History of British Baking

 A History of British Baking: From Blood Bread to Bake-Off- Emma Kay

Pen & Sword

Release Date: December 7, 2020

Rating:

📚📚📚

Synopsis: The British have been baking for centuries. Here, for the first time, is a comprehensive account of how our relationship with this much-loved art has changed, evolved and progressed over time.

Renowned food historian and author, Emma Kay, skillfully combines the related histories of Britain's economy, innovation, technology, health, cultural and social trends with the personal stories of many of the individuals involved with the whole process: the early pioneers, the recipe writers, the cooks, the entrepreneurs. The result is a deliciously fascinating read, one that will prove to be juicer than the juiciest of juicy baked goods.

___________________________________________________________________________

In A History of British Baking: From Blood Bread to Bake-Off food historian Emma Kay gives readers a well-researched history of baking in England.  The general focus remains on bread- that staple no matter the social class- but pastries, tarts, and cakes are all included.  This is a history of the social, technological, and cultural changes in Britain from Roman occupancy to the present day as seen through baking.  Where did certain foods originate?  How did they come to Britain? How did baking change over the centuries? How did travel, trade, and conquest influence baking?  Kay traces it all back as far as possible, and does an excellent job of including the influence of immigrants on baking in Britain.  I particularly enjoyed the early chapters where she includes mentions of bread in early literature and describes the superstitions surrounding bread through medieval England.  She also includes some historical recipes ranging from medieval pies to Waldorf pudding to mooncakes.  This is not primarily a recipe book, but the included recipes add an extra element- especially the early recipes that are clearly written to feed a whole castle!

The copy I read was an advance copy and I have to hope that additional editing takes place before the book is finally released. While there was a general timeline to the book the writing was often disjointed, bouncing back and forth in time and making some of the historical progress hard to follow. Additionally, plenty of unfinished sentences made some of Kay's ideas hard to follow. She also tends to bounce from topic to topic and might have almost done better following, for example, the history of pies in one chapter and pastries in another.  You can see why she didn't though, the social and legal trends for baking we see apply to all aspects of British baking and make more sense in a chronological order. Still, more editing and tighter writing would have greatly improved the presentation of this fascinating food history.

Overall Kay's writing is accessible to all, a casual academic style that will appeal to casual readers as well as serious academic food historians.  She writes as if speaking to the reader, sharing stories and opinions with the same ease as she traces the historical origins of hardtack.  This well-researched and highly interesting book will appeal to bakers, food historians, and those just interested in learning a little more about British history as seen through its bakes.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Ten Things I Hate About the Duke

 

Ten Things I Hate About The Duke (Difficult Dukes #2)- Loretta Chase

Avon

Release Date: December 1, 2020

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Cassandra Pomfret holds strong opinions she isn’t shy about voicing. But her extremely plain speaking has caused an uproar, and her exasperated father, hoping a husband will rein her in, has ruled that her beloved sister can’t marry until Cassandra does.

  

Now, thanks to a certain wild-living nobleman, the last shreds of Cassandra’s reputation are about to disintegrate, taking her sister’s future and her family’s good name along with them. 

  

The Duke of Ashmont’s looks make women swoon. His character flaws are beyond counting. He’s lost a perfectly good bride through his own carelessness. He nearly killed one of his two best friends. Still, troublemaker that he is, he knows that damaging a lady’s good name isn’t sporting.

  

The only way to right the wrong is to marry her…and hope she doesn’t smother him in his sleep on their wedding night.

________________________________________________________________

London's Society considers Cassandra Pomfret a shrew, a hoyden, a virago, and a gorgon.  In other words, she's intelligent and not willing to pretend otherwise for the sake of delicate male sensibilities. She stands up for others, is interested in political reforms that will help the poor, and doesn't suffer fools- at all.  This includes the man she once had a childhood crush on, the Duke of Ashmont.  She thought he would grow up to be a hero, a man who could accomplish great things to help others.  Instead, he doesn't seem to have grown up at all.  He and his friends are known for outrageous pranks, drinking, fighting, and doing nothing useful with their lives.  When these two meet as adults, will the stars align or things explode?

Cassandra is a great character- a woman who is unapologetically intelligent, fearless, and believes in helping others.  She doesn't play Society's games and so Society shuns her, and she's alright with that. She helps the poor, fights with umbrellas (as weapons, not opponents), and is loyal to those she loves. And while she has no use for useless degenerates, she's fair enough to see when someone has potential- like the Duke of Ashmont.  He unknowingly broke her heart as a young lady, now she isn't going to just hand it over because he says so. She's confident enough in herself and her worth to make him earn it.

I had trouble warming up to Ashmont, who definitely doesn't come across very well in the beginning.  A drunk, a fighter, a man who seems to drown any intellect he has.  He doesn't cause trouble maliciously, but he doesn't generally think of others as he goes through life.  At first glance, not much of a hero.  But he does what so few others are willing to do- he tries to become worthy of the woman he's decided to marry.  Leave off the drinking so he can actually think.  Try to behave around the Royal family no matter how boring that makes things.  And actually listen to the lady he's falling in love with, think about what she says and what is important to her, and discover that it is also important to him.  Ashmont doesn't change to become someone he isn't for the sake of a woman, he becomes who he was always meant to be. 

Full of humor, lively dialogue, and sparkling wit, Ten Things I Hate About the Duke is a satisfying and fulfilling story and a lovely romance.  I will definitely be reading Loretta Chase's other books while waiting for the next book in this series! 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Archangel's Sun

 

Archangel's Sun (Guild Hunters #13)- Nalini Singh

Berkley Publishing

Release Date: November 24, 2020

Rating:📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis:The Archangel of Death and the Archangel of Disease may be gone but their legacy of evil lives on—especially in Africa, where the shambling, rotting creatures called the reborn have gained a glimmer of vicious intelligence.

It is up to Titus, archangel of this vast continent, to stop the reborn from spreading across the world. Titus can’t do it alone, but of the surviving powerful angels and archangels, large numbers are wounded, while the rest are fighting a surge of murderous vampires.

There is no one left . . . but the Hummingbird. Old, powerful, her mind long a broken kaleidoscope. Now, she must stand at Titus’s side against a tide of death upon a discovery more chilling than any other. For the Archangel of Disease has left them one last terrible gift . . . .

_______________________________________________________________

In the aftermath of war, the survivors are left to pick up the pieces.  When archangels fight, that takes on a whole new meaning.  Archangels Lijuan and Charisemmnon may be dead but their legacy continues in the flesh-eating, zombie-like reborn creatures infesting the world- in particular, Africa.  Archangel Titus and his people have been fighting them nonstop since the war's end but need more help to turn the tide.  Help comes from an unlikely source: the Hummingbird.  An Ancient who lost millennia trapped in the broken kaleidoscope of her mind, she is known and revered as a great artist.  But now that she is fully awake, the Hummingbird proves equal to any task set to her.  Perhaps even gaining the love of an archangel.

 The world is rebuilding from war, but also the Hummingbird, Lady Sharine, is rebuilding her life after centuries spent in her own broken mind. Here we learn her past, and the traumas that caused her to retreat from life.  And here we (and she) learn who the Lady Sharine truly is. A woman of strength and humor, courage and tenderness, she turns out to be the perfect person to help Titus and his people.  It is wonderful to see her become herself, to discover her strengths and what she can do to help not only the world, but the people who she loves.

Just as Sharine is not who we necessarily expect her to be, Titus has layers and hidden depths that make him a brilliant general, a compassionate leader, and a good man.  He's more than the loud and gruff soldier we met in earlier books, but is far too used to his own way.  Watching him spar words with Sharine, and his reactions as she treats him just like anyone else instead of the Archangel of Africa, is entertaining every time.

  

As you would expect from a book by Nalini Singh, Archangel's Sun is beautifully written, intense, and thought-provoking. The relationship that develops between Titus and Sharine is wonderful, and the scenes between Sharine and her sons (adopted and born) are beautiful.  The reader sees the world through the eyes of an artist, and descriptions of the land and its people are rich in color and beauty.  Archangel's Sun picks up after the events of Archangel's War and it will definitely help the reader to have read that book, if not others, before starting this one.  But if this is the first Guild Hunter book someone is starting with, while a few of the people referenced won't mean anything to them already, Archangel's Sun is still a fascinating and intense story of rebuilding life. A must read!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Gentleman Jim

 

Gentleman Jim- Mimi Matthews

Perfectly Proper Press

Release Date: November 10, 2020

Caution: Spoilers! (sort of)

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Wealthy squire's daughter Margaret Honeywell was always meant to marry her neighbor, Frederick Burton-Smythe, but it's bastard-born Nicholas Seaton who has her heart. Raised alongside her on her father's estate, Nicholas is the rumored son of notorious highwayman Gentleman Jim. When Fred frames him for theft, Nicholas escapes into the night, vowing to find his legendary sire. But Nicholas never returns. A decade later, he's long been presumed dead.

After years spent on the continent, John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare has finally come home to England. Tall, blond, and dangerous, he's on a mission to restore his family's honor. If he can mete out a bit of revenge along the way, so much the better. But he hasn't reckoned for Maggie Honeywell. She's bold and beautiful--and entirely convinced he's someone else. 

As danger closes in, St. Clare is torn between love and vengeance. Will he sacrifice one to gain other? Or, with a little daring, will he find a way to have them both?

__________________________________________________________________

Wealthy Margaret Honeywell grew up alongside neighbor Frederick Burton-Smythe and stablehand Nicholas Seaton.  She's always disliked the one and loved the other.  When Fred frames Nicholas for theft, she helps Nicholas escape and he leaves promising to come back to her.  Ten years later she is in the difficult position of having to marry Fred -who has only grown worse with age- or see her fortune and estate pass into his hands and leave her nothing.  Then the appearance on the scene of the mysterious John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare, changes everything. Maggie is certain he is her long-lost love Nicholas. St. Clare denies it, but proceeds to court her and drive Fred to increasing levels of cruel antagonism.  St. Clare's right to inherit the title and estate of his grandfather is being questioned by distant relations and he should be keeping his focus on dealing with that.  But Maggie changes all of his plans and now he must decide who he is, and what he is willing to do- and to give up- to be that man.

Author Mimi Matthews (Work of Art) has once again written a book that enthralls and entertains from start to finish.  She's admitted that Gentleman Jim has some Count of Monte Cristo inspirations and I enjoyed every one of those moments.  That knowledge means that it won't surprise readers familiar with the story to know that St. Clare and Nicholas are the same person.  But there's much more to the story of Nicholas and his origins than that and one of the questions that keeps readers guessing is: how much of St. Clare/Nicholas is fiction and how much is truth?  He grows into an intelligent, cold, and calculating planner with an obvious path set out, but how much is his plan and how much his (supposed) grandfather's?  Trying to keep up with the secrets and machinations of the Beresford men kept me guessing all the way to the end, which I very much enjoyed. Maggie may be one of my favorite Matthews' heroines- a strong woman willing to overcome obstacles, believing unconditionally in her love even when she isn't always able to believe in herself or see her way out of a situation. She's willing to accept help from friends (unlike so many headstrong characters), take risks, and when in doubt, use a pistol to great effect.

 I also loved the relationship between Maggie and St. Clare. These are two people who are meant to be together, and who have a soul-deep understanding despite being separated by ten years, a continent, and endless secrets.  Their chemistry is perfect, and their connection perhaps shows readers that there are times when people are just meant to be together.

From shadowy taverns to glittering ballrooms, Gentleman Jim is a winner from start to finish. Wonderful characters with electrical chemistry, revenge, adventure, and fortunes hanging in the balance, this is a perfect book to read and re-read. This is Mimi Matthews at her finest! 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Solitude of Wolverines

 

A Solitude of Wolverines- Alice Henderson

William Morrow

Release Date: October 27, 2020

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: While studying wolverines on a wildlife sanctuary in Montana, biologist Alex Carter is run off the road and threatened by locals determined to force her off the land.

Undeterred in her mission to help save this threatened species, Alex tracks wolverines on foot and by cameras positioned in remote regions of the preserve. But when she reviews the photos, she discovers disturbing images of an animal of a different kind: a severely injured man seemingly lost and wandering in the wilds.

After searches for the unknown man come up empty, local law enforcement is strangely set on dismissing the case altogether, raising Alex’s suspicions. Then another invasive predator trespasses onto the preserve. The hunter turns out to be another human—and the prey is the wildlife biologist herself. Alex realizes too late that she has seen too much—she's stumbled onto a far-reaching illegal operation and now has become the biggest threat.

In this wild and dangerous landscape, Alex’s life depends on staying one step ahead—using all she knows about the animal world and what it takes to win the brutal battle for survival.

_____________________________________________________________________

Anyone who thinks protecting endangered species and their habitats is for the meek and mild will change their minds within the first few pages of Alice Henderson's thriller A Solitude of Wolverines.  Wildlife biologist Alex Carter needs a change of pace from her current life: the city of Boston, a spoiled and obnoxious boyfriend who's "taking a break" from their relationship, and the trauma of nearly being killed at a wildlife preserve press conference.  So when a land trust calls asking her to fill in for their biologist while he's dealing with a family emergency she jumps at a wonderful opportunity.  Months in relative solitude at an abandoned ski resort surveying the preserve and looking for wolverines sounds like just what she needs.  The small town locals are against the land trust and Alex quickly finds herself the town's least favorite person.  But is it more than a rich cattle rancher wanting the land for himself? Stories of poachers, hotel murderers, and Sasquatch quickly become the least of Alex's problems as she stumbles across an operation with some very sick plans for the preserve, and no problem removing Alex from their path by any means necessary.

A Solitude of Wolverines is an edge-of-your-seat thriller written in a fast-paced, descriptive style that plays like a movie inside your head.  Author Alice Henderson does a brilliant job taking her personal experiences doing wildlife surveys and her obvious passion for protecting endangered species and their habitats to create her heroine Alex Carter, filling her with a love of nature and the drive to try and save it that can't be faked. The environment around her, beautiful, lonely, often harsh and unforgiving, becomes as much of a character as any of the people and Henderson is brilliant at putting the reader right alongside Alex all the way. Alex is a problem-solver; a planner; and the sort of kick-ass, enterprising, resourceful person you would want on your side in any situation.  In short, she's rather like a wolverine's kindred spirit, although she doesn't see herself that way.  Her character development throughout the book is well done and I look forward to seeing where the author takes her next.

I freely admit that I picked up this book because of the title (I am an unapologetic lover of all members of the weasel family so when they show up on the cover of a book or in the title I'm going to read it) but I stayed with it for the story.  Fascinating, suspenseful, with moments of peace and beauty followed by explosive, nail-biting drama, this book had it all. Twists with characters you don't see coming, and a secondary plot twist (both unexpected and brilliant) that promises to stay with Alex many books into the future.  I'm not giving anything away to say that we do get to see wolverines and I cheered when we did.  People who don't know anything about this large member of the weasel family will get to learn about them without feeling preached to and Henderson puts a nice bibliography in the back to direct readers to excellent sources for learning more about wolverines and how to help them.

Fans of authors like Nevada Barr and C. J. Box will enjoy this new voice on the wilderness thriller scene.  A Solitude of Wolverines is non-stop action, suspense, and surprises and you won't be able to put it down once you start!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

World Beneath the Sands

A World Beneath the Sands: The Golden Age of Egyptology- Toby Wilkinson

W.W. Norton & Co.

Release Date: October 20, 2020

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: From the decipherment of hieroglyphics in 1822 to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon a hundred years later, the uncovering of Egypt’s ancient past took place in an atmosphere of grand adventure and international rivalry.

In A World Beneath the Sands, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans, and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt’s ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people, and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too. Travelers and treasure-hunters, ethnographers and archaeologists: whatever their motives, whatever their methods, a century of adventure and scholarship revealed a lost world, buried for centuries beneath the sands.

____________________________________________________________________

In A World Beneath the Sands Toby Wilkinson explores the beginnings of Egyptology.  Starting with Napoleon's Egyptian campaign- which produced no successes for the French army, but widespread fascination with Egypt from the cultural point of view, and finding the famous Rosetta Stone- and stretching on for more than 100 years to Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Wilkinson offers readers a meticulously well-researched account of European fascination with Egypt's cultural past.  From Champollion to Carter, Mariette to Petrie, A World Beneath the Sands explores the methods, discoveries, and motives of the early European archaeologists.  Many came to make great discoveries and become famous, others for the thrill of knowledge, and a disturbing number came as little more than glorified treasure hunters.  A few, like Petrie, worked hard to establish methods that would record each discovery as it was found.  Many more, especially early on, were more than happy to chisel out the pieces they wanted from walls or tombs or literally dynamite out their 'prizes'. The dark history of European museum collections like those found in the Louvre and the British Museum is brought into the light here.  

It is easy to read A World Beneath the Sands as a series of adventures and dramas, ruthless battles between (primarily) the French and English for control of, and preeminence in, the cultural knowledge of ancient Egypt. From amateur adventurers to dedicated philologists seeking to unravel the mysteries of Egypt's hieroglyphics, scientific approaches to archaeology are late to the scene and there are plenty of cringe-worthy stories of removing artifacts, obelisks, and temple pieces. Culture clashes, imperialist agendas and debates on who can best care for a culture's history are all brought up, and I thought Wilkinson did a good job of presenting the facts without pressing his own opinion.  At the same time, the facts presented rather speak for themselves.  

A World Beneath the Sands does an excellent job of telling the story of Europe's discovery of and fascination with Egypt.  It is a readable, comprehensive, and accessible account of over 100 years of discovery that never shies away from the harsher results of Europe's imperialistic approach to Egypt's ancient past. 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Domestic Revolution

 

The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything- Ruth Goodman

W.W. Norton/Liveright

Release Date: October 20, 2020

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the twenty-first-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than morning tea: it might even have kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Wielding the wit and passion seen in How to Be a Victorian, Goodman traces the tectonic shift from wood to coal in the mid-sixteenth century—from sooty trials and errors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the totally smog-clouded reign of Queen Victoria. A pattern of innovation emerges as the women stoking these fires also stoked new global industries: from better soap to clean smudges to new ingredients for cooking. Laced with uproarious anecdotes of Goodman’s own experience managing a coal-fired household, this fascinating book shines a hot light on the power of domestic necessity.

__________________________________________________________________

The lives of ordinary people can change the world. The domestic lives of those who history tends to ignore in favor of battles and grand conquests can, and does, influence far more than one might imagine.  This is Ruth Goodman's premise in The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything.  And she makes a more than convincing argument that the switch from wood burning to coal burning in England, starting around 1600 (despite the subtitle crediting the Victorians) did in fact change everything in Britain.  Goodman specializes in living history and has decades of personal experience in wood burning and coal burning- how to burn, how to cook, and how to clean- that she shares to help flesh out the changes she describes.

Goodman introduces readers to the changing methods of heating homes and cooking by describing how peat, animal dung, wood, and coal all burn differently in a slightly tedious (yet still surprisingly interesting) beginning chapter.  Things pick up after that as she explains how homes and furniture changed due to changing heating methods, from rushes and pallets to high standing beds and chairs.  The unique British foods like puddings, boiled everything, and mushy peas are explained through a surprisingly simple answer: coal fires and wood fires cook foods differently. Cleaning homes and laundry are gone into in fascinating detail. This all might sound boring to some, but I found it fascinating. This detailed look into the lives of ordinary people- especially the women and servants who rarely left written accounts and whose lives must be guessed at through different approaches- gave me a great appreciation for what it would have been like to live in Britain in the past few centuries.

The Domestic Revolution is a fascinating, well-researched, and well-written book that will appeal to historians, students, casual readers, and anyone interested in how the lives of ordinary people changed with the popularizing of coal burning fires.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review