Review: The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo

Amid the social whirl of Washington society balls, in the midst of the American Civil War, lovely young Alice Green meets a dashing Mexican aristocrat, Angelo Iturbide. Over the protests of her family, she marries Angelo, who is the son of Mexico's last failed (and executed) Emperor. When rebellious leader Santa Anna is exiled, Angelo feels it is safe to take Alice and move back to Mexico.

Alice quickly adapts to life in Mexico, embracing the culture and the food and tweaking her name to the more Spanish 'Alicia.' Soon she is pregnant and the couple have a healthy son who they name Agustin.

Not long after Agustin's birth, Mexico is invaded by the French army. They drive out the Mexican Republic's president, Benito Juarez, and it seems that all of Europe conspires to place a new Emperor on the throne. This time a Hapsburg (they rule everywhere else, why not Mexico, too?) in the form of Maximilian, Archduke of Austria. Unfortunately for Max, he is basically forced to accept the throne of Mexico and also forced to relinquish his birthright in the process. His wife, Carlota, is determined to go to Mexico, anything to escape the boredom of their European backwater.

From the start, Maximilian and Carlota are ineffective rulers, at best. They have no real interest in or talent for leading, Max would rather chase butterflies than attend to the business of running a country. They have some problem within their marriage, too. Though both are young (Max in his thirties, Carlota in her twenties), they have no children. They take the extraordinary step of requesting that the Iturbides turn over their two year old son, so he can be raised as the heir to the Mexican throne.

The reasons for this request are never explained fully. Alicia sees it as a fantastic opportunity for her son, to be educated in the best European schools and to have a future that his parents could never provide for him. She is assured that she will be able to see the boy daily. Angelo is totally against what amounts to giving his only child away. He resists and resists but finally is unable to stand against the pressure. They sign Agustin over to Maximilian and Carlota.

The instant the boy is safely ensconced in the palace, Angelo and Alicia are exiled and forced out of the country. Their efforts to reclaim their son are hampered by Mexico's slide into chaos as the government breaks down, Europe turns its back and the French Army begins to retreat.

This is a fascinating and complex novel about a little known period in Mexican history. The author's extensive research and richly detailed settings bring to life nineteenth century Mexico in a vast, colorful tapestry. From the lowly kitchen maid and the rough soldier to the bluest blood of the European aristocracy, we are treated to pieces of the story from every point of view. While I enjoyed the way the author wove together the many characters, I did find the profusion of them slowed down the narrative a bit for me. A reference chart would have been helpful for keeping them straight.

All in all, a very enjoyable book, a must read for the dedicated historical fiction fan.

The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo is published by Unbridled Books. ISBN 978-1-932961-64-5

Here are some other blogs participating in the tour:

Booksie's Blog
Caribou's Mom
Darby's Closet
Devourer of Books
Drey's Library
Kylee's 2009 Blog
Medieval Bookworm
We Be Reading

Book Giveaway Carnival is Here!! Giveaway: In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld

Welcome, everyone to Book Giveaway Carnival!! This week, many of your favorite book bloggers will be giving away some fantastic books! So head on over to Book Room Reviews for a list of everyone participating and the links to the giveaways. Tracy at Book Room Reviews is the creator and host of Book Giveaway Carnival....thanks, Tracy, for hosting this great event!

My giveaway this week is In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld! This book has been generously provided by Caitlin at Unbridled Books. I reviewed it in December, you can read my review here. To enter, just leave a comment here with a note about why you think you might like this book. For two extra entries you can blog about the giveaway, tweet it on twitter or become a follower of my blog. If you do one of these, please leave a separate comment letting me know. The winner will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. P.O. Boxes are OK (!). Enter until midnight, eastern time on March 8. Good luck everyone and enjoy the Carnival!!

Oh--I have five other book giveaways going on this week, please check them out! They are all on my left sidebar, just click on the book cover to enter!

Review: In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld

Addie and Tom Kavanagh met in the mid-sixties, when she was a student in his Biology of the Birds class with her best girlfriends, Cora & Lou. She was entranced by Tom that very first lecture, an introduction to the wonder of the world of birds.

"Hollow bones. Imagine what this means. Strength and lightness. Flight and surety. They hover too magnificently between the practical and the whimsical, the rational and the exquisitely nonsensical, for any student of their physiology and habitat and history to dare to linger too long at either pole, the strictly 'scientific' of the purely 'poetic'."

When Addie fell for Tom she also fell for the birds and birdsong that he so loved. She was an accomplished artist and in the early days of their marriage they collaborated on Tom's one and only book, "A Prosody of Birds," for which Addie did the illustrations and gained some recognition for her work.

But as the years pass, Addie finds that she can't appreciate the wonders of the natural world because she is constantly worn down by the worry that humans are destroying it at every turn. Having their only daughter, Scarlet, serves to deepen Addie's concern for the environment and she becomes involved with extremists. Her activities create a distance between her and her family and friends who are hard pressed to understand her single-minded purpose.

When Addie is dying of breast cancer, her family and friends gather at Cora's house on the Jersey shore. Cora's home has been a refuge for the whole family in the last twenty years. Cora has provided caring friendship to both Addie and Tom and has played a very maternal role in Scarlet's life. Though she loved her child very much, the kind of mothering care Cora provided to Scarlet seemed to be the thing missing in Scarlet's relationship with Addie.

In these last days of Addie's life, the complex history and relationships of these individuals will be relived. A tangled web of emotions and motivations exist between this group of people. But, just as Addie was their common denominator in life, her death brings clarity and healing in ways that none of them can imagine.

This is a beautifully written, richly layered novel. Joyce Hinnefeld has painted a realistic and powerful story about the ways that relationships change over time, between husband and wife, parent and child, even close friends. And her lovely, lyrical prose make it a book that is not to be missed.

In Hovering Flight is published by Unbridled Books. ISBN 978-1-932961-58-4

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