New Book Alert: Unbalanced by Courtney Shepard; Fantastic Fantasy About Sisterhood and Elemental Magic

New Book Alert: Unbalanced by Courtney Shepard; Fantastic Fantasy About Sisterhood and Elemental Magic

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: We are all familiar with the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. They are used in both science and magic. Many characters in fiction such as the X Men's Storm or the characters in the animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender and it's spinoff, The Legend of Korra, have the ability to harness them for power. Some Pagans use them as conduits for spells and believe the elements represent certain goals or traits that a person has. When the four elements are balanced, they create harmony in the earth, but if one gets too powerful dangerous things are bound to happen.

Courtney Shepard's fantasy novel, Unbalanced is about that premise. It begins in the Middle Ages (don't all fantasies) in Spain en media torture as a sinister character called The Master interrogates a village about the location of four young girls. These aren't just any young girls as we learn when they confront the Master. Each one controls the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. After the girls defeat him, they disappear and the Master vows that if he doesn't find them, then his descendants will.

Fast forward to 1988 and a woman named Emma is giving birth to quadruplet daughters when five mysterious hooded figures appear at her bedside. As soon as the babies pop out, four of the figures take the babies away to be raised elsewhere while the fifth insists they will be cared for.

Now in modern day, the four babies are all grown and are well aware of their tremendous power, but unaware that they have sisters who also have similar powers. Asha is a freedom fighter in Central America who has the power of fire. Ivy is a veterinarian in Vancouver who controls earth including plants and rocks. Mere is a surfer catching and controlling the waves in Australia. Meanwhile, Avia is a flutist currently touring Hong Kong and has the power of air.

Besides their abilities, the women also had guardians whom they called “Father” whoever (like priests) that were either killed or disappeared. They also are being stalked by dangerous people and have the feeling that they are not alone and that they are sharing each other's pain.

Unbalanced is a fun exciting modern fantasy filled with suspenseful and magical moments. The four sisters are great protagonists, especially after they meet and show off their awesome abilities.
The four women embody their element in their personalities. Asha is firey and passionate and often blazes with a bad temper. Ivy is the practical, stable more grounded leader of the quartet. Mere is the most emotional, intuitive, and sensitive sister. Avia is the more rational, intelligent, sometimes seemingly emotionless one. The four sisters are memorable characters whether alone or together.


They are united when the Master’s current descendants find and chase after them. The sisters encounter four brothers who work for the latest Master (called the Grand Master because there are two younger Masters), Clay, Cole, Rio, and Aron who also control respectively Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. The brothers and sisters unite when the Grand Master's real motives are revealed as well as the close connections that the sisters have to one of the younger Masters and the family that has spent centuries stalking them.


While the four sisters are brilliantly written, their new equally powerful potential love interests are not near as identifiable. They are mostly interchangeable in their encounters with the sisters and each other. The only one that stands out is Clay, a sensitive doctor who in the first few chapters guards a captive and naturally irate Asha. Clay is drawn to Asha's beauty and spirit and helps her escape. Cole, Rio, and Aron have some nice romantic moments with Ivy, Avia, and Mere especially when the guys and gals are sent two by two on missions and they get to mutually save each other and defend themselves from enemies.

However, the men don't have as many identifiable idiosyncrasies that make them stand out like Mere's Guns N’Roses T-shirt, Asha's marksman skills, Ivy’s garden, or Avia's swank Zurich villa that tell us more about them. The sisters are unique not only in their abilities but in those traits and interests that make them individuals.

Of course with the brothers that might be the point. The sisters were raised separately to be individualistic while the men were raised together in an almost military-like fashion that eschewed independent thought and action. The men were raised to be a unit using and suppressing their powers, but the women were not. Ironically, that's what makes the four sisters stronger more identifiable characters.

At first, each woman acts like someone that exists within her own element and that's how they live and operate. Their reliance on only their element causes trouble. In the opening chapters, Asha burns down a whole village and has memories of several people she caught on fire because of her temper. Besides controlling the air around her, Avia has the creepy ability of removing the oxygen from someone's lungs. Both Mere and Ivy have accidentally caused floods and earthquakes.

