The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner

 Neva is born with an unusual ability - to predict the weather. At first she assumes everyone can do this, but as the frozen Thames ice starts to break under the frost fair of 1789, even little Neva can see that she's the only one to have foreseen the event. As she grows, she comes to understand how strange and unique her talent is. Using a mechanical figure made by her adoptive father, she disguises her abilities as being those of the automaton, the Weather Woman, and becomes a success in London's salons and soirees. 

But  Neva is frustrated that as a woman, she isn't taken seriously by the scientific experts of the day, and creates herself a male alias, Eugene Jonas, who can go where she can't. However, when Henri Denoue, an exiled French count, meets first Neva, then Eugene, he falls in love - perhaps with them both.

This is a lovely, fairly lightweight, but eminently readable, historical novel with a thread of fantasy or magic running through it. Neva's ability is never quite pinned down, but, as one of my daughters has a synaesthetic condition whereby she sees music as colours, that's rather how I understood Neva's visualising of clouds and colours. It doesn't quite matter to the plot which is one of thwarted romance, and adversaries who want to get hold of the Weather Woman for their own use. 

As with Gardner's teen/YA books, there's a fantastic capturing of the period. Neva is very different to Austen's heroines, or the marriageable daughters of Bridgerton, not wanting to settle quietly into marriage and child-bearing, but to further her scientific curiosity, and her story explores the difficulties facing her.

Contrasting with the quiet domestic setting of Neva's adoptive family, are the grand houses of the 'bon ton', dingy lawyers' offices, seedy boarding houses, with characters to match - in fact a whole slice of Regency London from the high to the low. 

The Thief on the Winged Horse by Kate Mascarenhas

For two hundred years, on a small island just outside Oxford, the Kendrick family have been making exquisite dolls. As each is finished a hex is placed on it, giving it an emotion, from terror to bliss, which can be felt by anyone who touches the doll. It's a close-knit family business, with few outsiders allowed to join (and they are usually marrying into the family) The placing of the hex is a closely guarded secret even within the family, one which, although the company was founded by women, is now guarded by the men of the family; women may design and build houses and sets for the dolls but only men are 'sorcerers' allowed to fix emotions in the dolls.

Into this tight community comes a young man, Larkin, claiming to be a descendant of one of the founding sisters. He too is a maker of dolls, and now wants to claim a rightful place in the family business. Unusually for the Kendrick family, he's accepted on trust and given a position in the company, though no access to the vital magic that makes a Kendrick doll unique. His presence soon causes stirrings in the quiet lives of the Kendricks' world. Persephone Kendrick believes the dolls she creates are as beautiful as any made by the men, but as a woman she's not allowed to make 'Kendrick's' dolls but is relegated to the shop. Through Larkin she sees a way out of her stifling circumstances; a chance of a life where she can follow her ambition to create dolls of her own. 

Meanwhile a valuable irreplaceable doll is stolen, and only a family member with a knowledge of their magic could have executed the theft. There are various suspects, including Persephone's father, but most of the extended family seem happy to blame the fabled 'thief on the winged horse' - a magical character deemed responsible for much of the good - and ill - fortune of the Kendricks. 

I loved this book, from its magical elements to its all-too-real family rivalry and jealousy. Two elements lie at its heart - the daring theft, and the upheaval created by Larkin. At first he seems to slide smoothly into the family's way of things, but soon it's apparent that his arrival has caused a ripple-effect bringing long-held discontents to life.

With its mix of family secrets, betrayals and love, the tracking down of whoever committed the theft, of  Persephone's determination to challenge the status quo and follow her dream, there's something for almost everyone. This isn't 'fantasy' as such; the influence of 'magic' is slight, and for me the appeal was in its characters and their loves and deceits. The characters are well-drawn and realistically brought to life (more so then even a Kendricks' doll), while underpinning their action and the story is a knowledge of human frailties and desires.

 

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver

Wake's End, home of the Stearne family, sits in a remote part of the fens, cut off from the world by the water and reed beds; even in the '60s 'progress' in the shape of draining the fen has not reached here. The last of the family, Maud, lives there quietly, surrounded by her memories of an horrific crime, for which her father, Edmund, was imprisoned. For fifty years, the events at Wake's End have been forgotten but now some of Edmund Stearne's paintings have come to light - strange disturbing images he worked on while an inmate at Broadmoor - and the press have begun to snoop around, putting their own lurid interpretation on events, and wanting to know more. Maud at last is forced to talk about her long ago childhood, and the discovery of the Wakenhyrst Doom painting which sparked her father's monomania.

This is one of those books which start at the end - so you're always aware that something deeply disturbing happened many years ago - and then travels back to the lead up to that incident. Of course, this leads the reader to try to guess how all the pieces fit together, but there are unexpected twists there to surprise.


Although it has a lot of the trappings of a horror story, it's more the story of one man's descent into madness and obsession, helped on his way by his odd religious beliefs, fixation on the 'devil' painting uncovered at the local church, and guilt over on incident from his childhood.

Maybe it's not as terrifying as the publisher's blurb might lead you to believe but it's still a chills-up-the-spine read, filled with that sense of creeping horror that Paver did so well in Dark Matter  - this time with a gothic twist which no doubt helps the ominous atmosphere and build up of tension. Good creepy stuff!

Maryom's review - 4 stars 
Publisher - Head Of Zeus
Genre - gothic horror

That Glimpse of Truth Selected and Introduced by David Miller

Review by The Mole

I have to admit that I am a fan of short stories. When you read a novel you generally expect a rounded story that leaves you with that sense of loss, of wanting more and "missing" the characters now the story is over. Although when it's a serial murderer perhaps you expect the opposite? With a short story you expect to have to reflect on threads that have been left hanging - did you see everything? are there gaps you need to fill in yourself? You actually expect to have to complete some of the story yourself.

It wasn't always the case though. This collection of short stories goes way back through literature and starts with the story of Jonah. It's not a retelling of the story but a lift from an an English version of the old testament. There will be a few who would contest the validity of including this in a collection of fiction - but that's a separate debate and somewhere I don't want to go - but it does remind the reader that story was not about a trip in a whale, in fact the whale hardly gets a mention.

The stories are listed chronologically according to the birth date of the author and the second story by Miguel de Cervantes jumps forward nearly 2000 years to 1547. The Deceitful Wife is a rounded story told in reflection by the deceived husband.

No author features twice in this anthology of 100 tales but with authors as diverse as Nikolai Gogol, Charles Dickens, DH Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Richmal Crompton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Roald Dahl, Kate Atkinson and Joanne Harris so many favourite authors are included that this book has something for everyone and perhaps a finding of new authors as well.

This is a book for lovers of the genre and I admit now to not having read them all - yet! I have read many from the early part of the book (including authors I have never read before including Nikolai Gogol), a few from the middle and some from the end. While the end shows the styles at their very modern best (The Deep by Anthony Doerr is sublime by the way) the earlier styles are still as enjoyable as they ever were.

This is a collection that seems, to me, to fulfil the subtitle "100 Of The Finest Short Stories Ever Written" although I could easily swap many of these for others that I have read and it would still be worthy of the same title.

Publisher - Head Of Zeus
Genre - Short stories, adult fiction

Shadows in the Night by Jane Finnis

 review by Maryom

Aurelia Marcella is the innkeeper at the Oak Tree Mansio on the main Roman road, 15 miles outside Eburacum. It's 50 years since the Romans invaded Britannia and things are normally peaceful and quiet - until a series of murders changes all that. All the victims were travelling on the Roman roads and a message left with the bodies saying ALL ROMANS WILL BE KILLED GET OUT OR DIE. It seems that a rebellion may be growing, led by the mysterious masked figure - the Shadow of Death.

The story is told in the first person as a supposedly official report from Aurelia to the Governor of Britannia. It must be the strangest report he's ever read -it's gossipy and chatty and full of asides! Perhaps because of this I found it really hard to get into this story and by the time I had, I'd guessed the bad guy and was just waiting for events to be wound up.

It gives an insight into Roman settlers in Britain, trying to make a living on the outer edge of the Empire, and the Britons acquiring Roman ways and manners, but in this first book of a series many are only 2 dimensional characters - I expect they'll re-appear and be more 'fleshed out' in later stories.

Maryom's review - 3 stars
Publisher - Head Of Zeus
Genre - historical fiction

Buy Shadows in the Night: 1 (Life and Death in Roman Britain) from Amazon

Wine Of Violence by Priscilla Royal

Review by The Mole

When Eleanor is appointed prioress of Tyndal she meets some resistance. It was not unexpected that a woman in charge of both monks and nuns would ruffle some feathers but a murder within the first 48 hours is going a little bit too far perhaps? And then a new monk arrives with a dark past. When he is attacked and a further murder discovered in the grounds of Tyndal it starts to become a little out of control. Does Eleanor have any allies anywhere?

This is book one in a series of Medieval mysteries and I am seriously left wondering "Who is the 'hero'?" Who is going forward to book two? Will it be Eleanor - she seems the logical choice but will it be Anne, the sub-infirmarian whose logic and brutal honesty comes through so well - but would she go forward without Eleanor? or will it be Thomas, the mysterious monk with a dark past and a mysterious master who seems to 'own' him? Of course it could be all three?

It is described as a mystery but I'm afraid I knew who it was, with a rare confidence, from the very early part of the book. The motivation was also apparent relatively early in the story. I am also left wondering about the title... ?

The story gives an insight into monastic life of the thirteenth century and the people that would have occupied it are brought to life in a tale that was very engaging and most enjoyable. I also found it most refreshing to have three characters so well developed that any one of them could steal the show or even work together in future stories.

Publisher - Head Of Zeus
Genre - Historical crime fiction

Buy Wine of Violence: 1 (A Medieval Mystery) from Amazon

One For Sorrow by M E Mayer

Review by The Mole

It's 535 AD in Constantinople and John, a slave and ex soldier, has risen in the ranks to become Justinian's, Byzantium's Emperor, right hand man. When John finds his friend, The Keeper Of The Plate, murdered in an alley he is given leave to find the killer. Intrigue builds when the Emperor and his wife, Theodora, rescind that permission... but will John risk life and limb to continue his investigation?

I found this book slow to start and maybe even a little naive at first - although that probably doesn't make any sense except to me - but after the first couple of scene setting chapters the story takes off.

You are taken to early Christian Byzantium with John, who encounters the poorest of the poor and the richest of society and treats them all with great respect - well almost all. I really felt that I learned a fair amount of how society was probably structured and how they interacted at that time but most of all I really enjoyed this book.

Did I guess who had done it? Well, no. To say the plot twists and turns is not really true but the profile of the crimes - did I not say that the body count doesn't stay at one? - keeps altering and so therefore so do(es) the likely killer(s) in the readers mind.

A thought provoking historical crime story that will keep you reading - and enjoying.

Publisher - Head Of Zeus
Genre - Historical crime fiction

Buy One for Sorrow: 1 (Death in Byzantium) from Amazon