About the Book:

Young Josephine Bonaparte shines at the center of a new, sweeping, romantic work of historical fiction by Sandra Gulland: detailed and exhaustively researched, compelling and powerful, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. is the first in a trilogy of fictional novels tracing the actual rise of a young European noblewoman who would one day stand next to Napoleon. From the heartbreak of lost loves to the horror of revolution to the hope of new days, it’s an intimate epic any romance lover will love.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

I am probably like most people when it comes to Josephine Bonaparte.  I knew that she was married to Napoleon, and that he was completely enamored of her.  But beyond that I have never looked into her life, separate from that of her famous/infamous husband.  Where Josephine was concerned, history has completely eclipsed her in the shadow of her meteoric husband.  So when I came across this book I was interested to see what Gulland has presented.  And when I started this book I was a little confused, and even more intrigued with the life of Josephine — before she became Josephine.

Gulland’s research really sets this book apart.  And while it is historical fiction — the background setting is amazingly accurate and surprisingly insightful.  Rose de Beauharnais, aka:  Josephine Bonaparte had an amazing life before her marriage to her general husband.  First married to Alexandre de Beauharnais, a strong advocate of the French Revolution, and a member of the French nobility — Rose’s life was both heart-breaking and fairy tale like.  Her husband’s overbearing dictatorial style towards Rose left her feeling unloved, unwanted, and living life in a precarious position.  In a time when the nobility, as supporters of the French crown, were being hunted down, imprisoned and guillotined, Rose found herself balanced on a knifes edge of her noble lifestyle provided through her husband’s family, and the revolutionary cause her husband so vociferously advocated.  As the family was slowly self destructing between the two Beauharnais brothers, Alexandre and Francois represent the difficulties that all of the French people faced during this time; the French revolution and the issues driving really come to life in this book.

The one thing I didn’t like about this book was the format.  Written in a personal diary form, recorded through the point of view of Rose, I kept feeling like I was always missing something between the various entries.  And while the story is complete — and it reads more as a narrative than a diary — the insertion of the dates, times, and places kept reminding me that I was reading a journal type work, and breaking the flow of the read.  And something about this format kept reminding me that there was potentially a background story — leaving me feeling like I might be missing a lot in between the entries.  However, with time I got past this feeling.  And while it would crop up at various times through out the book, I eventually settled into the format and realized I was really enjoying the read.

The characters are well developed, and Rose really comes to life in this book.  But it was the issues that developed into the French revolution that really hold this story together.  Following closely on the heels of the American Revolution — the spirit of the ideals of freedom and democracy take center stage in this story — in a powerful way.  The book magnifies the difficulties that the American Revolution really never had to fight — which was the strangle hold the nobility held on the country and government — prior to the outbreak of revolutionary spirit.  It was this issue of nobility that lead to a vastly different outcome in the French revolution — and set the stage for the struggles the European countries were forced to confront in their bid for independence, and ultimately laid the groundwork for the rise of Napoleon.  This issue comes through loudly in this book — and it carries the reader into the political struggle and the dangers that consumed this time, and dramatically destabilized the country under the volatility which ultimately came to be known as “The Terror.”  When the guillotine became more than an instrument of terror, and the daily events were the execution of martyrs by the hundreds, this book leaves the reader struggling to come to terms with what happens when a nation turns on itself, and eventually consumes itself in the convoluted and corrupted ideals of men.

Tags: Family, France, French Revolution, Government, Grief, Historical Fiction, Josephine Bonaparte, Love, Memory, Napoleone, Romance, Suffering, Survivor

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

About the Book:

“America is on the brink of war with England, and Fin Button is about to come undone. She’s had it with the dull life of the orphanage, and she’s ready to marry Peter and get away from rules, chores, and a life looked after by the ever-watchful Sister Hilde. But an unexpected friendship forms between Fin and the fiddle-playing cook, Bartimaeus, which sets her on a course for revolution.

