strange and random happenstance

Mata Hari's Last Dance by Michelle Moran
Published by: Touchstone
Publication Date: July 19th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
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The woman formerly known as Lady Margaretha MacLeod has come to Paris to reinvent herself. Styled as Mata Hari, the "Eye of the Dawn," she has been trying to get work in the various dance halls. But she is too exotic, too foreign. Little do they know she's just a girl from the Netherlands who can spin a tale. At the last place she auditions, the disreputable L'Ete, she is once again turned away, but her luck is about to change. Edouard Clunet, a respectable and successful lawyer saw her dance and wants to act as her agent. The dance halls aren't the place for Mata Hari, she needs a select and refined audience, one Edouard can introduce her to. Her first production is for Clunet's client, Guimet, who has built a library to house his extensive collections and wants to have a ceremony with two hundred guests to open his Place d'Iena. Mata Hari's dance is a sensation. Her storytelling, her risque dances, they electrify the audience and soon she is coveted by all of Paris to perform at their function. But Clunet is clever, he only chooses the best venues with the best hosts, concerned just as much with Mata Hari's image as with her abilities.

Soon Mata Hari is performing one of a kind shows for the Rothschilds, Jeanne de Loynes, and Givenchy. Her habit to also occupy her host's bed lets Mata Hari accumulate beautiful possessions and living quarters, those that her pricey performance fees don't quite stretch to. She is the name on everyone's lips, so of course she is given opportunities beyond Paris which she jumps at. Madrid, Berlin, never did she think she'd play such lavish locations! But now that she has everything she could ever have wanted she realizes what she misses most, that which she ran away from. Her daughter, Jeanne Louise, whom she left behind with her husband when she fled after the death of their son. She has spent so much of her life telling tales and reinventing herself that to open up to Edouard, to tell him a truth, raw and painful, is a revelation. Her success will continue longer than she ever imagined, but it's her past she can never recapture that she wants most. As time goes on her habits with her lovers and her ability to spin a yarn will catch up to her with the most dire of consequences. Everyone has to face the music in the end.

When I was younger I didn't quite know who Mata Hari was. But then again, being told of a great courtesan doesn't seem like the kind of tale you'd tell as a bedside story to a child. So I had these wild ideas about who she was. A seductress, a storyteller, and a spy, all with the most amazing outfits. Someone out of The Arabian Nights like Scheherazade. Someone from antiquity when Gods walked among the deserts. A grand heroine of myth. The truth is she'd probably like the myth in my mind. It wasn't until much later that I learned the truth of her tragic life. Ironically I didn't learn about Mata Hari in any history class but in the episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles that was written by Carrie Fisher, which should have been subtitled "Indy Gets His Groove On." Here was the beginning of the truth I never knew. The woman I thought relegated to dusty tomes was a "spy" during the first world war! While there are those who'd argue that this is old, to me, if a person was alive in the same century I was born that's pretty recent news. Gone were The Arabian Nights delusions and in their place was this woman who defied convention and died for the greater good.

I think where my erroneous impressions of Mata Hari came from was the fact she was a courtesan. Courtesans seem of an older era, when Kings walked through Versailles and a Maharajah took a woman to bed bedecked with jewels. When you think of the turn of the past century when a woman slept around or had a lover she was a mistress or worse. But mistress doesn't do Mata Hari justice. Neither does any of the more derogatory slurs that could be mentioned. She was a true courtesan. She was well educated, skilled, and able to tell the most intoxicating stories. So she accepted gifts of jewels and property, these were never payment, they weren't even really a transaction of any kind, more a thank you for a good seduction. She lived outside the expectations of society. Or at least the expectations of a woman in society. She acted more like a man when it came to whom she took to bed. It was all about desire, hers and theirs, and if they happened to look really fabulous in a uniform, all the better.

By living outside of the proscribed norms it was interesting in how I related to Mata Hari. As in, I didn't relate to her AT ALL. I mean, sure spending a night on your back or a day dancing to be draped in jewels might be some people's ideal life, just not mine. The truth is, she's not the most likable person. It's not just that her morals don't jive with mine, it's something more, something deep down that while I can be fascinated by her I would never like her. In fact, I found it interesting that Mata Hari kind of reminded me of Linda Radlett from Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love. They are both very acquisitive beings who like the finer things in life and don't scruple when it comes to what they want to do. While I like to view myself as carving out my own life, I'd never go for such a drastic trailblazing method. But that is what makes Mata Hari so interesting. She goes big or goes home. More than that though she really knows how to craft a tale. Her lies are so intoxicating and fascinating, that while you might balk at her life choices, you have to admire her style.

Where Moran's storytelling surpasses Mata Hari's is in showing the real purpose of all Mata Hari's storytelling, to mask her pain. Mata Hari's life growing up as Margaretha Zelle, later MacLeod, wasn't the smoothest of journeys to be sure. The situations that she was forced into by the abandonment of her family at a young age eventually resulting in her early marriage would be events best forgotten. When this is compounded by the death of her beloved son you can see why she ran away and rewrote her own story. Many people would give anything to be able to rewrite their past, even pasts not nearly as traumatic as that lived by Mata Hari. A new city, a new name, a new past. She did a marvelous job reinventing herself and creating a legend. But legends are rarely relatable. Through her writing Moran lets us see behind the veil and while you might never quite come to terms with and like Mata Hari, you really feel for her. Her struggles, her pains, her decisions, even the atrocious ones, you just get it, and that's what historical fiction is about, connecting to another person in another place and time.

