Review: Sisters of Fortune

Title: Sisters of Fortune 

Author: Anna Lee Huber

Publisher: 20th February 2024 by Kensington Books 

Pages: 320 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction | Women's Fiction

Synopsis:

April,1912: It’s the perfect finale to a Grand Tour of Europe—sailing home on the largest, most luxurious ocean liner ever built. For the Fortune sisters, the voyage offers a chance to reflect on the treasures of the past they’ve seen—magnificent castles and museums in Italy and France, the ruins of Greece and the Middle East—and contemplate the futures that await them.

For Alice, there’s foreboding mixed with her excitement. A fortune teller in Egypt gave her a dire warning about traveling at sea. And the freedom she has enjoyed on her travels contrasts with her fiancé’s plans for her return—a cossetted existence she’s no longer sure she wants.

Flora is also returning to a fiancé, a well-to-do banker of whom her parents heartily approve, as befits their most dutiful daughter. Yet the closer the wedding looms, the less sure Flora feels. Another man—charming, exasperating, completely unsuitable—occupies her thoughts, daring her to follow her own desires rather than settling for the wishes of others.

Youngest sister Mabel knows her parents arranged this Grand Tour to separate her from a jazz musician. But the secret truth is that Helen has little interest in marrying at all, preferring to explore ideas of suffrage and reform—even if it forces a rift with her family.

Each sister grapples with the choices before her as the grand vessel glides through the Atlantic waters. Until, on an infamous night, fate intervenes, forever altering their lives . . .

My Thoughts

I am always up for anything Titanic related, some good and some ... not so good. I am happy to say that this is one of the good ones, in fact, one of the really good ones regarding the tale of this infamous ship from history. 

“You’ve heard, then? About the iceberg? I saw it from the promenade. It was a great monstrous thing. Are they still telling people to return to their staterooms?”

This is the tale of three sisters who, with their family, embarked on the maiden voyage of the Titanic (this is after the whole family had completed their ‘European Tour’ and were just back from Egypt). The story is told from their alternating viewpoints and we gradually learn a bit about each sister and their dreams and aspirations. This is a very well written tale with the pacing just right. All characters, not just the three main women, are strong and engaging, highlighting very different approaches to life in the early years of the twentieth century, especially for women. Reading the author’s final notes explains how much is fact and how much is fiction and I believe Anna has done an outstanding job of combining the two. 

‘The room’s décor was Jacobean in style, with Tudor roses depicted in scrollwork across the Saloon’s roof and decorative columns.’

Two points that make this book a standout for me: one, although a work of fiction, the necessary research has been done and it came across as a most realistic portrayal of this well documented tragedy. Everything from the luxurious furnishings, the food and events onboard, the famous passengers, to how they were evacuated and the chaos that ensued. Secondly, the background stories really made this tale. It was definitely not just about the ship, it was more about these three women and how this event changed their lives in profound and unexpected ways. 

‘... the ship could break into three separate pieces and each part could still stay afloat. I would say that makes the claims of practical un-sinkability pretty valid.’

Reading this book you get a first hand account of how lives were before, during and after being part of such a tragedy.It is a wonderful work of fiction based on historical research (there really were three sisters on the Titanic!) with likeable leads, fabulous descriptions, romance and resilience, hope and heartache all rolled into one well written tale. 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

 

Review: The Hidden Storyteller

Title: The Hidden Storyteller

Author: Mandy Robotham

Publisher: 29th February 2024 by Avon Books UK

Pages: 384 pages

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

The war is over. But there are still secrets to be found amidst the ashes…

Hamburg, 1946.

The war is over, and Germany is in ruins. Posted to an Allied-run Hamburg, reporter Georgie Young returns to the country she fled seven years prior – as Chamberlain spoke those fateful words – to find it unrecognisable.

Amidst the stark horrors of a bombed-out city crumbling under the weight of millions of displaced Europeans, she discovers pockets of warmth: a violinist playing amidst the wreckage, couples dancing in the streets, and a nation trying to make amends.

But when she joins forces with local policeman Harri Schroder to solve a murder case he is working on – a woman with the word traitor engraved into her skin – she soon discovers that the darkest secrets of war haven’t been left in the past. And once again she is pulled into a world she hardly expected to see again…

My Thoughts

Mandy Robotham is an auto buy for me as you are always guaranteed a great historical read. The interesting aspect of this novel is that it is post World War II, taking place a year after the declaration of peace. It was fascinating to be on the streets of Hamburg as the struggles and tensions simmered post war under British administration. 

