Category: Reading Challenges

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Review: Mr Churchill’s Secretary (Maggie Hope #1) by Susan Elia MacNeal

by The Lit Bitch21 Comments on Review: Mr Churchill’s Secretary (Maggie Hope #1) by Susan Elia MacNeal

With flaming red hair to match the bombs bursting in air, Margaret Hope sits behind a typist desk in the Prime Minsters office at Number 10…waiting to be useful to someone….anyone.

Air raid sirens sound throughout London in 1940. Bombs drop from the air threatening to destroy the heart and soul of the British people.

In this dark time, Winston Churchill has been named PM and with any luck, he will keep the British spirit alive while war rages on….though he knowns a German invasion is eminent, all he needs is a little bit of hope to give the people.

As luck would have it, Churchill does have Hope in his office–Churchill has just hired Maggie Hope to be his typist.

In Susan Elia MacNeal’s debut novel, Mr Churchill’s Secretary, we meet a new contemporary and captivating heroine! Continue reading “Review: Mr Churchill’s Secretary (Maggie Hope #1) by Susan Elia MacNeal” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott

Beware the Ravenswood!

Sir Walter Scott’s, The Bride of Lammermoor is a must read for fans of the genre….a classic gothic romance! This is your ultimate indulgence gothic romance fans…honest and truly.

This ridiculously over the top tale has it all…witches, women going mad, a family fallen from grace, degenerative castles, ruined fortunes, Byronic heros, star crossed lovers, a dark prophecy, ominous symbology….everything!  It is MacBeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Wuthering Heights all rolled into one.

The novel is introduced as a tale based on a true story, set in Scotland at the time of Queen Anne (early 1700’s). Lord Ravenswood is dead and all that remains of the Ravenswood family is Master Ravenswood (Edgar) and the ruin known as Wolf’s Carg castle.

The Ravenswood family blames their demise on Sir William Ashton who profited at the Ravenswood’s expense….the Ravenswoods have been stripped of their titles after the rebellion and have subsequently lost their estates/fortunes as a result of a legal scheme gone awry. Continue reading “Review: The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

by The Lit Bitch10 Comments on Review: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Abnegation. Amity. Candor. Dauntless. Erudite.

Where faction do you belong to?

On Choosing Day Beatrice (Tris) Prior must decide but first she undergoes an aptitude test to see which faction she will most likely gravitate toward….then she must choose to define her identity for the rest of her life based on that information.

Born into the Abnegation faction, she is supposed to be selfless and think only of others….but she feels like a square peg in Abnegation. Hoping the test will shed some light on her conundrum, the worst happens—her aptitude test is inconclusive.

She is Divergent.

Being Divergent is dangerous….if anyone find out, her life will be in imminent danger. She is a threat to the delicate balance of the five factions. Faced with this new information, Tris must choose her destiny….and she chooses bravery. She is Dauntless. Continue reading “Review: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs #1) by Jacqueline Winspear

by The Lit Bitch9 Comments on Review: Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs #1) by Jacqueline Winspear

War changes everything.

In 1910, the world is a different place. England is still at peace, the aristocracy rules Britain’s social scene, and the life of Maisie Dobbs changes forever. At thirteen, young Maisie goes to work as a maid in the London household of Lady Rowan Compton, a wealthy suffragette and philanthropist.

Though she is poor, Maisie is rich in intelligence. One night, Lady Rowan finds Maisie reading in her library and not just reading but teaching herself Latin and philosophy. Recognizing that Maisie has an aptitude to do something useful with her life, Lady Rowan begins sponsoring private tutoring under her friend Dr. Maurice Blanche.

Before she knows it, Maisie is taking the entrance exams for Cambridge. When she is accepted, Maisie can hardly wait to share her joy with her family and friends (other servants in the house) but she is met with jealousy and criticism. Continue reading “Review: Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs #1) by Jacqueline Winspear” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries #4) by Charles Finch

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries #4) by Charles Finch

Charles Lenox’s is the quintessential armchair detective. Being a highborn well funded gentleman has it’s perks and one of them is being allowed eccentricities. For Lenox, his ‘eccentricity’ is….wait for it….a J-O-B!

Being a detective is something most of Lenox’s friends frown upon, he frequently finds himself on the source of a good many jokes and though he is well liked, his profession isn’t deemed proper by his social circle. This fact is beginning to wear on Lenox though, after all he is an Oxford chappie and well liked in London society and with his older brother holding a seat in Parliament….Lenox longs to be truly respected.

In the last Lenox novel, The Fleet Street Murders, Lenox was elected to Parliament– politics being a long admired profession and a role Lenox hoped to fill for many years.

Though many of his dreams are coming true, so much in his life has changed since the first novel in this charming series! In the latest book by Charles Finch, A Stranger in Mayfair, finds our beloved detective retuning to London after his marriage to his life long friend Lady Jane. Parliament will be in session in a few weeks, he has taken on an equally eccentric apprentice (Lord Dallington), and now a footman of a fellow MP has put Lenox square between two jobs he loves most…..politics and crime solving. Continue reading “Review: A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries #4) by Charles Finch” →