strange and random happenstance

While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell
Published by: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
Publication Date: February 18th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Historical fiction at its best — The Brothers Grimm meets The Thirteenth Tale .

I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told.

And so begins Elise Dalriss’s story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel’s tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered—and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. Her story unveils a labyrinth where secrets connect to an inconceivable evil. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale."

Oh, just what February needed, some Gothicy goodness!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Elizabeth Blackwell, Gothic, The Brothers Grimm, The Thirteenth Tale, While Beauty Slept

Netherwood by Jane Sanderson
Published by: Sphere
Publication Date: September 29th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 455 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition then one reviewed)

Eve Williams and her husband Arthur live a hard but satisfying life. When Eve was growing up in Grangely never did she think that she would end up in Netherwood, married to a good man who worked hard in Lord Netherwood's mines, with three beautiful children, where a good meal on the table and a clean house would be her pride and joy. Though her life is about to be tested in many ways. The miners in Grangely have been trying to improve their conditions by unionizing and instead have been given the boot. Eve feels it's her duty to help those who haven't been given the opportunities she has. Eve and Arthur agree to take in a refuge, Anna, and her baby. Anna's husband has recently died and Anna is far from home, having fled disapproving parents in Eastern Europe. When Eve's world comes crashing down with the cave-in that kills Arthur, it is Anna who gives her the impetus to go on.

Anna tells Eve that she must do something. Eve must find a way to make money and save her family from penury, because there is no one else to do it. Buoyed by her family and friends, Eve opens up a pie shop in her front parlor, catering to simple Yorkshire fare. Drop scones, Yorkshire pudding, raised pork pies, the food of the common man cooked uncommonly well. And Anna and Eve do uncommonly well. They have a steady income and they are financially secure. But Anna, she has ambitions, she sees a bigger shop, a tea room, she has the entrepreneur in her bones and without Anna, Eve wouldn't be grabbing at life with both hands. Soon Eve's cooking comes to the attention of the great house and Lord Netherwood asks for Eve to cook for his son's coming of age party. This one job is the beginning of a life Eve could never have imagined. Cooking for the aristocracy and even the King! She might have lost everything when she lost Arthur, but if Arthur could only see her now, she hopes he'd be proud.

While, I won't disagree with the books claim to be "Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey," I am after all a fan of Downton and thought this book was perfect, but I will also say that it is a little misleading. This is like a gritter Yorkshire version of Upstairs, Downstairs, where the "downstairs" encompasses not just those physically in the grand estate, but those under the protection and sufferance of the grand family in the village, especially those working for the family under dangerous conditions mining their coal seam. It took me awhile to get into Netherwood because of my erroneous expectations, but once I started to expand my view beyond the grand house I kept expecting to take center stage I realized how much more interesting a book about all these interconnected lives surrounding the house was. This gulf between the haves and the have-nots is more prominent because of the lower classes being not just downstairs, but down the mines. It expanded the traditional narrative of this type of manor house book and gave me a broader and more interesting canvas then I would have expected. From labor disputes to unions to downstairs skirmishes, this book was willing to not shy away from unsavory topics, much like Upstairs, Downstairs did in it's time with addressing real issues while also being entertainment, unlike a show like Downton, which only seems to cover issues like suffrage because it's a "period detail" versus an important issue.

There was hardly a character in this book I disliked, even the villains are perfectly villainous and therefore beyond censure. Even the young lordling who will one day be Lord Netherwood was lovable in his own drunken misspent youthful way. While Eve is the cooking virtuoso, I think Anna is the real genius, she sees the opportunities that others don't. You'd expect her to be this meek little widow caring for a newborn, instead she is like a general on a battlefield issuing commands, more pies here, tea room here, expand there, move move move. Each and every character is so vibrant and alive they become your friends and you don't want to leave them, luckily for me there are already two more books in the series. All my fictional friends in this book lead me to worry about them. I fretted about the dynamic between the family and the workers, because you see that there isn't any malice between the two, just misunderstandings. The uniqueness of the characters and their complicated lives made this book just stand out amongst others of its ilk as the pinnacle to which you must strive. In layman's terms, read this book now!

