Historical
fiction reviews by
Sarah L. Nesbeitt - originally published in the Historical Novels
Review (Issue 18).
All reviews on this page ©2001 Sarah L. Nesbeitt. All rights
reserved.
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THE SALT LETTERS
Christine Balint, Norton, 2001, $12 (£7.48), 187pp, tpb, ISBN
0-393-32160-6
This short novel reveals, from the point of view of a young woman, the
hardships of the sea voyage from England to Australia in 1854. The
unmarried female immigrants share close quarters in the belly of the ship,
far from daylight, with the unnamed Matron as their guardian. Their living
conditions are uncomfortable at best, with disease running rampant and
water seeping in and coating their belongings with salt. To pass the time,
the girls reminisce about the lives they left behind.
Sarah, the narrator, gradually reveals more of her previous life in
Shropshire, with an unwanted suitor, a possible romantic interest, and a
mother who oddly abhors all moisture (no doubt meant to contrast with the
current waterlogged atmosphere). The story wanders along with the
narrator’s thoughts, from the ship to home and back again, relating
events as she recalls them. It’s not hard to believe that this is how it
must have been, cooped up for months on end, with little but ocean in
sight. Such is the realism of this unpleasant journey, though, that
readers will likely close this novel with a deep sigh of relief.
THE BIOGRAPH GIRL
William J. Mann, Kensington, 2001, $16 (£8.79), 457pp, tpb, ISBN
1-57566-666-9
The best biographical novels compel us to delve more deeply into the true
history behind the characters, and this is no exception.
In 1910, Florence Lawrence was the world’s first movie star,
attracting larger crowds than even the President.
In 1938, depressed over her faltering career, she committed
suicide. Mann imagines that the real-life Florence faked her death,
disappeared, and lived out her old age in a Buffalo, New York rest home.
It is there where, in 1997, the rival Sheehan brothers find a
feisty 106-year-old woman with sharp memories of the early film industry
and convince her to tell her story.
Florence, an entertaining narrator, recalls the details of her long
life, from her childhood in vaudeville to her years as the celebrated
Biograph Girl, the leading lady of numerous silent films.
Never comfortable with fame, Florence was all too soon replaced in
audiences’ hearts. Her story is told in pieces, interspersed with that
of the Sheehans and their investigations into her past. The novel not only
illustrates how much Hollywood has changed in a hundred years, but also,
ironically, how very similar it is.
CHILD OF THE PROPHECY
Juliet Marillier, Pan Macmillan Australia, 2001, AU$28, 577pb, tpb,
ISBN 0-7329-1093-5
This final volume of the Sevenwaters trilogy set in Dark Ages Ireland is
the coming-of-age story of Fainne, a young girl who must overcome the
shame of her birth and train carefully in the arts of magic, all the while
deciding whether to follow Good or Evil.
On one side are the druids of Sevenwaters, her mother’s people,
who provide her with the family environment she’s never known.
On the other is her grandmother, the sorceress Oonagh, who uses
Fainne as a tool in her attempt to banish the Fair Folk from the Islands
forever. The history is
mostly incidental to the plot, apart from a few mentions of Viking raids
and Briton invaders, and this mostly toward the end.
Some names don’t seem appropriate to the period (Peg, Danny) and
occasionally drew me out of the otherworldly, romantic Celtic atmosphere.
But on the whole, I found this to be an utterly absorbing,
satisfying end to the trilogy, and perhaps the best novel of the three.
MY NAME IS RED
Orhan Pamuk, trans. Erdağ Göknar, Knopf, 2001, $25.95/C$35, 421
pp, hb, ISBN 0-375-40695-6
A man called Black, returning to Istanbul to resume work as a miniaturist
in his uncle's studio, soon discovers that all is not well. Another
miniaturist has recently been murdered, possibly by a fellow artist who
had discovered the true scope of their current project: to illuminate an
entire book for the Sultan in the Venetian style.
In the 16th century Ottoman Empire, works of art that depict
reality are considered heretical. Clues to the murderer’s identity are revealed bit by bit,
through revelations and tales alternately spun by characters both living
and deceased, as well as by the inanimate subjects of the book’s
paintings.
As with miniatures themselves, the charm of this novel resides in
its painstaking details and its brilliantly realized, colorful atmosphere.
Nothing is ever quite as it seems, however, as seen in the description of
a letter written to Black from his beautiful, widowed cousin, Shekure.
While its bare words spell rejection, hidden clues reveal its meaning to
be otherwise. Although readers who prefer their novels told in a
straightforward fashion may find the story drags in places, this novel is
a feast for those whose tastes run to the literary.
Kudos also to the translator, whose marvelous rendition keeps the
tone appropriate throughout.
SACRED GROUND
Barbara Wood, St. Martin’s, 2001, $24.95 (£8.79), 340pp, hb, ISBN
0-312-27537-4
Dr. Erica Tyler, an anthropologist in modern-day Los Angeles, comes across
an intriguing situation. An earthquake has revealed a hidden cave
containing the ancient bones of a young woman - one whose tribal
affiliation strangely cannot be identified. In pursuit of the woman’s
identity, she clashes with Jared Black, an attractive lawyer assigned to
protect Native American interests. In a parallel tale set 2,000 years earlier, the young healer
Marimi, happily married and expecting a child, is cast out of her tribe
for breaking a taboo. Determined
to survive, she and two other children, also outcasts, walk a great
distance to form their own tribe. Marimi
and her female descendants have the gift of foresight, and we see examples
of how their lives intertwine with major events in California’s history.
I found
myself having to suspend disbelief a little too often during my reading of
this tale. For example,
we’re expected to believe that a young woman, barefoot and heavily
pregnant, physically carried a young child hundreds of miles to a new
land: a rather superhuman feat! Also,
the way all of the loose ends are tied together in the end, though
satisfying, may cause some raised eyebrows. Despite these flaws, Wood is a
wonderful, accomplished storyteller. Her prose flows smoothly and easily,
making this a pleasant afternoon’s read.
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