With Bart’s beloved fiddle and haunting blunderbuss as her only possessions, Fin discovers her first taste of freedom as a sailor aboard the Rattlesnake. She’s hiding some dark secrets, but there are bigger problems for the crew—they are on the run from the Royal Navy, and whispers of mutiny are turning the captain into a tyrant.

When Fin finally returns home, will she find Peter still waiting, or will she find that she’s lost everything she once held dear?”

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

Hmmm.  My response to this book really surprised me.  With all of the reviews that are out there, I figured this one was really an earth stopping read.  Add to that the fact that it is historical fiction, set during the American Revolution and when I settled into this one, I figured I had a couple hours of pure enjoyment!  So by the time I had read about half the book, I found myself wondering what all the fuss was about.  For me it wasn’t “all that, and more.”

I really didn’t find much in the way of creativity in the story.  In fact, I came away feeling like Peterson was not only rushing the story — but was writing a carbon copy of many of the other books I had read in this field.   (Usually the cookie cutter romance versions — the plot of which could mirror this one almost to a character.)  I found it to be not only predictable, but glaringly so.  And unfortunately this one didn’t seem to deal so much with the American Revolution, as high seas piracy, that just happened to occur during the Revolutionary time period.

Fin reminded me of the typical damsel in distress.  Her histrionics at times are not only tedious, but annoying as well.  She is constantly running off to do something stupid, and while on some characters this independence is interesting — for this story I just didn’t feel that it worked at all.  I have a hard time with the hard core independent characters that also have to be naive, sobbing, spoiled little girls that want their independence only to find they have no capacity to handle it, and no idea what to do with it once it is achieved.

The two characters I really did like were Bartimaeus and Peter.  These two had a great deal more depth, and they were interesting in their development.  These are two characters that Peterson broke the traditional molds when he created them.  The reformed, fiddle playing pirate, and the grounded, intelligent orphan that has the good sense to understand the importance of growing into adulthood are the only redeeming characters in this book.  The rest of them all just came across as cut out wanna be’s.  Bartimaeus was a particularly interesting character — and one that could have changed the development of this story — if he had remained with it.  He provided not only the conscience, and common sense to Fin’s dysfunctional flightiness — but he also provided a profound moral dilemma that I would have loved to see developed as the story continued to grow.

Tags: America, Friendship, Historical Fiction, Romance, Suspense

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Suspense/Thriller

About the Book:

An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.

While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is the first book that I was introduced to, with Dan Brown as the author.  And before I go too far, I would preface this post with the statement that no, I have not seen the movie.  I am a little bit of a purist when it comes to books.  (OK — I am a lot of a purist. )  I have rarely seen a movie that can live up to my expectations, after reading the book.  So I usually avoid watching the movies, unless I do so before I get around to reading the book.

With that said, I found this book a fun and different type of mystery.  Spanning the art world, the religious world, the Biblical world, and introducing the reader to all kinds of interesting beliefs that are floating around out there, the book delivers a well developed, and conceived mystery.  It is more of a treasure hunt than a murder mystery, though the story line provides plenty of both.

Covering several countries — the story takes the reader on a real history lesson.  So much so that at some points the reader has to keep reminding themselves that this is a work of fiction.  But as a student of history, I did find the manner in which Mr. Brown incorporated some of the more obscure elements of history, into this story, to be fun to try and keep track of.  The Templars, the life of Christ, Opus Dei, Art — there is just so much packed into this mystery that it is really fun to try to figure out.

I found the main character to be little strange at first.  Why they would  use a professor of symbology as the main character is a little strange.  But as the story begins to develop, you come to realize that this character works for they type of story that has developed. It is this unusual character that provides the appeal for this book.  Instead of the usual detective novel — the reader finds themselves trying to interpret the obscure world of religious symbology, to unravel a mystery that spans thousands of years.

Tags: Historical Fiction, Literary Mystery, Murder, Mystery, Suspense

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Suspense/Thriller