April 2023 MBR The Historical Fiction Shelf

The Historical Fiction Shelf

The Rail Splitter
John Cribb
Republic Book Publishers
https://www.republicbookpublishers.com
9781645720645, $28.00, HC, 384pp

https://www.amazon.com/Rail-Splitter-Novel-John-Cribb/dp/1645720640

Synopsis: "The Rail Splitter" by novelist John Cribb begins with Lincoln's youth on the frontier, where he grows up with an ax in one hand and book in the other, determined to make something of himself. He sets off on one adventure after another, from rafting down the Mississippi River to marching in an Indian war. When he is twenty-six, the girl he hopes to marry dies of fever. He spends days wandering the countryside in grief. A few years later, he purchases a ring inscribed with the words "Love Is Eternal" and enters a tempestuous marriage with Mary Todd.

Lincoln literally wrestles his way to prominence on the Illinois prairies. He teaches himself the law and enters the rough and tumble world of frontier politics. With Mary's encouragement, he wins a term in the US Congress, but his political career falters. They are both devastated by the loss of a child. As arguments over slavery sweep the country, Lincoln finds something worth fighting for, and his debates with brash rival Stephen Douglas catapult him toward the White House.

Part coming-of-age story, part adventure story, part love story, and part rags-to-riches story, "The Rail Splitter" is about the making of Abraham Lincoln. The story of a rawboned youth who goes from a log cabin to the White House, this is in many ways, the great American story. "The Rail Splitter reminds us that the country Lincoln loved is a place of wide-open dreams where extraordinary journeys unfold.

Critique: Historical biographic fiction at its very best, "The Rail Splitter" is an entertaining and informative novel that while a work of plausible fiction is soundly based on historical facts. A riveting read from start to finish, "The Rail Splitter" is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Biographical Historical Fiction collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all Abraham Lincoln admirers that "The Rail Splitter" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.49).

Editorial Note: John Cribb (https://www.johncribbauthor.com) has written about subjects ranging from history to education. Old Abe, his first novel, tells the story of the last five years of Abraham Lincoln's life. His other works include coauthoring The American Patriot's Almanac and The Educated Child, both New York Times bestsellers; coediting The Human Odyssey, a 3-volume world history text; and developing online history courses. His writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, FoxNews.com, RealClearPolitics, and several other publications. During the Reagan administration, he worked at the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. A native of Spartanburg, SC, John studied literature at Vanderbilt University.

Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey
John Sayles
Melville House
46 John Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
https://www.mhpbooks.com
9781612199887, $32.00, HC, 704pp

https://www.amazon.com/Jamie-MacGillivray-Renegades-John-Sayles/dp/1612199887

Synopsis: "Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey" by John Sayles begins in the highlands of Scotland in 1746, at the Battle of Culloden, the last desperate stand of the Stuart 'pretender' to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his rabidly loyal supporters.

Vanquished with his comrades by the forces of the Hanoverian (and Protestant) British crown, the novel's eponymous hero, Jamie MacGillivray, narrowly escapes a roadside execution only to be recaptured by the victors and shipped to Marshalsea Prison (central to Charles Dickens's Hard Times) where he cheats the hangman a second time before being sentenced to transportation and indentured servitude in colonial America "for the term of his natural life." His travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor, village girl swept up on false charges by the English and also sent in chains to the New World.

"Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey" follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements as they strive to escape being pawns in a deadly game. The two continue to cross paths with each other and with some of the leading figures of the era- the devious Lord Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.

Critique: A veritable saga of a novel, "Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey" by author John Sayles will have an extraordinary appeal to readers with an interest in action/adventure stories replete with memorable characters, suspenseful and unexpected plot twists and turns, and a deftly crafted historical background and context. While especially and unreservedly recommended community and academic library Historical Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99.

Editorial Note: John Sayles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sayles) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996). He has written seven novels, the most recent being Yellow Earth (2020) and A Moment in the Sun (2011).

High Bridge
Michael Miller
Koehler Books
3705 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23455
www.koehlerbooks.com
9781646638130, $32.95, HC, 384pp

https://www.amazon.com/High-Bridge-Michael-Miller/dp/1646638131

Synopsis: Upstate New York in the mid-19th century was a cauldron bubbling with the lure of fast fortunes, religious zealotry, and battles for civil liberties. This fervor centers on the Erie Canal, which successfully supports scores of villages brimming with opportunity. One such village, Fayetteville, shapes the lives of two future American leaders.

"High Bridge" by novelist Michael Miller tells the stories of a young newlywed, the only child of freethinking abolitionists, and a prankster lad who grows up in the large family of an austere reverend. Despite their different childhoods and worldviews, they form an unlikely friendship. Can they combine their skills to solve a mystery and vindicate a Black man accused of murder?

Critique: A deftly crafted and inherently absorbing read from first page to last, "High Bridge" will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest in historical fiction and race relations in 19th Century American history. Entertaining and thought-provoking, original and memorable, "High Bridge" is a welcome and unreservedly recommended addition to community library American Historical Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "High Bridge" is also available in a paperback edition (9781646638116, $22.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.49).

Editorial Note: Michael Miller (https://www.koehlerbooks.com/writer/michael-miller) was born in a small town in New Jersey similar to Fayetteville, NY. He played baseball, delivered the daily newspaper, and tramped through the woods. Through small town life, he learned to respect people regardless of their backgrounds and appreciate the gifts each person brought to the world.

