The Cardinal by Alison Weir

 

Tudor England was rich with history and Henry VIII was bigger and larger than life. He was an enigma at the best of times and the story of Cardinal Wolsey set in this era, is important because the two characters are so intertwined with each other.

The story begins humbly. Thomas Wolsey was just eleven when he entered Oxford. He was ambitious and knew that with his lack of rich and influential relations, he would have to find a connected and powerful sponsor. His ascendancy was very slow at the beginning and he was frustrated at his lack of a quick ascent. With him becoming the right hand of Henry VIIIThomas Wolsey became one of the most powerful men in the land.  Rich beyond his wildest dreams, he had homes, castles and properties galore. The King considered him his best advisor, but with his ascendancy there were many who disliked him and plotted his fall. Cardinal Wolsey fell in love with one woman, and one only. She remained the love of his life till the end. He separated from her and arranged a marriage at the implied order from the King, though it tore him apart especially as it also involved the loss of his children.

The decline of Cardinal Wolsey began with Anne Boleyn entering the life of Henry VIII.  The Cardinals inability to obtain an annulment from Rome for Henry, soured the relationship between the Cardinal and King, aided and abetted by the Boleyn family. 

This story dwells mainly on the man Cardinal Wolsey was. Today he would be called a kingmaker but he was looked at Henry as he would a son, and was heartbroken at the treatment he was meted out. As a lover Wolsey failed because he put his ambition above all else. He died still loyal to his King above all.

The history of the period is well known. The life of the man Cardinal Wolsey was new to me and this was 

Fascinating reading.

The history involving England with France, Spain, Scotland and Rome added another strand to the story. The constant arranging and break up of alliances and marriages going whichever way was advantageous to a country was mind boggling.

Fabulous reading.

Sent by Random House Publishing - Ballantine Group for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Doorman by Chris Pavina

 

Chicky is the doorman at the old but impeccable Bohemia Apartments. The tenants are rich, mainly white in little bubbles of their own. Staff in the form of cooks, nannies and chauffeurs are Hispanic and there is a sprinkling of black Americans working too. From the onset it seems boundaries are clearly marked, and anyone crossing the line is made to feel uncomfortable. Little difficult to get my head around as I always presumed boundaries had got a bit looser. Was I ever wrong.

Tension in the air and protests planned over the deaths of two Blacks in the city. Irrational shootings. A robbery well planned going wrong resulting in the death of two of the tenants. One disliked intensely. A fabulous cover up and all ends very neatly tied up.

Everyone in the story has secrets. All are under pressure of some kind. However wholesome they appear there are imperfections. There is a lot going on but I found the first few chapters slow going. It caught up to speed and became a roller coaster towards the end, bringing all the strands together very fast.

Entertaining and very good reading.

Sent by Farrah Straus and Giraux for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris

 

1888 is not medieval times but it literally could be. Celia working for an ultra rich family in Portland fell in love with the son of the house. It is not a relationship that would be accepted and Celia knew that. When she fell pregnant and was thrown out of the house, into the hands of a brothel, Celia had hit rock bottom. Never giving up on her dream of reconciliation with her lover, she kept her head down and got on with life.

The massacre at Little Rock’s which included the murder of her Chinese father was a catalyst for Celia to do something to get justice. Highlighting the case and bringing publicity was not going to do any good as the Chinese miners were considered by the whites to be subversive and dangerous. That they were murdered in cold blood for no reason other than the fact that they were hard working was not a plus in their favor. Celia was then kidnapped and put on a boat to get her out of the way. Her escape and return to Portland is a story in itself. Her uncovering of the high connections to the brothel trade was another. 

The story of immense courage and a search for identity, a search for justice is the focus of the story. The romance and the happily ever after is secondary.

Descriptive in every aspect from the hypocrisy of the establishment, to the poverty and the brothels of Portland the story was an intense one.  I did not find this an easy or comfortable read, just grateful to be born in present times with no strictures or unfair boundaries.

Sent by Sourcebooks Landmark for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

A Most Parisian Murder by Millicent Binks

 

Opal sent across to Paris to help out as a lead milliner was too good to be true. Her mother seemed to want to bundle her away from home, and join up with a cousin from the other lower side of the tracks was a puzzle in itself but Opal was determined to make the best use of the time and learn something from the time spent.

What she didn’t envisage was becoming lead detective on murder in this most fascinating part of Paris - the theatre, the chorus girls, the machinations of many striving to be top dog. There are love interests, glamour, history - it is 1930 after all and lots to recommend this as a cozy.

Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review,courtesy of Netgalley.

The Keeper of Lost Art by Lelita Baldock

 

Rome pre 1944. Siena works in an art gallery, working for a man she has come to care for as a grandfather and who has inculcated in her a love for art, and the need to protect what they have against the foreboding shadows of Nazi Germany. When the inevitable happens Siena flees to Bari seeking safety for one book containing details of paintings.

What follows is the death and deprivation that followed wherever the Nazis went. It also highlights the resistance displayed by ordinary citizens who against the odds, worked in insidious ways to hinder the enemy progress. Books written about this period of history are stark and destructive and it never fails to unnerve because it happens again and again.

The three timelines were difficult to follow (at times) but overall the story was a good one, well told.

Sent by Storm Publishing for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

Death on the Island by Eliza Reid

 

I do like to ring in changes in the books I read and especially change the country settings. Sitting here in tropical Sri Lanka amidst sweltering heat amidst monsoonal showers, the change could never be more different to Iceland.

The novel itself is atmospheric, never mind the land. Nine people getting together, all with diverse interests and aims with a surface bonhomie which does not fool anyone. Everyone is aware that tensions simmer beneath the surface and when one is poisoned in full view of everyone at a public dinner, one knows the scene is set for a lot of deep feelings, animosity and anger.

Secrets abound amongst all and the weather the one thing that cannot be controlled, corals all within a narrow area that endangers all. A second brutal death in a fire shows that the killer is getting desperate and it is only after a departure from the island and then a resummons, where perhaps the killer is lulled into a sense of complacency that he is free, that the final renunciation is made.

A very intense story, culturally diverse, fabulous setting.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending this book to me for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Hanged Man of Saint Pholien by SIMENON

 

My first read of a Simenon book and it was an eye opener.

The story on the surface deals with a furtive man on a railway platform and ends with his self inflicted death. The detective Inspector Maigret brings another depth to the story. One of conscience, and whether inadvertently through the inspectors actions he caused the man to actually take his own life. Because the man was suspicious, the Inspector followed him, exchanged one shabby suitcase for another, and when this was discovered, the man shot himself in despair. Did the Inspector by substituting the suitcases do an illegal act? The other man was just furtive. Being furtive isn’t a crime?

The dead man shabby as he is has a history. He is also actively being followed by eminent people and Maigret is keen to know how and why. To the extent that Maigret becomes the pursued over what happened a decade ago.

Interesting take on detection, on guilt and how to solve a puzzle.

Sent by Farrah, Straus and Giroux for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.