Review: The Queen's Dressmaker by Meghan Masterson

The Queen’s Dressmaker is a well-paced story of loyalty, espionage and love set in the turmoil of the French Revolution.

Masterson’s fictitious heroine, Giselle Aubry, offers a gripping and highly plausible first person insight into what it might have been like to serve Marie-Antoinette as wardrobe mistress in the years leading to the queen of France’s imprisonment and beheading.

With meticulous research, the author brilliantly highlights the often absurd transitions of this period, and the tightly wound relationships between French dress, overt political stance, intense social pressure and death itself. I adored the attention to detail placed on clothing and its social symbols.

Gowns as seen in Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette

Conciergerie exhibition, Dec 2019

The plot, deftly entwined with Marie-Antoinette’s tragic fate from 1789 to 1793, follows the romantic relationship between a dressmaker working in Versailles Palace and a republican watchmaker, Léon Gauvain. Giselle’s inner conflict and her torn loyalties are well-executed, lending a cerebral quality to her romance which rather than being thwarted by emotions or jealousy, is imperilled by opposing values.

Encouraged to spy on the queen by her uncle, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (author of Le Mariage de Figaro), it was interesting to witness Giselle’s stint into espionage evolve from a source of pride – in her own worth, knowledge and intelligence — to a source of shame. An activity begun as voyeurism, and which mirrors the curiosity we modern readers feel for Marie-Antoinette’s life, it, and all other espionage takes on a dangerous quality as the Revolution unfolds.

Portrait of Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais 

Jean-Marc Nattier, 1755

From the point of view of character development, I also appreciated how a pure initial fervour into the French republican cause, as held by Léon, could later be tempered once France entered the Terror.

I loved this book. Having studied the French Revolution created added suspense due to my anticipation of upcoming historical events. I worried in advance for the character and was curious to live precariously though her. Those unfamiliar with the French Revolution and with Marie-Antoinette’s fate, would still be highly captivated by this novel as it artfully explains the events and brings them to life in a unique, intimate manner.

Marie-Antoinette (1783) by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Versailles Palace

The novel’s cast of real life characters, including the heart-warming Madame Campan, General Lafayette, Maximilien Robespierre and journalist, Camille Desmoulins, further grounds this historical novel into the world of the French Revolution. There was a cute cameo from Talleyrand which I appreciated.

Highly recommended for lovers of France, Marie-Antoinette, clothing, and historical fiction.

Versailles Palace, door details

Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC.

Chronique : Abyssinia par Alexandre Page

Grâce au prodigieux travail d'Alexandre Page, j'ai eu l'immense plaisir au cours de l'hiver de me transporter à la fin du 19e siècle et de suivre les aventures d'une mission diplomatique russe en Abyssinie. 

Nous sommes en 1897 et l'empereur Ménélik II règne sur des terres abyssines, progressivement conquises. 

En novembre 1896, apparaissait cette photo dans Le Petit Parisien. Elle y figure les italiens signant la traite d'Addis-Abeba le 26 octobre 1896, devant Ménélik, après leur importante défaite face à l'armée éthiopienne.  

C'est peu de temps suivant ces événements que commence le formidable récit d'Alexandre Page, ABYSSINIA...

"Ménélik descendait du roi Salomon, de la reine de Saba, et ces noms seuls suffisaient à nourrir infiniment des esprits imaginatifs."  - Alexandre Page, Abyssinia : Volume I

Docteur Alexandre Page nous livre une œuvre titanesque qui ne lésine en rien à chaque page.

Ce livre, c'est un trésor historique, un long voyage. C'est une fresque géographique et culturelle vertigineuse. C'est le récit d'une expédition russe en Abyssinie, à la fin du 19e siècle. Nous sommes intimes avec cette expédition. Nous vivons ses épreuves (ah oui, ce n'est pas si facile de se procurer des chameaux et je ne dis rien sur les fourmis géantes...), nous nous émouvons de ses découvertes, ses rencontres et ses échanges, dont certains sont teintés d'humour. La lecture demande du temps, tellement les pages sont riches, mais ce rythme est parfait, car il nous place aisément dans la peau des personnages pour lesquels cette aventure est une véritable épopée, longue de plusieurs mois.

On ne peut qu'admirer la patience et la maîtrise dont fait preuve l'auteur : recherches historiques approfondies sur un sujet difficile (car moins connu), descriptions évocatrices de personnages et de paysages, un style posé qui sied parfaitement à l'époque, et toujours cette retenue pour exposer les faits sans tenter de pencher le lecteur ou la lectrice vers une certaine opinion politique. On y découvre une Abyssinie indépendante (la plupart des pays d'Afrique à cette époque sont sous une emprise coloniale occidentale), puissante, riche, souvent guerrière, une terre peuplée de diverses ethnies — certaines d'elles, conquises — mais toutes aussi différentes, voire fascinantes, les unes que les autres.

