Blog Tour: Timeless Tour Discussion

I can't believe my part of the Timeless Tour is over! I've had so much fun reading three very different historical novels and I hope you've had fun reading my thoughts on them. Have you been inspired to pick any of them up?

Here are the links in case you missed the reviews the first time around:
The Enemies of Versailles - Sally Christie
Promises to Keep - Genevieve Graham
The Scribe of Siena - Melodie Winawer

The Timeless Tour isn't officially over yet. There will be a Twitter chat on May 4th at 1:00pm EST featuring all three authors and it will be moderated by Susanna Kearsley. I'm hoping I can find time to take part! Work can wait, right?

Now, for my final post...a few discussion questions. These really made me think! Thank you again to Simon & Schuster Canada for inviting me to be a part of such a great blog tour. Enjoy, friends!

What was your favourite historical time period among the Timeless Tour reads? Did you know anything about this period before you began reading the book?

I think my favourite time period was 1750s Canada because it highlighted a portion of my country's history that I couldn't remember learning much about in school. I knew who the Acadians were but I don't think I remembered that so many of them were expelled from what would become Nova Scotia. 

How did the historical events in each book influence the character’s choices and personalities?

Jeanne, in Enemies of Versailles, grew up poor and didn't have much choice in what sort of life she was going to live. It was pretty much guaranteed she'd become some sort of prostitute so she made sure to align herself with the "right" men so she would eventually be led towards the king.
Amélie's fiery personality came in handy when her family and her home were being attacked. She refused to give up and fought as long and as hard as she could to protect what was hers. 

Beatrice had to tread very carefully when she went back in time because she had to be sure not to give too much away. If she did, it was likely she would be assumed to be a witch and would be killed. She was extremely smart though so she was able to use her knowledge of the time and find ways to keep those close to her safe.  

If you could invite one of the Timeless Tour leading ladies (Beatrice, Jeanne, or Amelie) to dinner, who would you choose and why?

I'd definitely want to hang out with Amélie. I loved reading her story and it was the one that stuck with me the most. Her strong personality is one I envy a little bit. I also think she'd have such interesting stories about working the land and knowledge of the Mi’kmaq, a local First Nations tribe. 

The Scribe of Siena starts in the present before Beatrice is transported back in time to 1347, whereas Promises to Keep and Enemies of Versailles are firmly rooted in one timeline. How did this change your reading experience?

As I mentioned in my review, I liked that The Scribe of Siena was a little bit different than the other two historical novels - especially because the present day knowledge Beatrice had helped me learn more about a time period I didn't know much about. I don't think the story would have been as interesting had it not been for the time travel element.  

In the past, powerful women have been written out of textbooks. How do the protagonists of the Timeless Tour reads challenge the misconception that women in history were passive, submissive and dependent?

I love that historical novels such as these and historians are working to expose the powerful, amazing, women whose stories have been silenced. As a woman, I want to be able to read the true stories about females in the past. I know they existed and I know some of them were very influential.
All three of the women in these novels refused to sit down and just take what was coming to them. They knew they had to use whatever means necessary to survive (literally). All the women were intelligent in their own ways and they all made compelling protagonists. 

Blog Tour: The Scribe of Siena

The Scribe of Siena is the final book I have to review for Simon & Schuster's Timeless Tour. It's been so much fun! I have one final post for you next Friday. I know nothing of Siena, other than it's in Italy. I also don't know much about the Black Plague, or any plague, really. So, because of all that, I was intrigued by Melodie Winawer's debut novel.

Here's the synopsis:

Accomplished neurosurgeon Beatrice Trovato knows that her deep empathy for her patients is starting to impede her work. So when her beloved brother passes away, she welcomes the unexpected trip to the Tuscan city of Siena to resolve his estate, even as she wrestles with grief. But as she delves deeper into her brother’s affairs, she discovers intrigue she never imagined—a 700-year-old conspiracy to decimate the city.
After uncovering the journal and paintings of Gabriele Accorsi, the fourteenth-century artist at the heart of the plot, Beatrice finds a startling image of her own face and is suddenly transported to the year 1347. She awakens in a Siena unfamiliar to her, one that will soon be hit by the Plague.
Yet when Beatrice meets Accorsi, something unexpected happens: she falls in love—not only with Gabriele, but also with the beauty and cadence of medieval life. As the Plague and the ruthless hands behind its trajectory threaten not only her survival but also Siena’s very existence, Beatrice must decide in which century she belongs.
The Scribe of Siena is the captivating story of a brilliant woman’s passionate affair with a time and a place that captures her in an impossibly romantic and dangerous trap—testing the strength of fate and the bonds of love.

I used to read time travel books quite a bit when I was a kid (no, I still haven't read Outlander!) so I liked the idea of a contemporary character making her way back to the 1300s. The time travel element set The Scribe of Siena apart from a lot of the other historical novels I've read recently (and not just for this tour...2017 is apparently the Year of Historical Fiction). I didn't know when Beatrice was going to go back in time. Was it going to be during a surgery she was performing? When she was having one of her "empathy" moments? (Side note...what was actually up with those moments? I found those harder to believe than the time travel.) I also didn't know when she would go back to present day. Or if she even would. The time travel really kept me in suspense.

I think the biggest problem I had with this novel was the sheer amount of detail included. I think it was a case of Winawer trying to fit too much research into one novel when the story didn't necessarily warrant it. I also found there were too many characters. It wasn't a matter of not being able to keep track of who was telling the part of the story, that was fairly well done. Beatrice's part was told in first person while the (many) others' were in third person. The issue was more that I didn't understand why some characters really had to have their part of the story shared. In particular, it wasn't until about halfway through the book that I realized why the young priest, Bartolomeo, may be important to the overall story. He had already had some, small, parts of the story dedicated to his POV but once the (very small) revelation was made, he's not mentioned again until close to the end of the novel. He does play a part at the end but not enough to warrant him taking up character space in my brain.

There were three main reasons I kept reading this novel (other than, you know, for the blog tour). The conspiracy - whatever Ben had found out about why Siena was hit so hard during the plague - was quite compelling. I'm also a sucker for a Happily Ever After and really hoped I would get one (though hoping for a character to stay in the past to get said HAE is a weird feeling). Finally, the scribe part of the story was so interesting.

One of the best things about reading The Scribe of Siena is it has made me much more interested in Italian history. It's one (of many) places I've never been but I'd love to visit Siena now and see in person the town Melodie Winawer described in such detail. It seems that I'm in the minority with other readers who received various advance copies of this novel as many Goodreads reviewers thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel. I liked it but expected to enjoy it a heck of a lot more.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for a review for the purpose of a blog tour. All opinions are honest and my own.*