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Title: The Girl Who Fought Napoleon: A Novel of the Russian Empire
Author: Linda Lafferty
Publication: September 20th 2016 by Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Historical Fiction
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 2/5
In a sweeping story straight out of Russian history, Tsar Alexander I and a courageous girl named Nadezhda Durova join forces against Napoleon.
It’s 1803, and an adolescent Nadya is determined not to follow in her overbearing Ukrainian mother’s footsteps. She’s a horsewoman, not a housewife. When Tsar Paul is assassinated in St. Petersburg and a reluctant and naive Alexander is crowned emperor, Nadya runs away from home and joins the Russian cavalry in the war against Napoleon. Disguised as a boy and riding her spirited stallion, Alcides, Nadya rises in the ranks, even as her father begs the tsar to find his daughter and send her home.
Both Nadya and Alexander defy expectations—she as a heroic fighter and he as a spiritual seeker—while the battles of Austerlitz, Friedland, Borodino, and Smolensk rage on.
In a captivating tale that brings Durova’s memoirs to life, from bloody battlefields to glittering palaces, two rebels dare to break free of their expected roles and discover themselves in the process.
The Girl Who Fought Napoleon was a quick read but I struggled quite a bit with it. I feel like two stars for the book is a little harsh but the negative things in it definitely dominated the few possitive ones
The book started out well enough. I really like the chapters featuring Nadezhda Durova, a girl who disguised herself as a boy to join the Russian cavalry against Napoleon. I loved Nadya's spirit and courage for running away from home and following her heart.
But there were also chapters about Tsar Alexander I. Although I liked Alexander as a character in this book, I just didn't like his chapters. I feel like the book could've done without those and the few chapters in Napoleon's POV as well. I wish the book had been more about Nadezhda and everything she did. I think then the book would've been so much better.
The writing wasn't bad but I can't say it was amazing either. The narratives could be a bit confusing, jumping from year to year. It's really too bad because I loved the author's book, House of Bathory back in 2014.
Would I recommend The Girl Who Fought Napoleon? I'm not sure. The story wasn't all bad. It has some great scenes, the history felt well-researched and it didn't take me long to finish. I just wished the focus had actually been more on the actual girl who fought napoleon—Nadezhda Durova.
The daughter of a naval commander, Linda Lafferty attended fourteen different schools growing up, ultimately graduating from the University of Colorado with a master's degree and a PhD in Bilingual/Special Education. Her peripatetic childhood nourished a lifelong love of travel, and she studied abroad in England, France, Mexico, and Spain. Her uncle introduced her to the sport of polo when she was just ten years old, and she enjoys playing to this day. She also competed on the Lancaster University Riding Team in England in stadium jumping, cross country, and dressage. A veteran school educator, she taught at the American School in Madrid and at Aspen High School as an English as a Second Language and Bilingual American History teacher.
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Title: House of Bathory
Author: Linda Lafferty
Publication: January 7th 2014
Genre: Historical Fiction
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 5/5
Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.
In the early 1600s, Elizabeth Báthory, the infamous Blood Countess, ruled Čachtice Castle in the hinterlands of Slovakia. During bizarre nightly rites, she tortured and killed the young women she had taken on as servants. A devil, a demon, the terror of Royal Hungary—she bathed in their blood to preserve her own youth.
400 years later, echoes of the Countess’s legendary brutality reach Aspen, Colorado. Betsy Path, a psychoanalyst of uncommon intuition, has a breakthrough with sullen teenager Daisy Hart. Together, they are haunted by the past, as they struggle to understand its imprint upon the present. Betsy and her troubled but perceptive patient learn the truth: the curse of the House of Bathory lives still and has the power to do evil even now.
The story, brimming with palace intrigue, memorable characters intimately realized, and a wealth of evocative detail, travels back and forth between the familiar, modern world and a seventeenth-century Eastern Europe brought startlingly to life.
Inspired by the actual crimes of Elizabeth Báthory, The House of Bathory is another thrilling historical fiction from Linda Lafferty (The Bloodletter’s Daughter and The Drowning Guard). The novel carries readers along with suspense and the sweep of historical events both repellent and fascinating.
House of Bathory was absolutely an amazing read. I flew through it in no time because my eyes were glued to the screen of my Kindle. It was that good! I didn't know what I expected starting it but it turned out even better than I had hoped.
I've always been intrigued by the story of Elizabeth Bathory. I love history and I've seen documentaries and movies about her so I was pretty excited to read this book. I'm so glad I got accepted for it via NetGalley.
This book is my first Linda Lafferty book and I'm so excited to have found a new historical fiction author that I can see myself wanting to read all the books from. Her writing was compelling, never got boring and it was fast-paced. Also it didn't shy away from the horror that Countess Bathory inflicted on so many innocent people.
The story also was just amazing and dark. And very exciting, not knowing what was going to happen next or if my favorite characters would survive...
I loved how it jumped from the 1600's to 2010 and how everything fit together. I just love books like that.
There were a lot of POVs that may be a little distracting to some. Even I must admit that at first I had to get used to it but I soon got used to it and now I think it was perfectly done that way.
Another thing I loved was how Carl Jung was a big part of this book. In the last year I've come to be a little intrigued also by Jungian psychology. Coincidence. Or not?
Overall, House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty was a fantastic read. I loved the writing and how the author could suck me right into the story, especially the 1600's chapters. It was like I was there. So amazing!
Favorite Quote:
The most frightening terror in the world was not ghosts, or monsters, not vampires, or any of that nonsense. The most terrifying creature in the world is a madman.
About The Author:
The daughter of a naval commander, Linda Lafferty attended fourteen different schools growing up, ultimately graduating from the University of Colorado with a master's degree and a PhD in education. Her peripatetic childhood nourished a lifelong love of travel, and she studied abroad in England, France, Mexico, and Spain. Her uncle introduced her to the sport of polo when she was just ten years old, and she enjoys playing to this day. She also competed on the Lancaster University Riding Team in England in stadium jumping, cross country, and dressage. A veteran school educator, she is the author of The Bloodletter's Daughter and The Drowning Guard. She lives in Colorado.
