Seduction by M.J. Rose (A Rant)

Title: Seduction
Author: M.J. Rose
First published: 2013
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Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I haven't participated in Plagues, Witches and War Historical Fiction Book Club for quite some time now, and this was definitely NOT the book to encourage my further participation. It's so full of bullshit from the beginning! There are Celts, spiritualism, reincarnation, Jungian therapy, suicides, Satan with his deals, myths, personality disorders, drugs and what not. It's as if the author tried to just put everything she knew in the book, and it's even not much, at least concerning myths. The worst thing however is that the author is SERIOUS about all this stuff. I like a bit of mysticism, but I like it to be more subtle. There should be some reasonable explanation for everything happening, even if the atmosphere suggests that there's not. But the book demands the reader to actually believe in reincarnation. Seriously?

Why two stars still? Well, the writing is good. I think the author has made a descent attempt to mimic Hugo's writing, or at least 19th century writing. So when the heroine was not in a fit or in the middle of a discussion or action that didn't make any sense, I could even enjoy the flow of words.

In my book:
Bullshit, full stop.

A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger (Review)

Title: A Burnable Book
Author: Bruce Holsinger
First published: 2014
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Rating: ★★★★☆

In the times of Richard II and Chaucer strange rumors and verses start to spread through London. The verses predict the death of Richard II with frightening exactness and the rumor is they come from a book of ancient prophesies... The book travels from lords to bawds, leaving corpses on its way. Meanwhile, the fateful St. Dunstan's day mentioned in the prophesy approaches...

There is everything in this book that you can wish for in a historical fiction novel: a lot of details of everyday life, an old map of London (I love maps!), intrigue, mystery, danger and the love of books. It not only has quite a few remarkable female characters, is has a transgender character! I was... well, confused with Eleanor/Edgar at first, but then I realized that he/she works well in the plot: he/she decides in which situations it's more efficient to dress as a man and when - as a woman, and therefore is able to transgress certain limitations of gender.

Sometimes it was a bit difficult to keep straight all the characters at court, but by the end of the book everything fell into place. Some of the characters' motivations were left unclear to me, but overall the intrigue was well rounded. Although bawds have a lot of action in the book, there is nothing very coarse in the descriptions and the language, which I really appreciated (OK, I guess I'm mentioning it just because I'm reading another Martin right now, lol!). Overall, if I wasn't sure Holsinger is a man, I'd say the book is written by a woman. Rarely do men have so many distinct and interesting female characters in their books. Bravo!

In my book:
A very entertaining and well-researched historical mystery. Perfect relaxing read!

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl (Review)

Title: The Dante Club
Author: Matthew Pearl
First published: 2003
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Rating: ★★★☆☆

This novel is a literary detective set in Boston shortly after the Civil War, when the first American translation of Divine Comedy into English was being done. While the Dante Club, a society of poets, is concerned with the nuances of meaning and word choices, horrible murders start to happen in the city, and only the members of the club can see that they copy the tortures of Dante's Inferno.

I really liked the premise, but wasn't very impressed with the novel itself. To begin with, I didn't appreciate graphic descriptions of the tortures. With my unhealthy imagination, flesh eating maggots can easily spoil not only my meals but also my sleep, which they did. Also, the writing was not my thing. I can't even say what was wrong with it, but I fell asleep even at the most suspenseful and revealing parts.

I'm not an expert in mysteries as I don't read them often, but I do know that I prefer a close circle of suspects. I enjoy guessing who did it, betting with myself and changing my opinion as new evidence turns up. Here, new characters keep appearing all the time, and soon you just stop guessing, because you know somebody much more suitable will be introduced soon.

This said, the historical setting was really interesting: post-war and post-slavery problems, literary discussions, immigrants, police work - all these aspects of Boston life in the nineteenth century are important parts of the story, and this makes it quite educational.

In my book:
A nice historical mystery, but not my cup of tea.

P.S.
I read this for Plagues Witches and War: The World of Historical Fiction Book Club, which is a wonderful group that you totally need to check out! :)

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (Review)

Title: Caleb's Crossing
Author: Brooks, Geraldine
First published: 2011
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Rating: ★★★★☆

One astonishing fact inspired this book: in 1665 one Caleb became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. 1665! Amazing, right? How did it happen? Well, apparently, back then when religiousness was really crazy, natives were encouraged and bullied to become Christians. To that end, a sponsorship was organised to pay and provide for those Indians who wanted to get education in hope of their help in advancing religion further. They were to have a profound brainwashing in college and then to go preach to their fellow countrymen. Of course, it was very difficult for them, because apart from mastering English, they had to excel in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, they had to endure not only the hardships of living in a poor-provided establishment which was Harvard, but also the contempt of the Englishmen and distrust and sometimes hate of the fellow natives. But some of them willingly pursued this course in hopes of obtaining means to protect their people from the advancing "civilization".

It's an amazingly interesting topic, but not much is known about it, unfortunately. That's why, I reckon, although the novel does tell Caleb's story, it's not in the focus of the narrative. Instead, everything the reader sees is from the point of view of Bethia, a daughter of a missioner, who meets Caleb when they are both children and introduces him to her world. She is the center of the novel, and she is a great character! She is quicker and cleverer than her brother and is eager to learn, but, being a woman, is not allowed to do so. Her father tells her: "I would do you no favor if I were to send you to your husband with a mind honed to find fault in his every argument or to better his in every particular." So she resorts to eavesdropping on her brother's lessons and then agrees to go into service in a prep school just to continue overhearing stuff. Apart from her eagerness to learn, she is also interested in the Indian culture. Instead of shunning from their religion and beliefs as from the "work of Devil", she tries to understand it, and that's why her friendship with Caleb is possible.

Caleb's Crossing is very well researched, and it was very interesting to read about the early settlements, communication with the natives and the towns and universities of that time. The ugliness of the treatment of women and the Indians (and especially Indian women) is not smoothed, and the state of the medicine is really horrifying. Science also leaves much to be desired, as it was very mixed with and dependent on religion, and pretty useless for the most part.

As for the style of the novel, it is written in a form of Bethia's diaries, and I enjoyed the flow of her writing, which draws one into the story and doesn't let go.

In my book:
A very decent historical fiction book, with amazing characters and a captivating story.

P.S.
The book is the first choice for Plagues Witches and War: The World of Historical Fiction Book Club, and I'm really happy I've joined it!