Tag Archives: historical fiction

In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson – 20 Books of Summer 2023

Posted on by

In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson is set in Edinburgh in 1948. The National Health Service is just being set up and Helen Crowther has got a job as a medical almoner, akin to a social worker nowadays, attached to two local doctors’ surgery. Previously the work had been done by a sort of ‘lady bountiful’ type of woman who had been doing the work voluntarily, and she had trained up Helen to help her.  Helen has trouble making people believe that they won’t have to pay for visits to the doctor as the idea of the NHS seems too good to be true to them, but as she has been brought up in similar circumstances to her clients she’s more in tune with their problems.

When Helen and her husband get the chance to move into a home of their own they’re ecstatic.  Helen hopes that not sharing cramped accommodation with her parents and sister will mean that things will now be different in their marriage, her husband isn’t interested in her and her mother is champing at the bit to be a grandmother.

When Helen stumbles across a body she’s sure she knows who the victim is, but she’s perplexed when the investigation doesn’t proceed the way she thinks it should. There’s a lot going on in the secretive life of some of Edinburgh’s more prominent citizens and Helen needs to untangle it all. This was a really good read. This is one of my 20 Books of Summer reads.

 

 

Time and Tide by Shirley McKay

Posted on by

Time and Tide by Shirley McKay was published in 2011 and it’s the third book in the author’s Hew Cullan series.

The setting is St Andrews 1582 and a ship has been wrecked just off the town. There’s only one survivor, all the others have succumbed to some sort of illness. The locals are worried that it might have been some sort of infectious disease, but there’s a windmill on  the wreck and various inhabitants of the town want it for themselves.  But who does it belong to?

Hew is given the job of sailing to Ghent to find the owner and to tell them what has happened to all of the sailors, while Hew’s brother-in-law tries to establish what the sailors died from.  Hew’s task is all the more dangerous as the Low Countries are at war with Spain, but he’s glad to get out of St Andrews and to be travelling again and he soon falls in with a Scottish mercenary who will help him with his investigations in Antwerp and Vlissingen –  or not.

There’s a lot going on in this book, murders, rumours of witchcraft and Hew meets royalty,  I really liked it although my thoughts on it are hardly rivetting reading, but I’m looking forward to reading the next one in this series.

 

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper

Posted on by

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper was first published in  1999 and it’s described as being ‘A magical adventure bringing Shakespeare to life’.

It begins in America where a company of young would-be actors have been picked for The Company of Boys, they’ve been chosen from youth theatres, schools  and companies across the country.  It’s a tough regime but there’s a great incentive to succeed as those chosen will be acting on stage at the Globe in London, the rebuilt theatre associated with Sheakespeare’s acting company. They’ll be putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Nathan Field is thrilled to be chosen for the London trip, but almost as soon as he gets to London he falls ill with a fever and ends up in hospital, delirious.

The time slips to 1599 where Nat is now a young actor at the original Globe, learning the trade. He’s on loan from St Paul’s School and some in the company are a bit jealous of him and make life difficult. But Will Shakespeare himself notices Nat, he’s having some difficulty fitting into 16th century London and has to think on his feet at times.

I really like books which feature Shakespeare so I enjoyed this one which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

The Seeker by S.G. MacLean

Posted on by

The Seeker by S.G. MacLean was published in 2015 and it’s the first in her series which is set in Oliver Cromwell’s England.

The setting is London 1654 and there are spies everywhere, especially in the coffee houses that have become popular. Damian Seeker is an Intelligence Officer in Oliver Cromwell’s government and everyone is terrified of him. If you’re arrested by Seeker, it’ll probably be the end for you, his men are brutal.

It’s the sixth year of the English Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell is king in all but name. He’s just not quite brave or mad enough to have himself crowned and all of the hopes for a more equal society have come to nothing. The Royalists haven’t given up their hopes of reinstating the monarchy and Cromwell lives under the threat of assassination.

But it’s one of Cromwell’s captains who is murdered. John Winter had been a popular officer in the New Model Army, and a young lawyer is found standing over his still bleeding body and holding a knife. It seems obvious that the lawyer is guilty, but The Seeker isn’t convinced, and he is honest enough not to want just anyone as the culprit, it must be the guilty person who pays the price.

Slavery comes into this book with Londoners being grabbed off the streets, sold off and transported to plantations in Barbados. Even children were abducted. The poet John Milton makes an appearance as a spy for Cromwell, something that I certainly didn’t know about, but apparently he was.

This was a good murder mystery with plenty of atmosphere and I think there’s also a lot of history which isn’t often written about. Oliver Cromwell isn’t a popular figure, even among Republicans. It’s quite surprising that the Commonwealth of England lasted as long as it did – just over ten years in total – because just about everything was banned, including Christmas, theatres, bright clothing and make-up. Such a dismal existence was bound to get people down. After Cromwell’s death his son only lasted nine months in power, then Charles II was invited back from his exile and the monarchy was restored.

However, I’m sure there’s still a lot to be written about in this series, so I hope to be reading the next one The Black Friar – soonish.

The Sound of Coaches by Leon Garfield

Posted on by

The Sound of Coaches by Leon Garfield is set in 18th century England. It begins on a winter’s night with a rickety stage coach containing five passengers. There’s only one woman among them, and she’s holding on to a wooden box which seems likely to cause harm to the other passengers in the event of an accident, which seems a distinct possibility. On reaching The Red Lion safely it becomes obvious that the young woman is about to give birth – which she does – and promptly dies. Her son however survives and the coachman and his wife decide to ‘shoulder’ the baby, they have none of their own.

The baby has to have a name and with the help of the four passengers the name Sam is decided on. Over the years Sam is a bit more than a handful and the coachman is a worried man. With no sign of a father or a wedding ring on Sam’s mother’s finger it’s supposed that Sam’s father was a ne’er do weel and as a gun was one of the few things that the mother had had in her box Chichester the coachman fears that Sam will be the same as his real father.

Things go from bad to worse, although this isn’t a grim read, it’s quite funny in parts and has a satisfying ending.

Leon Garfield was very good at creating what seems like a very authentic 18th century atmosphere.

Digging for Victory by Cathy Faulkner

Posted on by
Digging for Victory cover

Digging for Victory by Cathy Faulkner is set in Devon in 1941. Ralph Roberts has just got his papers and will be joining the RAF, Two-Six-Six squadron. His twelve year old sister Bonnie is excited about that, Ralph has always been her hero and she feels that she has to do something for the war effort too. Something more than just growing vegetables.

With Ralph’s bedroom now being empty it isn’t long before the family has a lodger allocated to them. Mr Fisher is in an RAF uniform, but he doesn’t seem to do anything but sit around in the house during the day. When Bonnie’s schoolfriends realise this they begin to bully Bonnie. Her lodger must be a shirker, or maybe even some sort of spy. Mr Fisher never speaks to anyone, so there’s nothing that Bonnie can say in his defense. Her contribution to the war effort doesn’t get any more exciting than trying to grow stuff and collecting rags, she feels such a failure.

Eventually Bonnie realises that Mr Fisher’s work is being done overnight, while most people are asleep. It is of course very important and dangerous work but it’s completely hush hush, so Bonnie still can’t tell her classmates about it. But she and Mr Fisher have become friends and he’s teaching her all about circuitry and electronics, which all helps in the coming emergency.

This book is aimed at 9-12 year olds, and it’s a great way of them learning about World War 2 and the Home Front.

I was lucky enough to be sent a digital copy of this book by the publisher Firefly via NetGalley. Thank you.

Digging for Victory is due to be published on the 4th of May.

Fate and Fortune by Shirley McKay

Posted on by

Fate and Fortune by Shirley McKay is the second book in her Hew Cullan murder mystery series.

The book begins in the year 1581 in St Andrews and the young Scottish lawyer Hew Cullan has arrived there too late, his father is already dead. Hew is now the owner of the family home, his father had also left a manuscript which Hew is to have published. Edinburgh is calling Hew and indeed unknown to him he has been apprenticed to Richard Cunningham, a well known advocate, but Hew isn’t keen on continuing his career in law. However, when a young fisherwoman is found dead on the beach, with obvious signs of having been raped, Hew is appalled by the attitude of those who should be seeking the culprit. The death of the young girl was apparently of no interest to them, she was of no importance. Hew thinks differently.

But Edinburgh beckons and after a long and eventful journey astride his ‘characterful’ horse Dun Scottis, along the coast to catch a ferry to Edinburgh Hew finds himself in desperate peril. For the first time in his life he realises that he has always been sheltered by the clothes that he wears as his life falls apart when he has to wear the old clothes of a fisherman and he no longer has the automatic respect of those in any kind of authority.

Eventually Hew manages to make his way to the publisher that his father wanted to publish his book. It is run by a young widow determined to keep the business going,

I enjoyed this one even more than the first book in this series – Hue and Cry – so I’m looking forward to reading the next one soonish.

