The Lost Duchess - Jenny Barden

'You like to hear of the world, don't you? To learn who's doing what and why. For a young maiden you have a lively curiosity.'

Only a few pages into this novel, the above lines are used to describe Emme Fifield, and we know immediately that she desires more from her life, beyond the realms of her role as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, she wonders about the world that Sir Francis Drake and those who travel with him see; 'To think of such places!' she imagines, as she speaks with Lord Hertford in the opening chapter, discussing the imminent arrival of Sir Francis. Her moments spent with Lord Hertford will however take a turn for the worst and in fact increase her need to leave life at court, escaping a scandal that could ruin her. 

She joins the expedition to the New World to Sir Walter Raleigh's Virginia, to found a permanent English settlement at Roanoke, travelling under another name and assuming a role beneath her previous status, with the promise to return and report back what she learns about the place to Queen Elizabeth and Sir Francis Walsingham, her chief intelligencer. However, Emme in fact intends to stay in the new colony and never return to England again, hoping the scandalous incident with Lord Hertford can thereby remain buried in the past. 

She meets Kit Doonan, a mariner with Sir Francis Drake, whilst still in England, and her attraction to Kit is immediate and strong, and it is reciprocated by him. As Emme learns of the frightening experiences he has endured, being held hostage, taken prisoner, and set to work as a slave before being freed and finding his way home, her admiration for him grows:

'What must the mariner have been through: imprisoned, enslaved, outcast and then rescued as if brought back from the dead? What had he been through since? She watched him wipe the water from his mouth with the back of his hand, and pictured him in a prison cell, and then in a wilderness, and next on a rolling deck in the thick of a storm. He would have been graceful wherever he was, she decided; he did not need to drink from crystal to look like a gentleman.'

The attraction and will-they won't-they kind of tension between the pair of them simmers wonderfully before it becomes a great love, and Kit is a dashing, courageous and handsome hero to Emme's 'quick witted and stout-hearted' adventurous lady.  I found both the main characters engaging. Kit is not without his own secrets, his own reasons why he so strongly wants to be part of the expedition to Virginia and to help form Governor John White's City of Raleigh, and he struggles inwardly about if and when to reveal them, and to what cost.

I loved reading this well-plotted story from start to finish, and I particularly loved the time once the settlers had arrived in what was to be their new home, and the encounters and tribulations they faced there. Jenny Barden writes wonderfully in her reimagining of what might have happened to them, and to Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement at Roanoke. The historical detail is strong and is evidence of her interest and passion for this period and these events; the author's research into this episode in history makes for an absorbing, convincing vivid depiction of the characters, the details of life at sea, the tribes, the locations. I liked the inclusion of extracts from authentic records by real figures named in the story such as John White, Ralph Lane and others at the start of the chapters. 

She has combined a great cast of characters with plenty of action and tension to create an intelligent and informative read that I really enjoyed and also found absolutely fascinating. It's not an area I knew very much about at all, and it's inspired me to find out more about it. How wonderful to know for example that John White's granddaughter, Virginia Dare, whose birth I read about in the novel, really was the first English child born in North America, and to ponder the true mystery as to what happened to the colonists; it's intriguing. I loved reading the author's note at the end of the novel, and I was glad of the inclusion of the map at the beginning too, I referred to this several times as I read and enjoyed being able to do this.

The Lost Duchess begins as a novel set in the Elizabethan court, but it quickly becomes so much more; it's a marvellous historical novel of love, adventure and exploration, with excitement, danger and suspense; there is so much to enjoy in this novel, a compelling blend of fiction and fact. Emme declares: 'I want to be part of the brave adventure.'  Reading The Lost Duchess was an escape, I set sail and immersed myself in a grand and momentous adventure, one I'd heartily recommend!

Thank you to the author for kindly sending me a copy of this novel for an honest review as part of her Book Tour - more details below including author links.

