Recently, I wrote about rereading The Goldsmith's Daughter by Tanya Landman and looking out for more books by her. I almost didn't pick up Hell and High Water because the cover did not catch my eye. Only when I noticed the name of the writer did I pick up the book--and I'm so glad I did.Hell and High Water was just as good as Apache and The Goldsmith's Daughter. It is told from the point of view of a "darkie" Caleb, a boy of mixed race.When Caleb's Pa is transported as a convict for a crime he did not commit, Caleb learns of the existence of his aunt Anne, who Pa is sure will help him.The fifteen-year-old boy finds his aunt but is soon drawn into a wicked world where the wealthiest of criminals perform heinous deeds without being punished, while the poorest suffer for the slightest of crimes. Along with his aunt's … [Read more...]
On Rereading
As a child, I thought rereading books was a H*U*G*E waste of time. I devoured books, especially Enid Blytons, and later, Roald Dahls. I read the odd Richmal Crompton, went on to the classics - loved Five Children and It, pushed myself through others, left still others incomplete.But one thing I rarely did was reread. I did not have the time. Too many books, too little time, I kept telling myself.Then, at some stage, I realised that reading was not really a race. It was okay if I did not read every single good book in the world. At times, the comfort of a well-loved book was preferable to a foray into unknown territory, so I reread my Malory Towers and my Roald Dahls. I was growing older, so I read and reread Georgette Heyer and Mary Stewart and Dick Francis and Madeleine Brent. And eventually, I made my peace with "wasting" time rereading books I loved.Now, rereading a … [Read more...]
The Goldsmith’s Daughter
Yes, The Goldsmith's Daughter is the story of a girl restricted by her gender in a barbaric civilisation that is in conflict with another world with different beliefs.It is set in a moment in history when the Aztec civilisation must deal with Spanish invaders. The Aztecs need to accept that their emperor is, apparently, not the emperor of the world because there are people with peculiar features coming from across the ocean to the Aztec world.But I don't always find history fascinating. I don't typically spend hours researching and reading. And I knew next to nothing about the Aztecs when I began to read The Goldsmith's Daughter.Tanya Landman made the story come alive. There was no judgement in the voice that told me the story of the bloodshed required to feed the superstition that the sun battled with darkness each night to emerge whole the next morning. There was … [Read more...]