Tag Archives: historical fiction

To Disguise The Truth Book Review

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Set in 1887 New York and Montana, To Disguise the Truth by Jen Turano, follows Eunice Holbrooke and her Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency as they assist Arthur Livingston in finding missing heiress, Eugenia Howland. Disguised in widow’s tweeds, Eunice can keep her true identity from Arthur for only so long before they join together to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Within the pages of To Disguise the Truth, you will find a story with a cast of varied characters which weaves together a tale of murder, deceit, revenge, family, forgiveness, and a runaway heiress who must be found before she loses her family fortune.

If you enjoyed the previous Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency books by Jen Turano, you will probably enjoy this final book in the series as well.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?

You can find my February Inspire a Fire post here. Please stop by and read it.

I wish you well.

Sandy

The Lines Between Us Book Review

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Amy Lynn Green weaves a little known fact from World War II into a story of mystery and intrigue within the pages of The Lines Between Us in a masterful way that keeps the reader turning the page.

Women’s Army Corp PFC Dorie Armitage has no problem with deception and lies. As long as she’s the one handing them out. When her brother Jack is harmed in an accident as a conscientious objector smokejumper volunteer in Oregon, she does whatever it takes to discover the truth of what happened.

The Lines Between Us takes twists and turns as Dorie and her brother’s best friend, Gordon, also a conscientious objector smokejumper, work together to get to the uncomfortable truth of what really happened to Jack.

Filled with an array of interesting historical facts and characters who must make peace with the choices they made, The Lines Between Us is a great read for fans of historical fiction written well.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?

You can find my September Inspire a Fire post here. Please stop by and read it.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Minding the Light Book Review

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Minding the Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher, the second book of her Nantucket Legacy series, is an historical novel set in 19th Century Nantucket Island, filled with characters to love and characters to despise. Within its pages you’ll find deception, treachery, hypocrisy, lies, and love as the story of Quaker Daphne Coffin and her brother-in-law, Captain Ren Macy is told.

One month after eloping with Daphne’s sister, Jane, Ren heads to sea in his whaling ship and is gone for six years. When he returns, his wife meets him on the dock with their six-year-old twins he knew nothing about. Then she collapses under questionable circumstances.

Woven throughout Minding the Light the author paints a picture of the people, faith, and town of Nantucket. She shows us their prejudice and hypocrisy along with their faithfulness and love.

Although this is the second in the series, and I never read the first book, I had no trouble figuring out who was who or what was going on.

The author includes both a Cast of Characters and Glossary page, and adds necessary information to eliminate confusion.

Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below.

If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

Revell provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

[bctt tweet=”Minding the Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher is an historical novel set in 19th Century Nantucket Island, filled with characters to love and characters to despise. Within its pages you’ll find deception, treachery, hypocrisy, lies, and love as the story of Quaker Daphne Coffin and Captain Ren Macy is told.” username=”SandyKQuandt”]

Together Forever Book Review

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

In Together Forever, Jody Hedlund’s second book in her Orphan Train series set in 1858, Marianne Neumann works as a placing agent with the Children’s Aid Society. Teamed up with placing agent Drew Brady, Marianne sets out on her first trip placing orphans with her secret hope of finding her younger sister, Sophie, who ran away.

Jody Hedlund weaves details of what the Orphan Trains were like for both the placing agents and the children in their care, helping the reader visualize the trips, the reception the children and agents often received in the towns they visited, and the emotions involved when the children were placed. And when they weren’t.

Along the journey, the relationship between Marianne and Drew grows until it is faced with a challenge when one boy they have not been able to place suggests the two of them marry, and adopt him as their son.

One of the things I enjoyed most while reading Together Forever was the easy banter between the two agents. It brought out their personality and often brought a smile to my face.

If you enjoy historical fiction, and are interested in learning more about the Orphan Trains in America, then Forever Together would be a good book to read.

Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below.

If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

Bethany House provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

[bctt tweet=”In Together Forever, Jody Hedlund’s second book in her Orphan Train series set in 1858, Marianne Newmann works as a placing agent with the Children’s Aid Society. Teamed up with placing agent Drew Brady, she sets out on her first trip placing orphans with the hope of finding her younger sister.” username=”SandyKQuandt”]

All She Left Behind Book Review

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

All She Left Behind, written by Jane Kirkpatrick, tells the story of Jennie Pickett in 1870s Oregon Territory. This book is filled with hope and disappointment. Love and betrayal. Courage and desperation. What I found most interesting with All She Left Behind is the way Jane Kirkpatrick wove her details into a compelling story based on the lives of real individuals.

Jennie wants to help people and uses her skill with herbs as one way to do that, hoping to turn that skill into a medical career. Trusting those closest to her proves costly, and deception sends Jennie on a path she wasn’t expecting to walk as she deals with the very real issue of alcoholism in her area and family.

Through to the final pages of All She Left Behind Jennie continues to follow her dream and refuses to give up.

Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below.

If you think others would appreciate reading this please share it through the social media buttons.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

Revell provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

[bctt tweet=”All She Left Behind Book Review” username=”SandyKQuandt”]

Mark of the King — Book Review

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Jocelyn Green takes her cast of interesting characters on a journey of intrigue, treachery, secrets, hardship, and love in her latest book, Mark of the King. The story begins in Paris and swiftly moves to the swampland of Louisiana in the early 1720s.

Although there are parts in the book that were hauntingly disturbing for me to read, I believe Mark of the King is expertly written. The historical details vividly bring this period of time in Louisiana to life. You can almost feel the sticky sweat of the humid climate, the bite of the mosquitoes, and the mud sucking the shoes off your feet as you walk the streets of New Orleans. The characters are individuals you love right along with those you detest. They are complex with no simple answers to the question, Why?

As a midwife, Julianne has been convicted of the murder of one of her patients, branded with the fleur-de-lis; mark of the king, and sentenced to life in prison. Upon hearing the Company of the Indies is scouring prisons for convicts to colonize Louisiana, Julianne seeks a way to be one of those sent to America in the hopes of finding her younger brother Benjamin, a soldier in the king’s army.

What she isn’t told are the terms of the trip …  forced marriage to a fellow convict for the purpose of populating the untamed, unwelcoming colony.

French officer Marc-Paul Girard has information about Benjamin, but is what he tells Julianne the whole story?

At a time when the English and French fought against each other, and pitted Native Americans against one another for their own benefit, not everything nor everyone is what they seem, and loyalties are not what they appear.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, my recommendation is this … get your hands on Mark of the King and be transported to the New Orleans of the early 1720s.

Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below. If you think others would appreciate reading this please share it through the social media buttons.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

Bethany House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

One of my posts is scheduled to appear on Inspire a Fire February 7, 2017. Please stop by.

Faith – Book Review

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

If you enjoy reading Christian historical fiction with a hint of romance set during America’s Civil War, then Faith by Lyn Cote is the book for you. Faith, the third book in Lyn’s Quaker Bride series, follows Blessing and Honor.

Set in 1863, Faith follows Quakeress, Faith Cathwell, as she and her freeborn friend, Honroree, join a troop of General Grant’s Union soldiers in their campaign in the Western Theater as volunteer nurses. They hope traveling with the army will place them in a position to locate Honoree’s sister, Shiloh, also freeborn, who was kidnapped by slave catchers five years earlier.

Although they share differing views, as the months go by and the battles and war injuries continue, Faith reaches out to Colonel Devlin Knight for help in her search through Confederate territory for Shiloh .

Through the lives of her compelling cast of characters, Lyn Cote weaves a fascinating tale of love, honor, faith, and loss which I highly recommend.

Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below. If you think others would appreciate reading this please share it through the social media buttons.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

One of my articles is scheduled to appear on Inspire a Fire April 5, 2016. Please stop by.

No Fairy Tale

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By Sandy Kirby Quandt

What do you look for in a story? A fantastic setting that whisks you away? A scene so real you can smell the air around it? Characters you easily relate to? A plot with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing? A hero or heroine so incredibly wonderful you can’t help but fall in love with them? A villain so vile you can’t wait for him to be destroyed?

Writers invent settings, scenes, characters and plots that, hopefully, will entrance readers and have them turning pages until The End. It’s our job. It’s what we do. Sometimes we do it more successfully than at other times. But weaving words together in a pleasing way is the ultimate goal. We want to tell a good story with a satisfying ending.

Before I begin to craft my historical fiction worlds and characters, I do a lot of research. I plunge deep into resources to make sure I get the facts correct. My favorite type of resource is called primary. Those eyewitness records are not second-hand stories. They are not made up. They are true.

I read primary sources to get a feel for the experiences of those who lived in years past. I read diaries, letters, and first person accounts. I read old recipes and marvel at the cookware used. I visit historical museums. I walk battlefields that ran red. I look at photographs. I study mannequins’ clothing…

My goal in doing all of this is to experience the truth, the reality of what it was like to live in whatever time period I happen to be working on, so I can recreate that reality in my fiction.

The writers of the Bible were primary sources. They were eyewitnesses to the events that unfolded before them. Through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, they were given the characters. The plot. The scenes. The twists and turns. The heroes and villains.

In the years following Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension back into heaven to sit on his throne at God’s right hand, his followers were under attack. Many people accused them of inventing a clever story. Their testimony of a risen Lord was too fantastic. Too amazing. Too hard to believe. But it was the truth. It was real.

Instead of accepting the Apostles’ eyewitness testimony, people accused them of being deluded. They didn’t trust the primary source.

If we can visit museums, walk battlefields, and read diaries  written by people who lived centuries ago and believe the words on the page to be true, shouldn’t we believe and trust the words that are written in God’s Holy Word by eyewitnesses, when so much more depends on it ?

It isn’t a made up fairy tale, you know.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below. If you think others would appreciate reading this please share it through the social media buttons.

We were not following a cleverly written-up story when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ—we actually saw his majesty with our own eyes. He received honour and glory from God the Father himself when that voice said to him, out of the sublime glory of Heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’. 2 Peter 1:16-17 (Phillips)

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

One of my devotions will appear on Inspire a Fire. Please stop by and check it out.