What I Read in October 2015 Part II

What I Read in October 2015 Part II ...

The Blue Sapphire by D.E. Stevenson-- Historical Fiction/Historical Romance

Julia Harburn lives with her emotionally distant father and young stepmother in London. She's engaged to the very suitable and proper Morland Beverley and the couple are waiting for him to get a partnership in his father's firm before marrying. When Morland is late meeting Julia in Kensington Gardens one day, she sits down on a bench to wait. A young man by the name of Stephen Brett walks by and into love. He sits down to chat up Julia for the very true reason that he knows no one in London. Recently returned from Africa, Stephen is a mining engineer from Devonshire. Stephen can't get Julia out of his head and sets out to woo her away from Morland. He was given a blue sapphire in Africa that matches Julia's eyes exactly. He feels it's fated they should be together. It's not an easy task as Julia proves elusive and stubborn. First she decides to strike out on her own while her father and stepmother are on vacation. She finds a room at a lovely boarding house for actors and finds a friend in the owner, May Martineau. Then Julia gets a job and a mysterious letter which will change her destiny.

This is a nice, pleasant sort of book. Except for a few modern references to televisions, cars and hospitals/operations, this story could have taken place at any time between the late 19th century and now. It's a little old-fashioned for the 1960s when women were beginning to have more options. D.E. Stevenson has a theme: young women finding their voices. This book is no exception. It also had a theme of forgiveness and Christian love. The first half was a little slow but the second half moved much faster and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what happened to Uncle Roland and which one of the three potential suitors Julia would choose, if any of them.

I really liked Julia. At first she seems too proper and Victorian but she emerges into a strong-minded young woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. She's such a sweet, kind, lovable person and doesn't ever act rude or spoiled and bratty about what she wants. She sees only the good in people and wants only the best for herself and who she loves.

Morland is a pompous, prosy, stupid bore. He's one of those suitors straight out of a Georgette Heyer novel. He doesn't care about Julia and what she wants. He's very selfish and stupid. He means well but he's just a really unlikable person by modern standards. He's not a strong alpha male romantic hero, he's just old-fashioned and obtuse. Stephen is much more fun, but he's kind of the anti-Morland. Stephen is also selfish in a way but he is really a nice guy. He has good business sense, is a kind and caring person and he's close to his mother. I just loved his relationship with his mother. It's so sweet! The story of how he got the sapphire is amazing and shows his wonderful character.

The story is rounded out with some colorful, memorable secondary characters. There's May Martineau, a widow and former actress who runs Julia's boardinghouse. She's very nosy but you can't help but love her despite her flaw. Then there's Madame Claire, a Frenchwoman who runs the shop where Julia works. She's a little effusive in her native language but like her friend May, a real dear. These two women become Julia's first friends in her new life. Then in Scotland there's Uncle Roland, Julia's estranged uncle. He seems like a lively character who has many wonderful stories to tell. He's so kind, it's hard not to love him. Then there's Maggie Walker, the devoted housekeeper/nurse to Uncle Roland. I liked trying to decipher her speech and how she kept forgetting anything that didn't concern Roland. Neil, a promising young doctor, who may be a love interest for Julia or perhaps a good friend. I'll let you read the book to find out.



Love by the Morning Star by Laura L. Sullivan-- Young Adult Historical Fiction/Young Adult Historical Romance

Anna Morgan's father has risen from being a lowly grocer to the mouthpiece of the National Fascist Front working for the preservation of "true British way of life." Anna is thrilled that her father's rise in social status allows her the opportunity to better herself. She's determined to be a heroine and marry a titled gentleman. When a German higher up in the NAFF asks Anna to be a part of a secret mission, she's willing to help. At least until she discovers that her role is to play kitchen maid to an noble British family. As if! Sadly for Anna, she isn't allowed to say no and is bundled off to Starkers Castle outside of London. Hannah Morgenstern has grown up in her father's cabaret singing opera and cabaret songs alongside a host of bohemian entertainers who care nothing for politics. Hannah's parents have friends in high places and Hitler's rise to power hasn't meant anything to them - until now. A frequent patron warns the Morgensterns it's time to get out. Jews are unwelcome in Berlin and the situation is about to go from bad to worse. Aaron makes plans for his cabaret and Cora, Hannah's mother, makes plans to send Hannah to her distant English relatives at Starkers Castle. Lady Liripip is said to be kind enough but his third wife is reported to be a harridan. Hannah believes she can endure the unkindness until her parents arrive and everything goes back to normal. When she arrives at the castle, penniless and ragged, she's mistaken for the new kitchen maid and Anna is whisked away upstairs as a member of the family. Neither girl realizes her destiny has been changed by fate and Hannah bravely puts up with the indignity. Anna is determined to play her role and marry Teddy, Lord Winkfield, Lord Liripip's heir, but it's a hunky gardener who haunts her dreams. Meanwhile, Hannah falls in love under the morning star. Their fates are about to intertwine and two teenage girls will become a part of history.

