I loved this story about three generations of midwives. Each had their own secret and it was fascinating to see how Sally Hepworth, told each of their stories. Floss, Grace and Neva were each a midwife and their secrets and their views on being a midwife reflected the time in which they were born. A magical weaving of time, place, and attitudes. A very good read indeed.

Kristin Hannah's latest book The Nightingale is the story of two sisters and how each reacts to the challenges of living in France under Nazi occupation.

The sisters grew up in the years after the Great War and both saw and felt the destructive effects of that war on their family and those left behind. Their father returned from World War I a very different man than the one who left and then shortly thereafter their mother died. Their father could not or would not care for his daughters and they were pawned off on relatives, schools and others, growing up with little familial love and connection.

While the book is focused on the lives and different personalities of the two sisters and how each in their own way responds to the horrors of war, the question at the very heart of the book is - when would I risk my life -- and most important, my child's life - to save a stranger?

Hannah says that In love we find out who we want to be, in war we find out who we are. And sometimes, perhaps, what we would do to survive. This book is and exploration of that thought.

Hannah was particularly good at introducing lesser known historical events from the war, i.e. the exodus from Paris, the Vichy collaboration with the Nazi's, the betrayal of the Parisians by the French Police, the events at the Velodrome d/Hiver, retaliation against French resistance, and the dangers of the Pyrenees escape routes. I would heartily recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I especially loved the characters. Both primary & secondary characters were well drawn out and I found I was sympathetic to all of them including characters called Chicken and Caspar. The Empress Sisi, Bay Middleton, his horse Tipsy and the Grand National Horse Race were all immediately googled. I just wanted to know more about them.

This book was really fun without being silly, The line between fact and fiction made for a fun and entertaining read.

You need to know that I love historical fiction. When I find an author who blends both history and fiction into a well written novel I couldn't be happier.

Marina Fiorato's novel The Venetian Bargain is the first of her numerous historical novels I have read. She did a great job writing about history; Constantinople, Venice, the Plague, the architect Palladio and medical practices in the 16th century. What I found lacking was the fictional portion of this novel. The relationship between Freya and Annibale (two main characters in the story) was slow to develop and never explored sufficiently to be believable.

That being said would I read other novels by this author, yes indeed! She had a great sense of place, kept me interested and wanting to know more.

This is not great historical fiction but it is a good read.

An enchanting book that captures the exquisite period between college and true adulthood. The time when every college student dreams of being free, of being able to explore who they really are and what they really want, of being independent without the encumbrances of being adult.

Charles Finch sets the pace as we journey along with young William Baker as he experiences a year at Oxford. With a slow seductive rhythm we come to understand William and the landscape that was and is Oxford.

This is a sensitive, intense, thoroughly charming book full of one young man's longing and desire that is metaphor for us all. I so wanted to visit Oxford again after reading this book.

My first impression of the book Song of the Spirits was fairly daunting. It's a huge book at 687 pages. Not something you'd pick up casually.

The book is divided into five parts and covers five years in the lives of two young women: Kura an exotic, talented half-Maori heiress and her beautiful spirited tomboy of a cousin Elaine. Life in 1890's New Zealand, the Maori culture and the beauty of the land becomes as important to the plot and character of the book as the experiences of these two protagonists.

After I got all the characters and the back story straight, which took some time, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I learned much about the history of New Zealand and the native culture. It made me want to go to New Zealand and see it for myself.

On a cold winter's day in 1861 Lincoln and two lone bodyguards entered Washington City, capital of thirty four United States. This book detailed the drama, duplicity and secret maneuvers necessary in getting him to the capital to take on his duties as President of the disintegrating union of states.

I liked the book, primarily because it provided information with which I was unfamiliar. But, I also like the characters, Pinkerton and Kate, Lamon and Lincoln himself.

This was a fascinating piece of history and readers of Civil War history will enjoy this book.