Marie, Dancing

Marie, Dancing. Carolyn Meyer. 2005. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 272 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: "You," said the man wearing blue-tinted eyeglasses. 

Premise/plot: Edgar Degas is known for his paintings of dancers. But he is also known, of course, for his sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Marie, Dancing is a fictional account of that fourteen-year-old dancer, Marie van Goethem. The novel opens in 1878 with Degas inviting the young girl to model for him. It follows her through several years--even when she is no longer dancing.

Marie is the middle daughter. She has an older sister, Antoinette, and a younger sister, Charlotte. All three are ballet dancers. Dancing alone would never bring home enough money to pay the rent and buy food. That's one reason their aunt disapproves of the way her sister is raising the girls. (Another reason is that the mom is a drunk who takes what little money they have to drink.) Marie and Charlotte are almost always on the hungry side. Antoinette has started looking for men willing to pay for her company. So she'll come home with extra money, jewelry, and clothes. She's a vain girl; the more attention she receives from men the less attention she gives to her sisters and her dancing. Marie uses the money she gets from modeling to support her family. The modeling does not last long--at least through the eyes of Marie herself. She misses the money when it's gone. It took years for the sculpture to get finished and be ready for exhibition. (1881)

My thoughts: Marie, Dancing is set in Paris, France, during the late nineteenth century. It stars a few historical figures--Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt. Marie van Goethem was a real girl; the novel has its basis in truth. But the novel is definitely fictional!

Carolyn Meyer is one of my favorite historical writers. I definitely enjoyed this one! I loved, loved, loved the setting. Although the novel could make one hungry....if one is prone to really getting immersed in a novel. I loved the sprinkling of French throughout the novel. I found that aspect delightful.

I thought the characterization was wonderful. I really loved Marie and Charlotte. I loved Marie's friendship with Jean-Pierre. I was really hoping these two would have a happy ending. (I was disappointed.)


© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Amanda

Amanda. (Sunfire #1) Candice Ransom. 1984. Scholastic. 368 pages. [Source: Library book sale]
First sentence: It had been raining forever, endless rain that dripped down the windowpanes. Amanda Bentley could not stand the cramped hotel room another minute.

Dear Scholastic:
If I thought begging would do any good, I would plead with you to republish the Sunfire romance series originally published in the 1980s. The "name" books were my favorite-and-best books from my middle years--my first introduction to the wonderful genre of historical romance. It's a love that's still going strong, by the way. I know the Sunfire books don't contain vampires, werewolves, fairies, or demons. But why should romance novels contain such in the first place. If they were worth publishing in the first place--which they so clearly were--they are worth republishing.

I have given it a lot of thought. I have. And I think it would be wonderful if the books were republished as e-books for the same price as the original paperback books were released. Granted, I would love to see PRINT copies as well. But I imagine that they would cost more than the lovely $2.95 of the originals! But for an e-book, the thought is IT'S WORTH EVERY PENNY.

Becky

Dear Candice Ransom:

Thank you a million times for being the awesome writer that you are. (Thank you for being awesome in general!) I will forever be a fan of yours--your picture books, your early readers and chapter books, and your novels. My first introduction to your work was through the Sunfire romance series. They were--they are--some of my favorite books ever. You gave me a glorious gift--a love of reading.

I still get giddy thinking about the fact that you know who I am. That in 2009 Winchester came to visit me for a few days.

As long as you keep writing, I'll keep reading.

Becky

Premise/plot: Amanda's hopes and dreams are thwarted by her father's gambling ways and big dreams. He decides to steal away from Boston--with her--and start again. On their journey south, he gets a fever to go WEST, to go to Oregon. Amanda does NOT want to go, yet, she finds herself heading west in a wagon, in a wagon train, all the same. It will be the most challenging time in her life, but will the journey change her for the better?

My thoughts: Is Amanda my favorite Sunfire romance?! Maybe. Perhaps my favorite Sunfire romance is the one I've read most recently. Though I will say Amanda is probably always in my top five.

I enjoy a good wagon train story. Why can't wagon train stories become trendy again?!

Amanda brings to mind the only western that I love. You see, I am allergic to westerns in general. The western that is an exception to the rule is WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951). 

© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Revisiting Lady Thief

Lady Thief. A.C. Gaughen. 2014. Walker Books. 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I wanted to reread Scarlet and Lady Thief in anticipation of the release of the third book, Lion Heart, this May. I read Scarlet and Lady Thief last spring and for the most part LOVED them. Particularly Lady Thief.

The heroine of Lady Thief is Marian (aka Scarlet). She's still very much in love with Robin Hood, but, she's been tempted with an offer almost too good to refuse. Her (abusive) husband will annul their marriage and let her go, if and only if, she plays the role of his wife while Prince John and his wife Isabel visit Nottingham. (A new sheriff needs to be appointed.) Also traveling with the royal family: Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen mother. There's definite risk involved. But the idea of being free from him forever and ever and getting to have a happily ever after ending with her one true love blinds her for a bit. She agrees. What follows is a LOT of drama and angst and heartbreak. It's exciting and intense and emotional.

I love this adaptation of Robin Hood, a young Robin Hood. I love most all the characters. Robin Hood. John Little. Scarlet/Marian. Much. Tuck. And a few new characters as well: particularly Alan a Dale, Winchester, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. It's oh so easy to hate Prince John and Guy Gisbourne.

It's easy to recommend this series. I am eager to read the third book!


© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Reread #46 Dark Triumph

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) Robin LaFevers. 2013. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 387 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I first read and reviewed Dark Triumph in March 2013. Dark Triumph isn't a book that one necessarily ENJOYS. It's a dark, exposing-ugly-sins historical novel in Robin LaFevers' His Fair Assassin series. (Grave Mercy, which I also recently reread, is the first in the series.)

Both books are dark. Though reading Dark Triumph makes Grave Mercy appear to be light and fluffy. Both books star assassin nuns. Young women trained at a convent who serve Death as a master, who carry out their master's orders, who kill in other words.

Sybella is the heroine in Dark Triumph. Her story is dark, ugly, desperate. She's a strong heroine. She doesn't hold onto hope so much as vengeance. Her will to live comes from a desire--a need--to kill those that have harmed her. The people that have hurt her most are her very own family: her father and brothers. (Readers learn of the events that led her to the convent.) Her father is Lord D'Albret. (A few details are historically accurate--the names of two of his daughters, Charlotte and Louise, for example, but almost everything is fictional. One should not take LaFevers' depiction as fact.)

Dark as it was, as ugly as it was, I enjoyed Sybella as a character. Her story was beautifully told. I especially loved the romance. I loved, loved, loved "The Beast" of Waroch. Their romance was not typical, it was unique and strong and tender and oh-so-right.

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews