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THE SILVER BRANCH is set about 200 years after THE EAGLE. Marcus Flavius Aquila’s namesake grandson (called Flavius rather than Marcus) and his cousin Justin come across something that points to treason […]
As most everyone knows, today, 16 September 2020 is the 400th Anniversary of the departure of the Mayflower from Plymouth, England before it sailed across the Atlantic and made landfall in Massachusetts, […]
No-one knows what really happened to the Ninth Legion, the Hispana. All that is known is that it marched north into what is now Scotland to deal with the Painted People, and […]
ON THE NIGHT OF THE SEVENTH MOON by Victoria Holt is a fairy tale set in the years 1859 to 1870 in Germany. A young English girl gets lost in the mists […]
“I’m forty-one years old and getting married for the first time tomorrow, on Saturday June 21, 1930. At least, that’s what I tell my wife-to-be. I wasn’t thinking of marrying Emmy, until […]
In this last, sixth novel of the series, we say “goodbye” to our friends at Green Knowe. In this farewell volume, published in 1976, twelve years after volume five, we see our […]
Like Volume 4, Volume 5 is about a stranger who arrives at Green Knowe. However, this stranger is no gorilla trying to find a place to hide, but a creepy academic woman […]
Learn more about our dreamy violinist Grace, her sharp-tongued sister Violet, her vivid mother Angelina, and her sinister suitor Mr. Russell…
In this fourth novel, Ping, one of the displaced children from the third novel becomes the protagonist when Mrs. Oldknow invites him to stay at Green Knowe. This novel has none of […]
“If you think I’m going to let you visit your fancy-piece, you’ve got another think coming.” “Come on, Beat. Let it go. It’s over.” “I’ll never let you go. Do you hear […]
“Don’t you love when you get to the part in the book where the title makes an appearance and you’re like “ohhhhh”?! That was me with Farewell My Life!
“The newest book by Author Cynthia Sally Haggard is a long one but the way she divides it into three parts really help breaks it up. Plus the writing and the story are both so great that the pages just fly by.
“Farewell My Life tells the story of Angelina and her daughter, Grace. Angelina features mostly in the first part of the book, and then Grace features in parts two and three. She is a gifted musician and her talent takes her from Washington DC to Berlin where she trains with the most famous violinist in the world. The third part was a little darker as the Nazis start taking over, and the Oster Conspiracy of which I knew very little, is talked about.
“Beautifully written and hard to put down, I highly recommend Farewell My Life! Part coming-of-age, part mystery, part life story – it’s an incredible read.”
“The author knows her characters very, very well; this shows in the consistent and very individual way they act. This is not a plot-driven story; it’s character-driven. In this book, the characters are the jam which holds everything together. The best example of this is Grace, the talented violinist, who, simply, jumps off the page. I loved her.”
“Farewell My Life is a coming of age period drama, the book is set in between World War I and World War II.
Written in third person narration the author has creatively set the novel into three distinctive parts. The opening of the book is set in Georgetown, Washington DC
Angelina, a single mother to Violent and Grace is the black sheep of the Pagano family. She does not follow the norm, her morals are questionable to say the least. A chance meeting leads her to introducing handsome Nicholas Russell to her daughters. This sets in motion some dramatic events, when Mr. Russell’s attraction toward Angelina’s younger daughter Grace becomes sinisterly obsessive. To escape the unnerving clutches of Mr. Russell, Grace’s family take her to Berlin Germany, where she can study violin with the greatest teacher of the day. But in Berlin, they encounter the turbulent political climate leading up to the beginning World War II.
Exquisitely written with vibrant characters this book left a lasting impression on me. The author has written a heartfelt, moving, powerful, thought-provoking book, one that is definitely going to be a reread for me as the writer’s voice is so captivating. I really enjoyed the well researched content historical events interwoven with fictional characters.”
