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Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal’s History and Culture by José Saramago, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor

September 17, 2013 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 464 pages
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Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal’s History and Culture by José Saramago, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor from Portuguese, is a travelogue, but not in a traditional sense of naming specific destinations, their locations, and offering impressions in a straightforward manner.  Readers looking for a travel guide would be best served looking for another book about Portugal.  Saramago refers to himself as the traveler, which can be wearisome throughout 400 pages of text, and many of the visits he makes throughout the country are to either museums or religious locations/buildings, which is odd given his atheism and tenuous relationship with the Catholic church after writing The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.  Moreover, this travelogue is as close to being a memoir as it can be given Saramago’s reflections, daydreams, and observances about the more modern Portugal around him.  (He exiled himself, a Communist, to the Spanish island of Lanzarote following The Carnation Revolution in 1974 where he remained until his death in 2010.)  However, he does say that he wishes these religious relics and pieces to be preserved as works made by human hands.

“The traveller thanks him, and sets off in the direction indicated.  There the palheiros survive, huge barracks made of wooden slats blackened by the wind and the sea, a few already stripped beams exposed to the gaze.  A few are still inhabited, others have lost their roofs to the wind.  It won’t be long before nothing will remain beyond a photographic record.” (page 146)

In many ways, Saramago is reflecting on the life he’s led, the perceptions he’s had and still has, and how as time moves on the ornaments of those memories and perceptions are stripped bare, leaving only the barest outline of the past — until the emotions and personal connections are lost and all that is left is a photo out of context.  “During the lengthy voyage that took nearly six months, the conviction was born in me that in every place I passed through there was a piece of old Portugal bidding farewell to the traveller I was, an ancient Portugal which was beginning, finally, while still doubting whether it wanted to or not, to move towards the twentieth century,” he says. (page xii)  He reconciles the past with the present, as seen through a melancholy perspective, and like the villages and people the traveller approaches slowly, he passes through one town to another, gets lost, and meditates on what he encounters.

Saramago reflects on stonework quite a bit and its ability to stand the test of time, and through his ruminations, readers are likely to see his struggle with the endurance or inability of workers and tributes to stand the test of time — there are some shrines and other edifices he finds hold stories that are no longer accessible.  Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal’s History and Culture by José Saramago, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor, may suffer from poor translation, but there are moments of great reflection and insight that shouldn’t be missed, even if they are mired in melancholia and dark moods, by patient readers.

About the Author:

José de Sousa Saramago is a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, playwright and journalist. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party.  His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor rather than the officially sanctioned story. Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998. He founded the National Front for the Defense of Culture (Lisbon, 1992) with among others Freitas-Magalhaes. He lived on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain, where he died in June 2010.

This is my 57th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Turncoat: Renegades of the Revolution by Donna Thorland

September 12, 2013 by

Source: Borrowed from Diary of an Eccentric
Paperback, 432 pages
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The Turncoat: Renegades of the Revolution by Donna Thorland is a steamy novel of espionage, spies, and cover-ups. Quaker daughter Kate Grey is swept up in a plot against the British by Mrs. Ferrars, who is tasked with watching over her while her father rides off with supplies for The Continental Army.  Riding away from the only home she’s known, she’s forced to hear and see the darker side of war as it comes to her neighbor’s farm.  From that moment of helplessness on, she’s made up her mind to fight against the British who have plundered her home and its women.  She establishes herself in Philadelphia as an heiress, with the help of Ferrars, and embarks on a journey she never expects would lead her back to the British officer, Peter Tremayne, whom Ferrars duped at the Grey farm.

“Only the barest sliver of light entered beneath the batten door, which was reinforced on both sides with iron plates.  He took care not to look directly at it; in this blackness it would blind him like the sun.  He stood soaking up the darkness, breathing in the chemical smells of old powder and fresh mold, and reining in the panic that threatened to overwhelm him.  It was like being underground, being buried.  The unseen vault must be at least three stories above him, and the emptiness held all the childhood terrors of the night, and the decidedly adult terror that came with the knowledge of all the ways a man might die in such a place.”  (page 207)

Secrets twist in on themselves as Kate becomes engaged to one of the most terrifying British soldiers campaigning with General Howe from Philadelphia.  Although Kate flourishes in her new role as beautiful spy, turning heads, she is ill prepared for the emotional attachment she feels for her mark and still has for the man she never expected to see again, Peter Tremayne.  The emotions that she keeps hidden driver her actions more than she realizes, and at times, they are what breaks down her facade, makes her stumble, and leaves her lying in traps set by more emotionally detached foes.

