Frightful Friday: Biblio Vampiro: An Essential Guide to Vampires by Robert Curran

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Jenn

Frightful Friday is a weekly meme in which I feature a particularly scary or chilling book that I’ve read that week. Feel free to grab the button & join in!  Be sure to include a link to your post in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post!

This week’s book:

  • Hardcover: 80 pages
  • Publisher: Barron’s Educational Series (August 1, 2010)
  • ISBN-10: 0764163418
  • Source: Publisher

    • Vampires are the rage in fiction & on screen lately.  We all know the characteristics of vampires, right? They’re pretty pale-skinned, dislike the sun, can’t stand garlic or silver.  However, did you know that there is more than one type of vampire, and that not all vampires are afraid of sunlight?

    Biblio Vampiro: A Vampire Handbook is a great little guide to the blood-sucking undead. It is broken down into the following sections:

    • 10 Vital Ways to Spot a Vampire
    • How to avoid a vampire: Did you know that the type of wood you should use to make a wooden stake depends on the type of vampire you are trying to kill? Some require oak, others require yew.
    • The three golden rules (if you see a vampire): protection, distraction & diversion

    The section I found most entertaining is the section on types of vampires. Who knew there was more than one!

    For example the Strigoii vampires of Romania are the vampires we are most familiar with.  They walk at night, dislike garlic, & cannot enter a home without being first being invited.

    The Aswang vampires of Philippines, on the other hand, don’t even resemble humans. They have a dragon-like appearance with bat wings & a large snout.  Aswang aren’t the undead, either, but corrupted spirits of those you were never born.  Aswang sucks blood or sweat; it can survive on either.

    One of the most entertaining types of vampires are the Sampiro vampires from Albania.  They are believed to be the souls of those who were not buried with the proper ceremony of the Albanian Orthodox Church.  But what makes these vampires entertaining is their appearance: 3-4 hours after burial, the Sampiro will rise, still wearing their burial shroud.  However, now they are sporting high heels in which they are forced to walk around in.  In addition, it makes kissing noises to attract its prey.  What a sight, eh?

    Another interesting vampire type is the energy, or psychic, vampire, said to be the spirits of dead witches.  These vampires don’t drink blood, but draw off energy from their victims instead.

    Biblio Vampiro closes with a section on vampire tales; some familiar to me, some unknown.

    Overall, Biblio Vampiro is an entertaining read. The language is pretty simple, so I think this would be appropriate for middle-grade all the way through adulthood. It’s rich with vivid photographs & illustrations, keeping the attention of any reader.

    I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in vampires.

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    Posted in Frightful Friday, Horror, Review | Tagged | 1 Comment

    Guest Post: Ryan Jacobson, Author of Lost in the Wild

    Posted on November 19, 2010 by Jenn

    I’m excited to welcome Ryan Jacobson as a guest poster today.  Yesterday, I reviewed his book, Lost in the Wild, a “Choose Your Own Path” book.

    Here’s a bit about Ryan, taken from his web site:

    Ryan Jacobson is the author of 10 children’s books with several other projects in various stages of production. He lives in Mora, Minnesota, with his wife Lora and their adopted sons, Jonah and Lucas.

    Ryan works as a book editor and marketing specialist for a small press, and he has extensive experience working with children, dating back to his days as a summer camp counselor. His favorite part of being an author is presenting at schools and making public appearances.

    Be sure to check out Ryan’s blog, Author vs. Monster: An Epic Battle Between Good Children’s Books and Evil…

    A Safe Kind of Scary

    I’ve been reading Jenn’s Bookshelves long enough to know that we share a common interest: We both love things that are scary. For my part, it’s reflected in many of the books I write, from a picture book about a boy who’s afraid of monsters to a comic called Monster Ninjas. Even Lost in the Wild (which has nothing to do with monsters) has a bit of an edge to it.

    So how does one do it? How does a children’s book author find the balance between “scary enough” and “not too scary”? I answered this question for myself in 2008, when I began writing about things that go bump in the night. I first defined the types of stories I wanted to write as “safe, scary books for kids.” But what does that mean exactly?

    Well, I operate under the assumption that kids don’t want to be scared. Rather, they want to think they are being scared. It’s the difference between horror and suspense. It’s about writing to create feelings of uncertainty and excitement, rather than fear (i.e. a monster who chases children instead of one who eats them). Add something perceived as frightening—a vampire, a werewolf, a ghost—into a suspenseful story, and your average young reader probably thinks he or she is reading horror.

    That takes care of the scary part, but what about “safe”? I should have a list of ground rules for writing a safe book, but I’m not that organized. Basically, it’s about creating an age-appropriate story. It’s an assurance to parents that my books will model positive behaviors, will have a good message and will end happily. Of course, “safe” depends on the parents (I’ve met a few who would never allow their children to read a book about monsters) and on the children. If I’m writing a scary book for kindergarteners, the monster will be cute, fluffy and silly. If I’m writing for a young adult, I don’t have to pull as many punches.

    Ultimately, though, I take two major precautions before calling any of my manuscripts complete. I read what kids are reading to ensure that I’m at the right level of horror/suspense, and I show my work to four or five parents and educators. This includes my wife: a kindergarten teacher who doesn’t think kids should watch SpongeBob Squarepants. If I can get a story past her, I can be pretty sure it’s “safe.”

    I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sometimes feel handcuffed by my own standards. That’s why I love writing choose-your-path stories. I can get away with things like killing off the main character (bwahahaha!) because the reader has the option of going back and finding the happy ending. Nice loophole, huh?

    Thank you, Ryan, for this great guest post!  One lucky reader can win a copy of Ryan’s book Into the Wild by answering the following question: What was your favorite scary book growing up?

    Please answer the question in the comments below, then fill out a form, making sure it’s easy for me to connect your answer to your contact information.  The winner will be announced on Friday, November 26th.  Open to US & Canadian residents only, please. 

    Good luck!

    Posted in Author Guest Post | 8 Comments

    Review: Lost in the Wild, a Choose Your Path Book by Ryan Jacobson

    Posted on November 18, 2010 by Jenn

     

  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Perfect Paperback: 152 pages
  • Publisher: Adventure Publications (September 22, 2008)
  • ISBN-10: 1591930901
  • Source: Winsome Media

    • You and your family are on a camping trip, one that is meant to be relaxing and fun.  However, when you & your sister get caught out in a thunderstorm, the situation shifts dramatically. You are forced to rely on skills for surviving the outdoors you learned about in a book your father gave you.  Every little decision you make can cause a completely different outcome.  Will you be able to survive!?

    My son John & I read this book together.  I was always a fan of “Choose Your Own” adventures as a child. When I was pitched this book by Winsome Media, I thought it would be the perfect book for John.  He’s a cub scout and loves adventures. 

    The first time we read the book, it didn’t have the best outcome.  However, we learned from our decisions and made better ones.  I think this is an important lesson for children, to realize how important the outcomes of your decisions can be.   Finally, we were able to get out of the dangerous woods & back safely to our family!

    Lost in the Wild is an incredibly exciting, as well as educational, book to read!  While both John & I thought we were well-versed in survival skills, we learned soon we could have used a bit more knowledge.  The author does a great job of providing helpful hints along the way to help you make your decision.  He weighs all the options for you, usually making it pretty easy to make your decision.  That said, John has never been good about making a decision and sometimes it took up to ten minutes of debating to chose our next move!

    The book also provides some simple, yet incredibly important camping safety tips, outdoor survival skills, and references at the back of the book.

    A bit of warning: all of the outcomes are realistic, but can be quite devastating.  Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone under the age of 10.  John is 11, and we had to have a long talk about one of the outcomes we had. As with reading any book, it’s a good idea to have a discussion about it afterward.

    John & I highly recommend this book to all fans of adventure!  While the main character is a boy, I think girls would enjoy this as well.

    Come back tomorrow for a guest post by the author, Ryan Jacobson.

    Posted in 8-12 years of age, Kid-Lit/Middle Grade, Review | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

    Review: Room by Emma Donoghue

    Posted on November 17, 2010 by Jenn

     

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition (September 13, 2010)
  • ISBN-10: 0316098337
  • Source: BEA

    • Jack is a five-year-old boy who enjoys doing everything a boy of that age does: color, watch his favorite shows on TV and play games. The difference with Jack? He and his mother, affectionately known as Ma, have been prisoners in a small 11×11′ shed, referred to as ROOM.  Ma was abducted when she was a teen and impregnated by the man who captured her.  Jack sleeps, closed up in a wardrobe, hidden from the eyes of the man who keeps them locked away. This man, who Jack refers to as Old Nick, provides them with the basics: food, water, & occasional “Sundaytreats.”

    Ma does her best to provide for her son.  She arranges games for him to play in their small confines. Empty egg shells become a snake when strung together.  Jack gets his exercise by running around the bed. However, she knows that this isn’t the life for a little boy, who knows nothing of the outside world.  They plan an escape; Ma is desperate to provide Jack with a chance to breathe fresh air, experience a “real” life.  She remembers what life is like outside and is desperate to have that life once again.

    However, once they make it outside, life isn’t necessarily any easier. Jack, never in contact with germs, is required to wear a mask to prevent him from becoming ill.  The two are temporarily assigned to a psychiatric hospital to help them “assimilate” to life in the real world. Jack doesn’t deal with this transition well; the only person he’s ever known is his mother.  The hustle & bustle of every day life is a shock to him.  He’s never experienced the feeling of grass on his bare feet.  He doesn’t know how to walk up and down stairs. 

    The transition is quite difficult for Ma as well.  In ROOM, she has control over what happens to Jack. Keeping him safe was her utmost concern. She can protect him, but in the outside world she loses this control and loses a bit of what she had become as well. Ultimately, I began to wonder if life was better for Jack & Ma in ROOM?

    Room is a fantastic, yet devastating, novel told through the eyes of a young boy.  Jack is so naive to the real world it is heartbreaking. He refers to “creaking” in his mother’s bed, not realizing that he is describing the nightly rapes she endures when Old Nick pays his nightly visit.

    This book, without a doubt, is one of my favorite of the year.  As author Audrey Niffeneger put it “Room is a book to read in one sitting.  When it’s over you look up: the world looks the same but you are somehow different and that feeling lasts for days.”  For me, that feeling has lasted for months.  I first read Room in September and recently did a reread for a book club meeting.  This book has permanently made a mark on my very soul.  When I finished reading it for the first time, I instantly wrapped my arms around my own five-year old son and thanked God that he would never have to face an experience like this.

    The novel’s web site provides a whole host of additional resources, including a floor plan of ROOM.  Seeing the space they were forced to live in literally brought tears to my eyes.  

    This will be the first time I ever utter this phrase, but I beg you go to out and buy a copy of this book.  Read it.  Talk about it.  You won’t forget it.

    Room was inspired by the true story account of Josef Fritzl, a man who kept his daughter prisoner in the basement of their home in Austria for 24 years.  He raped her repeatedly, resulting in seven children & one miscarriage.

    ROOM, by Emma Donoghue from era404 creative on Vimeo.

    Posted in General Fiction, Little, Brown & Company, Review | 22 Comments

    Tales of a (Formerly) Reluctant Reader: The Adventures of Ook and Gluk by Dav Pilkey

    Posted on November 16, 2010 by Jenn

    Ook & Gluk are two cavemen who live in a town called Caveland, OH. It is the year 500,0001 BC.  They are normal boys who get in trouble, especially with Big Chief Goppernopper.  One day, an evil corporation lead by J.P. Goppernopper (the Chief’s relative from the future) is discovered trying to steal Caveland’s important resources.  J.P. Goppernopper comes from the year 2222.  All of the natural resources including trees, oil & water are either used up or polluted. Goppernopper Enterprises is going back to the past to steal all the trees & water & oil from the cavemen. The two Goppernopper’s join forces, turning the citizens of Caveland into slaves for their evil mission.

    Ook & Gluk are transported into the future through a portal and race to escape from the two Goppernoppers. Master Wong, owner of a Kung-Fu school, lets the two cave boys hide in his school. He agrees to train them to help them defeat the evil Goppernoppers.  He won’t give the boys their black belts, though, until they can tell him who the greatest man is.  It takes the boys seven years to pass this test and finally they are able to battle the evil Goppernopper Enterprises & save their cave town.

    But when they return to Caveland, it no longer looks like it did before.  The people are still slaves and all of the beautiful trees are gone. Eventually Ook & Gluk remember what Master Wong taught them and Caveland is returned to normal.

    John’s Review: I liked this book because it has a lot of great action, it’s very funny & because of the kung fu!  I’m a black belt so this really interests me!  I also liked it because it talked about how important our natural resources are and how we should protect & preserve them. The drawings were great & pretty hilarious!

    Jenn’s (Mom’s) review: I, too, liked the lesson learned about preserving one’s natural resources and the book overall.  However, one think that I didn’t particularly enjoy were the intentional misspellings in the book. Granted, the book is about two cave boys who speak what the book calls “Cavemonics.” However, I think this could have been relayed without the misspellings, like “surfice” instead of “surface” and “dedicashen” instead of “dedication.”

    I think misspellings like this are detrimental to young readers. John, in particular, has difficulty with spelling.  When he started reading this book, he was thrown off a bit by the errors in spelling.  We had a long talk about why the words were spelled incorrectly and that he should still picture the word correctly spelled in his head.   We even made an activity of it; going through the book and correcting all the misspellings.

    That said, John did enjoy the book and it got him excited about reading.  He read this book in no time because the story was interesting to him. Therefore, I would recommend this book, but would highly encourage parents to discuss the grammar & misspellings with their child at some point in the reading of the book.

    Thanks to Scholastic, I have a pretty phenomenal giveaway package!

    Give the gift of reading to your child this holiday season! Scholastic books make the perfect stocking stuffer for any child on your list.  I have a HUGE prize pack filled with the most popular children’s books in the marketplace to offer one lucky reader! Titles include CAPTAIN SKY BLUE, IT’S CHRISTMAS DAVID, OOK and GLUK as well as TONY BALONEY, ODIOUS OGRE and I SPY CHRISTMAS A CHRISTMAS TREE!

    Pretty exciting, right? To enter, please fill out the form below.  Open to US mailing addresses only. Winner will announced on Friday, November 26th.  Good luck to all who enter!

    Posted in 7-10 years of age, 8-12 years of age, Kid-Lit/Middle Grade, Scholastic, Tales of A (Formerly) Reluctant Reader | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

    Review: Death Notice by Todd Ritter

    Posted on November 15, 2010 by Jenn

    • Hardcover: 336 pages
    • Publisher: Minotaur Books (October 12, 2010)
    • ISBN-10: 0312622805
    • Source: Publisher

    Kat Campbell is a single mom & chief of police for the small town of Perry Hollow, PA. Other than a few minor crimes, Perry Hollow is a pretty quiet town. Until one frigidly cold day when a coffin is found on the side of the road.  Inside the coffin is the body of a local farmer.  Two shiny pennies lay over his eyes; his mouth sewn shut.  On his neck was another wound, stitched closed with the same black thread that sealed his mouth.

    Henry Goll works for the local newspaper as an obituary writer. It’s his job to makes sure every obituary printed contains a death sentence-the line that details who died, how & when.  Henry has quite the history; after surviving a horrible crash he’s left with a severe scar and burns covering a large portion of his face.  Henry’s a loner, keeps to himself, never smiles.  He’s known as Henry Ghoul by other reporters.

    It is normal for Henry to receive faxes from funeral homes, announcing the deaths of citizens of the small town.   However one fax he receives is very different. It is the death notice for George Winnick, the farmer found in the coffin, sent before his body was found.

    Chief Campbell knows she’s in over her head and seeks the assistance of Nick Donnelly, a state police officer with special knowledge about serial killers. When Goll continues to receive death notices for the killer’s victims, he becomes an integral part of the investigation.

    Death Notice is a chilling & suspenseful debut novel.  Readers will become instantly invested in the well-developed characters.  I felt for Goll’s character, in particular.  In a hell of his own already due to the horrific accident that scared him, he faces his own fears to help save the citizens of the small town.

    What really impressed me about this book was the fact that it isn’t one of those formulaic, cookie cutter crime novels.  It was well-paced, not rushed at all.  The killer was kept a secret til the very end, despite several false leads. All in all, I can’t say enough just how much I recommend Death Notice.  It’s one of those one-sitting thrillers; you won’t be able to pull yourself away til you turn the last page.

    I’m not sure if Ritter plans a follow-up to this novel.  In any case, I look forward to reading what he writes next.


    Posted in Crime Fiction, Minotaur Books, Review | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

    It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week?

    Posted on November 15, 2010 by Jenn

    a1

    It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It was created by J.Kaye’s Book Blog, but is now being hosted by Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World of  Books so stop by and join in!

    Books Completed Last Week

    The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin
    The Curse of the Wendigo (Monstrumologist #02) by Peter Yancy
    The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire     by C.M. Mayo
    Death Notice by Todd Ritter

    Currently Reading

    The Historian: A Novel by Elizabeth Kostova (audio)
    Bury Your Dead (Three Pines Mysteries) by Louise Penny

    Books to Complete This Week

    The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard

    What are you reading this week?

    Posted in It's Monday What Are you Reading This Week | 11 Comments

    Interview & Giveaway: C.M. Mayo, Author of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire

    Posted on November 12, 2010 by Jenn

    Yesterday, I reviewed C.M. Mayo’s The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. Today I’m pleased to welcome C.M. to my blog today!

    Q: What made you decide to write about this topic?

    A: I was so surprised to learn that the mother of the prince of the title– Agustin de Iturbide y Green (1863-1925) was an American. I am also an American married to a Mexican, one very distantly related to her mother-in-law, so I was curious to learn more about her, how she came to Mexico and what made her agree, at first, to collaborate with Maximilian von Habsburg. When I started to delve into reading about the period and about her, however, I quickly found so many contradictions, mysterious distortions and vagueness, that I realized her story, and that of her son, had never been properly researched. I also felt it is an important story, for both Mexicans and Americans.

    suggested links:

    Agustin de Iturbide y Green

    Maximilian

    Q: On your web site, you write about how difficult it was to make the leap to writing “serious fiction.” What happened that allowed you to make the leap from writing non-fiction?

    A: I made an effort to learn the craft of fiction through taking workshops, reading books on craft, and then re-reading novels, not as consumer wanting to be entertained, but as as a fellow craftsman, actively noting, for example, how does Chekhov describe the snow? Or Tolstoy, a dress? Lampedusa, a dance? Flaubert, a sense of joy or despair? How do they handle dialogue, transitions, building suspense? And so on. It was really as simple– and as difficult— as that.

    Suggested link:

    books on craft

    Q: Describe your writing routine: Do you write at a particular time of day?  Particular setting?  Is there anything you have to have in order to write (music playing in the background, complete silence, special socks?)

    A: I’m not big on routines. I do make use of music, and I find soundwork fascinating. I can heartily recommend Don Campbell’s CD set, “The Power and Sound of Music” and Joshua Leed’s book, Sonic Alchemy: Conversations with Leading Sound Practioners.

    Q: What sort of books do you like to read in your spare time?

    Now that the novel is out I have been reading mostly literary nonfiction, or “creative nonfiction,” as it’s often called, and what interests me, now that I think about, is all over the map, both literally and figuratively. Recent reads include Finding Iris Chang by Paula Kamen; The Big Short by Michael Lewis; Cognitive Surplus by Clive Shirky; and The Permit That Never Expires by Philip Garrison. I love recommending books: a good one is too much of a treasure to keep to oneself! I keep a list of my annual top 10, as well as other reviews here:

    http://www.cmmayo.com/pubs-bookrev-home.html


    Q: What author (alive or dead) would cause you to go speechless, should you meet them in person?

    I think I could manage to croak out a “hello,” for just about anybody.  I might go speechless if they shot purple stars out of their nostrils, or something like that. I don’t mean to be flip. I think I have an unusual sense of groundedness about the famous, wealthy, powerful, unusually accomplished, etc, because my novel is stocked with a large cast of precisely such characters. I had to live with the likes of Maximilian von Hasburg and John Bigelow for so many years, I couldn’t help but notice that they are, after all, human. And we are all, whether we realize it or not, connected to one another.


    Q: Are there any authors who have influenced your writing?

    A: For this novel, the most influential were Guiseppi di Lampedusa, whose richly splendid novel, The Leopard, covers a similar period in Sicily. For the flexible narrative voice and language I learned from Henry James’s Portrait of A Lady and Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country and for structure, her tragic novel The House of Mirth. Contemporary influences include A. Manette Ansay, Kate Braverman, Bruce Chatwin, Ted Conover, Douglas Glover, V.S. Naipaul, and oh, so many others. Everyone in Mexico asks me if I’ve read Fernando del Paso’s Noticias del Imperio. The answer is, other than a very few pages which I translated for my anthology, Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, no, and not because I am unaware that it is considered one of Mexico’s greatest novels. Del Paso covers the same period and many of the same characters, and I wanted to have a clear consience that my novel is my own. So now I have to read it!


    Q: Fondest book tour moment?

    A: For me the best part of a book tour is meeting other writers and historians. Tony Arthur showed up at my reading at Vroman’s in Pasadena. He and I had been corresponding via e-mail for time about our research. He was then working on a book about General Shelby and the other Confederates who came to Mexico during Maximilian’s reign. Tony had recently been diagnosed with cancer and so I can only imagine what an effort it must have been for him to come to the reading. He passed away recently; I was so glad to have had the chance, however briefly, to have met him in person.

    That concludes the “official” part of the interview.  As typical, I asked C.M. for a picture of her favorite spot to read or relaxed.  Following is a picture taken of the view from her desk, with muse, Picadou (her pug).

    Adorable!!

    Now, on to the giveaway!  One lucky individual will win a copy of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. To enter, please fill out the form below.  Open to US & Canadian residents only, please.  The winner will be announced on Friday, November 19th.  Good luck to all who enter!

    Posted in Author Interviews | Tagged | 2 Comments

    Frightful Friday: The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin

    Posted on November 12, 2010 by Jenn

     As Fright Fest was nearing its close, I couldn’t bear to think about how long it would be before I reviewed another spooky book.  Thanks to Twitter (of course!) I realized that I can continue to read and review books from my favorite genres.  Of course, I wanted others to be able to share in this as well, so I’ve created a new weekly feature here called Frightful Friday.  Each Friday, I will spotlight a mystery/thriller/horrror/paranormal book I read that week.  I will include a Mr. Linky so you can link up your creepy reads as well!

    That said, my first FrightFul Friday book is…

     

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday (October 5, 2010)
  • ISBN-10: 0385533438
  • Source: Publisher

    • Nicholas Close is still recovering from the unexpected death of his beloved wife.  Since her passing he’s had the gift of seeing the undead, reinacting the last moments of their tragic deaths.  Seeking comfort, he heads to his childhood home of Tallong, Australia. 

    Instead of seeking comfort he’s forced to witness the death of his childhood friend over and over again.  A death that should have been his own.  He also sees spirits of several other children around the same age. Looking back through the town’s history Nicholas notices a pattern of deaths of children.  Slowly he begins to realize there was a reason he didn’t die as he should have, all those decades ago.  He was meant to serve a purpose; a horrid & dark path was made for him.

    I was astounded to discover that The Dead Path is the debut novel of Australian author, Stephen M. Irwin.  Irwin displays immense talent for a “rookie”; the story he wove was intricately detailed and chilled me to the bone.  His writing is reminicent of that of Stephen King & Peter Straub, quite descriptive & full of intensity.  At the onset, Irwin makes it seem as though this book is simply about a case of child murders but in reality that is just the tip of the iceberg.

    The Dead Path is not a book for the faint of heart.  Parts are quite dark, disturbing & graphic, but these traits really make this book what it is: an astoundingly chilling piece of horror fiction.  Fans of King & Straub would definitely enjoy it.  I look forward to reading more from this author!

    If you are interested in participating in Frightful Friday, grab the button & link up your post below!

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    Posted in Frightful Friday, Horror, Mystery/Suspense, Paranormal Fiction, Thriller | 2 Comments

    Review: The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo

    Posted on November 11, 2010 by Jenn

    • Paperback: 448 pages
    • Publisher: Unbridled Books (May 4, 2010)
    • ISBN-10: 1936071614
    • Source: Publisher

    Admittedly, I don’t have that great a knowledge of Mexico’s history.  It might as well be galaxies away.  C.M. Mayo’s The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire changed all of this for me.  It opens in Washington D.C., a city near (literally) and dear to my heart.  Young Alice Green meets & falls in love with Angelo de Iturbide, a member of the Mexican delegation.  They eventually marry and Angelo carries Alice away to Mexico.

    Alice experiences a bit of animosity from parts of Angelo’s family (a situation I can easily sympathize with) but eventually Angelo & Alice are able to conceive, giving birth to a son, Augustin.

    Mexico is in turmoil; led by Napoleon, the French invade the country & install Maximilian von Habsburg (Archduke of Austria) as the emperor. Maximilian & his wife are childless.  Desperate for an heir, they obtain custody of a child, the grandchild of the first emperor of Mexico.  That child is Augustin de Iturbide.

    Augustin’s parents, Angelo & Alice, really don’t have much say in the situation so they reluctantly agree.  They are promised that Augustin will live a life of wealth and luxury.  But when they lose contact with their young son they understandably become desperate to retrieve him.  This “custody” battle becomes an international scandal, further tainting Maximilian’s empire.

    The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is a fantastic retelling of this bit of unknown Mexican history.  It is obvious that Mayo did a TREMENDOUS amount of research to write this book.  The characters become alive on the pages; I felt the pain and anguish Angelo & Alice felt upon losing their son.

    The cast of characters is long and complex, permitting the reader to get viewpoints from all sides of the story.It was incredibly interesting to me to get a glimpse of this bit of Mexican history.  Mayo’s knowledge and familiarity of Mexico really added to the story.  She was able to describe the setting and events as if she were there herself, providing a side to this story not often seen.

    Fans of detailed historical fiction will gain from reading this book.  It is full of historical detail, tinged with a bit of fiction to intrigue the reader.  Highly recommended!

    Posted in Historical Fiction, Review | 5 Comments