I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Consolamentum by Rebecca Hazell
Published by CreateSpace
Publication Date August 8, 2014
Source: Author
Genres: Historical Fiction
Goodreads
In the finale of Sofia's memoir, Consolamentum, both dramatic and poignant, her dreams of home are shattered when her own family betrays her. Raising her child on her own, mourning the loss of her beloved knight, and building a trading empire, she seeks safe haven for her child and herself. Her quest takes her from Antioch to Constantinople to Venice. A surprise reunion in Venice leads her to France where she runs afoul of the newly established Holy Inquisition, possibly the greatest challenge she has yet faced. Can a woman so marked by oppression, betrayal, and danger ever find her safe haven, much less genuine happiness?
The first two books of The Tiger and Dove trilogy are filled with carnage, but Solomon’s Bride ends on an uplifting note. Although I warned myself, there is still one chapter left in Sofia’s story she can’t have her fairy tale ending yet.
Fond of:
- Tragedy does not strike the same as it did in Sofia’s other adventures. It was more subdued, including natural disasters and hardships of a less gruesome nature.
- Like Downton Abbey, Hazell’s trilogy is a soap opera of sorts. Sofia is a less refined Mary Crawley. Lady Mary’s son is not yet a year old when she goes out on the rebound despite the fact that Matthew fills her mind. I liked that despite the offers Sofia received stayed true to her heart with her knight filling her mind. Note: as a Downton Abbey fan I realize that Matthew is dead where as there is a chance that Joscelin could still be living
- I have found that novels including a lost love always have said lover return at the finish of a novel to create a happily ever after ending. Rebecca Hazell summoned Sofia’s beloved half-way (give or take) through the book, thus the reader got to experience their ever after and/or the trials that come with it. I appreciated a fresh take on a plot that has been done to death.
Not Fond of:
- At the start, Sofia is once again captured (if only briefly) and had a very Rapunzel locked in her tower vibe to it. She is soon rescued but unlike the first two books the beginning didn’t grab me the same way and instead had me sighing “not again.”
- My other negative is silly. Everyone was getting married, having babies and happy. That is great and all but it happened bing, bing, bing and got a little repetitive.
Final Thoughts:
With 25% to go the novel started to drag, it became feast after feast after feast and didn’t think I would be able to take anymore ham hocks. Just when I had given up hope bam, Sofia has a turn of events that not only shook the reader up but jeopardized everything our heroine had been striving for. The conclusion to Sofia’s memoirs was thrilling and well worth the wait.
With Consolamentum I was reminded of the final episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary and all her co-workers go in for a group hug, unwilling to let go, slowly making their way to the door where Mary turns off the light. That is how I felt about the conclusion of Consolamentum. I’d grown attached to Sofia and her crew and did not want to part just yet, but knew the light would inevitably turn off.
Rebecca Hazell is a an award winning artist, author and educator. She has written, illustrated and published four non-fiction children’s books, created best selling educational filmstrips, designed educational craft kits for children and even created award winning needlepoint canvases.Rebecca lived for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1988 she and her family moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in 2006 she and her husband moved to Vancouver Island. They live near their two adult children in the beautiful Cowichan Valley.
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