book review Archives - Lynn Bryant’s Writing with Labradors

23rd April 202523rd April 2025

Searching for the Last Anglo-Saxon King by Paula Lofting

Searching for the Last Anglo-Saxon King by Paula Lofting has the subtitle Harold Godwinson- England’s Golden Warrior. That probably gives a clue as to Ms Lofting’s overall view of her subject, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a well-researched historical biography which looks at Harold from all angles. It is. The author has managed to combine some impressive research with a well-told story about a somewhat neglected historical character.

Paula Lofting has previously been known as a novelist, having published two books in a series set in Anglo-Saxon England during the years leading up to the Battle of Hastings. Presumably this led to her first foray into historical biography. There is something of a novelist’s colloquial style in this book, which makes it entertaining and easy to read.

Ms Lofting handles her research very well, giving a straightforward account of the sources available for this period and the biases of the various chronicles. She presents the different arguments in an even-handed manner but isn’t afraid to give her own opinion about the most likely course of events while acknowledging the historical uncertainty.

The book is detailed, but broken down not only into chapters but also into sub headings. I found this surprising at first but it actually makes light work of some of the more dense chapters about Harold’s family background.

Above all, this is a fascinating and entertaining account of the last Anglo-Saxon king which presents him as a leader, a family man and a man of his time. I suspect Harold is one of those historical characters that many people have heard of but few know much about. Ms Lofting’s Harold Godwinson is so much more than the man who died at the Battle of Hastings and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It may be her first journey into historical biography but I hope it is not her last.

28th October 2024

The Last Duel by James Spivey

The Last Duel by James Spivey: a review

The Last Duel is the debut novel of James Spivey and takes place against the backdrop of Victorian England and the bloody battlefields of the Crimean War. It’s a fast-paced tale of family feuds, star-crossed lovers and the kind of military incompetence that is hard to believe and at times even harder to read.

Spivey’s style is energetic and keeps the story moving along. He has clearly done a lot of research but manages to keep military detail from swamping his narrative. He freely acknowledges his love of traditional historical fiction, particularly the Flashman series and there are a few delicately dropped references to other books which were fun to spot. This isn’t a copy though, or even a tribute.

What I liked about the book was the characterisation. Spivey’s characters, both real and fictional are lively, entertaining and believable. It’s easy to over-write feuding brothers into caricatures of good and evil, but Harry and Jack Paget are both flawed and at times both vulnerable.

It is his portrayal of his female characters that really impressed me. For anyone who has read her diaries, Fanny Duberly is clearly a gift to any historical novelist and Spivey makes the most of her. It is Eliza however who steals the show, and to some extent runs away with the book.

All in all, a thoroughly good first novel and I hope to see more from James Spivey in the future.

The Last Duel is available on Amazon on both Kindle and Paperback

9th August 202412th September 2024

Quicksilver Captain by Jacqueline Reiter

Quicksilver Captain by Jacqueline Reiter is the story of Sir Home Popham, a fascinating and little known naval officer of the late-eighteenth and early nineteenth century. This is the second historical biography by Dr Jacqueline Reiter and it tells the story of an extraordinary man, extraordinarily well.

Popham’s career must have been a challenge to research and to write. His story is not that of dramatic battles or naval glory. He doesn’t feature in any of the huge paintings of the era and if he is known at all today, it is for his signalling system. However Popham was a brilliant, mercurial and versatile officer who was known as much for his spectacular mistakes as for his successes.

Dr Reiter does a brilliant job of capturing the quixotic nature of Popham. She writes with a balanced pen, showing her subject’s shady side along with his undoubted talents. She also manages to draw out his vulnerabilities along with his arrogance. The Popham she depicts must have driven his fellow officers, his commanders and the politicians who employed him completely mad at times. However, his achievements show flashes of genuine brilliance and the author paints a nuanced picture of his virtues and his flaws.

I loved this book. Having already researched Popham for my own work, I found this biography well-researched, well-written and hugely entertaining. Dr Reiter has the rare knack of combining scholarship and storytelling in her work. This makes Popham’s story appealing to navy specialists, general historians and readers who love a well-told tale.

Absolutely fabulous and highly recommended. I can’t wait to find out her next subject.

19th June 202219th June 2022

Tangled Spirits by Kate Shanahan: reviewed by Lynn Bryant

Tangled Spirits by Kate Shanahan is a historical time-travel novel set in tenth century Japan. It is utterly off the grid for me and turned out to be the best book I’ve read for ages.

I heard of this book through the Historical Writers Forum as it was about to be published and I’ve no idea what made me decide to try it, as I know very little about Japanese history. I’m really glad I did.

The plot revolves around two young women. Mina is an American student, currently studying in Japan while Masako is an aspiring shaman in the tenth century, dabbling in magic after the death of her mother. The result is that Mina is drawn into Masako’s body and the two girls have to find a way to co-exist while working out how to get Mina back home.

The plot is relatively simple but the world that Mina finds herself in is rich, complex and beautifully drawn. Fictional characters blend easily into a brilliantly researched historical landscape and rub shoulders effortlessly with real historical characters.

The author writes really well and has a talent for characterisation. She manages to convey the different personalities of the two girls. Mina and Masako both have strengths and faults and can both be exasperating at times, which makes them endearingly human.

The complicated world of the Japanese court and the unfamiliar culture are very well described but the author manages not to allow her deep knowledge of the history overwhelm the story. By the end of the book, I was rooting for Mina to get back home while at the same time saddened by the impending separation from her spiritual partner. Even the denouement back in the modern world, which could have been trite, worked really well.

The author provides a great deal of historical explanation at the end of the book which can be easily skipped but which is great for a nerd like me who always wants to know which bits were real. The answer was a surprising amount. I have huge admiration for the way Kate Shanahan has woven her fictional story into known history to create a fabulous tapestry of a novel.

Highly recommended.