As for whether Mata Hari was killed because she was a spy? Well, I'm not of the harsh opinion Wikipedia holds that she was too naive and stupid to be a double agent. Because if anything her reinvention shows that she was a clever woman who knew what she wanted and got it. I agree with Moran's inference that Mata Hari's downfall was a judgment on her as a person versus any knowledge or secrets she might have held. Mata Hari didn't fit into the standard mold. She was a woman who lived her life as she wished. Certain men in power couldn't handle this. The world was at war and people were expected to toe the line and behave or all would be lost. Mata Hari went from being a juicy topic of conversation used to titillate to a wanton woman who was out to steal your husband. She was judged for what she did and paid the ultimate price. So what if men did what she did all the time, she was a woman and therefore her death was for the greater good. Yes, her ability to spin stories did come back to bite her on the ass, because she had a honeyed tongue and could make anything sound like truth so how could you believe a word she said? But what this book made me realize is that her story still resonates. She was a woman who lived her life outside of societies expectations and paid for it. Therefore I give you Mata Hari, a true feminist icon! She died for the cause, and can that be said about Isadora Duncan?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fall of Poppies, Carrie Fisher, Courtesan, Dancer, Feminist, Mata Hari, Mata Hari's Last Dance, Michelle Moran, Nancy Mitford, Paris, Storytelling, The Pursuit of Love, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: March 4th, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
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Laurence Bartram survived the Great War, his wife and child did not. In the years since he has become more and more recluse ostensibly working on a book about churches while hiding away in his garret of an apartment. A letter from someone out of his past is about to bring him back into the world. Mary Emmett, attractive and nymph like younger sister of his former classmate John Emmett has reached out to Laurence as perhaps the only person in the world who knew her brother well. This past winter John killed himself after a stay in a sanatorium and Mary wants to know why. Laurence insists that he is not the right man to make these inquiries on her behalf because he lost touch with John long before the war and he wouldn't possibly know where to begin. Yet his affection for Mary and what might have been reluctantly enlists his help, and she does have a suggestion for a starting point. John left three bequests in his will to people other than his family. A Captain William Bolitho, a widow named Mrs. Lovell, and a Frenchman the solicitors were never able to find, a Monsieur Meurice. With these three names Laurence starts to piece together a horrific event that happened during the war. An event that still has ramifications as those who were present start turning up dead. Sadly Laurence realizes that John Emmett has ended up being more important to him dead than alive... just as he is to a mysterious figure in a coat and hat who is following him.

The Return of Captain John Emmett is a good old fashioned ripping yarn that is reminiscent of the golden age of detection when Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Margery Allingham were writing murder mysteries that the world devoured. Just as I have imbibed the books of these "Queens of Crime" I couldn't put down Elizabeth Speller's book about Laurence Bartram. Phone calls went unanswered, emails were not replied to. I once again started to lament my inability to just absorb books into the very fibers of my being à la dark Willow in the season six finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But as much as I wanted to reach that grand unveiling, feverishly reading page after page, I almost didn't want the denouement to come because then this marvelous caper would be concluded. With each page I kept thinking back to the day I found this book at my local used bookstore and all I could think was, who could ever sell this awesome of a book? It had everything you could want! Atmospheric London right after the war, unrequited love, mysterious deaths, suicides that might not be as they seem, mistaken identities, adultery, murder, paternity issues, poetry, villains, heroes, humor, insane asylums, quaint rural pubs, love... everything! Seriously, there are some people lacking discernment in Madison. But there loss was my gain. As it always seems to be.

What the meat of the book hung off of was the amazing character development. Each and every person was such a unique individual. While I think it might be a sin to say that the protagonist Laurence wasn't my favorite, he just wasn't. Laurence means well, he's stolid and trustworthy and so sweet in how he always gets the wrong end of the stick, much like another favorite detective of mine, Inspector Morse, who also just stumbled into answers versus actually solving them. But my heart is forever with Laurence's best friend Charles. Firstly, Charles is a rabid Agatha Christie fan, even if she had only written one book when this book was set, a slight historical accuracy oops. Yet Charles' love of mystery fiction doesn't force the book into the cliched Watson and Holmes shtick that so many golden age mysteries suffer from. Instead it manifests in his rapid love of the case and his suggested reading materials to Laurence. Who doesn't love a sidekick with a reading list? Plus, having Charles around would be wonderful, he always has a cousin who knows all the gossip, plus a car to get around. Sorry Laurence, you are trumped in every sleuthing category by Charles. Yet that's why I love this book, it's like Watson is the accidental protagonist for once! But these are just two of the amazingly multi-faceted characters. From John Emmett's father and his very Mitford-esque nature, to the fiery red-head Mrs. Bolitho who was a nurse during the war and has very progressive political ideas. Not one character was flat and lifeless, they just emerged from the page fully formed and instantly became my friends. People versus characters.

Though the heart of the book is how Speller deals with the more difficult topics of what war does to someone. How to some, like the newspaperman Brabourne, it's just a phase in a life that will be reminiscences to his grandchildren, where to Emmett, it forever changed him and lead him to his grave at that folly in the countryside. Then there is Laurence, who has shut himself off from the world and become a recluse. This investigation Laurence undertakes helps to bring him back to the world and out of his shell. Because of a simple letter asking for help he is slowly reentering the world. The strong characterization of each individual in the book lets Speller examine the effects and tolls on myriad people, all who are different and unique. Life is a house of cards and one wrong rotten thing can ruin it... for some. Speller shows us clearly the difference of life during wartime and life after wartime, making this an interesting examination of the Great War. Sometimes things just happen in a war that you could never, ever see yourself doing under normal circumstances. And when the war ends, it's about coming to terms with what you did. How can life ever become what it was? But sometimes we can not be held accountable for everything that happens. We cope, we deal in our way. For some it's poetry, for others photography, some prefer isolation, and for others still, it is surrendering to your base animal instincts. Yet Speller handles all these sensitive issues and more without being preachy. She has created real people and through them we understand.

