Francine Mathews

I'll admit that I do not know a lot about Winston Churchill except knowing that he was Britain's prime minister for awhile and was a brilliant man in his own right, so when I picked up That Churchill Woman I figured I would learn more about where Winston came from, and I learned that and so much more.

Jennie Jerome, or Lady Randolph Churchill, lived a life not of her own choosing. Losing her sister at a very young age, who also happened to be her best friend, then marrying a man with deep, show more dark secrets; having to put her wants and needs aside to help her husband live out his dream, while trying to be the best mother that she can under the circumstances. Extramarital affairs were commonplace among the wealthy, which allowed Jennie to have her personal needs met, but this took her away from her two young sons, and gave her an unsavory reputation.

Jennie's story is disturbing and heartbreaking. Stephanie Barron did an incredible job of describing every detail, pulling you into that world. There were scenes that were incredibly hard to read due to the graphic nature and unbelievable detail, yet fascinating that these horrific instances could've possibly happened.

Stephanie Barron's years of research shines on every page and gave me a craving to know more about the Churchill family. Deeply thought provoking, this is a book that is hard to put down. The ending was especially gratifying and filled with sweet freedom on numerous levels, which leaves the reader with a sigh of relief.

Though incredibly graphic at times, That Churchill Woman is a story about a woman who shined despite being in almost constant conflict and scandal, and worth knowing more about. She was more than Lady Randolph Churchill. She was Jennie, a woman who did what she could and never gave up. show less

I thought it might be fun to try out the Jane Austen mystery series by starting with a Christmas special, a book set over the twelve days of Christmas. I’m fond of Jane Austenish stories and I usually enjoy Kate Reading’s narration, so my wife and I sat down this evening ready to be entertained by a cosy Christmas mystery.

Sadly, we didn’t make it further than the first day of Christmas. We listened to a little over an hour of the book with a slowly fading hope of entertainment that show more died altogether during a long look-at-all-the-details-I’ve-researched description of The Vines, the country house in which I assume the murder would take place.

The text was heavy the dialogue was laboured and unconvincing and the action minimal. I think the book suffered because I couldn’t help comparing it to Jane Austen’s writing which delivers the narrative with a light touch, powered by sparkling dialogue and witty descriptions of people and their habits. It was the reading equivalent of walking into a well-proportioned Georgian room and finding it so stuffed with Victorian bric-a-brac that all its elegance has been lost.

This is book twelve in the series so these books must be working well for some readers but I’m afraid it’s not for me. show less

(If you enjoy this review, please visit my blog The Body on the Floor where I review historical fiction mystery series. You'll find it here: https://bodyonthefloor.blogspot.com/)

It may have been simply the timing – there couldn’t be a better set up for a mystery lover at Christmastime – but Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas brought Stephanie Barron’s “Being a Jane Austen Mystery” series back into my rotation after a fairly lengthy hiatus.

After two slightly disappointing show more previous installments, I found myself thoroughly engrossed in a mystery that had all the classic elements of a good mystery: Jane and her family trapped in a snowbound country estate, a nefarious murder that leaves a household full of suspects, geopolitical intrigue, a pleasant subplot of a hand-made doll’s wardrobe and an as-ever observant but slightly more snarky (and hilarious) Jane Austen.

So again, it may have been the timing. It was Christmas, I was determined to get into the Christmas spirit and it was bitterly cold in both Phoenix and Las Vegas (by Phoenix and Las Vegas standards, mind you) where I started and finished the book. I’m a great believer in literary ambiance and if there were ever a book written to be enjoyed while drinking spendy tea and wearing Christmas fuzzy socks this is it.

Yet perhaps this particular installment achieves its aim so well because Barron fleshes out Austen and her family in a way I don’t think she ever has before.

In this book we glimpse Austen’s deep yearning for her deceased father. The complexities of her relationship with her sister Cassandra elevate “Cass” from a background character to a much more appealing player. Likewise, even Austen’s brother Henry and his wife, Mary, unlikeable though they may be, feel like those family members we all have in one iteration or another. That's not to say there's an excessive amount of naval gazing, mind you. But Jane felt more like a woman and less like just a detective-cum-authoress than ever before.

It’s clear Barron conducts an extraordinary amount of research into every book and is meticulous about incorporating actual facts from Austen’s life into the mystery. Or rather, she takes Austen's life and puts a mystery into that time period. If Austen was in Bath in December of 18__, that’s where that mystery will take place. If her brothers were deployed during the first Napoleonic war, then Barron will be certain to work in Jane’s justifiable fretting about them. The books are set up as journal entries for chapters, but the dates are not made up in the slightest. In terms of sheer chronological detail, this series may be as close to nonfiction as a pastiche can ever hope to get.

And maybe that’s why Barron always seemed a bit reticent to develop her Jane Austen’s character. In the other books, I always felt like Austen was almost too objective, her astuteness the product of an impartiality that made her a touch less, well, human.

Not so in Twelve Days, however. It feels as though Barron has made whatever peace she needed to in order to allow this iteration of Austen blossom into a full-fledged heroine, complete with an internal life that goes beyond eagle-eyed observation of others and an intellect softened by wit.

There’s even the slightest whiff of romance, which I for one was happy to see, but in true Austen style this in no way interferes with or subtracts from the very serious business of murder, family secrets and – huzzah! – plausible secret passages.

In addition to a wonderful atmosphere and well-developed characters (there are quite a few, actually), this particular Jane Austen mystery sheds light on Edwardian Christmas celebrations and traditions, which nerds like me always enjoy. From the actual boughs of holly decorating the table to the literal Yule log burning in the hall, I learned quite a bit in the best way possible, by being told a story. Not being religious, I found the days honoring various saints was especially fascinating.

Finally, as a political junkie, the addition of a crucial geopolitical facet to the mystery left me falling asleep only because I couldn’t keep my eyes open and waking up eager to get to reading again. I wish that had been developed a bit more, but respect that it really couldn’t be without stretching the boundary of plausibility too far. show less

This book could easily be titled The Pirates of Lyme or Jane and the Pirate King. Well, except for the fact there are no orphans to be found ...

If you don't like how Jane Austen writes, just stop here. You won't enjoy this book. This novel isn't written as a Regency romance; it is meant to sound as though Jane herself were writing the book. Since it is "edited" by Stephanie Barron, you can expect enough footnotes to explain history and background that you may not be familiar with. I found show more them fascinating. As they popped up in the Kindle text when I tapped on the number, it was easy to read them as I needed them. The footnotes are gathered at the end of each chapter, should you have missed one that you should have read.

I enjoyed the book. Some parts I guessed ahead of Jane; others were a surprise. In every case, the author played fair with the reader. I also enjoyed learning more about the smugglers of the time.

If you like mysteries with a hint of cozy and a heavy dose of history, this series should be up your alley. show less