Book Review: The Last Truehart by Darry Fraser

The Last Truehart

by

Darry Fraser

 

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Imprint: Mira-AU

Publication date: 2nd December 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

RRP: $29.99AUD 

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty & Lace book club 

 

About the book

 

1898, Geelong, Victoria. Stella Truehart is all alone in the world. Her good-for-nothing husband has died violently at the hands of an unknown assailant. Her mother is dead, her father deserted them before she was born, and now her kindly Truehart grandparents are also in their graves.

Private detective Bendigo Barrett has been tasked with finding Stella. He believes his client's intentions are good, but it is evident that someone with darker motives is also seeking her. For her own part Stella is fiercely independent, but as danger mounts she agrees to work with Bendigo and before long they travel together to Sydney to meet his mysterious client where they discover more questions than answers.

What role do a stolen precious jewel and a long-ago US Civil War ship play in Stella's story? Will sudden bloodshed prevent the resolution of the mystery and stand in the way of her feelings for Bendigo? It is time, at last, for the truth to be revealed...

 

My review

 

This was my first book by Australian author Darry Fraser and I was drawn into Alice and Stella's story from page one. Darry Fraser's writing is descriptive and powerfully evocative.

I love reading Historical Fiction set in Australia and The Last Truehart did not disappoint.

 

Stella is alone after the recent death of her beloved grandparents. Her mother had died years earlier and she had never known  her father. She did have her dear close friends Constance and Isabella Leonard. These young women were great characters, women before their time, confident and full of life, declaring they didn't need a man to complete them.

 

PI Bendigo Barrett is hired by his Sydney client to find Stella. Bendigo finds himself enamored by the outspoken Stella but he can see a vulnerability behind her tough exterior. however after an abusive marriage Stella is reluctant to open her heart to any man.

 

Their journey to uncover the mystery of her father is fraught with danger and by the time it is all uncovered more than one life will be lost.

I enjoyed the contrast between the way of life in country Bendigo and Ballarat with that of the characters living in Sydney. 

 

Darry Fraser effortlessly weaves historical events throughout including lively debates around women's votes and talk of the coming federation of Australia.

The Last Truehart is filled with treachery, murder, family secrets, hidden riches, a dying man's confession and a touch of romance making it a must read for historical fiction fans. 

 

4.5/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½ 

 

Meet the author

 

Darry Fraser's first novel, Daughter of the Murray, is set on her beloved River Murray where she spent part of her childhood. Where the River Runs, her second novel, is set in Bendigo in the 1890s, and her third novel The Widow of Ballarat, takes place on the Ballarat goldfields in the 1850s. In The Good Woman of Renmark, she takes us to the rural riverland of South Australia, while Elsa Goody, Bushranger, journeys from South Australia into Victoria. Darry currently lives, works and writes on Kangaroo Island, an awe-inspiring place off the coast of South Australia.

 

 

Challenges entered:

Aussie Author Challenge  #AussieAuthor21

Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2021 

Historical Fiction challenge #HistFicReadingChallenge 

My 2021 Reading Challenges

 

 I will again be joining the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge

The objective of this reading challenge is to showcase the quality and diversity of the books being produced by Australian authors.

This year I will be signing up for the EMU level

Read and review 24 titles written by Australian Authors of which at least 10 of those authors are female, at least 10 of those authors are male, and at least 10 of those authors are new to you; Fiction or non-fiction, at least 4 different genre.

 

 To see the full details and to sign up please visit 

 https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/reading-challenges/aussie-author-challenge-2021-australian-writers-book-reviews

#AussieAuthor21 

📘📘📘📘📘 📘📘📘📘📘

 

Another favourite of mine is the Australian Women Writers challenge which I will be participating in again in 2021. 
I chose to nominate my own goal to read and review 30 books. 

You can find the full details and sign up links here 

https://australianwomenwriters.com/sign-up/

#AWW2021

 

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I enjoyed my first year with the Nonfiction Reader Challenge in 2020 hosted by Book'd Out so I will be joining again in 2021.

 

 

There are three challenges levels and as I am not a huge Nonfiction reader I will be joining Nipper level.

Nonfiction Nipper : Read 3 books, from any category
Nonfiction Nibbler : Read 6 books, from any category
Nonfiction Know-It-All : Read 12 books, one for each category

To get more information or join please visit Book'd Out

https://bookdout.wordpress.com/2021-nonfiction-reader-challenge/ 

 #2021ReadNonFic

 

 📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘

 

Another new to me in 2020 was the Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by Passages to the Past and I will be joining this again in 2021. The challenge is now hosted by Marg @The Intrepid Reader

 

 There are 6 different reading levels and I will be attempting Renaissance Reader - 10 books.

You can find out the full details at The Intrepid Reader

 http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2020/12/historical-fiction-reading-challenge.html 

 #HistFicReadingChallenge

 

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I couldn't resist adding in one new challenge this year. I love reading crime/ thriller/mystery books so The Cloak and Dagger Challenge was calling to me. This challenge is hosted by Carol's Notebook

 

 

There are 5 levels and I will be signing up for the lowest which is: 5-15 books – Amateur sleuth.

To find out the full details and sign up visit Carol's Notebook

http://carolsnotebook.com/2020/12/01/2021-cloak-and-dagger-reading-challenge-sign-up/ 

 

📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year

 Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2021

May your year be filled with family, friends and five star reads.

Goodreads: Year in Books Meme 2020

 

This is my journey in books for 2020!

 

 

 

I read 32,440 pages over 114 books 

________________________________________________________

Longest book

813

pages

 

Shortest Book

28

pages

________________________________________

 

Average book length in 2020 was 284 pages 

 

_____________________________________

 

 

 Most Popular

 3,443,844

 people also shelved                                                                     

 

 

                                                                             

 

 

 

 

Least Popular

0 people

also shelved

 ________________________________________________________________

 

 

My average rating for 2020 was

4.3⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

____________________________________

 

My favourite book of 2020 was

 

  

   _______________________________________________

 

The year in books meme is hosted by Bite Into Books so head over and see her post. Why not join in and post a link to your year in books.   

 

==============================================

I think 2020 was a difficult year for all of us and if I had to think of a bright side it would be that I managed to get extra reading time whilst we were all in lockdown.
I'm looking forward to more great books, reviews, giveaways, memes and bookish tags during 2021.
I big thanks to everyone who supported my blog, my subscribers, readers, those that left a comment and the wonderful publishers and authors who supply the books for reviews and giveaways.

 

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 

     

Wrap up of my 2020 challenges - let's see how I went!

 It's that time of year when we look back over our challenge pledges and see how we went.

You can read my 2020 sign up post HERE

 

My first one was the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge 

 

 

 

 

I signed up for Kangaroo level:
4 x female authors, 4 x Male authors, 4 x New to me authors, 3 x genres.

But I really had my eye on attaining the Emu level:

10 x female authors, 10 x Male authors, 10 x New to me authors, 4 x genres.

 
My completed challenge was:
49 x Female authors, 16 x Male authors, 38 x New to me authors, 8 x Genres. With a total of 65 books read.

I was keen to increase my male Aussie authors this year and I managed to increase my total from 5 in 2019 to 16 in 2020.

 

You can see the full list of books HERE  

 

 ________________________________________________________

 

Next up was the Australian Women Writers Challenge.  

 

 

 

I nominated to read and review 30 books for this challenge.
My completed challenge was 49 books read and reviewed.

You can see the full list of books HERE

 

 ________________________________________________________

 

This was my second year of the Book Bingo challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse.

2020 saw us with a smaller card relieving the pressure of completing a book each fortnight.

  

You can see the books I chose for this challenge HERE

______________________________________________________

 

 A new challenge for me was the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Book'd Out

 

 

Not being a big NonFiction reader a joined the challenge at Nipper level.

Read 3 books from any of the 12 categories.

 

I ended up reading 11 books which covered 8 of the categories. I am sure this challenge helped me to read more from the NonFiction genre. So a big thanks to Shellyrae.

 

You can see the books and categories I read HERE 

 

______________________________________________________

 

Another new challenge for me in 2020 was the Historical Fiction challenge hosted by Passages to the Past.

 

   

 

 

There were 6 levels and I joined Victorian Reader level

20th Century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books

 

I managed to attain Renaissance reader level by reading 14 books.

 

You can see the full list of books HERE 

 

_______________________________________________

 

My last official challenge is another bingo challenge with Facebook group Books and Bites with Monique Mulligan

 

 

 This bingo challenge was quite hard and had very specific categories. I managed to read 18 of the 25 squares.

 

You can see the full list of books HERE 

 

_______________________________________________

 

A few other challenges I entered were:

Dymocks Reading Challenge 2020 in which I completed 23 of the 25 categories.

 

The Aussie Readers group on Goodreads had an A - Z character challenge which I completed all 26 letters. 

Life of a Book Addict group on Goodreads had a Motley Reading challenge with 26 categories I managed to complete 23 of the 26. 

Well that's a wrap for 2020. Some challenges I will be sticking with in 2021 and some I will be dropping but I am sure I will pick up a couple more.
Look out for my 2021 challenge sign up post coming soon!

 

#AussieAuthor2020   #AWW2020  #HistFic2020 #2020ReadNonFic #BookBingo2020  

In 2020.....My Life in Books

 

 

I recently saw this book tag created by Shellyrae @ Book'd Out and thought it would be fun to join in. 

