Tag: Historical Fiction

The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O’Melveny

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 4 Comments

The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O’Melveny

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publication Date: April 2012
Categories: General, Historical, Mystery & Detective

Description:
Dr. Gabriella Mondini, a strong-willed, young Venetian woman, has followed her father in the path of medicine. She possesses a singleminded passion for the art of physick, even though, in 1590, the male-dominated establishment is reluctant to accept a woman doctor. So when her father disappears on a mysterious journey, Gabriella’s own status in the Venetian medical society is threatened. Her father has left clues–beautiful, thoughtful, sometimes torrid, and often enigmatic letters from his travels as he researches his vast encyclopedia, The Book of Diseases. 

After ten years of missing his kindness, insight, and guidance, Gabriella decides to set off on a quest to find him–a daunting journey that will take her through great university cities, centers of medicine, and remote villages across Europe. Despite setbacks, wary strangers, and the menaces of the road, the young doctor bravely follows the clues to her lost father, all while taking notes on maladies and treating the ill to supplement her own work. 

My Thoughts:
This was a DNF (Did Not Finish) for me. I made it to page 51 but I realized that I wasn’t looking forward to turning any more pages. 

I understand that the author is an accomplished poet. Her use of language is obviously beautiful. Perhaps too beautiful? I wasn’t connecting at all to the characters but the scenery was depicted remarkably well. 

This may have been a case of reader fatigue, or perhaps I’m not currently in the mood for this type of book. I might give this another try at a later date. I do think that others would probably enjoy this, and I’m also sure that many readers have. It just wasn’t for this girl, at this time.

About the Author

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 2 Comments

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Date: March 2011
Categories: Historical Fiction, Social Issues

Description:

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they’ve known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin’s orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously-and at great risk-documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father’s prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture 
your heart.

My Thoughts:

This book is about one of the hidden aspects of world history. We all know about the atrocities committed against the Jewish population during this time. What many of us may not know is that awful things were also happening to the populations of the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia. (Finland also fell into that category during this time)

This fictional account of those years is told in spare and heartbreaking prose. One of the reasons I love to read is for the escapism. This book allowed me to escape into the truth. The truth isn’t always beautiful. This book is.

Memorable Quotes:

“There were only two possible outcomes in Siberia.  Success meant survival. Failure meant death.  I wanted life.  I wanted to survive.”

“This testimony was written to create an absolute record, to speak in a world where our voices have been extinguished. These writing may shock or horrify you, but that is not my intention. It is my greatest hope that the pages in this jar stir your deepest well of human compassion. I hope they prompt you to do something, to tell someone. Only then can we ensure that this kind of evil is never allowed to repeat itself.” 

I do hope you’ll watch the video above. It’s quite lovely.

Are you the blogger that suggested this book to me? If so, I apologize! I can’t remember where I first heard about this. I’m working on a system so that this doesn’t happen again. If you’ve reviewed this book I’d appreciate you commenting your link below!

Have you read this? Do you plan on it?

9/26/12~ I found the blogger who inspired me to read this! Thanks to Beth from A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust!