Word Wenches

WWR — What We're Reading in May

Anne here, bringing you the latest reading recommendations from the wenches. There's a fair bit of crime — some cozy, some police procedural, some medieval mysteries, there's time slip and WW2, there's a delightful word exploration book, and there's even some romance! 

Pat recommends THIEF OF SOULS  by Brian Klingborg She says: I enjoy the occasional police procedural if the writing is strong and there’s a good hook. The author kept me reading,  and the setting was an unusual hook—a small town in northern China. The protagonist, Lu Fei, is a middle-aged (although they keep calling him young, he’s forty) inspector on the police force, never married, who drinks too much, and is good at martial arts. Okay, raise your hand if you’ve read that before. <G> But it all works. Young women are being murdered, their organs removed, then sewed up again. The author takes us through the workings of the police department, all the petty government hang-ups, the interdepartmental fighting, all the things we normally see in the usual Brit and American police stories, only with a Chinese twist. I had to look up the author to see how he knew these details, and he’s apparently lived in China but isn’t Chinese. Still, it felt authentic.

Inspector Lu has never married because he wants to marry for love. He quotes Confucius but he’s an independent thinker and an honest cop. You really have to like him because he tries so hard. And better yet, the author manages to keep the killer a secret almost to the point that Lu works it out. So we get to feel smart and not too annoyed with our hero when it takes him a few pages more. If you enjoy  a good police procedural and reading about China, you might want to check this out.

Andrea says: this month I seemed to be a WWII state mind, as I read two books set in the era. They were very different in style but I loved both them.

I’m a huge fan of Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network and The Huntress, and her latest novel, The Rose Code, is equally mesmerizing. It’s a heart-thumping dual timeline story set at Bletchley Park, the famous top secret British codebreaking enclave during the war, and several years after as the three heroines are forced to crack one last code . . .

It features three young women from completely different backgrounds and temperaments who find themselves thrown together as roommates after their skills at solving puzzles bring them to be part of the British efforts to crack the enemy codes—an effort that is keeping the country from defeat. Quinn gives readers a fascinating look inside Bletchley Park as she weaves a compelling tale of friendship, heartache, secrets and betrayals as each of the women struggle to define her dreams and deal with her own weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

A shocking betrayal breaks their friendships apart at the end of the war, only to have a coded message several years later force them to reluctantly come together again to catch a traitor. I couldn’t put it down!

Annoying Heroines

Free Clip Art, Wikimedia Commons

Christina here and today I’m going to have a little rant. A while back, I read a trilogy with a hero I absolutely adored, but at the same time I couldn’t stand the heroine. I found her intensely annoying, not in any way worthy of the hero’s love and devotion, and so immature I wanted to slap her! I carried on reading the entire series because I wanted to know how things ended for the hero, and whether the heroine would redeem herself in the end, but I almost had to force myself. That’s not how it should be, is it?

A heroine ought to be someone we like and empathise with. Sure, she can be naïve or immature at the beginning of a story (or a series in this case), because we’ve all been there and lessons need to be learned before we grow up and understand certain things. She doesn’t have to be perfect – none of us are, after all – but she does need to be likeable. At the very least, she should have some very good reasons for NOT being likeable, if that’s the way the author wants to play it.

What we absolutely don’t want is a heroine we dislike intensely.

Tales of the Royal Oak

Nicola here. I’m away from my desk on a research trip at the moment so I’ve pulled up and re-written an old Wench classic post from more than ten years ago which I really enjoyed writing at the time and which feels appropriate all over again at the moment as we approach Royal Oak Day on May 29^th.

Here in the Northern hemisphere the flowers and the trees are starting to look very lush as spring is slipping into summer. In the past couple of years I think I’ve been more aware than previously of the environment around me because of the restrictions on movement we’ve all been through as a result of the pandemic. I’ve always loved nature and the countryside but I’ve definitely looked at it more closely and taken more solace from it in the past months than ever before and one thing I do love is trees. I love their strength and their beauty and the way they can look so dead during the winter (unless they are evergreen!) and then leap into life all over again. I’ve also loved discovering trees we don’t have in England whenever I’ve travelled to other parts of the world. The Quiver Tree in Namibia was a particular favourite. A look at the list of “national trees” shows a huge and wonderful variety across the world.

