I'm quite confident that, if I start this blog with "remember the scythe?", most people reading it are going to immediately know where I'm pointing you to! That's right: Poldark. Now, I know that the series with Aidan Turner and his famous scythe was actually a remake of an earlier programme, but let's just focus on this more recent iteration of Winston Graham's novels about the eponymous Cornish hero. One of the things which is so wonderful about Poldark as a series - not only onscreen but even more so in the novels - is that it covers such a vast period of time. Because of the time in which it is set, there are huge local and global changes taking place around the characters and, when you have been invested in them for so long, you can really experience the upheaval alongside them. This is something I attempted with (what I hope) was a reasonable degree of success in my Early Story of the Rite trilogy. If it ever actually appears on bookshelves, it won...
I've always been interested in Americana, although that comes in waves, so occasionally I'll be poring over the biographies of various presidents and then the following week my fascination has waned completely. It does mean that I was reasonably familiar with the Civil War background of the book, which made me very enthusiastic to read it. It is grounded in American history - and of course it should be: Freedom for Me is inspired by the true story of a young Chinese man who signed up to fight for the north in the American Civil War. More than complex military strategy or groundbreaking historical moments, this is the story of one boy's decision to fight, and how his reasons for fighting mature and develop over time. I loved reading about how Thomas, the main character, began to learn about himself in the context of others. His closest relationship is with his brother, but he develops deep and meaningful friendships with his brothers-in-arms and with an runaway slave, Sam....