The King of Montréal

Finished August 21

The King of Montréal by Daniela I. Norris

This is an interesting alternative history novel. It is 1800, and Louis-Charles, the Dauphin of France, has ended up alone in Montreal at the age of fifteen. He had been smuggled out of jail in Paris and transported to the countryside to live with family friends, but when he began to look too much like his father as he grew up, they decided for his safety and the safety of the family he was living with to send him, with his tutor as an escort, to America, where he would go to the secretary of the late Benjamin Franklin and stay there. It would be up to him whether it was ever safe for him to show himself and return to France as king or live his life abroad. 

Unfortunately, the ship he was on was shipwrecked in a storm, and he was rescued by Basque fishermen and dropped off in Montreal. He lived on the streets, and tried to make enough money to hire an indigenous guide to take him to his destination in the U.S. He found himself making both friends and enemies, and his education and bearing shows as he navigates the unlikely place he has found himself in. 

This is a novel aimed at young adult readers, and with the main character being fifteen, that makes sense. It introduces readers to elements of history that are well-researched and incorporate real history as much as possible while giving the Dauphin a future that he didn't have. I really enjoyed this novel, and the way we get into the thoughts of the main character. 

Recommended for teens that like history, unexpected heroes, or a touch of romance. 

The Skeleton Room

Finished August 3

The Skelton Room by Kate Ellis

This is the seventh book in the Wesley Peterson series. This time the historical timeline that accompanies the contemporary timeline is from the late 18th century with the narrative by a local vicar at the time. Wesley and his team are called to a local estate called Chadleigh Hall that is being converted into a hotel. Workmen there broke through a wall and discovered a hidden, sealed chamber with a skeleton in it. The police and coroner can see that the body has been there for some time, but look for clues as to when the room might have been sealed. With the information that the building was once used as a private girls' school their investigation includes that time period, the 1960s. 

The same day as the discovery of the sealed room, a woman's body is discovered off the coast. As they work to identify her, they need to also determine where she might have entered the water, and whether it was an accident or a deliberate act. 

The historical timeline deals with an unfortunate time when coastal communities lured ships near to shore, where they would founder, and the local people would take the cargo. The motivations for this type of act, and some of the violence that accompanied it are complex, yet related to poverty and survival in many instances. 

There is also a mystery man who keeps to himself and seems to have something to hide. 

The plot of the novel in the contemporary time reveals an interesting loophole that was taken advantage of. I like this series, both learning about history as well as contemporary information. I like how Ellis relates the two time periods through plot elements.

It's also interesting to see how the various characters develop over the course of the series, in both good ways and bad, and how some characters that have been talked about make an appearance that relates to the plot. 

Night Diver

Finished February 20

Night Diver by Elizabeth Lowell

This is a gripping novel about family, trust, and fraud. Kate Donnelly left St. Vincent years ago after the death of her parents when they were doing a dive. She tried to save her father, and her mother's body was never found. Kate hasn't dived since. Now her brother and grandfather, who run the family's dive company Moon Rose, have asked for her help sorting through the finances to try to keep the company from going bankrupt. They current have a dive contract with a British antiquities organization that barely pays the costs. She feels that she must go even though she has little hope that she will be able to make the difference needed. 

She is put in charge of a new arrival to the island, a dive consultant from the funding company who is evaluating the operation to see if it is viable or should be shut down. His name is Holden Cameron and he has both experience diving and an investigative background. 

As the two are forced to spend time together, they find it hard to withstand the physical attraction to each other, but also both have suspicions that something isn't right about the dive that is going on. 

Because of poor funding, Moon Rose has trouble hiring good divers, which isn't helped by the site they are diving at having a reputation for things going wrong. 

This is a story that built slowly into a finale with lots of action. The two main characters are interesting and have backstories that include trauma. They are also smart and once they start putting facts together, they find themselves coming to the same conclusion. 

The Bookshop of Secrets

Finished January 22

The Bookshop of Secrets by Mollie Rushmeyer

This novel is set in present day but is influenced by events of the past. Hope Sparrow arrives in the small town of Wanishin Falls, Minnesota looking to collect the books her mother left her when she died. They were held by a friend of her mother's for safekeeping, but Hope has discovered the friend passed away and thus followed the trail to the friend's hometown. The books are part of what Hope has come in search of, but she also remembers childhood stories of treasure and wonders what truth there is to them. 

When she arrives at the bookshop, Dusty Jackets, she finds the owners Ulysses and Margaret Barrick unable to locate her books quickly, partly due to the onset of dementia in one of them, and she agrees to stay and help for a place to stay and some payment while they search. With a timeline of two months set, Hope finds herself getting to know the people of the town, and exploring not only her own past, but also her future. Her dreams of owning a combination food and book truck are shared and begin to become real, but she has to decide whether her life will keep her running as she has or whether she can deal with her past and build a future that includes others. 

There are other young people here also stuck in their own ways, with expectations and baggage from others defining their present. From the bookshop owners' grandson Ronan to cafe manager Kat, to troubled teenager Tate Morgan, they are all finding their place in the world and looking for community. There is an underlying Christian theme to book that doesn't overpower the plot but plays a role in guiding it. 

I enjoyed the story, the book elements and the message of forgiveness and optimism that it held. 

What Strange Paradise

Finished October 18 

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

This book grabbed me and didn't let go. It's a short novel and a real page-turner. It starts with a scene on a beach on a Greek island, where bodies of refugees have washed ashore. Among them is a young boy, Amir, but he isn't dead, and when he rises, and sees people coming for him, he runs.

Following that scene, the story alternates with what led the boy to this place and what happens after he runs. In the before sequences, we see him and his family fleeing their home country of Syria and coming to Egypt, hoping to be accepted by a western country, and we see how he comes to be on a boat crossing the Mediterranean Sea and what happens on that boat. In the after sequences, we see him being found by a teenaged girl, and assisted. Vänna has a difficult home life and something about the boy and his vulnerability puts her in protective mode. As the two try to elude the soldiers looking for the boy, they make their way across the island, hoping for a way out. 

The characters of Amir and Vänna are well drawn, and you see their thoughts and their struggles, from Amir's uncertainty about his family's future and his confusion on the ship to Vänna's dissatisfaction with her life and her worry about Amir. The book is fast-moving and intense with some twists and surprises along the way. Highly recommended.