9.30.2015

The Gilded Hour

The Gilded HourThe Gilded Hour by Sara Donati
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The gilded hour is that liminal time after the sun has set and before all the light has faded - a time to contemplate the day, and plan for the next.  The Gilded Hour, set in 1883, illuminates the lives of intersecting families - a thoughtful but realistic police officer who is the son of Italian-Jewish immigrants, two women doctors - cousins - whose struggles to find acceptance and respect are complicated by love and the evil of ignorance, and four Italian orphans who are separated by forces that may be accepted in the eyes of society, but that do not stand up to loving scrutiny.

The sheer detail of this long, dense, vivid book is one of its joys. Nothing - not the last stages of the Brooklyn Bridge, the ferry rides to an unimaginably rural Staten Island, the splendor of the Vanderbilt mansions, the hideous squalor of the streets - is wasted; all of it brings you into the story, breathless and fearful, joyful and expectant. The two cousins, one a Free Woman of Color, struggle against the medical mainstream as well as the forces of Anthony Comstock, which would deny women even the most basic understanding of their bodies and choices. That they accomplish what the do is simply amazing. Even the recent national history is important, as choices made during the Civil War continue to resound through the lives of every New Yorker.

I wish there were more than five stars to award. I learned so much from this book, and I came to love the characters so much. It's going to be hard to wait for the next book in the series.

Thank you, Goodreads, for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.



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9.23.2015

A Curious Beginning

 A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell Mystery, #1)A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Veronica Speedwell is curious, indeed.

If you combine the scientific curiosity of Maisie Dobbs, the adventurous spirit of Beryl Markham, and the headstrong courage of Flavia de Luce, you won't come close to the vitality of Veronica Speedwell. This young woman has established herself as a world-class lepidopterist, travelling the globe with her butterfly net, a sharpened hatpin, and a carefully-packed carpetbag. She is alone, sure-footed, and satisfied.

As this novel opens, Veronica has attended the funeral of her guardian, and has scandalized the vicar's wife (whilst drinking tea, "properly strong... I abhorred weakness of any kind, but most particularly in my tea") and planned to embark on new adventures, both scientific and amatory. Her disinclination toward the traditional Victorian woman's life is extreme, and she pities the woman who tries to fix her up with a widower: "It is not your fault that you are entirely devoid of imagination," she tells the sputtering vicaress, "I blame your education."  Indeed.

However, mysterious and nefarious forces have combined to snuff that idea, if not Veronica herself. In a matter of days, she is nearly abducted, thrown onto the unwilling protection of a handsome but surly natural scientist, and forced to flee London with the brilliant brute to join a travelling circus. Why do these evildoers want her? What is there about her background that makes her so dangerous? And does the mystery have anything to do with Queen Victoria's upcoming Golden Jubilee?

Veronica and Stoker (the brute) are such a well-matched and appealing couple that this new series will undoubtedly be thrilling and satisfying. I recommend Veronica's maiden voyage (as it were) to anyone who enjoys a cracking good time in the presence of thoroughly enjoyable characters.

I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.



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9.01.2015

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie AsterThe Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book has everything that I love: magic, time-travel,letter-writing,  unusual characters who find each other and form a loving little community, wit, intelligence, historical verisimilitude, and smatterings of quoted Tolkien.

I often say "If you liked The Night Circus..." - I'll say it again.

Utterly delightful. I read it in two days, and will read it again.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC. This is a fair (and exuberant) review.


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