Though be warned, you will be hungry. And not just a little peckish, oh dear no, this book will make you so freakin' hungry you'll be wondering if you have a chance to find a place with pies nearby. Oddly enough I do have a sweet and savory pie shop less then a block away, but it is of dubious repute, so hungry I remained. You know, in some books, the talent or special quality that the hero or heroine has is so ill defined that you just aren't able to connect. That was so not the case here. Jane Sanderson described the cooking and Eve's abilities so well you just wanted to go to her house and eat. Plus, with all the food, this book certainly qualifies as a comfort read. There is something about comfort food and the safety of a kitchen that makes you feel safe and loved. Shows like Pushing Daisies or The Duchess of Duke Street knew this, as do Mrs. Bridges and Mrs. Patmore, by welcoming us into their kitchens, they welcome us into their hearts and they into ours. But the one thing in the entire book that entertained me more then anything else? The lovely idea of "Duchess sized servings!" The idea of basic pies and food but made as finger food so that it wouldn't be off-putting to those of delicate sensibilities and palettes. Too perfect, much like everything in this book. I gotta dash now, Ravenscliffe is calling me!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Downton Abbey, Downton Denial, Eve Williams, Jane Sanderson, Meat Pies, Mrs. Bridges, Mrs. Patmore, Netherwood, Pushing Daisies, Ravenscliffe, The Duchess of Duke Street, Upstairs Downstairs, Yorkshire

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: January 1st, 2006
Format: Hardcover, 473 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy (different edition then one reviewed)

Grace is dying. In her life she has done many things. From being a Doctor in archaeology, a nurse in a field hospital during WWII, to the grandmother of a famous writer, she has lived a full life. Yet it's the time she worked in the great house at Riverton that everyone wants to know about. The tragedies of the family she served, but most importantly, the fateful night when the poet Robbie Hunter blew his brains out during a party. The story everyone knows isn't the truth. There's a movie being made at the house about that night... Grace is relieved when she realizes that they got it wrong. They don't know. They haven't guessed. But even thinking about that time she so easily slips into the past. Grace is there watching fate unfold once again. Grace is the only one alive who knows what happened that night and she has to decide if she is going to take the secret with her to the grave or not. Time is running out.

The House at Riverton, or by it's original and far more apt title, The Shifting Fog, is a painful and laborious read from a first time author. I spent hundreds and hundreds of pages waiting for something, anything, to happen, but alas this hope was in vain. Having read two of Kate Morton's later books I felt like I could feel her struggling with The House at Riverton. She hadn't yet developed the knack of creating narrative and likable characters that fill her world of gently peeling wallpaper and mysterious houses. There's also the issue that she seems to have a fixed set of themes that she uses, which could form any of her books basic premise, and then she builds from there. As a reader, there is only so many times you can read about the Grandmother/Mother figure dying with a secret about where they really come from, paternity/maternity, and those left behind finding out the truth. Yes, you can spin this "time slip" framework differently and have a great read, but in all seriousness, you are best left skipping this installment.

The boredom though was nothing compared to the lack of originality displayed here. In fact, if you just skip to the end and read Kate Morton's "Author's Note" she handily writes out all the things she's "borrowing" to write The House at Riverton. So if I were you, I'd not read the book and read her sources instead. Firstly, I seriously want to know, when did it become standard that all cooks and all butlers had to be Mrs. Bridges and Hudson from Upstairs, Downstairs? I mean, there was a time prior to Upstairs, Downstairs, I know that might come as a surprise to many, but there was. During this era where there books of this type? I really want to know, because Upstairs, Downstairs has become the seminal work in this class system based writings and has influenced so many other works that I really would like to know if there's perhaps someone else these writers could emulate once in awhile if they are unable to summon any originality? Yes, it's cool that Mrs. Bridges and Hudson have become the standard archetypes, but seriously Kate, when you even copy their mannerisms, their physical presence, even down to Mrs. Bridges's topknot... well... it makes me want to watch Upstairs, Downstairs, and not read your book.