And what we have to understand most of all is that the Great War's biggest repercussion was that it was a great demystifier. Prior to being sent to their deaths among dirt and disease, these young men believed it was noble and patriotic to die for your country. But the Great War was just hell on earth. Literally. You were forced to do your duty because otherwise, well, otherwise you were dead. The most terrifying aspect of the war was that if you tried to desert because of cowardice, because you literally could not face going over the top, then you were killed by your own men. All told, the number of soldiers shot for cowardice was very small in the grand scheme of things, but to have to kill one of your own because they acted on what every single one of them was surely feeling, it's a betrayal to your own beliefs, surely. Something one might never get over. In recent years more and more literature, film, and television, has focused on shell shock and the mental repercussions of the war. But here Speller is able to show us both sides of the argument. She delves deep into that which supposedly had to be done for the greater good. Yet here the repercussions spin a complex yarn of a tale, a mystery that you'll want to go back to again and again. In fact, every time you see it on a shelf at a bookstore you might just want to pick it up to pass it along to someone who hasn't yet had the honor of reading it.  

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fall of Poppies, Agatha Christie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Elizabeth Speller, Laurence Bartram, Murder, Nancy Mitford, Shell Shock, Sherlock Holmes, Suicide, The Return of Captain John Emmett, Watson, WWI

Nightmares: The Lost Lullaby by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third book in the hilariously scary Nightmares! series by New York Times bestselling authors Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller is here! You thought the nightmares were over? You better keep the lights on!

Charlie Laird has a very bad feeling.

1. There’s a NEW GIRL at school, and Charlie and his friends have DEFINITELY seen her before.

2. He’s been hearing strange noises after dark, which is NEVER a good sign.

3. The nightmares are back, and they’re WEIRDER THAN EVER.

Not since he faced his fears has Charlie had so many bad dreams. Whenever he falls asleep, he finds himself in a Netherworld field, surrounded by a flock of CREEPY BLACK SHEEP. They're not counting sheep. They refuse to jump. In fact, they don't do much at all. EVEN EERIER, THOUGH, is that it’s not Charlie’s nightmare. Somehow he’s trapped in someone else’s bad dream. And he’s pretty sure the twins ICK and INK are responsible.

Charlie and his friends thought they’d put the twins out of business, but it seems they didn’t quite finish the job. Now the WOOLLY NIGHTMARES are closing in, and INK has shown up at Cypress Creek Elementary! Charlie’s convinced that INK is up to NO GOOD. And if he’s right, it could be a very long time before anyone’s dreams are sweet again."

Not only is the another new Jason Segel book, it has SHEEP on the cover. Sold.

Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle
Published by: Tachyon Publications
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
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The official patter:
"Beloved author Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) returns with this long-anticipated new novel, a beautifully bittersweet tale of passion, enchantment, and the nature of fate.

It was a typically unpleasant Puget Sound winter before the arrival of Lioness Lazos. An enigmatic young waitress with strange abilities, when the lovely Lioness comes to Gardner Island even the weather takes notice.

As an impossibly beautiful spring leads into a perfect summer, Lioness is drawn to a complicated family. She is taken in by two disenchanted lovers—dynamic Joanna Delvecchio and scholarly Abe Aronson — visited by Joanna’s previously unlucky-in-love daughter, Lily. With Lioness in their lives, they are suddenly compelled to explore their deepest dreams and desires.

Lioness grows more captivating as the days grow longer. Her new family thrives, even as they may be growing apart. But lingering in Lioness’s past is a dark secret — and even summer days must pass."

Firstly, that cover! Secondly, it's Peter S. Beagle people!

Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan
Published by: Tor.com
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sound of the horn pierces the apeiron, shattering the stillness of that realm. Its clarion call creates ripples, substance, something more. It is a summons, a command. There is will. There is need.

And so, in reply, there is a woman.

At the beginning―no―at the end―she appears, full of fury and bound by chains of prophecy.

Setting off on an unexplained quest from which she is compelled to complete, and facing unnatural challenges in a land that doesn’t seem to exist, she will discover the secrets of herself, or die trying. But along the way, the obstacles will grow to a seemingly insurmountable point, and the final choice will be the biggest sacrifice yet.

This is the story of a woman’s struggle against her very existence, an epic tale of the adventure and emotional upheaval on the way to face an ancient enigmatic foe. This could only spun from the imagination of Marie Brennan, award-winning author and beloved fantasist, beginning a new series about the consequences of war―and of fate.

Cold-Forged Flame is the first in a new series by Marie Brennan."

I met Marie Brennan when she was doing a signing tour with Mary Robinette Kowal. She is totally fascinating and I CAN NOT wait to read this new book. Also, that cover! 

The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders
Published by: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mrs. Laetitia Rodd, aged fifty-two, is the widow of an archdeacon. Living in Hampstead with her confidante and landlady, Mrs. Bentley, who once let rooms to John Keats, Laetitia makes her living as a highly discreet private investigator.

Her brother, Frederick Tyson, is a criminal barrister living in the neighboring village of Highgate with his wife and ten children. Frederick finds the cases, and Laetitia solves them using her arch intelligence, her iron discretion, and her immaculate cover as an unsuspecting widow. When Frederick brings to her attention a case involving the son of the well-respected, highly connected Sir James Calderstone, Laetitia sets off for Lincolnshire to take up a position as the family's new governess--quickly making herself indispensable.But the seemingly simple case--looking into young Charles Calderstone's “inappropriate” love interest--soon takes a rather unpleasant turn. And as the family's secrets begin to unfold, Laetitia discovers the Calderstones have more to hide than most.

