The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons

Harry Fox-Talbot better known as “Fox” is a young composer living in the shadows of his older brothers who have recently returned from fighting overseas in WWII.  They’ve returned to Hartgrove Hall, the family estate that is in vast disrepair, especially after being occupied by British troops during the war.   They clean up the place as best they can to host a New Year’s Eve party.  His older, glamorous brother Jack brings home Edie Rose, “England’s Rose” who has sung many popular patriotic songs during the war.   Fox is instantly smitten, but loving your brother’s girl is not proper.   When the three brothers learn that their father, “the General” wants to tear the house down in order to sell the property, they decide to try their hand at farming and raising enough money to save the place.  Fox finds himself torn.  He loves music and collecting old ballads that have not been written down, but he is not able to find his passion with farming and dreams about returning to school . . . and Edie.

Fifty years later, Fox is trying to live life again after the death of his beloved wife.  He discovers that his young four year old grandson, Robin, is a musical prodigy. He starts to teach him piano himself, but soon brings in his friends to help and give advice on what will be best for Robin’s future.  Through Robin, Fox feels he is living again.  He also feels the pull of music and of writing one last great composition.

I enjoyed how the story flipped back and forth every other chapter through time.  I wasn’t quite sure what had happened in the past to bring Fox to his future and it was wonderful putting all of the pieces together.  I also liked how there was forgiveness in the future as well.

I also thought an interesting subtext was that Edie Rose was Jewish and what dynamic that played at times through the novel.  I want a book just on Edie and her back story!

I loved the musical world that was woven throughout this novel. It was fascinating reading “A Note on Song Collecting” at the close of the novel that tells all about how people have performed this important past time to preserve our musical heritage.  I loved how Fox had his compositions and musical collections and how his Song of Hartford Hall and musical festival held at the hall helped to save his home even though his farming skills could not.  I also enjoyed his friends and how he met them in the past and how important they were to him even as an old man.

Overall, The Song at Hargrove Hall is a wonderful historical fiction read with great characters, a unique setting, and a fascinating premise.  I highly recommend it.  I also thought it was a good fit as I get ready to enjoy the next season of Downton Abbey on what the future could hold for that great estate as well.

Book Source:  Review Copy from Penguin Random House.  Thank-you!  

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

I firmly believe that the goal of the FLICKS Book and Movie Club (aka Rogue) this year is to find books that make me dissolve into a puddle of tears.  I finished The Light Between Oceans in a puddle of tears late one night before bed.  My husband looked at me with confusion, but after years of seeing me in this state after reading a sad book, thought it was better to ask later.

Tom Sherbourne is a decorated WWI hero who has returned to Australia a man shaped by his experiences.  He becomes a lighthouse keeper.  After being assigned to a new position on the isolated island of Janus Rock, Tom meets two important people on his journey there. He rescues one young woman from a brutal attack, and then meets another unique and joyous woman feeding birds. The second woman he would meet again and would eventually become his wife, Isabel.  Together the two live on Janus Rock alone guarding the lighthouse with the only time away coming every three years.  Isabel longs for a baby, but after two miscarriages and a stillbirth, she has stopped being the joyous young bride.  She is a sad woman, until the day she hears a baby cry.  A boat has washed ashore holding only a baby and the body of a dead man.  Tom and Isabel make a series of decisions that will change their lives and the lives of the baby and her family forever.

I LOVED this book.  After finishing it, I’ve looked around online and have noticed that people seem to either love or hate this book.  The characters do make questionable decisions, but I liked that they were flawed, and the decisions that were made after having just lost a baby, made sense to me as a mother.  In fact I was sympathetic the most to the baby who grows up to be a young girl, Lucy, which is my daughter’s age.  I can’t say more without giving away the story, but I sympathized with all parties involved and thought the dynamic was interesting, and very, very sad.

I liked the back story of each of the main characters, in particular Tom.  His flashbacks to the dreadful war, and the sad upbringing he had make you really understand him behind his quiet and meticulous exterior.  I also loved all of the details of being a lighthouse keeper.  I love to visit lighthouses around here in the Great Lakes area and I have always found the stories of the lighthouse keeper and his family to be fascinating.

This book would be an excellent book to discuss at book club.  Sadly, it was the September pick and I was gone at a conference.  I’m a bit behind, but now that I’ve read it, I think I need to have a side decision next week at our next meeting.  It would be interesting to talk about what other mothers thought about the story.

Overall, The Light Between Oceans was an excellent novel with a great setting and fascinating flawed characters.  I highly recommend it, especially as book to discuss in a book club.

Book Source:  The Kewaunee Public Library

A.D. 33 by Ted Dekker

Maviah is the illegitimate daughter of a desert king and now has become a ruler in her own right in the Middle East in A.D. 33.  She works to keep her people safe while also following the new king, with a new message of hope, Yeshua.  Is Yeshua really the son of God and can he save her people?  And can he save himself from a death that is foretold?

I’ll admit, I had a very hard time getting into this novel.  I think the problem is that this novel is book two in a series and I have not read the first book.  I wasn’t sure who the characters all were at the start and the dynamics of what was going on because it seemed to just be picking up where I assume the first book ended.  The parts that I did really like were when Yeshua (Jesus) came into the story.  Using his real dialogue from the Bible was inspired and kept the story interesting.  I actually would have liked the book just to be about Yeshua without Maviah.  The end of the book also had a great section that showed where the quotes from Jesus came from the Bible.

Overall, a great story that shows Jesus as a man preaching and reaching out to the people of the Middle East, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I would have read the first novel, A.D. 30 before I read A.D. 33.

Book Source:  Review Copy from Hachette Book Group – Thanks!

A.D. 33 Preview:  http://bit.ly/1OVuihr

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