2021 Anniversary Part 2

Anniversary Garden Party & Giveaway, Part 2

Collected by Mary Jo

Welcome to the second part of the Word Wench anniversary garden party, and this time, we're giving out books!  The Wenches will give books to seven winners chosen at random from among the commenters by Tuesday night. So tell us your thoughts!  (Commenters from both days of the anniversary posts are eligible.)

As on Friday, each Wench will summon one of our fictional couples from Pat Rice's magical library. Because libraries are all magical, here we can meet people from all places and times.  The invitation will invite our people to a party in Anne Gracie's Bellaire Gardens, which is a wonderful garden square that is completely surrounded by grand residences.  The garden is essentially the back yard of the houses, so residents can stroll and meet and mingle.

Come meet the other guests!

 

2021 Anniversary Blog, Part 1

You're invited to the Word Wenches' Anniversary Garden Party! (Part 1)

Collected by Mary Jo

The Word Wenches blog is 15 years old!  This is ancient beyond words in internet terms, yet we're still here because we love talking about our books and our travels and delicious odd bits of history. Most of all, we like the chance to interact with our readers. 

Our characters have so much to say that this blog will be divided in two with Part 2 posted on Monday the 24th.

The invitations are going out now.  Will you join us?

 

Beekeeping Trivia

Pat here with your daily dose of fascinating but useless history trivia—on beekeeping. As a gardener, I’m painfully aware of modern problems in keeping bees alive. At the moment, we’re nurturing an avocado tree with weird fruiting habits that require lots of bees at just the right time, and we’re not having much success. Historically, farmers didn’t grow plants requiring that much fuss, but they did need bees to improve their crops, even if they didn’t know it. Mostly, though, our ancestors saw bees as a means to fill their coffers.

The Unread

A classic, Mark Twain once said, “is a book that people praise and don’t read.” It’s as true today as it was then—we’ve all encountered books that we wanted to read, or thought we should, and never got around to reading, or even said we did.

Susan here. Years ago, one of my sons in high school was supposed to read The Scarlet Letter over the summer, and never got around to it. Then he heard there would be a test on it the first day of school. He stayed up late the night before and skimmed that book furiously, went to class, took the test—and somehow aced it. Not the way to crash an assignment, but he managed to wiggle through, and still isn’t sure what the book was about. Sometimes we have to wiggle through, whether it's a book club or dinner discussion of a book everyone seems to rave about. It might be a book that we wanted to read, but just couldn’t get through it, a must-read that turned out to be a no-thanks. Some books we begin and wander away from, some we really wish we had read and never found time. And some are collecting dust on our bookshelves and we will get to it someday, maybe. It can be hard to admit that there are books we never actually read…

Ask A Wench—My First Romance Book

Andrea here. In this month's Ask A Wench, we're all dishing on the first romance book we ever read. The answers and musings are so much fun, I won't waste time on a flowery intro—let's just jump right into the stories! (But be sure share what YOUR first romance book was in the comments!)

Anne: The first romance (in the sense of a love story) I read was These Old Shades, by Georgette Heyer which I borrowed from my local library when I was eleven. I didn't really think of it as a romance at the time, just a really good book with a lovely happy ending. I loved the various characters and the brilliant humor and the story, which contained so many things I later discovered were popular tropes in romance. The story contained elements of the "chick-in-pants", "Cinderella," "The Lost Heir," "The Secret Identity," the "Innocent and the Jaded Rake" and more, which all made for an enticing and engrossing read. I went on to read (and reread) all her other books.

The impact it had on me is pretty obvious. Georgette Heyer is the reason I write Regency-era historical romance. I don't try to imitate her — that would be impossible — but because of her, and because I discovered her books so young, I almost feel as if I grew up in that particular Regency World and it feels a bit like home to me. It wasn't until years later, when I was setting out to become a writer,  that I learned that there was a whole genre devoted to historical romance, and when I discovered that publishers were publishing Regency-era romance, I knew then it was what I wanted to write. And so I did.

Duchesses!

Nicola here. I was very interested in Wench Andrea’s blog a week or so ago about Dukes, and the reality of dukes and dukedoms as opposed to what we see on film and read about in books. This prompted me to think about duchesses, particularly as a new podcast called “Duchess” started recently. It’s a show that explores the inspiring women who are running the stately home of Britain. In it, Emma Manners, the Duchess of Rutland, travels the country and talks to a variety of women about their lives caring for historic houses. It’s quite an eye-opening listen (if that isn’t an odd metaphor!) Despite the very modern approach of some of the chatelaines, there were times when I felt I could have been listening to someone talking in the 19^th century, particularly when the made reference to “taking care of the staff.” It’s all part and parcel of running a modern estate.

One of the messages that came over clearly from all the participants of the show was that life changes forever when you marry and take on the care of one of Britain’s most historic buildings. Of course you get to live in the most amazing setting and enjoy all the treasures of a grand pile, but you are sharing your home with visitors and need some privacy some of the time.

Meet Sue Moorcroft

Christina here and today it is my very great pleasure to have my friend and fellow UK author Sue Moorcroft as my guest – welcome to the Word Wenches, Sue!

Thank you, Christina. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Sue writes contemporary romance and her latest book, Under the Italian Sun, is out on Thursday this week. I had the great honour of reading an ARC and I can safely say it’s absolutely fabulous and the perfect spring/summer read! Please tell us a little bit about this story.

Thank you so much for your kind comments! I’m delighted you enjoyed Under the Italian Sun.

Zia’s search for her unknown father and the truth behind why she apparently has two mothers carries readers off to a rocky plateau above an Italian vineyard. Zia’s relationship has ended and her best friend Ursula’s on a break so it seems a good moment to leave England behind and try to discover why Zia’s family has apparently been keeping secrets about her past. She finds a woman who shares her name and Piero, who’s fighting to keep his home.

Chesapeake!

Cruising the Chesapeake

by Mary Jo

A vacation!  A real vacation!  The Mayhem Consultant and I are recently returned from a 10 day cruise of the Chesapeake Bay with a Revolutionary War theme. 

The cruise was with American Cruise Lines, a small ship cruise company that operates entirely within the US, including having ships built in Maryland and an all-American crew.  In these uncertain times, all passengers and crew had to be fully vaccinated and other safety protocols were followed.  We all obeyed because a real vacation was so lovely.

 

A "Booktown" Getaway

Anne here. Last weekend I was able to get away out into the country for the first time in over a year. The occasion was a book event — not about my books; this was a crime fiction event in a "booktown".

The place was the small former gold-rush town of Clunes, in central Victoria — two hours from Melbourne, and an hour or so from the city of Ballarat, which was built on the profits of the gold rush that took place here in the 1850's.

Clunes was one of the first places in Victoria where gold was discovered. By 1860 it had a population of more than 6000. It was prosperous enough for substantial community buildings to be built in the 1870's — churches, schools, a hospital, a free library, as well as local government buildings like the Town Hall and Court House. The main streets were even lit by gas. (The photo below is of the primary school.)

But the gold eventually ran out and the population dwindled, falling to a low of just 691 people in 1971. And like most small country towns, it needed to find a new way to survive.

Clunes, being a pretty little town with a well-preserved 19th century heritage, has always had its fair share of tourists, but the community has gone one step further and decided to become a "booktown." And it's obviously working, as these days Clunes has a population of around 1700 people.

What is a "booktown" you ask? It's a town that focuses on books. In the case of Clunes that means lots of shops that sell books — new, second-hand, and antiquarian, plus a focus on encouraging literary events, and a number of "pop-up" book stalls that come for the events.

Sweatpants Chic!

Andrea here. One thing I’ve noticed during the pandemic shutdown is how many more people I see outdoors exercising—from running, biking, golfing, tennis . . . or just walking the dog or enjoying a leisurely stroll. With so many of our normal activities curtailed (thank heavens things are beginning to open up again) getting outside and moving has been a welcome interlude amid all the hours spent indoors at home.

Seeing all the physical activity got me to thinking about athletic clothing. You know—sneakers, sweatpants, t-shirts, synchilla vests, running tights, and all the other accouterments. And it struck how much the gym look has become our new normal. Admit it—when was the last time you put on a pair of pants with a waistband and zipper? (My answer is a little frightening!) I can’t remember the last time I saw a man in business suit . . .