The idea is to complete each prompt with a book that you have read in 2020.

 

2020 was the year of: The Year That Changed Everything 

In 2020 I wanted to be: The Good Teacher

In 2020 I was: The Wreck

In 2020 I gained: Just One Wish

In 2020 I lost: Six Minutes

In 2020 I loved: Mum & Dad

In 2020 I hated: The Boundary Fence

In 2020 I learned: Nothing Good Happens After Midnight 

In 2020 I was surprised by:  The Night Whistler

In 2020 I went to: The Farm at Peppertree Crossing

In 2020 I missed out on: The Grand Tour

In 2020 my family were: Together by Christmas

in 2021 I hope for: Better Luck Next Time 

If you think this looks like a fun tag why not check out Shellyrae's post here and join in with your own bookish answers. 

 

Book Review: Dark Tides by Philippa Gregory

Dark Tides

by

Philippa Gregory

 

 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia

Publication date: 24th November 2020

Series: The Fairmile #2

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 472

Format read: paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Midsummer Eve 1670. Two unexpected visitors arrive at a shabby warehouse on the south side of the River Thames. The first is a wealthy man hoping to find the lover he deserted twenty-one years before. James Avery has everything to offer, including the favour of the newly restored King Charles II, and he believes that the warehouse's poor owner Alinor has the one thing his money cannot buy—his son and heir.

The second visitor is a beautiful widow from Venice in deepest mourning. She claims Alinor as her mother-in-law and has come to tell Alinor that her son Rob has drowned in the dark tides of the Venice lagoon.

Alinor writes to her brother Ned, newly arrived in faraway New England and trying to make a life between the worlds of the English newcomers and the American Indians as they move toward inevitable war. Alinor tells him that she knows—without doubt—that her son is alive and the widow is an imposter.

Set in the poverty and glamour of Restoration London, in the golden streets of Venice, and on the tensely contested frontier of early America, this is a novel of greed and desire: for love, for wealth, for a child, and for home

 

My review

 

Dark Tides is book 2 in The Fairmile series. Tidelands (book1) left us with two strong, determined women leaving Sealsea Island, heading to London to start a new life. I was excited to to see how Alinor and her daughter Alys would fair in this new adventure.

Dark Tides is set 21 years later. Alys has 21 year old twins, Sarah and Johnnie. Alys now runs a wharf on the poorer south-side of London whilst Alinor brings in money making packs of herbs and selling them. They are not rich but they get by and both Sarah and Johnnie have apprenticeships.

Alinor's brother Ned has also left the tidelands now that the new king is on the throne. He has decided to make a new life where he can be his own master in New England (USA).

 

There is no backstory to fill in the missing twenty odd years which makes Dark Tides read well as a standalone. 

The story moves back and forward between London and Hadley - New England. They are two completely different stories only occasionally connecting through Alinor and Ned's correspondence or when Ned sends herbs to Alinor in London.

 

With the introduction of Rob's widow Livia arriving from Venice, babe in arms, Philippa Gregory has given her readers an amazing antagonist. I loved how Livia worked, confident and conniving. Everyone was immediately smitten with her, completely under her spell. Well, almost everyone.  She was a perfectly drawn character, charismatic and manipulative, totally believable and I was enthralled as I watched her weave her web of lies and deceit. 

 

The story held plenty of suspense as the setting moves from London to Venice and my Fitbit will attest to the increase in my heart rate as the tension mounted.

I was equally invested in Ned's story, although not as compelling, I loved learning about the native Indians, the Pokanoket people, and their ways with the land. Ned was, as I expected, one with both the natives and the settlers. He was keen to learn the ways of the natives and their wisdom. I could clearly see Alinor with her herbs and natural healing would also be one with these people.

Gregory explains how these peaceful people were lied to, cheated and betrayed by the settlers and how they were not prepared to lose everything, including their way of life.

 

I loved Dark Tides (book 2) even more than the first book Tidelands. I have no idea where the story will go from here but I am eagerly awaiting book three in The Fairmile series. 

 

5/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Meet the author

 

Photo: Goodreads

Philippa Gregory is one of the world’s foremost historical novelists. She wrote her first ever novel, Wideacre, when she was completing her PhD in eighteenth-century literature and it sold worldwide, heralding a new era for historical fiction.

Her flair for blending history and imagination developed into a signature style and Philippa went on to write many bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen.

Now a recognised authority on women’s history, Philippa graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent and was made Alumna of the Year in 2009. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London.

Philippa is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2016, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers’ Association. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Nielsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output.

 

 

Challenges entered:   Historical Fiction Challenge  #2020HistFicReadingChallenge

 
My review of Tidelands