patchworkbunny reviewed Smoke Hunter by Jacquelyn Benson
Review of 'Smoke Hunter' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
What a fun book! I try to avoid comparisons but it's hard to say this isn't a bit like Indiana Jones, but with a suffragette in the staring role (OK, maybe she meets an Indiana type figure too). The tone also reminds me a little of Gail Carriger, so don't expect some serious historical fiction and you'll be on the right track.
Ellie is just as clever and educated, if not more so, than her male peers but she is stuck doing a menial task in the public records office. That's until she's arrested for chaining herself to the gates of parliament. Determined that marriage is not the only option left, Ellie "borrows" a book, hiding within it a map and artifact, that she sure won't be missed. Perhaps it is just a very old hoax but there's a glimmer of hope that it could be the location of a …
What a fun book! I try to avoid comparisons but it's hard to say this isn't a bit like Indiana Jones, but with a suffragette in the staring role (OK, maybe she meets an Indiana type figure too). The tone also reminds me a little of Gail Carriger, so don't expect some serious historical fiction and you'll be on the right track.
Ellie is just as clever and educated, if not more so, than her male peers but she is stuck doing a menial task in the public records office. That's until she's arrested for chaining herself to the gates of parliament. Determined that marriage is not the only option left, Ellie "borrows" a book, hiding within it a map and artifact, that she sure won't be missed. Perhaps it is just a very old hoax but there's a glimmer of hope that it could be the location of a lost city, maybe the legend of El Dorado. Turns out the book was missed and there's some rather unsavoury people wanting it back.
Archaeology is her dream and she ends off half way round the world, by herself, heading off into the jungle, over rapids, chased by boar and a host of other dangers. All in the company of an insufferable man. Yet a man with vast knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, Mayan and Aztec civilisations.
If you like to try a sample of a book before you commit, I would make sure you read more than the first chapter because it's not very representative of the overall tone. I was a bit skeptical at first but once I met Ellie I was hooked.
Victorian treasure hunters were notorious for lack of respect to the indigenous people and it's good to see this covered in a book that otherwise isn't too concerned with being serious. Adam chooses not to return and excavate a site because it is clear to him it is still being used. Ellie is used to being dismissed because of her gender, so she is keen not to do the same to people because of their race. She has a thirst for knowledge but not if it mean trampling over the lives of innocent people. However many people around them are racist and sexist, in keeping with the era.
Review copy provided by publisher.