Week 13 Review: A Spear of Summer Grass

From Goodreads:
Paris, 1923 

The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is already notorious, even amongst Paris society. But her latest scandal is big enough to make even her oft-married mother blanch. Delilah is exiled to Kenya and her favorite stepfather's savannah manor house until gossip subsides. 

Fairlight is the crumbling, sun-bleached skeleton of a faded African dream, a world where dissolute expats are bolstered by gin and jazz records, cigarettes and safaris. As mistress of this wasted estate, Delilah falls into the decadent pleasures of society.  

Against the frivolity of her peers, Ryder White stands in sharp contrast. As foreign to Delilah as Africa, Ryder becomes her guide to the complex beauty of this unknown world. Giraffes, buffalo, lions and elephants roam the shores of Lake Wanyama amid swirls of red dust. Here, life is lush and teeming-yet fleeting and often cheap.  

Amidst the wonders-and dangers-of Africa, Delilah awakes to a land out of all proportion: extremes of heat, darkness, beauty and joy that cut to her very heart. Only when this sacred place is profaned by bloodshed does Delilah discover what is truly worth fighting for-and what she can no longer live without.

My Review:
This was a fantastic book! It's pretty different from her Lady Julia series, seeing as it's set in the 20's, and Delilah is pretty different from Julia, like that she doesn't care about solving mysteries, except when it's personal, and yeah, it is it's own book, and I utterly loved it, I don't know why it took me so long to get around to reading it!

I loved Delilah, and her layers, from the one that everybody sees, the social butterfly, party animal, that gets into trouble, but as we read, layers are peeled by, from her first husband and what happened to him, why she wears the black wristband, that she was a nurse during the war, there's more to her than meets the eye, plus she's pretty smart with dealing with the opposite sex, and playing games with them, and their heads!

I loved the 2 legends that were mentioned, the New Orleans Rougarou, and the Masai pinching man, The Rougarou was pretty creepy, but I'm glad how that ended! And the pinching man, I wonder who it was, though it probably changes, because it does work, though I wouldn't want to experience it!

The whole Gideon, and then the name he was born with, Ole, and when he tells her that name, it was just so bittersweet, that he's telling her that in their last goodbye, as they're never going to see each other again. He had a hard draw in life, and I hope he does well because he did survive!

I loved this books so much, it was just fantastic, and so good, and there were historical details, so you can learn stuff, too!

Author: Deanna Raybourn
Series: Spear of Summer Grass #1
Read: March 27th, 2013
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: I enjoy Deanna Raybourn's writing! And it's a Historical Fiction 2013 Book and a Sequel Challenge 2013 Book!
Publisher: Mira
Expected Publication: April 23rd 2013

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars