Tag: genre: adult fiction

• Book Review: “Secrets of the Lighthouse” by Santa Montefiore (ARC)

  Posted at 7:17 am by Laura, on July 29, 2014

  Secrets of the Lighthouse by Santa Montefiore 

  Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  Publishing Date: August 5
  Genre: fiction
  ISBN: 9781476735375
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★

  Ellen Trawton is running away from it all – quite literally. She is due to get married to a man she doesn’t love, her job is dragging her down and her interfering mother is getting on her nerves. So she escapes to the one place she know her mother won’t follow her – to her aunt’s house in rural Ireland. Once there, she uncovers a dark family secret – and a future she never knew she might have.Meanwhile, Caitlin Macausland is mourning the future she can never have. She died tragically in what the village thinks is suspicious circumstances, and now she is stuck in a limbo, unable to move on.

  And between the two of them is an old lighthouse – the scene of so much tragedy. Can each woman find the peace she so desperately longs for? And can they find the way to live again?

  Overwhelmed with her mother’s expectations and a life she does not want to continue living, Ellen flees to Ireland in search of an aunt her mother rarely spoke of and whom Ellen has never met. Upon arrival, Ellen discovers a whole new family: uncles and cousins she never knew she had, her mother’s surprising history, a rough musician with whom she finds a kindred spirit, and a man burdened by a family secret and town gossip pertaining to his long-dead wife Caitlin. As Ellen begins to piece together her new life and discover her true self, a Pandora’s box of family history and Irish roots unravel.

  Montefiore likes to take her time in this novel. I’ve never read her before, but I want to read her now. Her language is lush, the descriptions stunning, the dialogue authentic, and the characters so fully fleshed — including the secondary characters. I fell in love with the landscape, and then I fell in love with Ellen’s transformation and liberation, and then I fell in love with her and Conor’s love. Everything was so deep and purposeful, and I was filled with a sense of longing to be there at that moment while I was reading (so much so I had to turn on my Irish playlist to satisfy myself!).

  I’m not sure what I could compare this to. It has that ghosts-torturing-from-the-beyond feel to it, reminding me of Wuthering Heights, but Caitlin and Conor’s relationship was nothing like that. She had something wrong with her, an ability to charm and quick to jealousy, much like borderline personality disorder. It was a tumultuous past that inflected Conor with guilt. But watching this dark man change into something light and wonderful around Ellen felt modern and true, realistic and beautiful. I couldn’t put this book down, and whether it was for the landscape or the story, I’m not sure. It’s worth reading and savoring.

  Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for providing this book for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 0 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: adult fiction, goodreads, review

• Calling for Book Recommendations: Russia and Legends

  Posted at 8:33 am by Laura, on July 28, 2014

  Over the past few days at work, I’ve eyed a few books that somewhat cover my interest in Russian history (particularly pre-Bolshevik, WWII, and Cold War) and Arthurian legend. Two vastly different topics, each with fascinating elements of history and culture.

  

  

  

  

  I spotted Lara’s Gift by Annamarie O’Brien, which is about breeding borzoi dogs in 1914. It’s a Middle Grade novel, and I know if I were younger it would’ve sparked my interest in Russian culture immediately. The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam was one I had hope for, but my disinterest in Russian royalty (although the Anastasia story is intriguing!) paired with a contemporary storyline weaving in detracted from that Russian feel. I’ve also read The Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paullina Simons, set in WWII Leningrad following two lovers who eventually split to the front and NYC, reunite, and continue their lives up to the present day. Last fall, I read The Boy on the Bridge by Natalie Standiford, a YA set in the Cold War, featuring a Russian boy with ambiguous intentions when an American girl falls in love with him.

  Recommendations: I will read Middle Grade up to Adult Fiction, preferably by a contemporary author (Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky will wait till the long winter months, but if you have a favorite of their’s, let me know!), and preferably not about royalty. This can span from three eras: early 1900s, WWII, and Cold War. Do you have any recommendations?

  Also, come on. Snow. If you don’t know me by now, you should know I love winter. Just look at those covers.