Thorland weaves fact with fiction seamlessly in this historical novel about the American Revolution, and readers will see the strategy and battle scenes play out with gruesome consequences.  She captivates her readers through the building of strong and flawed characters whose lives are not only torn apart by war, but also the loyalty they feel to their families and countries even as they see hope in the enemy.  Trust and loyalty are tested over and over again, but Kate is committed to her duty and risks everything she wants, especially with Peter, to save General Washington and the Rebel cause.  The Turncoat: Renegades of the Revolution by Donna Thorland is gripping and offers a more exciting look at the American Revolution from both the Rebel and Crown’s point of views.

 

About the Author:

Graduating from Yale with a degree in Classics and Art History, Donna Thorland managed architecture and interpretation at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem for several years. She then earned an MFA in film production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has been a Disney/ABC Television Writing Fellow and a WGA Writer’s Access Project Honoree, and has written for the TV shows Cupid and Tron: Uprising. The director of several award-winning short films, her most recent project aired on WNET Channel 13. Her fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Donna is married with one cat and splits her time between Salem and Los Angeles.

This is my 56th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

 

 

 

This is my 3rd book for the American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013

Filed Under: American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013, borrowed copy, challenges, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With:

Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan’s Diaries Vol. 1) by L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec

September 11, 2013 by

Source: Purchased from Borders ages ago
Paperback, 237 pages
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Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan’s Diaries Vol. 1) by L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec is the first in the diaries series stemming from L.J. Smith’s original novels.  Stefan Salvatore is the younger of two brothers, and he’s the one that does as his father asks and rarely speaks out against him.  Damon, who is away during the Civil War, is the outspoken rebel.  Told from Stefan’s point of view, readers will get a sense of the tug between duty and desire, but as the second son and most responsible, his sense of duty often sways his choices.  When his father pushes him to pay his attentions to a local beauty from a powerful family, he does so, but it is clear that the match is one of convenience, not love.

“There was no mystery or intrigue in Mystic Falls.  Everyone knew everyone else.  If Rosalyn and I were to get married, our children would be dancing with Daisy’s children.  They would have the same conversations, the same jokes, the same fights.  And the cycle would continue for eternity.”  (Page 39)

In fact, a stranger in town, Katherine Pierce, has turned his head, and he cannot get her out of his mind.  A tug of war between his desires and his duty ensues, but other than Katherine’s beauty and mystery, you know little of her and why Stefan wants to be with her.  Is it mere animal lust, has she taken over his mind to make him feel that way?  These are questions that are left unanswered, but the infatuation he has with her leads to jealousy when his brother Damon returns from General Groom’s camp and spends a great deal of time with her.  She continues to be a mysterious figure even at the end of the novel, but as there are others in the series, she must be that way for a reason.

Although some of the chapters are written in diary form, the story is in prose, with Stefan’s inner thoughts sprinkled throughout as diary entries.  Despite wishing Stefan were more like Damon, unfettered, he sticks to his duties until the dam breaks for him emotionally.  He has little choice but to follow his desires when his duty has failed him.  The juxtaposition between the human and vampire Stefan is hinted at here, especially as he continues to compare himself to his brother and to find the life under his father’s thumb stifling.  Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan’s Diaries Vol. 1) by L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec is a solid first book that introduces the town of Mystic Falls, the threat that faces the townsfolk as the Civil War brews outside their doors, and the unseen dangers that lie amongst them in wait.

About the Author:

L.J. SMITH has written over two dozen books for young adults, including The Vampire Diaries, now a hit TV show. She has also written the bestselling Night World series and The Forbidden Game, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Dark Visions. She loves to walk the trails and beaches in Point Reyes, California, daydreaming about her latest book. She also loves to hear from readers ([email protected]) and hopes they will visit her continually updated website, where information, new stories, and contests can be found.

This is my 55th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, purchased, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: ,

Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys

September 10, 2013 by

Source: Borrowed ARC from Diary of an Eccentric
Paperback, 320 pages
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Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys is a swashbuckling 007 tricked into rejoining the King’s military and the cause against the rebels (a.k.a. Colonials/Americans), to which he drags his Mohawk brother Ate.  Humphreys, who played Jack Absolute on stage before writing this novel, clearly has a love of cheeky dialogue and plot twists because the prose is filled with it.  Absolute wants to restore his family fortune and good name, but he’s soon embroiled in a spy’s game and turned around by pretty faces and dark blackguards.  Aboard the ship to America, he’s tasked with decoding messages by General Burgoyne and to observe his fellow shipmates to sniff out the traitor in their midst.

“He glanced around the circle of excited faces that turned to him.  No women, at least.  Not even the cause of this whole affair, that little minx, Elizabeth Farren.  The hour was too close to the lighting of the footlights at Drury Lane and her show must go on.  Yet how she would have loved playing this scene.” (page 3 ARC)

“And the strange new flag that floated over the ramparts–unseen til that day, concocted of stars and stripes obviously ripped from spare cloaks and petticoats–would soon be replaced by the Union Standard of Great Britain.” (page 67 ARC)

The novel gives readers a detailed glimpse into American Revolution battles — Saratoga and Stanwix –with Americans pulled between loyalty to the Crown and the desire for freedom.  At the same time, Absolute is torn between his duty to the Crown and his desire to protect his adopted brethren the Iroquois.  Humphreys mixes it up with Native Americans loyal to both England and Rebels, as well as those Native Americans that were schooled in Christianity and took on English names.  Like the U.S. Civil War, there is brother and cousin fighting against other family members, and friends and neighbors fighting each other.

The plot folds in on itself several times before it lengthens out to uncover some hidden mysteries, and while the big reveal is a bit predictable, the decision Absolute must make is emotional and heartbreaking.  It forces him to choose between duty and freedom and love and culpability.  In some ways, the novel reads more like a script for a movie or play, but the fast-paced nature of the plot makes for a fast and entertaining read.  Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys will entertain readers, while giving them an inside look into the tensions of battle, loyalty, and revolution.

About the Author:

Chris (C.C.) Humphreys was born in Toronto and grew up in the UK. All four grandparents were actors and since his father was an actor as well, it was inevitable he would follow the bloodline. He has acted all over the world and appeared on stages ranging from London’s West End to Hollywood’s Twentieth Century Fox. Favorite roles have included Hamlet, Caleb the Gladiator in NBC’s Biblical-Roman epic mini-series, ‘AD – Anno Domini’, Clive Parnell in ‘Coronation Street’, and Jack Absolute in Sheridan’s ‘The Rivals’.  Chris has written eight historical novels. The first, The French Executioner told the tale of the man who killed Anne Boleyn, was runner up for the CWA Steel Dagger for Thrillers 2002, and has been optioned for the screen.

This is my 2nd book for the American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013

Filed Under: American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013, ARC, borrowed copy, challenges, historical fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews, sourcebooks Tagged With:

American Revolution Read-a-Long Begins

September 5, 2013 by

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight…for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. (GoodReads Summary)

Tomorrow is the first day of the Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson read-a-long at War Through the Generations.  Anna and I will post discussion questions, along with our answers, on Sept. 6, for Chapters 1-10.

We hope that you will join us and either offer your comments or answers to the questions on the War Through the Generations blog or on your own blogs and provide us with a link.

Here’s the rest of the read-a-long discussion schedule, with discussions scheduled for every Friday September:

Sept. 1-6: Chapters 1-10

Sept. 7-13: Chapters 11-24 (end Part 1)

Sept. 14-20: Chapters 25-36

Sept. 21-27: Chapters 37-45 (the end)

We hope that you’ll be joining us tomorrow and for the rest of the month.

