Review: The Briar Club (by Kate Quinn)

 My Rating: 4.5 stars

 

As I continue to work my way through my toppling summer reading TBR, I’ve been trying to prioritize works by my favorite authors first and foremost.  Last week, I finished the latest new release by Liz Moore (which I loved) and this week, it’s Kate Quinn’s turn.  I’ve read and loved most of Quinn’s 20^th century historical novels and her newest work, The Briar Club, is of course no exception.  This time around, Quinn takes on 1950s America at the height of McCarthy’s Red Scare, with both the Korean War as well as the aftermath of WWII playing minor roles in the backgrounds of a few of the characters.  At the center of the story is the Briarwood House, an all-female boardinghouse in Washington D.C., where, on Thanksgiving Day 1954, a murder has just taken place and the police are on-site investigating.  As the police get ready to interview witnesses (of whom there are many – the tenants of the boardinghouse as well as various friends and relatives), we are taken back through the past 4 years leading up to this point, starting from the day that mysterious widow Grace March moves into the closet-like room on the top floor and starts a Thursday night supper club that ends up drawing her eclectic mix of neighbors together.

 

The structure of the story is a unique one – in between a narrative that alternates between the perspectives of each of the characters where we learn their varying backstories, there are short interstitial sections that return us again and again to the present storyline in 1954, each time revealing more clues about the murder currently being investigated.  All these threads converge into an unexpected plot twist in the end that actually had me going back through some of the chapters trying to understand how I missed some of the clues that were staring me in the face. Also, one of the things I found different about this novel compared to Quinn’s previous ones is that the historical elements were more subtle, blended seamlessly into the various characters’ backstories to the point that you kind of have to pay close attention in order to notice them.  In this regard, Quinn’s Author Note – which she deliberately puts at the end of the book because it reveals spoilers from the story – is a must-read, as it provides much of the historical context for both the story as well as the characters.

 

Those who’ve read Quinn’s previous historical novels will notice that she went in a slightly different direction with this one (both story and structure-wise), but one aspect that’s a constant with her works is the focus on strong yet flawed female protagonists and the friendships (as well as rivalries) that are formed as the story progresses.  It is also worth mentioning that the tone of this novel overall is much lighter than that of Quinn’s past works, with some subtle humor interspersed throughout the story that is not usually present in her other novels.  The biggest indication of this, in my opinion, exists in the interstitial sections from the “present” 1954 timeline, which are all told from the perspective of the Briarwood boarding house (yes, you read that right – the house actually narrates those portions of the story) in contrast to the rest of the chapters which are told from the actual characters’ perspectives.  I found this narrative structure quite interesting and in this case, it worked well for the story that Quinn was trying to tell.

 

I definitely enjoyed this one, though admittedly, it’s not my favorite of Quinn’s novels (which has more to do with me than her, as this particular historical setting – 1950s America, specifically Washington D.C. amidst McCarthyism – is one that I’ve never been too keen on).  With that said, the writing is brilliant (as expected), but what blew me away the most is how Quinn wrote her characters – every single character has a distinctive personality as well as a unique backstory to match, yet the way the characters interact with each other when they come together as a group felt so natural.  These are characters that, when I got to the end of the story, I honestly did not want to part with and would’ve absolutely been happy reading more about them -- if Quinn ever decides to continue any of these characters’ stories in future works, I am totally there for it!

 

Received ARC from William Morrow via NetGalley.

Review: The Phoenix Crown (by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang)

My Rating:  4 stars

As a result of busy season at work and school starting for me, finding time for leisure reading has been quite difficult the past few weeks. Even so, I was able to squeeze in several ARCs that I had lined up to read in September, which, given the timing, I'm glad I was able to finish.

One of those ARCs is The Phoenix Crown, a new collaborative novel by two popular authors known for writing brilliant historical fiction: Kate Quinn and Janie Chang. I've been excited to read this book since I first heard about it earlier in the year, not only because of the interesting premise, but also because both authors have separately written works that I've loved, so of course, I went into this one with high hopes.  And in the end, it definitely did not disappoint.