  

  

  

  

  

  If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll remember I went through a huge Robin Hood and Merlin phase, watching the BBC shows and looking up historical information on whether or not these people were real, and if not then which individuals could they be based off of, etc. A friend of mine has already recommended Stephen Lawhead’s King Raven trilogy for Robin Hood (knowing my Hood interests are mostly of Celtic/early Anglo-Saxon origin and less on the actual thief), as well as Lawhead’s Pendragon Cycle series.

  I haven’t read Lawhead yet, nor have I read T.A. Barron’s Merlin Middle Grade series, Mary Stewart’s Arthurian Saga, or even the classic Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I kid you not, though, when I say these books haunt me in the store. I want to read them, but something is holding me back. Maybe you can provide that little push? (Don’t worry, I already own Once and Future King.)

  Recommendations: I will read Middle Grade up to Adult fiction on anything pertaining to King Arthur and Merlin. The more Celtic/Anglo-Saxon history thrown in there, the better. In my head it makes everything more authentic! Do you have any suggestions?

  Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Share your thoughts and recommendations!

  Posted in books, Update Post | 8 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: historical fiction, genre: middle grade, genre: young adult, King Arthur, legends, Merlin, recommendations, Russia, Russian history

• Book Review: “The Major’s Daughter” by J.P. Francis (ARC)

  Posted at 9:55 am by Laura, on July 22, 2014

  The Major’s Daughter by J.P. Francis 

  Publisher: Plume
  Publishing Date: July 29
  Genre: historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780452298699
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★.5

  April, 1944.  The quiet rural village of Stark, New Hampshire is irrevocably changed by the arrival of 150 German prisoners of war.  And one family, unexpectedly divided, must choose between love and country.

  Camp Stark is under the command of Major John Brennan, whose beautiful daughter, Collie, will serve as translator. Educated at Smith and devoted to her widowed father, Collie is immediately drawn to Private August Wahrlich, a peaceful poet jaded by war. As international conflict looms on the home front, their passion blinds them to the inevitable dangers ahead.

  Very little is known about the POW camp set up in Stark, New Hampshire, in 1944. But it was there, and one can only imagine what sort of fascinations and wonders it induced. Under Major John Brennan, the German prisoners of war are sent out to work for the logging community, treated humanely despite everyone’s mistrust. Major Brennan’s daughter, Collie, serves as his translator and assistant, which brings her close to another translator and POW, Austrian Private August Wahrlich. The attraction is instantaneous, and noticed by all at the camp, but both know that nothing could come from it, nothing could be built on unsteady ground of war. But as the months pass, as Collie watches her friends change and August’s hope for a return to his family diminishes, the lovers consider a future together despite all costs.

  This slow and quiet novel was quite beautiful. The reader follows all sorts of characters, not just Collie and August. We’re privy to Collie’s best friend Estelle’s mind and heart, the difficult decisions she makes regarding her future. We follow the rich brothers Amos and Henry, how vastly different they are from one another, with different dreams and ambitions. We track Major Brennan and his dedication to running a smooth, cooperative camp. Everyone’s story interweaves with another, ultimately colliding in the end’s momentous flight.

  Collie and August’s love is pure. He’s poetic, artistic, and very much a dreamer. He shows us that not all German soldiers are Nazis — there’s a different between fighting with the Germans (enlisted and drafted from Austria and other countries overtaken by Germany) and being a member of the political party. He is kind and open-hearted, a gentleman and a boy, with no ulterior motives. It’s sweet. Collie is an educated young woman, who fights hard to suppress her growing affection. She struggles to maintain that her feelings are simply a little crush, but when she gives in, her fall is great.

  Nothing about this book felt rushed. In fact, everything about it was smooth, enchanting, romantic, and quite authentic. For anyone in need of a deep, powerful historical romance that really does consider the weight of war, this is most certainly the book to read.

  Thank you, Penguin, for providing this book for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 3 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Book of Life” by Deborah Harkness

  Posted at 7:42 pm by Laura, on July 19, 2014

  The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness 

  Publisher: Viking
  Published: July 15, 2014
  Genre: fiction, fantasy
  ISBN: 9780670025596
  Goodreads: 4.39
  Rating: ★★★★★

  Historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

  One of three missing pages from Ashmole 782 is in Diana and Matthew’s possession. After the news of Diana’s pregnancy takes hold on the de Clermont family, the politics of the covenant and Congregation, the secrets inside the manuscript, Diana’s growing power and purpose, and Matthew’s blood rage and past guilts become more pressing than ever. From the laboratories at Yale to the many homes of Europe, from Diana’s childhood home to a deserted concentration camp in Poland, Diana and Matthew must face the world together and fight for the love, family, and future.

  

  Once again, I’m stunned by Harkness’s brilliance. She somehow managed to write a stunning, scholarly, thrilling ending to this trilogy — all while continuing to career as a professor and academic. Wow. I bow to her. I am Fernando to her Diana.

  Like A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night, The Book of Life is filled with academic jargon across all disciplines and fields, making this reviewer long once more to be locked in a library and researching just for the sake of researching (and the hot beverages and tweed and autumn leaves and cozy warmth…I digress). Everything from modern science and DNA coding to history and art helps piece together the giant puzzle that is the connection between vampires, witches, daemons, and humans. This book could also be described as one giant family reunion, one crisis after another around every page turn. Characters from the previous books crop up and play their role, some of them more crucial than before. My heart swelled for Gallowglass, to name just one character in many.

  What’s fantastic about these characters and their secrets are how all their stories are truly interwoven, without many of them realizing it. It makes the world feel more authentic. Even more so, it humanizes these creatures — many of whom (particularly one of Matthew’s disowned offspring who is the main villain of this book) remind us that the horrors we read in books do, in fact, happen to people every day.

  Book One focused on discoveries, particularly on an all-consuming love. Book Two focused on accepting one’s identity, and the growing love between Matthew and Diana, and how the boundaries changed in that relationship. This book particularly tested them — as partners, as lovers, as mates, as parents, as creatures — and while all was not rosy, it was never without love. So beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them grow together. I’m sad to see the trilogy end, as I’d love to know what happens (to every character), but that’s the joy of imagination: I can think of their futures in my head and believe it to be true.

  Intelligent and exciting, the All Souls trilogy is not one to be missed.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 4 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, genre: history, genre: romance, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Landline” by Rainbow Rowell

  Posted at 8:33 am by Laura, on July 14, 2014

  Landline by Rainbow Rowell 

  Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
  Published: July 8, 2014
  Genre: fiction
  ISBN: 9781250049377
  Goodreads: 4.08
  Rating: ★★.5 or ★★★

  Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

  Maybe that was always besides the point.

  Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

  When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

  That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

  Is that what she’s supposed to do?

  Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

  Georgie finally catches a big break in her TV writing — an opportunity to write the show she and her college best friend Seth have been planning for over a decade — but it’s due a few days after Christmas. Her husband, Neal, is not too thrilled she can’t join him and their daughters in Omaha for the holiday, and leaves without her. Frustrated, tired, and confused, Georgie attempts to contact him to make sure their marriage isn’t ruined, but Neal won’t answer her calls. At least, not modern day Neal. When Georgie uses her mother’s old landline phone to call Neal’s mother’s landline, she winds up speaking to the Neal she fell in love with, the Neal of 1998, shortly before he proposed to her. This is her chance to fix her marriage, or alter history.

  It breaks my heart a little inside that my rating is so low for this book. It has absolutely nothing to do with Rowell and her writing and everything to do with the characters. And that’s where the stickler comes in. I’ve spoken to other bloggers and booksellers, and there’s a difference between younger, mainly single people’s opinions of the book (rather low) and older, married people’s opinions (rather high). I genuinely think there’s a specific audience for this book because of that. The younger, mainly single group really liked Georgie’s flashbacks to college and modern day Georgie talking to 1998 Neal passages. The Neal and Georgie of not-yet-married. Young love is thrilling and exciting and wonderful, and you begin to see how hard they work to make the relationship last. The Neal and Georgie of the modern day are distant, seemingly unloving, and appear to only be together to keep their daughters happy. It’s a sad, exhausting situation, yet many long-time married readers understood it. The married readers enjoyed the whole book because it reminded them of why they fell in love with their spouse, and how hard they work to continue that partnership.

  Despite understanding that, Neal and Georgie’s characters frustrated me. Mostly Georgie. Her family means the world to her yet she does next to nothing to contribute to their happiness other than bring home paychecks. I could sympathize with Neal’s near-silence towards her. I come from a stay-at-home-Dad-and-working-Mom family, and I can tell you that my mother and father took equal share in raising us and taking care of the home. I really don’t think that’s the issue here. It’s Georgie’s promises to be better and not following through. Her anxiety is sky-high and yet she doesn’t acknowledge it or accept it, which in turn ruins her marriage. I wanted to shake her and tell her to snap out of it, wake up, and look at what’s happened before it’s too late.

  The phone was the star of the book. I dragged through all the TV script writing scenes with Seth — Seth, I really liked Seth — and the Mom-and-sister drama scenes and looked forward to the phone. The phone made everything worth it.

  Rowell did not write a poor book. She wrote a genuine book with authentic characters. Not everyone you meet will be good, likable people — and that’s not to say they’re bad, either. Not everyone’s lives, especially love lives, work out the way they hope, the way they imagine. I understand that completely. The protagonist doesn’t need to be likable and relatable, just authentic. Georgie and Neal are authentic, but I simply believe that my life experiences (and lack thereof) prevented me from liking them and sympathizing their situation. But their story of young love? And this magical phone? Loved it. I understand that. I understand thinking about the what ifs and how we might be able to change history. I understand wondering whether the person you’re deeply in love with right now is truly the one for you forever and ever. Those portions of the story I loved.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 4 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Attachments” by Rainbow Rowell

  Posted at 7:17 pm by Laura, on March 22, 2014

  Attachments by Rainbow Rowell 

  Publisher: Plume
  Published: 2012
  Genre: adult fiction
  ISBN: 9780452297548
  Goodreads: 3.97
  Rating: ★★★★★

  Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

  Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

  When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories. By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself. What would he say . . . ?

  Lincoln O’Neill, fresh out of yet another master’s program and living at home with his mother, accepts a job offer as an internet security officer for the newspaper in preparation for Y2K. But what he thought would be an awesome job turns out to be a dull night job of reading people’s flagged emails and sending them warnings. But when Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder’s email chains are sent to him, he can’t help but be captivated by these women, their humor, their lives. Lincoln knows he’s gone too far — become too invested — when he realizes he’s falling in love with Beth.

  Attachments touched me in so many ways. Lincoln’s sense of failure — of only knowing how to learn (and thus, the multiple degrees) and having to move back in with his parents — hits very close to home. Every 20-something these days has to face the hard truth and possibility of moving back in with parents for financial concerns, and that sense of “failure at life” is such a sad and depressing burden on the soul. You can feel Lincoln’s confusion, hopelessness, and sadness. But with his sister’s support, and his strange sense of connection to Beth and Jennifer, boosts him into trying new things, meeting new people, and improving his lifestyle. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel!

  Similarly, Beth and Jennifer’s concerns are like any young woman’s. Pregnancy scares, boundary lines in relationships, jealousy of others getting married before you, work gossip, self-esteem issues, you name it and these women talk about it. I especially love the fact they give nicknames to their coworkers. You’re invested in their journeys just as much as Lincoln’s, and there’s absolutely nothing thrilling about it except for the fact it’s so real. This is life. And as humans, we want to hear others’ stories, even the mundane ones.

  Rowell’s setting — right before and after the Y2K scare (which, looking back on it, cracks me up) — and writing style really make this a unique novel. Lincoln’s chapters follow Lincoln in the third person narrative. Beth and Jennifer’s email chains are exactly that: email chains, with time stamps, subject lines, and <>: and <>: indicators. Soon you develop your own image of them in your mind, a voice for each, and it’s exciting when Beth first sees Lincoln (and thus, a description!), and when Lincoln first sees Jennifer and Beth (more descriptions!). Again — true to life! It was fun flipping back and forth between these narratives because it drives the novel forward. You race through Lincoln’s chapter to see Beth and Jennifer again, and you race through Beth and Jennifer to get back to Lincoln. Clever, Rowell.

  A fun book about the various life situations in early adulthood, with a light and hilarious office romance. Cute, adorable, heart-warming, a light at the end of the tunnel.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 3 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Solsbury Hill” by Susan M. Wyler (ARC)

  Posted at 4:41 pm by Laura, on March 15, 2014

  Solsbury Hill by Susan M. Wyler 

  Publisher: Riverhead Trade
  Publishing Date: April 1
  Genre: romance, adult fiction
  ISBN: 9781594632365
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★

  When a surprise call from a dying aunt brings twenty-something New Yorker Eleanor Abbott to the Yorkshire moors, and the family estate she is about to inherit, she finds a world beyond anything she might have expected. Having left behind an American fiance, here Eleanor meets Meadowscarp MacLeod—a young man who challenges and changes her. Here too she encounters the presence of Bronte herself and discovers a family legacy they may share.

  With winds powerful enough to carve stone and bend trees, the moors are another world where time and space work differently. Remanants of the past are just around a craggy, windswept corner. For Eleanor, this means ancestors and a devastating romantic history that bears on her own life, on the history of the novel Wuthering Heights, and on the destinies of all who live in its shadow.

  Eleanor Abbott arrives at a family estate in northern England after discovering her childhood friend and long-term boyfriend cheating on her. As her aunt’s friends and family help Eleanor decide on matters regarding the future of the estate, she contemplates Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, the man she left behind in New York, and the man she meets on the moors.

  I had such high expectations for this novel — I can hardly write a summary for it because I’m so deeply disappointed.

  My expectations were high because of the Wuthering Heights comparison. Marketed as a retelling, a romance as strong as Heathcliff and Catherine’s, and other such similarities is false advertising. The romance is shallow — if existent at all — and it’s certainly not a retelling. A retelling would be Margot Livesey’s The Flight of Gemma Hardy — new setting, new character names, but essentially the same core for motives or personalities. Forewarning, this is not a retelling, and the comparisons are…barely there.

  The writing and the plot was not what I expected either. I thought descriptions and dialogue and plot would be fully developed, well-written, enticing, imaginative, lush. It fell completely flat. It was like reading a teenager’s fanfiction, or a preteen’s attempt at writing smut. And maybe this is because I’m not a romance reader — the very first couple pages contain explicit yet poorly written sex scenes, and then for the rest of the novel the characters are one-dimensional, lacking in personality, and forceful in poor dialogue.

  Maybe I’m harsh because I see the Brontës as untouchable. Maybe this just wasn’t my book. Either way, I was disappointed.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from Riverhead Trade for review.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 0 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: romance, review

• Advance Excitement at a Glance III

  Posted at 6:43 pm by Laura, on March 1, 2014

  

  This year, in an effort to blog more, to become more involved with the blogging community, and to keep up with the latest publications, I thought I’d create a monthly post about the ARCs I’ve received. These ARCs will be read and reviewed a month prior to the publishing date. The Advance Excitement at a Glance posts will feature one or two (or more, depending on what happens this year) books to look forward to, and it will motivate me to keep my to-read list on track.

  Last month, I read Panic and Savage Girl. For April, there are four ARCs in my queue, but I will feature two in this post and leave the other two as surprises! I’m excited about all of them and can’t wait to share my reviews with you.