The four sisters are powerful, but when they live only within their element, only that element reigns and it is overpowering. The Grand Master and his minions want the sisters killed or separated because he fears not their separate power, but how much stronger they are together.

Together, Ivy, Avia, Mere, and Asha balance each other out and are able to channel their abilities in tandem.
That is also probably why Shepard chose not to pair the same element characters with each other instead Asha with Clay and Ivy with Cole (Fire and Earth), and Avia with Rio and Mere with Aron (Air and Water). Too much of the same element can be destructive but two different elements recognizes each other's strengths and limitations.

What the Grand Master and his ilk fear is the balance and strength the sisters bring. Separately, they are weakened by the excess of their elements, but together they are a team that balances each other and their environment.

Weekly Reader Philippa Gregory Edition: The Kingmaker's Daughter (The Plantagenet and Tudor Court Series Vol. IV) by Philippa Gregory; In Depth Look at King Richard III and his wife, Anne Neville

Weekly Reader Philippa Gregory Edition: The Kingmaker's Daughter (The Plantagenet and Tudor Court Series Vol. IV) by Philippa Gregory; In Depth Look at King Richard III and his wife, Anne Neville




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


Spoilers: King Richard III has gotten a raw deal by history and William Shakespeare. For centuries, he had been labelled as a tyrant king and called “The World's Wickedest Uncle” for his supposed role in the disappearance of his nephews. Shakespeare wrote him as among the worst villains in his veritable Rogue's Gallery and considering his Gallery also features such notable sinister characters as King Claudius, Iago, Julius Caesar's assassins, Goneril and Regan, and The Macbeths, that's saying quite a lot

Lately authors and historians have sought to vindicate Richard's name. There is a King Richard Society which studies his true character. Many historical fiction such as Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendor and nonfiction have told events from his point of view. Richard III's skeleton was even discovered underneath a carport and identified by DNA testing thereby giving him a proper burial.

In her Plantagenet and Tudor Court Series book, The Kingmaker's Daughter, Philippa Gregory continues that trend of making Richard a more nuanced even romantic figure by showing him from the point of view of his wife, Anne Neville.

Gregory only used a male perspective twice in the entire series. The Virgin’s Lover is largely told from the point of view of Queen Elizabeth's lover, Sir Robert Dudley and in The Other Queen, George Talbot, the Earl of Shrwsbury is only one of three pov characters that include his wife, Bess and Mary Queen of Scots.

It is unclear why Gregory did not choose Richard himself to be the narrator of this volume. Perhaps she wanted to keep the female narrative going during the Cousin's War. Perhaps she didn't feel comfortable using Richard's voice. Perhaps Richard had been done before most spectacularly in Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendor.

Either way, Anne Neville is an equally compelling character because she gives us different perspectives than we have seen thus far in the series of such people as her husband, Richard, her father, Richard Earl of Warwick “The Kingmaker”, and Elizabeth Woodville. We also learn what it's like to be a young child being used as a pawn manipulated and used by others for their gain until they have had enough and take power for themselves.

One of the first things that sets Anne's narrative apart from the previous narrators in the series is her youth. While Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Margaret Beaufort were in their early teens when their stories began, they were considered mature women by Medieval society, both preparing for arranged marriages or future goals. (Margaret's devotion to religion made her particularly mature for her age.)

Anne's novel begins when she is about 9 years old and she acts every bit like the child she is.
Anne complains about always being last, having to enter behind the rest of her family. She fights and plays dress up with her older sister, Isabel. She admires Queen Elizabeth Woodville from afar thinking she is the most beautiful woman she has ever seen and King Edward as the bravest most handsome man that she has ever seen despite him being on the outs with her father. She and Isabel tease Edward's younger brothers, George and Richard because they all used to study together.

The comparison of Anne's youth with the previous narrators is like those Dear America books which are narrated by girls from different time periods. You read volumes that are about girls caught up in the middle of a war or settling into an arranged marriage. Then you read the next one and another girl talks about a crush on a boy at school or troubles with her math homework and you remember “Oh yeah, they're just kids!”

The beginning of The Kingmaker's Daughter reminds you that many of these characters were children or teenagers when the Cousin's War began and were involved in situations in which they had absolutely no control.

