Sunday, February 20, 2011

Mailbox Monday: February 21


Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ The Printed Page,
is on a blog tour! This month's host is:


Happy Birthday, Mr. President...
(sung in my best breathy Marilyn Monroe voice)
Happy Birthday to you!


Anyhoo, two for me this week:

 
Exit the Actress: A NovelFor review from Touchstone Books. While selling oranges in the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, sweet and sprightly Ellen "Nell" Gwyn impresses the theater’s proprietors with a wit and sparkle that belie her youth and poverty. She quickly earns a place in the company, narrowly avoiding the life of prostitution to which her sister has already succumbed. As her roles evolve from supporting to starring, the scope of her life broadens as well. Soon Ellen is dressed in the finest fashions, charming the theatrical, literary, and royal luminaries of Restoration England. Ellen grows up on the stage, experiencing first love and heartbreak and eventually becoming the mistress of Charles II. Despite his reputation as a libertine, Ellen wholly captures his heart—and he hers—but even the most powerful love isn’t enough to stave off the gossip and bitter court politics that accompany a royal romance. Telling the story through a collection of vibrant seventeenth-century voices ranging from Ellen’s diary to playbills, letters, gossip columns, and home remedies, Priya Parmar brings to life the story of an endearing and delightful heroine.


Trades of the FleshFor review from Tor/Forge. Preston, England, 1888: As the century draws to a close, the prostitute murders in London have made young Lydia Ketch's 'trade' a political issue. Lydia, the tough but optimistic daughter of a former workhouse inmate, has spent a year working in the 'introduction house' of Kathleen Tanner, a job that has given her an income few others could match. When Lydia meets Henry Shadwell, a young surgeon with a passionate interest in biology, the two develop an instant - and non-professional - bond. And Henry soon enlists Lydia's help in his underground sidelines; first as a model for pornographic photography; then as an assistant in procuring corpses for medical experimentation. With the dangers of her own line of work becoming clearer by the day, and her newfound delight in her own sexuality burgeoning, Lydia becomes disillusioned with her life as a prostitute. And it soon become clear that her trade - and Henry's - are even more dangerous than either had imagined.
 
What goodies arrived at you house this week?
Please leave a comment with a link to your post so I can visit :)

16 comments:

  1. Just finished Exit the Actress and really liked it. I haven't heard of the other one you got this week. Sounds interesting.

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  2. Exit the Actress sounds intriguing. Enjoy your reading!

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  3. I got a few goodies this week:
    House of Borgia by Sarah Bower
    Any Wicked Thing by Margaret Rowe
    Seduced by Destiny by Kira Morgan

    'Trades of the Flesh' looks really good. I'm going to have to check into it!

    I posted about there on my blog:
    http://bodicerippernovels.blogspot.com/2011/02/in-my-mailbox-february-edition.html

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  4. Lovely looking books...hope you enjoy them!

    Here's MY MONDAY MEMES post.

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  5. Both of these novels look very interesting! I love historical fiction and Exit the Actress has been on my TBR list for a while now :) Enjoy reading!

    Here's my Mailbox.

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  6. what a fun President George pic...LOL Enjoy your new books

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  7. Both of these look good -- I have heard of Exit the Actress, but had not heard of the second one.
    Hope you enjoy them both!

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  8. Both of these books look very interesting. Enjoy!

    This sounds like an interesting book. My Mailbox Monday is up at Wakela's World.

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  9. Heehee, thanks for the laugh with the GW pic :D
    Both books are new to me so I'll watch for reviews.

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  10. These both look very good. Love the picture of George!

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  11. They both look like really good books!!

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  12. Exit the Actress looks good. I hope you enjoy them both. I received 2.

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  13. Awesome! You got Nell!

    So tag me when you're done coz I really want to hear how you felt about it afterward :)

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