The Flame Tree

The Flame Tree is the first book in a duology set in Hong Kong during WWII.  I was attracted to the book because of its beautiful cover and also because the setting was in China. I love reading asian fiction. However, this book was not as interesting to me as other asian fiction novels that I have read.

The publisher's summary:

In the spring of 1939, dashing young William Burton and the beautiful Constance Han set sail from London on the same ocean liner to Hong Kong. Romance blossoms while they enjoy games of deck quoits and spend sultry tropical evenings dancing under the stars. Connie is intrigued by Will’s talent for writing poetry, and she offers to give him Cantonese lessons to help him with his new job— a cadet in the colonial service.

But once in Hong Kong, Connie is constrained by filial duty towards her Eurasian parents, and their wish for her to marry someone from her own background. She can't forget Will however, and arranges to meet him in secret under the magnificent canopy of a flame of the forest tree— where she fulfills her promise to teach him to speak Chinese. Before too long, trouble looms as Japanese forces gather on the border between Hong Kong and mainland China. Will joins a commando group tasked with operating behind enemy lines, and Connie becomes involved in the fight against local fifth columnists.

When war breaks out, they find themselves drawn into a wider conflict than their battle against prejudice. Can they survive and achieve a future together? Or do forces beyond their control keep them forever apart?

The first half of the book was about Will and Connie's relationship. The second half was more war story with the author giving us a full account of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. I got bored reading about Will's military activities. When the plot returned to him and Connie, I became interested in the book again.  

The title of the book comes from the name of the tree under which Will and Connie would secretly meet in the botanical gardens. They were hidden from view when they sat under it which was important to Connie because her reputation would have been destroyed if people knew she was seeing a European man. Her marriage prospects would have taken a nose dive.  After a year of weekly secret meetings, Connie fell madly in love with Will and the relationship turned physical. She agreed to ask her father if they could marry, knowing he would day no. At this point, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong and the story switched from a romance to a war story.  

I enjoyed the Hong Kong setting. I felt that I was alongside Will as he experienced new places in the city. As he found delight in the culture,  I felt it too. Each restaurant and home that he visited was a new experience for him and I couldn't help but want to have that experience myself. 

I am not sure how to rate The Flame Tree. I only liked half of it but I am interested in reading part 2 of the duology, mainly to see what happens with Will and Connie.  I am giving it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Barnstormers

Barnstormers was published in Summer and Fall of 2022 as a 5 part Comixology Original. It was written by Scott Snyder with Tula Lotay drawing the scenes. Barnstomers is an adventure and romance story that is set in 1923. The barnstormer era in American history had WWI pilots offering civilians joyrides in the sky for a small fee. One of those pilots was Preston Pike, who has flown his way across the U. S. Southeast scrounging for customers. When a telephone operator tells him that there will be a big crowd waiting for him in nearby Barnville, Preston races over.  Instead of eager clientele, he finds himself crashing into a wedding and the bride to be decides to make a getaway in Preston's plane. Along the way, the two of them bond and become romantic with each other.

This was an enjoyable story that is quick to read.  I thought it was awesome that the bride decided to bail on her wedding. She had an arranged marriage with a man she did not love and when the plane crashes into the reception area she believes it is a sign to run. The style of the illustrations is modeled after adventure comics from the 1920s which I thought was fitting. The bright colors used by Dee Cunniffe gave the story a relaxed feel.

The final issue will not be released until tomorrow, April 4, 2023. 

Letters of Trust

Letters of Trust is the first book in The Friendship Letters duology by Wanda Brunstetter. The series features Doretta Schwartz as the letter writer. Doretta has always loved writing and receiving letters and she believes that letter writing could be a ministry for her. 

The publisher's summary:

Life is good on their Pennsylvania Amish farm for newlyweds Vic and Eleanor Lapp—until the day Vic’s youngest brother drowns in their pond and Vic turns to alcohol to numb the pain. Things get so bad that Vic loses his job and their marriage is coming apart. Eleanor is desperate to help her husband and writes letters to her friend, Doretta, living in Indiana for advice. The trust Eleanor places in her friend and the gentle words she receives in return are a balm for even darker days to come.

There wasn't much action in this novel. At the conclusion of the first third of the book I found myself questioning what was the point of this novel. Then Vic's brother Eddie died and the pace picked up little. This story has a simple plot though that is centered around character growth, not actual plot action. 

The author tackles grief, alcoholism and depression here. These are not normal plots for Amish fiction but it shows how the genre has grown over the years. It was obvious how the story would end but I enjoyed the ride. The reader sees first hand how an unexpected death within a family affects each family member. For Vic Lapp it meant becoming addicted to alcohol. He used beer to ease the pain he felt from his young brother's death. 

Eleanor seemed like a doormat to me. She was too sweet and easy going given the poor treatment that she received from her husband. She reminded me of the wives of the fundamentalist polygamy sects in the western states who are trained to "keep sweet."  When Eleanor finally got angry I was so happy.

I prefer stories with more action and am only rating the book 3 out of 5 stars.

The Paris Notebook

The Paris Notebook is about a secret. It's a secret that might be big enough to destroy Adolf Hitler's reputation. The story takes place in 1939 Germany with Hitler's former psychiatrist Ernst Viktor undertaking the publication of his patient notes in order to stop Hitler. Dr. Viktor treated Hitler during WWI when he suffered from hysterical blindness. I found this angle on WWII to be amusing, believing it to be fiction. It isn't.

The publisher's summary:

When Katja Heinz secures a job as a typist at Doctor Viktor’s clinic, she doesn’t expect to be copying top secret medical records from a notebook. At the end of the first world war, Doctor Viktor treated soldiers for psychological disorders. One of the patients was none other than Adolf Hitler. The notes in his possession declare Hitler unfit for office – a secret that could destroy the Führer’s reputation, and change the course of the war if exposed.  

With the notebook hidden in her hat box, Katja and Doctor Viktor travel to Paris. Seeking refuge in the Shakespeare and Company bookshop, they hope to find a publisher brave enough to print the controversial script. Katja is being watched though. Nazi spies in Paris have discovered her plan. They will stop at nothing to destroy the notebook and silence those who know of the secret hidden inside. 

I loved this novel. It is a riveting story with plenty of tension from the first pages. You can feel the fear among Katja and Dr. Viktor as they prepare the transcribed copy of the doctor's patient notes as well as keeping the manuscript hidden. Their fears that the Nazi's would find out what they were doing were appropriate. They were surrounded by Nazi sympathizers who were watching them closely. The plot premise is that if Hitler's psychiatric records were published, he would not be able to remain in control of Germany. I am not sure whether I believe this premise since Hitler governed by fear. I can appreciate, though, that the characters believed this to be true. They were living in desperate times. 

The setting for the story was Hamburg and Paris. The characters lived and worked in Hamburg but traveled to Paris several times to find a publisher. Every move they made in Paris was more suspenseful than their movements in Hamburg. I think that their train travel was the most suspenseful part of the story though. The Gestapo checked every train car looking for Jewish travelers as well as suspicious Germans before the trains left Germany. Katja was Jewish but this fact was a secret from the other characters. There were alot of twists and turns in the story that added to the suspense factor.

The Author's Note at the conclusion of the book tells the reader what part of the novel is based on truth and what part is fiction. I was astonished to find out that Lance Corporal Hitler was treated for a psychiatric disorder after a gas attack during WWI by Dr. Edmund Forster. Forster wanted to publish Hitler's medical records because he was troubled by his former patient's rise to power. Forster is believed to have passed them on to a group of anti-fascist German writers in 1933. One of them is Ernst Weiss who wrote a novel in 1938 called The Eyewitness. It was not published until the 1960s and it is believed that Dr. Forster's notes are the basis for the novel.

The Paris Notebook is definitely a must read!  I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Good Friday

Good Friday is the third book in the author's Jane Tenneson Thriller series. I have never read anything by Linda LaPlante before and did not know what to expect. The book was selected as my choice for the Calendar of Crime Challenge for April. It was published in 2018.

The publisher's summary:

In the race to stop a deadly attack just pray she's not too late . . . March, 1976. The height of The Troubles. An IRA bombing campaign strikes terror across Britain. Nowhere and no one is safe. When detective constable Jane Tennison survives a deadly explosion at Covent Garden tube station, she finds herself in the middle of a media storm. Minutes before the blast, she caught sight of the bomber. Too traumatised to identify him, she is nevertheless a key witness and put under 24-hour police protection. As work continues round the clock to unmask the terrorists, the Metropolitan police are determined nothing will disrupt their annual Good Friday dinner dance. Amid tight security, hundreds of detectives and their wives and girlfriends will be at St Ermin's Hotel in central London. Jane, too, is persuaded to attend. But in the week leading up to Good Friday, Jane experiences a sudden flashback. She realises that not only can she identify the bomber, but that the IRA Active Service Unit is very close to her indeed. She is in real and present danger. In a nail-biting race against time, Jane must convince her senior officers that her instincts are right before London is engulfed in another bloodbath.

The story was well plotted and had a comfortable pace; Not too fast and not too slow.  It's a police procedural set in 1976 and is based on the IRA bombings in London. I was quite surprised that Jane's character was continually making mistakes during the investigation and was always being criticized by her male counterparts. I expected Jane to be a perfect investigator who was well respected by her peers. I cringed every time she said that she learned an investigative technique from her policing education. She really seemed like a beginner. Jane was a beginner, though. Her job in the novel was her first as a detective. I think that I missed alot concerning her character by not reading the first two books in the series. 

If you are interested in reading this book, I recommend that you start at the beginning and read all of the books in order of publication. It was hard to tell who Jane was as a character because she seemed to be a fish out of water in Good Friday. Still, the investigation was interesting and I enjoyed the setting of a British police station.

3 out of 5 stars.

Lemon Curd Killer

Lemon Curd Killer is the 25th installment of Laura Childs' Indigo Teashop cozy mystery series. As expected, it's a fantastic read. If you love afternoon tea, you will love this series. While the main character, Theodosia Browning, is an amateur sleuth, alot of the sleuthing takes place at her tea events. The reader gets to read about the foods offered at Theo's Indigo Tea Shop as well as the teas that her customers are drinking. It always makes me feel like I am there sipping and supping.

In Lemon Curd Killer, Theodosia has been tapped to host a fancy Limon Tea in a lemon orchard near Charleston, South Carolina. This event is the first event in Charleston's annual Fashion Week. However, when Theodosia retreats to the kitchen in order to get more lemon curd for the scones, she finds the body of one of the fashion designers with her head slumped over in to the lemon curd. The body belongs to Nadine, the sister of series character Delaine Dish. In the series tradition, a relative of the murdered woman asks Theodosia to investigate the death. Nadine's daughter Bettina has heard that Theodosia has solved several murders and asks her to look into her mother's death. With more tea events and fashion shows ongoing, Theo and her tea sommelier Drayton Conneley begin observing and questioning Nadine's business partners.

I loved this story! I have always enjoyed the books in this seris and this one is one of my favorites. As usual, this book is a page turner. It is also a comfortable, easygoing read. I enjoyed visiting with the regular characters once more. They are always cheery and seem like old friends to me. 

Theodosia's investigation is spot on. She doesn't have much to go on other than gossip among the characters but Theo is able to think through the information that she is hearing and digest it properly. She is always asking herself if she is considering new information in the correct light. As another character is murdered, Theodosia is able to cut through all the unnecessary facts and figure out the identity of the killer.

One of the authors best!  5 out of 5 stars.

The Perfumist of Paris

The Perfumist of Paris is the final book in Alka Joshi's Jaipur trilogy. The trilogy began with The Henna Artist and last year The Secret Keeper of Jaipur was published. Perfumist was published on March 28, 2023 and it is the best book of the trilogy.  If you read the first two books in the series you will remember that it is about two sisters, Lakshmi and Radha, and their "adopted" brother Malik. The Perfumist of Paris is Radha’s story.

The publisher's summary:  

Paris, 1974. Radha is now living in Paris with her husband, Pierre, and their two daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago, when she was only a child herself, but she loves being a mother to her daughters, and she’s finally found her passion—the treasure trove of scents. 