‘People have fought for years to survive Hitler’s madness, and they’re dying because we can’t feed the peace.’

For those of you familiar with Mandy’s 2020 book, ‘The Berlin Girl’, it is Georgie Young, a young British journalist sent to Berlin as a foreign correspondent in 1938, now finding herself in Hamburg post war 1946. The story is also told from not just Georgie but Meta (displaced German) and Harri (German police). The story is over the few weeks that Georgie is in Germany to write her newspaper article. Mandy’s research is once again en pointe with both characters and settings authentically capturing the various experiences of war and the fallout from it. 

‘Is he destined to always have the stink of fascism steeped into the fibres of his being, never to be scrubbed away? Heinrich Himmler must be bloody laughing in his grave.’

Interestingly, this is a story of not only historic details but also incorporates a thriller detective drama. Mandy does well in combining the gripping tale of a murderer on the loose. Towards the end the pace is fast with danger and several tense moments for all involved and readers are sure to engage with characters that you want a better life and outcome for.  

‘Another life lost is nothing new, even after the bombs have stopped - starvation, disease and the freezing weather are the new agents of death.’

Congratulations Mandy on yet another winning book. I have read and adored all your books and cannot recommend them highly enough. For a realistic, well written tale of what life in Germany was like directly after the conclusion of WWII, look no further than ‘The Hidden Storyteller’’. 

‘I’ve been altered by a lot over the last few years, but I didn’t imagine that two weeks in a post-war German city would be quite so life-changing. For a whole host of reasons.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

 

Review: The Last Illusion of Paige White

Title: The Last Illusion of Paige White 

Author: Vanessa McCausland

Publisher: 4th December 2024 by HarperCollins Australia 

Pages: 319 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, mystery 

Synopsis:

Two women. A tragedy on the lake. And secrets beneath the surface ... The lyrical, haunting new novel from the author of The Beautiful Words

Paige White kayaked across the lake each morning at dawn. Someone was watching her. Many someones watched her online. But was anyone with her the day her body was discovered?

Paige has always lived a picture-perfect life, documented closely on her social media. The world she has curated exudes an old-fashioned, wholesome lifestyle. Her page is littered with lakeside breakfasts with her daughter, sunny afternoons in the family van, and romantic picnics with her husband. So when she posts an ominous, brooding image and is shortly after discovered drowned, everyone immediately wonders - suicide or foul play?

Jane Masters was one of Paige's childhood best friends, who left her behind to pursue a bigger life in Sydney. When Paige's death makes national news, Jane, a journalist, reluctantly travels home. Struggling with the morality of covering her friend's death, Jane will confront the town she left behind and the dark undercurrents that she's always known run underneath.

My Thoughts

I  have read and enjoyed all Vanessa’s books and was thrilled to read her latest offering, The Last Illusion of Paige White. This is an exceptionally haunting and lyrical tale as only Vanessa can write as she proves, yet again, that she is a skilful writer capable of creating truly atmospheric stories with locations that will draw readers in. 

Set in two timelines (which Vanessa handles seamlessly) a mystery slowly unfolds. This is a book with a number of themes such as families, small towns, grief, religion, bullying, marriages, infidelity and more. However, at its heart this is a very compelling read about the impact of social media - our illusions about it and how the lines may become blurred concerning online and reality living. Vanessa frames the story in such a way that will give readers pause for some serious considerations of their own and others use of this medium. 

"But are any of us really showing the world our true selves?

Are any of us who we say, who we think, we are? Maybe we're

all capable of much more, or less, than we realise." 

I am such a fan of Vanessa’s work and she is an auto buy author for me. Her books are not only atmospherically consuming but the themes she tackles are paramount and powerful. If you have never read any of Vanessa’s books before, I highly recommend you immerse yourself not only in a place of beauty but also in a well paced mystery that impacts all social media users in today’s day and age. 

"It's as though I'm trapped in my own Instagram photo.The one with the most likes ... everything reduced to tiny little squares, compartmentalised. It's what I spent a good chunk of my life doing - trying to put neat parameters around myself. Whatever I was trying to do didn't work.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

 

Review:The Night on the Darling River

Title: The Night on the Darling River

Author: Darry Fraser

Publisher: 4 December 2024 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 300 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Romance

Synopsis:

Amid the rising flood waters and shearers' strike violence, can one brave woman reclaim her future? From an Australian bestselling author comes a riveting historical adventure about one woman's journey from a life of isolation to one of love and acceptance.


