Book of the Month: April

With the coronavirus shutdown I have had the time to get alot of reading done. I have read 15 books this month. It was difficult to select just one book that I liked the most so I have decided to select a favorite book in each of the three genres that I read, mystery, historical fiction and graphic novel.

The Three Women is my best mystery for the month of April. It is a psychological thriller with a shocking ending. It could be a Hitchcock film, if Hitchcock were still alive and directing movies.

Book of Colours is my favorite historical fiction book.  As an artist, I reveled in the information given on how to create illuminated manuscripts.  The book follows the lives of several limners, illuminators, as they work together to create a book of hours for a wealthy woman.

The Oracle Code is my best graphic novel.  It is about the rehabilitation, both physical and psychological, of a newly disabled teenager.

Betrayed

Betrayed is both a historical mystery and a historical romance. It takes the reader to England in the 1770s. Kate Lancaster, devastated by the murder of her parents, vows to find the killer with the help of Christopher Bradshaw.  Her heart races whenever the handsome nobleman is near her but his overbearing wife is constantly playing the matchmaker with their son, Lucas. Kate and Christopher try to resist the temptation of their mutual attraction while striving to solve the mystery of who wanted the Lancasters dead.

C. De Melo always writes a good historical novel. Betrayed, however, is one of her best. In this rare historical mystery she shows how well she can craft a mystery plot. The twists and turns and unexpected ending made the book an exhilarating read for me. I can't recall when I last read an exhilarating historical novel, if ever.  Betrayed is that special.

As usual for me, my favorite character is the villain. Claudia Bradshaw cheats on her husband frequently with different partners and is the dominant person in her marriage. We are lead to believe that in the eighteenth century only the men got away with this type of behavior. However, I think there were plenty of Claudias. People just didn't openly acknowledge strong women. Her husband, meek and mild Christopher, only married her because she was pregnant and he believed that the child was his. Claudia never told him anything about the identity of the father of her child. She played him well.  Our protagonist Kate Lancaster was also able to force him into doing whatever she asked.

While the romance is tasteful and strong in Betrayed, it is the mystery that makes this book great. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

In Her Eyes

In Her Eyes by Sarah Alderson is a gripping psychological thriller that takes place in California. Ava's life is the kind other people envy: loving husband, great kids, beautiful house, until a violent home invasion turns the dream into a nightmare and leaves her daughter fighting to survive. This wasn't a random attack and Ava is reeling from the knowledge that someone is targeting her family. To save those she loves from even greater danger Ava must find out what really happened that night.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat as the drama unfolds. It grabbed me from the first page until the ending, which surprised me. At one point, I suspected every character.  The twists and turns were spectacular, sometimes eery. All of the characters were great, but I felt that Ava sometimes made stupid decisions. If there is any criticism of the book, it is that Ava's conclusions when new evidence was unveiled were over the top.

5 out of 5 stars.

Book of Colours

I don't know why I have not read this book before because I love illuminated manuscripts.  Book of Colours is about several 14th century limners, or illuminators, who have been commissioned to create a book of hours for a wealthy woman.  The story shows the entire process that is followed when creating an illuminated book, including how colors are mixed and used.

The publisher's summary of the plot:

"In London, 1321, at a time of political upheaval, three people are drawn together in a small shop in Paternoster Row around the creation of a magnificent book, an illuminated manuscript of prayers. The book has been commissioned by Lady Mathidla Fitzjohn, as a status symbol to showcase her family's improving station. John Dancaster begins work on the manuscript along with his wife Gemma, a talented illuminator in her own right, although she must hide her skill as the guild forbids women. Into their lives walks the mysterious Will Asshe, a gifted artist, but a man hiding a shadowy past. As the baronial revolt increases tensions within London and Lady Mathilda has to grapple with her changing fortunes once her husband rides off to war, completing the book becomes a fraught task.  Even though the commission has seemed to answer the aspirations of each of these people, their own desires and ambitions threaten its completion."

As an artist I could not help but love Book of Colours. The epigraphs at the start of each chapter give the artist information on how decisions should be made for each page of a manuscript as well as how colors are mixed and should be used. These paragraphs tell the artist how they can also create an illuminated book.  They are revealed to be excerpts from a book that Gemma is writing called "Art of Illumincation." The rest of the chapter continues with the plot. I read this book slowly. I was searching for more information on creating an illumination within the text and found a few more tips. The plot itself was splendid. The characters were authentic, accurately representing the era they lived in and I enjoyed reading about their lives as the story unfolded.

Highly recommended! 5 out of 5 stars. 

The Phantom Twin

The Phantom Twin is a young adult graphic novel concerning siamese twins during the 1920s. Isabel and Jane Peabody are conjoined twins working in a traveling carnival show until an ambitious surgeon tries to separate them.  Jane dies during the surgery and Isabel loses an arm and a leg that they both shared. Her dead sister now haunts her as her phantom limb.  The traveling freak shows were a big attraction in the 1920s. Anything or anyone who was considered to be different drew unwanted attention and that is why these "freak" shows became popular. The two sisters were called by their co-carnies "Jan-iss" because they were two people within one body. The book was published last month on March 3, 2020.

The book is a fast read that shows the reader how cruel a world can be for those who are different. It is a sad story although the sisters and workers at the carnival are portrayed with humor.  They are shown as being normal people with normal personalities who have fun together. Their reaction to being physically different is heartwarming as life just goes on despite being cast aside by society. The reader can feel Isabel's emotions as she transitions her life from being two to being alone. The artwork is plain and simple with bright colors that always appeal to me.

I loved The Phantom Twin.  I highly recommend it for young readers. 5 out of 5 stars.

Preacher - Book One

Everyone told me not to read this graphic novel because it would offend me as a Christian. Not so. While foul language runs supreme and there is blasphemy here and there, the book has an amazing plot that I couldn't help but love.  Book One contains issues 1 through 12 of this 75 issue serialized comic. The issues were published between 1995 and 2000.  It was written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Steve Dillon.

Preacher opens with our former preacher Jesse Custer eating out with two friends Tulip O'Hare and Cassidy. He is asked why he gave up preaching at his Annville, Texas church. Jesse then begins his life story. The rest of the book is an autobiography that explains how Jesse's possession by a supernatural force called Genesis caused his church to be flattened, killing his entire congregation. Genesis was formed by an unholy coupling between an angel and a demon. This coupling caused Jesse's church to be destroyed. With a strong sense of right and wrong, Jesse travels the U S. while trying to find God. His friends Tulip and Cassidy travel with him.

The artwork kept me reading this novel. The crisp line drawings and vibrant colors were
attractive and the supernatural creatures that Steve Dillon created were cool.  Even the facial expressions supported the story, something that I didn't expect in a fantastical story like Preacher. Above all, it was the coloring that attracted me to the story. I don't normally read fantasy fiction but this graphic novel had enough questions about how people find God and lose God over circumstances in their lives that made me want to keep reading.  There are 6 more books giving the Preacher story.  I will be buying them but will not be reviewing them.  The artwork is the same and Jesse's life story continues so there will not be much to add in a review.

4 out of 5 stars.

Blackberry and Wild Rose

BlackBerry and Wild Rose is Sonia Velton's debut novel. She has crafted an extraordinary historical novel that takes place in eighteenth century London.  It is a tale of a household of Huguenot silk weavers who are pursuing the creation of the perfect silk design.

The publisher's summary:

"When Esther Thorel, wife of a master silk weaver, rescues Sara Kemp from a brothel, she thinks she is doing God's will, but her good deed is not returned. Sara quickly realizes that the Thorel household is built on hypocrisy and lies and soon tires of the drudgery of life as Esther's new lady's maid. As the two women's relationship becomes increasingly fractious, Sara resolves to find out what it is that so preoccupies her mistress... 

Esther has long yearned to be a silk designer.  When her early watercolors are dismissed by her husband, Elias, as the daubs of a foolish girl, she continues her attempts in secret.  It may have been that none of them would ever have become actual silks, were it not for the presence of the extraordinarily talented Bisby Lambert in the Thorel household.  Brought in by Elias to weave his masterpiece on the Thorel's loom in the attic of their house in Spitalfields, the strange cadence of the loom as Bisby works is like a siren call to Esther.  The minute she first sets foot in the garret and sees Bisby Lambert at his loom marks the beginning of Blackberry and Wild Rose, the most exquisite silk design Spitalfields has ever seen, and the end of the Thorel household's veneer of perfection."

I loved this book. As a weaver I enjoyed reading about weaving and design creation.  However, with two strong female characters I would have to say that there are two protagonists.  Both Esther and Sara are featured equally and the telling of this story alternates between them.  However, Esther is supposed to be the protagonist so I don't understand why the two women had equal roles.  I must admit, though, that Sara interested me more. Also, the author did a great job of showing us the history of this era.  The men dominated the women and the silk industry guild machinations were described in detail.  The tensions between the master weavers and the journeymen were part of the plot. The author took events that actually occurred and wove them into her plot (pun intended). The story depicts a riot by the journeymen against the master weavers when their wages were reduced.

The author states in her Note at the end of the book that the idea for the novel came from the life of Anna Maria Garthwaite, a cutting edge designer of silks in Spitalfields during the eighteenth century. Garthwaite has been credited with bringing the artistry of painting to the loom. Many of her patterns can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

5 out of 5 stars.