Tag Archives: Marian

The Bone Tree by Greg Iles

In this second installment of a trilogy which began with Natchez Burning, Iles takes us deeper into the morass of racism, hatred, violence and corruption that lies underneath a thin veneer of southern gentility in Mississippi.  Penn Cage, who is now the … Continue reading

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The Prophet by Michael Koryta

Michael Koryta is one of a few writers who shifts from genre to genre even though it is considered career suicide to do so. Koryta however, seems to actually thrive on it!  Known as a crime/suspense novelist, Koryta shifted into … Continue reading

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Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

It is 1966 and a woman and her husband attend the opening  at MOMA of a photographic exhibit by Walker Evans. The exhibit is of portraits Evans took of ordinary New Yorkers on the subway using a hidden camera. Among … Continue reading

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The Black Count: Glory Revolution Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction and no where is that more thoroughly proven than in this book about the life of General Alex Dumas. Dumas was born in the Caribbean to a mulatto slave woman and a aristocratic Frenchman, … Continue reading

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Heretics and Heroes: How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World by Thomas Cahill

Thomas Cahill plunges into the Renaissance and Reformation with the same curiosity and gift for making history come alive as in the previous books in his Hinges of History series.  This one is sixth in the series, coming after the … Continue reading

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Lionheart by Sharon Kay Pennman

It is always hard to tease out truth from fiction especially when your subject is someone whose exploits and life became the basis of legend. Richard the Lionheart, King of England  from 1189-99, was an amazing warrior, a sound tactician, … Continue reading

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Her: A Novel by Harriet Lane

Emma is consumed by her life as a mother and wife. With one small child and another on the way she decided to stay at home, but her husband’s job is insecure and they can’t afford to do things they … Continue reading

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The Swimmer by Joakim Zander

Damascus, 1980. Holding his feverish baby, a man watches from the upper story window as his wife gets into his car, on her way to get something for the baby’s fever. He knows that he will have to leave soon, … Continue reading

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The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

As a daughter of missionaries I am always intrigued by how missionaries are portrayed in fiction. In general they don’t fair very well. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is probably the most recent example of the missionary stereotype in … Continue reading

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What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris

Sebastian Alistair St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a title he received when his elder brothers died much to the chagrin and disappointment of his father, the Fifth Earl of Hendon, was having a very troublesome day. In the very early hours … Continue reading

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