Filed Under: American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013, challenges Tagged With: , ,

The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne

August 29, 2013 by

Source: Harper and Public Library
Hardcover, 361 pages
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The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne (which I began reading as a review copy, but opted for a finished borrowed copy to finish because the photos and images were inserted after the ARCs were distributed) is expressive, carefully crafted, and incisive in how it sketches out the true Jane Austen.  In this non-linear biography, Byrne debunks a few of the myths around Austen, particularly about her alleged romantic encounters and her homebody persona.  Through careful analysis of her novels, characters, the correspondence she had with her family and others, and other tidbits from other documents at the time, Byrne demonstrates the careful and perfectionist nature that was Jane Austen, particularly as a novelist.  With that perfectionism also came a penchant for telling her family members exactly what she thought, knowing that they would not take her criticism lightly, especially if they were writing their own stories or poems.  But she also was critical of their life choices and worried about childbirth and the consequences of marriage, especially as a means of stifling a woman’s voice.

“Strikingly, Jane Austen’s heroines are rarely described as beautiful and accomplished.  Even Emma Woodhouse is ‘handsome’ rather than ‘beautiful.’  Physical descriptions of her heroines are rare.  Austen shows instead how they grow into loveliness or possess a particular fine feature, such as sparkling eyes.”  (page 82)

In addition to the importance of family — such as sisterly bonds — Austen seems to have drawn her characters and many of the situations in her novels from real life, things she herself may have experienced on her “expeditions” or to her family members.  Another parallel: the mysterious ways in which her heroines are described — with none being detailed as beautiful or their features particularly outlined to give readers an impression of the whole — and the mystery surrounding her surviving portrait, which may not be her, but a sketch drawn by her sister is most likely her, but she is turned away and her features are unknown.  Byrne also points out there is evidence to suggest that like modern-day Janeites, Austen thought of her characters as real people as well, and often scribbled out afterlives for characters from some of her contemporaries after reading those novels.

“The acknowledgement of the incompleteness of human disclosure [in Emma] strikes at the very heart of Jane Austen’s creative vision.”  (page 255)

Byrne uses her knowledge of the Regency period to better grasp Austen’s daily routines and jaunts, noting that the “turnpike system” was introduced during her lifetime and that while her mother may have suffered from travel sickness, Austen did not.  The author of so many great “domestic” novels traveled a fair share, including to the seaside, which became integral parts of her later novels.  And through her distant relations, her connections to royalty and those engaged in the plantation and slave ownership trade were not as far flung as one would expect for an impoverished woman.  These relationships and sources enabled her to maintain as close to truthfulness in her novels as she could without experiencing things first hand.

The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne is a must have for those who have read Jane Austen’s novels and wish to get a better handle on the author and her influences, and while some of those influences may be small in comparison to the wars abroad during her lifetime, they shaped her writing and her expectations in countless ways.  There are moments in which the biographer takes some liberal turns in determining Austen’s character and motivations, and in some cases they may seem plausible, while in others they do not.  But with an absence of facts, thanks to Cassandra Austen’s burning of her sister’s letters, biographers are left with gaps in time that are hard to fill.  From whether Chatsworth or Stoneleigh Abbey is the model for Pemberley in Pride & Prejudice to how an unnamed lady came to be published first by a military publisher, Byrne handles each aspect of Austen’s life with care and consideration, but she never shies away from the more mischievous side of Austen, either.  For those looking for lost secrets, this is not the book for you, and many of us will have to be contented with what we do know about Austen and forget about what moments are lost to us forever.

About the Author:

Paula was born in Birkenhead in 1967, the third daughter in a large working-class Catholic family. She studied English and Theology at the college that is now Chichester University and then taught English and Drama at Wirral Grammar School for Boys and Wirral Metropolitan College. She then completed her MA and PhD in English Literature at the University of Liverpool. She is now a full-time writer, living with her husband, the Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate, and their three young children (Tom, Ellie and Harry) in an old farmhouse in a South Warwickshire village near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Paula is represented by The Wylie Agency. She is an Executive Trustee of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Warwick.

Paula is the author of the top ten bestseller Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson (HarperCollins UK, Random House USA).  Check out her Website and join her on Twitter.