Published by Ebury Press

~~~~~

Please join author Jenny Barden as she tours the blogosphere for The Lost Duchess from May 26-June 20.

Paperback Publication Date: June 5, 2014
Ebury Press
Paperback; 448p

An epic Elizabethan adventure with a thriller pace and a high tension love story that moves from the palaces of England to the savage wilderness of the New World.

Emme Fifield has fallen about as far as a gentlewoman can.

Once a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, her only hope of surviving the scandal that threatens to engulf her is to escape England for a fresh start in the new America where nobody has ever heard of the Duchess of Somerset.

Emme joins Kit Doonan's rag-tag band of idealists, desperados and misfits bound for Virginia. But such a voyage will be far from easy and Emme finds her attraction to the mysterious Doonan inconvenient to say the least.

As for Kit, the handsome mariner has spent years imprisoned by the Spanish, and living as an outlaw with a band of escaped slaves; he has his own inner demons to confront, and his own dark secrets to keep...

Ever since Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement in Virginia was abandoned in 1587 its fate has remained a mystery; 'The Lost Duchess' explores what might have happened to the ill-starred 'Lost Colony' of Roanoke.

Buy the Book

Amazon (AUS)
Amazon (UK)
Book Depository

About the Author

I've had a love of history and adventure ever since an encounter in infancy with a suit of armour at Tamworth Castle. Training as an artist, followed by a career as a city Jenny (Portrait 2)solicitor, did little to help displace my early dream of becoming a knight. A fascination with the Age of Discovery led to travels in South and Central America, and much of the inspiration for my debut came from retracing the footsteps of Francis Drake in Panama. The sequel centres on the first Elizabethan 'lost colony' of early Virginia. I am currently working on an epic adventure during the threat of invasion by the Spanish Armada.

My work has appeared in short story collections and anthologies and I've written for non-fiction publications including the Historical Novels Review. I am active in many organisations, having run the 'Get Writing' conferences for several years, and undertaken the co-ordination of the Historical Novel Societyís London Conference 2012. I am a member of that organisation as well as the Historical Writers' Association, the Romantic Nevelists' Association and the Society of Authors. I'll be co-ordinating the RNA's annual conference in 2014.

I have four children and now live on a farm in Dorset with my long suffering husband and an ever increasing assortment of animals.

I love travelling, art, reading and scrambling up hills and mountains (though I'm not so keen on coming down!).

Author Links

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Jenny Barden's Blog
English Historical Fiction Authors Blog

Also by Jenny Barden 

Publication Date: June 20, 2013
Ebury Press
Formats: Paperback, Ebook



 

Mistress Cooksley may be a wealthy merchant's daughter, but she blushes at my words and meets my eyes look for look. Yet I cannot hope to court her without fortune, and a dalliance with a pretty maid will not hinder me from my path.

Captain Drake's endeavour might bring me gold, but I, Will Doonan, will have my revenge.

The Spaniards captured my brother and have likely tortured and killed him. For God and St George, we'll strike at the dogs and see justice done.

I thought I'd left Mistress Cooksley behind to gamble everything and follow Drake, and here she is playing the boy at the ends of the world. She's a fool with a heart as brave as any man's. Yet her presence here could be the ruin of us all...

Virtual Tour & Book Blast Schedule

Monday, May 26
Book Blast at Reading the Ages
Book Blast at Literary Chanteuse
Book Blast at Bibliophilia, Please

Tuesday, May 27
Review at A Bibliotaph's Reviews
Book Blast at Flashlight Commentary
Book Blast at To Read or Not to Read

Wednesday, May 28
Review at Carole's Ramblings and Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell

Thursday, May 29
Book Blast at The Maiden's Court
Book Blast at Cheryl's Book Nook
Book Blast at Book Reviews & More by Kathy

Friday, May 30
Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Book Blast at The Mad Reviewer
Book Blast at Curling Up by the Fire

Saturday, May 31
Book Blast at From L.A. to LA
Book Blast at Gobs and Gobs of Books

Sunday, June 1
Book Blast at Lily Pond Reads
Book Blast at So Many Books, So Little Time

Monday, June 2
Review & Giveaway at The Tudor Enthusiast
Book Blast at The Bookworm
Book Blast at CelticLady's Reviews

Tuesday, June 3
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at West Metro Mommy
Book Blast at bookworm2bookworm's Blog

Wednesday, June 4
Review at The Wormhole
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at Kelsey's Book Corner

Thursday, June 5
Book Blast at Books and Benches
Book Blast at Book Lovers Paradise

Friday, June 6
Interview at Dianne Ascroft Blog
Book Blast at Kincavel Korner
Book Blast at Caroline Wilson Writes

Saturday, June 7
Book Blast at Royal Reviews
Book Blast at History Undressed

Sunday, June 8
Book Blast at Book Nerd

Monday, June 9
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Book Blast at The Musings of a Book Junkie

Tuesday, June 10
Review at She Reads Novels
Book Blast at Just One More Chapter
Book Blast at History From a Woman's Perspective

Wednesday, June 11
Review at Historical Fiction Obsession
Book Blast at Books in the Burbs

Thursday, June 12
Book Blast at Big Book, Little Book
Book Blast at Historical Fiction Notebook

Friday, June 13
Review at Susan Heim on Writing
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views

Saturday, June 14
Book Blast at Hardcover Feedback
Book Blast at One Book at a Time

Sunday, June 15
Book Blast at Passages to the Past

Monday, June 16
Review at Layered Pages
Review at Starting Fresh
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Tuesday, June 17
Review at The Lit Bitch
Book Blast at Griperang's Bookmarks

Wednesday, June 18
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading
Book Blast at Princess of Eboli

Thursday, June 19
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at Little Reader Library
Book Blast at Girl Lost in a Book

Friday, June 20
Review at Broken Teepee
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at The Musings of ALMYBNENR
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Close to the Wind - Zana Bell

'A new world looped within a perfectly circular horizon, under the command of an autocratic captain whose smile could stop her breath.'


It's 1868 and Georgiana da Silva overhears a conversation involving her fiancé Jasper that prompts her to flee from her home and undertake a daring journey to try and save her brother Charles from death. She hadn't been in love with her fiancé, just fond of him, grateful and accepting, after all, he'll take her away from life with her aunt. Now she has discovered what is going on, that Charles may be in grave danger, she escapes and finds her way onto a ship bound for New Zealand, where her beloved brother is now, in the goldfields. 

Captain Harry Trent is getting ready to set sail for New Zealand. He has his own aims on arrival and is allegedly sought by some who believe he has committed a crime. The paths of these two headstrong individuals cross and they are destined to continue overlapping as they both pursue their own agendas. It becomes increasingly difficult though, for either of them to ignore the mutual attraction and admiration they feel.

I read this novel on holiday, and I found it enjoyable and good fun; an entertaining historical adventure on the high seas that I could escape into. The New Zealand aspect appealed to me as it's a place I love, although it's well into the novel before the drama actually takes place there; I'd have loved more time with that as the backdrop, although I did enjoy the time at sea with the crew, and the other destinations that were mentioned. I liked Georgiana, she is feisty, determined and courageous, an admirable female character when considering the period, unafraid, keen in fact, to leave behind the role society would have her play. I liked her plan for successfully getting aboard Harry Trent's ship though I knew it wouldn't last forever. 

The interaction between Harry and Georgiana was nicely done and I enjoyed the dialogue between them. There's mystery too, in trying to discover the truth about what happened back in England, the matter which Harry is implicated in. Yes, there were times when the plot could have moved a bit faster or been a bit tighter, but then the resolution couldn't happen too early as the tension as to what would happen to the two of them, and whether they were in fact at cross purposes, rightly needed to last further into the novel. I liked that there was a lot more than just romance to the story.

Overall Close to the Wind offers escapist reading with fun and excitement, there's a lot to enjoy, a strong heroine, a handsome captain, a plot with drama, deception, romance, intrigue, travel and adventure. 

Author links - twitter @ZanaBellAuthor | website |

Published by ChocLit

The Secret Lake - Karen Inglis

'A boat!' Stella whispered repeatedly. 'How on earth could it have got there? And why was Harry soaked to the skin?'

Eleven year old Stella and her eight year old brother Tom have moved from Hong Kong to a new home in London, where they enjoy exploring in the gardens around their house. Harry, the little dog belonging to Mrs Moon, one of their neighbours, arouses their interest as he keeps disappearing, and when he reappears he is wet. During their summer holidays, the two children investigate the gardens further and find a buried boat, and a tunnel which leads to a secret lake. Here they meet a young boy rowing, and looking scared. Their subsequent adventures take them on a journey back to the past, making new friends and discovering their home as it was nearly a hundred years previously.

This was a lovely read of just over a hundred pages with short chapters, and the author builds the suspense well over the course of the story. It's a magical and imaginative children’s tale, filled with plenty of excitement, discovery and adventure, time-travel, and some rather special moles! The interactions between the children and with those they met were well written and the author conveys their real excitement and intrigue about the mysteries they uncover and the discoveries they make. The realistic details of their lives in the present  - such as their clothing and Stella listening to her iPhone and connecting with old friends from Hong Kong on Facebook - both adds substance and also contrasts well with the different appearances, speech and behaviour they find in the people they meet in the past. The attractive, intriguing setting is well evoked, and this is also nicely illustrated in the colourful, appealing cover design of the book jacket which matched the story nicely. 

The Secret Lake is aimed primarily at readers aged around 8 to 11 years old, and I think readers of that age bracket (girls and boys) would enjoy this one very much, though I myself certainly enjoyed escaping into it and joining them on their adventures through the time tunnel too! It's a recently rediscovered delight to pick up a children's story from time to time.

Source - author review copy in exchange for an honest review

Self-published - available in paperback and ebook editions

Visit the author's website here and visit the book's website here

Find the story on twitter @secretlake_book

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs - guest review

Jacob grew up being enthralled by the tales his grandfather Abe told him, of how, at the age of 12, the only surviving member of his family to escape from Poland during the horrors of WW2, he came to live at Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an orphanage situated on a remote island off the coast of Wales.  Abe even had photos of the peculiar children, strange black and white snapshots, the girl who would float away if she wasn’t wearing her weighted shoes, the girl with two mouths, or the boy who had prophetic dreams.  Abe ended up there because he was special too, he could see monsters, and he had been running from them all his life.

As Jacob grows up, he comes to realise that they are just that, stories and ramblings of an old man in the grip of dementia.  But when tragedy strikes, and Jacob finds his badly injured grandfather dying in the woods, Abe tells Jacob to go to the island to uncover the truth for himself.  So Jacob sets off on a journey of discovery…

For the most part, I enjoyed this book, which is marketed at young adults.  It is beautifully designed and the inside is interspersed with haunting black and white pictures, which makes it all the more intriguing.  There are elements of magical realism, as well as a healthy dose of fantasy, there is also adventure and love, peril and villains, shape-shifting and time travel. 

The only niggles I have are, that although part of the book is set in Wales, (in both 2011 and 1940), sadly, you don’t get any sense of that.  There is no local dialect used, and the children of WW2 use words and expressions that I very much doubt were around back then.  Then there are the photographs themselves, all very haunting, but clearly not contemporary with the 1940s.

However, all that aside, the book was beautiful to look at, quirky and enjoyable to read, and there is scope for a sequel, which I will definitely buy.

Reviewed by Janice Lazell-Wood, guest reviewer.

Published by Quirk Books

Many thanks to Janice for kindly reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library.

Thanks to PGUK Books for sending a copy of this novel for review.

The UnTied Kingdom - Kate Johnson

Eve is a has-been celebrity who was in a girl band, now starring in a reality television show, when she falls through a hole or portal in the world, and when she comes to, she finds herself in an England very different from the one she left behind. Here, the country is under military control and is at war with Coalitionist fighters. Everyday things are no longer available – telephones are scarce and only owned by the very rich, hardly anything is known about computers, and even more frighteningly for Eve, history as she knows it has been rewritten – there was no British Empire, and England is not a major power in the world, in fact it is a much more primitive place.

Eve is found by Major Will Harker, and ends up under his wing. Those around her initially view Eve with suspicion. What are all these things that she speaks of, which to them sound so peculiar, or are completely unknown? Is she a spy or an alien? How do they deal with this woman who is evidently so unfamiliar with their world, and how does she try and comprehend them when everything seems the same and yet totally different – is she mad, is this a parallel universe? Harker has his own problems, with Sholt, the man he despises, looking to get promoted, and now his boss wants him to run a mission to find a computer, using Eve to help him and his team, since she knows all about them, whereas to Harker and his crew, they are totally unknown. 

This is an appealing romance novel with a twist – a clever concept that makes it an original, exciting, and dramatic read too! I love the premise behind this book and I like the clever title. It’s intriguing and if you can suspend disbelief, it really makes you think about how life could be very different. Eve makes for a clever, spirited heroine who takes a full part in the adventure, and we feel how unsettled she is to find that the London, the England she knows, its history and culture has all changed. Why doesn’t anyone recognize the songs she sings to them? Harker is a strong, formidable man, a loyal and proud leader, but he has a soft, sensitive side which is revealed to the reader, as, despite the internal conflicts regarding who she is and where she has come from, his romantic feelings for Eve develop. There is an interesting supporting cast of characters including Harker's ex-wife and her sister, who he takes under his wing. There is so much more to this read than romance, it is also very much an adventure story, a wartime drama, with a paranormal/fantasy element, all of which the author has cleverly combined.  

4/5

Published in the UK by ChocLit and available now.

Find out more about the author here and more about ChocLit here.