An engrossing blend of history and literary contrivance.
In Samson’s historical novel, an aspiring scribe in a late 14th-century Swiss town is drawn into the race to find a spy working for the French.
Sixteen-year-old Benedictus Waisel lives in Solodurum, a quirky town that superstitiously fetishizes the number 11—for the residents, a dozen is always one fewer than what everyone else understands. Benedictus hails from generations of stonemasons, but he plans to break family tradition and become a scrivener, a dream imparted to him by his beloved grandfather, who taught him how to read. However, after he discovers he simply can’t afford to join the Scriveners Guild or pay for an apprenticeship, he joins the City Guard and soon distinguishes himself defending Solodurum’s borders from invading French forces (“you opened the breach in their line, you know. I saw it all. That took a lot of courage”), becoming grievously wounded. Baron Roland de Cornu takes notice of Benedictus—it is uncommon that a guard can read—and makes him a kind of personal assistant in his hunt for a traitor he is convinced has infiltrated the city and is aiding the French. The author weaves together fact and fiction in such a way that they are “happily married at the altar of Imagination,” deftly drawing from the town’s rich history. At the heart of the tale is its fascinating protagonist—on the one hand, Benedictus is a shiftless teen adrift in meandering irresoluteness, but on the other hand, he is a young man of great intelligence and honor capable of extraordinary bravery. The plot pinballs erratically at times from one dramatic episode to another, but from this cacophony of events emerges a coherent narrative, captured with great subtlety in Benedictus’ fictional memoir. Samson takes the reader on an edifying tour of a vanished world, and in the process beguiles with a thoroughly entertaining tale.
An engrossing blend of history and literary contrivance.Pub Date: April 14, 2024
ISBN: 9781732537255
Page Count: 276
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful.
January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape.
Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Told in four alternating voices—Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred—with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction. The three sympathetic refugees and their motley companions (especially an orphaned boy and an elderly shoemaker) make it clear that while the Gustloff was a German ship full of German civilians and soldiers during World War II, its sinking was still a tragedy. Only Alfred, stationed on the Gustloff, lacks sympathy; almost a caricature, he is self-delusional, unlikable, a Hitler worshiper. As a vehicle for exposition, however, and a reminder of Germany’s role in the war, he serves an invaluable purpose that almost makes up for the mustache-twirling quality of his petty villainy. The inevitability of the ending (including the loss of several characters) doesn’t change its poignancy, and the short chapters and slowly revealed back stories for each character guarantee the pages keep turning.
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful. (author’s note, research and sources, maps) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-16030-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
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