Suggestions for March's Book of the Month

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat January 17th, 2009, 3:30 am

David Blixt's "Master of Verona". I loved this novel set in fourteenth century Renaissance Italy and full of complex plots, devious characters and literary allusions. The author keeps you on your toes as you try to guess what might happen next-- nothing is quite what it seems.

TLee · Post by **TLee** » Sat January 17th, 2009, 6:58 pm

Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Sat January 17th, 2009, 8:43 pm

I'd like to nominate The Mathematics of Love by Emma Darwin

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sat January 17th, 2009, 8:48 pm

We have a wide range of topics this month.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sun January 18th, 2009, 11:21 am

The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon. This book is already out in the UK and I notice it is due for release in the US at the beginning of March, so hope it's OK for nomination? Here's the blurb:

Russia, 1854: the Crimean War grinds on, and as the bitter winter draws near, the battlefield hospitals fill with dying men. In defiance of Florence Nightingale, Rosa Barr - young, headstrong and beautiful - travels to Balaklava, determined to save as many of the wounded as she can. For Mariella Lingwood, Rosa's cousin, the war is contained within the pages of her scrapbook, in her London sewing circle, and in the letters she receives from Henry, her fiance, a celebrated surgeon who has also volunteered to work within the shadow of the guns. When Henry falls ill and is sent to recuperate in Italy, Mariella impulsively decides she must go to him. But upon their arrival at his lodgings, she and her maid make a heartbreaking discovery: Rosa has disappeared. Following the trail of her elusive and captivating cousin, Mariella's epic journey takes her from the domestic restraint of Victorian London to the ravaged landscape of the Crimea and the tragic city of Sebastopol, where she encounters Rosa's dashing stepbrother, a reckless cavalry officer whose complex past - and future - is inextricably bound up with her own. As her quest leads her deeper into the dark heart of the conflict, Mariella's ordered world begins to crumble and she finds she has much to learn about secrecy, faithfulness and love. But, in the thick of a war fought on more fronts than one, she also discovers a strength and passion she never knew she possessed.

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Sun January 18th, 2009, 1:54 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon. This book is already out in the UK and I notice it is due for release in the US at the beginning of March, so hope it's OK for nomination? Here's the blurb:
[/quote]

I've read it - great book

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sun January 18th, 2009, 4:42 pm

I read it..not so great.

Its not what I expected though. I thought it was about a nurse during the War. Thats not what I got.

AuntiePam · Post by **AuntiePam** » Sun January 18th, 2009, 6:28 pm

I'll second Drood, if it'll be out by March. It's not released in the US yet.

Volgadon · Post by **Volgadon** » Sun January 18th, 2009, 6:35 pm

[quote=""Divia""]I read it..not so great.

Its not what I expected though. I thought it was about a nurse during the War. Thats not what I got.[/quote]

Then what is it about.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sun January 18th, 2009, 6:54 pm

[quote=""Volgadon""]Then what is it about.[/quote]

Cousins. One cousin is prim and proper and the other goes off to nurse but she disappears and the other one goes and tries to find her.

I bought the book from AmazonUK cause I am writing a book about Civil War Nurses and thought it would be cool to read about. But really the war was only used as a backdrop and there was no nursing.