Customer Reviews

The Wandering Heart

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If you are looking for a richly detailed and complex historical novel which will grab your attention and keep it, and have you pondering the central concepts long afterwards, this is it.

Lizzie Manning, an American historian specialising in maritime history, is invited by the wealthy and aristocratic Hatton family to review the journal and collections of an ancestor who once sailed with Captain Cook. Thrilled at the opportunity she readily agrees, travelling to England and setting herself up in the ancient family home Hengemont, where she begins to sift through the material which has not been classified for hundreds of years.

In the process she uncovers other documents which are unrelated to seafaring, and puts them to one side, but bit by bit an older and more menacing mystery emerges, something which has blighted the lives of the Hatton family since the times of the Crusades and Henry the Third. Lizzie becomes more and more distracted by this older mystery, and in the process learns more about herself than she anticipated.

This is such a clever novel. It weaves its magic through the complexities of the story, particularly the apparently unrelated historical events, the romantic ancient setting and the characters both alive and dead. The historical research underpinning the story is meticulous (historical inaccuracy is my pet peeve) and the ending is a poignant and fitting closure to such a wonderful story.

I read this book in one sitting, as I kept thinking to myself "just one more chapter" and then before I knew it, it was finished. It will keep you thinking for a long time about life, love and death, but not in a morbid way, and all in all it was a delight which I highly recommend.

Well, I have to admit right up front that I am not a big lover or reader of historical novels. Now I like novels just fine and do indeed spend most of my time reading history, but I have found that the mixture of the two do not often go well; in particular in inept hands. I must also admit that I approached this work with some trepidation. My goodness was I wrong! After reading only the first ten pages I was absolutely hook and spent one semi-sleepless night finishing the thing. I cannot remember when I have enjoyed a book of this particular genre as much as I have this one.

As with most of my reviews, I will write very little of the plot as that aspect has been covered so much more adequately by other reviewers here...anyway by those reviewers that actually read the book. In brief though, this is a story of a lady historian who has been hired by an English family to journey to their estate in England and perform a research project having to do with their ancient family papers and artifacts. Our researcher, Lizzie Manning leaves her husband, a very well know artist, at home and makes the journey. As she delves deeper and deeper in to the lives of the Hatton family via never before published or researched family papers, Lizzie makes one remarkable discover after the other. As a matter of fact, her reading and digging, she finally realizes, make herself a central part of this tale that date back to the time of the Crusades, Henry II and the Knight Templers. Folks, this is a page turner, make no mistake. It is not a cheap thrill page turner though as the complexity of the story keeps it on a level that you actually have to do some thinking. I love this! It is also, and I felt this was delightfully sneaky of the author, a commentary on the English Class System and attitudes that exist even to this day.

The author, a historian herself who has a Ph.D. from Brown University and teaches Maritime History in Woods Hole, Mass and Museum Studies at Harvard University, is certainly qualified to create a tale such as this. She has written four maritime history books but this is her first adventure into the realm of the Historical Novel. Let us hope it is not the last. Ms Malloy is absolutely a natural and gifted story teller with the ability to take her knowledge of history and blend it into a work that is absolutely captivating. This work is a blend of history, historical investigation, a touch of romance, mystery and to be frank, some sort of scary stuff. The author possesses and had given us a very smooth style, which in this case is a good thing as the story is somewhat complicated at times (I promise you, it all comes together in the end) and it would be difficult, if not impossible to follow were it not written by a very talented writer.

Now it must be understood that I am not a professional historian by any means; a enthusiastic armature and reader of history for over 50 years, but certainly not an academic professional. That being said though, I did not just fall off the back of a turnip wagon as to historical facts and can pretty well distinguish a crow from a sparrow at well over 100 yards, so when I say that this work was quite well researched, I feel confident that I am not just talking through my hat. Did the author take some liberty with historical facts? Yes, certainly she did, but she has been very careful to point out the very few times she did via an interview which was published in the back of the book. When I do read a historical novel, I expect and indeed want the author to write a good readable story that holds my interest. If the author has to take a few twists and turns around the cold hard fact, I have no problem with that as long as the author point them out, which as I said, she did in this case. I did in fact do a web search on some of the points the author included in her story and I am happy to report that I did not catch her at anytime in a historical blunder. The times Ms Malloy did dicker with historical facts are few and far between.

For a work that is bound to bring you a lot of reading pleasure and a work that you will find very difficult to put down, I can hardly see how you can go wrong with this one. Not only do you get an absolute top rate story from a gifted teller of tales, you also receive a number of wonderful history lessons written in a style that will not make your eyes roll to the back of your head like your History of Western Civilization text did when you were in school. History through this woman's pen is delicious and yummy! This story has meat to it; very sweet literary meat!

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

I once read a comment by a famous author in which he expressed that life was too short to read bad books. Therefore, he was willing to give a book one page to catch his attention! Although I do not agree with the idea of giving a book such a narrow window of opportunity, I can say that even under those strict conditions, Malloy's novel would have made the cut with room to spare. The author catches our attention right away with a powerful scene, involving a young woman jumping from the roof of her house.

Once the first step is accomplished, Malloy proceeds to deliver a powerful and intriguing historical mystery. Her skillful writing allows us to get involved in the story right away and it is hard for us to slow down as we follow Lizzie Manning on her quest. This scholar is hired to investigate the past of a shipmate of Captain Cook, Francis Hatton, and in the process she finds some fascinating facts and gets involved in a mystery that hits close to home.

I have found in the past that some authors have a tough time finding a balance when writing historical fiction. Some go into too many details on the historical aspect and the fictional plot gets lost in the morass. Others just use superficial facts from the past and end up with just a work of fiction without much to show for in the historical column. Malloy is not even close to falling for this pitfall; she communicates the historical aspects in such a fascinating way and blends them so proficiently in the plot, that the book goes down as easy and as gratifyingly as a good scotch. This novel was a wonderful find, and I could not recommend it more highly!

I fear that most people will read the title of this book, look at its cover art and think this is some sort of historical romance, when in fact it is not, it's a brilliant work of historical fiction with more than one engaging mystery, one of which revolves around a tragic romance.

Lizzie Manning is a historian and a professor living in Boston, Massachusetts. She is contacted by the Hatton family in Britain to study and document their ancestor, Francis Hatton, and the journal he wrote and the artifacts he collected during his sea voyage with Captain James Cook.

Invited to stay and research the documents and artifacts in the family home, Hedgemont, Lizzie soon discovers this family has a history deep in tradition and tragedy, dating back to the thirteenth century and the Crusades. As she uncovers more about Francis, she discovers more about his family's tragic past and the women who seem to be affected by that past, fatally. Immersed in the rich detail and history of the family, Lizzie makes several discoveries and unlocks mysteries that have plagued the family and remained unsolved for centuries.

All the mysteries involved with the Hatton family seem to center around one tragic event at the time of the Crusades, and the missing heart that was never recovered from the event. The line between what was and what is becomes blurred as the past starts affecting Lizzie more personally than she ever thought possible when history begins to repeat itself.

It took a little while for the story to fully take off and take shape, but once it did, I was as engrossed in the Hatton family history as Lizzie was. The story is powerful in its details and the tragedies of the past make a great impact on the reader. Both the historical and fictitious stories are fascinating and with each discovery made by Lizzie, I felt like I was watching her put the pieces of a puzzle together. The characters of the story enhanced the journey and each role was played an important part to fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together at the end.

I stated at the beginning of this review that I feared people would think this book a romance and overlook it, or simply not pick it up. The truth is there is enough romance involved to entertain the romance reader, but there is so much more going on in this story that I feel this is a book that fans of most genres will enjoy. Mystery, romance, historical fiction, or just great fiction fans in general would enjoy this tale, immensely, I think.

This book looks to be the first in a trilogy featuring Lizzie and her supporting cast, and I look forward to the next adventure and mystery with much enthusiasm.

Cherise Everhard, June 2009

To history professor Elizabeth Manning, it seems like the opportunity of an academic lifetime: an invitation to catalog a private collection of artifacts housed on an estate in Somerset County, England. The items belonged to Francis Hatton, who gathered them when he accompanied Captain James Cook on his third naval excursion in the 1770s. His descendants have owned them ever since. Since Lizzie is a published expert on maritime history, she's an obvious choice for the task. She leaves Boston and her husband Martin for a planned month of research and documentation in the UK.

The contemporary Hattons of Hengemont are an interesting bunch. Sir George is reserved but kind; his son Richard is pompous and condescending; and son Edmund is handsome and personable. But as Lizzie inventories their ancestor's cabinet museum, she uncovers more than just anthropological treasures. She discovers paperwork that reveals a genealogical trend of suicide among centuries of Hatton women; and all of them were named Elizabeth. The information is both intriguing and unsettling, since she shares the name. What is the researcher's responsibility to her patron when such secrets are unearthed? Especially in "a house where deception rests very comfortably?"

As a result of her work, Lizzie finds herself spending more time in the past than in the present (as historians are apt to do). She's good at what she does, and that's the problem. That's when the disturbing dreams come. Strange things begin to happen to Lizzie. Is the Hatton family curse affecting her as well? Has she dug too deep? Is it mere coincidence that the name "Hatton" appears on her own, incomplete family tree? Perhaps this visit is not a mere academic assignment after all.

Lizzie's threads of research and continuing discoveries keep us turning the pages. In the end, the book is ultimately a study in human nature and the power of love as it surfaces and resurfaces over the course of more than 20 generations in one specific family.

Kudos to author Mary Malloy, who tells this story with such detail and conviction that it reads more like a memoir narrative than like fiction. Even if you're unfamiliar with medieval British history; and even if you wouldn't know the Knights Templar from the Knights of Columbus (or "courtly love" from Courtney Love)(!), you will enjoy following Lizzie and her intellectual challenges. The greatest gift Malloy drops on us at the end is the news that this first novel is also the first installment of a planned trilogy. What wonders will Lizzie find next? We can hardly wait to find out. This is a book that deserves wide readership. An interview with Malloy appears as an appendix.

This is a great mystery and romance. The intersection of medieval and modern times, history and women make this interesting and suspenseful on many levels. Well research and exceptionally well written. This is a real page turner!

St. Patrick's College history professor Elizabeth "Lizzie" Manning is on her winter break when British Lord George F.R. Hatton asks her to assess his family's special artifacts collected by an ancestor Lieutenant Francis Hatton who sailed with James Cook on his third Pacific exploration. Excited, Lizzie leaves Charlestown, Massachusetts to look at the collection at the aristocrat's Hengemont, Somerset, England estate.

As she catalogues the treasure, Lizzie learns of the Hatton family curse. Every female Elizabeth Hatton commits suicide. Only George's mentally disturbed sister Bette remains alive from this generation. As she digs deeper into the Hatton family history, Lizzie begins to find disturbing evidence that she might be a Hatton. Worse she begins to see terrifying visions that make her wonder if she is the next victim.

THE WANDERING HEART is a fabulous thriller starring a historian heroine who looks back in time over the centuries to various eras seeking what happened to numerous Elizabeth Hatton. Thus the reader obtains a modern psychological tale with strong implications of horror from an alleged curse dating back to the Crusades. As Lizzie begins to understand what has happened in each century since medieval times, she starts to believe she is the current doomed one, but readers will wonder if an artifact is causing a family curse or if it is a self fulfilling prophecy as Mary Malloy provides a terrific tense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Mary Malloy is a professor of museum studies and maritime history. She uses her knowledge to write The Wandering Heart. She combines history, romance and art to create a fascinating novel. The painting on the cover is entitled The Meeting On The Turret Stairs. The artist is Frederic William Burton. It shows the last encounter between two lovers before tragedy strikes. This painting captures the romantic theme of the book well. There are no pictures inside the book itself, but there are many descriptions of paintings, British architecture and decorative things like a bear helmet and a blanket with a crest of a bear on it. Malloy vividly describes everything in this book. This is one of the strongest points about her writing. It is fun to visualize what these places and objects look like.

The main character is a historical researcher named Lizzie Manning. She travels to England to do historical research for a well to do British family. She is a person dedicated to her job. The work of a historian is not always easy, but it can very rewarding. I adopted that opinion from reading this book. There are a few pages of questions and answers at the end of the book. These last few pages provide a good background into Mary Malloy's inspirations for the setting and characters of the book. The Wandering Heart is the kind of book that motivates me to learn more about paintings and artifacts.

Lizzie Manning is a historian who's invited by George Hatton to spend some time at his ancestral home--Hengemont, in Somerset, England--researching and cataloging his ancestor's collection. Francis Hatton had sailed with Captain Cook on his second voyage of exploration in the last quarter of the 18th century. He'd collected items of interest along the way, now displayed in the Hatton manse, and had also written a journal which was never published. It's an exciting opportunity for Lizzie, and she leaves her husband behind during her January break from teaching. Arrived at Hengemont, Lizzie finds her aristocratic host perfectly accommodating and one of his sons perfectly charming, but the oldest son, who's due to inherit Hengemont, is alarmingly and inexplicably hostile. Lizzie sets to work on the journal and artifacts at once, but soon runs into two mysteries connected with the Hatton family. The first concerns what was described on the pages that, she finds, have been carefully sliced out of Francis Hatton's journal. The second is connected with a piece of family lore, some seven hundred years old: Elizabeth d'Hautain had jumped to her death off the tower at Hengemont when her husband Jean failed to return from the Crusades. The suicide has haunted successive generations of the Hatton family.

Mary Malloy tells a good story in her debut novel. The mystery of the "curse" of Elizabeth d'Hautain, its echoes over seven centuries, kept me reading. I liked that in the end we weren't required to suspend our disbelief to swallow the story. I found the writing for the most part good and the characters likable and believable. But there is one problem with the book that could prevent me from reading a second Lizzie Manning story (there's a sequel in the works), despite that I enjoyed so much about this one: it needs to be cut down considerably. Malloy, to my mind at least, goes overboard in describing the architectural details of various buildings Lizzie finds herself in. This would be fine if the details were relevant to the story, but they're not, so the narrative is slowed by all the description. There is also a lot of unnecessary ink spilt at the end of the book, after the mysteries are tidily resolved--many pages given to Lizzie and her husband discussing their relationship, for example. I think that much of this could be shaved off. Take 50 or even 100 pages out of this story and it would be a much leaner, more exciting read.

-- Debra Hamel

A trip through history may be the dream of any dedicated historian. "The Wandering Heart" tells the story of Lizzie Manning, who sees herself going back through time, starting with the eighteenth century and eventually ending up in Medieval Europe. During her travels she finds much history to holds on to, but she just may find something more in the heart of a Crusader. "The Wandering Heart" is a fine exploration of history with a hint of romance, highly recommended.