Read a Terrific Book or Two! 

Read a Terrific Book or Two! 

by | Jun 23, 2024 | Book review, Contagious disease, Historical novels, U.S. History

If you’re a new reader, welcome!

Welcome back to my long-time readers!

I have an invitation for all of you:

Would you like to be an advance reader for my new novel?

Your input can help me make it the best it can be!

If you’re interested, please reply and I’ll send you more information.

Thanks for considering!

Now on to our latest book review:

Why should you read a novel about the Influenza Epidemic of 1918? You’ve probably heard, if not read, about it.

The Orphan Collector, by Ellen Marie Wiseman, cover image

I recently discovered The Orphan Collector, a novel focused on this epidemic, and I could hardly put it down.

Why?

  • I worried about the characters—would they overcome their many challenges?
  • Multiple plot threads kept me interested in more than just whether the characters would survive the epidemic

When the influenza epidemic strikes Philadelphia in 1918, Pia, a shy German immigrant in her early teens, struggles to keep her family alive and together.

In the midst of this devastating plague, well-intentioned strangers send her to an orphanage. 

She experiences both the highs and lows of human behavior: selfishness, cruelty, bigotry, prejudice, and deception, as well as friendship, kindness, forgiveness, and sacrificial love.

The Orphan Collector takes readers with Pia as she wages a heroic battle for her family’s and personal survival. 

Major Characters:

Pia Lange—young protagonist, she must mature and struggle with difficult personal qualities to survive and help her family

Finn—Pia’s Irish neighbor, a kind teen who becomes her loyal friend

Bernice Groves (Nurse Wallis)—Pia’s neighbor whose losses bring out her best and worst qualities as she deals with orphans, grieving parents, and the world

Mother Joe—director of St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum, where Pia was forced to live; she employs the severe discipline frequent in that era, but also shows wisdom at times

Dr. and Mrs. Hudson—sympathetic couple who employ Pia as their nanny

Max and Ollie—Pia’s twin baby brothers for whom she risks everything

Strengths:

  • Strong plot
  • Sympathetic major characters draw readers in
  • Antagonistic characters are shown as multi-dimensional people whose weaknesses may arise from factors beyond their control.

Weakness:

A situation or two seems a bit contrived.

 

Content review:

  • Includes descriptions of the symptoms and after effects of influenza infection that may disturb some readers
  • Very limited violence
  • No descriptions of physical intimacy
  • Some mild profanity

My Recommendation:

If you enjoy an engaging story with heroic yet realistic characters, and you don’t flinch from the realities of an epidemic, The Orphan Collector will be a rewarding read.

Reader, is there a story you love with heroic characters in extreme situations?

Arrivederci/ Until next time,

Colleen

clrpeterson.com

Lucia’s Renaissance: a Novel of 16th-century Italy

 

By the way, it’s not too late if you’d like to find out more about joining My Renaissance in Venice tour in September, 2025! Just send me a comment if you’d like more information.

Exploring Ancestry and Early America Through ‘Caleb’s Crossing’ + an Invitation

Exploring Ancestry and Early America Through ‘Caleb’s Crossing’ + an Invitation

by | May 23, 2024 | Book review, Historical novels, U.S. History

Review of 'Caleb’s Crossing' by Geraldine Brooks

Why would I read and write about Caleb’s Crossing, a historical novel set on the east coast of seventeenth-century North America, when my primary fiction interest is Renaissance Europe?

Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks, cover image

Thanks to recent research discoveries about my family’s ancestors, I learned that one of my 10th great-grandfathers arrived in America 15 years after the Mayflower landed (in 1620). Although many of this novel’s characters spring from the author’s imagination, her deeply-researched portrayal of the era’s physical, political and religious background helps me understand the context of my ancestors’ lives.

Why should you read this historical novel that came out over a decade ago?

  • The story is engaging, yet complicated
  • You’ll find out about living conditions faced by early English settlers
  • You’ll observe the complex relationships between English settlers and Native Americans
  • You’ll learn about the beliefs of the Puritans, settlers who dissented from them, and the Native Americans in the region
  • You’ll get a unique view of the mixed early history of Harvard College (now University)

Author Geraldine Brooks traces two major threads in Caleb’s Crossing:

  1. The impact of English settlers on the Native Americans in the regions where they co-existed.

Brooks writes that Caleb, the title character, was the Native American historical figure who inspired this novel. According to historical records, he and Joel Iacoomis were the first Native Americans to complete their undergraduate degrees at Harvard (in 1665).