This is my 54th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: ,

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, narrated by Simon Vance

August 27, 2013 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 9 CDs
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Our August book club selection, His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire book 1) by Naomi Novik, narrated by Simon Vance, meshes the Napoleonic wars with dragons.  The novel opens with the capture of a French frigate run by a crew unwilling to give up its prize, a near hatching dragon egg, to the British HMS Reliant and Capt. Will Laurence.  While the prize is a great find, the hatchling will be very dangerous should it emerge while they are at sea where there are no mates, trainers, or food available. The situation forces the captain to have the men without families draw straws to determine who would become responsible for the dragon and its egg while aboard.

Handlers of dragons are considered second-class citizens, causing severe disappointment among families and generating a great separateness between handlers and their families.  Generally, children as young as seven are taken away from home for training.  While the young John Carver, who is afraid of heights, is selected to be the dragon’s handler, the dragon has other ideas.  When the dragon speaks, the men are astonished as they expected there to be a trick to getting them to speak.  Once named, Temeraire becomes the focus of the Reliant and its crew, and its relationship to Laurence takes an unexpected turn.

Vance’s voices are easily discernible as different characters and he excels at expressing the character’s fears and awe as he speaks their dialogue, but Novik tends to rely a great deal on adverbs to demonstrate fear or anxiousness and in some cases at the beginning the narration seems to contradict itself — either the dragon egg is an unusual find or a well-known item captured in the surgeon’s books about different dragons or there is a three hour trip to London from Madeira or a three hour trip from London to Scotland, but it is unlikely that both would take that long by transport or dragon.  There is a great deal of explanation through the characters about what they know and don’t know about the dragons, which can get tiresome as the descriptions become longer than necessary.

However, the growing relationship between Temeraire and Laurence is endearing.  And the conflicts between handlers about the care for the dragons and Laurence’s expectations about the training build up the tension as Napoleon continues to mount his forces.  While the first half of the book seems to be setting up the world for the dragons and can drag on a bit, the second half picks up speed with the battles and fighting.  The audio, as narrated by Vance, enables readers to become more closely engaged in the relationship between Temeraire and his handler, as they learn how to fly formations in training for battle and as they get to know one another.  There are a number of endearing scenes in which the handler and the dragon curl up together, with the handler reading to the dragon about mathematics, naval history, and more.

His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire book 1) by Naomi Novik satisfactorily meshes history with dragons, but the strength of the novel is in the relationships built between the dragons and their handlers.  These relationships are caring and strengthen with the passage of time, so much so that handlers often plan their futures around them.

 

This is my 53rd book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

 

About the Author:

An avid reader of fantasy literature since age six, when she first made her way through The Lord of the Rings, Naomi Novik is also a history buff with a particular interest in the Napoleonic era and a fondness for the work of Patrick O’Brian and Jane Austen. She studied English literature at Brown University, and did graduate work in computer science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadow of Undrentide. Over the course of a brief winter sojourn spent working on the game in Edmonton, Canada (accompanied by a truly alarming coat that now lives brooding in the depths of her closet), she realized she preferred writing to programming, and on returning to New York, decided to try her hand at novels.  Naomi lives in New York City with her husband and six computers.

What the book club thought:

It seemed as though most of the members enjoyed the book, and one member said that the historical facts about the Napoleonic wars were accurate for the most part.  Some expressed an inability or slight difficulty in determining the size of the dragons or transports used to move the dragons.  One member, who led the group, pointed out that the illustrator in the back of the book got some of the details wrong in the section that explains the differences between the dragons and their features.  One member said that she was not really excited to read the book because she doesn’t usually read fantasy books, but the author made it seem plausible that dragons would fit into our world.  She also indicated that she wanted one of her own dragons to curl up with and read to, and she would like to read the other eight books in the series.  Another member said that if Napoleon really did have dragons the world might have been more in trouble than it was at the time.  One male member had not finished the book, but said that he would continue reading.  Overall, is seems like the club enjoyed this foray into fantasy novels.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins

August 15, 2013 by

Source: Borrowed from Anna at Diary of an Eccentric
Paperback, 373 pages
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The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins is a dual narrative novel with heroines in present day Queens, N.Y., and County of Mayo, Ireland, during the potato famine when a blight hit all of the crops and the fever was rampant.  Normally, readers either connect with the present day or the historical narrative in books like this, but the eventual entanglement of these narratives reinforces the strength, weaknesses, fears, and courage mothers must face when they are responsible for children.  Majella is a new mother who had certain expectations about motherhood, which are blown to bits in her first emotional months after Emma is born, while Ginny is an Irish potato farmer whose husband ventures to America in the hope that he will send money home to keep his family from being evicted after the blight destroys their crops.

“They didn’t notice that pungent bitterness in the dark, beyond their walls, and turf fires, beyond the milky breath of their sleeping children.  They slept, while that mortal fog stole into their bright, green country, and grew like a merciless stain across the darkened land.  It killed every verdant thing it touched.” (page 2)

Majella considers herself a strong, independent woman with a mother that is less than connected to her own emotions, let along those of her daughter, but when she gives birth to her first child, fears rise up in Majella awful fast.  She’s scrambling for something to hold onto other than her fears and her daughter because holding her too tightly could cause even more harm.  Leo, her husband is supportive but must work and even then, his nerves are fraying with all of his wife’s tears and outbursts.  Her brash and unfiltered commentary on motherhood and her fears is fresh and tangible, and will speak to the hearts of every new mother who has floundered and wondered about how to be a mother.

“I passed out.  The contractions were ferocious because the doctor had turned off my epidural so I could feel them.  As if I was in danger of not feeling the eight-pound child who was attempting to exit my body.  He was a male doctor, and he thought the pain would help me push, which is like the philosophy that waterboarding helps people confess to hiding weapons of mass destruction.” (page 7)

Ginny is another strong woman and she’s forced by their poor circumstances as tenant farmers to take her family’s fate in her own hands after her husband’s letters do not come for months.  As she comes to the estate of Mrs. Alice Springs, she begs for the lives of herself, her children, and her unborn son, seeking employment and safety as the world around them crumbles to Irish dust.  Even though life as a chambermaid is not hellish at the estate, what is is the separation from her children with the knowledge that the crops have gone bad and that they could be starving.  She musters the courage and crafts a plan to save them and herself, at least for a while.

Cummins’ passionate prose brings these women’s struggles to life, making them relate-able in ways that readers will never foresee.  Motherhood is both joyous and full of struggle, and it is life-altering in so many ways, much more so in modern society where women work outside the home and have innumerable choices.  What the author is able to build is an underlying tension between the narratives that pulls the reader forward, hooking them to the very last page when their connections are revealed in full.  What Majella learns about herself and her family will propel her beyond the hormonal mess she has become, and what Ginny has learned as a chambermaid working outside the home, forces her to assume the mantle of decisionmaker at a time when few women did.  The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins is stunning and a powerful read that will open up readers eyes to the emotional and psychological mess that new mothers face, often alone if their husbands and own families are unavailable emotionally.

About the Author:

Jeanine Cummins is the author of the bestselling memoir A Rip in Heaven, which People magazine called: “…a straightforward, expertly paced narrative that reads like a novel.” She lives in New York City.

 

 

This is my 3rd book for the Ireland Reading Challenge 2013.

 

 

 

This is my 52nd book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, historical fiction, Ireland Challenge, New Authors Challenge, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: ,

City of Hope by Kate Kerrigan

August 13, 2013 by

Source: William Morrow, Harper
Paperback, 400 pages
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City of Hope by Kate Kerrigan is the second novel in the life of Ellie Hogan (if you haven’t read Ellis Island, this review could contain spoilers), a young Irish woman who has traveled to New York City to help save her first love’s mobility and returned home to find her family torn by tragedy.  Beginning in the 1930s, Ellie has settled back into her Irish life without electricity and indoor plumbing, embarking on unconventional business ventures for a woman.  While her family may stand back and allow her to continue with her ambitions, the resentment and angst these businesses bring into their lives simmers beneath the surface.  Ellie is far from the conventional house wife and mother of Ireland, and she knows that she’s the star of her own small town’s gossip, but as long as her life is calm at home, that is all that matters to her.

“However, this morning his blue eyes shone wild with delight.  He looked the same as he had done when I had first fallen in love with him at sixteen.  Fresh and full of the heart of life, like the outdoors — a man made of earth and air.” (page 11 ARC)

While she’s bustling about with her businesses and her life outside the home, the trials of miscarriages and failed births weigh heavily on her and her husband.  Despite the passions she may feel for her husband, they are tainted by his failure to take joy in what she seeks to accomplish and her inability to mourn the losses of her children with her husband at her side.  The wall between them causes fissures in their marriage as they bitingly argue about the little things and the signs of things to come are ignored.  Her three years in New York changed her from the small town girl who wanted merely a husband and family into a woman who wanted the finer things and a better life.

With the lost children spurring her to make the dreams she had in New York a reality in Ireland, Ellie is able to better the lives of the town’s own daughters and wives, prompting these women to rethink their own roles.  Kerrigan takes the time to build up the changes seen in Ellie’s town of Kilmoy, and how those changes are tied to Ellie’s experiences in New York and her own personal devastation at home.  Tragedy strikes her home again, altering Ellie’s course once again and pushing her to run away to America.  In her grief, she reaches out and lifts those around her up, showing them the way to improve themselves, work for their own betterment, and to help others around them.  In many ways, this second book is about redemption and recovery.

City of Hope by Kate Kerrigan is a solid second book in a series, but without having read the first book, readers may find it hard to relate to Ellie’s past and her current situation, particularly her burning desire to run away from Ireland.  However, there are enough hints about the past to guide readers who have picked up the second book.  Ellie is a strong woman who can inspire others to rise above their own poverty and misfortune, but who continues to struggle internally with who she is and wants to be.  Kerrigan’s poise and pacing help readers come to know Ellie as a troubled friend who is still finding her way, even as tragedy strikes and good opportunities present themselves.  There is hope that her journey is nearing a conclusion, and readers will hope that comes with the third book.

About the Author:

Kate Kerrigan is an author living and working in Ireland. Her novels are Recipes for a Perfect Marriage which was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year in 2008 and been translated into 20 languages, The Miracle of Grace, which has been adapted as a film script with funding from the Irish Film Board and Ellis Island, the first of a trilogy which was selected as a TV Book Club Summer Read in Britain and launched in the U.S. with Harper Collins in July 2011. Its sequel City of Hope is published by Pan Macmillan in Britain and scheduled for publication in America by Harper Collins in 2013

This is my 2nd book for the Ireland Reading Challenge 2013.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, Harper Collins, historical fiction, Ireland Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan

August 8, 2013 by

Source: Harper
Paperback, 351 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan is a historical fiction novel set in the 1920s when Ireland is fighting for Home Rule, and Ellie Hogan makes a bold choice to accept a job in New York City to raise the money her husband needs for an operation.  Ellie is not like the other members of her school group; she dreams of fine things and a life outside her little village of Kilmoy.  Her childhood friend, John, and his family become like a surrogate family for her, showing her the kindness she lacks from her own parents who are so insulated that they forget to hug their daughter and encourage her.  Her friendship soon blossoms into love, a childhood love that becomes a motivation for her to impress, to move beyond the bounds of her family.

“I hated insects, but I wanted to feed the blue tit, and I wanted to impress him.  So I kicked back the rock, picked up a wood louse between my thumb and forefinger and carefully placed it into the bird’s open, hungry beak.  As it swallowed it back, I touched the top of its little head with my finger and felt how small and soft and precious it was.  I looked at John and my heart flooded through.  It was the first time I remember sharing love with somebody.”  (page 8)

Young love can be passionate and sometimes it can be ever-lasting.  Because Ellie has finally shared love with someone, she’s able to lock it away inside herself, stoking its growth even when hundreds of miles separate them.  She makes that hard but necessary choice to leave her Irish home to earn the money John needs after he’s injured while part of the Irish Republican Army.  It is this love she turns to when she worries about what lies ahead in a strange country, and it is what she holds onto when she makes frightening decisions that lead her out of servitude into the life of a career woman.  What had been a year commitment soon turns into something much more, but Ellie is ill-prepared for the challenges and temptations before her.

Kerrigan has done her homework, and it shines in the small town feel of Ellie’s Irish home where everyone knows everyone and their business, and where judgments of families’ past actions still haunt the newest generations.  The harsh realities of fighting for independence from British rule are present as John fights for what he believes.  Her trip to NYC and her experiences with Ellis Island and the immigration process feel real, and readers will be just as awestruck by the city as Ellie is.  More than anything, Kerrigan’s novel is about the search for something just over the horizon, obtaining it, and bringing it back to the family and friends who need it most.

“Ireland was in my heart, but under my feet was America.” (page 128)

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan is an immigrant story that requires the deepest of sacrifices and commitments but the growth Ellie experiences make her a better woman, capable of selfless generosity even when she has so little.  She’s grown into a woman her father and mother can be proud of, even though she didn’t go about the way that they would have preferred.

About the Author:

Kate Kerrigan is an author living and working in Ireland. Her novels are Recipes for a Perfect Marriage which was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year in 2008 and been translated into 20 languages, The Miracle of Grace, which has been adapted as a film script with funding from the Irish Film Board and Ellis Island, the first of a trilogy which was selected as a TV Book Club Summer Read in Britain and launched in the U.S. with Harper Collins in July 2011. Its sequel City of Hope is published by Pan Macmillan in Britain and scheduled for publication in America by Harper Collins in 2013.

 

This is my 1st book for the Ireland Reading Challenge 2013.

 

 

 

This is my 51st book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, Harper Collins, historical fiction, Ireland Challenge, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

American Revolution Read-a-Long in September

August 7, 2013 by

Beginning in September, War Through the Generations will invite readers (participants and non-participants, alike) to join us in a read-a-long of Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Here’s a little more about the book:

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight…for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. (GoodReads Summary)

Our discussions will be held on each FRIDAY in September.

If you’d like to join us, sign up here.

Filed Under: American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013, announcements, challenges Tagged With: , , ,

Gracianna by Trini Amador

August 2, 2013 by

Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Hardcover, 277 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Gracianna by Trini Amador is based on true events of the author’s great-grandmother’s life.  Gracianna is headstrong and determined to achieve her dream of going to America no matter who she leaves behind.  High in the Pyrenees Mountains among her Basque people along northeastern Spain and southwestern France, women tend to be strong, persevering against all odds, while traditionally, men run in fear or have wanderlust.  Amador chooses a third-person, seemingly omniscient narrative in which readers will see and hear the actions and reactions of Gracianna, Constance, and Juan.  Unfortunately, this method lends itself to more telling than showing, leaving the reader at a distance from the characters.

“Once she decided to engage with anyone on a given subject, they would become transfixed by her confidence, and the grasp and depth of her knowledge.  Her sureness came from her strong core.” (page 7)

While the 1940s through WWII is a tumultuous period full of tension and anguish, readers are likely to be pulled in and out of the story as the points of view shift even within chapters between main and minor characters.  From the French Resistance to the concentration camps in Auschwitz, Amador describes the conditions with aplomb, though there are moments where prisoners are asked by newcomers where they have landed in a way that makes it seem like they’ve arrived at a hotel or paradise resort — thus shifting the tone and diminishing the frightening atmosphere readers may expect.

Through the novel, Amador relies on sometimes obvious, and at other times unnecessary headline-like title breaks in the middle of chapters that often foreshadow the action to come.  Readers could find these distracting.  Gracianna is a character that readers want to love and cheer on throughout the novel, but the unusual structure makes that difficult.

In many ways, the author’s style is too focused on Gracianna’s cultural compass and how it guides her actions and decisions, and does little to shed light on her emotional losses and connections with others.  The relationship she has with her sister is tough to get a handle on given the time lapse between when she last sees her in Basque and when Constance shows up in Paris, and her relationship with her husband seems one-sided, as though she is pressured into marriage by the war.  Gracianna by Trini Amador pays homage to the author’s heritage and great-grandmother, weaving a story of fact and fiction that leaves readers looking for more dynamic characters they can connect with.

About the Author:

Trini Amador vividly remembers the day he found a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering through his great-grandmother’s home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun. This experience sparked a journey towards Gracianna, Amador’s debut novel, inspired by true events and weaving reality with imagination. It’s a tale drawing from real-life family experiences.  Visit him on Facebook and Twitter.

Gracianna Tour Banner FINAL

This is my 50th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2013, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,