urbanmoms.ca Book Club

The Wise Woman

Can you think of anything more wonderful than opening up your mailbox and finding books inside? Neither can I. So, as I said last week, I was thrilled to get a package with a number of books from the really nice folks at Simon & Schuster Canada this summer.

The first book from this package was Philippa Gregory's The Wise Woman. This book was originally published following her Wideacre trilogy (which I haven't personally read yet), and is her first novel set in Tudor England. As the publisher puts it, Gregory takes the reader "on a journey to the outer reaches of passion, where magic and female power meet." Which is true.

The protagonist is a young woman named Alys who has entered a convent basically to find the girlhood she never had, but is quickly ousted when the local lord (Hugo) and his gang destroy the nunnery during Henry VIII's destruction of England's monasteries. Desperate, Alys returns to live with her stepmother Morach, the strange and nebulously dangerous local wise woman. Life with Morach is hard, cold and emotionally empty, and Alys constantly yearns for her old life in the convent and the Mother Superior she loved there. But she knows she can never go back - Mother Superior and all Alys's sisters perished in the fire set by Hugo and his men. Even more, it can be dangerous for former nuns in Henry VIII's England, so Alys must hide her true identity. Balancing on a knife-edge of peril, Alys must choose between loyalty to her vocation as a nun, and survival in the equally dangerous life Morach offers - as a wise woman.

Unexpectedly Alys is summoned to the castle as the old lord's scribe, where her life takes a 180 degree turn. After fighting his many advances, Alys eventually falls in love with the convent-burning Lord Hugo, who is inconveniently already married to Catherine. And this is where we enter the "outer reaches of passion, where magic and female power meet." Alys first enlists Morach and her magic to turn Hugo's passion back to his wife Catherine, but then finds that her magic -- at first so successful -- has taken on a life of its own, and will pursue its own ends, regardless of her intentions.

I was initially skeptical about this book - it didn't feature any of the famous characters we've all come to know and love through The Other Boleyn Girl and the many other great reads that she has written set in Tudor England. But Gregory does manage to deliver some of the magic we've come to expect from her other Tudor-era works, although I will freely admit that she at first strained the limits of my credulity with her use of magic in The Wise Woman, and then just went ahead and smashed through them altogether.

In the end, I did enjoy the book, although there were a few chapters towards the end that I'd rather she hadn't written, truth be told. In hindsight, The Wise Woman is a bit reminiscent of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in the sense that, like Frankenstein, Alys uses powers far beyond her ken to give life to creatures over whom she has no control, and with disastrous consequences. And Gregory is always a master of character: Alys is no pure protagonist, and Morach is never 100% villain. Even as the plot takes ever more unbelievable turns, the characters blossom and expose their deeper layers and their true humanity, which for me is entirely redeeming.

In short: I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Wise Woman, but don't forget to bring your imagination along for the ride.

This review was written by Kath.

Promise of the Wolves

A while back, the nice folks at Simon & Schuster sent me this book:

I've always had a soft-spot for fantasy and sci-fi, so I took a peek within. Here's how the promotional material read:

WHAT IS THE PROMISE OF THE WOLF?

NEVER CONSORT WITH HUMANS.

NEVER KILL A HUMAN UNPROVOKED.

NEVER ALLOW A MIXED-BLOOD WOLF TO LIVE.

At least that's what the wolves of the Wide Valley believe. Until a young wolf dares to break the rules -- and forever alters the relationship between wolves and the humans who share their world.

This is the story of such a wolf. Born of a forbidden mixed-blood litter and an outcast after her mother is banished, Kaala is determined to earn a place in the Swift River pack. But her world is turned upside down when she saves a human girl from drowning. Risking expulsion from their pack and exile from the Wide Valley, Kaala and her young packmates begin to hunt with the humans and thus discover the long-hidden bond between the two clans. But when war between wolves and humans threatens, Kaala learns the lies behind the wolf 's promise. Lies that force her to choose between safety for herself and her friends and the survival of her pack -- and perhaps of all wolf- and humankind.

Set 14,000 years ago, Promise of the Wolves takes us to a land where time is counted in phases of the moon, distance is measured in wolflengths, and direction by the scent of the nearest trail. Years of research into the world of wolves combines with mythical tale-telling to present a fantastical adventure set in a world filled with lore.

