Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Author: Markus Zusak
Series: N/A
Audience: +16
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Release Date: March 14th 2006
My Rating: 3.5 Cups
Source: Own Copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

Book Review: House Of Shadows by Nicola Cornick

Author: Nicola Cornick
Series: N/A
Audience: +18
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Graydon House
Release Date: October 17th 2017
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Publisher
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The wooded hills of Oxfordshire conceal the remains of the aptly named Ashdown House--a wasted pile of cinders and regret. Once home to the daughter of a king, its secrets will unite three women across four centuries in a tangle of romance, deceit and destiny...

1662--A queen

Bound by sex and birth to live for everyone but herself--and to love always in secret--Elizabeth Stuart entrusts a pair of arcane artifacts to her faithful cavalier to keep safe for her rightful heir. But fate will not be generous to the Winter Queen, throwing the question of succession into turmoil, the aftermath of which will resonate through the generations.

1801--A courtesan

Lavinia Flyte wanted so much more from life than to be a courtesan at the mercy of the cruel Lord Evershot. He has brought her to Ashdown, the home of his ancestors, for reasons he guards greedily. But the maids' whispers of hidden treasures--a pearl with the power to foretell the future--consume her with a curiosity she confides only to her diary, unaware of the misfortune that threatens.

And the mystery that binds them

Alarmed to hear her brother has gone missing at Ashdown Park, Holly Ansell is inexplicably drawn to the clues contained in the journal of a Regency courtesan who was living at the historic home when it burned to the ground two hundred years ago. Lured by the tragedy at Ashdown, Holly's search leads her not only to the truth about Lavinia, but deeper into her own connection with the Winter Queen.

For fans of Kate Morton and Barbara Erskine comes an unforgettable novel about the power one lie can have over history.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from Harlequin Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

Every once in a while I get to return to my first love in life, history, through the magic of books. More accurately, I get to enjoy the thrill of trying to piece together the puzzle of people's pasts, while also going on a hunt for lost artifacts. House Of Shadows has that and more.