Author Archives: Paige

Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, By Lisa Wingate and Judy Christie

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This what I like to call a good “coffee table” book. It’s one of those books to have sitting on your coffee table that you can pick up and use as a conversation starter. 

This is the nonfiction follow up to the novel Before We Were Yours. The book starts with Lisa Wingate seeking to reunite the surviving adoptees with other surviving victims of Georgia Tann’s Tennessee Children’s Home Society who have suffered silently. After travelling to Memphis, Lisa and journalist Judy Christie gather with the adoptees and their families who tell their adoption story. This book is the recollection, memories, and artifacts of children who were adopted through Tennessee Children’s Home Society that was run by the nefarious Georgia Tann. The stories told are the stories of hope when life has been stolen. While some of the adoption stories deeply benefited the child, the cards dealt to other children were not always in their favor. Sometimes sweet and sometimes appalling, each separate account gives the adoptees a voice that will not be forgotten.

“To this day I search Ancestry.com and use my DNA to discover if there is some familial connection somewhere. If I could just learn the truth of my mother’s story, I might find some peace.” -Email from an adoptee’s child

The chapters are organized by adoptee, and each chapter tells the story of a child who was adopted through the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. It revolves around their adoption, what happened to them in their adopted home, and the reunion with their birth family much later in life (if one occurred). The book is full of supportive photocopies and photographs.

This does not entail memories of Georgia Tann or the heinous acts that occurred at her orphanage. There is only one adoptee in this book who can account for remembering Georgia Tann, but it does not focus on Tann or the orphanage environment; rather it centers around the adoption, her new family, and the reunion with the biological family.

I recommend this to readers interested in true crime and adoption, and for readers that enjoyed “Before We Were Yours”. If you have not read “Before We Were Yours”, I recommend knowing a bit about Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society beforehand.
Many thanks to Random House- Ballantine, Lisa Wingate, Judy Christie, and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

For more information on the subject:
About Georgia Tann
Baby Snatcher

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Cilka’s Journey, by Heather Morris

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The Tattooist of Auschwitz #2!!!

Having survived being the enslaved mistress of a powerful Nazi leader at Auschwitz, the story begins with Cilka charged as a collaborator, loaded on a train with other women, and taken to the now-notorious Vorkuta Gulag in 1945. After arriving at the work camp, her and the other women in her “hut” battle for trust, hope, and forgiveness. She finds herself, yet again, in a position where survival trumps ethics. Cilka grasps for a greater purpose after leaving behind her dark past and quickly finds herself in a position to work within the confines of the Gulag hospital. She struggles to justify some of the hospital policies but also questions her own intentions. Having discerned hope as only a barren illusion, Cilka takes the reader on a haunting and remarkable journey.

“Again, as she has experienced over and over in her young life, she finds herself with two choices, one, the narrow path opening up in front of her, the other, death.” 

Cilka’s account specifically centers around the treatment of women in a Soviet Gulag. The brutality, rape, and undernourishment are intense but are an essential part of the gulag experience for the women who were imprisoned there. Vorkuta Gulag resonated in maltreatment and violence, and the details are richly accounted for in this novel.

Although this is the second novel for The Tattooist of Auschwitz, it easily works as a standalone. The author provides the background about what happened to Cilka very early on. Throughout the novel, flashbacks spanning from 1939-1945 give additional information about Cilka that was not included in the first novel, and each flashback is beautifully coated in irony. The location and date are noted above the flashbacks and each flashback is indicated by a page break and written in italics. 

A must read because not enough is written about the Gulags! I could not put this one down. The notes from Heather Morris at the end are a must. But do not read them before because they contain spoilers. 
HIGHLY recommend to fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and historical fiction. This one is much darker than The Tattooist, but equally critical and a story that needs to be heard.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Heather Morris, and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

For more about the Gulags:
Disturbing Gulag Photos
Gulag History

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All That’s Bright and Gone, by Eliza Nellums

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“My gramma’s dead,” I explain. “I don’t have a daddy.” That’s what my Mama always says. She says I’m like a Cabbage Patch doll, that she found me growing in a garden and took me home. 

Six-year-old Aoife attempts to navigate life amidst a winding family dilemma. With her mother recently institutionalized and her brother Theo dead, Aoife seeks to unearth the truth of her brother’s death with the help of her imaginary friend.

The emphasis of this book is on family and mental illness. Does a mental illness mean you are not capable of love? Can a damaged family heal? Is lying okay if it protects those closest to you?

Told from Aoife’s point of view, the tone throughout the story was childlike, yet astute. Her playful imagination revealed her childlike innocence even amid crisis. “Sometimes when grown-ups ask if you can do something, they are really just telling you to do it.” As a result of a six-year-old point of view, it was a quick, easy, and enjoyable read. On the other hand, for such a young age that provided the POV, it limited the use of language and literary devices in the story. Still, a delightful story.

A wonderful debut novel. Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books, Eliza Nellums, and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate, by Mike Giglio

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This seamless account vividly portrays the apocalyptic environment experienced in Iraq and Syria under the regime of ISIS. With this firsthand report, the reader is taken on an unforgettable journey witnessing the conflict in Raqqa, the Battle for Mosul, and the Syrian refugee crisis. From the underground traders to the extortion to the genocide to the battles, this is an important history for Westerners to comprehend.

I specifically wanted to note the presentation of people that the author encounters in this book. This includes but is not limited to smugglers, ISIS leaders and members, Iraq Counter-Terrorism Force soldiers, ISOF, Kurdish soldiers, looters, Assad supporters, bomb makers, passport counterfeit artists, etc.… Because of his relationships with each person, as a reader you get to know each one. They became “real” rather than obscure names who are easy to forget. It was distressing when one would die because you would become attached to them, you felt like you knew them.

Throughout the entire book, I felt like a fly on the wall watching everything play out. Overall, it was an electrifying and stimulating account. Written as a narrative, he made it easy for the average laymen to comprehend. The chapters are ordered sequentially by month and year which made his narrative easy to follow. Again, this is great nonfiction read for the average reader.

Highly recommend. I learned a lot and will be looking for more from this author. Nonfiction solid 5 stars. Now it only leaves us with the question, will this happen again?
Many thanks to Public Affairs, Mike Giglio, and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

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The Rabbit Girls, by Anna Ellory

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This centers around Miriam who is the present day character, more so than focusing on the past and Henryk. Miriam is not only given more chapters than Henryk, but her chapters are also notably longer. The dictation of Miriam’s chapters typically either focus on her repetitive inquiry into the letters she found that are related to her father (Henryk) -or- her personal life and the problems that she has with her abusive husband. Henryk’s chapter’s typically focus on his own marital problems rather than the historical context that he experienced.

This being said, only about 15% of the story was of historical relevance. There was nothing historically integrated that was new information. The “rabbit girls”, or the guinea pigs who were experimented on, have been given voices through other novels. The details about them were not elaborate either.
The beginning was very slow to start. The story only starts to pick up around 40% of the book, but still Miriam’s chapters continued to hold back the story. 

The story starts out with Miriam’s father, Henryk, calling out an unknown name “Frieda” on his deathbed. So, Miriam makes it her goal to find this person before her father dies. (An overdone opening scene in my opinion.)
Nevertheless, I only kept reading to see the mystery unfold about Frieda, which is why I gave it 2.5 stars instead of 2 stars. Unfortunately, Frieda’s story was overshadowed by Miriam’s narratives.

I do not recommend this book to young readers since it includes topics such as rape, abuse, and self-harm.

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It Would Be Night in Caracas, by Karina Sainz Borgo

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Grieving over the recent loss of her mother, Adelaida struggles to persevere amid revolution in Venezuela. While alone and desperate, she is forced to make a harrowing decision in order to ensure her own safety. 

In my opinion, this story can best be described as monotonous. The blurb misled me to believe it would be a penetrating page turner, but the story itself was underdeveloped. It said there would be twists and turns, but I couldn’t find them. Yes, there was looting and raids. Yes, it was during the revolution…but what about the story? The only thing intriguing in the novel was the setting itself and what it entailed: Venezuela during hyperinflation with the revolutionaries controlling imperative economical aspects. The main character relies on this setting for intrigue. But everything she did was droning and predictable; it was the impact around her that provoked any sense of substance. However, even that began to become repetitious and anticipated. The same thing seemed to happen again and again.

This was a missed opportunity for a great story to grow and flourish. The background was all there, but the story wasn’t. 

I also wanted to note the organization of this book. The flashbacks of the main character occur sporadically without pattern. It was very difficult to get used to at the beginning because there was no page break, tense change, notation of time, or anything to indicate that a flashback was occurring. At moments it made it difficult to read the story fluently. Then, the story starts to use page breaks 30% in, and I was relieved but only momentarily because it quickly stopped and reverted to sporadic flashback disruptions. Some of the flashbacks told memories that were not relevant. The flashbacks were my least favorite part of the book. 

Thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Karina Sainz Borgo for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

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This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger

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The synopsis provided for this novel is precise, so I will only be reviewing my likes and dislikes.

There was a fair amount of historical context incorporated through the eyes of a 12-year old living in 1932 Minnesota as a runaway orphan. The characters that he and the other three orphans meet along their voyage are layered with the voice of those who lived during that time. The atmosphere of The Great Depression not only interrupted the innocence of many children, as we see in the runaways in this story, but also isolated the essence of faith and trust in a wide populace. 

“…if you have family, you can lose everything and still count yourself a rich man.” 

