Tag: Historical

Title: The Physician’s Daughter
Author: Martha Conway
Format: eBook
Genre(s): Historical, Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆

This was primarily historical fiction — the story of Vita, a young woman after the U.S. Civil War who dreams of becoming a doctor — with a bit of romance that develops as Vita grapples with the expectation that she should set aside her career ambitions and become a wife and mother.

My interest in historical fiction began with books like this: books with intelligent, strong young women in different tumultuous periods of U.S. history trying to discover themselves while also dealing with what was happening in the world around them. I loved all of details that arose from the research that Conway clearly put into this book, and both Vita’s and Jacob’s experiences felt real and compelling (my only research-related criticism being the epigraphs, which repeatedly pulled me out of the story by including texts published after the time when the story took place and even a fake publication).

I was a bit put off by the moments where the perspective shifted mid-scene (maybe just personal preference), and I felt the balance of the story was maybe heavier on the self-doubt than it needed to be, with a lot of time spent on Vita’s worrying and not as much time as I’d have liked on her growing confidence (and the challenges faced) after she fully committed to her path. That said, I loved the way the story slowly layered on scene after scene of struggle to help me empathize with Vita and Jacob’s journeys, from their doubts and fears to the sense of hope and triumph at the end.

Title: A Wicked Kind of Husband
Author: Mia Vincy
Format: eBook
Genre(s): Romance, Historical
Rating: ★★★★☆

One of the most reliable ways to discover new authors you might like, in my experience, is to get recommendations from authors you already love — so when I got a peek at KJ Charles’s TBR pile and spotted a new-to-me name, I immediately grabbed a copy of one of Mia Vincy’s books (the only one of hers at my library).

I was intrigued from the outset: This book has main characters from Warwickshire (a county north of London, which includes industrial Birmingham, rather than the South, which is so commonly a setting for this genre) who have been in a marriage of convenience for two years, yet who literally don’t recognize each other when they meet by chance in London. Cassandra and Joshua are both intelligent and the challenging spark that appears between them develops into a fascinating dynamic as they get to know each other and their histories come to light.

Having a story begin with an already married couple shifts the usual will-they-won’t-they conflict into a question about how they will reconcile their needs and expectations and shape their marriage for the future, and the way it plays out feels consistent to the characters even as they grow over time. This was a witty, emotional, satisfying regency romance and I’m looking forward to reading Vincy’s other Longhope Abbey books.

Title: Arabella
Author: Georgette Heyer
Genre(s): Romance, Historical
Rating: ★★★☆☆

A friend recently introduced me to the Internet Archive Books collection, so I decided to take advantage of its vast collection of older books to read a regency romance by the author who established the genre. I love the historical details in Heyer’s novels, including the dialogue, and she includes a great deal of humor (especially in stories like this that revolve around a sort of mistaken identity). Arabella, as a relatively unsophisticated girl from Yorkshire, provides a refreshingly progressive perspective on the inequality that pervades London — her combination of privilege and naïvety is mostly endearing though at times offensive as she rides roughshod over those around her in an attempt to help the less fortunate. I tend to feel that Heyer rushes the endings, with everything resolved a bit too quickly. But the journey to get there is funny and witty and I always enjoy the ride.