This has been a busy, tiring week, with little time for reading, but I still made time for A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn. This in the 9th instalment featuring lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell and her partner in much more than crime, renowned natural historian and former Royal Navy surgeon's mate Revelstoke (Stoker) Templeton-Vane. I've expressed in previous posts my strong partiality for audiobooks, so I'm pleased to now have the opportunity to mention the absolutely wonderful Angèle Masters, a narrator whose immense talent deserves much more recognition. Indeed, I think the audio format is the best way to experience the rollicking ride that is this entire series. As ever, DR's turns of phrase are a pure delight, and I must say that I'm deeply envious of the person who will have the privilege of translating it into French; what a dream job!
This time, Veronica and Stoker plunge into the ethically murky world of "anatomical Venuses" in order to investigate the origins of the eerily realistic waxwork figure of a woman, whom they refer to as "the Beauty." (Oh, hello unexpected callback to another novel I recently read, Alix E. Harrow's A Spindle Splintered!) In addition to the thrilling storyline, I enjoyed learning about the craft involved in making these figures and reflecting on the motivations behind collecting such specimens. There's a passage that discusses whether preserving a dead person's body is more helpful or harmful to their loved ones' mourning process, which will haunt me for a long time.
I heartily recommend this series to anyone who loves "Miss Scarlet & the Duke" but wishes it were sexier. Do listen to the audiobooks! I shall look forward to #10... Excelsior!
Just a couple of weeks ago, I read about women during World War I in Firing Lines by Debbie Marshall. This week, The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden brought me to the frontlines of Flanders. In chapters that alternate between their points of view, it tells the devastating and haunted experiences of two siblings: combat nurse Laura and aspiring poet Freddie Iven. As she's still recovering from injuries received near the front, Laura has to deal with the tragic loss of both her parents in the explosion of the Mont Blanc in Halifax Harbour. When a box containing her beloved brother's clothes and identity tags arrives, she believes he's gone too, but receives the assurance that he's still alive — and decides to return to Belgium in search of the truth. Although Freddie has escaped death, he's become a fractured version of his former self, inextricably bonded with an enemy soldier and slowly losing his memories to a mysterious figure who weaves them into music.
This was such a strange book, peopled with ghosts, visions and echoes... There's a feverish quality to the story that I'm not sure I enjoyed, and the ending seemed a bit pat. However, I do wish I hadn't read the author's note and acknowledgments, as I found something oddly callous and jarring about their tone.