In the final pages, Bethia wonders if Caleb would have been better off if she hadn’t accepted his friendship and eventually gone to Harvard.

  1. The life story and choices of Bethia, the young female protagonist.

Early in the story, she writes about her mother’s death in childbirth, but then says “I killed my mother.”

Throughout the novel, the author explores why Bethia believes that statement, as well as the interplay between the transplanted English culture she lived in and her contacts with Native Americans, and how both shaped her beliefs and actions.

Major Characters:

Note: all but Caleb and Joel are fictitious, although some are modeled after historical figures

  • Caleb—sympathetic male protagonist, member of Wampanoag tribe of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard) who meets Bethia by chance and befriends her
  • Bethia Mayfield—female protagonist, she’s the quick-witted daughter of immigrants whose father is a missionary to Native Americans and the minister of the English church in Great Harbor
  • Makepeace—Bethia’s older brother, less intellectually gifted than she is
  • Joel Iacoomis—brilliant son of the first Wampanoag convert to Christianity
  • Samuel Corlett—fellow at Harvard who tutors young scholars; he meets Bethia when she works for his father, Master Corlett, a preparatory school instructor
  • Anne—young Nipmuc Native American girl, she comes to the preparatory school because of her gift for learning

Strengths:

This novel is extremely well-researched; the characters are memorable, and the plot contains many twists that hold readers’ interest.

Weakness:

A few plot points didn’t seem credible to me, especially as regards Bethia’s openness to Native American culture.

Content review:

This novel contains mentions of off-stage violence and discussions of sexual intimacy.

My Recommendation:

If you’d like to learn more about Native Americans’ interactions with the first English settlers they encountered, or perhaps have an interest in 17th-century U.S. history, Caleb’s Crossing is an entertaining way to absorb that information, with the caveat that the author used her imagination to create the characters’ personalities and actions.

Reader, can you recommend other novels about colonial North America?

My Update and an Invitation:

I have exciting news and an invitation for readers who’d enjoy a relaxed, curated journey to Venice and the surrounding countryside:

I’ve been invited to share my knowledge of Renaissance Venice during a 7 to 10 day journey in September, 2025. This tour will combine the highlights of Renaissance Venice with time to focus on reflection and personal renaissance during our stay at a comfortable residence in the countryside.

I’m looking forward to sharing my passions for the Renaissance and for writing fiction with interested group members. I hope the journey and our conversations will inspire each guest to pursue their dream, whatever it may be. I’m pleased to partner with Travel Impactful, a unique tour company with values I support.

This will be a small-group tour for 15 to 20 guests. If you’d like more information, click YES button below, insert your name and email address, or submit a comment below.

YES!

Arrivederci/until next time,

Colleen
clrpeterson.com

In the Shadows of Royalty: Labor of Love in the Medici Court

In the Shadows of Royalty: Labor of Love in the Medici Court

by | Apr 17, 2024 | Book review, Historical novels, Italy, Renaissance, Renaissance Florence

Do you think a recent novel entitled, Labor of Love, is:

  1. Related to a Shakespeare play
  2. The story of a pregnant woman’s experience giving birth
  3. Something entirely different

In the case of Marguerite Martin Gray’s recent novel, answer #3 is correct.

 

Labor of Love, by Marguerite Martin Gray, cover image

Summary:

Without further clues, you probably wouldn’t guess this author’s Labor of Love is set at the Pitti Palace, the residence of the Medici family that ruled Florence in the late Renaissance. Martin Gray takes us behind the scenes to reveal much about the Medici family in the weeks before their youngest daughter, Lucrezia, marries Duke Alfonso d’Este. And this is only the background in which Ana and Marco, the young protagonists, attempt to pursue their life’s goals and encounter each other.

