The Married Girls (The Girl With No Name #2)

Wynsdown, 1949. In the small Somerset village of Wynsdown, Charlotte Shepherd is happily married to farmer Billy. She arrived from Germany on the Kindertransport as a child during the war and now feels settled in her adopted home.

Meanwhile, the squire's fighter pilot son, Felix, has returned to the village with a fiancée in tow. Daphne is beautiful, charming... and harbouring secrets. After meeting during the war, Felix knows some of Daphne's past, but she has worked hard to conceal that which could unravel her carefully built life.

For Charlotte, too, a dangerous past is coming back in the shape of fellow refugee, bad boy Harry Black. Forever bound by their childhoods, Charlotte will always care for him, but Harry's return disrupts the village quiet and it's not long before gossip spreads.

The war may have ended, but for these girls, trouble is only just beginning.

*May Contain Spoilers*

After WWII, England was in a time of rebuilding and her citizens were trying to move on with their lives. The Married Girls, the second in the series by Diney Costeloe, presents interwoven stories that explore marriage, love, family, finances, and loss after the war had ended focusing on members of a small village in Somerset.

Charlotte is the main character of the book and it seems that all other story lines revolve around her. She was a German refugee during the war and was taken in by foster parents during it. In this book, Charlotte (whose German name was Lisa) is married with two children. She's a strong character whose two main qualities are beauty and kindness. Many of the villagers like Charlotte and her sweet, caring nature are demonstrated with how she treats those around her. Through the novel, Charlotte has to face a few difficult situations and how she reacts to and handles these events define her strength and highlight her resolve. Readers will connect with Charlotte through her personality first and her reaction to events second. As the life she built seems to crumble in the second half of the book, readers will not only be cheering for Charlotte's emotional survival, they'll be hoping for a happy ending. 

Billy, Felix, Harry, and Daphne are the main supporting cast of characters. Billy is Charlotte's husband and is an amazing father to their children. Though he does present a bit of jealousy when Harry returns to visit Charlotte. Harry Black (also known as Victor) is a member of the criminal world. He's been hiding in Australia for a few years, hoping the England Police have forgotten him. He returns to finish up a bit of business for his dying boss and is emotionally pushed to find Charlotte again. This creates a cloud of gossip around Charlotte and marks the beginning of her struggles. 

Felix and Daphne are engaged (and married in the later parts of the book), but their relationship is one built on lies. Daphne wants to be happily married to a rich man that can provide her every wish. She sets her eyes on Felix and does everything she can to marry him. Yet, Daphne doesn't get the life she thought she would and starts to resent Felix. Her biggest secret, the fact that she has a daughter, threatens to come out and Daphne does everything in her power to keep it under wraps. Daphne is not a likeable character and readers will hope that Felix somehow escapes from her grasp. Felix is a  good, kindhearted, caring, and dependable man. When his father dies unexpectedly, he moves back to Wynsdown to care for his mother and restore the family estate. Though his married life is full of unhappiness, he tries to make it work. I think readers will feel a strong connection to Felix, as he certainly doesn't deserve the kind of treatment Daphne provides. 

The Married Girls follows the relationships of these characters as they rebuild their lives after the ending of the war. By focusing on the character's lives, this book provides readers with strong connections to its characters.  There are several side plots that build the action and evoke emotional responses from readers. Yet, the main focus of the story is love. By the end, readers will see that this whole novel has really only been about two characters who find happiness and peace with each other. However, the ending is a bit abrupt and I felt like I didn't get a sense of closure for all the characters. As this is the second in the series, I can't help but wonder if there will be a third installment. With Costeloe's writing style and her power to bring the past to life, accurately and thoroughly evoking the emotional and lifestyle struggles of the time period, I would definitely recommend this book as well as be excited to read anything else by this author. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

Seventh Night

A romantic, comic, action, adventure fantasy in which a princess attempts to marry a prince while someone has set out to sabotage their wedding and the resulting alliance.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Iscah begins the real fairy tale with her novel, Seventh Night, which was introduced by The Girl With No Name. When Seventh Night, a young princess, rushes to the kingdom of her betrothed prince, Kaleb, she inserts herself into a horrible situation. Her prince is poisoned and lays sleeping, moments from death. She sets off to find the mythic Sorceress who is said to inhabit the desert with her newly acquired friend, Phillip, and the twin brother her fiance never mentioned, Neithan, in hopes that the Sorceress will be able to find a cure for her prince. 