Despite what the book summary might allude to, the narrative here isn't actually a dual timeline, as majority of the story takes place in 1906 — it is only in the last quarter of the book or so that the story fast forwards 6 years to 1912.  While the plot was not as riveting as I expected (a few scenes did feel a tad bit contrived), the historical details were superbly done — of course not a surprise given that both Quinn and Chang are established historical fiction authors.  One of the things I enjoyed most though was following the character arcs of the four women at the center of the story, all of whom had distinct personalities as well as fascinating backstories — though the character I would've been most interested in reading more about was Feng Suling, the skilled embroideress who hailed from San Francisco's Chinatown in the aftermath of the Chinese Exclusion Act.  The Author's Note at the end of the book is definitely a must-read, as both Quinn and Chang provide quite a bit of historical context for both the characters (several of whom were real people or based on real people) and the various events covered in the story.  It was also in the Author's Note that I learned about a reference in the story to Chang's previous novel The Porcelain Moon, which I had read earlier this year and really enjoyed (for me, its always fun to discover throwbacks and references to authors' prior works).

I don't want to say too much, as I don't want to give anything away, so I will just put my name in the hat to recommend reading this (and hope for another future collaboration between these two fantastic authors).  One thing to note is that the publication date on this book seems to have changed, as I originally had this as coming out this month (September 2023), but I recently noticed that there is now a finalized publication date in February 2024 (I mention this in case it matters for those interested in reading this one).  While waiting for another collaboration, I'm glad that both authors have plenty of works in their own respective oeuvres that I can continue to explore!

Received ARC from William Morrow via NetGalley.

Review: The Diamond Eye (by Kate Quinn)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

Kate Quinn has done it again!  This tremendously talented author (one of my favorites) has once again written another engrossing, transportive work of historical fiction with a strong, formidable female protagonist at its center.   In a provocative narrative based on the real life story of Lyudmila "Mila" Pavlichenko, a Russian librarian and history student turned deadly sniper, Quinn returns to the WWII time period of her previous novel, except this time, the focus is on the Soviet front and the physical battles fought during the war.  Mila's story is fascinating in its own right, but through her beautifully rendered prose, Quinn truly brings this little-known war heroine to life.  I love the way Quinn writes her characters in all her books and this time around was no exception.  With the character of Mila, I appreciated how, despite the moniker "Lady Death" and a tally of 309 kills to her name, the focus throughout most of the story wasn't really on her fame per se, but rather, on her humanity.   Mila was formidable, but never hostile, and in the face of everything she had to deal with — taking care of her son as a single mother, pushing back against the bias and prejudices she had to endure on a daily basis in her field of work, fending off those with bad intentions toward her, being tasked with defending her country against foreign advances, etc. — the tremendous strength and fortitude she consistently displayed was nothing short of admirable.

This was a meticulously researched, engaging story that I found difficult to put down.  I learned a lot about a segment of WWII history that I was less familiar with, which I appreciated, as I always hope to learn something from my reading experiences.   Kate Quinn's novels have all been 5 star reads for me up to this point and while this one was indeed wonderful, it did fall a tad bit short this time around, mostly because I felt parts of the story leaned a little too much into the technical aspects related to weaponry and battle, which has never been a subject of interest for me. Also, I felt the storyline involving Alexei went on for way too long, and the way he seemed to keep popping up all over the place honestly kind of annoyed me.

One thing I do have to mention — given the context of what is going on in the world currently involving Russia and Ukraine, it was honestly hard to read this book and not feel impacted in some way by the similarities of war.  This would be the one caution about reading this book during this time.  

That notwithstanding though, The Diamond Eye is a magnificent story that is absolutely well-worth the read.  Highly recommended!! 

Received ARC from William Morrow and Company via NetGalley.

Review: The Rose Code (by Kate Quinn)

My Rating: 5 stars

A few years ago, I had read author Kate Quinn's The Alice Network and absolutely loved it – to the point that both the story and its characters continued to stay with me for quite some time afterwards.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to read Quinn's follow up novel The Huntress (which I plan to rectify at some point) – which is why, when I was given the opportunity to read her latest release, The Rose Code, I jumped at the chance to do so, prioritizing it ahead of most of my March reads, despite the fact that, at 656 pages, I knew it would take me some time to get through.  Of course, given how much I enjoyed Quinn's previous work, I went into this one with high expectations and now, after having finished, I can say with certainty that it definitely didn't disappoint.   One of the things I loved about The Alice Network were the strong female protagonists at the center of the story  – indomitable women from different walks of life (with distinctly different personalities and flaws), who are brought together in unique ways to support the war effort.  This time around, the story involves 3 women who are recruited to work at Bletchley Park, a mysterious estate in the British countryside that was later revealed to be one of the main Allied code-breaking centers during WWII. 

