The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald

I really enjoyed this novel based on the based on the early life of Friedrich (Fritz) von Hardenberg (1772-1801), the German romantic poet and philosopher later known by the pen name of Novalis. 
However,It is a bleak novel; The plot is driven by Fritz Hardenberg falling in love with a girl of twelve when he was twenty-two and there is death! 

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

 
This is the story of a young man with a mystery who turns up in mid-eighteenth century New York, then a small colonial settlement of some 7,000 people.
I know nothing of 1746 New York but really enjoying learning about it as an English colony with a heavy Dutch influence, and slavery still the standard.
I felt the portrayal of New York was vivid, and the cast of characters believable!
The secret surrounding the mysterious Smith was intriguing right up till it was revealed at the end - I love a book where I have no idea of where it is going! 

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

 

Having read reviews, this book seems a little like marmite - you love it or you don't - I am in the later!  
This book had the feeling of a Charles Dickens novel in some ways; the strange pacing, the somewhat caricatured characters and the atmosphere were reminiscent of The Old Curiosity Shop for me. I loved her detail of Victorian life - the social issues, descriptions of early medical advance.
The Essex backdrop was brilliantly written though, and I loved the imagery and Perry's descriptive style. I also thought that the letters the characters exchange throughout the novel were nicely done. 
I liked all the symbolism - the serpent itself, possibly a multi faceted metaphor, representing at different times superstition, the general darkness of human nature, self doubt and destructiveness, the threat of adultery to a happy marriage, and indeed there could be a reading of the book in which Cora is the Essex Serpent.
However, I didn't really warm to the characters and at times I felt the book dragged!

 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This is the story of a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

I liked the beautiful imagery. Both in the literal sense - the physical world of 1940s Paris/Germany - and the metaphorical. It's woven with scientific and philosophical references to light, to seeing and not seeing, and the differences between the hearing sense and the seeing sense.


I did find the flipping back and forth between different time periods a little confusing.

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

I really enjoyed this easy read set in 1920s Ceylon.

I loved the beautiful exotic setting .
It has  enough  mystery to keep you going, with secrets that get revealed little by little.

There were some stereotyped character and unconvincing dialogue.  

A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie

 

Within its 300 pages, a story unfolds that covers the travels of the fifth-century BCE explorer Scylax, working on behalf of the Persian king Darius I; an attempt by early 20th-century archaeologists to recover the circlet worn by Scylax; the outbreak of the first world war; the experiences of Indian Army troops on the western front and later as injured servicemen in Brighton hospitals; the rise of the non-violent independence movement in Peshawar and the bloody killing of non-violent protesters by the British Army in 1930, in Peshawar
  
Good points:
A great deal of armchair travelling, which I absolutely loved
Beautiful description of places

Negative points:
Ploddy and lacking in real plot
Almost tries to do do much I would have liked more detail about the horror of the trenches, life as a nurse etc.  
I never felt emotionally drawn to the characters

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

 

I had difficulty getting into the story and found the first 100 pages slow going but I was quite glad I struck with it as the second half of the book really worked for me. But I did fine the main character unbelievable - it was unconvincing that an eighteen year old girl would have wisdom and assurance. I also felt disappointed we never learnt more about the Miniaturist.

 

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

I read this book as it was left in a holiday cottage we are staying in.  It is a non-scary ghost story of love, loss and courage.

It was an easy short read.

However it was predictable, over written and lacking any suspense.

Lamentation by C. J. Sansom

This is the sixth book in the Shardlake series.

I love this book.

It is an an exciting and excellently written story with lots of twists and turns.
It has a huge amount of rich detail about life in Tudor times. 

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

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This is a 'who-done-it' set in the goldfields of Western New Zealand in the 1860s. 

Good Points:

Cleverly written - Eleanor Catton uses a non-linear approach, with shifting points of view which involves doubling back on a handful of crucial circumstances and events, seen from various perspectives. 

I  enjoyed the description of the frontier town lifestyle.

Negative points:

 Long - about 800 pages

The astrological content of the novel seems, and probably is, obscure and entirely irrelevant

                                                                                                                                                              

Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries) by James Runcie

 

I came across the book whilst reading about the ITV adaptation currently being filmed in Cambridge. This the first in a promised series of six novels starting in 1953, the year of the Queen’s Coronation, and closing in 1981, the year of the wedding of Charles and Diana.

Good points:
Sidney’s charming character and the marvellous cast of characters around him - think Agatha Christie style.
 I loved the setting of the book and seeing little details like the names of the local pubs and roads that I know well.

Negative points:
It's actually a collection of mini-mysteries rather than a one mystery novel.
It lacked humour - it could have done with one eccentric character.
 The author tries to squeeze too many historical issues in his short stories which can leave them a little cluttered.
 

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

 

I loved this debut book based on the last public execution in Iceland. 

Good points:

Beautifully written and exactingly researched

The details of life in rural 19th century 

Melancholy, atmospheric and haunting 

A book that leaves you thinking even when it has been finished. 

I really really loved this book and read it in two days - I couldn't put it down!

 

 

Harvest by Jim Crace

 

I enjoyed this read. It is about the desire for belonging. It was a longlist nominee for the Man Booker prize

Good points:

Wonderful descriptions, often dream-like

It has a timelessness, it is very hard to place although clearly a piece of historical fiction

I enjoyed all the references to the land

Bad points:

The end itself was an anti climax.