Month: January 2024

first in the series

a good title for kids

a good thriller

#TheLondonBookshopAffair #NetGalley

This dual timeline historical fiction title is a winner! The story was quite absorbing and kept me turning the pages with its two main focuses-one is about Jeanne/Anya a WWII SOE volunteer, and another is about a young woman named Celia who works in a bookshop as the novel opens.

What is going on in the bookstore under its new ownership? How will events from WWII and 1960s crises like the division of Berlin and Cuba come into the story? How will the characters and events in the two time lines be connected? Readers will want to know.

In these pages, there are traitors, people who care deeply for their country, professionals and amateurs, all of whom are impacted by world events. Along with these big world worthy plots, there are also storylines that impact the characters smaller, personal worlds. There are about family ties, secrets, trust, being in love, friendship, creating a life one wants and more. 

The author does a marvelous job of bringing the two time periods to life. The social mores of each era are well portrayed and these societal rules definitely impact the characters.

The complex plot that kept me engaged and always eager to read another chapter. I was always wishing for the very best for Celia.

Historical fiction lovers, this is surely worth a read. The 1960s is a time period that I have seen less in historical fiction but one that is full of the conflict that makes for a good read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 16 January 2024

From the Publisher

In these novels, detectives — some real, others self-appointed — investigate deaths in a small town, on board a train, in a haunted French chateau.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/books/review/new-crime-mystery-books.html

Those looking for a light read in the vein of (an updated) Georgette Heyer may well enjoy this Regency romance

The protagonists are named Vesper and Aspen (fairly unusual names for protagonists). She is a Lady while he is a Duke. Each is ‘in’ society and the two have known one another for years. She is a matchmaker who has sworn off love. He is impoverished and needs a good match. Will this matchmaker match with this Duke? Those who’ve read Pride and Prejudice will know that bad weather can impact relationships as it does here when these two are sheltering in the same place.  There are also ways in which this book is a modernization of Emma. 

Readers will hope for a happy ending as they turn the pages of this sparkling story with a bit of heft to it (There are some mental health/asylum issues in these pages). Credit to the author for researching some of the social issues of the time period.

Many thanks to Forever-Grand Central Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

Note that this is the second in a series though it can be read on its own.

This book was published in November 2023.

a new tv adaptation is coming

I reviewed this

I want to read this

Ellen Feldman has written a number of historical fiction novels, imagining events in the lives of the Scottsboro Boys, Anne Frank, Margaret Sanger and others. She has also written novels that bring places and times vividly to life, as for example, in Paris Never Leaves You and, The Living and the Lost.

In The Trouble with You, Feldman again excels in creating a world and characters that are detailed, vivid and real. Just a couple of examples of the accurately described time include trips to the Automat, the fear of polio, and the age of radio serials (soaps). Even more importantly HUAC figures prominently in the story. As many will know that stands for the House Unamerican Activities Committee.

Readers follow Fanny, her friends, family, colleagues and others, including Aunt Rose (an appealing character). When the story opens, Fanny’s future looks bright. Unfortunately it does not remain so when she is widowed at a young age with a child to raise. As a result Fanny needs to work. This is where the radio serial setting enters the story.

Over the course of the novel, Fanny needs to think about what she wants and what she stands for. Does that sound familiar? How will things work out for her?

Fans of more literary historical fiction and those who have read other novels by Ms. Feldman will, I think, want to read The Trouble with You.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 20 February 2024

From the Publisher

#KristinHannah #NetGalley

There is no doubt that Kristin Hannah knows how to write about war. Her novel, The NIghtingale, has been wildly popular. I enjoyed Winter Garden, another story set in a difficult war time, even more. So, no surprisse that this latest book is an excellent one.

Here Hannah turns her eye to the Vietnam War era. Interestingly, this time period echoes loudly to today when the U.S. is once again experiencing much division, posturing and an inability for people to listen to one another.

Hannah tells her story thorough Frances Grace (Frankie) McGrath. She is the daughter in a family that venerates men and the bravery of the military. While Frankie is expected to be a “good girl” and to marry, the expectations are higher for her brother. 

Readers learn early on that Frankie’s brother died in Vietnam. Following his death, Frankie, who is a trained nurse, wants to make a difference. She somewhat naively works her way through the military branches until the army accepts her and sends her to Vietnam.

Hannah does an outstanding job of bringing the country to life. Readers will feel the scorching heat and drenching rains. They will find that their heart rate rises at the sound of VC attacks. The scent of blood, the anxiety of being an inexperienced medical provider, the hooch, the officer’s club-all of these and more feel so real.

Frankie does not live in a vacuum. She becomes very close to two other nurses. She also is attracted to Jamie, a surgeon. These characters and many others become known to the reader. 

Readers are aware that there were many who protested the war. What happens to Frankie when she returns from the war zone after her service? Slight spoiler…it will not be easy.

Here is a compelling read. I found Hannah’s last few books to be good but I think that this one is so much better. The Women is not an easy read but it will sear itself into its audience’s heart and mind.

I wish that this book had been given a more distinctive title, not because it isn’t apt but because I think that, it could easily come out lower in any kind of search engine request than it should. It is a book that cries out to be read.

It is probably clear by now that I give this novel five stars.

Note: I alternated between listening to the book and reading it, one of my favorite ways to stay connected with a story as I go for a walk. The narration is superb. Whelan gets the tone and emotion of the story just right.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: )6 February 2024

From the Publisher