Madame Pommery
Rebecca Rosenberg
Lion Heart Publishing
https://www.lionhrtpub.com
9781732969940, $18.00, PB, 347pp

https://www.amazon.com/Madame-Pommery-Creator-Brut-Champagne/dp/1732969949

Synopsis: Champagne, France, 1860. Madame Pommery, an etiquette teacher and orphanage founder, loses her husband and is forced to support her family. With no experience, the forty-year-old widow decides to make champagne. Her unique vision is to change it from a sweet dessert beverage to a dry, crisp wine to be enjoyed anytime. When champagne makers refuse to teach her their craft, she forges ahead on her own and secretly begins the excavation of champagne caves under the Reims city dump.

Soon after, her son and her entire crew are conscripted to fight the Franco-Prussian war, leaving Madame Pommery alone to struggle with her champagne dreams. After Napoleon and a hundred thousand French troops are captured, the Prussians invaded France, and Prussian General Frederick Franz occupies Madame Pommery's house as his army headquarters. Undaunted, Pommery uses her secret wine caves to hide the Francs-Tireurs, resistance fighters for France, while she plans to build a spectacular castle winery above the caves.

But when her former lover, a Scottish Baron, unexpectedly proposes marriage, Madame Pommery must choose between nobility and her passionate quest for fine champagne and the most beautiful winery in the world.

Critique: Based on a true story, "Madame Pommery" by Rebecca Rosenberg is an heroic novel about a mother and widow who fights the Prussians, the social class system, champagne patriarchs, and champagne tastes to create a champagne legacy. With a special appeal to readers with an interest in historical fiction with a female protagonist, "Madame Pommery" is an inherently entertaining read and unreservedly recommended as an addition to both community and academic library Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Madame Pommery" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99).

Editorial Note: Rebecca Rosenberg (https://rebecca-rosenberg.com) is an award-winning novelist, champagne geek, and lavender farmer. Rebecca first fell in love with 'methode champenoise' in Sonoma Valley, California. Over decades of delicious research, she has explored the wine cellars of France, Spain, Italy, and California in search of fine champagne. When Rebecca discovered the real-life stories of the Champagne Widows of France, she knew she'd dedicate years to telling the stories of these remarkable women who made champagne the worldwide phenomenon it is today. Rebecca is a champagne historian, tour guide, and champagne cocktail expert for Breathless Wines. Her other award-winning novels include The Secret Life of Mrs. London and Gold Digger, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.

Wolf Catcher
Anne Montgomery
https://annemontgomerywriter.com
TouchPoint Press
https://touchpointpress.com
9781956851076, $16.99, PB, 372pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Catcher-Anne-Montgomery/dp/1956851070

Synopsis: In 1939, archaeologists uncovered a tomb at the Northern Arizona site called Ridge Ruin. The entombed man, bedecked in fine turquoise jewelry and intricate beadwork, was surrounded by wooden swords with handles carved into animal hooves and human hands. The Hopi workers stepped back from the grave, knowing what the Moochiwimi sticks meant. This man, buried nine-hundred years earlier, was a magician.

Former television journalist Kate Butler hangs on to her investigative reporting career by writing freelance magazine articles. Her research on The Magician shows he bore some European facial characteristics and physical qualities that made him different from the people who buried him. Her quest to discover The Magician's origin carries her back to a time when the high desert world was shattered by the birth of a volcano and into the present-day dangers of archaeological looting where black market sales of antiquities can lead to murder.

Critique: Blending archaeology and Native American mythology, "Wolf Catcher" by novelist Anne Montgomery is an original, exceptionally well written, and compelling work of historical fiction that is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Wolf Catcher" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).

Editorial Note: Anne Butler Montgomery (https://annemontgomerywriter.com/about) has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, and amateur sports official. She was also a freelance and/or staff reporter for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces. Her novels include The Castle, The Scent of Rain, A Light in the Desert, and Wild Horses on the Salt. Anne Montgomery taught high school journalism for 20 years and was an amateur sports official for four decades, a time during which she called baseball, ice hockey, soccer, and basketball games and served as a high school football referee and crew chief.

The Shining Mountains
Alix Christie
High Road Books
c/o University of New Mexico Press
1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87131-0001
www.unmpress.com
9780826364654, $27.95, HC, 344pp

https://www.amazon.com/Shining-Mountains-Novel-Alix-Christie/dp/0826364659

Synopsis: The year is 1838. A young Scotsman forced from his homeland arrives at Hudson's Bay. Angus McDonald is contracted to British masters to trade for fur. But the world he discovers is beyond even a Highlander's wildest imaginings: raging rivers, buffalo hunts, and the powerful daughter of an ancient and magnificent people. In Catherine Baptiste, kin to Nez Perce chiefs, Angus recognizes a kindred spirit.

The Rocky Mountain West in which they meet will soon be torn apart by competing claims: between British fur traders, American settlers, and the Native peoples who have lived for millennia in the valleys and plateaus of the Shining Mountains' western slopes.

Critique: An impressively original, truly epic, and memorable saga, "The Shining Mountains" by Alix Christie is a deftly crafted historical novel that draws from the genuine history of the early 19th Century American West, now revealed in all its 'terror, beauty, and complexity'. While unreservedly recommended for community library Historical Fiction collections, "The Shining Mountains" is also readily available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $27.95).

Editorial Note: Alix Christie (https://alixchristie.com) is the direct descendant of Angus McDonald's brother Duncan. Her debut novel was "Gutenberg's Apprentice" (Harper Books, 2014). For the past thirty years she has reported for newspapers in California and from Europe as a foreign correspondent, including for the Washington Post, the Guardian of London, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Salon.com. She currently reviews books and arts for The Economist.

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