Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

In 1862, a young Jewish man has set sail from his home in Calcutta, heading toward Hong Kong  to participate in the opium trade. Emmanuel has left behind his wife Semah, promising to return to her having made his fortune. But while he is in Hong Kong, he falls in love with Pearl, the daughter of his Chinese business partner. He takes Pearl as his wife and builds her the most beautiful mansion anyone has ever seen in Hong Kong. But Semah refuses to let Emmanuel have his new life and she arrives unannounced in Hong Kong to take her rightful place as mistress of the house. Neither woman wants to share their home or their husband but neither is willing to give up their place as his wife and very quickly, life changes for all of those who live in the house.  Inspiredly the lives of his own ancestors, The House of Wives by Simon Choa-Johnston is a beautiful novel about two women who will do whatever it takes to secure a place for their children in the upper echelons of t...

Half-sisters Effia and Esi have never met nor do they know that the other one exists. They were born in different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana to the same mother, but after that their lives take two very different paths. Against the hopes of her father, Effia marries an Englishman and lives in the comforts of the Cape Coast Castle where her husband is involved in the slave trade. Their children are educated abroad and grow up to become involved in the administration of the British Empire in Africa. Esi is captured and sold into slavery, imprisoned in the dungeon of the Cape Coast Castle before she is shipped off to America. From Ghana to America, each generation that follows these women face very different circumstances and challenges in their lives but each remain intrinsically tied to the African continent. Homegoing , by Yaa Gyasi, is a masterpiece of a novel and is the debut novel that people will be talking about for years to come. It is only May but I am de...

When Sara and Gerald Murphy opened their home in the Cap D’Antibes in the 1920’s it became a place of legend.  A place where expat Americans - artists, and writers - gathered for parties, glamour, and love.  The champagne flowed as did the ideas, and the Murphy’s loved the charmed life they were living. But when a tragic accident brings a man named Owen into their lives, the Murphys find their world upended.  An American aviator who fought in the Great War, Owen is a private man whose presence unsettles the Murphy’s.  And as the strength of their home is put at risk, their marriage is put to the test.   Villa America , by Liza Klaussman, is a beautiful and stunning story about a golden age and the glamour of the French Riviera that became the stuff of legend.  The story of the real life couple who inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is The Night , readers will instantly be drawn into this gorgeous novel. Following in the footsteps of other ...

It is just a few months after the Great War has ended and the people of Deseronto, Ontario are trying to put the pieces back together.  Kenan, a young soldier, confines himself to his house, damaged and disfigured from his time at the Front.  His wife, Tress, is struggling to adjust to the man who has returned and trying to help him deal with his trauma.  She turns to her Aunt Maggie for advice. But Maggie and her husband, Am, have their own struggles.  An incident from the past lies unspoken between them.  When Maggie begins rehearsing with the Choral Society, she discovers a part of herself she thought was left in the past.  And as this happens, she draws closer to the Music Director, Lukas, a man who has just recently moved to town from Europe. As these people go about their daily lives, struggling to find a new normal, they find themselves entwined with each other, and figuring out just what they will share and what they will hide from those ...

Eleven-year-old Anahita Chavan finds her life is about to change when she befriends Princess Indira, the daughter of Indian royalty.  Her own family is noble but impoverished and her friendship with Indira opens a new world to her as she becomes the princess’ companion.  But it is when the two girls leave India and head to England for school that Anahita’s life really takes a turn. It is there that she meets Donald Astbury, a reluctant heir to a declining fortune, and his mother who will do everything she can to keep control over the estate.  Donald and Anahita fall passionately in love and following the end of World War 1, they make plans to spend their lives together, no matter what society thinks.  But unfortunately, it is not meant to be. Rebecca Bradley, a young American film star, has arrived in England to star in a period film as a 1920’s debutante.  Thrilled to be away from the paparazzi, she settles into Astbury Hall, a now crumbling manor in...

Hannah Levi is a midwife known throughout sixteenth-century Venice for her skill and bedside manner.  In the Jewish ghetto where she lives, women turn to her for the births, especially for her “birthing spoons” which she developed to help difficult births.   One night, a Christian count appears at her door with the Rabbi.  The Conte's wife is in labour and near death and he believes that Hannah is the only one who can help her.  It is illegal for Jews to give medical treatment to Christians but the Conte is offering Hannah a lot of money, enough money to pay the ransom for her husband Isaac who has been auctioned as a slave in Malta. Hannah attends the birth but in doing so she brings upon herself the wrath of the Conte’s treacherous brother.  As she seeks shelter with her sister Jessica who has been shunned from the Jewish community, she tries desperately to save not only the life of her husband but her own. The Midwife of Venice is the first in...

When the boarding school of Emma Smallwood's father shuts down, he takes a job tutoring the young sons of a baronet in cliff-top manor in Cornwall.  When Emma decides to accompany him, she has no idea what mysteries await her at the manor.   The baronet's older sons, Henry and Phillip, are former students of Mr. Smallwood's and they both remember the relationships they had with the younger Emma.  They both find themselves drawn to her and she enjoys getting to know them again.  But soon, strange things begin to happen at the manor.  At night, Emma hears someone playing the pianoforte, only to find the room empty when she investigates.  Someone begins sneaking into her room at night and soon things start to go missing.  As these frightening acts begin to escalate Emma finds herself in terrible danger and her hopes lie in an unlikely rescuer. The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen is a historical romance that has it all - an exciting locale, ...

It is 1946, the Second World War is over, and the country of Germany has been divided into four zones - British, French, Russian, and American.  The city of Hamburg is in the British Occupied Zone and it is here that Colonel Lewis Morgan is one of the top people in charge of rebuilding the city.  As a higher-up in the military, Colonel Morgan has been requisitioned a house on the banks of the Elbe River to live in with his grieving wife Rachael, and their son Edmund. But while others are forcing the German owners out of their homes so they can live in them, Colonel Morgan can't bring himself to do it.  Instead, he proposes that the owner, a widower and his teenage daughter, remain living in the home with his family.  This decision leads to a charged atmosphere in which everyone in the home must confront their grief and misconceptions head on. The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook is a novel about war, loyalty, passion, commitment, and betrayal.  Inspired b...

When Miette's adoptive father passes away, she sets out to find the woman who abandoned her.  In the late 1800's and the North American West, she comes across madwomen, thieves, minstrels, and ghosts as she crosses the country in search of her mother, the notorious Calamity Jane. In  In Calamity's Wake , Natalee Caple blends history and fiction to create a novel that transports you to a different time and place and brings to life the Wild West that fascinates us all. I have never been a fan of Westerns, film or book.  In fact, I've only ever read one other Western book, Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers .  I read it because it was nominated for the Giller Prize and while I loved it, it wasn't enough to draw me to the genre on a whole.  I decided to give it all a try again with this book because I liked the idea of it being about Calamity Jane but with her in the background and not the narrator of the book. The book jumps between two perspecti...

After her fiancé leaves her and the Quaker community for another woman, Honor Bright makes an impulsive decision to leave England behind and travel to America with her sister who is due to be married.   But when she arrives in the new land, tragedy strikes and Honor finds herself all alone, forced to rely on the kindness of strangers.   Her new life is difficult and daunting, and very quickly she discovers that she is in the midst of a movement that will change the face of America.  The town in Ohio that Honor has made her home is a stop on the Underground Railroad and Honor is quickly drawn into its activities.  But her new family makes it clear to her that she should have no part in it.   Honor is torn between the wishes of her new family and her Quaker principles that she holds so dear.  Will she listen to her family, or will she follow her heart no matter what the costs? The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier is a historical fiction novel...

When Grace and Andrew's grandmother dies, she leaves them her large, beautiful home, Dinmont House.  Instead of selling it, like most siblings would, they decide to move in together, splitting the bedrooms and studies between them and sharing the entrance and kitchen.  It may seem strange but it works for them.  That is, until Andrew brings home his new boyfriend. From the beginning, Grace doesn't care much for James or his haughty attitude.  His presence in the home affects Grace and makes for a tense atmosphere.  Then one night, Andrew and James witness the murder of one of their friends and James begins to unravel.  This leads to an encounter between Grace and James that will change their lives forever. When Andrew and James move out of the house, Grace escapes into a manuscript of a novel from 1951.  The book went unpublished due to its depiction of an unwed teenage mother and homosexuality.  The brother and sister in the novel mir...

The year is 1878 and in Paris two young sisters, Marie and Antoinette van Goethem, find their lives turned upside down after the death of their father.  Their mother, a laundress, is a heavy drinker and her wages do not stretch far enough to keep food on the table and the landlord from kicking them out.  Young Marie, a promising student, must join her older sister in earning a wage. Marie joins the Paris Opéra where she trains to be a part of their famous ballet.  Antoinette gets work as an extra in a stage play by Émile Zola.  Both of the girls find that while they love what they do, the small wages are not enough and they must take on extra work.  Marie becomes a muse for Edgar Degas and is immortalized in his drawing Little Dancer Aged Fourteen .  Through this she meets a male patron of the ballet who also wants her to be his muse.   All is not at it seems though and this wealthy man may be expecting more from her than just modelling.  ...