Reviews by Donna T. (Tacoma, WA)

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Les Parisiennes
Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
by Anne Sebba
Meticulously researched and documented (8/7/2016)
Wow, was this book well researched and the life of women under Nazi occupation meticulously documented! I don't think I have ever seen this much data accumulated and presented in just under 400 pages outside of academia. While I greatly appreciated getting a detailed look …more
The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins
The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins
by Antonia Hodgson
Complex (2/10/2016)
Wow! This second book by Antonia Hodgson is just as good as her first. I came to respect all these characters in all their faults. Her character development is deep and complex. This era was very different than any of our experiences. She provided me with a vivid picture of …more
The Forgetting Time
The Forgetting Time
by Sharon Guskin
Well thought out book (12/13/2015)
It took me a little while to get into this book as I had a hard time understanding how some of the characters were going to finally intersect. I also did not have an instant liking for the mother or her child.

But, the characters and the story grew on me. As I continued to …more
Frank & Ava
Frank & Ava: In Love and War
by John Brady
Very Long Gossip Column (9/3/2015)
I considered this book to be mildly interesting. My first complaint is that it continuously inserts short snippets (paragraphs) of information about someone's relationship or an action that seems irrelevant to the main story thread at the time. It also meanders around a bit …more
The Wild Girl
The Wild Girl
by Kate Forsyth
Good historical fiction if a little slow at times. (4/22/2015)
The Wild Girl is written about Doutchen Wild, the future wife of Wildhelm Grimm (one of the Grimm brother of fairytale fame). Her life was hard and at times very sad, but the book well chronicled the times and political realities of living during the Napolianic period.

…more
He Wanted the Moon
He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him
by Mimi Baird with Eve Claxton
Interesting subject, monotone writting (3/12/2015)
This book could have been great. But it came across as dispassionate and cold. It was a good look into how we as a society treated (both medically and personally) the mentally ill during most of the 20th century. It's descriptions of his treatments should have left me …more
The Paris Winter
The Paris Winter
by Imogen Robertson
Three women artist in 1909 Paris (7/20/2014)
For me the book started slow and rather cumbersome. It took a while to sort out all the characters into major and minor roles. But the stage was set for an enjoyable read. About half way through (as Maude was emerging from her near death experience) I felt like this was the …more
The Devil in the Marshalsea
The Devil in the Marshalsea
by Antonia Hodgson
Learning about debtors prisons of 18th century (3/25/2014)
I had a very limited and shallow knowledge of the actual purpose and conditions in London's debtors prisons. This Historical Fiction story set in one the most infamous of them, is a page turner. The plot is tight and focused, even if at times it felt forced to facilitate …more
House of Bathory
House of Bathory
by Linda Lafferty
Thrilling (12/16/2013)
At first, I did not find the book to my liking. But as I moved through the first part I found myself rushing to find out what would happen next.The author deftly switches from 2010 to 1610, while keeping the reader totally focused on what is being read at the moment. Even …more
How the Light Gets In
How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, #9
by Louise Penny
Good Mystery Series (7/17/2013)
Louise Penny is a new author for me, so I am very pleased to find her and her series of mystery novels with Chief Inspector Gamache. The plot at first appears simple with seemingly unconnected crimes. But it moves quickly to a fast paced and intricate story line. The …more
Fever
Fever
by Mary Beth Keane
Coming to like the woman known as Typhoid Mary (3/14/2013)
Fever is very well written and easy to follow. Unexpectedly I came to like Mary Mallone. Mary, like so many of us,long denied truths that were evident to most others. She made me stop and take a look at my life, wondering what I might be denying about my self. Mary Best …more
Indiscretion
Indiscretion
by Charles Dubow
Most improbable situations (11/26/2012)
Indiscretion is a book that I enjoyed but found some of the plot (especially toward the end) to be most improbable. The three quarters of the book kept me reading, even though I felt the story was mostly predictable. The characters were generally well developed and mostly …more
The Queen's Lover
The Queen's Lover: A Novel
by Francine du Plessix Gray
A lover's view (6/7/2012)
This is not a book for some one who isn't interested in history or who likes a book with only words that are familiar. In this day, when most books are written at what I consider a middle-school level, several times, I had to stop and look up the meaning of words used by …more
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