Girl in A Smart Uniform by Gill James; The Pumpkin King and Other Tales of Horror by R. David Fulcher; We Aren't Who We Are How to Become by Dustin Ogle; Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: 1000 Days of Delicious Recipes with Images, Tips, and Techniques for Perfecting Your BBQ Game by Dr Esther

 Girl in A Smart Uniform by Gill James; The Pumpkin King and Other Tales of Horror by R. David Fulcher; We Aren't Who We Are How to Become by Dustin Ogle; Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: 1000 Days of Delicious Recipes with Images, Tips, and Techniques for Perfecting Your BBQ Game by Dr Esther

Girl in a Smart Uniform by Gill James

A longer version of this review is on LitPick

It's important to know why and how a person would become part of a truly evil and cruel group and contribute to actions that further that group’s agenda. Everyone is susceptible to groupthink and propaganda. Girl in a Smart Uniform shows how easily a person with good intentions and ideals could fall into that situation and become an active participant

In 1930’s Germany, Gisela joins the Bund Deutsche Madel, or the BDM (The League of German Girls). At first she enjoys being a member but after a while she begins to question their tactics and policies. When people around her and eventually she herself become potential targets, she sees Hitler and the Nazi Party for the evil that they really are.

Gisela is far from likable at first but her journey from ignorance, to participant, to empathy, to self awareness is an interesting one.

She feels structure, belonging, and a sense of purpose after she joins the BDM. She has close friends whom she accompanies to meetings and outings. If she starts to feel remorseful about the way Jews and other people are treated under Hitler's reign, she silences that conscience with a jingoistic reminder.

Gisela becomes harder to like when she sinks into the Nazi mindset and even her narration becomes militant, arrogant, and Antisemitic. At times she is so willfully ignorant and delusional that Readers might want to reach through the pages and slap her to make her see reality. 

There are three particular moments that transform Gisela’s role from participant in evil to a fighter against it. 

The first is the birth of her half-brother, Jens, who is born developmentally disabled. The second is the realization that those closest to her like her oldest brother and a schoolmate are helping Jewish people. 

 

The final moment is more personal for Gisela. It's her growing awareness of her love for other women, particularly a fellow BDM member, Trudi. Gisela’s love for Trudi is what finally pulls her from embracing Authoritarianism and Fascism to embracing Democracy and Freedom. She finally is able to take action, help others, and free herself.

Girl in a Smart Uniform is a stirring tale of how someone can stumble into hate groups and their propaganda. But it is also a compelling heroic journey about someone who finds the inner strength and character to get out

The Pumpkin King and Other Tales of Horror by R. David Fulcher 

R. David Fulcher’s anthology, The Pumpkin King and Other Tales of Terror is an experiment on minimalist horror.

Each story is extremely short. The longest are less than ten pages and most are only two or three. In those brief times, Fulcher only has time to scare us and he does it well.

Fulcher contrasts with other short story horror authors such as Miles Watson or Michael Reyes. They create detailed settings and manage to squeeze in some exposition and world building in the brief time that they have been given. The results often are that the horror is often part of a larger picture that contributes to the fear factor that we are given. It's a grim ominous energy that awaits for some truly supernatural cosmic event to erupt.

Fulcher ignores the large picture and focuses on the immediate situation. He just sets up a scene, gives us a lead character, and puts them into a terrifying experience with a twist that makes it scarier. The stories don't have time to give details when they concentrate more on the shocks and scares that engulf the final pages.

This anthology offers some great stories designed to keep Reader’s adrenaline racing and their sleep patterns very short. The best are:

“The Pumpkin King”-The title story gives a fine atmospheric macabre Halloween setting that builds on the old pagan origins of the famous holiday. The Narrator opts out of decorating his house on Halloween night. 

He particularly refuses to leave a Jack O’Lantern outside his house and comes afoul of a visitor who makes their disappointment known in a gruesome way that illustrates the original need for placing pumpkins outside the door on that night.

“A Matter of Taste”-This is one of many “Face to Face With Death” stories that this anthology produces and is also a chilling “Deal with the Devil.”

Mary McKeldin wants her comatose son to heal so she agrees to Satan’s terms. The terms themselves are graphic as are the notions of sin and atonement that surround the act. The final pages call Mary to task for her actions, and her intent on whether it was to genuinely save her son or inflict revenge on another person. She ends up paying a final bloody price and an eternity of regret for the act.

“My Days with Mahalia”-War can produce its fair amount of monstrosities and this story is a definite example. The Narrator is one of a group of pilots who loves, really loves their plane, a sleek black flying fort. The men personify their flying mistress as she takes them on air raids and protects them with an almost human-like defense. They name her Mahalia after the Hindu goddess of time. 

Humanizing a vehicle, particularly one used for war, proves to have a downside especially when Mahalia’s men begin dying at an alarming rate. The Narrator realizes that this plane has more than a mind of her own and has a potentially fatal hold on the pilots who ride inside of her.