Hue and Cry by Shirley McKay

Posted on by
Hue and Cry cover

Hue and Cry by Shirley McKay is the first book in the author’s Hew Cullan series. It’s a murder mystery with a 16th century Scottish setting.

It begins in St Andrews in 1579. The town’s cathedral has long been wrecked by the religious reformers and many of the town’s newer buildings have been built using the robbed stone from it.

Hew Cullan has just returned home after studying law in Paris, he’s keen to catch up with some of his old friends before travelling on to his father’s house. But he gets caught up in a search for a young boy who has disappeared from his father’s shop. It’s thought that his father has probably beaten the young lad for some mistake he had made, but things take an ominous turn when his body is found.

Hew’s old friend Nicholas had been tutoring the victim as the father was hoping to get his son into the university, and suspicion falls on Nicholas. There’s been gossip about Nicholas and as we know, mud sticks, especially in the atmosphere of strict Scottish Presbyterianism. Hew has been shocked by the corruption at the university and also within the law courts, with nobody seeming to care if the actual culprit has been found, or just a handy fall-guy.

This makes it all sound quite grim but there’s a lot more to it of course. Hew is a great character, as is his sister Meg and there’s even some humour with Hew buying a ‘characterful’ horse. The very young King James VI makes an appearance and given the date and location witches are mentioned.

I was however perplexed by mention of ‘a bishop’ on page 257 as the religious upheaval of the Scottish Reformation was to get rid of bishops – which they did.

Otherwise this was a very enjoyable read, enhanced for me because all of the locations are very familiar to me. I think that it would have been a good idea to have a map of St Andrews and environs, as Hew does a lot of stravaiging around the streets and it would have been useful for people who don’t know the area I’m sure.

I’m really looking forward to reading the next book in the series, it’s called Fate & Fortune.

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

Posted on by

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge was first published in 1946 and it won the Carnegie Medal for that year. I wee while ago I decided to start a personal project to try to read as many of the Carnegie Medal winners as I can get a hold of. This literary award was set up in 1936, to be awarded to the best book for children or young adults each year.

The setting is Moonacre Manor in England’s west country where 13 year old Maria Merryweather has been sent after the death of her parents. She’s accompanied there by her governess Miss Heliotrope and is welcomed there by her cousin Sir Benjamin Merryweather whom she had never met before. He’s rather large and old and wears a ‘cauliflower’ powdered wig, but he’s very kind and in no time Maria feels completely at home despite there being many mysterious goings on at Moonacre. It’s all a bit fairy tale-ish as to begin with Maria never sees anyone, but clothes and food appear in her room mysteriously.

But not everything is perfection at Moonacre. The people in the village are being menaced by strange dark men living in the woods who steal their sheep, won’t allow them near the beach and trap rabbits and hares which they know is illegal and gets Sir Benjamin into trouble as the traps are on his land.

This is a charming read with lots of lovely unusual characters, including the dogs Sir Wrolf and Wiggins and a mysterious white horse.

I think that the author had a whale of a time thinking up all the unusual names of her characters, the writing is silvery with descriptions, and like most British books written during WW2 and up to the mid 1950s when the country was stuck in strict and punishing food rationing, the book is just full of descriptions of food and feasts. I suppose if you couldn’t actually get the food to eat, reading about it was the next best thing.

The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald

Posted on by

The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald was first published in 1988. The setting is Moscow in 1913. I’ve read quite a lot of Russian literature in the past and I must say that this one seems very authentic, it would be easy to believe that it was written by an actual Russian.

Frank Reid is a printer in Moscow, he was born in the city but is still seen as a foreigner as far as the Russians are concerned. Lots of British businesses had opened up in Russia in the 19th century. But times are changing, there’s a hint of revolution in the air. Really Frank would be better leaving Russia, but he isn’t the type of person to make a decision, until he’s pushed.

However when Frank comes home from work one night, his servants tell him that his English wife Nellie has left him, and taken their three children with her. This comes as a huge surprise to Frank who had no notion that Nellie had been unhappy. But Nellie apparently had second thoughts and leaves the children in the care of the railway stationmaster while she gets on a train. When the children get back home it’s evident that the eldest two have more sense about them than their father has, but of course they will have witnessed things that their father hasn’t.

I enjoyed this one with its atmosphere of Russia and its petty restrictions, however the ending is so abrupt that it came as a bit of a shock. At page 187 it just stopped!

I think this is the first book that I’ve read by Penelope Fitgerald alhough I thought I had read some before, but I must admit that I get mixed up with the three Penelopes – Fitzgerald, Lively and Mortimer. I’ve definitely read books by Lively and Mortimer.