JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-Time Husband by Barbara Toner

It’s September 1919. The war is over, and everyone who was going to die from the flu has done so. But there’s a shortage of husbands and women in strife will flounder without a male to act on their behalf.

And in the southern NSW town of Prospect, four ladies bereft of men have problems that threaten to overwhelm them.

Beautiful Louisa Worthington, whose dashing husband died for King and Country, is being ruined by the debts he left behind. Young Maggie O’Connell, who lost her mother in childbirth and her father to a redhead, is raising her two wayward brothers and fighting for land she can’t prove is hers. Adelaide Nightingale has a husband, but he’s returned from the war in a rage and is refusing to tackle the thieving manager of their famous family store. Pearl McLeary, Adelaide’s new housekeeper, must find her missing fiancé before it’s too late and someone dies.

Thank God these desperate ladies have a solution- a part-time husband who will rescue them all. To find him, they’ll advertise. To afford him, they’ll share . . .

Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-Time Husband by Barbara Toner is a historical fiction novel set in the small country town of Prospect in 1919.

The war and the Spanish flu are over, but four women in town are struggling. They each face different dilemmas and they need help. Louise needs to clear the debt left behind by her deceased husband, Maggie needs help fighting for land, Adelaide’s family store is being pilfered by their manager, and Pearl’s fiancé is missing and she needs help tracking him down.

These troubles mount on the women each and every day, and they don’t have support from the town. They advertise for an external party — a part-time husband to help solve each of their problems. Enter Martin Duffy.

“Martin Duffy, so much more to Maggie’s taste than the Mayor, was having a very early lunch in the sunny corner of Mrs Quirk’s pub, writing his mother an amusing letter about the ladies’ hopes for him, which he had every intention of fulfilling.”

This is a novel about female friendship and identity. At a time where women were laughed at or cast aside, these women team up to take charge. They refuse to roll over and let others force them to give up what they want. These woman are confident, decisive and ballsy.

At first, they don’t like each other. They have preconceived notions about each other, and so there are a lot of arguments and disagreements over the course of the novel. But, over time, they bond and put aside their differences because they both want and need the same thing.

Four Respectable Ladies is charming and witty, filled with all sorts of characters. However, the novel fell flat for me. I think there were too many characters, contributing to an overly complicated and convoluted plot. At times, it was hard to follow the storyline, and we didn’t spend enough time with each of the four women to really warm to them.

At certain points in the novel, the women started to blur together. Additionally, Martin Duffy was quite an underwhelming character, not really dominating the book like I thought he would. Instead, I felt like he didn’t make enough of an impact in the town and he was quite disappointing.

I was initially drawn to this book because of its gorgeous cover. It captures the flirty, fun nature of some of the characters, whilst also making it clear that it’s historical fiction.

The setting has been captured well, highlighting that period in history where the war is over and yet life is not perfect. People are still recovering from the war, and they’re learning how to move on with their lives.

“Maggie smiled quietly to herself. Martin Duffy wasn’t a man who expected modesty, she was pretty sure of that. He was a man who liked a bit of spirit and she intended to show him that she had plenty.”

The biggest strength of this book was actually the secondary characters, not the four women. I particularly liked Florence Mayberry — the Mayor’s wife — who provides quite a bit of humour for the reader and whose relationship with her husband is entertaining to read.

Additionally, Barbara Toner has done a fantastic job of capturing dialogue. This book is really dialogue heavy, but Barbara illustrates all of the individual voices really well and so the conversations don’t get muddled. It was easy to follow who was speaking, even when there were multiple people in one scene.

I recommend this book to readers who love historical fiction, but know that this isn’t a typical historical fiction novel. Romance doesn’t drive the plot, and there are many many characters. It’s really a book about a town of people, not just four women and one part-time husband. This isn’t my favourite book, but I do think there is a market for this. Many readers will love the town of Prospect, and all the drama within it.

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

Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-Time Husband
Barbara Toner
February 2018
Penguin Random House Australia

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable

Physician Bess Codman has returned to her family’s Nantucket compound, Cliff House, for the first time in four years. Her great-grandparents built Cliff House almost a century before, but due to erosion, the once-grand home will soon fall into the sea. Though she’s purposefully avoided the island, Bess must now pack up the house and deal with her mother, a notorious town rabble-rouser, who refuses to leave.

The Book of Summer unravels the power and secrets of Cliff House as told through the voices of Ruby Packard, a bright-eyed and idealistic newlywed on the eve of WWII, the home’s definitive guestbook, and Bess herself. Bess’s grandmother always said it was a house of women, and by the very last day of the very last summer at Cliff House, Bess will understand the truth of her grandmother’s words in ways she never contemplated.

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable explores friendships, relationships, and one family’s connection to Nantucket’s Cliff House – and its secrets.

Bess Codman has just split from her husband and she has come home to move her mother Cissy out of Cliff House, which is now on the edge of its land and will soon collapse into the sea. Bess’ mother is stubborn and difficult, and the two women spend a lot of time together over the course of the novel.

Cissy and Bess are very different characters. Bess is reasonable, relatable, and level-headed. Cissy is a bull in a china shop and a dominant personality within the town. She wants to keep Cliff House and she has no problem fighting for it.

“Beth is pissed off. She can’t even track down the woman, as Cissy is about as reliable with her phone as Palmer Bradlee. Bells calls her mother repeatedly, but the kitchen counter never picks up.”

Their relationship is not perfect, and they both grow over the course of the novel and they learn to listen to each other.

Nantucket is a really lovely setting for the book; it feels enclosed and homely, but it doesn’t feel claustrophobic.

The book alternates between past and present, and we come to meet the people who have lived in Cliff House around the time of WWII. The dual storylines help drive the book and really drew me into the separate plots. I was definitely more interested in the past than the present, as truthfully, I found Cissy a little insufferable and I found the budding romance between Bess and her ex-boyfriend quite predictable.

“Evan’s voice has always been so persuasive. Deep, powerful, as if coming from his lungs, or his heart. And those earnest brown eyes, like precious heirlooms she left behind. Bless it, Bess is falling for his old schtick.”

The Book of Summer is dialogue-driven and quite slow-paced. I have to admit I didn’t fall in love with many of the characters, but I did like reading about newlywed Ruby’s story from the time of WWII. At times she came across as naive and gullible, but she also had heart and drive. I also loved Ruby’s friend Hattie Rutter, who is bright, wild, fun and a total spark. She’s a modern woman who has no interest in settling down.

All of the characters are flawed, which does make them more relatable. At times, their thoughts and actions are questionable, and you have to remind yourself that WWII was a very different time and certain actions were not considered acceptable back then.

“The photographs were, no surprise, exactly where she’d left them. Ruby removed the stack and flicked past the ones of Hattie, two of Mother unawares, and on down the the bottom of the pile. And there they were, same as before. All those pretty boys.”

I’d recommend this to readers who love historical fiction, but also small-town settings and stories from the war.

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

The Book of Summer
Michelle Gable
January 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain

In 1944, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly ends her engagement to the love of her life when she marries a mysterious stranger and moves to Hickory, North Carolina, a small town struggling with racial tension and the hardships imposed by World War II. Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night and hides money from his new wife. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.

The people of Hickory love and respect Henry and see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain. Tess suspects people are talking about her, plotting behind her back, and following her as she walks around town. What does everyone know about Henry that she does not?

When a sudden polio epidemic strikes the town, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess, who has a nursing degree, bucks Henry’s wishes and begins to work at the hospital, finding meaning in nursing the young victims. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle her husband’s mysterious behavior and save her own life?

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain is as heartbreaking as it is emotionally captivating. Steeped in history, this novel is beautifully written and so difficult to put down — I devoured it in one sitting because I was desperate to get to the end. There are so many twists in the plot, and each one was just as unpredictable and as thrilling as the last.

Diane has written such three-dimensional, wondrous characters. They’re all flawed, but likeable, and I loved reading about them. At times, Tess felt really immature and a little clueless, but given that this book is set in 1944 and Tess is only twenty-three, you can forgive her for being a little slow at times. She certainly makes some decisions that could’ve been better thought through.

“We were trapped, both of us. In early May, six weeks after I lost Andrew, Ruth insisted I return to church with the family. I’d spent the past month and a half in a fog. Dr. Poole described something for my ‘melancholia’ and it kept me numb.”

Each and every character in the book, whether they appear in five chapters or fifteen, are well thought out and very well crafted. Diane has captured their dialogue and body language really well, showing us things about their personality through their actions and not telling us simply in the prose.

The Stolen Marriage is filled with plenty of secrets and betrayals, but it also illustrates true love and the importance of sacrifice for the one you love. Tess leaves Vincent because of a terrible mistake and she wants to spare him the pain, and whilst it’s probably not the wisest decision, it does illustrate her love for him.

“In my room, I struggled to write the letter to Vincent. I cried so hard as I wrote it that I could barely catch my breath. The letter had to be cut-and-dried. A little mean. I wanted to make him angry enough to forget me.”

Diane has captured what life was like in the deep American South in the 1940s, highlighting the gender and race issues of the time and prejudice against women working or a black person dating a white person. Diane has also captured the polio epidemic very accurately, illustrating the widespread fear but also the initial ignorance about how one catches it and how it is transmitted.

Ultimately, this novel is about two characters attempting to pull themselves out of a difficult and complex situation. For one, it’s torture. For the other, it’s salvation. The novel is paced really well and the storyline and setting is really interesting. I read a lot of historical fiction novels and yet I felt like The Stolen Marriage was really unique and something I hadn’t come across before.

“I woke to the sound of muffled voices on the other side of the bedroom door. It had to be nearly five o’clock, the room filled with a dusky twilight.
“She doesn’t play bridge and I’m hardly going to put everyone in the bridge club through the agony of tutoring her,” Ruth said.
I couldn’t hear Henry’s response, though his voice sounded calm.
“She looks foreign,” Ruth said. “Like a Gypsy. Is she Italian or…?”

I recommend this to historical fiction readers, but also readers who love adult fiction. Yes, it’s embedded in history, but it’s a fantastic storyline filled with all different types of characters and friendships. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I was going to, that’s for sure!

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

The Stolen Marriage
Diane Chamberlain
December 2017
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Stars Across the Ocean by Kimberley Freeman

1874: Only days before she is to leave the foundling home where she grew up, Agnes Resolute discovers that, as a baby, she had been abandoned with a small token of her mother: a unicorn button.

Agnes always believed her mother had been too poor to keep her, but after working as a laundress in the home she recognises the button as belonging to Genevieve Breckby, the beautiful and headstrong daughter of a local noble family. Agnes had seen Genevieve once, in the local village, and had never forgotten her.

Despite having no money, Agnes will risk everything in a quest that will take her from the bleak moors of northern England to the harsh streets of London, then on to Paris and Ceylon. As Agnes follows her mother’s trail, she makes choices that could cost her dearly. Finally, in Australia, she tracks Genevieve down. But is Genevieve capable of being the mother Agnes hopes she will be?

This historical fiction novel by Kimberley Freeman moves between past and present. The book opens in the present (no specific year mentioned) with a young woman named Victoria travelling from Australia to England to assist her ill mother, who has had an accident at work and is currently in recovery. Victoria helps her mother recover some documents from her workplace and then she finds a letter from the 19th century. It’s a letter from an unknown woman to her child that she gave away. Victoria reads the letter and becomes enthralled in the circumstances surrounding it.

The letter then abruptly cuts off and the novel takes us back to Agnes Resolute’s story in the mid 19th century. She is on a desperate search to find her birth mother and this search takes her to London, Paris, Ceylon and then on to Australia. It’s a novel about loss, love, identity and family.

Even though Harriet adored me, even though she didn’t believe women should be so constrained as we are, she used all the words I expected. ‘Improper’ and ‘unsuitable’: even ‘shocking’ and ‘indecent’.
‘Emile Venson is a carpenter,’ she said to me at the end. ‘You cannot fall in love with a carpenter.’

Kimberley Freeman has crafted an enjoyable historical fiction novel. The transition between past and present is smooth and not confusing at all, and the writing is effortless. The storyline keeps readers on their toes and eager to find out more, and the huge cast of characters are interesting to read and engaging for the reader.

Agnes spends almost the entire novel following Genevieve Breckby, an allusive woman that Agnes believes is her mother. Genevieve is hard to track down. First, Agnes travels to London and works for a time with Genevieve’s sister Marianna and Genevieve’s son Julius. And then she continues to follow the woman’s trail all the way to Australia. Kimberley Freeman constantly flicks between past and present as Victoria finds out more information about the illusive woman who has written this letter. The reader then finds out all the circumstances of the birth because the actual story is being detailed intermittently as well.

Agnes’ heart fell all the way to her toes. This house did not look inhabited, just like the house in Colombo. That meant she was miles and miles from anywhere, without means to return to the village — and, quite honestly, barely any idea which way the village lay — and evening was approaching.

I felt like Agnes wasn’t a hugely likeable protagonist. She came across extremely naive and there were a few parts in the novel where I could sense exactly what was going to happen. When she decides to sleep at the abandoned train station, I knew she was going to wake up to find that her suitcase had been stolen. And when she arrives in London and is accommodated by Madame Beaulieu, I could tell that Beaulieu was a running a brothel and would no doubt be an antagonist in the novel. Everyone seemed to know it but Agnes, and when Madame Beaulieu took her purse and wouldn’t give her back her money, I was not at all surprised.

“After her encounter with Monsieur Valois, she was more certain than ever that she would not sell her body as Madame Beaulieu wanted her to, and no amount of vile menial work would have her change her mind. She could endure it; it wasn’t forever.”

I know that Agnes is supposed to be in her late teens, but Kimberley dropped a lot of hints and things then became a little predictable. Agnes’ nativity became a little exhausting, thus making her an unlikable character. The ending to the novel, which I won’t give away in this review, was also something that I found predictable. I picked the ‘twist’ about 100 pages into the book, feeling like Kimberley made it too easy for the reader and that there were a lot of hints and comments that gave away the ending.

I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction — while it has some flaws, it is interesting and enjoyable. Kimberley has illustrated all of the different settings so well; she has captured the feel and atmosphere of each location with great skill. And as far as historical fiction goes, Stars Across the Ocean is intriguing and engaging and you’ll want to read until the end.

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

Stars Across the Ocean
Kimberley Freeman
May 2017
Hachette Publishers

Troubadour by Isolde Martyn

Forced to flee the English court after the lecherous King John attacks her, Adela, the queen’s hairbraider, finds employment in the entourage of Lady Alys. Alys is on her way to marry the Lord of Mirascon, a fiefdom in southern France. However, the south is under threat from Pope Innocent III’s military crusade against the heretics.

After trying in vain to rally his fellow lords against invasion, Richart, Vicomte de Mirascon, makes an alliance with King John. A political marriage to the Lady Alys – the king’s discarded mistress – will allow Richart to safeguard his people from a merciless land grab and cruel slaughter.

When the bridal party is ambushed, Adela is mistaken for her dead mistress by the people of Mirascon. Adela knows she must tell Richart that she is not his betrothed, but as she is dragged deeper into the deception, she is also powerfully drawn to the beleaguered man trying to protect his people and his culture. As the savage army marches south, can Richart and Adela overcome a web of deceit and treachery and evade the bonfires of the crusaders, or will their land of troubadours and tolerance be destroyed forever?

At first, this novel is a case of mistaken identity. Adela is mistaken for the dead Lady Alys and finds herself engaged to the one man she’s been hoping to unite with since she met him at the English court: Richart. She’s happy she’s with him, but she desperately wants to tell him the truth. And then quite early on in the novel, Richart finds out for himself. The two are separated. And then it becomes a novel about survival and uncovering betrayal.

Adela is a strong, resilient character, capable of surviving even in the most dire of times. Isolde Martyn has crafted a fantastic protagonist for this book, drawing us in with her plight and her dimensional construct.

“After she had scrubbed the first of Lady Alys’ underskirts, she sat back and drew her hand across her perspiring brow. Her presence had disturbed the stream’s tiny dwellers but now a damselfly clad in iridescent armour returned, then a trio of water skaters came skimming back, anxious to reclaim their manor.”

Troubadour is a lengthy book with plenty of action and plot and underpinned by truly wonderful characters that I loved reading about. I was enthralled throughout the book, eagerly turning each page to keep reading and thoroughly enjoying every chapter. The book is filled with historical information and an engaging cast of characters. This novel has betrayal, love, trickery, and gutsy courage – everything you could want in a historical fiction novel.

Adela and Richart are star characters, as are Maud and the hilarious Derwent. Right from the beginning, you’re backing Adela. You want her to succeed and flourish and you want her to survive. She’s young and naive, but she’s also strong and intelligent and compassionate.

“Adela received him courteously, but she would have preferred to swim a filthy moat rather than describe the massacre again.”

There were a few times in the book that were heavy with historical information and I felt like it was hard to grasp. A lot of the book is based on actual events and so a lot of explaining and information dumping was needed in order for the reader to get the historical significance of what was happening. I did, at times, feel like Isolde could’ve woven the historical information into the book a little more seamlessly so that it wasn’t as confusing and heavy for the reader to understand.

What I loved most about this book is that it’s a standalone, unlike a lot of other epic fantasy books where there are a minimum of six books in the series and it’s a huge investment to keep going. This novel had perfect pacing and was the perfect length to keep me entertained, and the conclusion to the novel was satisfying and engaging. I loved that this was just one novel and not a long-winded series that you had to read to find out the fate of the characters.

I recommend this to fantasy lovers and those of you who love Game of Thrones, but I also recommend this to readers who are perhaps looking to dabble in a bit of fantasy and don’t want to commit to something too heavy. This is a really enjoyable read, and I would highly recommend Isolde Martyn.

I received a copy of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Troubadour
Isolde Martyn
March 2017
Harlequin Publishers