Well, to tell you the truth it all sounded a little too much like the perfect Ayla, inventor of all good things and domesticator of dogs and horses (of Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children Series). Plus, not being a dog person (I vote decidedly and emphatically for the cat party) I wasn't too hyped about taking this one up. But: never being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I carried on. And you know what? I really enjoyed Promise of the Wolves.

Despite the fact that I haven't the first clue how to pronounce the protagonist's name, I couldn't help rooting for the gutsy and loyal Kaala. Author Dorothy Hearst also does a beautiful job creating the setting, often managing also to catch the animal-ness of her characters, particularly in the case of the ravens and their interactions with the Swift River pack. And despite my ahh, well, how to put this -- distaste -- for dogs, I found myself becoming fascinated with wolves. The author's website has some fascinating resources for wolf information.

All in all, Promise of the Wolves was a fun and enjoyable summer read, which left me looking forward to reading book 2 in the Wolf Chronicles.

This review was written by Kath.

If You Liked the Other Boleyn Girl...

Okay, I'll admit it. I loved The Other Boleyn Girl (you can read my original review of this title here). In short, I thought it was a compelling and well-crafted narrative that brought to life one of English history's most interesting, tragic and misunderstood personages in Anne Boleyn, through the eyes of her sister, Mary.

But I'm not here to write (again) about Philippa Gregory's first (and, in my opinion best) historical novel about Tudor England.

I'm here to tell you about a book I discovered quite by accident: Nefertiti, by Michelle Moran. I picked it up in the Calgary airport, just before a nine-hour flight to London, knowing I'd need something good to read on the plane (and a good thing, too, since I still had 7 hours to kill after watching the movie version of The Other Boleyn Girl!)

Nefertiti is the story of two sisters from a powerful political family with close ties to the throne. One sister becomes queen, and the younger sister must then serve her interests and those of her family, seemingly at the expense of her own happiness. But political turmoil boils just below the surface, and danger lurks behind every pillar in the royal palace.

Clearly, there are a lot of parallels between the story of Nefertiti and her younger sister Mutnojmet and that of Anne and Mary Boleyn. Right down to the failure to bear a male heir, it's remarkable how the theme plays out; this time in ancient Egypt. At first, I'll admit, I did find it a bit uncanny: the strong-willed and  beautiful sister trampling heartlessly over the hopes and dreams of her younger sister in her single-minded quest to sexually dominate the king. It just seemed like it had been done before.

But I quickly became engrossed in the story and came to know and love the sisters, and realized that the uncanny similarities are not in the telling of the stories by Gregory or Moran, but rather in the stories themselves. Both writers do justice to the compelling tales of the remarkable historical figures of Anne Boleyn and Nefertiti and their younger sisters, expertly drawing our attention to the impossible situation of women in any age when men can hold our very lives in their often fickle hands.

If you're a fan of historical fiction; if you enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl, then pick up Nefertiti. You won't be disappointed!

This review was written by Kath.

A Must Read - The Book of Negroes

I read this 486 page novel in less than a week. Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes (Someone Knows My Name in the US) is a compelling, character driven historical fiction that is nearly impossible to put down. This book is a must read.

Although the book is fiction it is full of historical facts that educate and enlighten the reader. The strong main character, Aminata, and the heart-wrenching tale of her life as a slave make The Book of Negroes one of my favourite books this summer. I was hooked after reading the opening passages.

The book criss-crosses the ocean and many continents. It begins before Aminata's capture as a young, happy child in Africa. It includes the details of her African heritage, religion, education (her father taught her to read and write, her mother taught her midwifery), and community which are illustrated through stories of her interactions with her parents and other villagers.

After witnessing horrendous tragedy at the hands of African slavers, Aminata is coffled and begins her torturous journey through the African interior before arriving exhausted at the coastal slave port. Meena's (Aminata) 11-year-old self describes her experience through frightened and innocent eyes. The character's  youth and naivety enable the reader to see the inhumanity and horror of her experience from a personal perspective instead of merely as historical fact. Meena suffers many hardships throughout her life but it is the reader's strong relationship to this individual character that make this journey distinctly personal.

This award winning novel is compelling, well written, and the character of Aminata is one I will never forget. I highly recommended The Book of Negroes.

Lawrence Hill is a Canadian author whose writing is strongly influenced by his experience as the son of political activist parents.  For more on Lawrence Hill and his writing visit his website at www.lawrencehill.com.

This review was written by Jen.