Les aspects du livre que j'ai trouvé particulièrement enrichissants sont ses portraits de personnages russes et de leur comportement dans plusieurs situations sociales complexes, ainsi que les descriptions des us et coutumes de chaque ethnie locale.

Sans doute ma citation préférée dans ce très beau livre

J'ai retenu plusieurs passages grâce à ce texte. Je me suis délectée de la manière dont l'auteur crée l'ambiance d'un repas dans différentes contrées. Je garde un souvenir inoubliable des descriptions des villes et des marchés, des femmes, de cette rencontre entre les Russes et des esclaves, et surtout de ces dialogues nuancés qui dépeignent le climat politique de l'époque.

Je vous laisse avec quelques aperçus sur les Français de la part de personnages russes. :)

Calista - my new novel

I am pleased to announce the publication of my Victorian gothic novel, CALISTA, to be released on 25 May 2021. This book combines two long-held obsessions of mine.  Alas, I am sworn to secrecy and it is unfortunate that I cannot share anything of the plot beyond this. 

Despite my lifelong fixation on certain themes, I had not planned on writing this book at all. The idea took shape after a trip to Greece last year, after which I had little choice but to set aside other projects and craft this story. 

Calista is a horror mystery set in both England and Greece. The plot, spanning the years 1835 to 1848 mostly takes place in Alexandra Hall, an isolated mansion in Berkshire. French Inspector, Maurice Leroux, must solve a series of curious deaths not knowing that what he will find will change him forever. 

I can't wait to share this story with you! 

I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartful thanks to graphic designer, Ross Robinson, for Calista's gorgeous book cover.  Ross is based in Queensland, Australia but has worked in Sydney and the UK in the past. His work is exceptional. I've worked with Ross in the past when creating the cover for my novel, Julien's Terror.  Each time, he really understood what I wanted and went above and beyond.  

This book cover for Calista combines all the elements I had in mind and executes it in such a beautiful way.  I long to hold this book in my hands. 

Review: All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter

When I learned that multi-award-winning author, Angela Slatter, had penned a mermaid fantasy novel, I knew it would be a gripping read. Even with its cover and title, All the Murmuring Bones evoked the gothic and spawned dark visions of an ocean underworld.  I was also curious about the secret pact between the O'Malley family and the merfolk: safety for their merchant ships in return for a child of each generation. A plot that promised danger, magic, sacrifice and likely, evil deeds.  All the Murmuring Bones delivered all this and more. I've not read a story that so artfully depicts sea-folk as ghoulish sinister forces. As it turned out, this young adult novel comes with more than one mystery to unearth and it's a well-paced fantasy adventure along the way to answers.

Miren, the descendant of a long line of O'Malleys whose fortune has fallen into ruin despite a prosperous past, was abandoned as a child by her mother and raised by her grandparents. Upon her grandfather's death, she inherits the decrepit castle at Hob's Hallow. We get a sense quite early that Miren is curious, feisty and thinks for herself. That latter trait will come in handy when her destitute grandmother has in mind that Miren will wed her wealthy cousin, Aidan Fitzpatrick. Grandmother thinks there's much profit to be made from this scheme. Not so innocent Miren watches herself get pampered and gifted with numerous frocks, along with a magical quilt that will have disastrous effects. This passage of the novel is effective at giving us Miren's point of view as a conflicted young woman who sees her world collapsing and is confronted with choices. I personally enjoyed all those dress descriptions even if they came with a dangerous deal. For Miren can't shake the fact that there's a strong sense of menace in marrying the devious Aidan Fitzpatrick. That, along with her burning desire to find her mysterious mother, Isolde, will see her flee from the family home and set off on an adventure.

Along the way, merfolk, witches, rusalki, corpsewights— this novel has its share of bone-chilling encounters. After all, this is a world where witches are not burnt and where the Queen of Thieves, a cunning business woman, rules them all. I thoroughly enjoyed the horror aspects of this novel. Earlier, the creepy scene at the port's Weeping Gate where Miren is attacked underwater by mermaids and learns that she is cursed with her family's debt, sets the pace for what is to come. Then as Miren journeys to find her mother, one memorable tense scene sees her strike a bargain with three revenants. The courageous Miren must solve their riddle or else suffer what may.