  Mimi Malloy, At Last! by Julia MacDonnell
  (Picador, April 8)

  …when an MRI reveals that Mimi’s brain is filled with black spots—areas of atrophy, her doctor says—it looks like she’s destined to spend her days in “one of those storage facilities for unwanted antiques.” Mimi knows her mind is (more or less) as sharp as ever, and she won’t go down without a fight. Yet as she prepares to take her stand, she stumbles upon an old pendant of her mother’s and, slowly, her memory starts to return…

  Divorced and retired Mimi learns to enjoy the quiet life, smoking an occasional cigarette and listening to jazz on the radio, but is constantly bombarded by her sisters’ nostalgia for childhood and children’s praises of assisted living. When she finds out about her medical condition, and discovers her mother’s pendant, she begins to remember bits of her repressed childhood, and finds love along the way.

  At laaaaast, my loooove…I met the author back in August and absolutely gushed over the title, chapter titles, premise of the story, Mimi, everything. She was so pleased that she and her editor offered to send me an ARC of the book, and I screamed in January when I found it on my doorstep (probably disturbed the neighbors with that one…). I cannot wait to meet Mimi and experience a second “coming of age” with her!

  Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
  (Balzer + Bray, April 22)

  Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.
  And Gretchen follows his every command.

  Gretchen Müller grew up in National Socialist Party and knows nothing of the true hardships of the people Uncle Dolf so fiercely despises. But after she meets Daniel Cohen, a Jewish reporter, she is exposed to the dangers of the Nazi Party and the devastation and destruction it leaves behind.

  Balzer + Bray has some amazing books, and since I’m always in the mood for some great WWII fiction I have high hopes for this book!

  What books are you looking forward to in April? Got any ARCs you’d like to share excitement over?

  Posted in Advance Excitement, books | 0 Comments | Tagged advance excitement at a glance, advance reading copy, ARC, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult

• Book Review: “Savage Girl” by Jean Zimmerman (ARC)

  Posted at 9:15 am by Laura, on February 27, 2014

  Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman 

  Publisher: Viking
  Publishing Date: March 6
  Genre: historical fiction, mystery
  ISBN: 9780670014859
  Goodreads: —
  Rating:  ★★★★

  Jean Zimmerman’s new novel tells of the dramatic events that transpire when an alluring, blazingly smart eighteen-year-old girl named Bronwyn, reputedly raised by wolves in the wilds of Nevada, is adopted in 1875 by the Delegates, an outlandishly wealthy Manhattan couple, and taken back East to be civilized and introduced into high society.

  Bronwyn hits the highly mannered world of Edith Wharton-era Manhattan like a bomb. A series of suitors, both young and old, find her irresistible, but the willful girl’s illicit lovers begin to turn up murdered.

  Zimmerman’s tale is narrated by the Delegate’s son, a Harvard anatomy student. The tormented, self-dramatizing Hugo Delegate speaks from a prison cell where he is prepared to take the fall for his beloved Savage Girl. This narrative—a love story and a mystery with a powerful sense of fable—is his confession.

  Hugo Delegate knows he’s in trouble. Whether or not it was Savage Girl — Bronwyn — who committed the murders or he, Hugo’s determined to free her and take the blame instead. He tells their story from the very beginning, in a windy, dusty city in Nevada where his wealthy family found and collected this feral young woman and brought her to New York City to be educated, trained, and prepared for her season. But somewhere within his story, Hugo blurs Bronwyn’s character, and begins to wonder if his love for her blinds him from her true nature, or if something — someone — more sinister is at work.

  While many historical novels stick to the historical facts of the day — politics, education, fashion, transportation, social expectations, belief systems, etc — Zimmerman embodies the language of the day in her story. From skeptical Harvard medical man to a drunkard wailing over his love, lust, and confusion, Zimmerman’s Hugo is a character that comes alive through the rich diction. I felt like I was on the train with his family, traveling across the country and entering high society and working with this “raised by wolves” young woman. Bronwyn is quite similar too — her growth is fascinating, her fierce independence and loyalty and brave nature colliding together to create this beautiful, believable character from the wilds. Feral children are not simply stories; they were real.

  When I first received this ARC, I assumed it would be like reading Catherine from Wuthering Heights plucked and dropped into Edith Wharton’s high society — her passions and wild-like manner considered animalistic and foreign. It’s nothing like that, and I’m glad. The mystery of the murders propelled the already intriguing plot (the character growth is enough to keep you reading), and it’s not until the exact last page that the truth is revealed. Zimmerman will keep you guessing, tossing around Hugo, Brownyn, and many other suspects back and forth. Who should you believe? The unreliable narrator? The wild woman?

  Oh, it’s just so wonderfully written. Transported in time! A time that many seem to skip across when discussing history, that age between the Civil War and the suffragettes — beautifully represented in this great book.

  Thank you, Viking and Goodreads, for providing this book for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 1 Comment | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: mystery, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Daring Ladies of Lowell” by Kate Alcott (ARC)

  Posted at 6:14 pm by Laura, on February 18, 2014

  The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott

  Publisher: Doubleday
  Publishing Date: February 25
  Genre: historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780385536493
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★

  Determined to forge her own destiny, Alice Barrow joins the legions of spirited young women better known as the Mill Girls. From dawn until dusk, these ladies work the looms, but the thrill of independence, change in their pockets, and friendships formed along the way mostly make the backbreaking labor worthwhile. In fact, Hiram Fiske, the steely-eyed titan of industry, has banked on that. But the working conditions are becoming increasingly dangerous and after one too many accidents, Alice finds herself unexpectedly acting as an emissary to address the factory workers’ mounting list of grievances.

  After traveling to the Fiske family’s Beacon Hill mansion, Alice enters a world she’s never even dared to dream about: exquisite silk gowns, sumptuous dinners, grand sitting parlors, and uniformed maids operating with an invisible efficiency. Of course, there’s also a chilliness in the air as Alice presents her case. But with her wide, intelligent eyes and rosy-hued cheeks, Alice manages to capture the attention of Hiram’s eldest son, the handsome and reserved Samuel Fiske.

  Their chemistry is undeniable, soon progressing from mutual respect and shy flirtation into an unforgettable romance. But when Alice’s best friend, Lovey, is found strangled in a field, Alice and Samuel are torn between loyalty to “their kind” and a chance for true love.

  Young Alice is determined to start a new life for herself by becoming a mill girl in a cotton factory, working with other independent young women on the dangerous looms. One accident after another sheds light on the dangers of factory work, and the list of grievances causes a stir among the workers. But when Alice’s dear friend Lovey is found strangled in a field, tensions rise and a trial threatens the balance of all of Lowell — and tests the bond between Alice and her employer’s forward-thinking son, Samuel.

  Once again, Alcott delivers a great new historical perspective on industry, law, and inter-class romance. With The Dressmaker, we saw a determined young maid desiring to become a seamstress and designer, all during the turmoil surrounding the court cases following the sinking of the Titanic. This novel, too, is based on fact: the murder of a factory girl and the rise of unions and strikes in industrial America. It was exciting to see how all aspects of the story — the wealth and opulence of the Fiske family, the spirited women in the factory boarding houses, the culture of a small town versus that of Boston, the law versus traditional prejudice — intertwined with one another, creating such rich detail and a vibrant story.

  Alice’s naïveté lends to her strong will and determination. From President Jackson’s visit onward, Alice was the voice of the workers without coming across as too strong or too weak. She spoke her mind respectfully, and never backed down. She’s quite an admirable character, and it’s easy to see how the mill girls loved her and how Samuel admired her despite her background. Social custom was a heavy topic, too. The Fiske family are of new money, and Grandmother is determined to make sure her son and grandchildren remember their origins, to look to reform and understand their employees’ grievances.

  Whenever I think of cotton mills and all the strikes, deaths, and horrors that came with the Industrial Revolution, I can’t help but be both frightened and disgusted with that bit of history. It makes reading fiction based on that difficult. And yet Alcott made each character’s hopes, voice, and personality shine so brilliantly that, for a moment and like Alice, I too forgot about the dreary hardships and absorbed the friendships, the passion for change, and the desire to break social code. Alcott is an excellent storyteller, and her next novel is definitely one to read.

  Thank you, Edelweiss and Doubleday, for providing this book for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 3 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fiction, genre: historical fiction, goodreads, review

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• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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