Mosquito is a powerfully written, literary work which brings to life a horrific period in the modern history of Sri Lanka. It is also a tale of triumph over unimaginable tragedy and brutality.

After wealthy author, Theo Samarajeeva's wife is killed by a mugger on a dark, London street, he returns to his native Sri Lanka to try to find peace and inspiration in that lushly beautiful but dangerous country. He meets and falls in love with a lovely, young artist but "time and unforeseen occurrence" intervenes. Civil war between the Sinhalese and the Tamil Tigers has broken out and Theo is kidnapped and held captive for several years. Thinking he is dead, both his best friends and his young love try to make new lives for themselves but nothing can ease the pain of his disappearance.

Some of the descriptions of warfare and torture are so brutal, they are difficult to digest. And yet Ms. Tearne's love for her country shines through in the magnificence of her descriptions. She is herself an artist after all.

This is a difficult book to read and yet I am not sorry I have done so. I have often heard of the problems between the Tamils and the Sri Lankan government but this is the first time I have ever fully understood it. Definitely an intense novel and not for the "faint of heart".

If ever a book was written that required a sequel, it was this one.
Sixteen year old Amber St. Clare, ward of a yeoman farmer and his wife, falls instantly in love with a handsome cavalier who happened to stop by her tiny village for refreshment. Almost immediately, she surrenders her virtue to him and begs him to take her to London. "I won't ever marry you, Amber," he states and he keeps his word in spite of fathering three of her children over a ten year period. During his numerous absences, she manages to land in Newgate Prison for indebtedness, be rescued by a notorious highwayman, marry several men for their money or titles, take up a tarnished career as an actress and become one of King Charles IV's favourite mistresses.
Throughout it all, she maintains her love for the devastatingly handsome, Bruce Carlton. To my mind, Lord Carlton is the real villain of the piece. His vacillating between his obsession with her beauty and his desire to marry "quality" is annoying and unfortunately the "undoing" of Amber. It is a sad commentary of what a woman alone in that period had to do to get along in the world. She may have become hardened and scheming due to her circumstances, but she more than proved her mettle during the terrible London plague.
For all it was banned in Boston in the 1940s because of Amber's immoral life style, there is nothing explicit or graphic in this book. I could have liked it immensely, simply for the wonderful research the author did with regard to the 17th century Stuart Restoration period. One experiences that time and place as in no other book I have read about the era. As it is, like many other readers, I hated the ending which left me with an overriding feeling of aggravation.

"Summer at the Villa Rosa" is a bittersweet tale about life and love in a small coast village in the south of Italy. Raffaella Moretti's life turns tragic when her beloved husband of one year dies of cancer. Her in-laws all blame her and the town gossip is that she slowly killed him.
In the meantime, the village priests want to erect a gigantic statue of Christ on the mountain behind the town and Raffaella's father and his fellow fishermen are against the plan. Her life becomes even more complicated when she is hired as a housekeeper at the Villa Rosa estate for the American engineer hired to erect the statue.
I enjoyed everything about this book; the settings, the interplay between the characters and the fact that it didn't just have a fairy tale ending. It even offers you a little insight into life in general.
Whether you're having a day at the beach or an evening in front of a fireplace, it's an easy and enjoyable read.

I have to say that I actually enjoyed this story. Multi millionaire, Jonas Kalem puts together an art fraud gang to try to create an authentic looking Da Vinci sketch of the Mona Lisa. There's lots of action, a few twists and turns and some great settings. I do admit the author got a few facts wrong, but the story itself is interesting enough to forgive him for that.

The characterizations are good. I found myself actually rooting for a couple of the members of the gang--totally innocent Eleanor Shepard and the paroled counterfeiter, Curtis Stiehl; as well as the main detective, Walter Deats. I do agree it shouldn't be billed as a "Jack Oxby novel". He really only makes a couple of appearances in the whole thing. And it's not really a mystery since we're informed of everything as we go along. Those statements are misleading so I'm taking off a couple of points. Just the same it was a fun read.

I probably wouldn't normally read a story about a courtesan but I've had a love affair with anything Venetian for over thirty years, so the setting intrigued me.

The author magically transports us to Venice in the 16th century by her wonderful characterizations and the authentic descriptions of that magnificent city. Written in the "voice" of the dwarf, Bucino, who manages the courtesan's career, you feel only sadness for this unlikely couple. After the fall of Rome to the Germans, the only way they can manage to make a decent living is to flee to Venice, Fiammetta's hometown, and continue with their amoral lifestyle. There are problems to overcome and the fact that Bucino turns down the offer of his lifetime, shows the love he has for the beautiful Venitian. There are no graphic sex scenes if that is what one is looking for. What is distressing to me is that the story portrays the all-too-common fate of a woman of that time with no family to help her. And it is not only in past history that such things occurs.

It wasn't too long ago that it could be said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire." Much of the credit for this truism goes to The English East India Company--a huge commercial enterprise that grew from a small group of Elizabethan tradesmen into the "grandest society of merchants in all history." The expansion and colonization that made England great was for the most part due to the efforts of that Honourable Company.

It is to John Keay's credit that he is able to tell the story of the early beginnings and subsequent growth of the this group of merchants and administrators in such a lively and anecdotal manner while keeping strictly to historical accuracy.

Whether you are a writer of historical fiction or an avid history buff, this is a great addition to your library.

"In Open Spaces" is a lovely read and reminded me somewhat of the tales my parents told me about their own trials and tribulations in the Canadian Prairies during the depression years.

The story is told in the first person viewpoint of Blake Arbuckle as he lyrically explains his families' struggle to keep their Montana Ranch afloat through the difficult years of WWI and the "dirty thirties." The setting and the ranch are characters just as clearly defined as the members of this emotionally charged family. The story tends to be character-driven and you can't help but love some and hate others as is appropriate. At the end of the book you are ready for more about this complicated family and Blake's own tantalizing romance.

If you like your mysteries on the "cozy" side rather than hard core, you'll love "Why Casey Had to Die". The hero, Harry Bronson, is a retired detective who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a case that twenty years ago he felt he mishandled. It was the one time in his career he didn't bend the rules and he's been sorry ever since.

Ms. Hayden has a great sense of humour and her writing and her hero reflect that fact. It's just pleasant to read a mystery without a lot of graphic sex and four letter words and that delights you with a chuckle now and then. I'm ready for the next Harry Bronson mystery anytime it's in my bookstore.

The time is the mid 19th century and Petronilla, the daughter of an English politician and a Spanish heiress travels with her mother to discover that part of her heritage. Almost immediately, she becomes enchanted by that sun burnt country and the wine bodega she will inherit as part of her dowry. The story and the landscape both warm your heart.

The writer gives us an excellent view of life in the Spanish countryside of that day and the tight reign an unmarried girl was held under in that society. Two very different men vie for her attention and she is torn between the excitement and passion of her extremely handsome cousin or the safety and protection of a man who will love her faithfully `til the end of her days. Petronilla finds that the Spanish side of her personality is constantly in conflict with her English level-headedness.

There is a lot of narrative which tends to "tell and not show" but the over-all story is very interesting and I'm sorry to think that it is now out-of-print.

I fell in love with the fantastic sounds of Andean folk music on my trip to the beautiful country of Chile last year. As our tour guide drove us through the fertile valleys and hills between the high Andes and the Pacific Coast, the flute sounds gave us the feeling of travelling back in time with the indigenous peoples. I ordered this CD so that I could evoke the wonderful memories of a lovely vacation. It does exactly that and I love it.