The Seed Woman: heavy on historical details, light on story

The Seed Woman by Petra Durst-Benning (translated by Edwin Miles) is the first book of the Seed Trader’s Saga. Set in Gonningen, a village in the Swabian Mountains of Germany where seed trading is the main source of income for its residents in the 1850s. A young woman, Hannah Brettschneider, travels from Nuremberg to find Helmut Kerner, the eldest son of the wealthy Kerner family. She’s pregnant and Helmut is the father. Problem? He’s engaged to be married to Seraphine Schwarz. Helmut quickly marries Hannah and eventually Valentin, his brother, marries Seraphine as he has long loved her despite her affections for his brother. As everyone lives under one roof, jealousy and manipulations begin as the brothers plan to expand their business into other regions. Hannah begins to show interest in the seed trade and offer new ways to conduct business. Will they listen to Hannah, an outsider, and try her new methods? Will the business flourish?

I labored through this book. Pushing myself to finish it. I made it through 60% of the book when a particular scene made me stop. It would so disturbing and unsettling that I didn’t want to continue. I realized that I didn’t care about the characters, especially Seraphine who was a bitch as she treats Valentin horribly and plots to worm her way back into Helmut’s heart, who didn’t love her in the first place and saw Hannah’s arrival as a blessing in disguise. The details of the regions and the seed trade are extensive and beautiful. I liked Hannah as the hardworking outsider who shows the village that there are other ways to do things. And she was the only character I liked. I do not recommend The Seed Woman. It is one of those historical novels where the historical details are extensive with very little or unexciting action.

The Seed Woman

is available in paperback and eBook

Seasons of the Moon: one man's journey through life

Seasons of the Moon by Julien Aranda (translated by Roland Glasser) is the one man’s story through life. Beginning with his birth, Paul Vertune was the youngest son of a farmer on the Brittany coast of France. From the very beginning, it was clear that Paul was not destined for a life as a farmer. From the age of 6, he dreamed of becoming a sailor and seeing the world. However, the world had other ideas. Soon World War II breaks out and his village is under German occupation. After a brief encounter with a German solider, who shows a young man in love mercy, Paul gives a promise that would he was determined to fulfill. He promises this German soldier to tell his daughter he loves her. At 18, Paul is drafted and spends his enlistment at the hands of a cruel drill sergeant. After his time in the army, he marries his childhood sweetheart, Mathilde, and sets out to fulfil his dream and his promise. Will he be able to find the German soldier’s daughter? Or will she be lost to the chaos in the aftermath of war?

Seasons of the Moon is a deeply retrospective, emotional story about the endless possibilities of life and finding the beauty in it all. While the book was slow in parts, I enjoyed reading Paul’s journey through life as he experiences life altering events which teach him that life is precious despite its hardships. It is a beautiful story of one man’s journey through life and his determination to fulfill a promise. I also enjoyed how Mr. Aranda used the phases of the moon as Paul enters a new phase in his life. I recommend Seasons of the Moon.

Seasons of the Moon

is available in paperback and eBook