Remi Victoire is the golden child among all the theatre orphans; he dreams of a life on a Paris stage. But when this future is stolen from him, Remi and his faithful friend Pascal turn their backs on Paris forever.

With Saskia, a runaway orphan girl, Remi and Pascal form a performing troupe, travelling through the fairytale lands that are home to the Brothers Grimm, before finding a safe haven in Venice.

As Napoleon’s vast Empire crumbles, the French storytellers discover that Paris itself is now at risk of invasion and they fear for the loved ones they have left behind.

From picturesque villages to Italian theatres and on to the battlefields outside of Paris, this is a beautifully told story about the bonds of love and friendship, the importance of stories, and finding a place to belong.

Set in Europe in the early 1800s, Stephanie Parkyn’s The Freedom of Birds is historical fiction centring around a trio of orphan children who band together to form a performing troupe. From France to Italy, and the battlefields in between, Saskia, Remi and Pascal must learn to survive on their own.

The Freedom of Birds brings disadvantaged and marginalised characters to the forefront. There’s an element of fairytales and folklore running as an undercurrent to the novel, which makes it feel oddly comforting and reassuring at a time like this.

I’ve since realised there is some connection between this book and Stephanie’s previous two works — luckily, you don’t need to read her first two books to follow this one, although I’m sure it’d help provide additional context to the historical setting.

“Did they wonder, the townsfolk, how Father had come to possess her? Had they questioned her sudden arrival to that desolate church? No doubt he had spun a convincing story. Perhaps he told them he had rescued her from wickedness and vice and delivered her into the lap of God.”

Strengths lie in the research and political turmoil captured in the book. Whilst a lot of the events happening in that time period — particularly those related to war — went straight over my head and waned my interest, I appreciate how much work has gone into writing this book and I acknowledge there’ll be a loyal readership who will find themselves in love with the time period and the setting of the book.

From the battlefields to the tension, to the hatred for their unjust treatment, The Freedom of Birds transports you to another time and allows you to feel completely enveloped in the early 1800s. Each of the core characters are unique in their journey and their role within the story — each are fighting battles both in their minds and their environments. Their journeys in the book reflect their pursuit for the truth, and for the family they’ve never known.

“The smell of hay, manure, piss — I woke with it filling my nose and mouth, face down and chewing on the stable scrapings. I rolled over slowly, not wanting to move my head, feeling the hammers strike anvils behind my eyes. I prised an eyelid open.”

There were a couple of things that I didn’t love about the book, and the main one was the perspective shift. We move between Saskia, Remi and Pascal, but two of these voices are in third person and one is in first person. I found this incredibly jolting and sometimes I got confused about which perspective we were now in. I wonder why the author wrote it like this, instead of writing all three of them in third person and perhaps including a header at the beginning of each chapter with their name, so we immediately knew who we were following.

And secondly, I struggled with the pacing of the novel. It’s very slow. Too slow. Events didn’t seem to hold the magnitude they needed for historical fiction. So, whilst plotting was present and things did happen, they never seemed to be building towards enough of a climax to keep a reader hooked.

“Hunger gripped Pascal’s stomach like a dog that would not relinquish a stick. It gnawed at him. He felt each bite like a sudden cramp. Hunger hurt. He was tired of the ache.”

Recommended for historical fiction readers. Readership skews female, 35+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Freedom of Birds
Stephanie Parkyn
December 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

France, 1942. At the end of the day, the schoolteacher releases her pupils. She checks they have their identity passes, and warns them not to stop until the German guards have let them through the barrier that separates occupied France from Free France. As the little ones fly across the border and into their mothers’ arms, she breathes a sigh of relief. No one is safe now. Not even the children.

Berkshire, present day. A letter left to her by her beloved late grandmother Gigi takes Hannah Stone on a journey deep into the heart of the Dordogne landscape. As she begins to unravel a forgotten history of wartime bravery and sacrifice, she discovers the heartrending secret that binds her grandmother to a village schoolteacher, the remarkable Lucie Laval . . .

Sarah Steele’s The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel is dual-timeline historical fiction. In present day, we meet the passionate but emotionally detached Hannah Stone, still grieving the loss of her grandmother and mother as she tries to take care of her ailing father. She is also still reeling from the breakdown of her relationship the year prior, something she’d prefer to forget about than confront. When she discovers a letter from her late grandmother that raises questions about her past, she heads to France to hunt down the secrets from her youth that she worked so hard to keep.

The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel is both emotional and raw, set within a high stakes environment. At a time when a revealed secret could mean instant death, Sarah Steele paints a vivid, emotive journey for all readers.

“Why hadn’t she talked to him when she felt the dark cloud forming around her again after Lorna’s death? She had pushed him away, refused to see his help for what it was…she picked up her phone, toyed again with sending him a message. But what would she say?”

As with most historical fiction, I feel the strength lies in the storyline of the past — Gigi’s years during World War II felt like a part of history that is largely untold, so it was quite interesting to follow her portion of the novel. It was apparent how much research had gone into the novel to bring this story to life, both in factual elements and also the emotional turmoil that people would’ve suffered back then.

In the present storyline, Hannah is torn between the safety of her home and her job, and the possibility of expanding her horizons and finding new passions. She feels like she needs to take care of her ailing father, but she’s merely putting up walls to protect herself. Travelling to Europe to explore her grandmother’s story allows her to grow as a character and let others in.

The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel allows us to glimpse into an element of our history that is largely unacknowledged. Sarah will find many devoted readers in this latest novel.

“One of the soldiers, not much older than Suzette, blocked their way, and Lucie felt Nicole’s tiny fingers tightening in her grip and the held breaths of the children behind her. She tried not to look at the weapon strapped across the man’s back, the ugly insignia on his black labels, the scars from his teenage acne.”

The long lost relationship between Hannah and her ex-boyfriend didn’t quite feel like it fit in the story. The reasons for their breakdown seemed to receive no resolution throughout the novel, so the ending felt a little unrealistic. It felt like Sarah put their resolution in the novel to suit the genre — which usually features a romance — than allowing the story to conclude in a natural fit.

The only other element of the book I struggled with was the large cast of characters in the 1942 storyline — gradual time spent in the book didn’t ease the confusion in some scenes, trying to remember how certain characters were connected to others.

“Hannah unlatched the gate to her childhood home and looked at the house with a critical eye. Its problems ran far deeper than a runaway rose bed and an invasion of ground elder…there would come a time, she knew, when they had to accept that a high-maintenance antique full of memories was no longer suitable for a solitary widower.”

Recommended for readers of historical fiction and family sagas. Readership skews female, 30+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel
Sarah Steele
December 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

New York, 1897. The richest city in the world.

Beautiful, young and privileged, Rose Kingsbury Smith is expected to play by the strict rules of social etiquette, to forfeit all career aspirations and to marry a man of good means. But she has a quietly rebellious streak and is determined to make her own mark on Manhattan’s growing skyline. When the theft of a precious heirloom plunges the Kingsbury Smiths into financial ruin, Rose becomes her family’s most tradeable asset. She finds herself fighting for her independence and championing the ideal of equality for women everywhere.

Enigmatic Ethan Salt’s inglorious circus days are behind him. He lives a quiet life on Coney Island with his beloved elephant Daisy and is devoted to saving animals who’ve been brutalised by show business. As he struggles to raise funds for his menagerie, he fears he will never build the sanctuary of his dreams … until a chance encounter with a promising young architect changes his life forever.

Just when Rose is on the verge of seeing her persistence pay off, the ghosts of her past threaten to destroy everything she holds dear. In the face of heartbreaking prejudice and betrayal, she must learn to harness her greatest wonder within.

Historical fiction at its finest, Tania Farrelly’s debut novel The Eighth Wonder is a sweeping saga that will take readers all over New York and Coney Island in 1897, an incredibly progressive era for visionaries and creative individuals who dared to dream.

Written in third person, we meet the beautiful and wealthy Rose just as her family loses an expensive heirloom to a thief. Soon, they’re struggling to pay the bills and the stress placed on her family forces Rose’s mother to encourage a marriage – something Rose never wanted. It forces Rose to be look for success elsewhere, in an effort to save her family from destitution.

“Rose hovered for a moment, her mind reeling with the truth about Jack. For a moment she just stood there, rooted to the spot, feeling a strange mix of betrayal and hurt. She pressed her hand to her throat, as if it might smooth her breathing.”

The Eighth Wonder shines a light on women who exceeded expectations and followed their instincts. Rose is an intelligent visionary, desperate for more than a future as a wife and mother. She has to fight society’s expectations of her, as well as her own mother. Her father too sometimes doubts her, although there’s clearly a very strong relationship between the two that gives Rose strength and drive to pursue her passion for architecture.

Rose’s character development comes with acknowledging her elitism and privilege, and there’s a pretty striking scene where she ventures into another area of New York and is confronted with the harsh realities of how the other half live. Over time, she comes to realise there’s more to life than riches. It’s about staying true to yourself, and those you love.