The Medici family dominates the lives of many in Florence, including Ana, the family’s impoverished country relative. Not only do the Medicis control Ana’s activities at Pitti Palace, but Duke Cosimo chooses a husband for her (Guido Salviati) without giving her any say in the decision. This creates the novel’s major conflict—the more Ana gets to know Salviati, the more he repulses her, yet she is only a pawn in the Medicis’ political chess game.

 Characters:

  • Ana Geovani—the sympathetic female protagonist, cousin and companion to the Medici daughters. Her passion is working in gardens, communing with God through nature.
  • Marco Rossi—the male protagonist, he’s a gardener with big plans for design, architecture, and ultimately owning his own land.
  • Duke Cosimo de’ Medici—ruler of Florence, he’s a wealthy banker and master politician and powerful as a king
  • Duchess Eleonora de’ Medici—Cosimo’s wife, strict and controlling all matters relating to her family and its position in society
  • Lucrezia de’ Medici—privileged youngest daughter of Cosimo and Eleonora, Ana’s closest cousin. Her life presents a marked contrast to Ana’s.
  • Guido Salviati—the villain, a military acquaintance of Duke Cosimo. The duke promises him Ana’s hand in marriage, in an effort to maintain Salviati’s loyalty.
  • Ernesto and Rosa Arturo—Head gardener at Pitti Palace, and his wife; they befriend Ana, modeling compassion and love

Strengths:

Labor of Love is an engaging story about life in Florence’s Pitti Palace with vivid details about the gardens and plants, descriptions of clothing and foods.

Weakness:

In an era when only priests had access to Bibles, the author didn’t demonstrate clearly how Ana, Rosa, and Ernesto, all lay people, were able to learn so much about religious faith—other than they saw God in nature and attended Mass.

Content review:

This novel definitely qualifies as clean, but it contains references to spousal abuse and allusions to threatened sexual violence

My recommendation:

 Labor of Love offers an entertaining way to learn about life in late Italian Renaissance Florence and its ruling family, the Medicis, as well as characters in less fortunate positions in society. Readers who enjoy a faith-based romance will especially appreciate this novel.

Reader, can you recommend other novels about Renaissance Florence?

Fight, Flight, or Hide: the Huguenots’ Choice

Fight, Flight, or Hide: the Huguenots’ Choice

by | Mar 17, 2024 | author interview, Book review, France, French Protestants, Historical novels, Huguenots

Where would you go if your convictions or your family’s roots endangered your life in your homeland?

What would you do if the people you counted on to give you refuge turned out to be as intolerant as the rulers of your native land?

A decade or two ago, these questions might have been relegated to distant history, but today they are top of mind for a shocking number of people in our world.

Find Me in the Stars, Jules Larimore’s second novel about 17th-century French Huguenots and their struggles, now takes on a new relevance in the 21st century:

• What would I have done facing the Huguenots’ predicament?

• How was their situation similar to one that people I care about, or even I, confront?

Find Me in the Stars, by Jules Larimore, cover image

This is an adventure- and suspense-filled story of 17th-century Huguenots (French Protestants) driven into hiding or away from their remote homeland, the Cévennes region [once called Languedoc, now (since 2016) Occitànie] by religious persecution.

Their struggle to survive includes:
• disagreements within their communities about the correct course of action
• betrayal by supposed friends and supporters
• above all, the enmity of France’s egomaniacal king, Louis XIV, who used his nation’s wealth, wars, tariffs and religious persecution to make himself the ultimate authoritarian, declaring “L’état c’est moi.” (I am the state).

Characters:

• Jehan BonDurant—protagonist, he was torn away from his Huguenot parents as age 7 and converted by Dominicans. Trained as an apothecary, he inherited his parents’ properties and the responsibility to administer them wisely.

• Amelia Auvrey—Jehan’s muse; a free-spirited holy woman and healer

Both Jehan and Amelia wrestle with the conflict between their idealistic and their very human selves. The author also places both in situations of great danger, making those scenes difficult to put down.

• Commandeur Timoleon—head of Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller Commandery, friend and ally to Amelia

• Menina Elise—wise woman, healer, midwife, and Amelia’s grandmother and mentor

• Abbé du Chaila—French Catholic Abbé of Chaila, merciless persecutor of Huguenots

• Pasteur Guillaume Barjon—Jehan’s maternal uncle, a strict Calvinist pastor and leader of a group of refugees in Aarau and Germany

• Charles Sieur de Sailly—French nobleman refugee in service of William III of England and Lord Galway as an agent to organize and recruit Huguenots for resettlement schemes

 

Strengths:

The author skillfully weaves fictional and real-life characters and events into an exciting story, setting it within a vivid background (topography, customs, architecture, clothing, food) that immerses readers in that time and place.

 

Weakness:

Although this novel can be read as a standalone, readers will more fully understand the backgrounds and relationship of Jehan and Amelia if they have read The Muse of Freedom, the first novel in The Cévenoles Sagas series.

 

Content review:

This novel includes references to violence by French dragonnades against Huguenots, threats of sexual violence against a woman, and an unmarried couple’s sexual encounter.

 

My recommendation:

Find Me in the Stars will appeal to readers who enjoy a suspenseful story grounded in history, with characters they can root for, as they reveal both their foibles and their strengths.

Reader, can you share a brief mention of a heroic character in your family’s past?

Keep reading for an interview with Jules Larimore, author of Find Me in the Stars!

Interview with author Jules Larimore:

What drew you to focus Find Me in the Stars on this particular moment and characters?

The period I write about in this novel chose me, actually. I’ve always had a love for the Middle Ages and Renaissance, yet felt a calling for over twenty years to write a story inspired by Jean Pierre Bondurant dit Cougoussac—my 8th great grandfather—a French Huguenot ancestor from a minor noble family. Jehan’s motivation to give up the estate he inherited and flee the country always intrigued me, and I knew there were many sides during this divisive period that needed to find a voice.

Once I dove into the research, I became utterly fascinated with this overlooked period in the late 17th century that led up to the Camisard War. I blended it with Cévenole magic lore into a coming-of-age story and family saga of courage, tenacity, and the power of love, hoping to transport the reader to this thrilling and obscure slice of French history.

How did you discover details of that time and place?

I began research for this series twenty-plus years ago shortly after I learned about my connection to Jean Pierre Bondurant. The first thing I did was to take a trip to Genolhac (Genouillac), France. It is important to me to embody the setting and culture first, to experience a place through its flora and fauna, geology and architecture, and to hear the voices of the people who lived during the era I am writing about, even before I do much other research.

I have returned to the Cévennes a few times in recent years and I was invited to visit, (even spending the night on my last visit) the old Bondurant maison de ville (townhouse) in Genolhac, whose owner shared a few secrets about the house and what transpired there. I have also spent much time in the Museé du Desert to learn about the tools, furnishings, clothing, weapons, and religious artifacts that were in use in the late 17th/ early 18th centuries. In addition, French Departmental archives became a primary method for research. One of my best sources has been Les lien de chercheurs Cévenols.

Did you discover surprises while researching this novel?

 I did! Not to give away any spoilers, one was a secret element at Jean Pierre’s townhouse in Genolhac that aided his family in conducting clandestine Huguenot prayer meetings which were outlawed by Louis XIV. Hopefully readers will discover that when they read the first book in the Huguenot Trilogy, The Muse of Freedom.

Another surprise occurred after I connected with a distant French cousin who shared documents showing that Jean Pierre’s father had been imprisoned for a month in the Tour de Roi in Uzès.

How much did you have to deviate from history to create a satisfying story?

The timeline, locations, and the majority of characters are true to history. Although several characters are the creation of my imagination to bring a diverse, multi-layered experience to the story. But even the historical characters had to be used fictitiously, acknowledging that no one can ever entirely know the true story of bygone eras. So, I filled in gaps using extensive research on the history of the era and took my characters on journeys that seemed befitting based on my personal analysis and inspiration.

Since novels with a bit of romance seem to attract more readers I had intended to develop a fictional love interest for the character Jehan, but I didn’t know until I opened up to it that it would be a free-spirited, mystic holy woman. My research led me to discover that healers who practiced ancient healing techniques were common to the Cévennes Mountains.

What were the most challenging aspects of writing this novel?

Since most of the primary source documents and many of the scholarly papers I used for research are in other languages—French, German, Dutch—they had to be translated. If it were not for the translation programs now available, I’m not certain I could have completed enough research to have developed this novel properly.

And then there was also the editing process—one of the most challenging aspects of writing.

What did you enjoy about writing this novel?

The research is always my first love—traveling to the locales and studying the history. But I love the moments when I sit down with my laptop on my patio and let the characters speak to me. After the research, I can immerse myself in their world and channel their thoughts and feelings. That’s when it feels like magic.

What do you hope readers will take away after reading Find Me in the Stars?

The themes in Find Me in the Stars are very relevant to events happening in the world today—bigotry, authoritarianism, persecution—so the timing for it has been meaningful. Writing this novel gave me the opportunity to convey the positive qualities of courage, tenacity, and transcendent vision while the entire Huguenots trilogy contains overarching themes of love, compassion, and tolerance. I hope that after reading this novel, readers will have a new awareness for the Huguenot refugees and hold a place in their hearts for all people, past and present, who have struggled to escape persecution, oppression, violence, war, or poverty.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?

 I will be presenting this September at the Historical Novel Society conference in Devon, UK alongside two French historical authors, Keira Morgan and Michèle Callard. We are part of an authors’ collaborative who share history articles on France’s Splendid Centuries Facebook page. Our presentation is on “The Allure of French Historical Dramas on Screen and in Novels”.

As part of our presentation, we will be sharing the results of a survey running through March 25 asking “What do YOU like about France & Historical Fiction? We’d be happy to have your readers participate. It is short, only about 5 minutes, and it is anonymous. Anyone wanting the results can simply provide their contact info in the survey and we will send it to them after we compile the data. Here is the link for anyone who is interested.

The Mystery of Two Duchesses and their Duke

The Mystery of Two Duchesses and their Duke

by | Jan 17, 2024 | Book review, Historical novels, Italy, Renaissance

Greetings, Reader!

Why would you want to read about Duke Alfonso II, who ruled Ferrara during the Italian Renaissance, and his first two duchesses?

Why do 21st-century authors keep writing novels about these 16th-century Italians (who are unknown to 99% of people alive today)?

Spoiler clue: It’s the mystery that appeals to authors and readers—

  • Was 16-year-old Duchess Lucrezia murdered by her husband,
  • poisoned on his orders,
  • did she die of “putrid fever,”
  • or did something else happen?
The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell, cover image

When I picked up The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell’s recent novel set in Renaissance Italy, about Lucrezia de’ Medici (the third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo de’Medici of Tuscany and first wife of Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara), I wondered:

How would this new novel compare to The Second Duchess, by Elizabeth Loupas, about Alfonso’s second wife, Barbara of Austria, (which I read when it came out in 2011)?

The Second Duchess, by Elizabeth Loupas, cover image

Although the two novels portray Lucrezia de’ Medici and her fate in very different ways, they share several elements:

  • Both novels engaged and entertained me, with strong plots and portrayals of their cultural settings
  • Protagonists (1st and 2nd duchesses) are pawns in the marriage checkerboard of ruling families—relatively young women sent to marry a man they’ve barely met in order to enhance their family’s standing.
  • Both women face danger when they marry the duke and move to Ferrara because of:
    • Their position as outsiders in the court at Ferrara
    • The duke’s unrestrained power over the people and places he rules, combined with his volatile temper
  • Both duchesses take agency as they can—they don’t passively do their husband’s bidding
  • Both novels revolve around the question of how the 1st duchess, Lucrezia de’ Medici, died at the age of 16 after little more than 1 year of married life in Ferrara

Now, on to focus on The Marriage Portrait:

Characters:

  • Lucrezia – protagonist, third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici of Tuscany, portrayed as a brilliant, lonely misfit whose major way of expressing herself is by creating art
  • Emilia – Lucrezia’s loyal personal servant who goes with her from Florence to Ferrara when Lucrezia marries
  • Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara – mercurial husband of Lucrezia
  • Leonello Baldassare – Alfonso’s cousin and best friend, he shows instant dislike for Lucrezia
  • Elisabetta – Alfonso’s beautiful sister, friendly to Lucrezia
  • Nunciata – Alfonso’s less attractive sister, suspicious and unfriendly to Lucrezia
  • Jacopo – artist’s apprentice, bonds with Lucrezia due to their shared dialect (of Naples) and love of painting

