I love to read, recommend books and open the world of reading to others. I tutor to ensure that the next generation of readers will know the joys of a good book because their reading skills have improved. I am an avid reader, especially of mysteries and fiction. I believe that two of the world's greatest inventions were the public library and eyeglasses!
Historical fiction appeals to me as it offers an engaging way to become immersed in another world and time. Frequently, through this genre, I “meet” people whom I would not otherwise have known. That is certainly the case in the novel about Jessie Redmon Fauset. While I once saw some artwork from The Crisis and know of WEB DuBois, I was unfamiliar with Fauset. That is no longer the case as she and the Harlem Renaissance come to life in these pages.
Jessie comes to New York to take on a prestigious position at an important publication. She goes on to “discover” many writers that we read today as, for example, Langston Hughes and Nella Larson. What Jessie perhaps did not expect to discover was that she was attracted to the married DuBois.
How does Jessie’s life play out? Find out in this intriguing work of historical fiction by an author who knows how to write in this genre. She has published other novels with Marie Benedict including one about Belle Greene, another important Black woman who was JP Morgan’s personal librarian.
It is easy to recommend this title to those who enjoy historical fiction set in the not so distant past.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 04 February 2025
The book’s subject:
This painting may be found in the National Portrait Gallery
This is a repost from when the book was first reviewed
#TheStolenQueen #NetGalley
Mark you calendar for the pub date for Fiona Davis’s forthcoming new novel. I think that this may just be her best book yet. I thoroughly enjoyed The Stolen Queen.
As is often the case, the story is told in two time lines and in two countries. Interestingly, both time lines have characters in common.
Readers first meet Charlotte Cross when she is a young girl embarking on an adventure of a lifetime. She has left her society family behind to be part of a 1930s dig in Egypt. So much happens to Charlotte there in terms of both her professional and personal life, but readers need to find out all of this for themselves.
The second timeline takes place partly in NYC right around the time of the famous King Tut exhibition. Now Charlotte is working in the Egyptian section of the museum when a necklace becomes part of an exhibit and leads to many events.
In this second time line, readers also meet Annie. She has been an enabler to her mother. Unexpectedly Annie secures a position working for the very well known Diana Vreeland just in time for a major fashion event. As was true for Charlotte, things don’t go according to plan.
It is not long before Charlotte and Annie travel to Egypt together. There is, again, much that happens while they are there.
Davis handles all of the plot elements flawlessly. It is also clear that she did her homework in order to give this book a real sense of its historical authenticity.
Anyone who has enjoyed a novel by this author will want to read this title. My guess is that this one will also bring her many new fans.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group-Dutton for this title. All opinions are my own.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this riveting read. My review will be found later in this post.
Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group for this title.
About the book:
Four strangers are brought together to participate in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts in this surprising and heartfelt debut novel from author Amelia Ireland.
A ZIBBY OWENS MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025!
Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria have nothing in common–well, except for one thing: they’ve each experienced a deep personal loss that has led them to an unconventional group meeting, every Tuesday night at seven. A meeting they’ve been particularly selected for that will help them finally move on. At least, that’s the claim.
As they warily eye one another and their unnervingly observant group leader, one question hangs over them: why were they chosen? To get the answer, they are going to have to share a whole lot of themselves first. Getting Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria to trust each other is vital–because the real reason they’re connected will shift the ground beneath their feet.
Riveting and wise, THE SEVEN O’CLOCK CLUB shows us the courage needed to face your past and the joy that can be found in stepping into your future.
368 pages
My review:
I was intrigued by this book as soon as I saw it. The circle of chairs on the cover gave a hint that it would be about a group as did the title. As someone with a social work background and as a facilitator of support groups, I was curious to see who the group was for, what the sessions would be like, and how Ireland’s story would unfold. I was not disappointed.
The novel opens with a witness transcript. This adds an element of immediate suspense. Why was it necessary to testify?
The story then moves to the four characters who are attending a unique bereavement group run by a therapist named Genevieve. She has the right credentials for the job. The members of this circle have varying degrees of motivation and their own unique stories.
Readers get to know Mischa, Freya, Callum and Victoria in book sections that are titled with stages of grief as, for example, denial. The grief of the four unfolds over the course of the book as do their relationships and interactions with each other.
The story had a feel of authenticity in that first session. Each member was asked, not to talk about their loss, but rather about a happy memory. This is the beginning of getting to know these characters and readers will indeed get to know them well.
Having been specially selected to be in this particular group, will the four get the help that they need or will other forces come into play? Have the four been selected for individual reasons or does something bind them together? Readers will have to pick this one up to find out.
I thought that this book was well written and intriguing. It would make a good book club pick.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.
Note: If you read and enjoyed Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment, most definitely, take a look at The Seven O’Clock Club.
About the Author
Amelia Ireland lives in London but travels extensively to far flung places. She likes to rock climb, kite surf, and ride horses. She is also a mother to two very dramatic children.
From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews:
“When a discovery blows their worlds apart—and takes the narrative in a wildly different direction—it cements the mastery of this provocative, wholly original novel.”—People
“The divine Amelia Ireland has written a surprising and glorious debut novel. Ireland has created a world where broken hearts are mended and grief can only be released in mutual understanding. When Freya, Mischa, Callum and Victoria meet Genevieve Dempsey, they are lost and broken. As the novel unspools, they find their way to back to truth and ultimately—love.”—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone
“Finished in one sitting. Had no idea where it was going but knew there was something lurking. Incredible twist. Ends with a final lap of the ride when you think it is all over. Different. Clever. Genuine. Sad. Reminded me in parts of the Outlaws show. I will be recommending this to friends.”–Ericka Waller, author of Goodbye Birdie Greenwing
Last year, Ruth was in Italy (The Dark Angel). This year she is back in Norfolk in a superb entry in a most favorite series of mine.
The first Ruth Galloway mystery, The Crossing Places, is referenced in this book. The murder and its solution are thought by the characters to have links to the current crime. I love this series so much that I urge you to start at the beginning. However, you can read this as a standalone.
There are mysteries here including a cold case and a current baby abduction. Both story lines are suspenseful and the pieces all come together with the clues there for the reader.
I think though that true lovers of this series read it for the characters and the updates in their personal stories. If that is part of what you enjoy in the Ruth books, you will not be disappointed. Every favorite character and relationship is here.
The only bad thing about having read this book is that now I have to begin the long wait for the next in the series.
Enormous thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Visit the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. You will learn a lot about ancient manuscripts, the appearance of a beautiful library and the (not always savory) ways of academia, especially when donations are needed.
Spend time with Liesl who has (finally) moved up from second in command to temporary head of the collection. Her boss, Christopher, has had a stroke and is unable to help Liesl with the many problems that she faces. Those she works with may or may not be trustworthy and one of these employees, Miriam, has disappeared just as mysteriously as the library’s newest acquisition. Will Miriam be found and found alive? Will everything be solved? Read this book by an accomplished first time novelist to find out. The author creates a good story and, at times, skewers university life.
One thing that I liked about the recently published novel, The Maid, was that the main character was so very much herself. I felt the same way about Liesl. She is of a certain age and temperament, deals with life and relationships in her own way. I hope to see her again.
Note that there both a reading group guide and a conversation with the author at the end of the book. These added to my enjoyment and understanding.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
I got to know the books by Ms. Keyes when I read her first, Watermelon. It was an engaging story with both complications and heart. I think that those two qualities best describe this author’s subsequent books, including this one.
Grown Ups is a long book at over 500 pages so just perfect for settling in with on these days of early dark. It is a family story in which, at the beginning of the novel, all of the main characters are close to each other. However, the training wheels come off and the ride gets more unstable when one of the main characters, Cara, suffers a concussion. This results in her speaking thoughts, opinions and secrets without being able to stop. What will this mean to her husband, his brothers and their spouses? Will what comes out destroy this family or make its’ members stronger?
It is hard to offer more praise for this title than what has already been offered by others such as JoJo Moyes and Liane Moriarty along with print media including many, many British newspapers and magazines. I will just say that Irish author Marian Keyes knows how to write an engaging story. Give this one a try…and then go back to read some of her other novels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
I am always delighted to spend time with a book by this author. She writes the kinds of stories that give readers an opportunity to exhale.
This title is part of a series of stories set at a school. This is the third novel. Readers may want to go back and spend time with the others if they have not already read them. However it is possible to read this as a standalone. A list of major characters is included at the beginning of the story.
Boarding school stories are staples for young readers. Colgan tries to give adults that same sense of enjoyment in this series.
Students Fliss, Alice and Simone are back following the summer break. There is a new student character introduced as well. Teacher Maggie also returns and has some complications to her love life.
In addition, there is a boys’ school close by. There is a teacher there who is also important to the plot.
Regular readers of this author’s books will want to give this one a look. New readers may enjoy it as well.
Read the author’s introduction to the novel to learn more about its composition. There is a recap here for those unfamiliar with the series.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper and Harper Voyager for this title. All opinions are my own.
Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen is an historical novel based on the life of Eliza Acton. Eliza was a poet whose family fell on very hard times. When a publisher, who did not want to publish her poems, offered to pay her to write a cookbook, she at first refused. Luckily for cooks and readers, Eliza changed her mind. She goes on to find poetry in her cooking and cookery writing.
The second important character in the story is Ann. Ann’s incredibly difficult life is portrayed vividly and readers will feel for her bleak home life. It is transformative for Ann to begin to work for “Miss Eliza.”
Life for Eliza and her mother involves taking in short term boarders. Readers will meet one particularly lascivious and loathsome one. He is an early guest at the house. His presence also impacts Ann.
Throughout the story, Eliza and Ann work together to create recipes that are different from those that came before. For example, they used accurate measurements.
Eliza and Ann become very close. What will the nature of their relationship be as it evolves?
I found this book to be somewhat slow moving and yet it was interesting. It described a time, place, way of life and the people who lived it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Note that there is an article in the December U.S. issue of Good Housekeeping that references this title. The book was also chosen for a morning tv show’s book club.
Sloane faced an unthinkable loss when her sister died (not a spoiler as readers learn this early in the story). She is engaged to a somewhat pompous fiance who has an over involved family and often make Sloane feel inferior. On top of all this, Sloane’s parents are not the easiest people.
Sloane escapes into her work as a librarian although that also has it challenges. One of these is an older gentleman who enjoys mentally fencing with Sloane. Will these two change each other? Will others also be drawn in? Readers may know the answer but will still, I think, enjoy this book. It gives voice to some of what is important in life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this title. All opinions are my own
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 