However, these historical figures are very minor characters in the book. Instead, it focuses on two fictional characters, French perfumer Sophie Duval, and British photographer James Henderson. They interact with Grace and also develop a romance of their own, albeit with complications.
For me, the most interesting part of the book was learning a little about the making of perfumes. The authors divided the book into three parts (for the three years in which the story takes place), and named them for the "notes" of a perfume's scent - the head (or top), heart, and base - providing a short definition for each at the beginning of each section. These fit what was happening in the story perfectly.
However, I did not like the ending of this book, and found it rather unrealistic - at least to me - for a romance. In addition, I never got a feel for the setting - neither time nor place - which is another reason I can't consider it to be historical fiction.
The Book of Aron written and read by Jim Shepard - audiobook, historical fiction
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff - historical fiction
The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff - historical fiction
Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy by Terry G. Jordan - Terry G. Jordan was a professor of cultural geography at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) when this book was published in 1982. This book discusses the features of three types of cultural graveyards typically found in Texas - Mexican, German, and what the author calls "southern" (a blend of Anglo-American, African-American, and Native-American customs).
Although an academic book, with seven small-font pages each of endnotes and bibliography, and a three-page index, it is quite readable, as it is only 126 pages and is illustrated with numerous black-and-white photos and drawings, and includes a double-page-spread map of Texas counties. Some color photos, especially in the Mexican graveyard chapter, would have been a nice addition.
The chapter on German graveyards was particularly interesting, especially the sections on internal spatial arrangement (stone and wood grave curbings), metal glass wreath boxes, intricate metalwork crosses, elaborate (often rhyming) epitaphs in German, and the various hex signs and symbols decorating markers: Sonnenrad (sun wheels), Hakenkreuz (swastika, often whirling), Sechsstern (six-pointed stars), Urbogen (arc), Drudenfuss or Hexefiess ("witch's foot"), Pentagramm, and Teutonic concave-pointed turnip-shaped hearts.
Sargeant Billy by Mirielle Messier - early reviewers, picture book- Subtitled "The True Story of The Goat Who Went to War," Mirielle Messier's Sargeant Billy is a picture book about a real goat named Billy (duh!) adopted in Saskatchewan in 1914 by a Canadian platoon. The goat made it to England, France, and Belgium, served the entire World War I, was wounded and received medals, and promoted to the rank of sargeant. Kass Reich's illustrations, hand-painted in gouache colors with digitally-added details, are cheerful despite the muted browns and greens of a war story. I especially liked the red poppies of the endpapers. The book ends with two pages of information, including photographs, of the real Sargeant Billy.
© Amanda Pape - 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment