HISTORICAL FICTION

The Soldier’s Daughter

Fiona McIntosh

Penguin Random, $34.99

Fiona McIntosh is known and loved for both the depth of her research, and the powerful emotional charge of her narrative. Readers of her 2020 novel, The Champagne War , will be delighted to know that this new one is its sequel. The anchor now is not the production of champagne, but that of whisky, with an astonishing amount of academic and historical detail about the industry and its methods. While Charlie Nash, now a widower, trained as a chemist, was the main character of the earlier novel, this time his daughter, Violet, “pragmatic and searingly intelligent”, is the star. Although Charlie has a highly significant part to play, Violet’s complex search for her perfect man is central to the tale.

The tre

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