The Tudor Prophecy

Finished April 25

The Tudor Prophecy by Julie Strong

This historical novel takes place in 1541 in the latter part of the reign of King Henry VIII. Hester Vaughan and her younger brother Dickie have lived in England with her maternal uncle Sir Hugh Grantmire and his family, consisting of his wife and daughter. The daughter, Lady Alice, is close in age to Hester and they are close friends. Hester's father is Welsh and still lives at his property there. His grief at the death of Hester's mother precipitated this move. 

Hester has teenage dreams of healing King Henry from his leg tumours and being chosen as his next wife, but her attempt to make this happen results in disaster. At the same time, Sir Hugh has finally come to the point where his refusal to make an oath to King Henry's new church means that his life and lands are in jeopardy. 

When Hester is summoned to join her father in Wales, she goes, but unwillingly. She has strange dreams that she struggles to understand. In Wales, she finds her father in his dying days, and struggles to hold off the strange and disturbing fates that her uncle there plans for her. A young bard and her Welsh maid are the only ones she can trust. 

Meanwhile Lady Alice, her mother, Dickie, and his minder John struggle to make ends meet in their reduced circumstances. Dickie, who is developmentally delayed and has seizures, is unpredictable and loyal to his family, which sometimes puts them in dangerous situations. 

When Hester's path crosses that of the young Elizabeth, Kind Henry's daughter, she realizes that she has been led to show her that her father's way is a cruel one and she can make different choices. 

I was really engaged with this novel and while I was sometimes frustrated with Hester's choices, I see how they all led in a certain direction. Hester grew through the course of the novel, as did Lady Alice as she adjusted to her new reality. As the book neared its end, the final scene leads me to believe there will be a sequel to this book, which I look forward to. 

The main parts of history were adhered to, with the real historical figures being where they were at the time. But the introduction of Wales and the Welsh people was interesting as it showed how religion disrupted the lives of the people in ways that I hadn't thought about. 

Unholy Dying

Finished October 6

Unholy Dying by Robert Barnard

This is the seventh novel in a series featuring an English police officer, Charlie Peace, but the first that I've read. There are several characters whose viewpoint we can see things from. One is a journalist, Cosmo Horrocks. Horrocks is a journalist with an eye out for a story wherever he goes, who uses any situation for gain, and has no respect for anyone else. It is the last characteristic that has been limiting in his career, and we can see that no one around him likes him, not his coworkers or his family. He is married, with two daughters. On a train he overhears a conversation between two men, Con and Derek, that piques his interest, about an investigation into the actions of a priest regarding one of his parishioners, a young single mother. 

Another is Julie Norris, the mother in question. She was pregnant at sixteen, kicked out of the house by her parents, and soon after living in a small home on a council estate in Shipley. She aims to be a good mother to both her toddler and the second child she is expecting. She found the priest, Father Pardoe, a good listener and a good adviser. He had been able to help her get some basic items for her home, such as used furniture and appliances. 

We also see Father Pardoe. He has been sent away, boarding with a middle-aged woman in a nearby town, awaiting the investigation, but is growing impatient as the bishop hasn't answered any of his inquiries about the status. 

We also see Mrs. Knowsley, the woman Pardoe is boarding with, and she provides an ear for him, and a source of unexpected comfort. 

Another set of voices are several female parishioners of Father Pardoe, including Miss Preece-Dembleby; Mary, the wife of Con; and Janette, the wife of Derek. These women are also wondering about the inquiry, and want to provide support for the priest, who they believe is innocent of the things he has been accused of. 

I really enjoyed how the story unfolded, moving through different characters multiple times, so that I could see the nuances of the situation and the lives affected. 

There are a couple of themes present as well. One is the role of the Catholic Church both in the lives of these people, and in its secrets. Another is the role of women, in society and in domestic life. Some women have breakthroughs in their lives, while others continue in their expected roles. 

A very interesting read that has me interested in others in the series. 

Changing Habits

Finished September 12

Changing Habits by Debbie Macomber

This novel follows three young women as they grow from girls into women and make a choice to become nuns. They all entered the same order in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and eventually their lives crossed. For a variety of reasons they took their vows, and around ten years later, in the early 1970s, they each separately left the convent to return to ordinary life. 

Angelina Marcello lost her mother at a young age, and as an only child spent a lot of time with her father at his restaurant. She also grew close to one of the teachers at her convent school, and questioned her closely about how she knew she wanted to be a nun. Angelina has a gift for tasting food and identifying the ingredients and knowing how to improve it. It is one her father takes pride in and he plans that she will become a partner to him in the restaurant one day. Her growing attraction to taking clerical orders is one he doesn't understand, and doesn't want for her, and their love for each other as the only family they have, but the different futures they want comes between them.

Kathleen O'Shaughnessy is the fifth of eight children, and has been aware that she is destined to be a nun for as long as she can remember. Her mother believed it when she was a very young child and Kathleen had no doubts that her mother was right. As the time to join the convent grows nearer, the family shows that they are proud that she is making this choice. It is only her oldest brother Sean who questions whether she really wants this and hasn't just gone along with what's been expected of her. 

Joanna Baird began nursing school soon after her boyfriend went to Vietnam, and promised to wait for him. She did, but found that he hadn't waiting for her, and her decision to renew her childhood dream of being a nun comes partly as a consolation for her loss. 

We see the three women enter the convent, and follow them as postulants and then as they take their final vows. The author gives a lot of insight into what life was like for these women at the time, and what they did at the convent and in the professions they took on once their vows were final. 

We also see the social upheaval that occured during the sixties and seventies and how these outside events and the actions of the church also had an effect on their eventual decisions to leave and return to a life as ordinary women. I found this novel very interesting and each of the women was well developed as a character. A fascinating read. 

Snow

Finished February 4

Snow by John Banville

This is the first book in a series, that is also related to another series by the author that he published under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. Here, the main character is a detective inspector with the Garda, the Irish police, and the time is late in 1957. The book begins just a few days before Christmas.

At the manor house Ballyglass, near the village of , in the county of Wexford, a priest is murdered one night. His is discovered by the woman of the house who often wanders in the night, and with the local officer under the weather, DI John Strafford is called in. Like the house owners, Strafford is Protestant, but the priest is Catholic as are most of the people who live in the area. 

The woman of the house, the second wife of the owner, Mr. Osborne is unreliable and often medicated. Osborne and his two teenage children all claim to be sound sleepers who heard nothing. The staff in the house live out, and there seems to be no forced entry. As Strafford delves in the lives of these people, and into the past of the priest, he must also look at his own life and his lack of direction, as well as deal with the power of the church, which is strong in this country. The church, it's history of coverups and abuse have a major role in this story, as they do in reality in many stories. 

The weather plays a role in the book as well, as one can guess from the title. Strafford is woefully unprepared, having only shoes and a thin coat, and he is often borrowing pieces of clothing, offered or not to venture out into the snowy landscape. The weather also affects the actions of others, from the priest staying over at the Osborne's due to the weather, to the delay in assistance arriving.

There are interesting elements of sexuality that also come up several times in the book. 

As always Banville's writing is wonderful, and this story develops slowly, with a few red herrings thrown in for the reader to consider, and a few clues that seem to lie dormant before being followed.

Strafford is an interesting character, who seems to have trouble focusing, and doesn't seem to take notes during his interviews and so loses track of what he knows. It will be interesting to see how he develops in future books.