Review: To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield

After three years in the bloody trenches of World War I France, David Powlett-Jones is sent to an English hospital to recover from his injuries. He was born and raised in a Welsh mining town, where his father and two brothers were killed in a mining accident when he was a boy. He was accustomed to loss but nothing could have prepared him for the devastation he witnessed in the war. The injuries heal but the shell-shock requires a more creative treatment.

David's doctor has a remedy. He sends him on a job interview for a position teaching history at Bamfylde School, a boys' school in isolated Exmoor. At Bamfylde, David finds something special: a father figure, a surrogate family and a place to begin to forget the horrors of his war experiences.

And he does. The doctor has somehow hit on David's calling. He is young for a teacher, at only twenty one, but he has a gift for it and a passion for teaching history. He earns his degree along the way and becomes part of the fabric of the Bamfylde world, indeed one of the most important pieces of it. In a saga that stretches over more than twenty years, David's life has the same tragedies and triumphs as anyone else, but his are enriched by the students and the school that seem to cushion the bad times and magnify the joys of his life.

This is a rich and complex story. Though I found parts of it a little slow, there can be few books that describe so clearly the point of view of a dedicated teacher as they watch successive generations come and go. And I'm glad that I read through until the end, because the author brings the story full circle in a charming way.

It is also a wonderful historical novel of England between the wars, the author does an excellent job relaying the shock and dismay of ordinary people watching yet another deadly conflict building. I enjoyed this novel and I think anyone interested in English history, teaching or historical fiction would enjoy it, too.

To Serve Them All My Days is published by Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-1824-8

Giveaway: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out....

Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe - in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world.

~Synopsis from the publisher

Here's your chance to win a copy of one of my favorite books! The Historian was an instant success when it was published in 2005, and for good reason. It is part mystery, part classic Gothic novel and all fascinating, intriguing fiction. And now is a great time to spread the word about The Historian. Halloween is coming up and everyone needs a good spooky read for our favorite haunted holiday! This book would make an excellent choice for book clubs (lively discussion awaits), you will find the reading group guide here. Plus, Elizabeth Kostova's eagerly awaited second novel, The Swan Thieves, will be out in January. It has been VERY eagerly awaited...I can't wait to get started on it!

Valerie at Hachette Book Group has provided five copies for me to give away (Thank you, Valerie)!! To enter, leave me a comment here telling me what you favorite Halloween memory is. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on October 21st. Below are some ways for you to earn extra entries. Please leave ONE comment for each thing you choose to do. You can combine your comments together if you like but please do not leave multiple comments for the same extra thing (for example, one comment if you fave at Technorati or subscribe via Feedburner, not three). Anyone who already follows, subscribes, or has faved at Technorati still gets the extras, just mention it in your comment! Thank you for visiting and entering!

+1 become a follower
+1 tweet giveaway on twitter or blog about it (note that you did in your comment)
+3 fave this blog at Technorati (click on the little green box on the left sidebar)
+3 subscribe via Feedburner

Review: The Shimmer by David Morrell

Santa Fe, New Mexico police officer Dan Page tries hard to forget the violence that he sees in his everyday life, keeping as much of it from his wife, Tori, as he can. It is a total surprise to him when he returns home one day to find her gone, a note she left says that she is going to visit her mother, who lives 800 miles away. She never said a word about the trip to him, why she would abruptly leave like that is a mystery.

He tries not to worry about it, but after two days she still hasn't arrived at her mother's and no one has heard from her. He is beginning to be frantic and files a missing persons report. When a Sheriff from the small Texas town of Rostov calls, Dan fears the worst. But he says that Tori is fine, though he won't give any other information. He insists that Dan must come to Rostov and see for himself what is going on.

When Dan arrives in Rostov, he is confronted with a mystery that has intrigued and frightened people for hundreds of years. The strange Rostov Lights are a phenomenon that occur out over the badlands, on the mesa towards the Mexico border. They appear at night, hover and shine, changing colors and size, merging into one another and breaking apart again. But not everyone can see them. Those that can are transfixed, caught by their beauty, like Tori. Those that can't see them are either disgusted or annoyed, sure that the viewers are making it all up. Sometimes reactions are completely unexpected.

While Dan talks to Tori and begins to unravel the reasons that she left and why she stopped in Rostov, outside events overtake the couple and they are swept into a violent maelstrom, which is caused by the lights. Putting their own problems aside, they join forces with the local police to try to uncover the source of the lights and the reason they sometimes incite uncontrollable behavior or worse in the people who see them.

This book is non-stop action from the first page, I couldn't put it down. I was intrigued by the premise, the author based the story on lights seen in the real life town of Marfa, Texas. They occur in other places in the world, too: Norway, Thailand and Australia all have areas where similar lights are seen. The phenomenon has never been explained, though there are lots of theories. David Morrell took the fact of the lights and built an intriguing story around them. Part action, part suspense, part mystery, and a taut thriller, The Shimmer has it all. I really enjoyed this fast-paced book!

David Morrell has been called the father of the modern action novel (he created Rambo, after all). You can find out more about him and his books at his website and more about The Shimmer at http://www.shimmerbook.com/ .

The Shimmer is published by Vanguard Press, ISBN 978-1-59315-537-7

Review and Blog Tour: The Promised World by Lisa Tucker

Fraternal twins Billy and Lila have always had a very close relationship. Since losing their parents when they were teenagers, they have built independent lives but remain devoted to each other. They live close to each other and see each other regularly. Since Lila can't really remember anything about their past, she relies on Billy to hold the memories for the both of them. And he has, weaving elaborate stories that fill in all of her blank spaces and create the happy reality he promised her years ago.

When Billy is dies violently, Lila's world is torn apart. She is unable to function without him, her compass for interpreting the world has been lost. She loves her husband of eleven years, Patrick, very much, but she can't seem to break out of the spiraling grief that has engulfed her. The fragmented memories that start to surface totally confuse her, as they are at odds to all she has believed to be true. She desperately wants custody of Billy's three children, he and his wife had been going through a bitter divorce, but Lila's mentally fragile state make such an attempt impossible.

So, Lila turns to sleeping pills to numb her pain. Patrick can't seem to get through to her or do anything that helps to life her out of the despair that she is in. He goes to see Billy's wife, Ashley, hoping to find some way to help Lila. Instead, Ashley shows him a sympathy card...from Billy & Lila's mother. He is shocked but thinks it must be some sort of prank. His wife couldn't have lied to him about a thing like this for so many years, could she?

Why would two adolescents claim that their parents were dead, when one of them at least is very much alive? What could have happened to cause them to construct a fictitious past and cut all ties to home and family? These are questions that they must all find the answers to, for the sake of the entire family. When Lila's splintered memories finally begin to emerge, will she be strong enough to accept what they contain?

I was completely riveted to the pages of this story. It is a fascinating psychological look at the lengths the mind will go to in order to protect the self. The relationships between Billy and Lila, their spouses and children, were intricate and interesting. The author explores the adult difficulties that result from the psychological abuse of children, the kind of abuse that doesn't leave any marks but twists and destroys just the same. A moving story with a depth of seriousness, I truly enjoyed this novel.

I received this book as part of the Blog Tour hosted by TLC Book Tours. For a complete list of the blog stops, please click here. For more information about the author and her novels, please visit her website.

The Promised World is published by Atria Books, ISBN 978-1-4165-7538-

Review: The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

As a five year old child, William Marshal was sent by his father to the court of King Stephen...as a hostage. His father must have expected to never see his son again, with the bloody civil war that was raging it was likely that little William would be executed. But King Stephen took a liking to the brave little boy and couldn't bring himself to kill him. From that experience, William learned the loyalty and sense of duty that he would live by for his entire life.

During his training as a knight, William was a bit of an outsider. Soon though, his talent with horses, plus a bit of luck, bring him to the attention of the new royal family. Henry I and Eleanor of Aquitaine take notice of the young knight and when William saves Eleanor's life during a surprise raid, he earns her lasting goodwill. He is placed with the heir to the throne, Prince Henry, and given the responsibility for his training and instruction.

As the young Prince and his brothers grow, turmoil begins to boil and the relationship between the brothers and their father sours. During the strife that pits each of them against the other, William steadfastly stands beside Prince Henry, even though he agrees with almost nothing that the young man decides to do. Despite many terrible actions on the Prince's part, William is there to support him and help him, he is loyal almost to a fault.

When the unthinkable happens, William is shattered. He departs on a two year pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he tries to reconcile his past and find a way to move forward with his life. After his return, all his service is eventually rewarded when he is given the hand of Isabelle de Clare, a rich but lonely young heiress. Despite the fact that William is years older than Isabel, the two form a surprisingly happy and supportive marriage.

William Marshal's Tomb

Once again, Elizabeth Chadwick has given us a rich and detailed historical fiction novel, filled with excellent research and lively characters. William is a complex man: loyal, committed, giving, but with a sore spot in his heart that keeps him from a close bond with his family. He is definitely his own man but his is a lonely life. He had quite a view of the volatile Plantagenet clan, Ms. Chadwick's envisioning of his experiences there make for a fascinating read.

As I finished this book, I marvelled at how one man could fit so much into one lifetime. But it turns out that The Greatest Knight is not the end of the Marshal story! It will be continued in her next book, The Scarlet Lion, which should be released in the Spring of 2010.

For more information on Elizabeth Chadwick and all of her fantastic books, visit her website. She also has a wonderful blog, Living the History, where you will find all sorts of interesting historical information and photos. Her blog is one of my favorites! She recently posted twenty of her favorite historical fiction novels (from her "Keeper" shelf...I have one of those, too! Do you?). About half of them were new to me, so I was thrilled to add them to my wish list. I always love discovering new (to me) historical fiction!

The Greatest Knight is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-2518-5

Review: God Is An Englishman by R.F. Delderfield

It is 1857 and British soldier Adam Swann has been in the service of England for years, serving in numerous countries of the empire. But the battle that leads him to break free of the Army, and his family's long service in it, occurs in India. When a wild horde of natives attacks his troop, knocking him senseless and off of his horse, he begins to see the futility of his life as a career soldier. There was one small thing that helped him to decide, though. When he awoke briefly in the dust of the road after being knocked out, he happened to see a necklace of large rubies that had been in the lead attacker's possession. Through the daze he is in, he manages to slip the necklace into his pack before losing consciousness once more.

That necklace is the key to Adam's future. He resigns his commission and returns to England, where the germ of an enterprising idea is born during a trek on horseback through the country he has been away from for so long. He wants to create a delivery company that will haul goods in the areas that the railway doesn't reach. On the same trip he encounters a young woman, Henrietta, who has run away from her father and his plans to marry her off for his own personal gain.

Henrietta turns out to be unlike the women that Adam has previously known. She is bright and has an unusual way of looking at the world. She even dreams up the logo for his yet-to-be company. They are soon married and then Adam is off to make his commercial dreams a reality. He seems to have either an extraordinarily clear eye for business or the devil's own luck, because he succeeds and founds an empire in the booming world of Victorian England.

This book is a grand family saga, the first in a trilogy that is followed by Theirs Was the Kingdomand Give Us This Day. I thought it was fantastic: a big, meaty, complex book that delves into the lives of the main characters and numerous side characters, as well. It vividly paints the world of Victorian England, the effects of the industrial revolution and arrival of the railway. It is intricate and interesting, with enough technical detail to please male readers and enough romance to keep women happy. A fine balance.

For some reason, though I have long known about R.F. Delderfield books, I have never read one before. It is always such a pleasure to discover a new (to me) historical fiction author, especially one who wrote close to twenty books....a whole list of promising reads for me to discover. If you love historical fiction, R.F. Delderfield is an author you won't want to miss!

R.F. Delderfield

I came across an old 1971 Pocket paperback copy of God is an Englishman and I thought the "About the Author" section was so interesting, I wanted to share it with you (the author died in 1972):

R.F. Delderfield was born in London but has lived much of his life in Devon, where he started writing as a reporter on his father's newspaper, the Exmouth Chronicle. During World War II and immediately thereafter he achieved quite a success as a West End playwright (one of his plays ran five and a half years). Then, at the age of forty, he stopped to take stock of his life. "What I really wanted was to be a novelist," he told one interviewer, "to project the English way of life in the tradition of Hardy and Galsworthy." Out of that resolve have come his great family sagas- The Avenue, A Horseman Riding By and its sequel, The Green Gauntlet, and now his latest and most ambitious saga which begins with God Is An Englishman.

In preparing himself to write one of his vast family chronicles, Mr. Delderfield draws a detailed map of the territory, county or city that he will cover, placing the houses where his characters will live and adding the place names and details that will build up into a rich and convincing background. Then he steps back and lets inspiration take over. He writes regularly in the morning, averaging about 4,000 words a day, then takes the afternoons off to go strolling over the moors.

God Is an Englishman is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-1821-7

You will find some other reviews at Books are my only friends and Bookfoolery and babble.

BBAW Giveaway #5: The Hidden Life of Deer by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

In the fall of 2007 in southern New Hampshire, the acorn crop failed and the animals who depended on it faced starvation. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas began leaving food in small piles around her farmhouse. Soon she had over thirty deer coming to her fields, and her naturalist's eye was riveted. How did they know when to come, all together, and why did they sometimes cooperate, sometimes compete?

Throughout the next twelve months she observed the local deer families as they fought through a rough winter; bred fawns in the spring; fended off coyotes, a bobcat, a bear, and plenty of hunters; and made it to the next fall when the acorn crop was back to normal. As she hiked through her woods, spotting tree rubbings, deer beds, and deer yards, she discovered a vast hidden world. Deer families are run by their mothers. Local families arrange into a hierarchy. They adopt orphans; they occasionally reject a child; they use complex warnings to signal danger; they mark their territories; they master local microclimates to choose their beds; they send countless coded messages that we can read, if only we know what to look for.

Just as she did in her beloved books The Hidden Life of Dogs and Tribe of Tiger, Thomas describes a network of rules that have allowed earth's species to coexist for millions of years. Most of us have lost touch with these rules, yet they are a deep part of us, from our ancient evolutionary past. The Hidden Life of Deer is a narrative masterpiece and a naturalist's delight.

One of the most widely read American anthropologists, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas has observed dogs, cats, and elephants during her half-century-long career. In the 1980s Thomas studied elephants alongside Katy Payne—the scientist who discovered elephants' communication via infrasound. In 1993 Thomas wrote The Hidden Life of Dogs, a groundbreaking work of animal psychology that spent nearly a year on the New York Times bestseller list. Her book on cats, Tribe of Tiger, was also an international bestseller. She lives in Peterborough, New Hampshire, on her family's former farm, where she observes deer, bobcats, bear, and many other species of wildlife.

~Synopsis & author biography from the publisher

I have two copies to give away, courtesy of Harper Collins (thank you, Kyle!!). Winners will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. To enter, just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. Enter through midnight eastern on September 25. Below are some ways for you to earn extra entries. Please leave ONE comment for each thing you choose to do. You can combine your comments together if you like but please do not leave multiple comments for the same extra thing (for example, one comment if you fave at Technorati or subscribe via Feedburner, not three). Anyone who already follows, subscribes, or has faved at Technorati still gets the extras, just mention it in your comment! Thank you for visiting and entering!!

+1 become a follower

+1 tweet giveaway on twitter or blog about it (note that you did in your comment)

+3 fave this blog at Technorati (click on the little green box on the left sidebar)
+3 subscribe via Feedburner

Be sure to check out all of the fantastic giveaways going on this week to celebrate BBAW! Click the link or the button on the top left to see the ever growing list!

BBAW Giveaway #4: Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell

Spring 1938. After nearly two years in prison for the crime of stealing his own grain, Ukrainian immigrant Teodor Mykolayenko is a free man. While he was gone, his wife, Maria; their five children; and his sister, Anna, struggled to survive on the harsh northern Canadian prairie, but now Teodor—a man who has overcome drought, starvation, and Stalin's purges—is determined to make a better life for them. As he tirelessly clears the untamed land, Teodor begins to heal himself and his children. But the family's hopes and newfound happiness are short-lived. Anna's rogue husband, the arrogant and scheming Stefan, unexpectedly returns, stirring up rancor and discord that will end in violence and tragedy.

Under This Unbroken Sky is a mesmerizing tale of love and greed, pride and desperation, that will resonate long after the last page is turned. Shandi Mitchell has woven an unbearably suspenseful story, written in a language of luminous beauty and clarity. Rich with fiery conflict and culminating in a gut-wrenching climax, this is an unforgettably powerful novel from a passionate new voice in contemporary literature.

~Synopsis from the publisher

I have two copies to give away, courtesy of Harper Collins (thank you, Kyle!!). Winners will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. To enter, just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. Enter through midnight eastern on September 21. Below are some ways for you to earn extra entries. Please leave ONE comment for each thing you choose to do. You can combine your comments together if you like but please do not leave multiple comments for the same extra thing (for example, one comment if you fave at Technorati or subscribe via Feedburner, not three). Anyone who already follows, subscribes, or has faved at Technorati still gets the extras, just mention it in your comment! Thank you for visiting and entering!!

+1 become a follower
+1 tweet giveaway on twitter or blog about it (note that you did in your comment)+3 fave this blog at Technorati (click on the little green box on the left sidebar)

+3 subscribe via Feedburner

Be sure to check out all of the fantastic giveaways going on this week to celebrate BBAW! Click the link or the button on the top left to see the ever growing list!