The Historical Fiction Shelf

The Rail Splitter
John Cribb
Republic Book Publishers
https://www.republicbookpublishers.com
9781645720645, $28.00, HC, 384pp

https://www.amazon.com/Rail-Splitter-Novel-John-Cribb/dp/1645720640

Synopsis: "The Rail Splitter" by novelist John Cribb begins with Lincoln's = youth on the frontier, where he grows up with an ax in one hand and book in=
the other, determined to make something of himself. He sets off on one adv= enture after another, from rafting down the Mississippi River to marching i=
n an Indian war. When he is twenty-six, the girl he hopes to marry dies of = fever. He spends days wandering the countryside in grief. A few years later=
, he purchases a ring inscribed with the words "Love Is Eternal" and enters=
a tempestuous marriage with Mary Todd.

Lincoln literally wrestles his way to prominence on the Illinois prairies. =
He teaches himself the law and enters the rough and tumble world of frontie=
r politics. With Mary's encouragement, he wins a term in the US Congress, b=
ut his political career falters. They are both devastated by the loss of a = child. As arguments over slavery sweep the country, Lincoln finds something=
worth fighting for, and his debates with brash rival Stephen Douglas catap= ult him toward the White House.

Part coming-of-age story, part adventure story, part love story, and part r= ags-to-riches story, "The Rail Splitter" is about the making of Abraham Lin= coln. The story of a rawboned youth who goes from a log cabin to the White = House, this is in many ways, the great American story. "The Rail Splitter r= eminds us that the country Lincoln loved is a place of wide-open dreams whe=
re extraordinary journeys unfold.

Critique: Historical biographic fiction at its very best, "The Rail Splitte=
r" is an entertaining and informative novel that while a work of plausible = fiction is soundly based on historical facts. A riveting read from start to=
finish, "The Rail Splitter" is unreservedly recommended for community, col= lege, and university library Biographical Historical Fiction collections. I=
t should be noted for the personal reading lists of all Abraham Lincoln adm= irers that "The Rail Splitter" is also available in a digital book format (= Kindle, $9.49).

Editorial Note: John Cribb (https://www.johncribbauthor.com) has written ab= out subjects ranging from history to education. Old Abe, his first novel, t= ells the story of the last five years of Abraham Lincoln's life. His other = works include coauthoring The American Patriot's Almanac and The Educated C= hild, both New York Times bestsellers; coediting The Human Odyssey, a 3-vol= ume world history text; and developing online history courses. His writing = has been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, FoxNews.com, Real= ClearPolitics, and several other publications. During the Reagan administra= tion, he worked at the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, = and the National Endowment for the Humanities. A native of Spartanburg, SC,=
John studied literature at Vanderbilt University.

Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey
John Sayles
Melville House
46 John Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
https://www.mhpbooks.com
9781612199887, $32.00, HC, 704pp

https://www.amazon.com/Jamie-MacGillivray-Renegades-John-Sayles/dp/16121998=
87

Synopsis: "Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey" by John Sayles begin=
s in the highlands of Scotland in 1746, at the Battle of Culloden, the last=
desperate stand of the Stuart 'pretender' to the throne of the Three Kingd= oms, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his rabidly loyal supporters.

Vanquished with his comrades by the forces of the Hanoverian (and Protestan=
t) British crown, the novel's eponymous hero, Jamie MacGillivray, narrowly = escapes a roadside execution only to be recaptured by the victors and shipp=
ed to Marshalsea Prison (central to Charles Dickens's Hard Times) where he = cheats the hangman a second time before being sentenced to transportation a=
nd indentured servitude in colonial America "for the term of his natural li= fe." His travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor, village=
girl swept up on false charges by the English and also sent in chains to t=
he New World.

"Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey" follows Jamie and Jenny throug=
h servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements as they strive to e= scape being pawns in a deadly game. The two continue to cross paths with ea=
ch other and with some of the leading figures of the era- the devious Lord = Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young = and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Le= nape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.

Critique: A veritable saga of a novel, "Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's = Journey" by author John Sayles will have an extraordinary appeal to readers=
with an interest in action/adventure stories replete with memorable charac= ters, suspenseful and unexpected plot twists and turns, and a deftly crafte=
d historical background and context. While especially and unreservedly reco= mmended community and academic library Historical Fiction collections, it s= hould be noted for personal reading lists that "Jamie MacGillivray: The Ren= egade's Journey" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle=
, $14.99.

Editorial Note: John Sayles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sayles) is =
an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, and novelist. H=
e has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenpl= ay, for Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996). He has written seven nove= ls, the most recent being Yellow Earth (2020) and A Moment in the Sun (2011=
).

High Bridge
Michael Miller
Koehler Books
3705 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23455
www.koehlerbooks.com
9781646638130, $32.95, HC, 384pp

https://www.amazon.com/High-Bridge-Michael-Miller/dp/1646638131

Synopsis: Upstate New York in the mid-19th century was a cauldron bubbling = with the lure of fast fortunes, religious zealotry, and battles for civil l= iberties. This fervor centers on the Erie Canal, which successfully support=
s scores of villages brimming with opportunity. One such village, Fayettevi= lle, shapes the lives of two future American leaders.

"High Bridge" by novelist Michael Miller tells the stories of a young newly= wed, the only child of freethinking abolitionists, and a prankster lad who = grows up in the large family of an austere reverend. Despite their differen=
t childhoods and worldviews, they form an unlikely friendship. Can they com= bine their skills to solve a mystery and vindicate a Black man accused of m= urder?

Critique: A deftly crafted and inherently absorbing read from first page to=
last, "High Bridge" will have a very special appeal to readers with an int= erest in historical fiction and race relations in 19th Century American his= tory. Entertaining and thought-provoking, original and memorable, "High Bri= dge" is a welcome and unreservedly recommended addition to community librar=
y American Historical Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal = reading lists that "High Bridge" is also available in a paperback edition (= 9781646638116, $22.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.49).

Editorial Note: Michael Miller (https://www.koehlerbooks.com/writer/michael= -miller) was born in a small town in New Jersey similar to Fayetteville, NY=
.. He played baseball, delivered the daily newspaper, and tramped through th=
e woods. Through small town life, he learned to respect people regardless o=
f their backgrounds and appreciate the gifts each person brought to the wor= ld.

Madame Pommery
Rebecca Rosenberg
Lion Heart Publishing
https://www.lionhrtpub.com
9781732969940, $18.00, PB, 347pp

https://www.amazon.com/Madame-Pommery-Creator-Brut-Champagne/dp/1732969949

Synopsis: Champagne, France, 1860. Madame Pommery, an etiquette teacher and=
orphanage founder, loses her husband and is forced to support her family. = With no experience, the forty-year-old widow decides to make champagne. Her=
unique vision is to change it from a sweet dessert beverage to a dry, cris=
p wine to be enjoyed anytime. When champagne makers refuse to teach her the=
ir craft, she forges ahead on her own and secretly begins the excavation of=
champagne caves under the Reims city dump.

Soon after, her son and her entire crew are conscripted to fight the Franco= -Prussian war, leaving Madame Pommery alone to struggle with her champagne = dreams. After Napoleon and a hundred thousand French troops are captured, t=
he Prussians invaded France, and Prussian General Frederick Franz occupies = Madame Pommery's house as his army headquarters. Undaunted, Pommery uses he=
r secret wine caves to hide the Francs-Tireurs, resistance fighters for Fra= nce, while she plans to build a spectacular castle winery above the caves.

But when her former lover, a Scottish Baron, unexpectedly proposes marriage=
, Madame Pommery must choose between nobility and her passionate quest for = fine champagne and the most beautiful winery in the world.

Critique: Based on a true story, "Madame Pommery" by Rebecca Rosenberg is a=
n heroic novel about a mother and widow who fights the Prussians, the socia=
l class system, champagne patriarchs, and champagne tastes to create a cham= pagne legacy. With a special appeal to readers with an interest in historic=
al fiction with a female protagonist, "Madame Pommery" is an inherently ent= ertaining read and unreservedly recommended as an addition to both communit=
y and academic library Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for=
personal reading lists that "Madame Pommery" is also available in a digita=
l book format (Kindle, $5.99).

