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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Deborah Noyes' The Ghosts of Kerfol


 

Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes
The Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes.


Don't miss Deborah Noyes fascinating tribute to Edith Wharton's short story "Kerfol." The cursed house, Kerfol, figures prominently in each short story. When a lonely wife, Anne de Barrigan comforts herself with pet dogs, her husband, Yves de Cornault, retaliates by killing them. A chambermaid, Perrette, narrates what happens when the ghosts of her mistress' dogs exact revenge. The rest of the stories move forward and backwards in time as characters of various decades enter the house as owners, tourists, and restorers.


"These Heads Would Speak" is set shortly after the French Revolution when a recently impoverished nobleman, Victor, is set to inherit Kerfol. Victor, an artist at heart, has no idea why the servants vacate the house on a certain day, the anniversary of a particularly gruesome death. In "The Figure Under the Sheet," an American man and his spoiled daughter have inherited Kerfol. Noyes interweaves a Breton folktale, a rich king and his ungrateful daughter, that oddly mirror Kerfol's most recent owners.


Tourists in the 1980s story "When I Love You Best" learn about the murder of Suze, the young woman who dies under mysterious circumstances in "The Figure Under the Sheet." The house and its ghosts continue to haunt new inhabitants in the final story where a deaf boy hears ghosts speak.  Anyone interested Ghosts of Kerfol may also be interested in Edith Wharton's
Collected Stories, 1917-1937.
Collected Stories 1917-1937
For more books by Deborah Noyes please see her official site,
http://www.deborahnoyes.com/books.html

Philippa Gregory's Constant Princess

Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory.

Philippa Gregory’s novel about Katherine of Aragon, The Constant Princess, sets the stage for many of Gregory’s Tudor novels. In this novel, Katherine is a young girl who dazzles three Tudor men, Arthur Tudor, Henry VII, and young Henry VIII.  She is headstrong and vibrant--completely unlike the sad, defeated woman that we see in The Other Boleyn Girl.  
In The Constant Princess, Katherine is ambitious and proud, yet entirely devoted to her cause—that of becoming Queen of England. When her first husband, Arthur Tudor, unexpectedly dies before she produces an heir, she considers and then rejects Henry VII’s odd marriage proposal.  She endures years of hardship after refusing Henry VII. She becomes his prisoner--the King refuses to release her from England—and she is reduced to near poverty.  Her betrothal to Harry, a betrothal the Tudors never intended to honor, was the old King ploy to avenge her having snubbed him.
 Katherine marvelously triumphs over her vindictive father-in-law by marrying the boy king, Henry VIII. She becomes a ruling Queen who oversees the minutiae of the court, including the foreign policy and expenditures.  She gives the impression of abiding by Henry VIII while guiding him in what she sees as the right direction. She even defies Margaret Beaufort, Henry VIII’s Grandmother, of whom everyone is afraid.
What Gregory does exceptionally well is dramatize historical events without altering them or modifying them to suit contemporary times. The novel is rich in historical details that simultaneously elucidate the period and edify the reader.  Katherine, for instance, longs for “salad,” but the English cannot believe that anyone would eat raw vegetables.  She is astounded to learn that the English have no running water and that they take baths infrequently. Equally astonishing is the fact that the English have no medical colleges or universities.
Every scene in Gregory’s novel propels the action, deepens characterization, and imparts historical details. When Katherine believes she is with child (for the first time) she sends for a Moorish doctor.  He cannot conduct a proper examination because the Queen’s body cannot be touched. During this time and beyond, royals believed their bodies were sacred after being anointed with oils during coronation.  Sadly, for three months Katherine stays in confinement, believing, erroneously that she is pregnant.
During her confinement, Henry VIII has his first extramarital affair. Katherine’s friend, Lady Margaret Pole, confirms it. Despite Katherine’s success in marrying Henry VIII and assuming the throne, a shadow of doubt about the validity of her marriage emerges, setting the scene for Gregory’s next exuberant novel, The Other Boleyn Girl.  Readers who want another version of the same story will want to read Jean Plaidy’s trilogy about the doomed queen:  Katherine, the Virgin Widow; The Shadow of the Pomegranate; and the King’s Secret Matter.  For a non-fiction treatment of the same subject, try Garrett Mattingly’s Catherine of Aragon.

Penni Russon's Undine

Undine by Penni Russon.
Undine has many features one would expect to find in a coming-of-age story: a confused heroine who battles with authority figures as she journeys toward self-understanding. Undine, for instance, finds herself at odds with Lou, her mother, who tries to shield Undine from the strange man who claims to be her father. Undine’s life is a lot more confusing, however, than an ordinary teenager’s. Not only must Undine deal with dreary Tuesdays, messy love triangles, and an overprotective mother, Undine must also deal the growing sense the she has powers—powers to control the weather and, quite possibly, alter the past and future.
Undine’s sleepy existence in Hobbart, Tasmania, comes to a halt when she hears a voice calling her “home.” Soon afterwards, a strange fish appears at her doorstep along with a note from a shadowy figure calling himself Prospero. Not having read The Tempest, Undine turns to her confidant, Trout. The two of them try to decipher the mystery until Undine begins dating Trout’s older brother, Richard. Trout, who has always loved Undine, becomes painfully estranged from both Undine and Richard when he learns of their involvement.
Because of their rift, Undine answers the call to meet Prospero alone at his house at Tasmania’s Bay of Angels where her magic is strongest. When Prospero reveals how he plans to misuse Undine’s magic, however, Undine creates a destructive tempest that nearly destroys the world. In a climactic scene, Undine and her father each make a life-altering sacrifice—one that Russon explores further in the next two novels, Breathe and Drift.
 Should Undine have answered Prospero’s call? Should she have accepted the gift of magic which leads to her discovery of other, alternate worlds? The magic is a gift but it results in ethical conundrums. In the final novel, Drift, for instance, Undine must decide if she should save a four-year-old if it would obliterate a young man’s existence in another parallel world. Undine also has a showdown with a street performer named Phoenix and an enigmatic creature that insists on calling her a “sister.” Russon’s thrilling and thought-provoking trilogy, about friendship, longing, transience, choices and sacrifice, is not to be missed.

Bruce Machart's Wake of Forgiveness

Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart.
Race horses play an instrumental role in this carefully crafted debut novel. By cultivating winning race horses, Vaclav Skala acquires most of the land in LaVaca county. His love for winning horse races, however, comes at the expense of his family.

After his beloved Clara dies, Vaclav is an embittered man who uses his sons as "work horses" to plow the fields. He exempts his own horses from working since he uses them to race. What proves to be Vaclav’s undoing, however, is his blind hubris.

Vaclav has so much confidence in Karel's riding abilities that he offers up his three other sons as bridegrooms to the daughters of the second largest landowner. This proves to be a tragic mistake. Vaclav may know horses and farming but he knows little about filial bonds or the disarming power of love.

Karel is a good rider but he's distracted by his opponent, Villasenor's daughter, Gabriella. Though only fifteen, he's enchanted by her beauty and the possibilities she offers. Although he is only a boy he must deal with conflicting feelings for her and loyalty towards his family--a situation that continues throughout most of his young life until a pair of delinquents force him to re-prioritize his life.

This novel is a powerful family drama and an intriguing look at life in Texas at the turn-of-the-century. Few authors write so powerfully and evocatively; this novel will resonate for a long time to come.


Review by Chantal Walvoord

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