ml
Spartan time machine: Valerio Massimo Manfredi on bringing the
ancients back to life
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,908975,00.html
Also, from elsewhere:
Here's the latest on the Iliad movie in the making starring Brad Pitt
(Achilles) and Orlando Bloom (Paris):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/tv_film/newsid_2829000/2829997.stm
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_757695.html
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30500-12263327,00.html
And, top actresses 'Must Troy harder' for the part of Helen:
http://www.megastar.co.uk/ents/news/2003/03/06/sMEG01MTA0Njk1ODQ4Nzg.h
tml
The Shadow Women by Angela Elwell Hunt, book review from AT ABOUT.COM
Ancient History Guide, by N.S. Gill:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/bookreviewssz/gr/shadowwomen.htm
Weidenfeld & Nicolson have also just published two sumptuous books:
LIVING THE PAST by Val Horsler (forward by Dr David Starkey)
This includes information about all English re-enactment societies
and living history museums. As well as a great read, it includes
loads of colour photographs and would be a useful research tool.
ENGLAND'S HERITAGE by Derry Brabs tells you everything you need to
know about the English and their heritage, their buildings and their
art. In these uncertain times when to be English is to be unsure of
who we are and what we stand for, this book, lavishly illustrated
reminds us and lift the spirits! Be Proud to be English!
The reviews of both these books will be sent out to members of the
HNS in the Historical Novel Review.
### SECTION 5: WEBSITES OF THE FORTNIGHT ###
(The Historical Novel Society takes no responsibility for the
contents of sites listed below)
http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/history/middleages/ - fun and interesting
site which guides you through the middle ages and to some extent,
different classes of people and their lives.
www.rebecca-east.com - Site of Rebecca east, author of A. D. 62:
Pompeii, a novel. It has illustrations from ancient art and links to
other site that have information about daily life in the ancient
world.
www.english-heritage.org.uk - It gives details of English historical
places to visit, events and publications.
GOT A WEBSITE TO NOMINATE OR EVEN YOUR OWN SITE?
### SECTION 6: HISTORICAL SPEAKERS CORNER ###
***Anyone with a short fiction about a specific time period, article
about a favourite author, historical character, or a short snippet
from their work in progress, can send them in to be displayed here.
Why not have your say about something you feel strongly about?***
**NEW WORK**
MARK LEECH has sent 5 extracts of his new work, The Church and the
Devils. It is a murder mystery set in seventh century Northumbria.
The village of Ediscum, recently converted to Christianity, is caught
up in a mix of religious fervour and doubt when Godric, the village
smith, claims to have a had a vision in which he was commanded to
build a church from the stones of the nearby ruined Roman city. The
most vocal of the doubters is Andred, an old man who is loyal to the
pagan ways.
Mark sent the work because although his first novel, Unknown Soldiers
(listed in the HNS Author Index) was published in November, that was
a WWI story, and this is completely different genre and period
Extract 3: The work on the church proves to be harder than expected,
and even Godric is suffering from doubt.
The stone fell with a crunch into the belly of the boat. Water
slopped all around the vessel and some fell over the timbers and ran
to and fro in the bottom. Godric watched the ripples spread across
the moving surface of the river. Long green reeds shifted
disdainfully. He wiped the sweat from his face and turned to
Aethelsunne with a grin of pleasure.
"That's it! The first one!"
Aethelsunne grinned back, sharing his delight after all the
effort. But then he looked more closely at the boat and a frown
crossed his reddened brow. "We can't put too many in, you know. It'll
sink, especially if someone's going to sit in it."
Godric looked carefully too. "You're right," he said, laying
a heavy hand on his companion's arm. "More than three and all our
work will be wasted." He looked round him at Stanmode, Streamas,
Straelsith and the others. Their faces reflected the disappointment
he felt after the long struggle with the heavy grey stone along the
ground. The written words that Aethelsunne had brought back had said
it was trusted in the men of Ediscum to build their church with their
own strength. This was not something Father Owain had said to them,
but Aethelsunne had to be believed. And it was right too, for only
those who were blessed in a certain way could lay their hands to this
work. But now help from other men would have been welcome.
They had tried dragging the stone with ropes that Stanmode had
brought, pushing it while it rested on short round logs that had been
cut from the woods, and even lifting it so that their eyes popped and
their fingers slipped around the corners of the stone. It had taken
most of the morning before they had found themselves slipping in the
soft earth at the bank of the river. Godric had joked that it was as
though the stone did not want to leave its companions, but no one had
laughed. He had realised what he had said and felt a twist in his
stomach. He had strained all the harder for that, and now he was
tired. Even just three stones would make him bone-weary.
He wiped his brow again and looked round the shattered
building-frames of the city. It was no wonder that creatures dared
not tread here. Even giants would have sweated long to create this
great settlement. Even they must have had to use powers greater than
themselves. For a moment the city seemed to stretch beyond his sight,
through the trees, on forever through the empty parts of the kingdom
away from the sea. He swayed a little, frightened by the littleness
of almost everything he had done.
"Well, we'll have to think on how we get more stones down
that way. Let's get three on their way. Everyone will see that we're
trying to do God's work, even if it will take years."
