Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman

Libby Slater is in mourning. Her lover of 12 years has died but she can't really openly mourn because she was the other woman, his mistress. Realising that she needed to make some changes to her life, she decides to return to the small town that she grew up in. Her lover, Mark Winterbourne, had bought a home in the town years before but Libby had always been reluctant to visit, mainly due to her fractured family relationships. Now there is just her sister left but after Libby left the small town 20 years before to live in France following a terrible tragedy and only minimal contact during that time, the two women barely have a relationship to speak of.

On returning to the small coastal town, Libby needs to establish a new life but she is also initially keen to hold onto her links with Mark, even if that means working closely with his widow on the new season's catalogue for Mark's family jewellery company. The company has been around for generations, and there is a mystery in the family's past. Back in the early 1900's Arthur Winterbourne travelled to Australia along with his wife Isabel. In his possession was a jewel encrusted mace which had been commissioned by Queen Victoria in honour of the federation of Australia as an independent country.

Isabel, like Libby, is in deep mourning, but in her case she is mourning the death of her baby after just a few days. In her very tight laced Victorian family she has not been allowed the respect of being able to openly mourn her little boy and she is now a very unhappily married woman. When the ship that Isabel and her domineering husband are travelling on sinks, it is believe that all on board are lost but after many searches over the years, there has never been any sign of the mace.

When Libby is given access to the diaries of the lighthouse keeper at the time, she begins to read them and starts to find references to a mysterious woman. Could it be that someone did survive the shipwreck? And if so, was the mace saved and what could have happened to it? Some stories suggest that it is buried near the lighthouse and there is more than one party that is looking forward to it.

The story follows Libby as she tries to navigate her new life with focus on reestablishing her relationships with her sister and others from the past and as she decides if she wants to stay in the town or if she should sell the cottage and return to her more familiar world in Paris.

We also meet Isabel as she is making the journey to the other side of the world, see her unhappiness, and see what fate has in store for her after she miraculously survives the shipwreck. Alone in the world, she must forge a new life for herself - one that is very different to the high class pampered life that she has left behind.

I know that the dual storyline is something that is very popular in historical fiction at the moment. When done poorly, you can find yourself only interested in one of the stories, or not quite getting the connection between the two timelines. There are no such issues here. I was totally engrossed in this book, staying up way too late at night to try and find out what happened to all the characters as they faced challenges in their respective contemporary societies.

One of the interesting things about this author is that she doesn’t seem to get that much recognition in the Australian blogosphere (or at least not the ones that I read) and I am not sure why that is. Before I saw it mentioned on Kate Forsyth’s blog back in February I didn’t even realise that Kimberley Freeman had a new book out so I requested it from the library straight away. After it had been sitting on my bookshelf for several weeks I began to see it mentioned on overseas blogs, especially those with a historical fiction focus.

Whilst Wildflower Hill was a good book and was well reviewed (again predominantly on overseas blogs), I thought that Lighthouse Bay was a much better read and I couldn’t wait to turn the page and see what happened next! It is a shame that Freeman isn’t getting that same notice here. I am not sure if she fares better in the spec fic blogosphere as she also writes under the name Kim Wilkins. One of these days I will try one of her spec fic titles and find out for myself.

I will definitely be paying more attention next time there is a new Kimberley Freeman book out! I am always a bit stingy with my 5/5 grades but I closed this book with a contented smile, and now I am also determined to read Freeman's two earlier books!

Rating 5/5

Synopsis

1901

Trapped in a lovely marriage, Isabella Winterbourne struggles with a grief from which she doubts she will ever recover.

2011

Alone and heavy-hearted, Libby Slater has finally come home from her Paris life, not sure what she will find.

On the wild and isolated east coast of Australia, Isabella and Libby have to wrestle with the choices they have made and the cards fate has dealt them. A mystery that stretches from one to the other leads Libby to the old diaries of the local lighthouse keeper. The dusty pages help her to unearth Isabella's legacy and rediscover the importance of family and forgiveness. Both women will find that no matter how dark things seem there is always light somewhere ahead.

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Cascade by Maryanne O'Hara

It is always a real pleasure to discover a debut author who delivers a great story with strong characters and captivating writing. Cascade by Maryanne O'Hara is one of those debuts.

On a superficial level this book is about a young woman who lives in a small town called Cascade in 1930's America. The depression is affecting her friends and family, and the world is starting to head toward World War II. In Cascade though, there is a much more immediate threat. The Massachusetts Water Board has decided that they need a new reservoir to supply drinking water to Boston, and they therefore want to flood a valley to create it. There is one town that will be lost as part of this project - either Cascade or another smaller town nearby.

Desdemona Hart Spaulding grew up in Cascade and she has now returned to the town after travelling through Europe studying art. Her father owned a theatre which put on Shakespearean plays but with the Depression biting hard, he was in danger of losing the theatre. When he loses his battle and then becomes ill Dez chooses to marry the local pharmacist, Asa Spaulding. From Desdemona's initial perspective this is a good marriage. Asa is a good man, but he is a man of his time. He wants a wife to be at home, raising the children he desperately wants and when Dez's father dies and leaves him the theatre, he is the owner of the theatre that Asa is driven to reopen in grand style. In contrast, Dez wants to paint, to explore her art. What this marriage doesn't have is passion, something that Dez doesn't really realise is missing until she meets a Jewish man, Jacob Solomon, who shares her passion for art and feels an instant chemistry.

As the whole town battles to try and save itself from imminent destruction, Asa and Dez's marriage begins to fall apart, victim to Asa's misplaced faith in Dez, to Dez's growing attraction to Jacob and her artistic ambitions, as well gossip, rumour, death, anti-Semitism and more. At a time when divorce was scandalous, Dez must decide whether to follow her own way and court scandal or to stay in a life where her art will suffer as much as she will.

At it's heart this book is about Dez's choices and their consequences. Dez is an interesting character. There are lots of times when as a reader you read about a character who doesn't necessarily make the 'right' decisions and you either don't like them or at the very least you can't relate to who they are and why they do what they do. O'Hara has managed to create a character who may not behave how I like to think that I would, but I was able to empathise with her moral struggles, with her desires and her ambitions.

With the destruction of the town to create a damn such a major part of the book, I found myself thinking about a reservoir up in the Adelaide Hills where there were townships flooded in order to create the reservoir. The drive is twisting and windy, carved out of tree covered hillsides. As you approach the reservoir you begin to see glimpses of the water. I remember being told that if the water levels were low enough that you could sometimes see some of the ruins of the town that was destroyed in order to create the mass of water. I never saw the ruins, and now I doubt that you ever could, but as a kid I remember looking for them every time were drove that road.

I feel as though there are so many more things that I still haven't said about this book. I haven't talked about the gorgeous cover, how good the portrayal of the art was plus the descriptions of the art scene in New York in the 1930s or the sliding doors nature of some of the key relationships. So much more to talk about, but I am also conscious of hoping that other readers will share the pleasure of reading this fantastic book, of getting to know Dez and the small town of Cascade. I can only hope that others are as captivated by this book as I was!

When I started the book, I found myself thinking that it was a slow read, and yet I was up until 1am last night finishing it, unable to put it down until I knew how it ended. I certainly hope to read more from Maryanne O'Hara in the future!

Rating 4.5/5

Tour Details

Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/cascadevirtualtour/
Twitter Hashtag: #CascadeVirtualTour
Maryanne O'Hara's website.
Maryanne O'Hara on Facebook
Maryanne O'Hara on Twitter.

About the Book

During the 1930s in a small town fighting for its survival, a conflicted new wife seeks to reconcile her artistic ambitions with the binding promises she has made

Fans of Richard Russo, Amor Towles, Sebastian Barry, and Paula McLain will devour this transporting novel about the eternal tug between our duties and our desires, set during in New York City and New England during the Depression and New Deal eras.

It’s 1935, and Desdemona Hart Spaulding has sacrificed her plans to work as an artist in New York to care for her bankrupt, ailing father in Cascade, Massachusetts. When he dies, Dez finds herself caught in a marriage of convenience, bound to the promise she made to save her father’s Shakespeare Theater, even as her town may be flooded to create a reservoir for Boston. When she falls for artist Jacob Solomon, she sees a chance to escape and realize her New York ambitions, but is it morally possible to set herself free?

The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams

This was the May read for my book group and I opened the pages quite keen to get started. From the beginning I felt a sense of familiarity with A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore, although the storyline did not share any similarities beyond the depth of research done by the authors, so just why I felt this familiarity I am not sure.

The storyline is complex and the author weaves a series of threads and genres within the pages.

The book contains four central characters, all members of one family who live in a rather large house in a large estate in Dorset. The house description was atmospheric, and built in the mid Victorian period and I could visualise a gothic looking house with a foreboding mist surrounding the building, which almost felt sinister.

The family are dysfunctional - father Clive is a self absorbed individual, a naturist and has quite a collection of moths. The research on the moths was astounding and very interesting. Mother, Maud is a troubled woman who tries to keep the family grounded and has a secret or two. The daughters, Ginny and Vivien are close as children, but as time passes by they are like strangers, which is not helped by the fact that Vivian has not been home to the family estate for around 50 years.

Each individual has their secrets and there is almost too many. There are several medical themes through the book; of mental instability, Aspergers or Autism, Alcoholism, Aging and decay, and different levels of abuse. This is a busy novel, with lots going on and yet nothing is explained fully, which means that the reader can form an opinion about the characters and their actions.

Did I enjoy it? Actually yes, I found the detail of the moths fascinating, but wonder if there was too much detail about this. I would have liked more details of the house and perhaps definitive answers to some of the questions that the book produced.

Overall, a good read and it is hard to believe that this is a first novel for the author, who researched the various details very well. The book is cleverly written, with the decay of the house is almost reflective of the family.

Published as The Sister in the US and as The Behaviour of Moths in the UK.

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Just before Christmas Maisie and her employee, Billie see a man commit suicide in the street. The man was clearly a War Veteran and events very quickly turn Maisie back to her nursing days during the Great War. Soon after an anonymous letter is received by the police threatening violence if the comments in the letter are not adhered to.

Soon, Maisie is seconded to the Police as she and the police try and unravel the circumstances of the two issues. Is that deceased man part of the conspiracy to cause chaos in London? Next some animals in an animal shelter are found dead, the potential result of inhaling a poisonous gas, and then on the back of another letter some birds are found dead.

Maisie springs into action as she and Billy try to discover the truth whilst confronting their own fears. Billy meanwhile, is still struggling with his wife Doreen who can not move past her grief following the death of their little girl and soon Doreen is admitted to hospital to receive treatment.

In this book, which I think is one of the best, the author has tackled some real issues for the early 1930s. There has clearly been research done into early offerings by the War Office and poisonous gases and the 1930s treatment of those who were suffering from some kind of mental illness.

About Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education, and in marketing communications in the UK.

She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Elegy for Eddie, A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, and Among the Mad, as well as five other national bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. She now lives in California and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Find out more about Jacqueline at her website, www.jacquelinewinspear.com, and find her on Facebook.

Book Tour Hosts

Monday, March 4th: The House of the Seven Tails – Maisie Dobbs

Monday, March 4th: BookNAround – Birds of a Feather

Wednesday, March 6th: Peppermint PhD – Pardonable Lies

Thursday, March 7th: Melody & Words – Birds of a Feather

Thursday, March 7th: The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader – Messenger of Truth

Thursday, March 7th: Anglers Rest – Messenger of Truth

Thursday, March 7th: Lavish Bookshelf – An Incomplete Revenge

Friday, March 8th: Olduvai Reads – Maisie Dobbs

Friday, March 8th: 5 Minutes For Books – Pardonable Lies

Friday, March 8th: In the Next Room – An Incomplete Revenge

Friday, March 8th: Anglers Rest – Among the Mad

Friday, March 8th: The Road to Here – Among the Mad

Friday, March 8th: A Bookish Way of Life – The Mapping of Love and Death

Friday, March 8th: The Book Garden – The Mapping of Love and Death

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

This year the tenth book in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear is being released. To celebrate, there is a month long blog tour called The Month of Maisie which will focus on the whole series, with the first seven books in the series being featured in this first week of the month, leading up to the newest book at the end of the month.

Because I was a bit slow in jumping on board this series, I have just read the fourth book, Messenger of Truth. Once again, investigator/psychologist Maisie Dobbs is asked to investigate a murder, or perhaps I should say possible murder. The young man who died was Nick Bassington-Hope, a young man who was forging a name for himself as an artist of some repute. When he died he was alone in an art gallery setting up for the installation of what he thought was going to be his greatest work yet. By all appearances he had been high up on the scaffolding when he fell and died. The police were called and it was declared to be an open and shut case of accidental death.

His twin sister, Georgina, is not convinced though. She believes that there was foul play and that her brother may have been murdered. The art piece that he was installing was one that he knew would upset people but no one was going to see it before the big unveiling at the art gallery. In fact, no one even knows where the major piece is. There is an American buyer who is keen to purchase, but Nick had made it clear that he wanted it to be donated to a public institution like the War Museum.

In the course of trying to work out how Nick Bassington-Hope died, Maisie is pulled in several different directions. There is his arty but dysfunctional family who draw Maisie into their colourful lives and to the darker London underworld, his friends who lived near the seaside in converted railway carriages (that sounded rather fab!) complete with strange goings on, as well as Nick's own history as a war artist and the legacy that left on his psyche, and the strange behaviour of the police.

Personally, Maisie is still recovering from an emotional breakdown the year before, a floundering romantic relationship and an icy distance to her mentor who has previously meant so much to her and been so helpful when he has acted as a sounding board for her in the past.

One of the things I really enjoy about this series is the way the legacy of World War I is explored. Just over 10 years after the war has ended, life continues to be heavily influenced by those dreadful years and now there is additional hardship as the effects of the Great Depression really begin to affect the lives of many, especially Maisie's assistant Billy. I also like the way that Maisie continues to develop as a character. It is clear that she has a lot more development to go too, which makes her an interesting character to read about. She clearly still is impacted heavily by her war time experiences, and sometimes she is not willing to concede that. She is a career driven woman in a time where the norm was still to get married and have children, but the times are changing and not only because there is a shortage of eligible men thanks to the war.

While I do enjoy these books, there are things that don't always work. For example, Maisie relies a lot on 'intuition' to help her move her cases forward - things like being able to sit in the space of a person and see their actions to help her find clues - and whilst this might be interesting, it doesn't always make sense when something comes completely out of the blue. Ultimately, the solution to the mystery made sense, but the pieces fell together in quite a rush in some ways. The other story lines also got a bit distracting at times too.

I did have reservations about this instalment, but they are not strong enough to prevent me from continuing on with the series. I just read the synopsis for the latest book and I have to say that I was intrigued. What a pity I still have five more books to read in the series in order to get to it!

Rating 4/5

Synopsis

London, 1931. When controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope is found dead, the police believe it is an open and shut case and his death from a fall is recorded as'accidental'. But his sister is not convinced, so she turns to Maisie Dobbs for help, drawn by the investigator's growing reputation for her unique methods of solving crimes.

Moving from the desolate beaches of the English coast to the dark underbelly of post-war London, and full of intriguing characters, Maisie's new investigation entertains and enthrals at every turn.

Adapted from my original review

You can read Kelly's thoughts about this book here, and Julie's here.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

This is the fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series. This series gets better and better and as the character develops and takes further shape, we as readers are drawn in all the more to a great series.

The central character is Maisie Dobbs, a former nurse during the Great War. Now, though Maisie is a private investigator working in London and owns her own business, car and home. A rarity for the 1930s, this book is set during 1931. During this page turner Maisie is asked by Georgina Bassington-Hope to investigate the death of her brother, a former soldier and artist who died tragically whilst he is setting up an art exhibition. Nick has experienced war. His way of coping with the events he witnessed, first as a front line soldier and then as a war artist, is to paint what he sees and this does not always bode well with those around him. As Maisie investigates she encounters secrets, war stories, smuggling and does eventually seek out the truth.

Meanwhile, her associate Billy encounters a tragedy of his own and Maisie breaks off her relationship with her latest suitor.

The author has captured the essence of a "modern woman", perhaps Maisie was a woman before her time as she sets out on the road to independence and maintaining that independence. Very well researched and despite being a fictional book based upon tragic life events and the aftermath.

About Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education, and in marketing communications in the UK.

She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Elegy for Eddie, A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, and Among the Mad, as well as five other national bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. She now lives in California and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Find out more about Jacqueline at her website, www.jacquelinewinspear.com, and find her on Facebook.

Book Tour Hosts

Monday, March 4th: The House of the Seven Tails – Maisie Dobbs

Monday, March 4th: BookNAround – Birds of a Feather

Wednesday, March 6th: Peppermint PhD – Pardonable Lies

Thursday, March 7th: Melody & Words – Birds of a Feather

Thursday, March 7th: The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader – Messenger of Truth

Thursday, March 7th: Anglers Rest – Messenger of Truth

Thursday, March 7th: Lavish Bookshelf – An Incomplete Revenge

Friday, March 8th: Olduvai Reads – Maisie Dobbs

Friday, March 8th: 5 Minutes For Books – Pardonable Lies

Friday, March 8th: In the Next Room – An Incomplete Revenge

Friday, March 8th: Anglers Rest – Among the Mad

Friday, March 8th: The Road to Here – Among the Mad

Friday, March 8th: A Bookish Way of Life – The Mapping of Love and Death

Friday, March 8th: The Book Garden – The Mapping of Love and Death

Review - Through a Dusty Window: New York City Stories 1910-2001 by Delancey Stewart

This book had a rather familiar feel to it. The setting is a brownstone in New York. The same building features in this collection of fictional stories, each story set 10 years apart and tells a fictional account of the inhabitants of the building.

The catalyst for the stories was the author's former residence and the contemplation of the lives of those who may have lived in the building, what their lives was like and the sort of people they were.

The stories were good and with each turn of the page I wondered if any of the story line had a glimpse of reality in relation to the characters. Specific historical events give the characters perspective and dimention.  The genealogist in me hoped that there was, and if not it is perhaps a project for the future.

Well, I asked the author and tomorrow you can read the guest post and her answer to that question, amongst others.

You can follow the author via - Twitter * Facebook * Blog

The Fishing Fleet – Anne de Courcy

When the author was undertaking her research we did correspond rather briefly, but my interest regarding my ancestral links to India was out of the time frame for Anne's book.

I waited rather eagerly for the book to be published. Once it hit the shelves of my local library I managed to grab the book and then quietly enjoy it.

The book looks at women who migrated to India looking for a husband during the period of the mid 19th Century until 1947, when India gained it's Independence.

I loved the colour of the cover which for me set the tone of the book. I enjoyed the depth of the research, which was gathered from letters and memoirs of the time and the focus of the book.

There is a suitable explanation of why the women were there, and why they risked travelling the globe to find a husband, but there was little detail on how the women adapted to the change in culture and their experiences. The author further explores the processes in India at this time, the bureaucracy of India and mixed raced children and how they were viewed.

Despite all that, I was a little disappointed. There is little scope given to how these women coped, not only with the country and culture, but also how they experienced married life with the men they met in India. I felt as though the author ran out of steam with the subject matter before the end of the book.

I enjoyed it, but it could have been better.

Captive of the Sun by Irena Karafilly

I can't remember reading a lot of historical fiction set in Greece during WWII until last year when I read and thoroughly enjoyed Victoria Hislop's books The Thread and The Island. This year I know I have at least one more book with this setting coming my way soon, and I finished reading The Captive Sun by Irena Karafilly.

The Captive Sun was a bestseller in Greece, something which fascinates me as I often wonder how certain events are portrayed in their native countries compared to the portrayal that we get from the usual British/American perspectives!

I enjoyed writing a discussion style review of the book with Lauren from Australian Bookshelf. You can read the first half of the review at Lauren's blog and the second part at my own blog!

The Elstones: A Novel by Isabel C Clarke

I have had this book on my list of things to check out for a while. The book itself was published in 1919. The reason for my interest is that my Great Grandmother had the surname of Elstone and lived in Hampshire before moving to Surrey. The family though had spent about 200 years in the same area, where the boundaries of Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire meet.

By chance about 10 years ago we were driving from Exeter to North Devon and drove through a hamlet with the name of Elstone. Brief research revealed that the Elstone's in this part of Devon had links to the paper making industry, as did my Elstone in the Sussex & Hampshire area. So I was immediately intrigued.

This book eventually made it to the top of my pile and I stepped into reading it. I made sure I had a notebook as I wasn't completely convinced that this was a novel. Perhaps there might be a grain of non fiction?

The first scenes are set on the Downs in the County of Sussex. Lady Cynthia Elstone is looking out and makes a visual comparison to her native Devon. Meanwhile, her husband who she married 28 years previous and is unwell and dying. Sir Simon requests that his wife call for the priest in the Shawhurst and Cynthia refuses. The family are not Catholic hence the refusal. Meanwhile, her daughter, Irene, nicknamed Ernie overhears the conversation and asks her brother Luttrell to go and fetch the priest. He does and despite all the general confusion and anger from Cynthia, Simon Elstone converts to Catholicism on his deathbed.

The eldest son, called Ivo does not play a very prominent role in the book which is surprising for the time. There is real anger of the religious conversion and the daughter Irene returns to school complete with a hidden rosary and as I read through the pages it is clear that she is turning her religious mind.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It was refreshing to read and I had to keep remembering that this book was written before women achieved the vote here in the UK. I was surprised by the anti Catholic feeling at this time. I feel sure that this is a novel, but I can not help wondering why the author chose the name of Elstone and who and what provided the inspiration behind the plot.

Daisy: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Janis F. Kearney

Before Christmas last year I had the opportunity to read this book as part of the book tour hosted by I am a reader, not a writer.

Book Summary

Presidential diarist and author Janis F. Kearney transforms civil rights legend Daisy Gatson Bates’ life from black and white, to living color. The author, who interviewed Bates many times; recreates her conversations and interviews to “fill in” places left un-filled, and colors incidents and experiences, to bring Daisy Bates to life. Kearney plums the mysterious murder of Bates’ mother, and the orphan’s childhood; the young woman’s prophetic decision to share a traveling salesman’s life; her non-traditional role as co-publisher of an award winning newspaper; and her leadership role at a time, and place where women rarely led. 

Between a Rock and a Hard Place is Daisy’s “look back” at her life, and…finally, a self-analysis of how, and possibly, why she became the Daisy Gatson Bates for which she is known throughout the world. Author Janis F. Kearney recounts the leader’s many friendships, relationships and associations that helps define who she was in the eyes of the world - from Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Clinton; First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.; Roy Wilson, NAACP President; Thurgood Marshall and Wiley Branton, NAACP attorneys, Maya Angelou and Jackie Robinson… and countless others. 

The author met Daisy Bates in the summer of 1969, at the age of 16. From that moment, the high school student dreamed of working for the woman her father called one of Arkansas’ greatest leaders – black or white.

Review

Many of us in the early part of our lives meet someone who shapes the professional person we become. They are so, influential and important to us as individuals that they go beyond just professional and become friends, confidants and amongst the people we trust.

Daisy: Between the Rock and a Hard Place is essentially a book that is reflective of that friendship and influence between Daisy and the author.

The book starts with the early beginnings of Daisy's life and explains about the issue of Slavery in the south, even with the abolishment of Slavery, Society likes to pigeon people and this period of time was no exception. The book goes on to tell us about the life, determination and achievements of Daisy. How she managed to take all the negative that she felt and turn it into something good. It is the amazing story of Daisy who succeeded and became so much despite the colour of her skin and her background.

It was truly a fabulous read and I am delighted that I had the opportunity to read it and I recommend it!

About the Author, Janis F. Kearney Janis F. Kearney is a publisher, author, and oral historian. She was one of 19 children born to Arkansas Delta Sharecroppers T.J. and Ethel Kearney. She Graduated from the  University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a B.A., in  Journalism, and completed 30 hours in public administration, and Journalism.

She was hired by Daisy Bates in 1987 as Managing Editor of the Arkansas State Press.  In 1988, she purchased the newspaper.  She served as Personal Diarist to President Clinton from 1995 to 2001.  She was the country’s first personal diarist to a U.S. President, and during that time, she also served as White House liaison to the U.S. National Archives.

In 2001, Janis moved with her husband Bob Nash to Chicago, where she began her writing life.  In 2003, Janis, with her husband’s support, founded Writing our World Press/WOW! Books  in 2003.  Her first book, Cotton Field of Dreams: A Memoir was published in 2004.

Her other books include Something to Write Home About: Memories of a Presidential Diarist; Conversations: William Jefferson Clinton…from Hope to Harlem; and Once Upon a Time there was a Girl: a Murder at Mobile Bay, her first fiction. WOW! Books has also published two other authors.

Her next book, Daisy: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, is scheduled for publication, December 2012.  Her third memoir, Sundays with TJ: 100 years of Memories on Varner Road,  and her second Once Upon a Time there was a Girl murder mystery are both slated for publication in Spring, 2013.

Links:

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Purchase

Tour Schedule 
January 4th Book Blast - Multiple Blogs
January 5th Peace from Pieces - Interview 3Ps in a Pod - Excerpt
January 6th Angler's Rest - Review A Casual Reader's Blog - Excerpt & Review
January 7th Sarah Ballance - Tens List & Excerpt Cuzinlogic - Guest Post or Interview
January 8th MK McClintock - Interview Indie Author How-to - Guest Post & Excerpt
January 9th Book Readers - Review Guerrilla Wordfare - Review
January 11th Aspired Writer - Review & Excerpt Another Step to Take - Interview & Review
January 12th Laurie's Thoughts & Reviews - Author Interview & Excerpt The Ordinary Aunt - Guest Post
January 13th My Devotional Thoughts - Review & Excerpt Bookhounds - Interview
January 14th icefairy's Treasure Chest - Guest Post & Excerpt Nonfiction Finds - Excerpt
January 15th Beck Valley Books - Guest Post
January 16th Crafty Zoo - Guest Post Michelle Pickett - Guest Post
January 17th Scribbler's Sojourn - Guest Post Eugenia Writes - Guest Post
January 18th Books Books the Magical Fruit - Interview Good Choice Reading - Tens List
January 19th Read It All Reviews - Interview & Review
January 20th Bunny's Review - Excerpt Blissful Banter - Review & Interview

Sky Burial by Xinran

As a child, Xinran had heard stories of a soldier that had been fed to the vultures in what is known in Tibet as a Sky Burial. Several decades later, Xinran, by then a journalist and writer, met the wife of that soldier.

Sky Burial is the amazing story that was told to Xinran by the widow, known as Shu Wen.

It is the story of her love for her husband and the search for the truth surrounding his death. It is also the amazing story of realisation, friendship, bewilderment and the journey of China and Tibet during the 1950s.

For me, this was a breath taking read. It was selected by my local reading group and I devoured the book in one sitting. A fabulous book and definitely a favourite.

At the end of the book is an open letter from the author to Shu Wen, who left the area before Xinran had chance to talk to her again. Did Xinran ever make contact with Shu Wen? We have no way of knowing and I am itching to know!

Julie's Best Books of 2012

As a child, Xinran had heard stories of a soldier that had been fed to the vultures in what is known in Tibet as a Sky Burial. Several decades later, Xinran, by then a journalist and writer, met the wife of that soldier.

Sky Burial is the amazing story that was told to Xinran by the widow, known as Shu Wen.

It is the story of her love for her husband and the search for the truth surrounding his death. It is also the amazing story of realisation, friendship, bewilderment and the journey of China and Tibet during the 1950s.

For me, this was a breath taking read. It was selected by my local reading group and I devoured the book in one sitting. A fabulous book and definitely a favourite.

WW1 Week - Strangers in a Strange Land Belgian Refugees 1914 - 1918

Written to accompany the exhibition of the same name located in the In Flanders Field Museum in Ieper this book tells the fascinating account of the people of Belgium.

Thousands of Belgians fled their homeland to avoid the occupation of German forces during the First World War. Many fled into the neighbouring countries such as France and The Netherlands who were, in accordance with policy at the time placing Belgians of fighting age into internment camps where they could be joined by their families. It was a matter of time before The Netherlands were simply out of room and France was no longer safe and so many thousands sailed across the Channel to the United Kingdom.

This book tells the story, initially with a series of chapters explaining the historical events and is accompanied by quotes from people who recalled the events. There are also some amazing photographs of not just Belgium, but also of France and the United Kingdom and of course the refugees.

Upon the end of the First World War many Belgians returned home and were ridiculed by fellow Belgians because they had not endured the occupation of the German forces and I was very aware of a similarity with a book I read about those who fled the Channel Islands for the United Kingdom in the Second World War.

A fascinating book, both in terms of written subject matter and photographic substance.

This post has previously appeared at Anglers Rest due to my taking part in War through the Generations

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub

One of my favorite things in my home is a photo of a woman, taken sometime during the 1940s or 1950s. She's wearing a bathing suit that could best be described as "glamorous," and she's posing in front of a backdrop filled with giant carrots. There's an inscription in the corner of the photo: Joy Barlow. When I bought the photo for ten cents at a local thrift store, I thought she was a local beauty queen or aspiring model. But research told me something different: she was an actress who appeared, most memorably, in The Big Sleep. Most of her roles were bit parts; a number of them were uncredited.

As I read Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, I kept thinking of my photo of Joy Barlow. Their stories could be similar. Born Elsa Emerson in Door County, Wisconsin, a locale known for its natural beauty (and its cherry orchards), Laura grows up in her family's theater, a summer-stock company catering to the area's vacationers. Her glamorous older sister, Hildy, falls for a young actor. Their relationship falls apart, and Hildy, prone to depression, commits suicide--an event that will haunt Laura for the rest of her life.

Laura's "life in pictures" is both literal -- she's a film star -- and metaphorical. Straub tells the story in a series of vignettes from different eras of Laura's life. The chapters read like a scrapbook from her life. There's her idyllic youth, shattered by Hildy's suicide. There's her first stage performances at her parents' theatre, where she meets Gordon Pitts, who she marries and follows to California. There's her rise as part of the studio system that was so dominant in mid-20th century Hollywood. There's the pinnacle of her career -- an Oscar! -- and her dramatic fall, including the requisite B-movie (in 3D, no less). At the end, finally, there's her redemption, and a reconciliation of Elsa Emerson, the girl from Wisconsin, and Laura Lamont, the movie star.

Straub does a marvelous job bringing Old Hollywood to life, showing how the movie stars' lives changed as television became a dominant medium in the United States. Laura's attempt to resurrect her career by appearing on a television game show will be familiar to anyone who has ever seen a long-forgotten celebrity embarrass herself on national television, just for a paycheck. Though Laura is brought low, she never loses her dignity, even when she appears on a Japanese commercial for a perfume intended to invoke the spirit of Hollywood's golden age.

Though Laura Lamont may make readers think of other movie stars of the 1940s and 1950s, and the story almost seems rooted in the "small-town girl makes good" myth that has driven many young women to pursue their screen-star dreams, she's her own woman, a unique creation of the author. That's what makes her (and this novel) so special. She's distant and untouchable, a moody, glamorous actress, but she's also a wife, a mother, a daughter, and a sister. Her life is both dramatic and quotidian, and her struggles are realistic. Straub's exploration of celebrity and womanhood is engaging, enjoyable, and highly recommended.

Why I Love to Write Stories That Take Place in the 1920s

Several years ago, I was roaming around the Internet when I came across a startling statistic: In the 1920s, Akron, Ohio had the largest chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the country.


That one single fact was the spark for my first novel.


My mother was born in 1915 and celebrated her 97th birthday this last May. Both she and my father grew up in Akron, Ohio in the ’20s and ’30s. During the process of writing Zemsta, my mother and I had many conversations about the times and specific events.
There’s one passage in the book about two of the characters working in the rubber factory. With very little embellishment, it is exactly as my mother described working in the factory, even the part about being ashamed to work there. She didn’t want anyone to know.


The 1920s ushered in an era of excess, self-indulgence, and corruption.


At midnight January 16, 1920, all breweries, distilleries, and saloons in the United States
were forced to close. Prohibition addressed a serious issue affecting a small fraction of the
people and imposed a solution on the entire population. A colossal failure, it was supposed
to lessen the evils associated with alcohol, but instead turned millions of law-abiding
citizens into law breakers and gave rise to gangsters, rumrunners, and speakeasies. With
easy money to be made in illegal alcohol and gambling, Prohibition fostered corruption
and contempt for the law. While authorities looked the other way, drinking, gambling,
drugs, and prostitution flourished. To pass the law meant nothing if it wasn’t enforced, and
enforcement was nearly impossible.


Corruption was rampant. President Harding’s attorney general accepted bribes from
bootleggers. A Cincinnati bootlegger had a thousand salesmen on his payroll—many of
them were policemen. And in Chicago, Al Capone’s organization had half the city’s police
on its payroll.


Advocates of Prohibition thought the law would also help immigrants assimilate better and
become more Americanized.


By 1920, there were more people in Akron, Ohio born in other states or abroad than were
born in Ohio. Akron’s growing Tower of Babel overflowed with Austrians, Hungarians,
Poles, Germans, Italians, and people from West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The
number of West Virginians living in Akron reached almost nineteen thousand—close to ten
percent of the population.


Because of the constant flow of immigrants coming to work in the factories, racial tensions
were high, and quotas were set for immigrants coming into America. The Ku Klux Klan
railed against Negroes, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants. Akron’s chapter included many
high-level political positions, including the mayor and several school board members. With
factory workers making up a large part of the membership, the Klan movement was an
expression of dissatisfaction with the high cost of living, perceived social injustices, and the
bigotry that was so pervasive throughout the city.


I asked my mother if she remembered all the people coming into Akron at the time.
She said, “Do you mean the ‘barefoot people?’” Apparently that’s what they called the
Appalachians pouring into town. The only reference of that term was from my mother.
For young women, the 1920s marked a break with traditions. The nineteenth amendment
gave women the right to vote, and attitudes changed drastically. Long-standing social
barriers began to crumble, virtually overnight. Women bobbed their hair and wore short
skirts. They used cosmetics, drank alcohol, and smoked cigarettes in public. Nearly every
article of clothing was trimmed down and lightened in order to make movement easier.
Even the style of underwear changed. Women wanted to move freely for energetic dances
like the Shimmy, the Black Bottom, and the Charleston—something corsets didn’t allow.
Young women took part in the sexual liberation, and it was a time of great social change.
From the world of fashion to the world of politics, forces clashed to produce the most
explosive time in a generation.


The country became smaller. Railroads made long-distance travel possible and were
now a central part of American life. Rail lines crisscrossed the country, carrying people,
manufactured goods, food, and the mail. The popularity of automobiles and radios had
exploded, and new machines such as the washing machine and vacuum helped eliminate
some of the drudgery of women’s housework. The stock market was poised to skyrocket,
and you could buy a car for a little less than three hundred dollars.


There’s one passage in Zemsta when four of the characters are driving to a baseball game in
Cleveland. I wrote that they only had to stop twice to repair and patch the tires. My mother
told me of having to do the same thing on a trip to Cleveland. She told me about drinking muscatel from a coffee cup so the establishment could pretend it wasn’t liquor. She told me how difficult it was to work at the factory and go to college at the same time.


Akron was an exciting, vibrant city teeming with people and money and would experience
several years of unprecedented, almost giddy, prosperity. The number of employees in the
rubber factories reached seventy thousand with some workers earning up to seven dollars a
day, more than most industries paid in a week. People had money, and they were spending it
in speakeasies and music halls and on expensive clothing.


This last year was special for my mother and me. All our conversations about Akron and
the 1920s and 1930s ended up bringing us closer together. She shared stories about the early
part of her life I never would have heard otherwise.


By discussing events with my mother, it brought a verisimilitude to my story. One of the
lines in the Kirkus review of Zemsta: “ A nostalgic, authentic novel that charms with its
vintage hue.” I can thank my mother for that.


The cover photo on Zemsta is of my father, my uncle and their friend. My father is in the
middle.


My mother moved from her independent apartment to assisted living in February. It was—
and is—a very difficult adjustment. When my book came out in May, she was excited to
read it, but still didn’t give it to her friends. Once Kirkus gave Zemsta a glowing review, my
mother readily handed it out to her buddies. It turns out they’ve added it to their library and
the book club is going to read and discuss it sometime in the next few months.


I am in the process of writing my next novel, which will take place in Chautauqua
Institution during the late 1930s. I’m hoping my Mom is going to be around long enough to
help me gain a unique perspective on those times as well.


_____________

Victoria Brown worked in the communications industry for over thirty years. Brown grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania and has a degree from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. She lived in Scituate on Boston’s south shore for many years. She has two grown daughters and is currently basking in the sun in Boca Raton, Florida where she lives with two miniature dachshunds and a cat named Puppy. Zemsta is her first novel.

Sirens of Paris by David Leroy

The story is set in War torn Paris during the Second World War. Marc is an American, who truly wants to be an artist, ventures to France and is soon caught up in the ex pat world.

These are dangerous times and all too soon Marc is swept away in a world at War whilst many of his country men have fled home.  Marc experiences love and working for the Resistance. He also experiences betrayal from the one person he believed he could trust.

The book is bought to life by the amount of  research undertaken by the author. There are some very descriptive pieces about historical events such as the sinking of HMS Lancastria.

The plot is gripping and in many ways thought provoking.

Postcards of a War by Vanita Oelschilager

This was a lovely book. Written with children between the ages of around 4- 8 years of age in mind, the intention is to educate them and help them understand the issues surrounding a parent who is serving in the armed services.

Inspired by the letters and postcards the author received during her childhood from her father who was serving during the Second World War.

The story focus is on young Matthew who spends his afternoons, after school with his Grandfather. His father is working and his mother is serving in the military. During the course of the afternoon's Matthew explores his confusion regarding where his mother has gone, whilst looking at the postcards his grandfather has from his father, also sent from a tour of duty.

Together they build a scrapbook of those early postcards and the subsequent letters, postcards and emails from his mother.

This was a beautiful book with lovely illustrations and was a real joy to read.

A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House

It is the early 1900s in rural Kentucky and young Saul Sullivan is heading up to Redbud Camp to look for work. He is wary but unafraid of the Cherokee girl there whose beauty is said to cause the death of all men who see her. But the minute Saul lays eyes on Vine, he knows she is meant to be his wife. Vine's mother disapproves of the mixed marriage; Saul's mother, Esme, has always been ill at ease around the Cherokee people. But once Vine walks into God's Creek, Saul's mother and his brother Aaron take to her immediately. It quickly becomes clear to Vine, though, that Aaron is obsessed with her. And when Saul leaves God's Creek for a year to work in another county, the wife he leaves behind will never be the same again. the violence that lies ahead for Vine will not only test her ability to forgive - both others and herself.

One of the big advantages of being part of a book club is that you often find yourselves being encouraged to read books that you just normally wouldn't read. This is especially true if that particular book club has quite eclectic tastes. This year alone we have read Fifty Shades of Grey the book that shall not be named,  To Kill a Mockingbird, and then this book among others.

A Parchment of Leaves is a book that I hadn't heard of before, or even the author! It is historical fiction, but it is firmly set in a particular time and place - the mountains of Kentucky during the early 1900s - one which I haven't read much about at all. Whilst the events in the larger world do have an impact on the lives of the people, they are also relatively self contained within their area. One reason why I found this era so interesting to read about it is that it seems kind of in between, especially in terms of technology. For example, whilst there were some cars and trucks, for most people this was beyond reach and so they still either walked or rode their horses and most chores around the house were still very labour intensive.

The book opens with young Saul Sullivan braving the rumours about a Cherokee girl who is so beautiful that men die when they see her and heads to her home, looking for work. He has his younger brother Aaron with him. Whilst he doesn't die as soon as he see Vine, he is slayed emotionally and he knows that she just has to be his wife. This is reiterated when his younger brother is bitten by a snake and Vine and her family save Aaron's life. Vine too is mesmerised by Saul and it isn't long before they are married, despite the opposition of their families who are concerned about their mixed marriage.

Together Vine and Saul build a house, build a life together, with Vine overcoming his mother's opposition and soon becomes close to Esme. Really, the only thing that isn't quite right is Aaron's obsession with Vine, to the point that he runs off and bring himself home a wife - one with more than a little in common with Vine looks wise.

With World War I raging in Europe, Saul goes off to log trees on another mountain which in turn will be turned into turpentine and shipped off to the battlefields knowing that the money that he earns will help set his family up for years to come. While Saul has his eyes on the future, in the here and now Vine is left to run the home, help Esme and Aaron's wife. Most worryingly the only man around the house is Aaron. The implications of Saul going away will be felt by everyone on that mountain for quite some time.

Whilst at it's heart this novel is about Saul and Vine, it is also about secrets, about race issues and the loss of the Native American identity (when families try so hard to assimilate into the surrounding community), about trust and forgiveness and so much more.

As for the characters, Saul was the strong, silent type. Vine knew that he loved her, but it was really in his letters that he was the most eloquent and able to tell his wife how much he appreciated and loved her. Vine was an engaging character - strong, resilient, resourceful and proud. She was a woman who found herself in a very difficult situation. Whilst it would be easy to sit and judge and say that she did the wrong thing, it would also have been very difficult for her to take another path, particularly at that time in history and in that place.

I mentioned before that this is a novel firmly placed in the Kentucky mountains, and this was clear from not only the use of the mountains as the setting, but also in the dialect that the characters used. It took a little while to get used to it, but there was a certain charm to it nonetheless.

Because I am claiming this book as a read for the War Through the Generations (WWI) challenge, I thought I would share a teaser from the book about the day that the war ended. Initially I was going to only quote the second paragraph, but then reading the first again, I realised that it was a good example of how the author used nature to advantage in the novel. The quote comes from pages 184 to 185:

There was an early snow the day we found out the war ended. Just a light dusting that didn't amount to anything, but it seemed like a sign. The sky was a bright gray, and the sun showed itself like a silver ball hung there, so smudged you could look right into it. The snow drifted down and frosted the big rocks lining the creek, clung to thin tree branches. It stood like sugar in the yard. By noon it had melted away except where the sun could not reach; it striped the mountainside like white rows in a garden. The road turned to mud, and the yard was too wet to walk through. Even after it melted, the scent of winter had come in, solid and tough, letting us know what it had in store for us.

We learned of the war's end from some boys over on Buffalo Mountain. They'd heard the news in town, got drunk, and come back through, firing their pistols up into the air. America Spurlock lived out at the mouth of God's Creek, and she could hear them coming from a long ways off. She always was nosy. She got her shotgun, went out to the edge of the road, and waited for them. They bowed their horses up when they seen her there. They took their hats off and started telling about the war ending as fast as they could, each of them taking a turn in sharing the news. And of course she run up the holler, squalling for everyone to come out and hear the news. She had a a grandson over there and she was wild with the prospect of him coming home. She was so excited that she paid no attention to the shining mud that caked her shoes and lined the hem of her skirt.

I am glad that I stepped outside my comfort zone just a little bit to be able to read this one!

Rating 4/5

Adapted from a review originally posted at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader.

Rosie's War by Rosemary Say & Noel Holland

The sobering account of Rosemary Say, known as Pat who found herself in France at the outbreak of the Second World War.  The events are presented in a very matter of fact way, which has a genuine feel to it and as I read I wondered if I would have faired better given the situation? I suspect not.

Pat is a young girl in her early 20s who sets out to explore and meet others in a foreign country. That country is France and she is employed as an Au Pair to a family in Avignon.

Therefore as Europe heads into the turmoil of War, Pat finds herself in France, as the German troops invade. Pat is young, isolated and has very little money. She seeks assistance at the embassy in Paris only to find that the employees who could have helped have left and made their way back to England. She eventually finds some work within the cafe at the police station, but that is short lived and she is eventually interred in a camp.

The story continues to unravel the events that happened once in the camp, how Rosie copes with a loss of liberty and functional belongings such as a toothbrush. After a period of time, Rosie is determined to escape and with another internee she indeed does escape and makes her way, eventually across France into the region known as Free France, through to Spain and finally to home.

There was huge amounts of fear and uncertainty. Not just for Pat, but also for her family who had eventually managed to correspond with Pat through the help of the Red Cross. Once Pat is an escaped prisoner and effectively on the run in enemy territory, her parents are bewildered as to what had happened.

This was a remarkable story. Pieced together by archives and letters written and collated by Rosie's father, notes written by Rosie before she passed away and then by her son.