“Once, he would have made a run for it. But now that he stood a full six foot four and a half inches in bare feet and had a face that invited second glances, he’d discovered the most effective way to escape any threat was to stay cool.”

Rose’s love of architecture was an interesting addition to the plot, and something I loved reading. Architecture would’ve been such a male-dominated industry in the late 1800s New York City, so watching Rose persevere through setbacks, more determined than ever, was heart-warming.

Animal welfare is another theme explored in the book, and as I understand it, inspired by true events. Reading about Jake and Ethan and their determination to limit abuse to animals was a touching element to the story.

Tania’s writing is stripped and sleek, it’s hard to accept this is a debut. This slots into the historical fiction genre effortlessly.

“For the first time ever, Rose doubted whether he would defend her. She wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole, especially on seeing Edith take her place by the mantel and swirl the brandy Rose had wrongly assumed was for her father.”

The Eighth Wonder is recommended for fans of historical fiction. Readership skews female, 30+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This review is featured by Twinkl in their blog about the latest must-read books. See more recommendations and get involved at Book Lovers’ Top Picks For Your 2021 TBR List.

The Eighth Wonder
Tania Farrelly
July 2021
Penguin Random House Publishers

Burma, 1945. Bea, Plum, Bubbles, Joy and Lucy: in search of adventure, attached to the Fourteenth Army, fighting a forgotten war in the jungle. Assigned to run a mobile canteen, navigating treacherous roads and dodging hostile gunfire, they become embroiled in life-threatening battles of their own.

Oxford, 1976. A woman slips into a museum and steals several rare Japanese netsuke, including the famed fox-girl. Despite the offer of a considerable reward, these tiny, exquisitely detailed carvings are never seen again.

London and Galway, 1999. On the eve of the new millennium, Olivia, assistant to an art dealer, meets Beatrix, an elderly widow who wishes to sell her late husband’s collection of Japanese art. Olivia travels with Beatrix to a New Year’s Eve party, deep in the Irish countryside, where friendships will be tested as secrets kept for more than fifty years are spilled.

Inspired by the heroic servicewomen who served in the ‘forgotten war’ in Burma, Kayte Nunn’s The Last Reunion alternates between dual timelines and centres around a valuable netsuke from WWII that is stolen from a museum. In 1999, it resurfaces, along with the story of how it came to be in that museum, and its origins.

Whilst the novel opens with the theft in 1976, we never return to that storyline. It merely sets up the mystery of the novel, and draws the reader in.

Written in third person, The Last Reunion switches between 1945 and 1999. In 1945, we mainly follow the determined Bea as she signs up as volunteer for a mobile canteen with a group of other women. In 1999, young art dealer Olivia tracks down an elderly Bea in an effort to find out what happened to the famous — but missing — fox-girl netsuke.

“Bea turned away, her hand to her face. Death was all around them — she wasn’t so naive as to think otherwise — but to see it up close, and one so pointless, was somehow more shocking than reading the lists of soldiers who died in battle every day.”

Alongside many other elements, The Last Reunion explores female friendship, family and sacrifice, and how in the toughest of times, we find ourselves drawn to those who may be very different from us.

The Last Reunion feels like a fresh addition to the historical fiction genre.I’ve read many novels set during WWII and this was an aspect to the battle that I hadn’t heard or read about. This new perspective will appeal to seasoned historical fiction readers like myself.

Another strength lies in Kayte’s detailed descriptions of setting, characters and objects – particularly the netsukes. Each character feels unique, their voice distinct. Additionally, you felt like you were experiencing the war alongside these women, particularly with such vivid descriptions of weather — the rain, the floods, the heat. The writing is so visceral, scenes lift from the page.

“Olivia hesitated; it seemed like such an odd request, to accompany an old woman to a reunion, but she would love to visit Ireland; it had always seemed to her to be such an appealing country; the accents alone were utterly beguiling.”

Admittedly, there were elements to the ending that felt a little rushed, as if the motivations or thoughts behind certain actions happened too suddenly to feel authentic. For example, when Plum comes to her senses about her husband, and also when a career opportunity conveniently lands in Olivia’s lap.

“Bea was familiar with the sight of her father’s service revolver, had watched him clean and oil it, but though he had explained its workings to Archie when he was still a boy, Bea had never been allowed anywhere near it. Guns, the unspoken message had been, were for men and boys, not the business of women and girls.”

A story of friendship and family, but also loss and betrayal, The Last Reunion is recommended for readers of historical fiction, war stories, and family sagas. Readership skews female.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Reunion
Kayte Nunn
April 2021
Hachette Book Publishers