historical fiction Archives — Mostly Mystery Reviews

05/16/202205/16/2022

Solomon’s Concubine

“This is not wonderful fantasy come true.” So says Sachi to Nalussa in Solomon’s Concubine by S. A. Jewell. Solomon’s Concubine is a thoughtful, fictionalized look into what it might have been like as a beautiful, but poor, young virgin Israelite woman chosen to join Solomon’s vast harem. Nalussa, as well as her new friends, Sachi and Abra, had been found, paid for, and delivered to Solomon’s harem without much ability to decline.

True, most of the women chosen would see wealth unimaginable in their normal family life. But are the dazzling accoutrements of Solomon’s palace worth being taken from your family at a young age? Or worth the price of never seeing your loved ones again? Especially since these young women will be virtual prisoners for the rest of their lives. What happens to them when they grow older? What happens to them when Solomon dies? His harem is so vast, will he even see them or interact with them at all? So Sachi’s remark to Nalussa is apt and also captures Nalussa’s own feelings.

Slow But Steady

S. A. Jewell leads the reader on a somewhat slow journey through the preparation of Nalussa and her friends for their initial meeting with Solomon. Fright and sorrow are evident in Solomon’s short and disastrous interaction with Sachi, which ends in her suicide. Nalussa becomes a favorite of the king because of her extraordinary beauty and intelligence. All Abra wants is to soak in the luxury and bear a child of Solomon’s.

Meet Makeda, the Queen of Sheba (an ancient city-state that was on the Arabian peninsula), who comes to see Solomon for herself. And see if all the rumors she’s heard are true. During a banquet given by Solomon, Makeda and many others stare at Nalussa because of the physical similarities between the two women.

After the king’s death, what will happen to the two friends? Especially since Abra got her wish and is pregnant with Solomon’s child. Enter Adriel, the officer charged with procuring the women for Solomon’s harem. Adriel and Jasper (Nalussa’s brother, enlisted to help by Adriel) guide the women out of the country. What becomes of the foursome takes up the last third of the book.

Believable Characters

I enjoyed Jewell’s characterization of Nalussa, Abra, Adriel and Jasper. Some secondary characters, such as Shallum, are also well written. On the other hand, the pacing, although steady, is too steady in places. Jewell missed a few opportunities to quicken the pace. As the group escapes through the chaos following Solomon’s death, Jewell just indicates that “the women were terrified.” A more apt description would have shown how the women reacted to the situation. Once Nalussa, Adriel, Abra and her newborn son are in Sheba, to which they fled after the king’s death, the scenes and dialogue that deal with court intrigue are excellent. The plot gains some quickness of pace as it moves towards the end, but then slows again as the story approaches its conclusion.

Overall, Solomon’s Concubine kept my interest. I may read other books written by Jewell.

Solomon’s Concubine
by S. A. Jewell
© 2022
Ambassador International

12/21/202112/20/2021

Finding Napoleon

Margaret Rodenberg’s Finding Napoleon is a lush, slow-burn romance between Napoleon Bonaparte and his lover, Albine de Montholon. Rodenberg’s historical novel examines Napoleon’s life after his defeat at Waterloo through life in exile on St. Helena. Narration alternates among Napoleon, Albine de Montholon, and Rodenberg’s take on the novel Napoleon wrote while in his 20s.

Napoleon shines in a clear, kindly light. Love for his son, sired with Marie Louise, his second wife, and esteem for his mother mark Napoleon as very human. He hides, or tries to, his stomach ailment. Napoleon, the regal emperor in front of his troops and the public, is likeable and flawed behind closed doors. According to Albine, “Before we’d shared a bed, I had thought he would be remote, noble, a romantic painting. Instead, I got warm flesh, a chuckle, a fart between the sheets. Human, yes, but a better species.”

Albine de Montholon, the wife of an aristocrat, deals in treachery and plays both sides—those supporting Napoleon and those against. That is, before she follows him into exile, becomes his mistress, and loves him. “There I was, forty-three years old, on my third husband, countless men in between. Far too late to be enchanted. Not a time to fall in love.”

With hints of treachery, whiffs of lust, Rodenberg draws the reader into her story. She embodies the characters with totally believable human traits. Napoleon realizes his loneliness, even among his followers, hangers-on really, in his last exile. “The Emperor swallowed the burn in his throat. He might lead these people, but not a one of them was his friend.” How prescient. Some of those French hangers-on sold secrets to the British who monitored Napoleon’s exile in St. Helena. “Over the years, he’d grown accustomed to living among traitors.” But in this fictional narrative, Napoleon had devout friends in an American gardener and an African slave boy.

My one dislike is that the pace is slow and delves too much into minutiae. But ultimately, this is historical fiction at its best. Rodenberg’s prose brings Napoleon to life as well as those hangers-on that lived with him in his St. Helena exile.

I received a copy of this book from www.readersfavorite.com in exchange for an honest review.

10/11/202110/25/2021

Wrecking Storm – Civil War

Michael Ward has done it, again, with his second Thomas Tallant adventure. The Wrecking Storm takes us back to mid-17^th century England. This was a period of political unrest, disagreements about religious freedom between Puritans and Catholics, and civil war.

The Wrecking Storm continues the focus on the Tallant family begun in The Rags of Time. The Tallants are well-to-do merchants in the spice trade. The family is slowly drawn into the unrest incited in part by the Puritans engulfs the Tallants. A confrontation with an angry mob occurs at their business’s warehouse. And their home on the outskirts of London is attacked and a friend’s son is killed. Tensions throughout London and the country tighten. All events destined to lead to “the wrecking storm…a vicious, painful civil war, with no escape.”

Puritans sought to cleanse the Church of England of any remaining Roman Catholic practices. Later, the group played a significant role in the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. Ward does an excellent job of portraying the tensions of this period as the Tallants have both Protestant and Catholic friends. The research he did into this particular time period is evident and informs, but does not overwhelm, the story.

Again, as with The Rags of Time, Ward’s pacing of the novel is quick but steady. His characters are attractive and engagingly differentiated. Especially the relationships Thomas has with his father, Elizabeth Seymour, and Barty.

This book, like The Rags of Time, is a must-read if you like historical fiction with a bit of mystery thrown in.

For my review of The Rags of Time, Ward’s first Thomas Tallent adventure, visit here.

I received a free copy of this book. I gave an honest opinion of this book.