My lovely friend always recommended
great books and nagged me to read Davis' Falco series— but I never did. Then my
friend died suddenly. I finally read the first book, The Silver Pigs, and I was blown away.
The background of Ancient Rome and Roman Britain is firmly
grounded in history but remarkably sensual and detailed. And the characters!
They jump over the page edge and join you on the sofa.
Falco is the witty narrator with a wonderful turn of
phrase. He’s Plebeian, tough, and intelligent. Though no great lover of romances,
I was gripped by his sexy ‘Up-Town Girl’ affair with the posh senator’s daughter,
Helena, perhaps because her character lives as much as his.
All this, plus a mystery to solve and full-on action: funny,
exciting, engrossing— highly recommended!
When Marcus Didius Falco, a Roman "informer" who has a nose for trouble that's sharper than most, encounters Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately all is not right with the pretty girl. She confesses to him that she is fleeing for her life, and Falco makes the rash decision to rescue her--a decision he will come to regret. For Sosia bears a heavy burden: as heavy as a pile of stolen Imperial ingots, in fact. Matters just get more complicated when Falco meets Helena Justina, a Senator's daughter who is connected to the very same traitors he has…
Ruth Goodman is well known in the UK for such programs
as "Tudor Farm," where she recreates daily life and work in the past. I love
watching her: she’s bubbly, enthusiastic and funny. Her book doesn’t
disappoint.
The Domestic Revolution of the title is the change-over from burning
wood or peat in the home to burning coal, which happened earlier in the UK than elsewhere.
Are you thinking, as I
did, that it didn’t make
much difference? Wrong! Read this book, and you’ll find that it changed almost everything:
architecture, furniture, pots and pans, the food cooked.
A fascinating book for anyone interested in everyday life in the past.
'Ruth is the queen of living history - long may she reign.' Lucy Worsley
A large black cast iron range glowing hot, the kettle steaming on top, provider of everything from bath water and clean socks to morning tea: it's a nostalgic icon of a Victorian way of life. But it is far more than that. In this book, social historian and TV presenter Ruth Goodman tells the story of how the development of the coal-fired domestic range fundamentally changed not just our domestic comforts, but our world.
The revolution began as far back as the reign of Queen Elizabeth…
Graham Norton, the popular
talk-show host, is witty and a bit OTT. I expected that any book by him would
be equally funny and silly. And I felt like a light, amusing read. What a surprise! I found myself
reading about troubled, lonely characters. Norton demonstrates a deep
understanding of them and love for them.
The very overweight police Sergeant,
for instance, isn’t treated as a joke, as overweight characters so often are,
but portrayed as a sweet, loving, hurt man. All the characters have similar
depth. There is a humorous observation of Irish village life, but nevertheless,
the story is pervaded by sadness.
You do get a happy ending, though—a beautifully
written book. I shall be reading more by Graham Norton. I already have another
lined up on my tablet.
'A considerable achievement ... one of the more authentic debuts I've read in recent years ... in such an understated manner, eschewing linguistic eccentricity ... in favour of genuine characters and tender feeling...this is a fine novel.' John Boyne, Irish Times
'Poised and perceptive' the Sunday Times
'It's funny and wonderfully perceptive' Wendy Holden
'It is beautiful and yet devastatingly sad' Daily Express
'Deeply accomplished...brilliantly observed' Good Housekeeping
'An undercurrent of black comedy accompanies the ripples that ensue - but with a pathos that makes this deftly plotted story as moving as it is compelling.' Sunday Mirror
In the darkest hour of a freezing midwinter night, a
baby girl is born to a slave — but a witch carries the baby away. The witch
names the baby ‘Chingis’ and raises her in a wooden hut that walks on chicken
legs, teaching her adopted daughter the ‘three magics’ of words, writing and
music.
Czar
Guidon, ruler of this cold realm, fears that his new-born son, Safa, will
out-do him and has the baby imprisoned in a tiny room at the top of a tall
tower, to live and die there without ever glimpsing the outside.
Safa is driven
half-mad by loneliness— until the witch, Chingis, hears the desperate crying of
his spirit and tries to rescue him. An atmospheric tale of fierce magic.