 

Osla Kendall is a vibrant young debutante who seems to have everything her heart desires – wealth, beauty, a good education, a handsome boyfriend, etc. – yet she longs for one thing that had been elusive thus far:  the desire to prove herself as a woman with talent who should be taken seriously rather than constantly written off as a "silly" society girl.  It is this desire that motivates Osla to join Bletchley Park, where she hopes to use her fluency in languages, particularly in German, to help translate intercepted messages and contribute to the war effort on behalf of her country.   Mab Churt is a girl born into poverty whose impervious and determined nature helped her survive multiple hardships early on in her life.  Hoping to bury her past unpleasant experiences and create a better life for herself as well as her little sister Lucy, Mab joins BP hoping to find a socially advantageous husband while at the same time, putting her self-taught skills to good use.   After joining BP, both Osla and Mab end up billeting at the home of Beth Finch, a shy 24 year old who, up to that point, had been living under her strict, domineering mother's iron fist – after a lifetime of being told that she is "slow and useless" and therefore destined to forever remain under her mother's thumb, doing her bidding, Beth does not dare believe herself to be anything but incapable of survival outside of her home's four walls.  When Osla and Mab help Beth discover that she actually has a brilliant knack for solving the most difficult puzzles in a short amount of time, she also ends up joining BP, becoming one of the facility's very few female cryptanalysts. As these three women become close friends and colleagues, they encounter numerous challenges in their work, with the biggest one being the requirement to abide by an unbreakable oath of secrecy – an oath that tests the limits of their friendship and ultimately tears them apart..

 

In a bit of a unique narrative format, the story alternates between the perspectives of each of the 3 main characters as well as 2 different timelines spanning within the same decade.  The story kicks off in 1947, with the war over and a feverish joy in the air over the imminent royal wedding between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.  But not everyone has a reason to celebrate, as is hinted at when we are introduced to the 3 former BP colleagues whose fates took dramatically different turns after the war.  We are then taken back to 8 years ago, in December 1939, and from there, the story unfolds between two alternating timelines that ultimately converge into a final act that is both compelling and explosive.  Unlike both of Kate Quinn's previous novels, which were more straightforward in terms of the role of her female protagonists in espionage, this one takes a slightly different approach by focusing on the breakdown of encoded messages intercepted from enemy forces during the war – a subject not often covered in stories about this time period.  I'm not much of a math or science person and I will admit that a lot of the technical jargon in the book went way over my head, but because of the way the story was written – the way Quinn was able to seamlessly weave both the technical and historical elements into a compelling story that felt both atmospheric and approachable – made this such a refreshing read for me, one that opened my eyes to a different and intriguing aspect of the WWII time period that I'm curious to learn more about.  This is actually one of the things I love about well-written historical fiction – its ability to take historical events / people / topics, etc. and make them both approachable and accessible to people like me who probably would not engage otherwise due to difficulty in approaching the content. 

 

One of the things that had really stood out to me with The Alice Network was the way Quinn wrote her characters, which I found easy to connect and resonate with, even though the world that the characters inhabited were so vastly different from my own.  The same can be said of the characters in The Rose Code, except this time around, I felt like I was able to connect with these characters (Osla, Mab, and Beth) on a much deeper level, despite the fact that the time period and the world I live in right now is so different.  I love books with well-developed characters that you can't help but resonate with on some level – this book absolutely fit that bill.

 

This is a novel I definitely recommend, especially for historical fiction fans.  Also, I didn't intentionally plan it this way, as I don't typically read based on theme, but this one turned out to be a perfect read for March, with it being Women's History Month.  What a wonderful way to celebrate the importance of women's contributions throughout history, both here and around the world! 

 

Received ARC from William Morrow via NetGalley.

