Page 42 - November-December Together

TOGETHER NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2021

FICTION FILES Fiction Files with Anne Rogers

Anne Rogers reviews three very different
books in genre, style, and time.

Pelagia by Steve Holloway The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson

Do you ever start reading a book which looks Young widow Addie Hoult sets out for Tonquin
intriguing, find it surprisingly hard work at Lake, looking for the mysterious and elusive
first, and then get completely drawn in? That’s Tonquin family. Charlie Tonquin, the man Addie
exactly what happened to me with Pelagia. I sees as a father-figure, is dying and urgently
used to read a lot of science fiction and this needs a bone marrow transplant. But Charlie
book reminds me why, with its oceanic world refuses to talk about his past or his family, and
which is so expansively and compellingly the Tonquins have long since disappeared from
described. For me, the ocean region of Pelagia the grand house above the lake.
and the nomadic vessel Osse and the family
it carries are the real stars and points of In the 1940s, American Quaker Grace Tonquin
difference of this book. is desperately trying to rescue Jewish children
in France. She crosses the Pyrenees with the Anne Rogers
Steve Holloway has created a book which is children and escapes into Spain, taking two of
as much a thriller as it is science fiction. Set them on to the USA. She and her husband love
in the near future, we meet Ben Holden, ex the children as their own, but events from the the mountains. At times I found it a
special forces, who is the key to unlocking past slowly tear the family apart. challenge to keep up with who was who, but
information needed by the deadly New this is a good read with depth and quality in
Caliphate who will stop at nothing to find him. Can Addie discover what happened to Grace’s the storytelling.
Ben’s past has been traumatic, and as he family after the war? Are any of them still The Barrister and the Letter of Marque
begins to recover he will need to learn who he alive? And can the search help both Charlie by Todd M Johnson
can trust. And perhaps even love. and Addie heal?
In 1818, William Snopes is a barrister in
This is a book which really feels like something This is an unusual book. It’s not a London, defending the poor against the rich.
different: fresh, beautifully written and straightforward ‘happy ending’ title but shows But that changes when Lady Madelaine
immersive both in subject and engagement. that the things which happen in a person’s Jameson pleads for help to save both a
It portrays good and evil very clearly, and life affect them long afterwards. There’s much man’s life and her estate.
both the people within its covers and the faith about family here, and most of it in non-
elements are interesting and believable. This traditional forms. There are elements on faith, Captain Tuttle sails the Padget under a Letter
is certainly not a cosy mystery. The thriller hope and restoration, and this is a book where of Marque – a document allowing him to
elements aren’t watered down. A genuine all the characters have their flaws as well as seize the cargo of French traders operating
page-turner, it is well worth persevering with strengths. I first thought this a ‘WWII’ novel, illegally. Lady Madelaine has invested heavily
if you too find the beginning a bit hard going. I but it’s about so much more than Grace and in the Padget, and the ship’s return to
would love to read another novel set in Pelagia. the children’s escape from the Nazis across London laden with tea taken from a French
vessel is the answer to her prayers. But on
arrival the vessel and her crew are seized
and Captain Tuttle imprisoned under a charge
of piracy, and the Letter of Marque which can
prove his innocence has vanished.
Despite his hesitation, Snopes agrees to take
the case. But he has formidable opponents,
who think nothing of murdering those who
get in their way.

This is a novel full of intrigue, in a very well
depicted and atmospheric Dickens-esque
setting. It’s a complicated and clever mystery
with many twists, multiple layers and a
superb cast of characters who are all well-
developed, some of whom I’d like to know
more about in future stories. There are a few
Americanisms here and there – the dreaded
‘gotten’ and ‘block’ for example – but this
ISBN 9781782643395/Lion ISBN 9781496444226/ ISBN 9780764212369/ is a story which can easily rise above a few
Fiction/Steve Holloway/416 pp/ TyndaleHouse Publishers/ Bethany House/Todd M Johnson/ glitches with the overall quality of the writing.
PB/£9.99/available Melanie Dobson/384 pp/ 384 pp/PB/£11.99/available
PB/£12.99 Jan22 Highly recommended.
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