Dickensian in its scope and characters, The Secrets of Wishtide brings nineteenth century society vividly to life and illuminates the effect of Victorian morality on women's lives. Introducing an irresistible new detective, the first book in the Laetitia Rodd Mystery series will enthrall and delight."

Oh, a new series of cozy yet period mysteries? Yes please!

Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Kate Shackleton's sterling reputation for courageous sleuthing attracts the attention of the venerable Lady Coulton. Hidden in her past is a daughter, born out of wedlock and given up to a different family. Now, Lady Coulton is determined to find her and puts Kate on the case. But as Kate delves deeper into Lady Coulton's past, she soon finds herself thrust into a scandal much closer to home. When the body of the respected Horatio Potter is found in the Leeds Library basement, the quiet literary community is suddenly turned upside down with suspicions, accusations and - much to Kate's surprise - the appearance of a particularly intelligent Capuchin monkey! Convinced an innocent man has been blamed, Kate sets out to discover the truth."

Um, yeah, this is a fun series so go read it people!

Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies by Nick Frost
Published by: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"'No life can really be all black, right? Even during the darkest times, what got me through that bleakness was laughter and time. With enough of both of these things I reckon you could get over just about anything.'

Nick Frost burst onto our screens in a blaze of camo fatigues and weaponry as the Territorial Army obsessed loveable idiot Mike Watt in the hit cult comedy Spaced. Since then, fans around the world have watched him with a fervent devotion as he fought zombies, rescued aliens and salsa'd his way to box office smash after smash.

It's quite a story. But it's not this story. This story isn't the romp from movie set to Hollywood party. This is a story of a life like no other.

With blistering candour Frost recounts his childhood growing up in Essex in a household full of love and optimism but tragically blighted by alcoholism, illness and sudden life shattering misfortune.

Dogged by his own personal demons, Nick tells of the hilarious, jaw dropping and at times heartbreaking experiences that have punctuated his tumultuous life.

This is exhilarating, joyful and unforgettable storytelling and unlike any memoir you're likely to read."

Nick Frost has written a book. OK. I'm trying to contain myself but I kind of want to yell out something about the power of Greyskull... or shoot some guns into the air while yelling ahhhhhh.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cold-Forged Flame, Frances Brody, Jason Segel, Kate Saunders, Kate Shackleton, Laetitia Rodd, Marie Brennan, Nick Frost, Nightmares, Peter S. Beagle, Summerlong, The Secrets of Wishtide, Tuesday Tomorrow

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Tales of Innocence
Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery, Jay Underwood, Veronica Logan, Pernilla August, Renato Scarpa, Anna Lelio, Selina Giles, Clare Higgins, Evan Richards, David Haig, and Roshan Seth
Release Date: July 14th, 1999
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Indy is stationed in Northern Italy. While his work has him arranging the dangerous defection of German troops to the allied forces, he spends all his time thinking of getting back to Guiletta. Guiletta, the girl of his dreams. Sure, her parents don't approve, but what does that have to do with love? All is well until he realizes he has a mysterious rival for the affections of Guiletta. He spills his guts out to a fellow American who drives an ambulance that night in the local cantena. Ernest Hemingway seems full of great ideas to one-up this upstart, that is until Indy realizes that Ernest is his rival! The two friends quickly become bitter enemies trying to win the heart of Guiletta while still doing their duty in the war. And war being war, anything could happen. Ernest and Indy are both injured in an air raid. While Indy is recuperating in Venice, his body and his heart start to heal. Though once healed he will be back in action, stealing hearts and saving the world. He only wishes his new assignment were more exciting. Trying to find out the culprits behind the transferring of arms in Morocco seems dull compared to fighting on the front lines. Yet his companion, the novelist Edith Wharton, turns what would be a boring mission into the journey of a lifetime.

Right before I started high school The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles premiered. Despite being such a short lived series it will forever hold a place in my heart. In fact, starting high school it was a good way to weed out prospective friends, if they watched the show and loved Sean Patrick Flanery as much as I did, well, friends for life. Literally. I fell hard for Young Indy and Sean Patrick Flanery, River Phoenix in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was long forgotten. I even have the premiere issue of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Magazine that I ordered through Scholastic signed by Sean Patrick Flanery, who was the nicest person you could hope to meet and I had so much fun talking about the show with him at Wizard World Chicago. Yes, I fully admit to fangirling all over this series and Sean but luckily not to his face. I was so caught up in the stories and the romance and the action, and let's not omit the Sean angle, that I didn't realize how sneaky George Lucas was being. George Lucas was making me learn history! Designed as an educational program for children and teenagers, historical figures and important events were showcased through these prequels to the films.

I learned much of my history through the life of Indiana Jones. While I was more into the romantic travails of Indy fending off a young Ernest Hemingway, the Easter Rebellion wormed it's way into my brain. Pancho Villa worked his way in while I was admiring Indy's horsemanship. Damn that boy can ride! George Lucas had secretly succeeded in teaching me where my teachers failed. To be fair though, in grade school, it was the fault of the teachers not of history. The film franchise with Harrison Ford was very much centered on the Nazis and World War II. Therefore, due to Indy's age, it only made sense for "Young" Indy to be involved in World War I. From enlisting in the Belgian Army because of his young age, to fighting at the Somme and Verdun, to transporting weaponry across German East Africa and the Congo, to escaping from a prisoner of war camp, to escorting Austrian Princes, to even being seduced by Mata Hari, Henry Jones Junior encapsulated all of the Great War in his escapades in a way that was memorable and entertaining. I can't help but think that if my high school English teacher had combined A Farewell to Arms with Indy's adventures in Northern Italy in June of 1918 I might not have taken such a strong dislike to Hemingway.