Let's get to the "borrowing" that bothered me the most. For, oh, I don't know, 199 pages, there is no plot. Nothing at all. Zip, nadda, zilch. Then with the appearance of Teddy Luxton I noticed a plot kind of faintly in the background... a familiar plot... in fact, the plot to The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. That's right, Hannah became Linda and Teddy is 100% Tony Kroesig! The fact that she fell for him because he did the one romantic gesture of his life at the right time, the fact he's a banker! Oh, and then later the whole German angle. It's ok to make a reference here or there to Nancy Mitford, I mean, modern literature set during the 20s does look back and is strongly influenced by the writing of that time period, mainly Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh, but come on Kate! You seriously couldn't take it further, that it to the next step? Take it anywhere then the boring predictability of where this book went. At least Nancy Mitford had the sparkle and wit to embody these bright young things, you just built a book around the most boring character ever to exist, Grace. 

And Grace is where the book falls completely to tatters. To have the most boring, the most ineffectual lead ever be the narrator of your book, well, there was no chance that The House at Riverton could work. Grace is so dense and naive and a "yes man" that the book's lack of forward momentum is obvious. An object in motion will stay in motion while an object at rest will stay at rest, and Grace is a giant lump of immovable object. She sits, observes, and does as she's told. In fact, I have such a hard time rectifying this boring individual to the old lady that everyone heralds for having such an interesting life that I don't believe they are the same person, they just couldn't be. A throw away line quoting Agatha Christie about Poirot having the ability to be a great archaeologist and Grace's love of Poirot making her become an archaeologist doesn't make sense of the intervening years! Yes, Grace's naivety and stupidity meant that in the past her actions lead to horrific consequences, but seriously, doing something stupid doesn't make you smart. It may fundamentally change you but it can't up your IQ. I flat out refuse to believe that this dumb little maid ended up a Doctor. There is nothing in the narrative to support this change and so it is my belief that they are just humoring the old lady because they don't think she's right in the head, being the simpleton we have been given tons of evidence in support of. Yes Grace, you were a great "Doctor" you really really were. And your life story, oh, so fascinating, tell it to the tape recorder so I can listen to it over and over again. Um, no.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Downton Denial, Evelyn Waugh, Hudson, Kate Morton, Mrs. Bridges, Nancy Mitford, Poirot, The House at Riverton, The Pursuit of Love, The Shifting Fog, Time Slip, Upstairs Downstairs

Tempered by Karina Cooper
Published by: Carina Press
Publication Date: February 11th, 2014
Format: Kindle, 333 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Forced out of London's coal-blackened streets, Cherry St. Croix is faced with her most difficult undertaking yet: sobriety.

At long last, my guardian, the enigmatic Mr. Oliver Ashmore, has revealed himself-and his order is clear: I am to be dried out at once, regardless of my wishes.

I loathe the country estate I am imprisoned within. Footsteps follow me, voices call for me, and my sanity wavers. In my fevered dreams, I am haunted by those I failed, while waking proves no protection from the ghosts of my reckless past. The craving for laudanum plagues me. I require a distraction.

To unravel the alchemical mysteries of my mother's family, I must rely on Ashmore's tutelage. I am lured to the art and drawn by the secrets my guardian possesses. Yet the deeper I delve, the more I believe that something dreadful disturbs these haunted corridors. In my madness, I fear that what it wants most...is me."

Oh yes, more Karina please!

The Tinker King by Tiffany Trent
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Science and magic mean danger in this sequel to The Unnaturalists, which School Library Journal called “an entertaining mix of steampunk and fantasy.”

After Vespa, Syrus, and Bayne defeated the Grue and restored order to their world in The Unnaturalists, they thought their future was secure. Empress Olivia, committed to peace and equality for humans and Elementals alike, was a fair and just ruler. And the Creeping Waste had vanished, giving them hope for the first time.

But rebellion is brewing in the far-off city of Scientia, and dark Elementals are plotting war in the ruins of New London. Before they know what’s happening, Vespa, Syrus, and their friends are plunged into a new swamp of intrigue, deception and magic—and the cost of survival may be more than any of them are willing to pay."

More Steampunky goodness for this week!

Murder in the Afternoon by Frances Brody
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An intricate plot in the post-WWI English countryside and Frances Brody's "refreshingly complex heroine" (Kirkus) combine in this absorbing mystery perfect for fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Agatha Christie.

Dead one minute…

Young Harriet and her brother Austin have always been scared of the quarry where their stone mason father works. So when they find him dead on the cold ground, they rush off quickly to look for some help.

Alive the next?

When help arrives, however, the quarry is deserted and there is no sign of the body. Were the children mistaken? Is their father not dead? Did he simply get up and run away?

A sinister disappearing act.

It seems like another unusual case requiring the expertise of Kate Shackleton--and Mary Jane, the children's mother, is adamant that only she can help. But Mary Jane is hiding something--a secret from Kate's past that raises the stakes and puts both Kate and her family at risk."

Seeing as the first book in this series had a pun on sheeps... well, she's sold me on the series. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Frances Brody, Karina Cooper, Murder in the Afternoon, St. Croix Chronicles, Steampunk, Tempered, The Tinker King, The Unnaturalists, Tiffany Trent

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 1st, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 468 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Cora Cash is the wealthiest heiress that Newport, New York, and possibly the world has ever seen. Not even the son of that historic family, the Van Der Leydens, is good enough for Cora, or so her mother keeps telling her. Mrs. Cash wants her daughter to rise up above the title the Americans have given her, the Golden Miller's Granddaughter. Mrs. Cash wants what only their new money can get overseas, a "new" title, and the prestige that comes with it. Taking Cora and her horses to England on the family's ship the SS Aspen, she is soon nestled in the bosom of the English Aristocracy. Her rumored equestrian skills secure her an invite to the home of Lord Bridport, Sutton Veney, where he is master of the famous Myddleton Hunt. The day of the hunt will change Cora's life forever. Her seat on her horse is impeccable, several people even comment that she could be mistaken for being English. Yet separated from the pack she falls off her horse in a copse of trees and is rescued by a young man.

The young man happens to be Ivo, the Duke of Wareham, whose estate, Lulworth, Cora happened to stumble into. Ivo has been shut away from the world since the passing of both his father and elder brother and the remarriage of his mother, making her a double duchess. Cora's mother couldn't have arranged a more felicitous meeting had she spent months plotting and scheming. The Duke is in desperate need of money, which her daughter Cora will be glad to give him in exchange for his hand. To Cora's mother it's all a business transaction, but to Cora, it's surprisingly an affair of the heart, which she realizes when Ivo proposes and she accepts out of love. But dreaming of being a Duchess and the reality are two separate things. The English way of life bears little resemblance to the life she has known. Secret codes of conduct, drafty houses, servants gossiping, Cora didn't know that this is what she was getting into. Add to that Ivo's ex, Charlotte Beauchamp. Charlotte seems to think of taking Cora down a peg in Ivo's eyes as her new favorite game. Can Cora figure out this new world she's thrust herself into, or will she do a flit.

The American Heiress isn't the most deep or philosophical of stories. The plot is pretty predictable, but somehow, the way the story is told and the ease of the storytelling rise it above the mundane and run of the mill and make it a wonderful read that I wanted to devour in one sitting. What makes the book so refreshing is that the story clips along at a great pace. We are never bogged down within the mire of effusive detail or unnecessary information, excepting the end house party which needed a little temporal help. Cora has her coming out ball and then the next chapter she's getting ready for her first hunt in England. Other authors might have documented the entire journey across the Atlantic and Cora's daily routine of walking her horses on the steamship, but thankfully not Daisy Goodwin. We also get the story from multiple characters, from Cora, then from her black ladies maid Bertha, occasionally Cora's mother, add to these multiple viewpoints from characters that aren't even integral parts of the narrative, insignificant characters like the millinery girl who helped Cora once and is now our conduit for Cora's wedding, from outside the church on a street in New York City, and there's a spark to the book that I can't really describe. Perhaps it is because we have more in common with that girl on the street corner and therefore connect with her voyeuristic interest in the story, but for whatever reason you want to give, it just seriously makes this book work.

As for Cora, the buccaneer who actually fell in love, it's almost like this is the promised Downton Abbey prequel, her name is even Cora!  You connect to Cora despite her being everything you're not and a little spoiled to boot. In my mind she's more then a little like Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl. You like her but you're not quite sure why. I was actually worried about her parties and hoping she wouldn't make a mistake or social faux pas and therefore show herself to be a gauche American. She tries so hard to fit and fails or stumbles time and time again I just wanted her to be picked up by Ivo and cherished. And on the downstairs side of the narrative, we have Bertha. Bertha is also like Cora in that she is not fully likable. She takes care of her spoiled mistress, but all the while looking out for her own future with thinking of the resale value of clothes and gloves, or how she can parlay an accidental windfall to her advantage. She's a schemer, but also devoutly loyal. By these two main characters having such diametrically apposing characteristics they become more human, more real, because people don't make sense in reality.

Yet beneath all these trappings of wealth and luxury, Daisy Goodwin is bringing up serious subjects within the confines of an upstairs, downstairs narrative. There is the most obvious, the us versus them mentality that comes between servants and masters, but there is also the us versus them of American versus English, black versus white. Poor Bertha is an outcast in many senses, being black, American, and a servant, she really doesn't fit in anywhere, and therefore those misanthropes among the readers, me included, connect to her plight. But there's also how different Cora and Ivo are. Ivo can not handle the celebrity of wealth that is second nature to Cora growing up in the states, while Cora can't grasp Ivo's reserve or his shame at how she will willingly thrown money at a situation. It's these opposing dynamics that make the book so much more then a love story. And in the end, was it really a love story? The ending was a little too open for my liking...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Blair Waldorf, Cora Cash, Daisy Goodwin, Double Duchess, Downton Abbey, Downton Denial, Duchess, Duke, England, Gossip Girl, House of Ware, The American Heiress, Upstairs Downstairs

The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton
Published by: Viking Books
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition then one reviewed)

Nan doesn't want a governess. Her sister Jinny didn't have to have one, neither did the Elmsworth girls, and the irrepressible Conchita surly never needed one, not that she would have accepted her fate as Nan does. But Nan's mother is convinced that Miss Testvalley will be able to not only help Nan, but get some good British refinement that is lacking in her little American savages and perhaps help as an entree into New York society. But New York society isn't ready for these girls. Conchita makes a match with a third son in a great British family and it gives Miss Testvalley an idea. If New York society is so shocked by these young bloods, why not take them over to England. Give them a season where anything they say or do is unique and alluring compared to the dull English roses the aristocracy is used to.

In no time at all the girls are settled into the highest echelons of the British Isles. Jinny is married to Lord Seadown, the Brightlingsea heir and older brother to Conchita's husband. Both the Elmsworth girls, while not in the peerage, make very advantageous marriages monetarily and politically. While Nan surprises everyone and marries Ushant, the Duke of Tintagel, the wealthiest man in England. Yet Nan isn't happy. It becomes clear that her husband married her not for wealth or even for love, but because she was naive as to what a duke was and wasn't hunting for a title, that and her youth makes her malleable. Though the longer she is married to Ushant, the more she realizes that their marriage is a mistake. This realization has nothing to do with the fact that she is falling in love with the young Guy Thwarte. She would be fine if Guy never knew of her love as long as he was happy and she was free once more.

Back in the days before DVRs and having anything you could possibly imagine to watch just at the flick of a switch, spending the midnight hours surfing the channels always yielded the most interesting results. On channels like A and E, before they became the home of reality programing, you could often find interesting miniseries airing at anytime of day or night. It was on this channel that I first saw Nathaniel Parker deflate a sheep in Far from the Madding Crowd. I'm not sure what channel it was on that I first stumbled across The Buccaneers, but it was definitely in one of these late night surfing sessions. Much like how I caught Louisa May Alcott's The Inheritance in bits a pieces, it wasn't until years later when it was released on DVD that I got to watch the series in all it's glory. The cast alone is a who's who of British and American actors, from the omnipresent James Frain (seriously, he was recently in Grimm, The White Queen and Sleepy Hollow AT THE SAME TIME), to Greg Wise and Michael Kitchen to Mira Sorvino and Connie Booth. This miniseries had it all, including Castle Howard!

At the time I was unaware that the miniseries was based on an incomplete manuscript of Edith Wharton's. I mean, I knew it was Wharton, I just didn't know the she died before she could finish it, much like Elizabeth Gaskell and Wives and Daughters. I do remember stumbling across the "finished" book one day at a used bookstore and picking it up. I mean, seriously, how could I NOT buy it? Firstly, I liked the miniseries, and secondly, well, it had a John Singer Sargeant painting on the cover that happens to belong to the Devonshires. What I didn't know until I was researching the book before I read it was that the miniseries and this specific book have different endings and that both endings are kind of reviled by fans of Wharton. This made me wonder if perhaps I should have read the incomplete manuscript, but then, even knowing that there was no ending, I might get that unexpected sadness that I did when reading Wives and Daughters. Also, having seen the miniseries didn't spoil me for the book. Is the wrong ending maybe acceptable because at least it is an ending? The fact that it ends "happily ever after" is what gets most Wharton fans... it wasn't her style. Edith's MO was more, and everyone is sad, some are dead, there is no striding happily into the sunset. Yet maybe it was this change up that made the book appeal to a wider audience? But what would Wharton herself think? There's a part of me that really wants Martin Scorsese to get his hands on this and come up with a bleaker ending...

The problem with a book with two authors writing the same book more then fifty years apart is the question where does Wharton end and Mainwaring begin? To me, there's a complete seismic shift at the beginning of the third section, wherein Nan hijacks the book as the heroine she was always meant to be. The book definitely falters here because until now the focus of the book had been more egalitarian. Nan taking over, while she is our heroine, is unable to shoulder the narrative much as she is unable to shoulder her duties as a duchess. How can we really connect with someone who doesn't know her own mind or even who she is? While humans are more realistic when faced with internal conflict, her conflict combined with her lack of personality made my growing love of the book falter. How can she love that Guy has this connection to his ancestral home yet not see the same connection in her husband? Is this a flaw of Ushants? Or is it a flaw in Nan? Looking to see where Wharton's writing ceased, it appears to be long after these problems start cropping up in the book. Wharton was just roughing it out and because she herself changed the feel and style of the book Mainwaring was never able to get The Buccaneers to rebound and seemed to be so desirous of tying things up quickly that the book ended abruptly and the reader is left with the sad realization that this could have been a true masterpiece if Wharton had lived.

While the book does have it's problems because of the situation it was put in because of Wharton's death, the overarching theme of the power of art and literature is captivating to me. The character of Miss Testvalley with her connection to both art and literature through her cousin Dante Gabriel Rossetti, breathes life into the book. The characters that are most alive are those with an appreciation of the beauty of the world. In fact, this might be why Nan loves Guy over Ushant, despite them both having this underlying connection and obligation to their ancestral homes, Ushant views his stewardship as an obligation and a duty, not a privilege bound in love. He never appreciates the art for it's beauty and ability to transport you, he views it as part of the house. It is this ability of beyondness that Nan talks about, this transcendence that can be found in art and literature that made me sit up and say yes! You need to look beyond, you need to expand your horizons to make yourself all that you can be. This is not an insular little world we live in, no matter how hard you might try to make it. Go out and read a book, go to a museum, capture some beauty for yourself and you will maybe find a little happiness, because as Wharton shows us, art is life.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Castle Howard, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Downton Denial, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Gaskell, Grimm, Louisa May Alcott, Miss Testvalley, The Buccaneers, The Inheritance, The White Queen, Wives and Daughters

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: February 4th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this third book in Marissa Meyer's bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has. "

I have been very impatiently waiting for this book. That's right, IMpatiently.

Wildwood Imperium by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis
Published by: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: February 4th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third book in the New York Times bestselling fantasy-adventure series from Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, the acclaimed illustrator of The Mysterious Benedict Society

A young girl's midnight séance awakens a long-slumbering malevolent spirit...