Strengths:

  • Great character development and build-up of suspense
  • Strong plot and portrayal of cultural setting
  • Remarkable ending in which the author pulls together all the clues she has planted throughout the novel

Weakness:

Although the author mentions locations and dates at the beginning of each scene, alternating time periods between chapters may be confusing

Content review:

  • Marital sexual relations are mentioned, primarily to highlight both the era’s pressure for distinguished families to produce male heirs, and the wives’ lack of agency in this area
  • Depictions of violence common in this era

I recommend The Marriage Portrait to readers who enjoy novels with strong characters, surprising plots, long-ago settings, and plenty of suspense.

Reader, what are your favorite historical novels that include an element of mystery?

A Surprising Era in Salerno: Book Review of Rebecca of Salerno

A Surprising Era in Salerno: Book Review of Rebecca of Salerno

by | Nov 8, 2023 | Book review, Historical novels, Italy, Jewish History

Women in the United States only began to practice medicine in the 1800s (see my review of The Physician’s Daughter), so how could a young Jewish woman become a physician back in 1195?

Author Esther Erman answers this question in her action-packed recent novel, Rebecca of Salerno.

Rebecca of Salerno, by Esther Erman, cover image

In these days of conflicts related to ethnicity and religion, it’s a relief to escape into a novel set in late twelfth-century Salerno, Italy, where Rebecca could attend medical school and become a physician.

Remarkably, Salerno had a reputation as peaceful, prosperous, and tolerant of diverse groups, as exemplified by the medical school founded in the eighth century by a Greek, a Latin, a Jew, and a Muslim.

But Salerno’s atmosphere had changed by the time Rebecca, our protagonist, disembarked there. Why?

  • Crusaders arrived, en route to and from their destination in the East. They set up camp outside the town and committed acts of vandalism, robbery, and rape—with impunity
  • The Hohenstaufens, a German dynasty, conquered the Normans and took Salerno in 1195, installing a relative, Duke Henry, as ruler of the city. He didn’t want to offend the pope or the king’s regent, William of Capparone, by cracking down on the crusaders’ misdeeds.

The conflicts Rebecca faces animate this story:

  • Her father and extended family pressure her to assume the traditional role of Jewish women–marriage and life as a wife and mother—but Rebecca aspires to an independent life
  • Her colleague, Rafael, repeatedly proposes to Rebecca, but her trauma after losing her first love, Ivanhoe, leads to her secret vow not to marry
  • Even in Salerno, Rebecca faces discrimination based on her gender and religion

Characters:

  • Rebecca – protagonist, a young Jewish woman who has always wanted to devote her life to healing
  • Rafael Lopes Dias – young widower who attended Salerno’s medical school; he prefers translating texts into Hebrew rather than practicing medicine
  • Isaac ben Shmuel – renegade Egyptian rabbi who alienates nearly everyone he meets; he’s blamed for murdering a crusader
  • Rebecca’s father – traditional Jewish father who wants his daughter to marry and have children
  • Laura di Petrocelli – Rebecca’s medical student; her life exemplifies the challenges faced even by a Christian female native of Salerno who pursues a medical career
  • Leah Sara Garcia – from an older generation than Rebecca; she completed her studies at Salerno’s medical school, but went on to a traditional Jewish life as mother of many children
  • Baruch Mendoza – patriarch of a prominent Jewish family in Salerno; he plays a key role in the story

Strengths:

  • Engaging plot
  • Distinct, interesting characters
  • Offers readers a window on a place and era unfamiliar to many

Weakness:

This is an inspiring story, but Rebecca’s good fortunes may not strike all readers as credible. 

Content review:

References to sexual violence in the later part of the story may disturb some readers.

My recommendation:

If you enjoy journeying with a bold heroine to discover a distant, unfamiliar time and place, and at the same time solving a murder case, Rebecca of Salerno will provide an enjoyable and educational reading experience.

Reader, have you read a novel about this era that you’ve enjoyed?