“Merry Are We of the Lake”-Ah Christmas, the perfect time for revisiting the old hometown, reuniting with friends, having drinks and engaging in ritualistic murder. You know the usual things that people do on the holidays.

The festive setting offers a great ironic punch to the awful deeds that are happening at the forefront as a group of old high school friends engage in a ghoulish ritual. The apparition that they appeal to is the perfect blend of otherworldly attractiveness and eerie omniscience that is both captivating and terrifying at the same time. This story is like a modern day version of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” where tradition and religious devotion stand in the way of morality, legality, empathy, and common sense.

“Extra! Extra!”-Thanks in large part to a certain Disney animated series from the 90’s, gargoyles are often now placed alongside other noted creatures of the night like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and the like. This story gives those grotesque stone waterspouts some attention. Slade, a tabloid reporter, agrees to interview a witness to recent gargoyle attacks and gets more than an up close and personal exclusive. 

There is a savage undercurrent as the world of tabloid journalism is darkly mocked as are the strange outlandish tales that are spread through such outlets and social media. This modern humor contrasts with a centuries old spirit that has seen much, fought against and survived more, and knows exactly how to capture and kill its unwilling prey.

“The Watcher's Web”-This story combines a Crime Thriller with a Supernatural Horror by giving us what seems to be a perfect crime only to meet some definitely unexpected interference.

Rizzo, a professional thief, aspires to rob a museum exhibit only to encounter a very determined night watchman who has a few surprises of his own.

Rizzo is written as the consummate thief who has everything planned and observed. He is calculating and able to find ways around the obstacles that he would usually encounter like security systems and the police. However, his conflict with the night watchman opens himself up to something that he is completely unprepared for, something ancient and unknown, and leaves him vulnerable and defenseless.

“Dreaming, The Copper City”-Fulcher takes a brief detour into Science Fiction and plays around within another familiar fictional landscape. Carter, one of many residents on the Moon, sees a mysterious object land on the lunar surface. He approaches and hears a mysterious voice calling, “Yog-Sothoth.”

Fans of the Cthulhu Mythos will recognize that name as one of the Outer Gods and the progenitor of such deities as Hastur the Unspeakable and Cthulhu himself. Carter becomes drawn to the voice and an accompanying vision of a copper city. He becomes obsessed with the vision to the point of forgetting about life. 

This story presents the cosmic horror that is present in these horror tales. It's not enough that Earth is full of supernatural and human scares but the entire universe can present the unknowable fear. The type of fear also brings obsession, addiction, and insanity. Carter's obsessive pursuit of the copper city and the voice calling Yog-Sothoth reminds us that some things are better left unknown and unexplored if the cost is one's mind and life.

“The Faerie Lights”-We had a detour into Science Fiction, why not one into Dark Fantasy that involves those ruthless terrifying creatures: faeries?

Many think that faeries are harmless cute and sometimes mischievous creatures but anyone who has studied folk tales beyond cutesy animated films and TV shows knows that faeries are actually powerful malevolent spirits that you do not want to mess with.

In this story, the Narrator tells his tale of a late night encounter with the Fair Folk. The beginning plays on the more poetic beautiful images that fairies convey as they seduce and entice the Narrator. However, their true being and intentions lie underneath the surface reminding us that you can dress up and defang a powerful magical being all you want. But a great power lies underneath, one that is incomprehensible and demands to be feared and respected.

We Aren't Who We Are How to Become by Dustin Ogle 

Dustin Ogle’s Self-Help book is an interesting guide on how Readers can use their skills, increase their knowledge and learning, and activate those abilities to their fullest.

Ogle describes these abilities as “super powers.” They seem natural and normal to the person who has them but makes them stand out and be recognized and honored by others. The metaphor of comparing these abilities to super powers or magic gives Readers the understanding that they can use those abilities to help and assist others.

One of the ways that Readers can use those abilities to their fullest advantage is by changing thought patterns to become more empathetic and understanding. Sometimes we are too fixated on our own perspectives and points of view that we don't think of others whose experiences may be entirely different from our own. We fall into echo chambers and listen only to those in our specific groups.

Ogle suggests that a way to combat that echo chamber is to gain fresh perspectives through learning. If you come across something that you don't understand, make an effort to learn about it. Obtain new information and experiences to add onto what you already know. Even acknowledging that one can never really know everything and are willing to add to one's store of knowledge gives them a chance to increase their own gifts and use them to benefit others. Knowledge about a situation also increases empathy and allows people to connect on an emotional level. Those talents can be used to benefit not just the person who has them or the specific person that they are trying to help, but in some small part these powers can contribute to the community and society that surrounds them.

We Aren't Who We Are is not just a passive book offering suggestions and personal anecdotes. It also encourages active participation. There are many writing exercises and opportunities for journaling thoughts and experiences relevant to the topics in discussion.

