Official Review: The Cherry Fair by Mary Ellen Johnson

[Tanaya]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Cherry Fair" by Mary Ellen Johnson.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Cherry Fair is a historical novel by Mary Ellen Johnson that takes place in 14th century England. It tells the story of Maria, a young woman whose parents hold an annual cherry fair. When they deem that it’s time for Maria to marry a rich husband who can help with the family’s finances, they hold the fair in hopes of finding the right man to fit this vision. Her mother chooses an earl who’s nearly sixty years old, to Maria’s dismay. The two are betrothed until Maria meets a knight named Phillip. They run away from her home and get married, with the king and queen in attendance. Then there is Richard, Earl of Sussex and the bastard half-brother of King Edward II; the king becomes increasingly tyrannical as the story goes along. Phillip is one of Richard’s vassals. Eventually, a love triangle forms between Maria, Richard, and her husband Phillip, who is often called away for various military campaigns.

The dialogue seems fitting enough for the times, with words like “tis” and “m’lady” being sparingly used. I appreciated that the dialogue wasn’t overly done to sound purposely old-timey. The author does a great job of drawing the reader in. It all seemed so familiar because of the convincing way in which the world of the story is conveyed. I felt satisfyingly transported into this world. The book is long. It was about 450 pages on the iBooks version that I read, but the length fit the story. I didn’t feel that it needed to be any shorter or any longer than it was. The story is told in the third person and smoothly transitions to the various characters’ storylines that all fit together nicely.

Maria was by far my favorite character. At the beginning, she is thirteen years old and doesn’t want to ever get married. Her parents were very frustrating, especially when her rabbit dies and they tell her to just get over it. This leads to calling her childish and saying it’s time for her to get married. I was totally on her side in this matter. I love her defiance throughout the book, despite the disgrace that it brings to her family. After getting married to Phillip, she realizes that marrying for love instead of as a duty may not be any better after all. Her character development was just excellent. Though things don’t turn out as well as she had hoped, at least she followed her own instincts and decided that society’s expectations weren’t going to rule her life. Phillip, for his part, never wanted to get married either until they met each other. He prefers to travel and be free. What was really interesting is that their bad marriage is paralleled by the marriage of King Edward and Queen Isabella. There are many insinuations about the king’s sexual orientation, and like Maria, Isabella decides to find alternatives to her misery and to take matters into her own hands, but to a greater extreme.

The story is filled with scandals, betrayal, and revenge. On the political side of things, there are traitors, exiles, executions, and unjust imprisonments. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the social commentary, usually pertaining to views on gender, such as: “The female, being imperfect, desires to be united with perfection, which is male.” I was enjoyably infuriated by such statements. There is great passion displayed by nearly all the characters for the sake of their country or in matters of love, usually defying sound logic.

There were some formatting issues that led to momentary confusion, particularly with lines of text being cut off and displaced. All of the words were there, but there was excessive spacing at times that made the rest of the line appear slightly lower down on the page. I should also point out to the author that the cover of the iBooks version I received had a generic blue cover with the title being “bookmark:Cover” and the author listed as “brian.”

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It was very well written and was a real page-turner. There was a great balance between all of the story’s many elements and plotlines, with riveting politics, troubled romance, and action in the form of battle and jousting scenes. I’ll admit that I was more interested in the romance side of things since I became personally invested in Maria’s storyline from the very beginning. She was very easy to relate to. Overall, it’s a well-rounded book with something for everybody. I’d recommend this book to those who enjoy reading stories about war and love in the Middle Ages.

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The Cherry Fair
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[literaturelover]

sounds great! i love historical fiction.

[Tanaya]

Glad to hear it! If you like this genre, then I'm sure you'd enjoy this book

[chytach18-]

Great review, Tanaya. I think Maria was born too early for her time - she didn't belong to her society. Another Anna Karenina. I love historical books.

[Tanaya]

Ah, great point that I hadn't considered before. That's a very fitting way to describe her.

[LivreAmour217]

I love historical fiction, especially when it's about the Middle Ages. This sounds like a great story, but I do hope that the formatting issues are fixed soon. Thanks for another wonderful review!

[Tanaya]

I hope so too, just so that it can have a better, less confusing finish. And thanks for your comment as always.

[kimmyschemy06]

Generally, I love historical fiction and this sounds like one I would very much enjoy. Great review! Congratulations to Mary Ellen Johnson for such a wonderful book!

[Tanaya]

Thanks! The author did a fantastic job.

[gran1990]

I have recently enjoyed romance in historical fiction and I'm sure this will be just as enjoyable. Thanks for the great review.

[Tanaya]

Then this definitely sounds like the book for you

[stoppoppingtheP]

Sounds like a book that I would really enjoy. Thanks for the great review.

[kirolloisdose]

I really don't know what to say,i didn't like that book