Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys

This book provide's the background story of Brontë's famous mad woman in the attic from Jane Eyre.

I felt that it was excellent as a stand-alone book, but, being a huge fan of Jane Eyre I really didn't feel much of a connection. The character of Edward Rochester, especially, felt like an entirely different character from the original. There were other discrepencies as well, although they are harder to pinpoint.

Setting aside the Jane Eyre connection, this was a strong, powerful book - dark, ominous, threatening, intense. A chaotic world where evil is ubiquitous, and often wears a smile. These were the forces that, in the end, caused the madness that afflicted Antoinette/Bertha Mason, and the reader is made to feel them. It is a primal read, one that grabs the reader, and one that you feel in your gut. The short length just saves it from bding too dark and difficult to read.

No mistake, there is a dark kind of beauty to the work, as well. I would definitely recommend this book for it's outstanding, powerful, unique writing, and for anyone who is interested in exploring the deeper shadows of the human soul.

The Charterhouse of Parma

The Charterhouse of Parma

Stendhal

This book is about the adventures and loves of Fabrice del Dongo, the younger son of an Italian count.

Swashbuckling, romance, adventure and humor made for a fun read!

It was also quite an indictment of the Italian political system in the first half of the 19th Century.

I enjoyed this, not only for the fun aspects, but for the historical perspective, as well.

The Sultan's Seal

The Sultan's Seal

Jenny White

This mystery is set in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.

When the nude body of an English governess is washed up a bank of the Bosporus River it is up to the local magistrate, Kamil Pasha, to investigate.

He determines that she was murdered, and discovers a possible link to the death of another English governess eight years prior. Both women were wearing a distinctive necklace inscribed with Chinese pictographs and an authentic seal of the Sultan's, which very few people would have access to.

Kamil Pasha is aided in his investigations by police surgeon Michel Sevy, and by the British Ambassador's daughter, Sybil.

I found this book to be one of the best mysteries I've read in a while. I especially found the political intrigue absorbing, while the mildly romantic vein made it entertaining. It seemed a bit different from the usual mystery I read, but refreshingly so.

The White Rhino Hotel

The White Rhino Hotel

Bartle Bull

High adventure set in Kenya in the days just after WWI is the best way to describe this book.

What a colorful cast of characters - from Olivio, the Goan dwarf, to Anton Rider, the young Englishman who was raised by gyspsies. Africa means something different to each of them, yet lies at the heart of each of their dreams. I was entirely caught up in following each of their fortunes.

I am definitely going to read more by this author. It was an exciting read, for sure!

The Mistress of Niothing

The Mistress of Nothing

Kate Pullinger

This novel is based on the true story of Sally Naldrett, lady's maid to Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon. When Lady Duff-Gordon is sent to Egypt for its warm, dry climate, in order to try to slow the progress of the disease that was slowly wracking her body, she is accompanied by her faithful maid, Sally,

In Egypt, Sally finds a freedom that she'd never dreamed possible back in England in the 19th Century. However, when she falls in love with an Egyptian dragoman, she finds that the freedom she'd found may only be an illusion.

I whipped through this book in two days. Yes, it's short, but I could hardly put it down. Had I not been busy, I'm sure I'd have finished it the same day.

It's a page-turner, and even though the tone is strongly romantic, it also deals with some solid themes - addressing differences in class and religion, for instance.

This was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

Tony Horwitz

Did Columbus redally discover the New world? Did the pilgrims really step ashore at Plymouth Rock to found the first permanent colony in what would become the United States? Was Ponce de Leon really searching for the fountain of youth? These are lessons that are learned by every American schoolchild, and are an integral part of the fabric of the American national identity and culture - but, are they true?

Horwitz set out to discover, as much as possible, the truth about the discovery and colonization of the New
World, with almost all of the emphasis on North America, and in particular, the United States.

I found this book interesting and engaging. To use a cliché that's been beaten to death, Horwitz makes history come alive. He interviewed many interesting people, and explored many landmarks and relics.

This book brought home to me how many versions there are of the same historic event, and that many times, it's the small, uncelbrated events that have the greatest impact on the developement of history.

Dancing With Colonels: A Young Woman's Adventures in Wartime Turkey

Dancing With Colonels: A Young Woman's Adventures in Wartime Turkey

Marjorie Havreberg

Dancing with Colonels is a collection of letters written by the author when she was a young woman working for a Senator's aid in 1936, and for the War Dept. in Ankara, Turkey, 1944 - 1946 to her family in South Dakota.

The letters are so vibrant that they hum with excitement as she gets her first taste of the wider world - which seemed so much larger then. Ankara seems to have been an endless round of glittering, glamorous parties with people from around the globe, many of whom were international VIPs. She certainly did dance with colonels, and with countless others as well!

A sense of humor and a great sense of fun shine through her letters.

I enjoyed this book so much. It does make me regret that we've lost the art of letter-writing. I include myself in that collective we. It also makes me, in some ways, long for a time when the world was larger and seemed more full of wonder.