Among the most important topics that encourage interaction is that of mindfulness. This book is filled with suggestions on meditation and visualization exercises to help clear the head and live in the present. These activities allow the brain to make a clear path between those talents and how to use them.

One of the most important activities is creating a vision. Once those special gifts are recognized and acknowledged, it is important to plan on how to use them. With their special powers, a person can be a leader, a performer, an educator, anything. Imagine what the ultimate goal that those gifts could deliver for oneself and others and the benefits that such a success could bring. Once that vision is made, then the Reader can take the concrete steps to develop, use, and promote those talents.

We all have the potential to be the heroes of our own stories. Ogle’s book gives us the tools to become that hero.

Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: 1000 Days of Delicious Recipes with Images, Tips, and Techniques for Perfecting Your BBQ Game by Dr Esther

Barbecuing and outdoor cooking is a frequent pastime during the spring and summer seasons. The Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook offers some great recipes to try on your grill or smoker as well as some good advice on troubleshooting and how to make the most of an outdoor meal.

The recipes feature suggestions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They include “Traeger Grilled French Toast, “Smoked BBQ Chicken Sandwiches,” and “Wood-Fired Honey Mustard Glazed Salmon.” Unlike other Traeger cookbooks, this one also covers recipes for snacks like “Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip with Tortilla Chips” and appetizers like “Wood-Fired Buffalo Chicken Dip Stuffed Peppers.” The variety of food suggests that grilling can be used for any meal beyond the usual hamburgers and hot dogs that frequently mark such occasions.

The introduction to the book includes tips and techniques to master the art of grilling and smoking. Such tips like choosing the right wood such as hickory or mesquite to provide seasoning and flavor help elevate the outdoor cooking experience. There are also suggestions for when difficulties arise like how to make sure the meat isn’t too dry or tough. This advice provides Readers with much needed assistance to overcome any flaws and mistakes.

The Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook is highly recommended for those who want to cook, eat, and enjoy a meal in the great outdoors.

Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg; Another Gold Standard Historical Women's Fiction By Rosenberg

Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg; Another Gold Standard Historical Women's Fiction By Rosenberg

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This book is available on Voracious Readers Only 

Spoilers: Rebecca Rosenberg has made a career of writing Historical Fiction novels about fascinating and captivating women whose names might have skipped under modern radars but who left lasting legacies in their time and in ours. Her previous work, The Champagne Widows series, captured Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin and Jeanne Alexandrine Louise Melin Pommery, two Frenchwomen whose business sense, marketing style, and resilience changed the wine industry forever. 

This time Rosenberg takes her writing talents to the United States and gives us probably her most captivating, controversial, and outstanding protagonist yet in Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor. Elizabeth McCourt “Baby Doe” Tabor (1854-1935) was an interesting figure in Colorado history. A socialite, entrepreneur, and miner, Baby Doe managed to inspire controversy because of her willingness to work alongside the male miners and her scandalous second marriage to businessman and eventual Senator, Horace Tabor. 

Gold Digger covers a lot of ground in Baby Doe’s life from her first marriage to Harvey Doe, their move from Wisconsin to Colorado, the opening and backbreaking work at the mines particularly the Does’s Central City gold mine and Tabor’s Leadville Matchless silver mine, the controversies surrounding her divorce from Doe and marriage to Tabor, the rise of Leadville and Denver as big cities,the birth of her two daughters, Lily and Silver Dollar, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, and the Panic of 1893 which wiped out the Tabor’s fortunes. It’s a tough life going from rags to riches back to rags again especially in the mining towns which became thriving metropolises but still had a lot of toes in the Old West Frontier Town “only the strong survive kill or be killed” mentality. 

Baby Doe is written as someone with a lot of strength, spirit, and independence. This is particularly noticeable when she works at the mine. She dresses in trousers and shirts and works with a pickaxe alongside the men (this incident is where the nickname, Baby Doe was coined).

 Despite many local women and Harvey’s objections, she continues to work. She is not someone who is afraid to get messy and do the hard supposedly unladylike work. These actions show her as resilient and more capable than many of the men around her, particularly her feckless first husband and emotional second husband.

That independent spirit is also revealed in Baby Doe’s stormy love life. When she learns that Harvey is spending time with prostitutes, she isn't afraid to chuck him out and file for divorce.

At times, Baby Doe acts very impulsively without thinking of the long term consequences. Her carelessness manifests itself during her affair with Harvey Tabor since it begins while he is married to his first wife, Augusta. Baby Doe is controversial enough as a divorcee but having an extramarital affair is enough to make her the subject of scorn and render her unacceptable to the growing Denver high society. 

Their affair culminates in Tabor's divorce and his and Baby Doe’s marriage but it does cause some long term ramifications during Tabor's run for Senate. Their financial difficulties are also augmented by Tabor’s former wife and estranged son who refuse to give them much needed aid because of the hurt that they still feel over Tabor and Baby Doe's actions.