The plot got off to a slow start. If you don't know anything about the politics of the time or the cabaret scene of the Wiemar Republic, I recommend doing a little background research before reading this book. The cabaret is populated by eccentric bohemians I couldn't keep straight and most never reappear in the story. I hated the deception that was forced on the girls by fate and was tempted to skip ahead to see how it was discovered and when. All was discovered way too late for my tastes. I hate love stories based on deception and this one was so incredibly improbable, not to mention predictable. I was more interested in Hannah than Anna but felt that both the love stories were told rather than shown. Anna's doesn't make a lot of sense and Hannah's loses out by being told. I don't really get what she sees in her love interest. He isn't very bright or worthy of her at all. Anna's love interest is not very appealing either. I did root for Hannah to get her wish because she deserved it. I was most interested in finding out what happened to Hannah's parents. There's enough information given but too late in the story so we can read between the lines but it's all handled with a light touch. Though there are references to Kirstallnacht and Buchenwald, it's all kept in the background while the story takes place at Starkers Castle in an insulated world not unlike a Wodehouse novel.

Anna is introduced first and she comes across as stupid, silly and vain. She is the only one in the book who experiences any character growth. All her life she's done what she's been told and parrots the beliefs of her father and his cronies. She isn't smart enough to learn to think on her own and form her own opinions until she learns about hate first hand. I felt her growth was OK. I was glad she changed but she is not the heroine of the story and her character growth is secondary to Hannah's story. Hannah is not as innocent as Anna but naive enough and foreign enough not to understand British culture. All she knows about life in Britain is from P.G. Wodehouse novels and Gilbert and Sullivan operas. She doesn't really grow and change in this story but she does become stronger in her beliefs. How her story ends is completely silly and unrealistic.

If you're not familiar with cabaret life, which I was not, some of the goings-on may make some readers uncomfortable. Characters are fluid in their gender and sexuality; there's frank mentions of sex/sexuality and gender bending. None of that bothered me but some readers may be uncomfortable with it. Adultery, premarital sex and crude language also appear in this story. There's also hints of two love scenes which I found incredibly stupid and unrealistic.

If you love a good Cinderella story set in a more modern and familiar world, this is for you. It wasn't precisely my cup of tea.

What I Read in September 2015 Part V

What I Read in September 2015 Part V ...

Celia's House by D.E. Stevenson-- Historical Fiction/Historical Romance/Austenesque 


Celia Dunne has lived 90 years at Dunnian. She was born the day after Waterloo and has lived into the new century. Now she's elderly and dying and knows she has to leave her beloved Dunnian. There have always been Dunnes at Dunnian, even before their house was built. Her nephew, Maurice, and his wife Nina are dying to get their hands on Dunnian to make "improvements," but Celia has other plans. She summons her great-nephew Humphrey, on leave from the Navy and determines he loves Dunnian as much as she does. It will be a good place for his children to grow up, she thinks and she will leave the house to his daughter Celia. The catch - Celia isn't born yet and the house has to stay in the Dunne family. Should Celia marry, her husband must take her name. Humphrey's wife Alice and their three children: Mark, Edith and Joyce, settle into life at Dunnian. Once Mark becomes acquainted with the woods, the streams and the old Peale, he becomes enchanted with Dunnian. When his distant cousin Deb comes to live with them, she shares his quiet enthusiasm for their beloved old home. Years come and go, two more children are born at Dunnian and Mark learns the truth about the inheritance. He promises to work hard and make a living for himself if he can be near Dunnian. One by one the siblings begin to leave the nest and old neighbors are now grown. This includes the beautiful, lively Tessa and her charming brother Oliver, who come to visit their grandmother in the summer. Summer casts it's spell and soon the plot turns into Mansfield Park. If you haven't read the original - go do that now before you read this book.

The story has too much exposition at the beginning and very little plot. About halfway through the story turns into Mansfield Park - light. It's close enough to be a pale imitator rather than an homage. The plot pretty much follows Mansfield Park from the scheme of getting up the play to the end - leaving out all the extraneous bits that don't fit the 1920s plotline and leaving out nasty Mrs. Norris. There's a lot at the end - a few chapters of epilogue. The writing is decent but there's a lot of telling. The very best writing is reserved for the last chapter. I was very interested in that final chapter and it ends so abruptly! I can imagine what happens though. This book isn't what I would call a romance. It's more about the house than the people and the romance is only a third of the story. It follows Mansfield Park pretty closely but there are some changes which I really liked. This story lacks the satire and humor of Miss Buncle's Book but it's not that kind of story. The first half and the end reminded me a lot of a Lucy Maud Montgomery story. It's a story of place more than people.