She has an exciting and challenging position working for a master perfumer, helping to design completely new fragrances for clients and building her career one scent at a time. She only wishes Pierre could understand her need to work. She feels his frustration, but she can’t give up this thing that drives her.  

Tasked with her first major project, Radha travels to India, where she enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the courtesans of Agra—women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully managed world and threatening to destroy a vulnerable marriage.

I cannot speak more highly about this book.  I loved everything about it from the setting to the descriptions of scents that Radha considered for the perfume she was creating for an anonymous client. The client requested that this perfume be based on Manet's painting Olympia. Radha had many scents gathered onto her perfume organ including vetiver, sandalwood, roses, fig, keira, saffron, henna, geranium, honey, gardenia, cedar, myrrh, musk, frangipani, sage, orange blossom, damask rose, lavender, lily of the valley, lemon, bergamot, manger, pine needles, rosemary, chocolate, vanilla, clove, cardamon, juniper berry, and jasmine. What's a perfume organ? It's just the layout of the 300 scents Radha works with that give the appearance of a church organ. However, Radha knows that something is missing. She frequently visits the Manet painting in a nearby museum for inspiration but ultimately decides that the scent she is seeking can only be found in India: mitti attar a/k/a rain. Her boss approves her travel and Radha is soon reunited with her family in India. 

India has always been an exotic destination for me. The sights and sounds, always loud, never cease to captivate me. The descriptions of the food are just as enticing as the 300 scents that Radha uses in her daily work. Perfumist is a sensual book in this respect. While Perfumist can be read as a standalone novel, I recommend that you begin with the first book in the trilogy if you haven't read the series before. It will make more sense.  I thought the writing was superb. The first few pages had alot of backstory but this narrative had a hypnotic feel to it. 

This might be my book of the year for 2023. It's that good. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Can't Wait Wednesday #22

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The book I am anxiously waiting to read is Ken Follett's The Armor of Light.  It is book number 4 in the Kingsbridge Series. Unfortunately, I have to wait until September 26, 2023 to get a copy of it. The Armor of Light is the sequel to A Column of Fire and heralds a new daw for Kingsbridge, England, where progress clashes with tradition, class struggles push into every part of society, and war in Europe engulfs the entire continent and beyond.

Per the publisher:  

The Spinning Jenny was invented in 1770, and with that, a new era of manufacturing and industry changed lives everywhere within a generation. A world filled with unrest wrestles for control over this new world order: A mother’s husband is killed in a work accident due to negligence; a young woman fights to fund her school for impoverished children; a well-intentioned young man unexpectedly inherits a failing business; one man ruthlessly protects his wealth no matter the cost, all the while war cries are heard from France, as Napoleon sets forth a violent master plan to become emperor of the world. As institutions are challenged and toppled in unprecedented fashion, ripples of change ricochet through our characters’ lives as they are left to reckon with the future and a world they must rebuild from the ashes of war.

I believe that The Pillars of the Earth, the first book in this series, will be required reading 100+ years from now for students taking American Lit classes. This 4th book will most likely become extra credit. Given its 928 pages, you will want extra credit for reading it. For me, I just want a relaxing read and I am certain that it will be a great read.

Book of the Month: March

My favorite read for March is Janie Chang's The Porcelain Moon. It is a historical novel from the early to mid twentieth century that takes place in Hong Kong. Chang previously wrote The Library of Legends and Dragon Springs Road. The story follows the travails of two young women in France as the country is torn apart by war.  The main character, Pauline Deng, is Chinese and is living in France with her cousin in order to support the family's porcelain trade. She is able to avoid an arranged marriage in Shanghai by living in Paris. Before reading this book, I knew next to nothing about the Chinese laborers who came to France during WW1. I learned so much about this little part of history. The chapters alternated between Pauline's story and the story of Camille Roussel. Camille is planning her escape from an abusive marriage and is trying to end a love affair that can no longer continue. Toward the end of the book, their stories merged.

Book Cover of the Month: March

The Porcelain Moon historical novel has my best book cover for this month. The cover designer is Elsie Lyons. She used photographs taken by Ildiko Neer to design the cover. Lyons is the Senior Director of Art at Harper Collins Publishers.