                             

But horror has no need of fantasy to inject fear, and one of the darkest sections in this deliciously gothic story borrows from traditional themes— secret identity, crime, hidden rooms and family lies. Once Miren arrives in the mining village of Blackwater, there's more than one eerie passage, and Angela Slatter is adept at creating an atmosphere of the uncanny while building up the tension. Miren will discover the stunning truth about her mother but before that, she'll need to apply her clever wits to untangle the mysteries at Blackwater.

 

One of the strengths of this novel is Angela Slatter's masterfully crafted lyrical voice. It really is beautiful. Right from the first chapter, the spellbinding prose creates a sense of place that transports. Throughout the book, as Miren reflects on her family's secret history, the author artfully weaves in short fantasy fables where witches and merfolks come alive through her skilled narration. There's never a feeling, though, that the plot is scattered, and these short tales serve as hints to solving the main mystery. 

The theme of family stood out for me. All the Murmuring Bones suggests that family is not always kind, and often family members cannot be trusted or at least they require us to keep a sceptical eye. It is a refreshing and daring message. It also carries lessons about how we choose to treat one another despite our past. While in the story, a supernatural curse is passed on within the family over many generations, in the real world, there are curses of another nature that families tend to pass to one another...betrayal, hurt, or even abandonment. With this in mind, I held on to Miren’s insight:

"Some folk make a point of not visiting pain on others when it's done to them; most people though, think it's their due to inflict a little of their own agony."

Miren does learn from this lesson in the way she comes to treat others. Meanwhile there's also plenty we can learn from her non-materialistic decisions at the end of the story.

I highly recommend All the Murmuring Bones for its deep levels and its gripping, entertaining story. I believe it is likely to please adults as well. 

A huge thank you to Titan Books for sending me a review copy of this novel.

 

All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter is out on 9 March, 2021. 

Calista - my first horror novel

When my mother was pregnant with me and living in Senegal, her favorite thing to do was head to the cinema and watch a horror movie. I often joke and tell her, while feigning admonishment, that the horrors she experienced as she rode on waves of suspense and scares would have chemically passed to me, her vulnerable foetus. In what drugged state would I have existed, I wonder, as I floated about in that cushy womb, dreading another traumatic rush of adrenaline... Would I have become as addicted as she was? Would I have ached for similar thrills in my youth to compensate for the loss of this potent mix of chemicals? And was this perhaps the reason why as a young child, I was fascinated by the macabre and why as early as four years of age, I sat quietly with my mum and grandmother, watching supernatural horror movies like The Entity and Audrey Rose? Mind you, I was not spared the ensuing nightmares, but then again, what we love is not necessarily good for us.

Years later, I married a horror screenwriter and while I know from observing him and his many horror filmmaker friends, that horror writers are the sweetest people on earth – counterintuitive but true – I also knew that it would be just a matter of time until I'd try my hand at a wicked tale. (Because I'm also very sweet like that.)

Sheridan Le Fanu, Arthur Machen, Charlotte Dacre, Stephen King, Mary Shelley, Anne Rice, Daphne du Maurier and Wilkie Collins, are writers I admire in the suspense/horror genre. I'm a lover of atmosphere and ambiguity so these authors have been my go-to for gaining inspiration and for that general feeling of, "whoa, I want to write like that". Apart from Stephen King and to a degree, Anne Rice, their material is also delightfully old-fashioned which suits my historical novelist bend. I also love nasty women in novels. My greatest scare in this department is still Madame de la Rougiere in Uncle Silas but Wilkie Collins and Charlotte Dacre have nothing to envy. 

For almost two years, I had been wanting to write a novel about a certain [secret] topic that is dear to me. It was my novel XX. I didn't know what it would be about but I knew it had to feature that topic.

While in Greece this year, a horror story came to me and suddenly it made so much sense to merge this wicked tale with my topic of choice, that I wondered why I hadn't thought of it earlier. So you could say that I decided then and there to write a horror novel as a vehicle for my pet topic. I'm really happy to have made that decision. (And Greece was fun too.) 

But when should it be set? And where? I looked up a period of Greek history that is distinct for its political situation, and decided based on this research that my novel would be set after the Greek War of Independence, and – due to some other logistic details that I will not reveal – well before 1853. I settled on the period between 1836 and 1850. This historical horror novel would take place in both England and Greece; a Victorian novel with a Greek influence!

I titled it, CALISTA, like my female character.

I've just about completed the first draft. It is shorter than all my other novels and definitely shorter than my debut novel, The Ming Storytellers which totalled at 610+ pages. For Calista, I had initially envisaged a novella but there was so much I wished to say that I realised it couldn't be less than 50k words. So a novel it is. 

I will be launching a cover early in the year but in the meantime, I'm loving this creepy experience. I'm right back in that womb, so to speak, the hormones are rushing in, and I've a devilish smile on my face.

See you next year.