The men around him nodded grimly and squared their shoulders
with determination. Aethelsunne pulled at his rich tunic which,
Godric noticed with a slight stirring of interest, was torn. God's
work could overcome even vanity.
On the heels of this pious thought he felt a shudder run
through him. He wanted to look at Andred's fire-mark again. It had a
fascination for him now, now that -
He stepped away from his fellow workers as they made their way
between the broken stones and took a winding route through archways
and over walls shrunken by decay. Their fragments rocked as his
leather soles pressed against them. After a while he stopped in an
open space between two high walls that stared at each other over a
courtyard paved with carefully shaped blocks. He closed his eyes and
took a deep breath.
His ears strained for sound - there was no birdsong here in the
city's depths and the river's passing was swallowed up by the shells
of rooms that stood between it and him. This was the place. He
remembered it well, at least, and if it were not the place it was the
first place he had seen after holiness had dazzled him. Here was the
place where he had had the vision. He closed his eyes but felt that
the two walls either side of him were conferring - there was
something in them watching, it seemed. He shrugged, to shake the
feeling from the shoulders of his blue cloak.
If he thought hard the Cross came to him. He remembered the
warmth of it, the glittering gems that ran across it. He remembered
the feeling that had billowed up inside him like steam from the
meeting of metal and water. He remembered, but did not feel it. He
closed his eyes again - but still he could not feel. He quavered. If
he could not sense the glorious light that had filled him again,
everything - everything - was as nothing. He tried, tried, and his
heart beat hard in his chest. At last, a flicker, like the aftertaste
of a burn. There it was. He had been right to keep faith in all he
had done.
***If you have any comments, constructive or simply that you enjoyed
that story, then let me know. WE ALL KNOW HOW VALUABLE FEEDBACK IS.
Additionally, if you would like your work displayed here, why not
send it over? [log in to unmask]***
### SECTION 7: INTERESTING ANECDOTES AND FACTS
>From an Amazon.com reader's review of "Emperor: Gates of Rome" by
Conn Iggulden: "Some of the other reviewers complained about the
historical accuracy; it's not accurate; that's why it's called
historical fiction." Oh. I see now.
### SECTION 8: READER'S CLASSIFIED ###
Even if you do not have a question or request for info - you can use
this section to advertise your knowledge, so that you can help other
readers who may need to know something about your period of interest.
(You can contact anyone below by mailing me at
[log in to unmask])
*** REQUESTS ***
Jean Burnett is writing/researching a novel set in late 16th/early
17th Italy, mainly in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily. If anyone
knows of any particularly useful website that she might have missed,
she would be grateful.
Please send any information if you can help, so I can forward this on
to them.
AFRICAN HISTORY - Marina Maxwell is knowledgeable about Southern and
Central African colonial period c. 1840-1960 in particular. She is
also happy to be a contact for anyone wanting to track down copies of
new or second hand Australian historical novels. Michael Hunt is
also interested in the period.
17th CENTURY ENGLISH HISTORY - Patrika Salmon is interested in this
era, Mark Turnbull, Neville Firman and Felicity Barnaby are
knowledgeable about it. Mark is especially interested in the English
Civil War and King Charles I. Neville is interested mainly in
radical political and religious movements, Levellers, Quakers etc,
and also Cromwell. He has completed a PhD on early Quakerism.
5TH-6TH CENTURY BRITAIN - Sandra Garside-Neville has some knowledge
of this era. Particular interests include the Anglo-Saxon settlements
and Late Roman survival. She can also advise on the historicity of
King Arthur.
BRONZE AGE - Patrika Salmon is only interested in this era.
GOT A NOTICE/REQUEST/QUESTION?
### SECTION 9: HNS INTERNATIONAL ###
If YOU are an international member, why not write a bit about
yourself or even let us know of literary events/books or information
in your area?
Lauren Teague reviewed this book out in New Zealand:
HISTORICAL FICTION
Tamar by Deborah Challinor
HarperCollins, 537 pages, NZ$21.95
Reviewed by Loren Teague
Email: [log in to unmask]
Published in NZ Writers' Website e-zine 1 August 2002
Seventeen year old Tamar Deane is orphaned and grasps the chance to
emigrate to New Zealand in 1879. She is befriended by Myrna
McTaggert, a Scot's woman, who is planning to establish the finest
brothel in the southern hemisphere.
Their unconventional friendship proves invaluable when Tamar finally
reaches her destination. But there is tragedy and scandal as the two
women forge new lives.
This historical novel was thoroughly enjoyable and the author
portrayed the setting with great authenticity. The characterisation
was well done too but, the Scot's dialogue was slightly faulty. Only
another Scot, like myself, would notice this though. A woman doesn't
usually call another woman 'lassie', as only men tend to use this
term when referring to a woman. (Another woman would call another
woman, 'hen'.)
Apart from that, Tamar is compelling, full of drama and romance and
is written in a 'down to earth' style which grabs you. This is the
first novel in a three volume family saga and I can't wait for the
second one.
FINALLY - NOW IS THE TIME TO ENJOY THE PAST!
Visit the Historical Novel Society Website at
www.historicalnovelsociety.org
Join the Historical Novel Society and receive our quarterly
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