A Potpourri of Opinions

The Ways We Hide Kristina McMorris Publication Date: September 6, 2022 by Sourcebooks Landmark Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢 Summary:  A sweeping World War II tale of an illusionist whose recruitment by British intelligence sets her on a perilous, heartrending path. As a little girl raised amid the hardships of Michigan’s Copper Country, Fenna Vos learned to focus on her own survival. That ability sustains her even now as the Second World War rages in faraway countries. Though she performs onstage as the assistant to an unruly escape artist, behind the curtain she’s the mastermind of their act. Ultimately, controlling her surroundings and eluding traps of every kind helps her keep a lingering trauma at bay. Yet for all her planning, Fenna doesn’t foresee being called upon by British military intelligence. Tasked with designing escape aids to thwart the Germans, MI9 seeks those with specialized skills for a war nearing its breaking point. Fenna reluctantly joins the u...

The Empress Gigi Griffis Publication date: September 27, 2022 by Zando Projects Genre: Historical Romance Rating: 4 🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summary: The year is 1853, and Princess Elisabeth “Sisi” of Bavaria has been very clear: She will wait for the head-over-heels love the poets speak of, or she will have no love at all. Just because her older sister, Helene, is eagerly heeding their mother’s advice and preparing to marry Emperor Franz of Austria does not mean Sisi must also subject herself to such a dutiful existence. Sisi knows there is more to life than luncheons and corsets—if only someone would let her experience it all firsthand. Meanwhile, in Austria, the emperor is recovering from an assassination attempt that left him wounded and scared. In a bid to keep the peace, Franz has recommitted himself to his imperial duties—and promised to romance the pliant Helene of Bavaria at his upcoming birthday celebration. How better to unite the empire than with the announcement of a new empress? But when...

  An Indiscreet Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria's Defiant Daughter Georgie Blalock Publication date: September 27, 2022 by William Morrow & Company Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 4 🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summary:  From the acclaimed author of The Other Windsor Girl and The Last Debutantes comes a brilliant novel about Queen Victoria’s most rebellious and artistically talented daughter, Princess Louise, showcasing her rich life in Georgie Blalock’s signature flair. Before Princes Margaret, before Duchess Meghan, there was Princess Louise: royal rebel. As the fourth daughter of the perpetually in-mourning Queen Victoria, Princess Louise’s life is more a gilded prison than a fairy tale. Expected to sit quietly next to her mother with downcast eyes, Louise vows to escape the stultifying royal court. Blessed with beauty, artistic talent, and a common touch, she creates a life outside the walled-in existence of the palace grounds by attending the National Art Training School—where she ...

The Witch and the Tsar Olesya Salnikova Gilmore Publication date: September 20, 2022 by Berkley Publishing Group, Ace Genre: Historical Fantasy Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢 Summary:  In this stunning debut novel, the maligned and immortal witch of legend known as Baba Yaga will risk all to save her country and her people from Tsar Ivan the Terrible—and the dangerous gods who seek to drive the twisted hearts of men. As a half-goddess possessing magic, Yaga is used to living on her own, her prior entanglements with mortals having led to heartbreak. She mostly keeps to her hut in the woods, where those in need of healing seek her out, even as they spread rumors about her supposed cruelty and wicked spells. But when her old friend Anastasia—now the wife of the tsar, and suffering from a mysterious illness—arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s. Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves. As she trave...

  The American Adventuress C.W. Gortner Publication Date: September 20, 2022 by William Morrow Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢 Summary:  The story of Jennie Jerome Churchill, mother of Winston, a New York born heiress who always lived life on her own terms. Daughter of New York financier Leonard Jerome, Jennie was born into wealth—and scandal. Upon her parents’ separation, her mother took Jennie and her sisters to Paris, where Mrs. Jerome was determined to marry her daughters into the most elite families. The glamorous city became their tumultuous finishing school until it fell to revolt. Fleeing to Queen Victoria’s England, Jennie soon caught the eye of aristocrat Randolph Spencer-Churchill, son of the Duke of Marlborough, one of Britain’s loftiest peers. It was love at first sight, their unconventional marriage driven by mutual ambition and the birth of two sons. Undeterred by premature widowhood or society’s rigid expectations, Jennie brashly carried on a lifel...

  The Last Crown (The Bold #2) Elzbieta Cherezinska translated by Maya Zakrzewska-Pim Original publication date: Oct. 3, 2016 under the title Krolowa US publication date: Sept. 6. 2022 by Macmillian-Tor/ Forge Books Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 5 👢👢👢👢👢 Summary:  Across Baltic shores, English battlegrounds, and the land of Northern Lights,  The Last Crown  is the follow up to  The Widow Queen,  and the epic conclusion of Swietoslawa's journey from Polish princess to Queen of Denmark & Sweden and Queen Mother of England.   My thoughts: First let me say that you don't have to read the first book in order to read this one but I would highly recommend it. I am so grateful that this series was picked up for U.S. publication. I probably would never have given any thought to these historic figures otherwise.  This series is more than just a loose biography of Swietoslawa. It provides a thoroughly researched and comprehensive overview of...

The Winter Orphans Kristen Beck Publication date: September 13, 2022 by Berkley Books Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 5  👢👢👢👢👢 Summary:  In a remote corner of France, Jewish refugee Ella Rosenthal has finally reached safety. It has been three years since she and her little sister, Hanni, left their parents to flee Nazi Germany, and they have been pursued and adrift in the chaos of war ever since. Now they shelter among one hundred other young refugees in a derelict castle overseen by the Swiss Red Cross. Swiss volunteers Rösli Näf and Anne-Marie Piguet uphold a common mission: to protect children in peril. Rösli, a stubborn and resourceful nurse, directs the colony of Château de la Hille, and has created a thriving community against all odds. Anne-Marie, raised by Swiss foresters, becomes both caretaker and friend to the children, and she vows to do whatever is necessary to keep them safe. However, when Germany invades southern France, safeguarding Jewish refugees becom...

  The Attic Child Lola Jaye Publication date: September 6, 2022 by William Morrow & Company Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 5 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summary:  A  hauntingly powerful and emotionally charged novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging. Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a shared secret. Early 1900s London: Taken from his homeland, twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of the time locked away in the attic of a large house by the sea. The only time Celestine isn't bound by confines of the small space is when he is acting as an unpaid servant to English explorer Sir Richard Babbington, As the years pass, he desperately clings on to memories of his family in Africa, even as he struggles to remember his mother's face, and sometimes his real name . . . 1974: Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege whose fortunes have now changed, finds herself trapped in the same attic. Searching for a ray of...

The Marriage Portrait Maggie O'Farrell  Publication date: September 6, 2022 by Knopf Publishing Group Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷 Summary:  Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and to devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Moderna and Regio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of...