Baby Doe’s adaptable nature is present during her second marriage. Once the hard-edged woman in men's clothes that worked in the mines, she transforms into a society matron. Though there are many who are still scandalized by the Tabor's affair and Augusta and her inner circle are quite combative, Baby Doe manages to acquire a good reputation. In the Gilded Age, nothing removes a stain on one's character faster than money and the Tabor’s use their silver mined wealth to their advantage. Baby Doe's fascination with beautiful clothes and the latest fashion make her a style icon. They also make Denver a cultural center by providing funds to open an opera house and host arts events. When she was poor, Baby Doe lived hard and tough. When she was rich, Baby Doe lived ostentatiously and provocatively. Either way, she was someone who left quite an unforgettable impression on those who knew her.

Rosenberg’s next book, Silver Echoes, is a sequel to Gold Digger. Presumably it is about Baby Doe’s daughter, Silver Dollar, who like her mother before her was pretty wild, had a controversial love life, and left quite an impression. If this book is any indication, both mother and daughter Tabor still have a lot to say and memorable stylish ways of saying them.

 

Drops of Glass: A Tale of Magic in The Great War (The Shards of Lafayette Book 1) by Kenneth A Baldwin; Magic Combines With Historical Warfare

 Drops of Glass: A Tale of Magic in The Great War (The Shards of Lafayette Book 1)  by Kenneth A Baldwin; Magic Combines With Historical Warfare 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This book can be obtained through Voracious Readers Only.

Spoilers: Kenneth A. Baldwin’s  novel, Drops of Glass: The Shards of Lafayette mixes 20th Century History with Fantasy by creating an Alternate Universe in which the deciding factors in World War I are not stronger weapons, aerial battles, mustard gas, the breakdown of relations between countries, or even a global pandemic. Instead it is magic, yes magical forces that attack indiscriminately with no allegiance to any flag or country and gain an upper hand towards their human mortal adversaries. 

Marcus Dewar is an American pilot with a less than stellar kill count, In fact he hasn’t killed anyone in the air or anywhere else. Instead, he sheepishly returns to get his plane fixed by his mechanic/girlfriend, Jane Turner and face derision and bullying from his fellow pilots. His most recent air battle was odd to say the least. His gun jammed as he tried to fight a mysterious blue aircraft. He and Jane are called into a secret meeting with various pilots, captains, and mechanics from Britain, France, the U.S., and Germany. This attack that Marcus witnessed was not the first of its kind. Many pilots had the same story: They faced unmarked blue planes that came from nowhere and after shooting the pilot seemed to disappear into nowhere. The pilots’ guns jammed, the plane crashed, and the pilots died. As said before, these mysterious planes attack anyone in the air and appear not to belong to any specific government. They also attack pilots of different levels of experience. In fact, one of the pilots that was shot down by these mysterious pilots was Manfred Von Richtoven, AKA The Red Baron. Even more sinister, certain objects left behind by the pilots are infused by a powerful magical psychic energy that defies all explanation. This secret mission relies on Marcus, who was an eyewitness to the events, and Jane, who comes from a magical family, to investigate into dangerous circumstances to find what this aircraft is and where it comes from. 

Drops of Glass is a brilliant piece that captures the history of WWI and the fantastic elements of a magical power that is untapped and misunderstood by those who bear witness to it. The book is full of wartime imagery and soldier mentality. These once beautiful countrysides and the skies above are filled with trenches, landmines, smoke, gas, and the numerous corpses. It takes a long time for these countries to recover and, as we know from history, some never do, leading to future problems that will be reignited about 20 years down the line. 

Marcus and Jane go on a dangerous mission into Belgium to locate the Blue Planes and to learn more information. They are unable to tell whether the people that they talk to are friend or enemy until proper code phrases and signals are recognized. One thing is clear: the villagers are on their guard, frightened, tense, and under a great deal of stress because of the war that is literally at their front door and they have had to adapt to survive. 

Even Marcus and Jane are transformed by their proximity to the war, Marcus is under the impression that because he hasn’t killed anyone, that he is a failure. Jane however knows the truth: Marcus hasn’t killed anyone because he doesn’t want to. He talks a good game about the glory of war and patriotism, but when it comes down to it he is too moral and ethical to be up there. However what Jane sees as honor, Marcus sees as a coward. Even though she is against killing,and mostly signed up because of the opportunity that she as a woman would get and to keep Marcus safe, Jane also understands Marcus’ desire to be a hero. In his mind, a hero has to shed blood.

Marcus and Jane’s mindsets are substantially altered throughout the course of the book when Marcus is in the pilot seat and Jane has to act as a gunner. For the first time, she understands the soldier mentality of kill or be killed. When Marcus sees what his strong willed once peaceful girlfriend was forced to become, he looks at that propaganda and heroification in a less positive light. The war doesn’t make soldiers heroes. It just makes them killers. 

The human element of Drops of Glass is powerful, but just as powerful is the presence of magic, particularly the Blue Planes and their enigmatic Pilots.