Ildiko Neer is a fortysomething German photographer who loves to shoot forests. In fact, she is known as a forest photographer. She said in an online interview that her work reflects the feelings she experiences when she walks through a forest. Many of her photos have a dreamy appearance. Neer typically photographs flowers in either a field or a vase, trees, gardens and grass. She will find locations to shoot from Google Maps. Her favorite theme is nineteenth century. She also loves the post-photography process and uses several software programs, including Photoshop, to enhance her photos.  

Stacking the Shelves #23

Yesterday I searched Amazon for newly published Amish fiction. I wanted something uncomplicated to read. Wanda Brunstetter just published Letters of Trust so I purchased it. It is the first part of a duology called The Friendship Letters. In this series Donna Schwartz, who has always enjoyed writing letters, feels that her letters can be a ministry to her friends.  Exchanging letters that contain open and honest feelings and struggles helps Doretta and two of her best friends through the darkest challenges of their lives.

 The publisher's summary:
 
Life is good on their Pennsylvania Amish farm for newlyweds Vic and Eleanor Lapp—until the day Vic’s youngest brother drowns in their pond and Vic turns to alcohol to numb the pain. Things get so bad that Vic loses his job and their marriage is coming apart. Eleanor is desperate to help her husband and writes letters to her friend, Doretta, living in Indiana for advice. The trust Eleanor places in her friend and the gentle words she receives in return are a balm for even darker days to come.

I am looking forward to reading the book this weekend. 

Can't Wait Wednesday #21

I cannot wait for the publication of Tracy Clark's Fall. I am going to have to wait until December 5, 2023 to get my hands on it. The book is the second installment of her Detective Harriet Foster Thriller series. I loved Hide and reviewed it on February 2, 2023.

I don't know much about what Fall will be about as there is no description online yet. The Harriet Foster character is a police officer in Chicago. As a Chicagoan myself, I can tell you that she has the setting descriptions down pat. When I read Hide, I felt myself traveling down the same streets that Harriet and other characters traveled. When I finished the book, I had to check out where the perp was hiding. He was standing on one of the lower levels of the streets. Chicago has five street levels in its downtown area where this police investigation took place. It was an awesome thriller so I have high expectations for this second book in the series.

The Papal Assassin's Wife

The Papal Assassin's Wife is the 2nd book in the Papal Assassin historical thriller series by S. J. Martin. I had high expectations for the book since the first book in the series was fantastic. However, this installment of the series was seriously lacking in excitement.

The publisher's summary:  

It is 1088, King William the Conqueror is dead, and his two eldest sons are about to go to war for the throne of England. It is a turbulent time in Europe, and Chatillon, at the heart of it all, must decide which of William's sons the Pope should support. Should it be the eldest, Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy or William Rufus, who has already crowned himself King of England?

Piers De Chatillon, the tall, handsome master swordsman, powerful Papal envoy and assassin, has finally married the beautiful young Isabella Embriaco. He intends to turn her into a top political courtesan, assassin and spy. She will be trained to bring him valuable information by moving through the noble beds of Europe and removing those men who cause him problems. His dangerous lifestyle will repeatedly put her life at risk as she becomes a pawn in a deadly game.

Chatillon, involved in the imminent war between the two brothers, disregards the warnings of his friends to take care. They know a brutal Saracen pirate is out for revenge and will try to kill Chatillon and his new wife. Chatillon sends Isabella to Ghent on her first mission to kill an old enemy of his, not realising she is now carrying his child. Meanwhile, the Saracen assassins follow close behind her, and Chatillon is over a hundred leagues away in Normandy, too far away to save her.

I could not get myself interested in the story until Chatilllon marries. This was a good 60 pages from the beginning of the novel. Once he marries Isabella, the story became fascinating. The plot alternated between the war action that Chatillon was involved in and Isabella's love triangles. I was never able to enjoy the Chatillon subplot and skipped pages. There are alot of characters in the book, 49, so perhaps the problem was keeping up with all of them. 

I am still going to read the next book in the series, The Papal Assassin's Curse, which will be published later in the year. If it doesn't excite me, I will give up on the series. 

2 out of 5 stars.