Book Reviews

Writers are readers and many readers are writers—hence the book review. Many of us enjoy writing reviews, both to look closely at a book itself and to help readers decide what to read next. I’ve been invited to write reviews for two book review publications, the online California Review of Books, CALIRB.com, and the print journal, Historical Novels Review, in print and online. Below are the books I reviewed in 2023, both links to my favorites and a list of the others, which can be accessed at https://historicalnovelsociety.org/browse-by-author/ where they are archived.

CALIFORNIA REVIEW OF BOOKS

The Autobiography of  X, Catherine Lacey
Act of Oblivion, Robert Harris
Dust Child, Nguyen Phan Que Mai
PASSING FOR WHITE: Master Slave Husband Wife, Ilyon Woo; The Personal Librarian, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray; ‘Passing’ from Quicksand and Passing, Nella Larsen.

HISTORICAL NOVEL REVIEW

A Novel Disguise, Samantha Larsen
Mrs. Helen Lowe-Porter, Jo Salas
Bonfire Night, Anna Bliss

Others reviews published in HNS

Boy in the Rain, Stephanie Cowell
Death on the Rio Chiquito, Susan McDuffie
Embroidery, Sigrún Pálsdótttir
Red-Hot Blues Chanteuse,  Ana Brazil
The Courtesan’s Secret, Nina Wachsman
The Law’s Delay, Jane Stubbs
The Letter Tree, Rachel Fordham
The Lost Dresses, M.A. McLaughlin
The Marraige: The Mahlers in New York, Joseph Horowitz
The Redemption of Mattie Silks, Kimberly Burns
Where Waters Meet, Zhang Ling