They come on like a force of nature that can’t be controlled or contained. In a world that is made up of dividing loyalties and borders, the fact that these beings kill anyone is alien to those who experience it. Their flight strategies are all over the place and purposely mirror the human pilots  almost mocking them with their own tactics. If they can’t be defined or identified, then they can’t be understood or stopped. 

What is particularly sinister is that throughout the course of this book, the Blue Pilots are a mystery. No one, even the Reader, fully learns who or what they are. Theories are presented but just as quickly dismissed. A Blue Pilot is apprehended but purposely leaves little solid information about its identity or even its species. They come in, attack, and leave without any corroborating clues. The few clues they do leave like a pair of goggles and a scarf with magical energy leave more riddles than answers. 

In fact, the means of attack and the warfare setting suggests that something even more sinister is afoot, something that the Reader is all too familiar with even if the characters are not. The Blue Planes and their Pilots are treated almost like highly intelligent evolved species that cause great damage to various armies, and aren’t above harming civilians or whole villages to pursue their goals: whatever those goals are. It sounds almost like weapons from more recent wars than WWI doesn’t it? Like nuclear bombs, drone airstrikes, massive military vehicles, or smart bombs, maybe even AI that is programmed specifically to fight? 

The Blue Planes could be a metaphor for weapons, warfare, and energy that humans don’t understand yet want to possess. They produce a power that can control, dominate, and destroy. It wouldn’t surprise me if in later volumes that the enemy armies get over their fear of these Blue Planes and try to recruit and control them to strike against their enemies. The Blue Planes and Pilots could be a metaphor for war itself by killing indiscriminately and

does not care who is on whose side. Everyone eventually ends up dead. 

Drops of Glass is an Action/Adventure that delivers excitement and suspense, a Fantasy that brings interesting possibilities, but also presents a meditation on the real meaning of war,  violence, power, and death and what can be gained and especially lost by them.

Beautiful & Terrible Things by S. M. Stevens; Contemporary Literature Looks At A Beautiful Friendship and Terrible Events

 Beautiful & Terrible Things by S. M. Stevens; Contemporary Literature Looks At A Beautiful Friendship and Terrible Events 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers: S.M. Stevens’ novel, Beautiful & Terrible Things lives up to its name. It's a Contemporary Literature that is about a beautiful friendship among six diverse fascinating individuals but it is also about the terrible things that happen to them as they try to maintain that friendship against their various struggles.

Charley is a bookseller who has various disorders. She has Depression, OCD, Dermatillomania, and Agoraphobia. Her life is structured and rigid from the time she spends preparing her day in her apartment above the bookstore to the amount of time she plays word searches on her phone. One day, she encounters Xander, an eloquent customer who is also a political activist. Charley eventually accompanies Xander on an outing with his friends and is quickly welcomed into their inner circle. They are a truly interesting bunch consisting of: Terrence, Xander’s colleague and fellow activist, Jessica, a financial analyst and Xander’s roommate, Sunny, a nonbinary person who is Xander’s friend with benefits, and Buwan, an artist whose vacation home is the center of the first friendly gathering. Through a difficult few months of prejudice, political activism, violence, sexual exploration, romances, lost jobs, and new opportunities this sextet’s friendship is truly tested.

The best thing about this book are the well developed characters. The six protagonists have the type of friendship that makes the Reader think, “I want to live in that city and be a part of that group.” They are from various ethnicities, diverse backgrounds, three genders, and have different outlooks on life yet strive to retain loyal connections with each other.They are almost like the Friends gang, only more diverse and set in the 2020’s. 

The characters go through a lot of development over the course of the book, particularly in terms of relationships. During the novel, two characters tentatively begin a relationship, two more become romantically involved then break up, and one character reveals their amorous feelings towards another. That's not to mention the final pages when some are paired with different people than before, while others take their relationships to the next level. It can get rather confusing to keep track of all of the crushes, romances, and dissolution of relationships. 

Fortunately, the Super Six aren't consumed by romance and the pairings are written realistically without resorting to soap opera tropes like infidelity or love triangles. Some characters click as a couple. Sometimes they have a lot in common or visualize a future together. Sometimes they don't and that's fine as well. As strong as relationships are in their lives, their friendships are stronger. Even after a break up, they still retain those connections and think well of one another. 

As memorable as they are as a team, they also stand out as individuals. The group’s idiosyncrasies develop them and make them come alive. From Xander’s overly flowery language, Terrence’s monochromatic wardrobe, Jessica's insistence on referring to the others by their first initials, Buwan’s dragon tattoos, Sunny’s fascination with marriage and children, to Charley’s superstitious nature, these little quirks and characteristics reveal much about the people who inhabit them in a way that is natural and not cloying. 

Sometimes their quirks are tells of deeper issues especially when we learn that many of the characters have mental and emotional disorders. There's Charley with her various internal struggles. Buwan takes medication for Anxiety attacks. Terrence has an anxious and hyper aware personality stemming from his mother's lessons. Many of the other characters go through periods of loneliness, insecurity, and emotional turmoil as well. 

Once their deeper emotional cores are revealed, much of the earlier behavior that might have been waved off as “just them being them” makes sense and is sometimes seen as sadder and more tragic. These oddities were foreshadowing hints that some things may not always be right with our heroes and they get through their issues by acting out, speaking up, pairing up, hiding, conforming, or fighting against those who threaten them. They are lovable but also troubled.

Besides friendly, romantic, and internal conflicts, the friends struggle with outward controversial issues as well. Charley learns that her bookstore will be closed and she will be evicted. Not only that but one of her friends is involved with the business that wants to purchase that property. She is hurt and betrayed and dangerously isolates herself from everyone else. This economic conflict explores the class structure among the characters and how some in a higher status can unintentionally hurt others by their association.

The characters have various discussions about politics and current events and their beliefs reflect their own backgrounds and experiences. One of those conversations about undocumented immigrants becomes personal for Jessica. In the beginning, she speaks as the child of Colombian immigrants turned American citizens. She distances herself and her affluent family from illegal immigrants insisting that they are different from her. Her self-internalized xenophobia comes back to haunt her when a friend is in danger of being deported. Suddenly, those immigrants that she considered beneath her now have a recognizable face and she is forced to confront her previous views.

Race is a common theme. Terrence recalls many of his mother's advice on how he, as a black man, should go out in public. He has to consider things like his tone of voice and simple gestures like telling a police officer that he is reaching for his wallet before he does. These are things that many of his friends don't have to think about but are central to him so he doesn't get arrested or shot.

Xander encourages his friends to participate in rallies and protests, particularly involving environmentalism, sexuality, gender identity, and race relations. A Black Lives Matter protest becomes climactic when the friends face physical injury and one lands in the hospital. Xander himself displays violent rage filled behavior that he never had before to the point that he frightens Charley who observes him. While they fight for a good cause and have good intentions, the BLM protest takes a physical and emotional toll on the friends that alters their feelings for each other. Things have changed among them forever and may never be fully repaired.

Beautiful & Terrible Things is a book that is a lot like modern life. There are many terrible things, some that can be controlled like a broken romance or a lost job. Some that cannot such as a faltering economy or systemic racism. These things can test us physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, there can be beautiful things as well: a new relationship, time with friends, the pursuit of one's interests or occupation, a pleasant vacation, and a wonderful group that feels like a family and can experience those beautiful things as well.

 

The Peacock’s Heritage: A Victorian Tale of Love, Loss, and Resilience by Sasha Stephens; An All-Encompassing Historical Fiction Novel of An Irish-American Woman’s Eventful Life

 The Peacock’s Heritage: A Victorian Tale of Love, Loss, and Resilience by Sasha Stephens; An All-Encompassing Historical Fiction Novel of An Irish-American Woman’s Eventful Life

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers:   Sasha Stephen’s The Peacock’s Heritage A Victorian Tale of Love, Loss, and Resilience is one of those Historical Fiction Novels in which you follow the protagonist through several important events and various stages of their lives. 

In this case, said protagonist is Brigid Power McGrath Hayes Lansdowne. The book sees her through poverty, English Rule over the Irish, the Potato Famine, the creation of the Fenian Brotherhood, immigration to England, United States, and the Caribbean, political rebellion, women’s rights, her careers as an accountant, writer, and philanthropist, three marriages, three children, four grandchildren, many close friendships, deaths of friends and family members, and a change in status from poverty to wealth.

We first meet Brigid in the 1830’s as a tenant farmer’s daughter. She endures life with an abusive father, a gentle vulnerable mother, and five noisy siblings. She already shows a resourceful and independent nature. When her father abandons the family, originally periodically and then permanently, Brigid takes care of the household and joins her brothers in gathering peat. She also shows a keen mathematical analytical mind when she manages the family budget (a skillset that proves to be useful in her later career as an accountant and bookkeeper).

Some of the emotionally hardest passages to read are those concerning the Potato Famine and the impact that it has on Ireland, particularly on Brigid’s family. She and her siblings reveal all of the physical and psychological pain that comes from starvation including emaciated bodies, inaction, fever, hallucinations, and weakened immune systems. In one particularly scary moment, one of Brigid’s brothers succumbs to fever while he hallucinates demons attacking him. It is nightmarish as families are forced to eat dirt from the ground, what remains of animals, and fight one another for the few meager scraps that they can get. It takes a strong person to survive such an ordeal but fortunately Brigid is that kind of person.

Brigid’s independence and bad temper shine through when she calls a priest out on his platitudes that speak of lofty thoughts but little practical assistance. She also rails against her father over 

 his relationship with his mistress whom he eventually lives with. Brigid is someone who certainly knows her own mind and isn’t content in taking a submissive subordinate role to anyone.This resourcefulness and independence come in handy when her father arranges a marriage with a much older farmer and she runs away to Dublin where she carves out a life of her own.

In Dublin Brigid begins a bookkeeping career and makes many friends including an interfaith couple, Irish rebels, and various other citizens. One of the most important is Niall McGrath, a banker who is part of the Saor-Eire (Free Ireland) Movement. It is Niall that inspires Brigid to become part of a group that wants Ireland to break free from English rule and become an independent country. For someone who is as independent minded as Brigid, the thought of a life without English rule is quite appealing, especially since she personally saw how wealthy landowners treated people like her family and many of the English laws and backhanded assistance that prolonged the Famine. 

Brigid’s marriages symbolize her ascension and stages in life. Her marriage to Niall is youthful and passionate and is shared between two people who are looking forward to starting their lives. They are in the early stages of their careers and jump headlong into the Rebellion cause by attending protests and demonstrations, eventually moving to England to take an even more active part. They are in a higher place than Brigid was previously, though not yet wealthy. There is almost a careless giddy demeanor that carries over into their marriage as Brigid and Niall become part of the larger world and try to define what concepts like “freedom,” “love,” “sacrifice,” and “independence” really mean. 

Brigid’s second marriage comes from a different place. It is to Finnbar Hayes, a college professor and  leader of Saor-Eire then the Fenian Brotherhood, which is more drawn to violent actions against English oppressors. By the time that she and Finn begin courting, Brigid has experienced loss and is trying to rebuild her life with two small children. Though young, she is more aware of loss and pain and is desperate to hold onto those she loves knowing that she could lose them. There is less recklessness and more caution in her feelings towards Finn. Finn being a leader of the Movement rather than a member like Niall shows awareness of responsibility and larger stakes in his actions. If Niall went down, the Brotherhood would lose a dedicated member but if Finn went down, an entire Movement would fall along with all of the member’s friends, families and sympathetic allies. This involvement widens Brigid’s circle of friends as she empathizes with their plight.

Brigid’s marriage to Finn also changes her status as well. When they emigrate to the United States, Brigid and Finn pursue careers that bring security and respectability. For the first time, Brigid is in a financially secure position and is not only able to care for herself and her family but others as well. Finn obtains a professorship and remains involved with politics and the Fenians while Brigid helps various people by donations and volunteer work such as tutoring and mentoring. She also writes various articles and books that illustrate her views. Both she and Finn now become leaders and spokespeople of their communities as they embrace mid-life. 

Suspense plays a large part of Brigid’s life during her first two marriages. There are many secret meetings between characters that have code names. There are demonstrations and revolutionary acts which result in violence and prison sentences. While Brigid is in England, a young boy becomes her eyes and ears giving her warnings about raids or betrayal. These exchanges remind the Reader that lives hang in the balance and it takes a lot of courage and resilience to take action against an authority that thrives off of economic divide, rigid class distinctions, and imperial ambitions.

Brigid’s early marriages are filled with the tension of people who are caught up in causes that are greater than themselves. Sometimes that involvement requires them to sacrifice much: the chance of marital serenity, time with loved ones, trust of others, and even a long life with the one whom they love.

Brigid’s final marriage to John Lansdowne, a retired sea captain, is borne from loneliness and a desire not for passion or respectability, but for companionship. John is sympathetic to various causes but is not politically involved which is probably a relief for her. Since Brigid had been politically active in her youth and marriages, she is more than willing to embrace the serenity that comes with age. She has the finances to care for herself and those that she is close to and does not have to live with the political tension and financial insecurity that hounded her younger years. 

In response to that security, many of the conflicts in Brigid’s life are more personal particularly when she and John settle in Barbados. She discovers some things about herself and uses that information to continue helping others. She becomes personally involved in the lives of friends and family members by helping them move forward in their paths in life. It becomes just as much their journeys as it is Brigid’s. She is helping them in their early steps when she was forced to navigate hers in Dublin by herself. She wants to be the mother, mentor, and friend that was unavailable to her. 

 In some ways. The Peacock’s Heritage is reminiscent of Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell, which was also about the Irish immigrant experience in the United States and covers an extensive historical period from the Irish Potato Famine to the early 20th Century, however the presentations couldn’t be more different. Captains and the Kings was about a man who claws and connives his way to the top, becomes embittered by his wealth, faltering relationships, and deceitful colleagues, and ends up surrounded by the trappings of his riches but utterly alone. The Peacock’s Heritage is about a woman who is also an Irish immigrant who climbs to the top of high society but instead is enriched by her widening circle of friends and family and becomes more involved with her community that carries over into four countries. It reminds us that true wealth is remembering where you came from and lending a helping hand to those who are going through the same struggles and haven’t reached that point yet. 

Reading a book like The Peacock’s Heritage is a dizzying and at times overwhelming experience. When the book is closed, the Reader is exhausted as they felt that they lived a whole life with Brigid, but they are also glad that they got to know such a fascinating dynamic character during such interesting times.

The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz; Phony Mediums, Egyptian Curses, and a Charming Gay Romance Makes a Chilling Historical Supernatural Horror

 The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz; Phony Mediums, Egyptian Curses, and  a Charming Gay Romance Makes a Chilling Historical Supernatural Horror

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Megaera C. Lorenz’s The Shabti has a lot going for it: An engaging historical setting, an inside look at the Spiritualists movement and the tricks that frauds pulled, a genuinely creepy supernatural threat, and a charming romantic gay couple that encounters these problems.

In the 1930’s, Dashiel Quicke was once a noted Spiritualist that many would pay top dollar to get his psychic impressions or communicate with deceased loved ones. He now spends his time exposing the hucksters and grifters of the Spiritualist Movement, revealing how they actually accomplished their tricks. During one of his lectures, he captures the interest of Professor Herman Goschalk, an Egyptologist and museum curator. Herman tells Dashiel that his museum is the center of some strange activity: footsteps, whispers, missing items, stuff being thrown around, bleeding walls, the usual. At first the situation seems easily explained by science or an overactive imagination but as Dashiel gets to know Herman and experiences more of these strange events, it becomes clear that they are being haunted by a real ghostly apparition, a ghost from Ancient Egypt who inflicts great pain, curses, and suffering against all it comes near. All of the flimflam tricks aren't going to save them when they are faced with the real thing.

From beginning to end, this is a book brilliantly charged with a sense of Historical Horror. Instead of going for big shocks and scares, The Shabti leisurely builds its pace by taking a straight line from events that are odd but could be explained to the cosmic horror in which the barriers between time and space and life and death must fade before that horror can be encountered and possibly defeated.

One of the ways that it accomplishes this fear is by giving us a protagonist who has seen the supernatural world from the inside and knows how people bend and use it to their advantage.

The most interesting moments early on in the book occur when Dashiel tells how Spiritualists operate. He describes how they hire spies in the queue to gather information then sneak into the mark’s house to take a valuable object to look like the “spirits” used “relocation” to appear in the medium’s hands. Information gathered by the spies, cold readings, and early special effects added to the performance to sway the audience. It's a pretty clever grift and a sweet scam that is easy to see why many are fooled, especially those who have lost loved ones or want proof of life after death.

 That life also comes to weigh in on Dashiel as he admits to Herman that many former clients, particularly a sickly elderly woman, came to bad ends because of their trust in Dashiel and his former colleagues. His past also figuratively comes back to haunt him when a former partner and lover wants to reignite their relationship both on and off stage. It doesn't take much for the former Spiritualist to see the guilt and danger that a life of deceiving others would bring, and it is understandable why he would expose it. However, his skeptical nature and career of exposing the Spiritualist Movement is just as much a vulnerability as when he was an active participant in scamming others, when he faces real ghosts. He has to use the same procedures seriously to save Herman and himself that he once used deceptively to gain money.

The fraudulent style of Spiritualism puts Dashiel in a false sense of confidence when he is faced with the Egyptian Ghost. He could assume that bleeding walls are rust, creaking walls are a house settling, footsteps and whispers are signs of an overactive imagination. But after a while, those scientific rationales and previous charlatan history becomes moot when those small signs become large unrecognizable monsters and the whispers become shouts of the undead.

It's enough to make one doubt their beliefs and particularly their minds. There are many chapters where the supernatural encounters cause tremendous physical and psychological pain to Dashiel and Herman. They are shaken, disturbed, and quite often bedridden after facing the remnants of the Egyptian Ghost’s curse. It is a terrifying experience because of how it affects their bodies and minds and the only healing balm they have is each other.

Speaking of Dashiel and Herman, their relationship is a bright spot in this Horror Show of Ancient Terror. It is one of those relationships that begin organically with the two beginning to understand and relate to one another. Herman is confused and fascinated by Dashiel’s career as a Spiritualist and is on the fence between skepticism and belief. Dashiel gets arcane knowledge from Herman’s studies and while he explains Spiritualism and gives possibilities to Herman's encounters, he never ridicules him and likes talking with him.

 A friendship grows between the two protagonists that in other works could have remained platonic but fortunately for them, it does not. Their romance begins  unexpectedly just as  the Reader might think, “Hmm, they would make a nice couple” a few pages before they actually kiss. Their love strengthens each other as Herman’s knowledge of Egyptology and Dashiel’s Spiritualism experience counter the Ghost's wrath.

This book is set in the 1930’s and it doesn't go into the legal and prejudicial ramifications and potential hardship that could occur if a romance between two men is made public. On the one hand, it does a mighty historical disservice in showing how courageous the two characters are just by being together. But on the other hand, it also proves to be a source of light and brightness in this dark disturbing supernatural world. 

When the two men work together to fight the Egyptian Ghost alongside friends and Dashiel’s former colleagues, their love is the truest and most honest thing that counters the terror of the otherworldly darkness but also the deception and mind games that Dashiel was once proud to be a part of.