Churchill Defiant

This biography of Winston Churchill's postwar years was fascinating. Churchill Defiant outlines the triumph and tragedy of the postwar/early Cold War years as Churchill confronts medical setbacks, political defeats and unfinished plans. Thrown out of office as Prime Minister in the middle of the Potsdam talks of 1945 on a tidal Labour party victory over the Conservatives, Churchill must leave important negotiations to lower-level ministers, setting the stage for historical events that continue to impact us today. His continued efforts for high-level peace talks with the Russians were met with opposition from his own Cabinet as well as from a fearful, fumbling Eisenhower. Read this (and perhaps someday, Churchill's own multi-volume memoir of WWII) for a perspective on today's world situation and political intricacies. I wish the author had included photos from key events in the book rather than simply describing them; they would have greatly amplified the text.

Teacher Man

It's been a good while since I read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, but it wasn't long into Teacher Man that I fell back into his style: lilting Irish, but all at once "in your face". The man who must write the longest sentences in modern prose describes his days as a high school English teacher, and a brief stint at the community college level, as well as a failed attempt at a doctorate degree at Trinity College, Dublin. The failures are many for McCourt, but he gives a glimpse of the triumphs as well in teaching teens to think and create. As a parent of a teen, I wish all teachers would spend more time teaching children at all levels of study to think and create, rather than to spew information on a standardized test.

Mistress of the Art of Death

A medieval mystery? Yes, and Mistress of the Art of Death delivers a great story, historically accurate details and gripping characters, all set in the 12th century town of Cambridge during the reign of Henry II the Plantagenet. Not being one to read murder mysteries, I started this one with caution, but was rewarded with a heroic leading lady rushing to solve grisly tortures and murders of children before another is snatched for a certain death. And a love story too? Oh yes. Twists and turns? Oh yes. Looking for Franklin's next book, The Serpent's Tale starring the same leading lady? A third, emphatic yes.

Narrow Dog to Carcassonne

A retired Englishman and his wife take their canal boat on the trip of a lifetime. Canal boats apparently are NOT robust enough for a sea journey, but Terry and Monica's dream is to chug along the English canals, out the Thames, across the Channel, pop into Calais, down the French canals, through Paris, down to Carcassonne. (Why Carcassonne? It sounds nice.) Accompanied by their narrow dog, Jim the whippet, they accomplish just what they set out to do, sharing the peculiarities of modern canal travel as they go. We meet unsavory characters, hard-working but sparse lock captains, town fair patrons, bartenders, mayors, other narrow and wide dogs, and everyday people rather surprised to see an English canal boat out of its usual environs. The eighteen French phrases at the back of the book to keep on hand when traveling are not to be missed. This book is a charming keeper, especially if you have experience traveling to any of the locales it describes, or have a dream to do so.

The Pirate Queen

Made it through nine chapters of this book on Queen Elizabeth I and her pirate adventurers in the early years of her reign. It's historical non-fiction; I knew that going into it. But very HEAVY on facts, very LIGHT on story. More like a history final than a "Pirate Queen". I'm going back to Alison Weir for my English history fix.

The Red Queen

By one of my favorite authors, The Red Queen details the story of Margaret Beaufort, heir to the Lancastrian house at the time of the Wars of the Roses, York vs. Lancaster, for the British throne in the 1480's. From the birth of her son, Henry Tudor, to the battle at Bosworth Field in 1485, Margaret fights for her house and her son to rule England. Was she responsible for the death of the York princes in the Tower of London? Did she marry Lord Stanley only to gain position for the long battle to the throne? Did she love Jasper Tudor, younger brother of her husband Edmund? Like her ancestor Katherine Swynford, her life was full of intrigue, romance, defeats and victories. While this book is a novel, recurring themes of historical fiction ring true for Margaret Beaufort. If you like this book, read The White Queen by the same author, or the first (and some say greatest) book of historical fiction/romance, Katherine by Anya Seton.

The Age of Innocence

Set in New York upper society in the 1870's, The Age of Innocence spotlights Newland Archer, a young "man of means" bound to cultural duty and restraint. Engaged to cousin May, he cannot put down his unbounded feelings for Countess Ellen Olenska, his wife's cousin in an abusive marriage to a European lesser noble. "His whole future seemed suddenly to be unrolled before him; and passing down its endless emptiness he saw the dwindling figure of a man to whom nothing was ever to happen." This passage describes the role of a man in society of the time: emotionless, cool, restrained, robotic. Archer predictably chooses the life he was born to lead. But the last chapter describes his eldest son's opposite character born of rebellion to the society life, and Archer's last encounter with the path not chosen. Wharton's language and style eloquently describe the time, which pervades even the word choices she makes. Would we have chosen differently, given the circumstances?