Thursday 23 March 2017

Review: A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii


Some time ago, I reviewed “A Year of Ravens: A Novel of Boudica’s Rebellion”, an anthology by several historical fiction authors. “A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii” by Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn and Vicky Alvear Shecter is similar to that: each of the six authors wrote a story, and together these stories form a single narrative.

The authors have each been given/picked characters from whose perspective they tell the story. This actually works very well: each story is long enough to draw you in and make you care about the characters. The setting is the same (obviously), which aids the immersion, and since all authors have previously written stories set in the same era, or close enough, the feel of the period is about as good as it can be. The only drawback is that I got attached to the POV characters in each story and wanted to follow them to the end. Only seeing them appear in – more or less – supporting roles in someone else’s story was, at times, a little disappointing. On the other hand, familiar characters (re)appearing now and again was part of the pleasure of reading this book. It was like seeing old friends!

The story of the final days of Pompeii is told from various perspectives: slaves, senators, soldiers… people from all walks of life. The narrative is centred around an epic disaster, which lends it plenty of tension, yet it is always the human drama and stories of individuals that take the centre stage. What do we do when our life is in danger? What is our duty or our obligation towards others? What matters the most to each of us: our earthly possessions, our own skin or the lives of those we love? How far will we go to save ourselves – or others?

Vicky Alvear Shecter’s “The Son” is a coming-of-age story where a young man learns that being a man has little to do with bedding tavern whores; it is about virtue and duty and integrity.

“The Heiress” by Sophie Perinot is another coming-of-age type story where a wealthy young woman rebels against an arranged marriage to an older, seemingly boring man.

Ben Kane’s “The Soldier” is a gritty story of an ex-legionary, loyalty – and it brings out the gladiators!

In Kate Quinn’s “The Senator” an elderly, embittered senator meets a fiercely independent, chariot-racing woman. She’s a survivor, he’s suicidal – and they’re thrown together into this end-of-days situation. What ensues is some genuine, warm humour, yet this piece isn’t just a comedy but also has a more serious tone, especially towards the end – which makes it all the more poignant, because I grew very fond of this odd pair. While reading each story, I rooted for the main characters of that story to survive, but was even more desperate to see Marcus and Diana make it. The characters seemed just so vivid, and it took me a while to realise that this was probably because they appear in Quinn’s previous novels, which I read quite some time ago! Now I want to go and reread those…

E. Knight’s “The Mother” is a story about family, love and a terrible choice faced by a young mother-to-be.

Stephanie Dray’s “The Whore” is a powerful, heart-breaking story narrated by two sisters, who are very different from one another and thus offer us two contrasting perspectives. I also have to mention “The Whore”, because it’s the last story in the book, and the ending was the one thing that had me worried. I mean, we know what happened in Pompeii. Would I ever really actually want to finish this book? The end can’t possibly be happy. Yes, you can write an unhappy ending. You can even write an unhappy ending that is still a good ending and even a satisfying ending. That takes some skill, though... and Stephanie Dray pulls it off beautifully. There is grief, but there is hope. There is loss, but there is love. It is the end, but it is a new beginning.

I'd recommend “A Day of Fire” to fans of historical fiction and those who are interested in the ancient world. It is also a great opportunity to sample the work of various authors!

Monday 20 March 2017

Currently reading

I am currently reading three different novels. Their settings:

- France, 17th century
- England, 17th century
- Germany, 17th century

I don't know how that happened. So I'll just add a picture of a 17th century painting by Abraham Bosse ("Five senses: Touch"). This one always makes me smile (talk about awkward family photos!).


Thursday 16 March 2017

Review: Chocolate Tree Whisky Nibs


I never win anything! I don’t consider myself particularly lucky, nor do I entirely trust all those Facebook giveaways… yet I guess I must be a positive person after all, for I always think it might be worth a try - and now it really was! I entered a giveaway organised by a Finnish company Laatusuklaa (Quality Chocolate) who import and sell some of the finest chocolates available in Finland.

And I won!!! 😊

I won a bar of Chocolate Tree’s dark chocolate with whisky nibs. Actually, the winner could choose between this and a milk chocolate bar, also from Chocolate Tree, but this sounded like an interesting combination… and I don’t even like whisky! I chose it just because it sounded different and I wanted to be adventurous!

The chocolate arrived about a week ago (right on International Women’s Day, as it happened!), and I must say that the people at Laatusuklaa had done a perfect job in packaging it. The bar was wrapped in several layers of protective materials, and the box was filled with foam peanuts to ensure that the bar would not break! Now that’s what I call fabulous service.

The pretty, colourful wrapping informs me that this chocolate has won an award. Interesting! Inside are two bars wrapped in silver foil. The bars are long and narrow, with one side patterned with leaf and floral motives. I really like the look of them! Here, almost too pretty to eat...




The chocolate is dark with a 69 % cocoa content, and the whisky comes in the form of cocoa nibs that have been soaked in Scottish single malt whisky. In case you’re wondering, the whisky content is 6 %.

The scent is lovely. I detect the darker, earthier notes of cocoa and something sweet, fruity or even floral – can that really be the whisky?

The texture is smooth - apart from the cocoa nibs, which are actually softer than in other chocolates I've nibbled before. And the taste? It’s fascinating - on the first taste, I found the same fruitiness that was present in the scent... but on the second, there was a definite smoky flavour! I must admit that I just can’t identify the whisky - apart from that smokiness, which is very pleasant - but then, I’ve only tasted whisky a couple of times. My DH, who has a little more experience, says it’s clearly there. Sometimes chocolates that include alcohol have a boozy aroma that is simply too strong for my taste, but this is not the case here.

At first, I did not quite know what I thought about this, but the more bites I had, the more I liked it! I imagine this could be a lovely, warming treat on cold winter days...