About the Book: In Strasbourg, in the boiling hot summer of 1518, a plague strikes the women of the city. First it is just one - a lone figure, dancing in the town square - but she is joined by more and more and the city authorities declare an emergency. Musicians will be brought in. … Continue reading Book Review: The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Historical Fiction
Book Review: The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer
About the Book: Berlin, 1934: Sofie Rhodes is the aristocratic wife of a scientist whose post-WWI fortunes change for the better when her husband, Jurgen, is recruited for Hitler's new rocket project. But too late they realise the Nazis' plans to weaponise Jurgen's technology as they begin to wage war against the rest of Europe. … Continue reading Book Review: The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer
Book Review: Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
About the Book: One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his … Continue reading Book Review: Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Book Review: The Rat Catcher by Kim Kelly
About the Book: In the sweltering summer of 1900, young wharf labourer Patrick O’Reilly is down on his luck in the slums of Sydney and homesick for Tralee. When a deadly outbreak of plague descends on the city, O’Reilly’s daydreaming mind is miles away – in the golden hair and kindly, confident air of a … Continue reading Book Review: The Rat Catcher by Kim Kelly
Book Review: The Winter Dress by Lauren Chater
About the Book: Two women separated by centuries but connected by one beautiful silk dress. A captivating novel based on a real-life shipwreck discovered off Texel Island by the bestselling author of Gulliver's Wife, Lauren Chater. Jo Baaker, a textiles historian and Dutch ex-pat is drawn back to the island where she was born to … Continue reading Book Review: The Winter Dress by Lauren Chater
Book Review: Violeta by Isabel Allende
About the Book: One extraordinary woman. One hundred years of history. One unforgettable story. Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first daughter in a family of five boisterous sons. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events. The ripples of the Great War are still being felt, … Continue reading Book Review: Violeta by Isabel Allende
Book Review: Loveland by Robert Lukins
About the Book: Two women stand in the shallows, a man dead at their feet, while around them buildings burn. Amid the ruins of a fire-ravaged amusement park and destroyed waterfront dwellings, one boarded-up building still stands. May has come from Australia to Loveland, Nebraska, to claim the house on the poisoned lake as part … Continue reading Book Review: Loveland by Robert Lukins
Book Review: The Islands by Emily Brugman
About the Book: In the mid-1950s, a small group of Finnish migrants set up camp on Little Rat, a tiny island in an archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. The crayfishing industry is in its infancy, and the islands, haunted though they are by past shipwrecks, possess an indefinable allure. Drawn here by tragedy, … Continue reading Book Review: The Islands by Emily Brugman
Book Review: The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe
About the Book: A captivating historical novel based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, the first Black student to attend the prestigious Vassar College by – passing as white. For fans of The Vanishing Half and The Gilded Age. SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Since childhood, Anita Hemmings has longed to attend … Continue reading Book Review: The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe
Book Review: The Royal Game by Anne O’Brien
About the Book: The spellbinding new historical novel from the Sunday Times bestseller Anne O’Brien. England, 1444. Three women challenge the course of history… King Henry VI’s grip on the crown hangs by a thread as the Wars of the Roses starts to tear England apart. And from the ashes of war, the House of … Continue reading Book Review: The Royal Game by Anne O’Brien
Theresa Smith Writes 