Editorial Note: Rebecca Rosenberg (https://rebecca-rosenberg.com) is an awa= rd-winning novelist, champagne geek, and lavender farmer. Rebecca first fel=
l in love with 'methode champenoise' in Sonoma Valley, California. Over dec= ades of delicious research, she has explored the wine cellars of France, Sp= ain, Italy, and California in search of fine champagne. When Rebecca discov= ered the real-life stories of the Champagne Widows of France, she knew she'=
d dedicate years to telling the stories of these remarkable women who made = champagne the worldwide phenomenon it is today. Rebecca is a champagne hist= orian, tour guide, and champagne cocktail expert for Breathless Wines. Her = other award-winning novels include The Secret Life of Mrs. London and Gold = Digger, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.

Wolf Catcher
Anne Montgomery
https://annemontgomerywriter.com
TouchPoint Press
https://touchpointpress.com
9781956851076, $16.99, PB, 372pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Catcher-Anne-Montgomery/dp/1956851070

Synopsis: In 1939, archaeologists uncovered a tomb at the Northern Arizona = site called Ridge Ruin. The entombed man, bedecked in fine turquoise jewelr=
y and intricate beadwork, was surrounded by wooden swords with handles carv=
ed into animal hooves and human hands. The Hopi workers stepped back from t=
he grave, knowing what the Moochiwimi sticks meant. This man, buried nine-h= undred years earlier, was a magician.

Former television journalist Kate Butler hangs on to her investigative repo= rting career by writing freelance magazine articles. Her research on The Ma= gician shows he bore some European facial characteristics and physical qual= ities that made him different from the people who buried him. Her quest to = discover The Magician's origin carries her back to a time when the high des= ert world was shattered by the birth of a volcano and into the present-day = dangers of archaeological looting where black market sales of antiquities c=
an lead to murder.

Critique: Blending archaeology and Native American mythology, "Wolf Catcher=
" by novelist Anne Montgomery is an original, exceptionally well written, a=
nd compelling work of historical fiction that is especially and unreservedl=
y recommended for community library collections. It should be noted for per= sonal reading lists that "Wolf Catcher" is also readily available in a digi= tal book format (Kindle, $4.99).

Editorial Note: Anne Butler Montgomery (https://annemontgomerywriter.com/ab= out) has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer=
, teacher, and amateur sports official. She was also a freelance and/or sta=
ff reporter for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, = and archeological pieces. Her novels include The Castle, The Scent of Rain,=
A Light in the Desert, and Wild Horses on the Salt. Anne Montgomery taught=
high school journalism for 20 years and was an amateur sports official for=
four decades, a time during which she called baseball, ice hockey, soccer,=
and basketball games and served as a high school football referee and crew=
chief.

The Shining Mountains
Alix Christie
High Road Books
c/o University of New Mexico Press
1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87131-0001
www.unmpress.com
9780826364654, $27.95, HC, 344pp

https://www.amazon.com/Shining-Mountains-Novel-Alix-Christie/dp/0826364659

Synopsis: The year is 1838. A young Scotsman forced from his homeland arriv=
es at Hudson's Bay. Angus McDonald is contracted to British masters to trad=
e for fur. But the world he discovers is beyond even a Highlander's wildest=
imaginings: raging rivers, buffalo hunts, and the powerful daughter of an = ancient and magnificent people. In Catherine Baptiste, kin to Nez Perce chi= efs, Angus recognizes a kindred spirit.

The Rocky Mountain West in which they meet will soon be torn apart by compe= ting claims: between British fur traders, American settlers, and the Native=
peoples who have lived for millennia in the valleys and plateaus of the Sh= ining Mountains' western slopes.

Critique: An impressively original, truly epic, and memorable saga, "The Sh= ining Mountains" by Alix Christie is a deftly crafted historical novel that=
draws from the genuine history of the early 19th Century American West, no=
w revealed in all its 'terror, beauty, and complexity'. While unreservedly = recommended for community library Historical Fiction collections, "The Shin= ing Mountains" is also readily available for personal reading lists in a di= gital book format (Kindle, $27.95).

Editorial Note: Alix Christie (https://alixchristie.com) is the direct desc= endant of Angus McDonald's brother Duncan. Her debut novel was "Gutenberg's=
Apprentice" (Harper Books, 2014). For the past thirty years she has report=
ed for newspapers in California and from Europe as a foreign correspondent,=
including for the Washington Post, the Guardian of London, the San Francis=
co Chronicle, and Salon.com. She currently reviews books and arts for The E= conomist.

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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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