Having no control over her circumstances is an ongoing theme in Anne's life especially when her father is the scheming Richard Earl of Warwick The Kingmaker. Once Warwick falls out of favor in Edward's court because of his rivalry with Elizabeth's family, The Rivers, Warwick is forever scheming to make another king. He uses his daughters as bargaining chips bouncing them around from one marriage to another. Both Isabel and Anne are too young and too naive to reject their father and go along with his ideas even when Anne's conscience tells her that Edward and Elizabeth are right and her father is wrong.

First, Warwick marries Isabel and George in a failed attempt to make George, Duke of Clarence, king. In a display of how little he regards his daughters, Warwick forces a heavily pregnant Isabel to sail to Calais during a severe storm causing her to lose the baby. This incident causes Isabel to look at her father less favorably and begin to take charge of her life. For Anne, it takes longer.

When George turns his coat and reunites with his brother, Warwick tries a new tactic with his younger daughter. He weds Anne to Edward, the Lancaster heir and son of the York's sworn enemies King Henry VI and Margaret d'Anjou. Anne suddenly finds herself surrounded by people she once feared including the somewhat unstable Edward and Margaret, whom Anne had nightmares of her as the “she wolf.” However, Anne's time with Margaret d'Anjou and even Elizabeth Woodville is not ill-spent.

Through an unlikely pair of role models, Anne begins the seeds of taking control of her own life. Through Elizabeth Woodville, she learns about glamor and hiding a duplicitous nature. Though Anne grows to resent and despise Elizabeth, she learns to conceal much of herself and that she has to connive to get her way instead of being the trusting schoolgirl going along with others.

Margaret d'Anjou teaches her about strength and to fight for those she loves. Though the French queen is fierce and frightening, Anne admires her Independence and unwillingness to compromise. It is Anne's admiration for these two unlikely women that allows her to come out from her family's shadow after her father and husband's death and her abandonment from her mother. Instead, she is able to take charge of her own life and marries the man that she has grown to love, Richard Duke of Gloucester.

Like Anne, Richard is also multifaceted in Gregory's novel. He is fiercely loyal to his oldest brother to the point that Warwick never tries to recruit him to take the throne because he knows that he would never betray his brother. Though he doesn't care for Elizabeth Woodville or her family himself, Richard keeps much of his dislike for them buried until after Edward's death for the semblance of maintaining peace between the various factions.
He is a strategic and consummate fighter as he battles many and kills several important characters like Edward Lancaster.
Richard is even a romantic figure particularly in his chapters with Anne. He is protective of the circumstances that Anne is in after Edward Lancaster's death and she is in the care of the suddenly abusive Isabel and George. He cleverly helps engineer her escape and proposes marriage to her.

For those who hold to Richard's more devious reputation, Gregory hasn’t lost sight of that either. Anne's snobbish mother points out that since Richard did not wait for a papal dispension to marry Anne, he could legally put her away any time he wants. Also when Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville's daughter serves as Anne's lady in waiting he pays a little too close attention to her sending tongues wagging. So in this version, he is not a diabolical villain or a saint. But a very realistic human character, one who can inspire love or loathing in those around him.

A common theme in the Plantagenet and Tudor Court Series is the idea of the Wheel of Fortune, a card in the Tarot that symbolizes that we either rise very high or fall very low. This theme is particularly prominent in The Kingmaker's Daughter as we see various characters ascend and descend at nothing more than the turn of the wheel. Of course we see the Lancasters fall in favor of the York's only to rise and fall again with the Yorks rising and falling as well. (One of the more moving passages calls back to Lady of the Rivers and shows old friends, Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Margaret d'Anjou trace a wheel's circle with their fingers as Margaret is being led to prison for the final time.)

We also see other characters rise and fall as well. George and Isabel are held in high esteem by Warwick then fall out of favor for Anne's marriage to Edward of Lancaster. Isabel accuses her sister of being a traitor failing to notice that Anne just like Isabel is caught up in the schemes and destinies of others. When Anne falls back down as Edward's widow, Isabel takes the opportunity to cruelly lord over and control her inheritance. The two don't reconcile until after Anne's marriage to Richard and Isabel has had two children before her death, possibly from poison. George, once loved by his brothers and his mother's favorite,is also executed after scheming against Edward and Elizabeth and made to drown in a case of malmsy wine.