1894, Echuca, Victoria

Tess Hawthorn is a woman on the run from her abusive husband. All she has to do is get on the riverboat Victor and she will be free.

But with tensions at an all-time high between unionist shearers and Scabs, Tess isn't the only person trying to board a boat under the cover of night. When a brawl erupts between the union and non-union men, Tess is mistaken for a fellow Scab and in the chaos pulled aboard the PS Rodney - the same boat heading up the Darling River that her husband was bound for.

The last person Bram Kempster expects to see on board is Tess Hawthorn, the girl he's loved from afar since they were young. But he can't afford to get distracted, not when he's on an urgent trip to Renmark. Tess didn't want him back then and, if her haughty behaviour is anything to go by, she certainly doesn't want him now.

But childhood hurts are the least of their problems. The continent is a tinderbox of violence and bloodshed waiting to ignite, and at home the Murray River is rising fast. Can they overcome their past in time to work together and survive?

My Thoughts 

In a time when Aussie authors are making their mark in historical dramas, Darry has done a fabulous job with wonderful storytelling, putting herself right up there with the best in these Australian colonial sagas. Her latest offering is no different - drama and adventures in the outback, with colourful characters and an engagingly dynamic storyline. 

I always gain so much from reading one of Darry’s books. On this occasion, she returns to her true love the Murray-Darling basin and I could not be happier. The factual focus on this occasion is a major flood that occurred in 1894 around the same time that the PS Rodney departed Echuca for its fated last journey. Add into this a dangerous shearers strike and some truly frightening domestic violence and this is a much darker and violent story that Darry has to share. The cast of characters are strong and believable and I appreciated the various POVs. 

If you like to escape to a time long gone, a time when women attempted to exert some form of independence, all with a dash of mystery and romance, then this will be the book for you. Life wasn’t easy for women who were often regarded as male property and I admired the many strengths of the lead character, Tess Hawthorn. I highly recommend you sample one of Darry’s true to life historical dramas. 

‘Since that night on the Darling River, everything about the person she’d become during her marriage had to change.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Golden Thread

Title: The Golden Thread

Author: Tea Cooper

Publisher: 30th October 2024 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 352 pages

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

When eighteen-year-old Constance Montague wakes one Wednesday she expects the day to unfold like any other. Breakfast with her grandmother Nell and her mother Faith, a meeting in Maitland with the ladies of the Benevolent Society, perhaps a gentle stroll along the banks of the Hunter River. But this Wednesday is different. Nell has vanished.

Concerned, Connie determines to track Nell down and follows a lead to Old Government House in Parramatta, now a boarding house. There, to her astonishment she finds her grandmother holding court.

When Nell introduces her (under a false name!) to a varied cast of colourful guests, including a frail but observant old lady, a travelling salesmen, a bearded lothario, a clever articled clerk, a lively seamstress and an enigmatic housekeeper who is connected with Nell's past, Connie begins to realise that her grandmother is not who she seems. Nell is looking for something and following a thread stitched long ago, a thread that leads from some missing gold, to a golden dress and the attic of Government House and as the story unravels so do the secrets of the past, secrets that surface into the present to threaten not just Nell, but Connie too.

My Thoughts

Tea Cooper always presents outstanding Australian historical fiction and her latest, The Golden Thread, is no exception. I have enjoyed all of Tea’s previous works as they have proven to be consistently engaging and masterfully crafted tales of mystery and intrigue. 

The Golden Thread once again entertains readers with strong female leads. I just adored Nell and how she works together with her granddaughter to unfold the mystery. There is a golden yellow dress, created in the mid-eighteenth century in London (now abandoned in an attic) that is the inspiration for this story. Tea is so clever at taking a piece of history and forming a fictional tale around it. So be sure to read her notes at the end of the book in which she tells the story of the ‘golden’ dress, explaining not only its history but also the provenance regarding pieces from history that feature in this book.

This is a clever story that will have you working to organise all the plot puzzle pieces that have been masterfully crafted by Tea. I was captivated by not only the determination of the two women, but also a strong cast of secondary characters. Congratulations Tea on once again producing a masterfully crafted tale of mystery and intrigue that will see the reader journeying side by side with Nell and Connie as they both respectively work to uncover the truth.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.