Soline Roussel is well schooled in the business of happy endings. For generations her family has kept an exclusive bridal salon in Paris, where magic is worked with needle and thread. It’s said that the bride who wears a Roussel gown is guaranteed a lifetime of joy. But devastating losses during World War II leave Soline’s world and heart in ruins and her faith in love shaken. She boxes up her memories, stowing them away, along with her broken dreams, determined to forget.
Decades later, while coping with her own tragic loss, aspiring gallery owner Rory Grant leases Soline’s old property and discovers a box containing letters and a vintage wedding dress, never worn. When Rory returns the mementos, an unlikely friendship develops, and eerie parallels in Rory’s and Soline’s lives begin to surface. It’s clear that they were destined to meet—and that Rory may hold the key to righting a forty-year wrong and opening the door to shared healing and, perhaps, a little magic.
Review:
If you’re looking for historical fiction but don’t want to concentrate on a war, this is a good book to pick up. Now, World War 2 does play a part in the story but it is not the main background for the story.
You have Soline whose story is told both in “present” day 1985 and also in the past in the 1940s during the World War and Rory’s story is told in 1985. The two timelines merge fairly quickly as there is a connection between Rory and Soline that neither of them realize.
This story focuses on love, loss of love, and growth. Both of these women have experienced events in their lives that contribute to how they live their everyday lives. Their coming into each other’s lives helps them heal and discover life again.
Rating:
3.5
Availability:
Available now in paperback, ebook, and audio.
A special thank you to Suzy’s Approved Book Tours for having me along for this book. Also, a special thank you to Barbara Davis and Lake Union Publishing for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed listening to this memoir on audio. Georgina narrates it herself. I couldn’t imagine being one race and being raised by another race and my parents not tell me what race I am or even try to incorporate aspects of that race into our daily lives. Ignoring race doesn’t make it go away. Georgina has to battle with self identity as a child and even more so as an adult. She uses her experience to help others that have been in her situation and to educate the masses who are familiar with and follow her work.
I received both a review copy and finished copy of this book from Harper Perennial in exchange for an honest review.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Availability:
Available now in paperback, hardcover in some places, ebook, and audiobook
The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard
This book was the type of historical fiction that I needed to take a break from my usual WW2 historical fiction. The story follows two black domestic workers, Sitwell and Jennie who work in the house of the Barclays. At first glance Sitwell appears docile and mild mannered. However, we find out later that is not the case. He is definitely the definition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Jennie appears to be young and naive but she is actually resourceful and strong willed.
I would say that their behavior at work is to be able to keep their job and their behavior outside of work is their true nature. Something these days we call code switching.
I like this book because of the timeframe it is written in and it is not only historical fiction, there is a bit of a mystery/thriller aspect thrown in. This was also a story that tests its characters humanity.
I received a gifted finished copy from Amistad Books
Rating:
3 Golden Girls
Availability:
Available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook
Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson
I would like to take a moment of silence to honor the late Cicely Tyson.
I knew the moment that this book came across my radar that I needed to have a copy and read it. I have the physical copy of this book but I felt I wanted to listen to the audiobook and I am glad that I did. Cicely narrates a small section at the beginning but does not narrate the entire book. Robin Miles does an excellent job of narrating Ms. Tyson’s story. I’ve heard her narrate another memoir that I enjoyed call Diamon Doris.
Anyway, Ms. Tyson’s story is one of greatness but not without some pain. She took life’s lemons and made them work. Her work ethic was like no other that I’ve ever heard about in Hollywood. I learned so much about her and about celebrities in this memoir. I knew of her relationship and marriage to Miles Davis but I had no idea that he was such a lost soul.
Ms. Tyson was a force to be reckoned with. She didn’t let anything stand in her way. I admire how she took life by the horns. Her story is inspiring and educational. I am grateful that she was able to get her story written down before passing. That way her story is fully hers.
I managed to read more than I thought last month. I read a total of 10 books and didn’t review any of them because life has been life. It’s 2020 and ya’ll know what I am talking about. Anyway, since I am still really not in the mood to post full reviews but I needed something to do, I figured I would share some quick thoughts on some of my reads.
Sisters of War by Lana Kortchik (gifted copy from Harper Collins, published September 2020)
Blurb:
A dark shadow is about to fall over the golden cupolas of Kiev…
As the Red Army retreats in the face of Hitler’s relentless advance across Eastern Europe, the lives of sisters Natasha and Lisa are about to change forever.
While Lisa’s plans to marry her childhood sweetheart turn to tragedy under the occupation, Natasha grows close to Mark, a Hungarian soldier, enlisted against all his principles on the side of the Nazis.
But as Natasha fights for the survival of the friends and family she loves, the war threatens to tear them apart.
Review:
Yes, this is a story set during WW2 and yes the women on the cover aren’t looking at the “camera” but I don’t hold that against the story. This story had some intense moments. You didn’t really know what was going to happen from each moment to the next. Each character had an equal chance of not surviving or having a happy ending. Now, I don’t know if there is a such thing as a happy ending in a story that contains so much loss and devastation but we have to take gems of happiness where we can get them. Lana really plays with your emotions in this story.
Rating:
3 Golden Girls
Diamond Doris by Doris Payne (gifted copy from Amistad Books, published September 2019)
Blurb:
Growing up during the Depression in the segregated coal town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, Doris Payne was told her dreams were unattainable for poor black girls like her. Surrounded by people who sought to limit her potential, Doris vowed to turn the tables after the owner of a jewelry store threw her out when a white customer arrived. Neither racism nor poverty would hold her back; she would get what she wanted and help her mother escape an abusive relationship.
Using her southern charm, quick wit, and fascination with magic as her tools, Payne began shoplifting small pieces of jewelry from local stores. Over the course of six decades, her talents grew with each heist. Becoming an expert world-class jewel thief, she daringly pulled off numerous diamond robberies and her Jewish boyfriend fenced the stolen gems to Hollywood celebrities.
Doris’s criminal exploits went unsolved well into the 1970s—partly because the stores did not want to admit that they were duped by a black woman. Eventually realizing Doris was using him, her boyfriend turned her in. She was arrested after stealing a diamond ring in Monte Carlo that was valued at more than half a million dollars. But even prison couldn’t contain this larger-than-life personality who cleverly used nuns as well as various ruses to help her break out. With her arrest in 2013 in San Diego, Doris’s fame skyrocketed when media coverage of her astonishing escapades exploded.
Today, at eighty-seven, Doris, as bold and vibrant as ever, lives in Atlanta, and is celebrated for her glamorous legacy. She sums up her adventurous career best: “It beat being a teacher or a maid.” A rip-roaringly fun and exciting story as captivating and audacious as Catch Me if You Can and Can You Ever Forgive Me?—Diamond Doris is the portrait of a captivating anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society.
Review:
I did not want this story to end. I had never heard of Doris Payne before receiving a copy of this book. This was a memoir that I did not mind going into without having knowledge of the writer. It’s a short memoir but it packs punches. Doris was a beast in her prime and in my opinion, she is still a beast for pumping out her story so late in life. This is going to be one of my favorite memoirs. And yes, I do intend on watching the movie whenever it comes out. I hope that they do it justice. I believe Doris did what she did out of necessity and not out of greed but it seemed to also become a thrill to her. The story of Doris Payne goes to show you that bad assery comes in all forms.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (gifted copy from Tor Books, published October 2020)
Blurb:
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Review:
When I was first approached about this book, I admit I did a major eyeroll. I did not give much thought to it. And the same went when I received one of the influencer boxes. I was thinking that as much work that was put into the boxes possibly meant the book was not going to live up to the hype(I’ve been fooled by cute boxes before). Then I started reading the book and OMG!!!! WOW! Talk about a humbling moment. I had to eat my words. I was wrong about how I would feel about the story. It was so engrossing. I just wanted more and more. I devoured this story. This is a book that I would consider revisiting in the future.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (gifted copy from Gallery Books, published July 2020)
Blurb:
Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.
The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.
An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.
Review:
Yes, another WW2 historical fiction with the infamous cover, lol. This story takes place in Paris. A story of bravery that makes you wonder if you would be brave enough to endure the risk of death to help those who can’t help themselves. I remember trying to forge one of my parent’s signatures one time and the amount of stress I felt was not even worth the risk. I couldn’t imagine trying to forge documents knowing that if I am caught, the consequences are going to be horrific not just for me but also for those I love. Diligence is another word that comes to mind when thinking about this story. Another thing, this book was soooo hard to find when it came out. When it was finally back in stock without a 1-2 month wait for delivery, I ordered it and then I received a gifted copy from the publisher, lol. I will definitely be reading other books by this author.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Me by Elton John (published by Henry Holt in October 2019)
Blurb:
In his only official autobiography, music icon Elton John writes about his extraordinary life, which is also the subject of the film Rocketman.
Christened Reginald Dwight, he was a shy boy with Buddy Holly glasses who grew up in the London suburb of Pinner and dreamed of becoming a pop star. By the age of twenty-three, he was on his first tour of America, facing an astonished audience in his tight silver hotpants, bare legs and a T-shirt with ROCK AND ROLL emblazoned across it in sequins. Elton John had arrived and the music world would never be the same again.
His life has been full of drama, from the early rejection of his work with song-writing partner Bernie Taupin to spinning out of control as a chart-topping superstar; from half-heartedly trying to drown himself in his LA swimming pool to disco-dancing with the Queen; from friendships with John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and George Michael to setting up his AIDS Foundation. All the while, Elton was hiding a drug addiction that would grip him for over a decade.
In Me Elton also writes about getting clean and changing his life, about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father.
Review:
While I enjoy reading stories about people I am not that familiar, I also enjoy memoirs/autobiographies but those I am familiar with. I knew I wanted to read this one because I find Elton John to be one of those celebrities who has done so much and seems to have lived forever. I am always curious as to what their lives are/were like before a obtaining a celebrity status. I listened to this one on audio and although it’s not narrated by Elton himself, the narrator still did a fabulous job. I also learned that the man who narrated the book is the same man who plays Elton John in Rocketman. Elton did some crazy shit during his life. But he also had enough sense to get help before it was too late. I think that was probably my favorite part of his story. Now, I did attempt to watch Rocketman after finishing this book but I couldn’t get into it. I knew there was going to be music, but I wasn’t expecting folks to break out in full song and dance. I may try watching it again at a later date.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (published by Grand Central in February 2017)
Blurb:
Pachinko follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan.
So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, its members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.
Review:
Family saga, historical fiction, 400+ pages. Yes, please and thank you. I am so mad at myself for letting this book sit on my shelf unread for 3 years. At the same time, I am glad that I waited to read it. I think I appreciated it more because I waited to read it. I had an idea what it was going to be about and did not reread the synopsis when I decided to finally pick it up and I am glad that I didn’t. This is a beautifully written story and it will take your heart and hold it hostage. What each of these characters has to endure is so horrifying at times. Each of them have so many choices they have to make in order to survive. I intend on reading Min Jin’s debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires which has also just been sitting on my shelf.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Not pictured, but read:
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (published by Harper in September 2019)
Blurb:
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.
The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.
Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.
Review:
So, I did this one on audio. I am so glad that I did because I more than likely would have DNF’d it. Tom Hanks saved the day with this one. Had he not narrated it, I would have DNF’d it. While listening to this story and referencing the synopsis several times, I still didn’t quite understand the point of the story. This is one that received quite the hype when it first came out. For me, it was not worth the hype. That is I have to say about this one. If you read it and enjoyed it, please tell me what made you enjoy it.
Rating:
2 Golden Girls (only because Tom Hanks narrated the audio and I checked it out from the library)
Nobody free till everybody free. Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches . . . Irresistible, gripping and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky’s War in Jamaica, 1760.
Review:
I do not normally read middle grade novels but because this one is historical fiction and about a subject that I don’t normally see presented much(sugarcane plantations), I decided I wanted to give it a try.
The thing about slavery that we have to remember is that it was not just a thing in America. It was a thing in so many other countries that were “colonized” during that time frame. Especially in countries in the Caribbean. This particular story is set in Jamaica and is told from the perspective of a 14 year old boy. Now, we know that 14 doesn’t mean manhood but during slavery and even present day, a child of color is not seen as a child when they hit their teenage years. I thought that was something that was very thought provoking while reading this story.
This isn’t a very long book so I do not want to go into great detail about the story. One of the things that I found a bit difficult while reading this story was the switching of the dialect but after talking to a close friend, I have decided that it does not take away from the story. It adds to it.
The risks that this child and the men in this book take in order to gain their freedom is both admirable and heart breaking at the same time. The desire to just be able to live without fear and to be able to just enjoy the basic acts of life.
This is a middle grade book that I would recommend for younger audiences who want to know about the history of slavery that doesn’t take place in America and is also told from the perspective of someone their age.
Rating:
I would definitely read more work by this author. This book would get 2 Golden Girls from me.
Availability:
October 20, 2020 in hardcover, paperback and ebook
A special thank you to Akashic Books and their imprint Black Sheep for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
1924. May Marshall is determined to spend the dog days of summer in self-imposed exile at her father’s farm in Keswick, Virginia. Following a naive dalliance that led to heartbreak and her expulsion from Mary Baldwin College, May returns home with a shameful secret only to find her father’s orchard is now the site of a lucrative moonshining enterprise. Despite warnings from the one man she trusts—her childhood friend Byrd—she joins her father’s illegal business. When authorities close in and her father, Henry, is arrested, May goes on the run. May arrives in New York City, determined to reinvent herself as May Valentine and succeed on her own terms, following her mother’s footsteps as a costume designer. The Jazz Age city glitters with both opportunity and the darker temptations of cocaine and nightlife. From a start mending sheets at the famed Biltmore Hotel, May falls into a position designing costumes for a newly formed troupe of African American entertainers bound for Paris. Reveling in her good fortune, May will do anything for the chance to go abroad, and the lines between right and wrong begin to blur. When Byrd shows up in New York, intent upon taking May back home, she pushes him, and her past, away. In Paris, May’s run of luck comes to a screeching halt, spiraling her into darkness as she unravels a painful secret about her past. May must make a choice: surrender to failure and addiction, or face the truth and make amends to those she has wronged. But first, she must find self-forgiveness before she can try to reclaim what her heart craves most.
Review
I am beginning to think that maybe WW2 historical fiction isn’t my favorite anymore. I think it is fiction told during the Jazz Age, which is also part of the war time but has its own vibe to it. More stories seem to include black characters and touches on the struggles that they dealt with during this time instead of an author acting like they didn’t exist.
May has had a very unconventional upbringing. She was raised by her father after her mother left them. She also experienced trauma as a young child when her infant brother died. Though all that happened she was able to grow into a fine young lady and go off to school. Now being a bit naive caused her to get in a bit of trouble and that sent her back home. Her strength faltered slightly and in my opinion that was expected considering what she was dealt with and then coming home to an alcoholic father who is selling illegal moonshine.
You get a sense that May experienced some deep depression but she does manage to get thru it. You also see her picking up her strength as she decides that she is going to leave home and pursue a career even though every one around her, including her childhood best friend Byrd. Once her mind was made up, there was no changing it and May did what she could to get to New York which was a totally different vibe from her home state of Virginia.
May is chasing her dream and also chasing the ghost of her mother. She has to quickly learn that life in New York is not like the life she led in Virginia. She has some minor setbacks but she doesn’t let that deter her. Her determination helped land her a job in Paris. Once again she was chasing her dream and the ghost of her mother. Once in Paris, life was not what she thought it was going to be. The war was just starting and her fellow Parisian coworkers treated her as if she didn’t know anything.
Throughout everything May went thru, she continued to push forward even if she made some reckless decisions and put herself in some pretty shady situations.
I am glad that she finally learned the truth about her mother so that she could stop chasing that ghost. She also found her footing in life.
This book touched on so many issues and one of the things that I enjoyed about it is that the author did not try to round the edges of these situations to make readers feel more comfortable. I feel that the ending was realistic and a great fit for this story.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for historical fiction with a strong female lead who deals with real life issues and to anyone looking for a story that is not all flowers and sunshine.
Availability:
Available August 18th in hardcover and ebook.
A special thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for having me along on this tour and for the gifted copy. Also, thank you to Blackstone Publishing for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
In the aftermath of World War II, the members of the Sutton family are reeling from the death of their “golden boy,” Eddie. Over the next twenty-five years, they all struggle with loss, grief, and mourning. Daughter Harriet and son Nat attempt to fill the void Eddie left behind: Harriet becomes a chemist despite an inhospitable culture for career women in the 1940s and ’50s, hoping to move into the family business in New Jersey, while Nat aims to be a jazz musician. Both fight with their autocratic father, George, over their professional ambitions as they come of age. Their mother, Eleanor, who has PTSD as a result of driving an ambulance during the Great War, wrestles with guilt over never telling Eddie about the horrors of war before he enlisted. As the members of the family attempt to rebuild their lives, they pay high prices, including divorce and alcoholism―but in the end, they all make peace with their losses, each in his or her own way.
Review:
Reading historical fiction is my thing. There was no question as to if I wanted to participate in this book tour.
This story is told from the perspectives of Harriet and Nat who are the siblings of Eddie who has been killed in World War 2. Both Harriet and Nat work their best to gain approval from their father. They each try to live in ways to appease him in order to fill the void that the loss of Eddie has left behind. This is difficult for them because they each have their own dreams they want to follow. During this story they both cave into their father’s expectations even at the risk of them being unhappy. Harriet is able to realize her unhappiness before long but it takes Nat a bit longer and because of that, he ends up in a situation that is not the best for him.
What I liked about this book is that it addresses the subjects of grief, PTSD, alcoholism, and depression. Each character has to face their own inner battles as well as the battles that their family members face. They face these battles with each other or at least they make attempts to do so.
Another interesting aspect of this story is that not only did World War 2 affect this family, so did World War 1. Both wars leave behind scars that the family has to work thru over time. The wars not only leave behind scars and secrets, they also leave behind determination and will.
Rating:
4 Stars
Availability:
Available now in paperback and ebook.
A special thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for having me along on this book tour and to She Writes Press for my free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Following the fate of one family over the course of two decades in Nigeria, this debut novel tells the story of each sibling’s search for agency, love, and meaning in a society rife with hypocrisy but also endless life
“I like the idea of a god who knows what it’s like to be a twin. To have no memory of ever being alone.”
Twin sisters Bibike and Ariyike are enjoying a relatively comfortable life in Lagos in 1996. Then their mother loses her job due to political strife, and the family, facing poverty, becomes drawn into the New Church, an institution led by a charismatic pastor who is not shy about worshipping earthly wealth.
Soon Bibike and Ariyike’s father wagers the family home on a “sure bet” that evaporates like smoke. As their parents’ marriage collapses in the aftermath of this gamble, the twin sisters and their two younger siblings, Andrew and Peter, are thrust into the reluctant care of their traditional Yoruba grandmother. Inseparable while they had their parents to care for them, the twins’ paths diverge once the household shatters. Each girl is left to locate, guard, and hone her own fragile source of power.
Written with astonishing intimacy and wry attention to the fickleness of fate, Tola Rotimi Abraham’s Black Sunday takes us into the chaotic heart of family life, tracing a line from the euphoria of kinship to the devastation of estrangement. In the process, it joyfully tells a tale of grace and connection in the midst of daily oppression and the constant incursions of an unremitting patriarchy. This is a novel about two young women slowly finding, over twenty years, in a place rife with hypocrisy but also endless life and love, their own distinct methods of resistance and paths to independence.
Review:
What an intense and heart-wrenching story that follows four children, Bibike and Ariyike(who are twins) and their younger brothers, Andrew and Peter. You follow them throughout their childhood and into adulthood after both their parents abandon them. Their father makes a very bad business decision and their mother is jobless and fed up. They are then dumped at their grandmother’s house and basically left to raise themselves. The story is told thru each of their points of view. Although they all experienced the same heartbreak, they each cope with it differently.
I love the underlying theme of religion that is present in the story. Each child has a different view of religion and life in general. There is no real stability or guidance in their lives as they grow up and are left to learn about so many important milestones in life by ways of their own actions and decisions and the actions of others.
Tola tells this story in such a lyrical way that is both enchanting and raw. She doesn’t hold anything back with her characters and their choices.
Rating:
4.5 Stars
Availability:
Available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.
A special thank you to Catapult books for my free copy in exchangefor an honest review.
It’s the summer of 1907 and the sun is scorching down on Mary Pearl in the Arizona Territory. Mary Pearl and her sister Esther take their minds off the heat by sneaking banned Jane Austen novels from Aunt Sarah Elliot’s lively bookshelf. Whispered read alouds preoccupy their nights, and reveries of getting hitched to their own Mr. Darcy à la Pride and Prejudice swirl through their day dreams.
In walks old-fashioned old-money suitor Aubrey Hanna, here to whisk seventeen year old Mary Pearl off her feet with a forbidden kiss and hasty engagement. With the promise of high society outings and a rich estate, Aubrey’s lustful courtship quickly creates petty tension among the three generations of Prine women.
As autumn approaches all too quickly, Mary Pearl’s Wheaton College acceptance counters quick marriage preparations. Days of travel by horse and by train carry her deep into a sophisticated new world of Northern girls’ schooling. Seeking friendship but finding foes, Mary Pearl not only learns how to write, read, and draw, but also how to act, dress, and be a woman.
Light Changes Everything is the story of a resilient young feminist a century ahead of her time.
Review:
I didn’t expect this book to have such an impact on me. I had to sit a few minutes after I finished to gather my thoughts. Such a beautifully written story. The story is built around books, art, and family. I love that it was a non World War 2 historical fiction that I enjoyed reading. The story takes place in Arizona when it was still a territory.
Mary Pearl is a young woman living in a family who is proud but has its expectations of its members. Everyone has their place. Mary Pearl has been accepted to go to college in Illinois. Her mother does not want her to go and is too excited when Mary Pearl is unexpectedly courted and engaged to Aubrey right before she is set to leave.
Mary Pearl having a mind of her own but still loving her family, makes the decision to go to college. Once she is there, she quickly realizes just how different she is from the other students and how different life is going to be before her. She doesn’t make friends at first and throws herself into her studies.
What I loved about her character is that she didn’t allow other people to determine what she wanted to do. She didn’t seek anyone else’s acceptance, yet she did what she needed to do in order to show her family she still loved them and they still had her loyalty.
When Mary Pearl returns home and finds herself in a not so favorable situation, she has to make the decision to push forward or let life take her down. Mary Pearl decided to push forward. She didn’t let her situation stop her from pursuing her education which was turning out to be a bit more difficult than she expected and it didn’t stop her from being there for her family when they needed her the most.
Mary Pearl’s gumption and determination propels her thru all her obstacles. She learns so many valuable lessons that she incorporates into her life without losing herself.
This book makes me want to read some of the author’s other work.
Rating:
4 stars
Availability:
Available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.
A special thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.
France, 1914. As war breaks out, Aurelie becomes trapped on the wrong side of the front with her father, Comte Sigismund de Courcelles. When the Germans move into their family’s ancestral estate, using it as their headquarters, Aurelie discovers she knows the German Major’s aide de camp, Maximilian Von Sternburg. She and the dashing young officer first met during Aurelie’s debutante days in Paris. Despite their conflicting loyalties, Aurelie and Max’s friendship soon deepens into love, but betrayal will shatter them both, driving Aurelie back to Paris and the Ritz— the home of her estranged American heiress mother, with unexpected consequences.
France, 1942. Raised by her indomitable, free-spirited American grandmother in the glamorous Hotel Ritz, Marguerite “Daisy” Villon remains in Paris with her daughter and husband, a Nazi collaborator, after France falls to Hitler. At first reluctant to put herself and her family at risk to assist her grandmother’s Resistance efforts, Daisy agrees to act as a courier for a skilled English forger known only as Legrand, who creates identity papers for Resistance members and Jewish refugees. But as Daisy is drawn ever deeper into Legrand’s underground network, committing increasingly audacious acts of resistance for the sake of the country—and the man—she holds dear, she uncovers a devastating secret . . . one that will force her to commit the ultimate betrayal, and to confront at last the shocking circumstances of her own family history.
France, 1964. For Barbara “Babs” Langford, her husband, Kit, was the love of her life. Yet their marriage was haunted by a mysterious woman known only as La Fleur. On Kit’s death, American lawyer Andrew “Drew” Bowdoin appears at her door. Hired to find a Resistance fighter turned traitor known as “La Fleur,” the investigation has led to Kit Langford. Curious to know more about the enigmatic La Fleur, Babs joins Drew in his search, a journey of discovery that that takes them to Paris and the Ritz—and to unexpected places of the heart. . . .
Review:
This is the first novel I have read from all three of the authors. I am familiar with and have read work by Beatriz Williams but that is all.
This story is told from three perspectives along three different timelines. I spent the first part of the story trying to figure out the connection between the three women and almost lost the point of the story. I quickly got myself together so that I could enjoy the story itself. And I am so glad that I did.
I don’t know who I can say is my favorite out of the three women. They all had their strengths and weaknesses. Each possessed a quality that was seen in the other women. There were even a couple of moments I giggled at some of the antics that they went thru which isn’t usual for a historical fiction and I enjoyed that.
Some of the men they had to interact with in their own timelines made me want to reach thru the pages and slap. Especially Daisy’s husband. With Bab’s situation, I wonder if PTSD was a thing that was recognized during that time period would she and Kit have made it as long as they did, or would she have known their relationship for what it really was.
When the connection is made between the three women along with some of the women they interact with, I wasn’t surprised. I was pleasantly satisfied with the outcome.
Women have so much more strength than they are given credit for and sometimes they have to use their weaknesses to find their strengths and push forward.
I enjoyed this story and I can say that I will read another novel by all three authors and even check out their individual works.
Rating:
4 Stars
Availability:
Available January 14, 2020 in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook
A special thank you to WilliamMorrow books for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Fiction based on Fact this novel follows the work carried out by Josephine Baker during World War 2 for the French resistance.
Born into poverty in a racially segregated America, Josephine flees to France. She embraces the hedonistic lifestyle available in Paris of the Roaring Twenties.
With Hitler’s rise to power in Germany she is forced to face her true self. Determined to protect the Liberty Equality and Fraternity she has found in France, she becomes an ‘honorable correspondent’ for the French Intelligence Service. So, beginning a journey which will take her from the Red Cross Shelters in Paris to the cruel deserts of North Africa. Whilst she will find love and enduring friendship she must also face dangers which will threaten not only her life but all she holds dear…
Can she find the courage to fight for what she believes in….no matter what the cost…?
Availability:
Available now in ebook and paperback
A special thank you to Historical Fiction Virutal Book Tours and the author for my gifted copy.
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