Watching the first half of this episode twenty-three years after it first aired I'm amazed that it still holds up. It's not just for the Sean Patrick Flanery devotees, there's a good solid plot, lots of zany and goofy humor, in particular one scene involving the mass consumption of pasta, as well as some nice jabs at Hemingway. And yes, I still don't like Hemingway all these years later, so I take great amusement in his suffering. But what really struck me this time around was the influence of E.M. Forster on the look and feel of the Italian storyline. Yes, there's probably a part of me nostalgic for all his books and movies I devoured just last fall, yet there's this lovely innocence to Indy and Hemingway vying for the love of Guiletta, even if they get a little debauched at the bar after wooing hours... this story does have Hemingway in it so it was inevitable. I also think the fact that Howard's End coming out a year before this episode aired isn't a coincidence, even though this story is more reminiscent of A Room with a View in my opinion. When Indy goes on a walk with Guiletta with Granny as guardian, the beauty of the countryside is almost overwhelming. The show might have ended because it cost so much to make, but just watching it again, they did it right, and isn't that what matters?

What I love though about this storyline is that it shows that the Great War wasn't just in trenches in France with Germany bombarding them. This was the smallest section of the "European Theater" yet the war effected quite literally the entire world. With Indy traveling around we see how the war was fought from North Africa to Russia. Here we get a glimpse of the work being done in Northern Italy, with German forces successfully defecting, as well as the importance of non-active troops, such as ambulance drivers, which is how Hemingway served during the war. We also see that not every second of every day was devoted to battle. They have down time to drink, to think of the future, to love. Just because there is a war doesn't mean that we stop being human. I think that is what comes across most with the adventures of Indy, these famous people were actually people. Sometimes we look on celebrities as a different breed, people apart. But in the end they're just like us. They have hopes and dreams, like Hemingway wanting to be a writer, even if Indy shuns his idea of a love letter, which is hilariously literal. Humanizing history is what this show does, and perhaps that's why I became a lover of historical fiction.

Though while the first half is forever one of my favorite sections, the second section with Edith Wharton, which was never aired, I think is the most eye opening. To me Edith Wharton is so of a different time that I have never really connected her to the fact that she was around during World War I. She seems somehow of the past yet unmoored from historical events. Yet she tirelessly helped the war effort in France throughout the conflict. All that she did is amazing if you read about it, heck she even wrote several books on it herself. She was even appointed to the Legion of Honour for her work! And while the continuity doesn't quite work with her actual travels in Morocco, it's interesting to see Indy, not just solving a mystery, but having a relationship with a woman that is more about conversation and mutual understanding than about infatuation or seduction. Indy is, after all, a ladies' man, but Wharton here has the power. In an obvious mirroring of Wharton's own work, I mean just look to the title of this episode, Indy is relegated to the weaker role, that of Newland Archer, where Wharton holds all the cards of a intelligent and irresistible Countess Olenska. It's great fun to see Indy wrong-footed, but also to appreciate a woman for something more than just her looks. Which is why I knew he always HAD to end up with Marion Ravenwood. Always.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fall of Poppies, A Farewell to Arms, E.M. Forster, Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway, George Lucas, Indiana Jones, Sean Patrick Flanery, The Age of Innocence, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, WWI

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 16th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Ginger Stuyvesant is stationed in France with the Spirit Corps. The Spirit Corps is ostensibly there to provide hospitality rooms for the soldiers. A place for them to sit down, have a cup of tea and a bit of a chat with a pretty lady, maybe a dance, so they can have a bit of normalcy when they get away from the front. But the spirits the Corps are dealing with aren't just of the morale boasting variety. The tents and the tea, besides providing much needed support, are also the front for their real purpose; spiritualism. Ginger is a medium and she works with her circle to take the reports of recently fallen soldiers. Each soldier, before heading to the front, is conditioned to report to Potter's Field when they die. The giant warehouse, chilled by the spirits coming through, has circles of two mediums and their anchors, waiting for the dead to tell their final minutes. Conditioned to report on their death and any other important details, such as troop positions or gun turrets, these soldiers don't die in vain. They are able to give vital information after their last breath and go to their well deserved rest.

There are two things keeping Ginger at her post. While the valuable work she is doing is of the utmost importance, it would be a lie to say that she doesn't take comfort in being near her fiance, Captain Benjamin Hartshorne. Yet something odd happens when Ben is at the front. There is evidence from two different sources that the Germans are not only aware of the true purpose of the Spirit Corps, but that the Corps is being targeted. The higher ups won't listen to Ginger thinking that it's utter nonsense that the Spirit Corps is being targeted. She needs Ben to back her up. He's an intelligence officer and his voice is heard in meetings where she's often asked to get the tea. But then everything changes. Ginger's greatest fear has always been that Ben would report in to Potter's Field. There's a huge backlog one day and Ginger fears that all these deaths were for one purpose only, to stall the Spirit Corps so valuable information can't get through. Valuable information that Ben might have when Ginger spots him. When she realizes he is dead her world collapses. But Ben isn't like the other ghosts checking in, he's not going to rest until he finds his killer and protects the Spirit Corps with the help of Ginger.

Ghost Talkers is Mary Robinette Kowal's first novel not set within the world of the Glamourist Histories which I love so dearly. I am all for authors branching out, especially when they maintain their quality of prose, character creation, and worldbuilding like Mary does her. Instead of creating an alternate history we are given more a secret history with Ghost Talkers. The Spirit Corps could actually have existed as a shadowy organization and I think that is one of the things that I love most about this book. The fact that it could have been. Working within the actual framework of history to create a story that isn't just plausible by possible to the reader is a grand achievement. The conceit with how the Spirit Corps collects information just makes sense. To use two mediums and a circle of other people who would otherwise have nothing to give to the war effort, from old women to wounded soldiers, as their anchor to this plane of existence just seems logical. The way Mary describes how the mediums experience the reporting soldiers' last minutes as well as the toll on their bodies, to the lure of just letting go of your decaying heavy corporeal form, it's so real that it's like you're reading about something that happened, and who's to say it didn't?

But Mary takes her "spiritbuilding" beyond just the simple exchange of information from a reporting dead solider to a medium. With the death of Ben we get to see the spirit realm not just from Ginger's point of view but also from Ben's which is piercing the veil. The way Ginger sees Ben as shifting from standing to sitting to rocking to saluting all at once makes you not just see the transitory state Ben is trapped in but it also latches onto the fact that ghosts are entities of emotion, and emotions from rage to love can all exist simultaneously, much as Ben does in all these different stances. The idea that ghosts are really echoes and impressions of past emotions isn't a new concept, but the way Mary shows us how Ben is an amalgamation of these concentrated emotions gives a new depth to not only how we view the concept of ghosts in this world, but also a deeper understanding of what exactly is left of Ben and how Ginger loves him dearly. What I found most fascinating though was the idea that a ghost whose emotions take him over is what is a poltergeist. Ben could forever be trapped in that one emotion: rage or fear or despair. Forever. You can see why Ginger does all she can to ground him. Not just out of fear of what could be, but love for what a great man she lost.

This nailing of ghostly interaction while making it wholly her own isn't the only instance of Mary being able to take something that is ephemeral and give it a voice that we as readers relate to. I am speaking of Ginger's dreams, or nightmares in some cases. Now you might be wondering, how can a dream sequence be wrong, everyone dreams differently and therefore there can be all manner of weird dreams? Yet, correct me if I'm wrong, but I would be willing to bet good money that you've been watching some TV show or movie and they've had a dream sequence and you just didn't think it was believable. There wasn't enough grounding in the character's reality, and they just went for the gimmicky and the weird versus the believable. Because, believe you me, dreams do have logic! Why else would there be so many people trying to interpret them? Every dream I have I can tie back to something I've worried about or seen, even if it ends with me in a swimming competition with Captain America, I can still tell you where that came from. And yes, that was a dream I had this week. David Lynch and Joss Whedon are what people should aim for, and what I think Mary achieved. And as for the lucid dreaming. That's a whole other level of perfection and horror.

As for grounding in the real world, versus the subconscious or supernatural, what I found delightful was the mentions of Arthur Conan Doyle and Houdini as agents working to hide the existence of the Spirit Corps and the truth that spiritualism works. The "real" history of this is that Conan Doyle was obsessed with spiritualism, belonging to many societies, championing the truth of the Cottingley Fairies; he wrote books on his beliefs, his wife even believed herself to be a medium. He was the poster boy for spiritualism. Enter his good friend Harry Houdini. Houdini was a big mama's boy and when she died he was desperate to make contact with her. He wanted to believe in spiritualism but all he saw was people using the same tricks he used in his magic acts to con gullible and grieving people. Houdini even offered a cash prize to anyone who could prove they were a real medium. Needless to say it was never collected. Houdini's zeal in debunking false mediums caused a rift between him and Conan Doyle that turned into public antagonism and hatred. Now want if it was all smoke and mirrors? What if this big debacle was all masterminded to protect a valuable secret? I just get chills thinking about it and hope it's explored further in later books.

The true heart of the novel though is the love between Ginger and Ben. If their doomed love wasn't believable than Ghost Talkers would not have worked. But the problem is we join then relationship firmly established and then challenged. To form a bond between readers and the relationship between characters it's often best to see the whole arc of their relationship from beginning to end. And while we do get glimpses of the past in Ginger's dreams and in her conversations with Ben, it's almost like they're a fait accompli. There's nothing left but to wait for their tragic ending. So it's hard to see them together. We've just joined them at the end of their story. But then that all changed. Ginger asks Ben what is was that made him fall in love with her and he talks about her love for Brussels sprouts. In this little reminiscence you see the depth of their connection, you see their love. It's a love story not writ large, but writ small, the size of a little sprout. This somehow makes their connection so real that it physically aches when you think that by the time you finish this book they will no longer be together. To get across that it's the little things that make love love shows the depth of Mary's storytelling. She gets the little details right, and that just helps with the big, and then you have a book that feels whole.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fall of Poppies, Arthur Conan Doyle, Cottingley Fairies, David Lynch, Ghost Talkers, Harry Houdini, Joss Whedon, Mary Robinette Kowal, Medium, Secret History, Spirit Corps, Spiritualism, Worldbuilding, WWI

Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After besting (and arresting) a ruthless silk factory owner and his gang of thugs in Girl Waits with Gun, Constance Kopp became one of the nation’s first deputy sheriffs. She's proven that she can’t be deterred, evaded, or outrun. But when the wiles of a German-speaking con man threaten her position and her hopes for this new life, and endanger the honorable Sheriff Heath, Constance may not be able to make things right.

Lady Cop Makes Trouble sets Constance loose on the streets of New York City and New Jersey--tracking down victims, trailing leads, and making friends with girl reporters and lawyers at a hotel for women. Cheering her on, and goading her, are her sisters Norma and Fleurette--that is, when they aren't training pigeons for the war effort or fanning dreams of a life on the stage.

Based on a true story, Girl Waits with Gun introduced Constance Kopp and her charming and steadfast sisters to an army of enthusiastic readers. Those readers will be thrilled by this second installment--also ripped from the headlines--in the romping, wildly readable life of a woman forging her own path, tackling crime and nefarious criminals along the way."

I kind of was hesitant to pick up the first book seeing as EVERYONE was recommending and talking about it. Now that I've had some distance, this does look like a fun series. And yes, I know I'm contrary. 

Letters from Paris by Juliet Blackwell
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After surviving the accident that took her mother’s life, Claire Broussard has worked hard to escape her small Louisiana hometown. But these days she feels something is lacking. Abruptly leaving her lucrative job in Chicago, Claire returns home to care for her ailing grandmother. There, she unearths a beautiful piece of artwork that her great-grandfather sent home from Paris after World War II.

At her grandmother’s urging, Claire travels to Paris to track down the century-old mask-making atelier where the object, known only as “L’Inconnue”—or The Unknown Woman—was created. Under the watchful eye of a surly mask-maker, Claire discovers a cache of letters that offers insight into the life of the Belle Epoque woman immortalized in the work of art. As Claire explores the unknown woman’s tragic fate, she begins to unravel deeply buried secrets in her own life."

While I know Juliet Blackwell mainly for her cozy mysteries I've been highly encouraged by many people I know to pick up this series. There might have been shoving it in my face...

The World of Poldark by Emma Marriott
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The World of Poldark explores the characters, the compelling stories and the era that Winston Graham's Poldark novels- and the television series - set out to recreate, the England that Ross Poldark returned to from the American War of Independence. England, and especially Cornwall, was then marked by social unrest and a deep division between rich and poor. It was a place of tin mines and shipwrecks, of new money versus old, of harsh justice and great kindness.

Amid the turmoil of eighteenth-century Cornwall, Ross comes back to a home in ruins, his father dead and his childhood sweetheart engaged to another - his own heart as battered as the country around him.

Experience the great houses and the glorious landscapes and follow the cast of characters as their stories play out against the backdrop of Cornwall's wild beauty, through interviews with the actors, behind the scenes insights and in-depth information on costumes, props and locations. Packed full of behind the scenes photographs, The World of Poldark is the ultimate guide to the popular series."

I would seriously buy this for the cover alone. Yes, I love Adian Turner THAT MUCH!

Necrotech by K.C. Alexander
Published by: Angry Robot
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Street thug Riko has some serious issues—memories wiped, reputation tanked, girlfriend turned into a tech-fueled zombie. And the only people who can help are the mercenaries who think she screwed them over.

In an apathetic society devoid of ethics or regulation, where fusing tech and flesh can mean a killing edge or a killer conversion, a massive conspiracy is unfolding that will alter the course of the human condition forever. With corporate meatheads on her ass and a necro-tech blight between her and salvation, Riko is going to have to fight meaner, work smarter, and push harder than she’s ever had to. And that’s just to make it through the day."

Karina Cooper is having a bit of a life and writing overhaul, so if you're a fan, please go out and buy this book!

Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Politics have never been October “Toby” Daye’s strong suit. When she traveled to the Kingdom of Silences to prevent them from going to war with her home, the Kingdom of the Mists, she wasn’t expecting to return with a cure for elf-shot and a whole new set of political headaches.

Now the events she unwittingly set in motion could change the balance of modern Faerie forever, and she has been ordered to appear before a historic convocation of monarchs, hosted by Queen Windermere in the Mists and overseen by the High King and Queen themselves.

Naturally, things have barely gotten underway when the first dead body shows up. As the only changeling in attendance, Toby is already the target of suspicion and hostility. Now she needs to find a killer before they can strike again—and with the doors locked to keep the guilty from escaping, no one is safe.

As danger draws ever closer to her allies and the people she loves best, Toby will have to race against time to prevent the total political destabilization of the West Coast and to get the convocation back on track…and if she fails, the cure for elf-shot may be buried forever, along with the victims she was too slow to save.

Because there are worse fates than sleeping for a hundred years."

New October Daye!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aidan Turner, Amy Stewart, Cornwall, Juliet Blackwell, K.C. Alexander, Karina Cooper, Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Letters from Paris, Necrotech, October Daye, Poldark, Seanan McGuire, Tuesday Tomorrow

Fall of Poppies by Jessica Brockmole, Hazel Gaynor, Evangeline Holland, Kate Kerrigan, Jennifer Robson, Marci Jefferson, Heather Webb, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: March 1st, 2016
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

The cat stands, stretches, and meows to be let out. Simple, ordinary things that punctuate the hour, the day, a year, a life. - Hazel Gaynor, "Hush"

Life changed the day war was declared, but it changed again on November 11th, 1918, when the war stopped. The problem was in four years of fighting, of death, of destruction, the world could never go back to the way it was. Atrocities were perpetrated with lasting ramifications. Bodies forever disfigured from the brutality of battle. The earth and it's people, forever scarred. To survive women and men did things they want to leave in the shadows, in the dark garrets of Paris, and in the blood soaked trenches of France. With war over for the first time in a long time hope is once again possible. A future can be contemplated, planned, dreamed of. Children will have a future. Love will have a chance to take root. From a hospital in Belgium to an artists studio in Paris, from the coffee fields of Kenya to the riotous streets of Dublin, the war hasn't just changed the world, but forever shaped the course of these peoples stories told by these different authors. The armistice has come and their voices will now be heard.

I have many short story collections and anthologies just laying about neglected. I feel really bad about this because years ago when I read Nick Hornby's selection of monologues, Speaking with the Angel, I found some amazing new voices in fiction whose books I then read and loved. But since then I've been very bad. I keep buying these books because there's one author I love and just have to read their story, so I get the book, I read the story, and then the book is relegated to my neglected, deprived, and languishing shelf. And yes, I do have such a shelf, peopled by many short story anthologies that feature Charlaine Harris and a lot of Dickens. What compounds the problem is that if I've waited too long all the author's stories spread throughout all these books get republished in their own book, like Charlaine Harris's A Touch of Dead of Patricia Briggs's Shifting Shadows, which ironically is also on this shelf. Therefore I kind of felt it my duty that while I picked this book up for Lauren Willig, I knew the other authors names and felt that it was time to read something they'd written and actually finish a book by multiple authors.