Even after Richard and Anne become king and queen, they are constantly in fear of when they will fall. They have one child, Ned, but the boy's early death turns their reign into one of grief.
There are also plenty of supporters of the Yorks and when Richard declared Edward’s children illegitimate because of his early marriage, there is fear that Elizabeth’s supporters will topple them. Anne is in fear to the point of paranoia that Elizabeth is scheming against them either by poisoning or by magic curses.
When Edward and Elizabeth's sons are sent to the Tower of London for safekeeping, Anne says a few words which weigh on her conscience when the boys are reported missing.

That's not to mention Henry Tudor, the bright young upstart who has his sights set on the throne and is slowly gaining supporters or the previously mentioned Elizabeth of York who is becoming a vibrant beautiful contrast to the often sickly and depressed, Anne. Anne eventually accepts that the Wheel of Fortune falls on everyone even herself and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.

The Kingmaker's Daughter shows the growth in Anne Neville from a naïve girl, to a controlled woman, to a nervous queen fighting against and ultimately resigned to her fate.

Classics Corner: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Still Relevant Classic of Scandal, Hypocrisy, Secret Sin, and Redemption

Classics Corner: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Still Relevant Classic of Scandal, Hypocrisy, Secret Sin, and Redemption




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Nathaniel Hawthorne was familiar with the concept of secret sin. He was a descendant of one of the judges of the Salem Witch Trials and even added the “w” to the last name Hathorne to disassociate himself from his ancestors. His mother's ancestors had an accusation of incest and were temporarily forced to wear an “I” on their clothing.


Even Hawthorne's writings are all about guilt and secret sins that are inside people. His short story “Young Goodman Brown,” features a young man who sees a witch's sabbat conducted by members of the community including his wife. While the story never tells us if the sabbat was real or a dream, it changes Brown's perception of the people around him and he suspects everyone in town of being in league with the Devil.

Another story “The Minister's Black Veil” also captures those themes. In that one, a minister covers his face in a black veil. The villagers are unnerved by the veil and can't convince him to remove it. The minister never reveals the reason that he wears the veil except on his deathbed, he says that he sees a veil on everyone's face. The story suggests that the veil is a symbol for the darkness and secrets that are inside everyone. The minister just chooses to bring his out in the open.


Hawthorne's best work, The Scarlet Letter covers those concepts of hidden darkness and secret sin and how they can either redeem a person or trap them into their own personal Hell.

In 17th century Boston, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a red “A” on her bosom and stand in the pillory for an hour every day. The reason for this is that even though she is married and she arrived in New England ahead of her husband, she had a child with another man. (The A more than likely stands for Adultery.)

Hester and her daughter, Pearl have to face a cold judgmental Puritan community and two men in particular. The first is Roger Chillingsworth who is every bit as warm hearted as his name. He is a physician recently arrived in town and is, surprise, Hester's husband.

The other man is the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, a young minister who wants Hester to open up to her sin and admit who is the father of her child. Though he shouldn't have to ask because, double surprise, he's Pearl's father.

Hawthorne's interest in guilt and secret sin manifests itself into his characters in interesting ways. While Hester is vilified by the community, she is able to reinvent herself. First, her A isn't just stitched onto her dress. It is embroidered and embellished, showing great care in her work. To support herself and her daughter, Hester takes up sewing and embroidery. While Puritans are legendarily plain dressed people, they were only human and didn't mind a little character once in awhile. Hester makes gloves for governors, dressing gowns for babies, and other accessories.

While no one in Boston would dare cross her path, invite her for tea, or even eject a particularly warm friendly hello to the woman, eventually they don't mind bragging to their friends that they own a Hester Prynne Original accessory.

Hester’s career shows her as an artist and an outsider. She can't openly rebel against her circumstances, so she puts all of her pain and care into her work. Note, she doesn't just wear the A. She embellishes it. She dramatizes it. As though she is revealing her creativity and originality under the conservative law abiding shell.

The other thing that Hester does during her long sentence is good work. While most people, myself included, would probably say “the hell with those people” and ignore them, Hester does not do this. Instead she gives medicine to the sick and counsels people who are lost and distressed. As an outsider, she has compassion for others and understanding for their plight. Ironically, she is stronger because of the isolation that she had to endure therefore has more empathy for those who are poor, sick, and alone.

In contrast to Hester, Dimmesdale’s turmoil is all internal. He has to act like a convincing minister and community leader on the outside, while he is tormented on the inside with his guilt of having been with Hester. Dimmesdale flagellates himself and feels shame burning inside his heart. He tells no one except Hester leaving his guilt to churn inside him.

As Heater grows stronger in her suffering, Dimmesdale grows weaker because of the hypocrisy he forces on himself. Ironically, it is only right before he reveals himself enough to stand in the pillory with Hester and Pearl that he gives the best sermon of his career as if in admitting his own guilt and double standard, he frees himself. Like Heater with her art, he has finally put himself forward with his art of public speaking to show his true self.

Dimmesdale's secret sin makes him prey for Chillingsworth who plays on his guilt and suffering thereby physically and mentally weakening him. Dimmesdale may long to seek repentance, but Chillingsworth does not because in his eyes, he did nothing wrong except marry a woman younger than him.

He is the Salem judge, the self-proclaimed man of God, the hypocritical politician, the Holier than Thou town's leader who judges the people under him while preying on their weaknesses. He is the man who cries loudest for punishment without admitting his own misdeeds and involvements which are often similar or worse than the ones that are public. Unfortunately, as is so often true he receives little to no retribution for his cruelty towards Hester and Dimmesdale.

The fourth character is the most unique of all: Pearl, the daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. She is often described as a fairy or elf child as though she were a being outside of this world. Because her mother raised her as an outsider, she is free to express herself in ways the other characters do not. Her mother dresses her in the beautiful clothes that she makes instead of somber Puritanical clothing. She is bold and upfront where most Puritan children her age would be obedient and quiet. She asks questions such as “Why does (Dimmesdale) put his hand over his heart like he's in pain?” Because she lives outside of societal laws, Pearl is not beholden to them. She is able to argue and fight expressing the anger that her mother suppresses and articulating the sadness that her father hides.


Among the most intriguing developments about The Scarlet Letter is is how relevant this story still is. True, we are not likely to hang people for witchcraft or make people wear letters decrying their latest sin. But sex scandals are still the order of the day and now as then women are often held to a different standards than men. You only need to look as far as the headlines to see this.

In the recent sexual harassment accusations in the wake of Me Too/Time's Up look at how many men are accused of harassment. Okay look how many men who are tried, convicted, and found guilty. So far one: Bill Cosby. How many have either been given a light sentence or kept their jobs from entertainment to politics? How many women who have come forward are the ones who are shamed, vilified, put in hiding, and/or branded as liars or sluts “who were asking for it”?

There are still Hester Prynnes that are fallen women or are considered sluts or liars. There are still Arthur Dimmesdales who refuse to come forward when they need to but for whatever reason won't. There are Roger Chillingsworths who feign shock at the proceedings but hide their own misdeeds under cloaks of respectability. There are Pearl Prynnes who speak out and often are forced to bear the brunt of previous generations.

We really haven't moved as far as we thought from Hester's day.

Weekly Reader Thursday Next Edition: First Among Sequels (The Thursday Next Series Vol. V) by Jasper Fforde; New Adventure Makes Thursday More Metafictional Than Before

Weekly Reader Thursday Next Edition: First Among Sequels (The Thursday Next Series Vol. V) by Jasper Fforde; New Adventure Makes Thursday More Metafictional Than Before




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Well he did it. I did not think it was possible but Jasper Fforde achieved it. I didn't think his Thursday Next Series could not get more meta and it has.

While the first four books in the series followed a straight story arc and carried concepts that were resolved by the book, Something Rotten, Fforde decided to do something completely different with the next tier of the series.


This time around over 20 years have gone by moving the series setting to the early 2000’s. Thursday is now in her early 50’s and lives with her uneradicated husband, Landen, her lazy son, Friday, her genius daughter, Tuesday, and her other daughter, Jenny who spends most of her time at her friend's houses.

Thursday is much older but still very active. She works at Acme Carpets, actually a front for Spec Ops which is forced to go underground. She also works for Jurisfiction as a sometimes agent so yay Book World is back!

Of course Thursday and Co. are in trouble (aren't they always?) in both worlds. People who were affiliated with Thursday's arch enemy, Acheron Hades are back and causing trouble. The Goliath Corporation are rearing their ugly heads once more. The Chronoguard want Thursday's son, Friday to join them to eventually become their leader and they don't mind killing the current Friday to send their Friday to replace him.

Meanwhile in Book World, Sherlock Holmes has been killed. He was last seen by Reichenbach Falls during “The Final Problem” with no Generic to immediately replace him. (Oh if only Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had written a follow up story taking place near “The Empty House.” Oh wait.) Now Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan is in fear of her life inside her book. (Bones so far is the only copyrighted character to be featured in Fforde's series. He thanks author, Kathy Reichs, in the acknowledgement). The clones of Mrs. Danvers, the creepy housekeeper from Rebecca who are often required to do grunt work in Book World, are acting creepier than usual and now attack Thursday. Thursday is also training two new recruits which are……herself and….herself.

That's right, Fforde introduces the concept that if Thursday Next is technically a fictional character, then she should be subjected to the same regulations as the other fictional characters in the Book World including having fictionalized versions of herself.

Thursday's adventures in the previous four books became a fictional series of its own inside the series. However, they went through a change than the ones we know.
The first four books are dark, violent, sexy gritty noir tales and the Thursday that emerges from that is a tough talking gun toting badass.
Our Thursday, the one from First Among Sequels, wanted the fifth book, The Great Samuel Pepys Fiasco to be more diplomatic and peaceful and the Thursday that emerges from that is a flighty dizzy hippy. So Thursday has to train her fictional counterparts, I mean her more fictional counterparts...I mean oh forget it!


The moments between Thursday and her fictional counterparts, Thursday 1-4 (the violent one) and Thursday 5 (the hippy) are some of the highlights.
Our Thursday has to come between them as Thursday 1-4 goes really bad and Thursday 5 goes really good.

Thursday also comes to realize that her counterparts, and by extension, she are fictional characters so they too are controlled by the whims of Author, Reader, and the limitations of fiction hood. The three share this realization as they impersonate each other and even take turns narrating First Among Sequels for stretches at a time. At one point, Thursday 5 recites the opening of the Eyre Affair which is word for word the opening of The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde from our world.

Understand, this is not breaking the fourth wall. This is jumping on the fourth wall, smashing it with a hammer, obliterating it, selling the spare parts for scrap, removing any evidence of it, and acting like the fourth wall never existed in the first place and doing the same to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Walls while Fforde is at it.

With a plot as meta as this involving three versions of the same character, time travel, and other plot devices things intentionally get confusing. Perhaps some coherence in the narrative would not be too much to ask. The time travel aspects get hand waved leading to a plot hole with the other books in the series that is too headache inducing to get into. The murdered fictional characters subplot starts strong but is left open ended possibly for a resolution for another book as does the possible non-identity of one of the characters. Thursday's fights with her counterparts are intriguing as she realizes that she truly met her match, literally.

While this one is the most confusing and meta of the series, it definitely stretches Fforde's imagination to its limit. It makes any fan of the series clamor for the next book, One of Our Thursdays is Missing.

At the very least, it will be entertaining to see how many more walls Jasper Fforde can break.

New Book Alert: Shiri by D.S. Taylor; Strong Leads Steer Dark and Violent Novel About Slavery in Ancient Egypt

New Book Alert: Shiri by D.S. Taylor; Strong Leads Steer Dark and Violent Novel About Slavery in Ancient Egypt




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Shiri is a book that begins dark and violent and pretty much stays that way. When early on the protagonist's family and the entire village is wiped out except her, you know that you won't be in for a fun jolly time. Also considering the majority of the book involves slavery, regicide, child rape, forced prostitution, abuse, and characters having to assume false identities for decades, you are in for a disturbing but unforgettable time.

One thing that keeps the narrative from being oversaturated in violence and dark images are the protagonists. They are both strong figures that use their wits and persistence to fight against these circumstances which they are forced in. They are both survivors and fighters to the end.

The first of our main characters is Shiri, who lives in a Habiru village in the desert. (There is no specific time set but the plot suggests that it is pre-Biblical days since the people around Shiri worship Ba’al and they fight one of the Amenhoteps though no number is given).

Shiri is shown to be close to her loving family particularly her father, a former warrior turned diplomatic village leader. The Egyptian Army massacres the entire village at the orders of their Prince Amenhotep. There are many graphic moments but one of the hardest to read is when Shiri is an eyewitness to some Egyptians cutting her father down with a sword then raping and murdering her mother.

Shiri manages to escape and runs to the dwelling of the so-called Shepherd King, the ruler of the various desert tribes. His wife, called The Beautiful One, was abducted and possibly murdered by the Egyptians so he has been at war with them ever since. Shiri arrives to warn the Shepherd King of the approaching army.

In other novels, this may lead to a decisive battle in which the protagonists come out if not the winners then at least ahead. But in this novel, all her actions do is lead the Egyptians right to them and we are witness to another violent battle in which the villagers are captured or killed including the Shepherd King leaving behind his son, Joseph, our second protagonist.

Joseph has to face some quick decisions after his servant, Yuya turns traitor on him. Joseph kills Yuya and assumes his identity. The Egyptians “reward” him with a new slave, of course, Shiri. When the two are alone, they quickly realize that they are on the same side but must play the roles of Yuya, the Egyptian Master and Shiri, his new Habiru slave, while in Egypt.

So begins a masquerade that lasts over 20 years as Joseph assumes Yuya’s identity, his place in his family home, and his arranged marriage with Tjuya, the High Priest's daughter. When Tjuya threatens Shiri with revealing that she knows that the man claiming to be Yuya is a fraud, Shiri willingly submits herself to the abuse given by her vain mistress and Tjuya’s sadistic handmaiden, Meira.

D.S. Taylor puts brilliant lead characters in this dark setting. The antagonists are terrible but they are supposed to be. Amenhotep is written as a spoiled Prince committing foul deeds for his father's attention. Tjuya is a manipulative jealous bitch who delights in abusing Shiri. Meira gleefully humiliates Shiri on her mistress's behalf. They are a ghastly bunch which makes Shiri and Joseph more likable.

In Shiri and Joseph's struggles with their enemies, we see how they differ in gender and social structure and how those differences play into their conflicts. Shiri is forced to endure the worst treatment that a slave woman has to overcome. She is raped by male masters and abused by Tjuya. She is forced to allow her daughter, Tiye, to be raised in Tjuya's household, but she stoically holds her ground and bonds with the girl in secret.

Shiri is maternal and loving towards Tiye and she continues to love Joseph even under his false identity. While their romance begins rather quickly, it makes sense considering that Shiri lost her family and only has Joseph to hold onto.

Shiri fights as well as she can by showing kindness when none is given to her, strength when her body is weakened, and courage when her masters try to break her. She is able to endure the long years of suffering.

Joseph has a different path facing his antagonists. Acting as a wealthy Egyptian male, he has to play the role of stern overseer on the outside while being the Shepherd King on the inside. He shows kindness to slaves so he can gain their loyalty and they act as his army in an eventual rebellion. He is a consummate politician negotiating and strategizing between allies that aid him in facing his Egyptian enemies. He also is able to see the big picture and plan far ahead for the future of his people while Shiri has to live day to day, moment by moment for herself, her daughter, and the man she loves.

However, Joseph has to keep up the lie of being Yuya for years. He is forced to compromise his beliefs and religion, hide his allegiances with his former people, and his love for Shiri all under the guise of being a wealthy Egyptian. This makes Shiri a stronger character than Joseph. She may be in horrible circumstances, but at least she is honest about who she is, who she loves, and what she believes.
Fortunately, as dark as the book is, there are some great hopeful moments towards the end as secrets are revealed and unions are made. Even when some characters die, their legacies live on.

In one juicy moment, the tables are turned as a master becomes a slave and vice versa. This moment shows the real heroism in Shiri and Joseph and how they are able to use their strength, leadership, and endurance to visualize a better world than the one they entered.

