Mistress of the Art of Death

This book was delicious! I gobbled it up in about 4 days, and it's not a short book. This is the first book in the series by Ariana Franklin, where we meet Adelia (the title Mistress) when she comes to England to find out who is killing the children of Cambridge - and why the town's Jewish citizens have been framed for the murders.

Again, the characters are all beautifully drawn, particularly Adelia; the boy Ulf; Adelia's companion Master Simon; and Sir Rowan Picot, King Henry II's "fixer". Plus there's a whole cast of interesting townspeople who seem very Shakespearean to me - they are minor characters who are finely wrought. Plus the mystery just pulls you along - I had some ideas of who the murderer was, but I wasn't sure until he was revealed.

There is also some serious commentary on the treatment of Jews throughout time. For instance (and I have no idea how true this is), it seemed that prior to Henry II, there was only ONE Jewish cemetery in England, and that was in London. That meant that any Jew who died in England had to get to London pronto in order to be buried within the proper time frame. Burial was not permitted in a Christian cemetery. King Henry changed that (or so the author would have us believe).

Historically true or not, this was another great story from a gifted author. And I started the second book in the series on this morning on the train...

Grave Goods

I have found a new historical fiction series! This book is actually the third in a series by Ariana Franklin (who is really Diana Norman). I liked it so much that I picked up books one and two at the library yesterday.

Set in 12th century England under King Henry II, these books tell of the adventures of Dr. Ariana Aguilar. Trained in Salerno, Ariana is one of the very few female doctors of the time, and she is also one of the few trained in the "art of death" - she's the Quincy of her time. The research that went into the story is awesome, but it never feels cumbersome. And I like that the author uses relatively modern language (I imagine the language of 12th century England would have been like Greek to the modern English-language reader).

But aside from that, these are great characters with great adventures. In addition to Ariana we have her companions Mansur (an Arab eunuch, who pretends to be the doctor to avoid accusations of witchcraft), Gyltha (her servant/friend/nanny), and Allie (her daughter). In this book Ariana and Mansur are asked to identify two very old corpses at Glastonberry Abbey, to determine if they are the remains of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Henry II REALLY wants them to be, but Ariana is all about finding the truth. Along the way to finding the truth she has all sorts of interesting adventures.

I highly recommend the book, but I would have started with the first one (Mistress of the Art of Death) if I had known it was a series. But I'm already about 100 pages into that, so I'll be posting again soon.

Tell Me Something True

The descriptor on the front of this novel by Leila Cobo says, "What if everything you believed about your family was a lie?" But the novel didn't really live up to that for me. The main character, Gabriella, does find out something about her mother that she didn't know, and that changes her perception of her mother (who died when she was 5 years old), and about what real love means, but it doesn't change EVERYTHING.

Aside from that, I LOVED this novel. I just couldn't put it down. The characters of Gabriella, Angel, and even the deceased Helena, are so beautifully written, and so multi-faceted, that I could really see them. And the love story between Gabriella and Angel is both the kind of romance that one can only dream of, and a real relationship fraught with misunderstandings and trepidation.

The end of the novel made me sad, but only added to the non-romance feeling of Gabriella's and Angel's relationship, and Gabriella's growth through her experiences in Cali. I will definitely be looking for Cobo's next novel.

BTW, I STARTED reading The Scarlet Letter, but the language is so old-fashioned, I put it down after a chapter or two. I may try again later...

Hester: The Missing Years of the Scarlet Letter

First, an admission: I never read The Scarlet Letter. Shameful, I know, but my excuse is that I went to an all girls Catholic school, and they probably felt that assigning that novel would be overkill. At any rate, I think I will be picking it up at the library this weekend, because I want to see what I missed.

Hester, as written by Paula Reed, is a really likable character. She has intelligence, spirit, and spunk, at a time when women were obedient and subservient to their Puritanical male betters. And Pearl is a lovely young lady, wise beyond her years, who I think learns the opposite lesson from Hester's situation than what Hester would probably like, but that just adds interest to the story.

Is is the best novel ever? No, but it's not bad. I found the story a bit contrived - it's not a stretch to believe that Hester and Pearl go to England thanks to Pearl's inheritance from Hester's elderly husband, but it is a stretch to believe that Hester gets so involved in the politics of the day. But I do love the intrigues of historical fiction, and 17th century England is a favorite, so I allowed myself to be swept up in the story.

However, for as strong as Reed's writing and story were, I was disappointed by the ending. I felt like she just sort of wrapped everything up with a nice little ribbon in order to get Hester back to New England to jibe with The Scarlet Letter, and it felt a little forced. But aside from that quibble, it was a thoroughly enjoyable novel that I would definitely recommend. And I really am going to read The Scarlet Letter.