The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki

Title: The Accidental Empress

Author: Allison Pataki
Read by: Madeleine Maby
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: 18 hours and 5 minutes
Source: Review Digital Audio from Simon & Schuster – Thanks!

In 1853, 15-year old Elizabeth “Sisi” Duchess of Bavaria accompanies her sister Helene to meet Helene’s intended, their cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph of the Hapsburg Empire of Austria-Hungry and their Aunt Sophie.   Sisi immediately finds herself attracted to a young stranger only to find out he is her cousin Franz Joseph.  Franz also finds himself attracted to the vivacious Sisi and not the very shy and quiet Helene.  Franz Joseph defies his mother’s wishes and asks Sisi to marry him and she becomes the accidental empress.  With no formal training for this position, Sisi soon finds herself out of her league and controlled by her domineering mother-in-law Sophie.  Will Sisi be able to find herself and her own happiness?

I loved the romance of this novel and how Sisi and Franz Joseph first met and fell in love.  I also loved that although it was like a romantic fairy tale, it was all true to history, and also showed what happens after the fairytale wedding.  Life didn’t go so well for Sisi right after her marriage and I thought it must have been exaggerated at times so I looked it up only to find out it was all too true.  Sisi had the mother in law from hell and her husband did nothing to help Sisi stand up to her.  Sisi grows throughout the novel and learns how to stand up for herself.  I loved seeing this growth, but I’ll admit that the novel dragged at times for me during the early marriage when Sisi was stuck in the rut with her mother-in-law completing domineering her.

I also was intrigued with the history of the Austria Hungarian empire during the 19^th century.  I do not know the intricacies and seem to read mostly English and American history fiction.  I love to read about other countries in the past and wish there was more historical fiction along these lines available.  I thought it was fantastic that Sisi was so beloved of the people and how she worked to get to know and love the Hungarian people who did not feel a true part of the Empire. She was able to work on bringing the Empire truly together over the years by allowing Hungary to be an independent and true member.  This was her crowning achievement.

Madeleine Maby was a good narrator and this was an interesting audiobook.  One of the best parts of the audiobook was an author interview at the end discussing the sources and inspirations for the book and sorting out what was truth and what was fiction.  I loved this and also was pleased to find out that author Allison Pataki would like to write another book to complete Sisi’s story. 

Overall, The Accidental Empress is a unique historical fiction novel with enough intrigue to make one believe you are reading fiction.  It’s a fascinating period of history with truly riveting characters.

NEW Winner of The Wonder of All Things by Jason Mott

The original winner of The Wonder of All Things had already won the book.  The second name drawn has not responded, therefore the NEW WINNER is BARBI from Blissfully Stiching.  Barbi was chosen using random.org and has been notified via email.  She has until this Friday to send me her mailing address, otherwise a new winner will be drawn.

Thank-you again for all who entered, Jason Mott, Mira Books, and TLC Book Tours.  Read my review of this wonderful novel at this link. 

I also have another giveaway currently going with only two entrants so far!  Sisters of Treason by Elizabeth Fremantle is an excellent historical fiction novel set during Tudor times.  Click here to enter, the giveaway ends this Friday, September 11th.

Orphan Number Eight by Kim van Alkemade

After a family tragedy, four-year old Rachel Rabinowitz is placed in the Hebrew Infant Home and separated from her beloved six-year old brother Sam in New York City in 1919.  Once there, Rachel is placed in isolation as she tries to recover from a variety of illnesses.  She also becomes part of a study using x-rays, hence orphan number eight, by young Dr. Mildred Solomon.  This study causes Rachel to lose her hair and also to contract cancer later in life.  In the 1950’s, a grown up Rachel is a nurse working in the hospice wing of the Old Hebrews Home when she discovers that Dr. Mildred Solomon is her patient.  Rachel is torn by her feelings, should she seek vengeance on one who caused such harm to an innocent child?

The novel flips between the two timelines where you learn the story of young Rachel and what life was like growing up in the Hebrew Infant Home and the angst of 1950’s Rachel learning what exactly Dr. Solomon did to her in the experiments and what morally she should do in return to Dr. Solomon.  There is also a love story where young Rachel starts to have burgeoning feelings for another girl and it leads you to wonder if she is with the same woman.  The novel discusses the feelings of isolation being in a homosexual relationship in the 1950’s.

My favorite part of the novel was definitely the past story line with Rachel growing up in the orphanage.  I loved the detail, and was fascinated by life both in the Orphanage and out West when Rachel was older.  What made the novel even better was that the author included her inspirations in the end of the book and a lot of the novel was true and parts were her own family history.  It was fascinating.  I also enjoyed all of the characters.

The weaker part of the novel was the 1950’s story.  I felt like there was great suspense at first, but then the storyline drifted in focus to more Rachel’s love life rather than the interaction between Rachel and Dr. Solomon. I think a novel of living life as a homosexual American during a repressed 1950’s society would be fascinating, but I didn’t think that was the main part of this story.  It seemed like plot drift.

Overall Orphan Number Eight is a very interesting and original historical fiction suspense novel.

Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow – Thanks!

The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck

Title: The Oregon Trail:  A New American Journey
Author: Rinker Buck

Read by: Rinker Buck

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 16.5 hours (14 CDs)
Source: Simon & Schuster Audio Review Copy – Thank-you!

I have been obsessed with the Oregon Trail my entire life.  Besides playing the computer game back in the 80’s and early 90’s in computer class, I loved to read biographies of the early pioneers who blazed the pathway west.  I sadly have not seen the trail yet myself, but this book, The Oregon Trail, is the next best thing. Rinker Buck becomes interested in the real Oregon Trail during a trip and starts to research it.  The trail is two thousand miles long and spans six states; Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon   Raised with a spirit of adventure, Rinker Buck decides to become the first person to travel the entire original Oregon Trail in a hundred years in an authentic Schuttler Wagon pulled by three mules.  His brother Nick, a master team handler, and his dirty dog Olive Oyl also joins the adventure.

With the sign “See America Slowly” on the back of the wagon, the two have to face modern trials such as RVs trying to run them off the road, as well as problems that were also faced by the pioneers, traveling in the desert with no way to get help and having your water disappear in a fateful accident.  Rinker and Nick also face the problem of being two completely different people.  Rinker is fastidious, very organized, and clean, while Nick is dirty, a hands on mechanic, and a born story teller to any audience that will listen.  At first Rinker doesn’t want Nick along on the trip, but he soon realizes that he couldn’t complete the voyage without him and the two come to a better understanding of each other and the ghost of their father.

I also enjoyed how Rinker Buck included a vast amount of fascinating Oregon Trail history in this book and also included Narcissa Whitman’s story as the first white woman to cross the Rockies on the trail.  I loved to read about Narcissa Whitman when I was a child.  Buck included her entire story parsed throughout the book including ending at the settlement that Marcus and Narcissa Whitman founded and their mixed legacy.  I learned a lot of new items in this book such as the fact that it was mostly mules and oxen that pulled the wagons west.  I always thought it was horses and oxen.  There was also a great section on Cholera on the trail that I will be using in my water quality classes I’ll be teaching this fall.

I also enjoyed Rinker Buck’s personal story.  Having a father that took his sons on a wagon trip through New Jersey to Pennsylvania in the 1960’s was fascinating. His father left a mixed legacy with his children, but he instilled in all of his children an adventurous spirit which made this trip possible.

Rinker Buck narrated this audiobook himself and did a fantastic job.  I loved the fact that it was the author telling his own story and he did a great job adding voices to other characters such as his brother.

The only negative I had with this book was that since it is a Memoir, Rinker Buck was at times very opinionated.  While at times, it was funny, such as his descriptions of what he has decided is the typical RV owner, at others times, it was offensive, such as when he describes all religion as made-up.  Luckily these diatribes only happened a couple of times.

Part Memoir, part adventure story, and part history, The Oregon Trail is a book to be experienced.  I highly recommend it.  I’m ready to go on The Oregon Trail myself!