New Book Alert: The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore; Intriguing Suspense, But Lack of Character Development In Novel About Forbidden Love and Murder in 19th Century New England

New Book Alert: The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore; Intriguing Suspense, But Lack of Character Development In Novel About Forbidden Love and Murder in 19th Century New England




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews





Spoilers: Kim Taylor Blakemore’s The Companion is one of those novels that begins in a way where you think you know everything, but then it turns you around into being about something else entirely different. In this case, it makes for a novel with an intriguing suspenseful plot but lacks in character development.

In the opening, a woman is awaiting her execution and tells the Reader that she is responsible for three maybe four deaths. So, the Reader prepares for a novel about a serial killer explaining how she killed her victims. Instead, we learn that everything is not as cut and dry as we thought and the woman on death row is less a villainess and more of a victim.


The woman on death row is Lucy West and she was originally hired as a maid in the home of a 19th century well-to-do New English couple, The Burtons. Even in the first few pages, there are hints that all is not as it seems. There is the fact that Lucy's predecessor, Mary mysteriously drowned. Eugenie Burton, the mistress of the house, is blind and has to be led around but harbors some other eccentric behaviors. Rebecca, Eugenie's companion is highly suspicious and intensely jealous of any attention that anyone else gives Eugenie. Then there is Lucy who is herself a contradiction by hinting that her references are fake and is in grieving for her deceased son.

Blakemore is great at building suspense. Even though the book is told in flashback from Lucy's first person perspective, we only get droplets of information as Lucy (and Blakemore) sees fit to show us. Early on we learn her son, Ned, died but we don't learn how or the circumstances surrounding his birth and death and why this results in her being on the run until later in the book.

We learn about the death of poor Mary, but don't learn how it is connected to the rest of the book until later. For a long time, Mary is almost a red herring until suddenly she isn't.

While the suspense is palpable and makes you question the plot and character, unfortunately it comes at the expense of good characterization. The Reader is always on guard so they don't get much of a chance to understand or even empathize with the characters including Lucy.

Lucy purposely hides information and doesn't let the Reader in on her real intentions that once the resolution is made, we have to read back a few pages to make sure we understood it. It doesn't help that Lucy makes herself a subject of suspicion as many people sharing prison with her remark that she doesn't feel remorse for any of her crimes, when at least one should have based on the information we are eventually given.

The lack of characterization in favor of suspense also doesn't do other characters any favors. Rebecca seems to have been auditioning for the role of Mrs. Danvers in Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca (maybe intentionally so, considering the name). We get the creepy servant part, but we don't get what made her so trustworthy and alluring to Eugenie in the first place.

Eugenie Burton, who is by far the most intriguing character, falters as well. She and Lucy get involved in a romantic relationship which has some sweet moments but is tempered with more suspense. Their romance of course plays into the conventions of its day and it is interesting how the two women manage to coordinate their alone time away from prying judgmental eyes. However, Eugenie and Lucy's romance is hampered by accusations that Lucy is one of many extramarital Sapphic flings Eugenie has had. We are not sure whether it's malicious gossip or the truth and honestly Eugenie's behavior suggests that it could go either way.

Unfortunately one of the strongest most emotional moments, when Lucy and Eugenie agree to run away together is muted by the machinations of the plot and the realization that nothing in either woman's previous behavior suggests that this is plausible or even a believable outcome.

A novel that is built on suspense cannot just rely on the twists in the plot to keep the Reader interested. Sure it will keep them reading and guessing. In the end, it may even surprise them. But a good suspense novel has to give us strong identifiable characters that experience the twists and surprises. Otherwise, the suspense falls flat.

An Apology

First off I want to apologize for being so late with my reviews. Earlier in July, I was seriously ill and in intense pain with a bad ear infection. I took some medicine and recovered but because the pain was so severe, it was difficult to read and write. By the time I got better I had to catch up on my reading then catch up on my reviewing. I didn't realize until now that I haven't updated my blog or reviewed in a month. I apologize and I will try not to take so long between reviews again.





The upshot is that I have approximately two weeks worth of reviews to write. So here they are, again I am very sorry.