A band of runaway orphans allies with an underground collective of saboteurs and plans a daring rescue of their friends, imprisoned in the belly of an industrial wasteland..."

Séances? Sold.

India Black and the Gentleman Thief by Carol K. Carr
Published by: Berkley Trade
Publication Date: February 4th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"India Black’s double life operating a high-class brothel and running high-stakes espionage for Her Majesty’s government can take its toll. But there’s no rest for the weary—particularly when an international conspiracy comes knocking…

India Black is one of Victorian London’s most respected madams—not a bloody postmistress. So when Colonel Francis Mayhew forwards a seemingly innocuous shipping bill to her address, she’s puzzled. And when three thugs bust down her door, steal the envelope, and rough up both her and fellow agent French…well, that’s enough to make India Black see red.

The veteran spies soon discover that Mayhew has been butchered in his own bedroom. An impromptu investigation leads them to London’s docks, where India makes a startling discovery she can’t bear to tell the rakish French—she has a history with their chief suspect, the gentleman thief who once stole her heart…"

Totally behind on this series, guess there's no better time to catch up then now!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Carol Carr, Carson Ellis, Colin Meloy, Cress, India Black, Marissa Meyer, The Lunar Chronicles, Wildwood, Wildwood Imperium

You might not know it yet, but you are suffering from Downton Denial. You're in the middle of the new season, everything is good, it's great in fact. Mary is rebounding quite nicely with Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake, though my money is on Charles... who could resist the lure of Julian Ovenden, seriously? Daisy is turning into this wonderfully snarky character that is almost getting better lines then Maggie Smith. Also, what will happen with Edith's ever complicated love life, could there be something worse then being left at the alter? And then there's Anna and Bates. Poor poor Anna... at least Julian Fellowes didn't kill her! And finally, Rose, who is turning out to be far less annoying then I anticipated, which is a nice surprise. Throw in some Americans and you have first rate television... but you are still in denial.

The fact remains that come February 23rd you will have no more Downton. You will have to wait a whole year just to have nine more episodes... the fact that you don't want to face up to this knowledge is where your denial comes in. But I am here to aid you! I am here to help you cope with the bereft feeling that will overtake you in the weeks to come. While Downton Abbey is unique in it's own way, it's not so unique that you can't find books to fill the void inside. For the month of February I will have a plethora of Downtonesque reading suggestion to help you through the loss to come. It's the least I can do for my fellow sufferers.
  The Prize:
An awesome Downton Abbey ornament! Not only is it reminiscent of the bells in the servants halls that feature prominently in the opening credits, but it has a lovely picture of Highclere Castle in the center, where they film Downton Abbey. Let me put it this way, it's so cool that when I ordered it specifically for this theme month, I had to order one for myself as well. Should note that the bell doesn't work very well... that or everyone has just decided to ignore it...

The Rules:
1. Open to EVERYONE (for clarification, this means international too), just because you haven't been following me all along doesn't mean you don't matter, you just get more entries if you prove you love me by following.

2. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if your name is drawn, either your blogger profile or a link to your website/blog or you could even include your email address with your comment(s) or email me.

3. Contest ends Friday, February 28th at 11:59PM CST (Yes, I know it would be nice to have a leap day for extra entries... but that's just the way it is.)

4. How to enter: Just comment in the space below!

5. And for those addicted to getting extra entries:

• +1 for answering the question: Who is your favorite character on Downton Abbey and why?
• +2 for becoming a follower
• +10 if you are already a follower
• +10 for each time you advertise this contest - blog post, sidebar, twitter (please @eliza_lefebvre), etc. (but you only get credit for the first post, so tweet all you like, and I thank you for it, but you'll only get the +10 once). Also please leave a link! There's a handy code on the side for your sidebars!
• +25 if you comment on any of the posts during the Downton Denial Celebration, with something other than "I hope I win" or a variation thereof.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Downton Abbey, Downton Denial, Downtonesque, Edith, Giveaway, Julian Fellowes, Julian Ovenden, Mary, Ornament