 

Review: The Alice Network (by Kate Quinn)

My Rating: 5 stars

In the past few months, I've read my fair share of books either set in or about WWII and a handful about WWI, but up to this point, I hadn't read anything that covered BOTH wars.  The Alice Network by Kate Quinn did just that – it presented a wonderfully written, captivating dual timeline story about two women from different generations, their lives impacted by the wars in different ways, whose paths eventually cross when fate brings them together.  In the first narrative, which takes place in 1947, we meet Charlie St. Clair, a feisty American college girl from a well-to-do family who had just gotten herself into major "trouble" by becoming pregnant out of wedlock. She is banished to Europe to "take care of" the problem of her pregnancy, after which she would be accepted back into the family again, but once there, Charlie runs off instead to search for her cousin Rose, whom she loved like a sister, holding out hope that Rose might still be alive despite disappearing a few years back in Nazi-occupied France during WWII.  Charlie's search brings her to the door step of Eve Gardiner, a woman in her fifties who looks much older due to years of drinking herself to oblivion in efforts to escape the "ghosts" of her past.  Through Eve, we are transported back to 1915, during the Great War (WWI), when she is recruited to join the Alice Network, a network of female spies across Europe who collected intelligence for the Allied forces to use against the enemy.   Eve is sent to German-occupied France where she meets other members of the network as well as its fearless leader Lili, who also goes by the name Alice Dubois.  From there, we are given insight into the fascinating yet complex world of espionage as we follow Eve's life as a spy and bear witness to the horrific experiences she and the others go through as well as the great risks they take for their countries. 

I'm drawn to books with strong female protagonists and with this one, we get plenty of them in the characters of Eve, Charlie, Lili, and even side characters such as Violette and Rose.  It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I grew to love the characters in this story and found myself rooting for them to the very end.  The author did a great job with the characterizations of the main players especially – defiant and rebellious Charlie, whose love for her cousin and her family despite all the issues really enamored her to me; hot-tempered Eve whose experiences during the war left her broken and hardened toward life, choosing to spend the rest of her days drinking, cursing, and threatening to blow people's brains out with her ever-present Luger, yet I have nothing but utmost respect and admiration for her;  the charming Scotsman Finn, who captured my heart from the start with his sense of humor and personality and the way he stood supportively by Eve despite the way she often treated him.  I loved Lili too, even though she technically wasn't the main character of the story despite being the key figure off of which the Alice network is based.  All of these characters were fictitious, but some were based on real people and I was surprised to read in the Author's Note at the end of the book all the factual elements that drove the story.  The history fanatic in me is grateful that the author listed so many of her sources as well as all the additional material at the end of the book – I actually wrote down quite a few of the titles for further reading, as this book triggered my curiosity about the real Alice network and I want to find out more about it as well as the women whose stories were touched upon in this book.

I liked how the author addressed the various societal issues that were prevalent during Eve's time period as well as Charlie's.  Gender issues, class issues, attitudes toward women, impact of war, etc. – it was interesting to see how all of that was dealt with in both eras and how, sadly, there is much that hasn't changed, even today.  This book brought to light the challenges of being a spy, especially a female one, due to the double standards that existed – it was disheartening to see how these brave women risked their lives day in and day out while already getting little reward or recognition for their work, yet they still had to battle the gender stereotypes imposed on them internally, at times even having to "fight" to be believed or trusted!  There was one part where Eve finds out one of her reports was brushed aside and not believed by the higher ups, resulting in disastrous consequences that could have been prevented, which leads her to question whether everything she and the other women in the Alice network did were in vain – it was heartbreaking to read but it also angered me, especially when I found out (from the Author's Note) that this was a true event that happened to the real Alice Dubois.

I was also fascinated by the world of espionage and the lives of the female spies as depicted in the book.  Earlier in the year,  I had read a nonfiction book about female spies during the WWII era, but I feel like I learned more from this fictionalized account than that nonfiction one -- the way that author Kate Quinn was able to take real events and people and integrate them so seamlessly into a fictionalized story, yet still maintain such historical accuracy truly speaks to her skill and talent as a writer of historical fiction.  I'm definitely interested in reading her other works at some point in the future.

This book is highly recommended and even though it didn't "blow me away" like other war-themed books have, I still loved it nonetheless!  And I totally agree with other reviewers who have said that once they started reading the book, it was hard to put down – I ended up plowing through the entire 500+ page book in 3 days (which is a record for me!), neglecting the other books I had already started and will now need to get back to, lol.  If you pick this one up, be ready for an engrossing story and a hugely enjoyable read!