The characters aren't all that memorable. I wasn't crazy about Humphrey and his feelings that Dunnian should be entailed on Mark. He was away a lot and I kept having to remind myself that the story begins in 1905 and he is a man of his time. I'm not sure what was up with Alice but she's better than Lady Bertram. She's kind and loving but a little vague and physically weak at times. She wants Deb to stay with her because she truly loves Deb and requires Deb's help, unlike Lady Bertram and Mrs. Norris who treat Fanny as an unpaid servant. Deb is very much a member of the family. Mark frequently refers to her as "my favorite sister." She's sweet and kind but not as insipid as Fanny. She has good heart, she nurses her secret love for years but she also has a lively, loving grandmother who gives her good advice. I liked the way Deb handled her situation very much. I liked Mark a lot too, for the most part. He's smart, works hard, loves his family and the old home. I can relate. He, like most men, like Edmund Bertram, is dazzled by a pretty face and sparkling personality. I liked Tessa too, at first, until she grew into a spoiled minx who would stop at nothing to achieve her ends. Then I loathed her. Her brother Oliver is too slick for my tastes. He's not as bad as Henry Crawford but he is indulged and used to getting his own way.

The minor characters include the other children. Edith and Joyce are Maria and Julia Bertram without the influence of Mrs. Norris. Edith is a spoiled beauty and I didn't care for her much. I didn't feel bad for her at all. Joyce is hardly in the book but her character transformation is told rather than shown and I was happy to read it. The younger children are charming. I like their adventures very much and thought they should have been in the story more. I also really liked the servants who are as devoted to Dunnian as the family. They're more like family than hired help. I wished they appeared more often.

Listening Valley by D.E. Stevenson-- Historical Fiction/Historical Romance

Lou and Antonia Melville live in an ordinary house in the city. They spend their days in the nursery with Nannie except for a daily walk. During those walks the girls spy a walled garden they long to see inside. One day while Nannie is out, the two sisters take off on an adventure that will change their lives. Lou, always bold and daring, marches right up to the mysterious house and rings the bell. A kind lady answers and brings them in for tea. They have the most marvelous time eating eclairs and listening to the lady's son Jack teasing. All too soon it's time to return home and the adventure ends - or so they think. Years later, the girls are grown and Lou dares to make her boldest move yet. Poor Tonia is left alone without her sister, without Nannie or anyone to love her or help her. Her hands are clumsy; she can never do anything right; her parents bicker and Tonia is miserable. All she has is her listening place where she can go in her head and dream and listen to the music there. Enter Mr. Robert Norman who is willing to take Tonia under his wing to teach her about life and give her a sense of self-worth, if only she'll let him. Set against the backdrop of the years between the wars and World War II, this novel is a companion to Celia's House. Part I only mentions the Dunnes in passing, but part 2 takes place in the Scottish countryside near Dunnian and serves as a prequel and sequel to Celia's House.

This book is a light, easy read. It reminded me a lot of Lucy Maud Montgomery's later stories and novels, especially The Blue Castle. The writing is more sophisticated than today's "chick lit" but very accessible. The plot is a little slow at first. There's a lot of exposition and a lot of telling what happened. Then in Part II the action picks up a bit and becomes more interesting. I especially liked/but didn't like the bits about flying. They were boring but yet interesting because my grandfather was in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the war stationed in England and flying liberators over Europe. I can't see him participating in the easy camaraderie the characters in this novel do. My library copy is missing the final page. The ending seems very abrupt and unsatisfactory. Thanks to some Good Reads friends for sharing the beautiful ending. This author has a way with words and her descriptions are really lovely. I fell in love with the country more than I did in Celia's House. I loved the connection to the Dunnes and learning more about both Celia's, my favorite characters who didn't get enough page time in Celia's House. The romances rely a little too much on coincidence to be realistic but I enjoyed them anyway. I found a certain mystery element to be entirely obvious and can't believe the characters wouldn't have figured it out.

The characters in this book are great. I liked and identified with both Lou and Tonia. Like Lou, I'm the big sister and I tend to take charge. I am also like Tonia - shy and going away to a place in my head where I can dream of more pleasant things. This is Tonia's story - her coming of age and coming into her own. I loved her character development. Her sweetness and sympathetic nature appealed to me and annoyed me at times. I wish she wasn't such a push over sometimes. Lou probably wouldn't have let people walk all over her and would have figured out what was what quickly.

Daisy is lovely. She's so warm-hearted and the type of person anyone except the stuffy Victorian-minded Melvilles would want t be friends with. Her son Jack likes to tease and I don't really care for that. He's not in the story long enough to be developed well. I especially liked the Smilies. As their name implies, they're very happy, caring people who open their hearts to Tonia and serve as the parents she didn't have. The young officers are pretty much all alike. I can't remember which was which except for Bay. Bay's character development is interesting. If I say more, I risk spoiling the plot.

I highly recommend this novel to those who enjoy quiet, kind sorts of novels. It's the perfect bedtime read or should be read with a cup of tea on a rainy day.

Historical Food Fornightly: Challenge 6

Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #6

"The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread"

The Challenge: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

I really struggled with this challenge. I was hampered by limited ingredients in the house and being a super picky eater. I tried two different recipes.

The Recipe: Banana Bread
According to foodtimeline.org The "Banana bread" recipe is dated 1849 and describes a West Indian dish. "Banana cakes" appeared in the early 20th century but used sliced banana as either decoration or filling. Cookbooks also referenced Hawaiian banana bread recipes using banana flour. In 1920s the mass marketing of baking powder/soda used in making "quick breads" (breads that did not require yeast) and good companies promoting recipes using their flour and baking soda products flooded the market. It was not until the 1930s that the modern banana bread recipes, using mashed bananas, first appeared on the scene. They were classified as quick breads, tea cakes, or desserts. By the 1960s banana bread was actively promoted to the American public as health food.
 
Banana tea bread
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 bananas)
Sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Beat shortening until creamy in mixing bowl. Add sugar gradually and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour mixture alternately with bananas, a small about at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Turn into a well-greased bread pan (8 1/2 X 4 1/2 X 3 inches) and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) About 1 hour 10 minutes or until bread is done. Makes 1 loaf.
Bananas...how to serve them, Home Economics Dept. Fruits Dispatch Company United Fruit Company, Distributors of United Fruit Company Bananas, Pier 3, North River, New York [1942] (Recipe 11, p. 14)

 


The Recipe: Oatmeal Drop Cakes
During World War I, United States Food Administration, led by future president Herbert Hoover, argued that food was needed to win the war. Food was needed for the U.S. military, and for our Allies in Europe.As America jumped into action to feed our Allies, the government urged Americans to voluntarily stretch the food supply by cutting waste, substituting plentiful for scarce ingredients, eating healthy and participating in the food-conservation program. Americans were told to save meat, save wheat, save fats and save sugar. Old recipes from colonial and pioneer times that used molasses, maple syrup and brown sugar instead of white sugar became popular again. Also popular was the use of Corn Syrup as an alternate sweetener.

Oatmeal Drop Cakes
3/4 cup brown sugar or honey or 1 c. sirup
3 T. shortening
1 egg
2 tsp. baking powder
2 c. rolled oats

1 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 c. raisins or nuts

*milk about 3/4 cup enough to make a soft dough (Omit this if sirup or honey is used).

Cream together the shortening and sugar (or sirup) and add it to the beaten egg. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix this with the rolled oats and the seeded raisins or nuts cut fine. Add these dry ingredients to the egg mixture, with just enough milk, if necessary, to form a rather soft dough. Drop by teaspoons onto greased tin or baking sheet and bake about 15 minutes in a moderately hot oven.

Wessling, Hannah J., Use of Wheat Flour Substitutes in Baking, Farmer's Bulletin 955, Washington: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1918), 20.

 

The Date/Year and Region: Banana Bread 1942 New York; Oatmeal Drop Cakes 1918 United States (Also seen in WWII recipe pamphlets).

 

How Did You Make It: 

I followed the directions but my banana cake batter was a little dry so at the last minute I added a couple of heaping tablespoons of applesauce. The recipe called for milk, but milk was often difficult to get/keep during WWI due to lack of refrigeration. In keeping with the spirit of wartime cooking, I used applesauce. I didn't have one big loaf pan so I used two small foil pans. There was just enough batter for two cakes.

For the cookies, I used dark corn syrup. I crushed up peanuts with a rolling pin tossed them in the batter. I substituted Craisins for raisins. Not exactly historically accurate but I do not like raisins and I thought that sweetened cranberries might add more flavor to the cookies. I didn't use as many as the recipe called for. I made huge cookies because I didn't want 60 potentially unappetizing cookies on hand. I cooked them about 10-20 minutes at 350 degrees. At 15 minutes the big cookies weren't quite done so I cooked them again and some got overcooked. At 10 minutes smaller cookies were over done. 

 

Time to Complete: The banana bread was very quick- only about a half hour. The cookies took about an hour start to finish.
 

Total Cost:

I had all the ingredients on hand at the time.

How Successful Was It?: 

The banana bread tastes OK but I'm not a huge fan. Being a WWII era recipe, when sugar was rationed, it's not very sweet. The cookies are not very tasty. The batter smelled like Cracker Jacks, which was promising, but the corn syrup does not equal sugar! Even the Craisins didn't help and the peanuts and Craisins together were an odd combination.

How Accurate Is It?: Aside from adding apple sauce to the bread and Craisins to the cookies, they're very accurate. 95%?