All four, Neithan, Kaleb, Seventh Night, and Phillip share the story as main characters. Neithan is a quiet and reserved brawny prince who is nothing but fluid, adapting quickly to every situation. He is incredibly reliable and forthright with his morality. To readers, he comes off as a bit standoffish at first glance, but as the story evolves, Neithan becomes the prince fit to be a king. 

Kaleb is the complete opposite. He is flirtatious and charming, apt to strike up conversation and cheer wherever he goes. But he has a darker side, which he hides quite well, even if everything he does is for the good of the kingdom. 

Seventh Night is a princess that isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Even if it means pretending to be a messenger or dressing like a soldier. She's open to true love and wants her life to be filled with just that. Readers will like her forward-thinking personality even if she does come across as a bit naive. 

Phillip is a melting pot of characteristics. He's brave when he needs to be, intelligent in a tricky situation, thoughtful at all times, and is quickly falling in love with Seventh Night. He not only saves her life (twice at least) but the life of her fiance, Kaleb. He is also the brains behind every idea that turns out good. Readers will enjoy his strength of character and connect with his adventurous nature. 

The plot of Seventh Night begins with Kaleb being poisoned, follows the characters on a trek through the desert to find the Sorceress, and ends with the adventure of saving Seventh Night from a treacherous, deceitful plan. With the style of a storybook, fairy tale creatures, and imaginative adventure, Seventh Night is a novel that awakens the believing child within its readers. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

November Wrap-Up

Didn't get as many books read as I would have liked this month, but with the holidays I guess that's to be expected. My favorite this month was The Girl Who Played With Fire. Can't wait to finish off the Stieg Larsson series soon. Happy reading! 

WWW Wednesday (76)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

          

01. Currently Reading:
The Samaritan's Pistol by Eric Bishop. A novel that introduces a Wyoming rancher into the world of the Vegas Mafia.

02. Recently Finished:
The Girl With No Name by Iscah. The beginning of a new fairy tale with a girl who has the ability of magic.

03. Reading Next:
Seventh Night by Iscah. The continuation of The Girl With No Name, when the fairy tale really begins.

The Girl With No Name

Banished from her village, a young shape shifter sets out on a journey to find her place in the world...

The first of four "Before the Fairytale" stories, "The Girl With No Name" is told in a deceptively simple storybook style with the flavor of an original Grimm's fable, but don't expect your typical once upon a time scenario. This is a coming of age tale humorously interwoven with social commentary.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Iscah gives her fairy tale an enchanting beginning with her novel, The Girl With No Name. A young girl, a shape-shifter, begins her adventure by leaving behind a village that never accepted her to find her father. When she finds him as nothing more than a stone in a cemetery, she decides to continue on in search of knowledge. She craves the knowledge of the magic she possesses and soon decides to become the greatest sorceress the world has ever known. 

The girl, who never chooses nor discovers her name (at least in this book), is rambunctious, brave, meddlesome, and inherently good. She passes out magical medicines and potions to help other people. She cures a blind man, giving him the ability to see once again, creating a reputation that perfectly precedes her. The fact that this main character has no name gives her a universally open connection to readers. She could be anyone, anything, which allows readers to form an immediate, magical bond. 

The plot of this book is to set up the fairy tale that will undoubtedly follow. Readers share the girl's journey to find her father, they watch her fall in love, help the people she comes into contact with, and essentially grow into herself. With no parental guardianship, no one there to guide her, the girl must rely on herself and the abilities that she was born with to make her way in the world. Readers will revel in her slight mistakes, her ever-growing quick wit, and the extraordinary journey she begins. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups