Gerri Brightwell

I've never read anything by Gerri Brightwell before. In fact, I don't think she has written anything else. But if The Dark Lantern is any indication I think she will be writing more and I will be reading them.

Jane Wilbred is an orphan whose mother murdered someone and she has been living with that stain on her reputation ever since. She was taken from the orphanage to work for the minister and his wife so that she could be trained as a housemaid. Now she has found a position in London as a second housemaid. In order to get the position she forged her employer's reference letter and this ensnares her in one lie after another. Her new employer has a past that she doesn't want disclosed as well, the other servants also have their secrets and everyone suspects everyone else. A secondary plot line has to do with the conflict between fingerprinting and anthropometry to aid crime solving. As well accepted as fingerprinting is now it is hard to believe that at the end of the 19th century there were many people who felt that anthropometry, the measuring of people's physical dimensions, was a more reliable way to determine criminal identity. The discussion of this dispute and the minute description of the work involved in maintaining a household really added to the depth of the book.

There's a book club discussion guide at the back of the book and I think it would be a good choice for a book club interested in historical novels.… (mais)

Sandra is in her mid-twenties, a Brit transplanted unwillingly to Seattle by her mother's remarriage. She is unhappy with every important aspect of her live: her free-lance work as a commercial artist, her boyfriend, her mother and stepfather (who constantly pressure her to marry the boyfriend). When Fleur, one of her stepfather's relatives, needs someone to drive her 2,000 miles to Fairbanks, Alaska, Sandra is coerced into doing it. The plan is that, upon arrival, Fleur will buy her a plane ticket home. When the time comes, however, Fleur has no money, and Sandra has already maxed out her credit card on travel expenses that Fleur couldn't cover. Sandra is stranded in Alaska with Fleur and her family, an odd group who have more than their share of secrets. As Sandra discovers those secrets, she learns a great deal about herself, about friendship, and about survival.

Readers who enjoy contemporary novels will find this one well worth their time. Brightwell writes beautifully and keeps the story moving right along. Published in England, Cold Country deserves an audience among other English-speakers, too.… (mais)