While I feel somewhat biased saying Lauren's story, "The Record Set Right," was my favorite, I have a feeling this was more to do with the fact I'd read it out of context as a kindle release prior to reading it amongst the rest of the tales. Therefore it felt like I was revisiting an old friend. But there are quite a few authors I feel will be new friends, and a few I might be reluctant to read, but none I will outright avoid. In fact I think many of these stories will work better taken out of context, because read all together the sameness of some of the writing techniques used makes them blend together into a confusing jumble. Fall of Poppies is definitely a book I'd encourage to read leisurely, a story every few days, to not only get the full impact of the narrative, but to clear your palate of the previous story. Because otherwise the structure of how so many of the first person narratives are weighted to the front of the book combined with all the HEAs and female narrators, it makes them all blend together into a jumpling mass where they all feel like they're telling the same story with the same trite ending.

Now I'm not a hater of first person narration like some people I know, in fact some dear friends I know, but it's hard to get first person right. The key is a very strong voice for the character. "The Daughter of Belgium" had a very timid narrator, followed directly by Lauren's strong narrator, there was a weird disconnect. You've been living in one characters head and you've suddenly switched to another's and it's jarring. It's like you're seeing first hand what it would be like to live in someone's head who has a multiple personality disorder, and in this instance Lauren's character Camilla is the dominate personality, while Marci Jefferson's unnamed narrator, in the vein of Du Maurier's Rebecca, is the submissive personality. In fact, so submissive she has no name! While as the book progresses there is only one more story written in first person, Jessica Brockmole's "Something Worth Landing For." So why did this book feel the need to have two of these stories back-to-back? The book starts out on such a wrong footing that it takes awhile to recover and actually become enjoyable.

Then there's the gimmicky nature of every story having Armistice Day as it's focal point. Yes, the description of the book should have tipped me off with it's themes of "renewal" and "hope." But you can build your story before or after this event, yet SO MANY chose to have Armistice Day as THE DAY the story was set. It made any story with a little time before the bells pealing away at 11AM on the eleventh novel and far more interesting. Yes, to an extent it's interesting to see how nine different authors tackle the inclusion of Armistice Day in their story, but please, think outside the box. Make it a jumping off point. Not EVERYTHING has to happen on that day. True love doesn't have to magically be found in the last minutes of the war. As for love at first sight? Every time it happened I kept thinking, what happens when they get home? What happens when the scales fall from their eyes and they really get to know this person they picked at random for their HEA? Some of the stories seriously need that something more.

Which is why those with this "otherness" really stand out. Those that are set apart just jump off the page. When a male narrator shows up it's like manna from heaven! But the ones that stood out most where those that looked at the diversity of people fighting in the war and where they were fighting. The story that stood out head and shoulders above the rest for me was "The Photograph" by Kate Kerrigan. I mean, I can seriously see this as an independent Irish film starring Saoirse Ronan and Harry Lloyd. See, I've already cast it, just make it now! What makes this story so unique is that it's set in Ireland. What's more it's about soldiers who were sent to quell the Irish Rebellion and their fight for freedom. With the greater Great War, there was a clear villain with Germany, here it's Britain against Ireland and the justifications for fighting are murkier. The Irish deserve and eventually win their independence, but those English soilders fighting them are just doing their job. It's just dumb luck they weren't sent to France, like many Irish soldiers were. Also, when Armistace happens, it's not an end to the hostilities in Ireland, it's just the beginning. This one story brings all the rest into context. It's "otherness" shows all the stories in a clearer more brillant light and elevates the whole book. So when am I getting my movie adaptation?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fall of Poppies, Anthology, Beatriz Williams, Charlaine Harris, Daphne Du Maurier, Fall of Poppies, Hazel Gaynor, HEA, Kate Kerrigan, Kenya, Lauren Willig, Patricia Briggs, Rebecca, Short Story, WWI

Sometime last year I realized that two of my most favorite authors, Mary Robinette Kowal and Lauren Willig, were coming out with books this year set during The Great War. This couldn't be a coincidence I could just dismiss. Oh no. Both these authors have been a part of theme months in the past, so it only made sense to fashion a new theme month out of this random happenstance! And thus A Fall of Poppies was born! Taken from the time of year and the title of the short story collection Lauren was a part of I had the seed of inspiration. But what else could I do? Because while I am fascinated by World War I, I feel that often World War II overshadows it and takes the bulk of the narratives. I felt it was my duty to not only shine the spotlight on an event that forever changed the shape of history, but that in doing so affected every form of medium, from books to films to television to photography to poetry to art. The Great War, in all it's horror, gave inspiration to so many. And I'm not talking about how it inspired the Germans to start another World War and try to get it right this time.

While the easy way out would be to take a traditional look at World War I and the literature of the time; literature being the great medium it is, World War I has had a myriad of influences on speculative and alternative histories as well as British Comedies. This decision to choose non-traditional books, shows, and movies wasn't taken lightly or solely because Mary's book is an alternative history and would otherwise feel out of place, but in order to show how many different people handle one idea. From the more traditional to the more Steampunk. From the more TV movie of the week to the more comic. I was inspired to seek out sources that would be different and that had helped inform my own knowledge. So expect some Blackadder, expect some Young Indiana Jones, expect some Benedict Cumberbatch, expect the unexpected, and join me in looking back at the war that so changed the world it was never dreamed there could be another.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fall of Poppies, Benedict Cumberbatch, Blackadder, British Comedy, Fall of Poppies, Ghost Talkers, Indiana Jones, Lauren Willig, Mary Robinette Kowal, Steampunk, The Great War, Theme Month, WWI, WWII