The Paris Express: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

 

 The Paris Express: A Novel by Emma Donoghue.  

                                                      Summit Books, 2025. Adult historical fiction. Thriller.

When a steam train leaves the Normandy coast in autumn of 1895 and heads toward Paris, no one suspects that it will not be just another ordinary journey. From rich to poor, the travellers cover the spectrum of internationals. Readers will get to know them all in a fascinating style. As the day goes on, tension builds. Someone on the train wishes them all ill. What will happen? Who will survive?

This fictional thriller is based on real photographs of a train hanging out of the upstairs windows of the train station in Paris. An author's note tells which characters are based on real people and which ones she made up. While the novel begins slowly, it builds to the point that few readers will be able to stop reading toward the end. Like the train passengers, we are all captured in a speeding time capsule.

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory

 

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory. William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2025. Adult Historical Fiction.

Of course, most of us know about Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII. But, in the shadows was her sister-in-law, Jane Boleyn or Lady Rochford, who actually served five queens! Her husband, George, was executed about the time of Anne Boleyn's own death. Jane never had children or remarried. She was at court for most of her life and witness to history.

Gregory is well known for her Tudor fictionalized books and this is among the best. The court is described well. King Henry is a tyrant who will bring to mind some modern political leaders. The queens are presented sometimes in a more modern light, too. For example, Katheryn Howard may have come off far more sympathetically in the Me Too era rather than only as a flighty teenager. A great bibliography is included for those of us fascinated by the Tudors.

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

 

 Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. Simon and Schuster, 2003. Adult biography.

This is probably one of the definitive biographies of Benjamin Franklin and his life and times.  

It covers his family's history, his scientific, political, and work life and includes insights that most readers would not have gleaned from American history classes. 

When Ken Burns recently premiered his PBS series on Ben Franklin, one of the experts shown was Walter Isaacson. I was so impressed that I picked up this title. It does not disappoint. Two of my very favorite tidbits include

"Of the first eighteen women who came to Massachusetts in 1628, for example, fourteen died within a year." p.13

"The more earthy and middle-class backwoodsmen still revered Franklin's Autobiography-it was the one book that Davy Crockett carried with him to his death at the Alamo"...p.479

Truly, we read to learn and Walter Isaacson does not disappoint!

Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott

 

 Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott. Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Books, 2002. Adult fiction.

      Californian Mattie Ryder, mother of Harry and Ella, has moved back into her family home. Her ex husband, Nicky, is still around at times. Her mother, Isa, lives not far away. The narrative explores Mattie's friends, family, inner life, church life, and generally EVERYTHING about Mattie, her past, present, and future. 

      This book has been in my stack to read for a long time. Maybe it just took a freeze for everything to shut down and for me to pick it up. Somehow, the book was just the ticket to realize that things could always be worse! 

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall

 

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall. Pamela Dorman Books (Viking), 2025.

In the same vein as his wildly successful Broadchurch series, Chibnall scores another well written crime to be solved. Detective Nicola Bridge and her family are new to small Fleetcombe on the English coast, but it is where Nicola grew up. Have things changed much?  When the body of local bartender Jim Tiernan is discovered, Nicola and her partner, Harry Ward, must piece together the local legends, the personalities of the people, and the clues left at the scene.

As Nicola weaves the web of her home and work into a workable web, readers will look forward to more novels about this heroine. 

Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King

 

 Knave of Diamonds: A Novel of Suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King. Bantam Books, an imprint of Random House, 2025. Adult fiction. Mystery.

When Mary Russell's charming uncle, Jake Russell, shows up, Mary and Sherlock become involved in a cold case surrounding long missing Crown Jewels of Ireland. It's a case that Sherlock and his brother Mycroft had investigated with no results. And, now Jake, a man whom Mary has not seen since she was a child and a criminal himself seems to know a great deal about it all. The game's afoot again!

This new book in King's long running series about Russell and Holmes is a rip roaring adventure. Ernest Shackleton's brother, Frank, even makes an appearance! Start with the first book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, and join the fun!

Finding Grace: A Novel by Loretta Rothschild

 

 Finding Grace: A Novel by Loretta Rothschild. Thorndike Press 2025. (Large Print edition).  Adult fiction.

Honor and Tom seem the perfect couple. Their four year old daughter, Chloe, is darling. They celebrate Christmas every year at The Ritz in Paris. Honor's best friends, Annie and Lauren, are supportive. Yet with all of this, Honor deeply longs for another child. which she medically cannot have. She reads all about egg donations and surrogates. Even though Tom is less enthusiastic, he goes through with the plans that mean so much to Honor and she picks the perfect donor just before Christmas .Everything is put in place. Then, their lives are changed forever. 

This is a debut novel and what a zinger of a book! I defy readers to finish the first chapter and not clamor for more.