Saturated in descriptive imagery, the words and phrases painted are to be savored. So, it is not a book that you can read quickly because it is designed to ignite nostalgia, meaning, and sentiment. The descriptions are marinated in an assortment of flavors that sometimes cause it to be longer than most novels. Full of literary gold, this would be a treasure chest of excerpts for English teachers.

In saying that, it was sometimes slow moving for me. The ending was fast paced, as with most stories, but the first half was comparable to a roller coaster: moving up with action and adventure yet sometimes tediously moving at a horizontal shuffle for a few pages with so many descriptions until the next climactic event. At different moments it took me longer to get through the first half because of these dips. Nevertheless, still a poignant piece of literature.

I recommend this novel for lovers of Huckleberry Finn and other stories of adventure and odyssey.
Many thanks to Atria Books, William Kent Krueger, and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. 

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In the Warsaw Ghetto, by Glenn Haybittle

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This is one of the most dramatic historical fiction novels I have read this summer. It is a quick read because of the intensity and it does not hold back! 

Through Ala and Max, the reader is thrown on a wild ride in the ghetto of Warsaw. The authenticity of the characters in this novel is unparalleled, and their thoughts throughout the entire novel are real and meaningful, yet heart-breaking. The graphic and gory scenes experienced and seen by Ala and Max punctuates the scale of the nightmare endured by those living within the ghetto’s walls.

Through the perspectives of Ala, still a teen, and Max, in his late thirties, the reader is quickly immersed into the relocation of Jews moving into the ghetto. As part of the high-class society, family members of Ala and Max swiftly cling to their prominence by joining the Judenrat where the reader sees corrupt behavior, nefarious lawlessness, and deceit among Jews. Ala and Max struggle to adapt and survive the inhumane conditions of the largest Jewish ghetto of WWII while seeking to maintain their sense of humanity. “The awful thing is I feel shame and compassion every day but it doesn’t fundamentally change my behavior.” Both Ala and Max continue to examine that the plight of survival has exposed the most unsavory things about themselves. Meanwhile, the Jewish political parties pull for Ala and Max to join their cause eventually leading to the bloodbath of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. 

There are notable sexual situations and thoughts embedded in this novel. But, why not? The sexual instances were outwardly used to reveal that not only were these characters very much human with human feelings, but that principles and integrity were still accounted for even when the world around them was crumbling. It lent credibility to the circumstances; teenagers were probably still thinking about it, and people were still having it. Examples of these scenes: “Firstly, he couldn’t believe the size of the man’s organ…Secondly, he had never heard of a woman putting a penis in her mouth.” “Ala pictures herself dancing naked for him.” “Most of Ala’s secrets are related to sex.” 

Many thanks to Cheyne Walk, Glenn Haybittle, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my review. 
The emotional depth involved that the author captured is astounding. I’ll be looking for more from this author.  4.5 stars

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Where the Desert Meets the Sea, by Werner Sonne

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The book is told chronologically and the dates are vastly important in order to comprehend the extend of what happened in so little time to each of the characters. The characters are concentrated around a young Arab woman, Hanna, and a young Jewish woman, Judith, with every character in the story being connected to either Hanna or Judith. However, it is told from many of the characters POV (not just from Hanna and Judith). I especially enjoyed the different character viewpoints and found the author did a great job describing the Middle Eastern conflict of Jerusalem through many different sets of eyes.

The author shows a variation of answers to the question–Who does Jerusalem belong to?–through these different points of view. It doesn’t singularly revolve around just one or two characters. That is probably the most spectacular thing about this story, is to experience the Middle Eastern conflict from different angles.

This book is filled with a lot of history, but also language and culture. The author incorporates Hebrew, Arabic, and Yiddish words/phrases. Because of this, I recommend reading it on a Kindle so that you can translate quickly.

This is action-packed. So much so, that sometimes certain details were left out that help move the story along. Things such as sensory imagery and directional surroundings. Because there was so much action, things like this were left out quite frequently. It sometimes caused the flow of the story to be broken. There was so much information provided that literary devices were left out. This also caused the first part of the book to be difficult to get through. 

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Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS, by Azadeh Moaveni

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“…ISIS was like a third partner in her marriage…” 

This work is as described: the stories of thirteen women from various countries and backgrounds who become women of ISIS. Their heart-wrenching accounts attest the weight on Muslim feminism and gender conflicts. Each with their own story, this book explains the series of events that attracted them to ISIS. The powerful voices of these women not only expose their decisions that led them to ISIS but also reveal the undeniable reality that their choice to join was not always just black and white, A or B. The chronicles of these women do unveil the political and religious propaganda embroiled, but it also exploits the increasing involvement and pressure of social media that affected many who joined. 

Chapters alternate between these women, and each story is told in a linear format. At times the author interjects in the middle of a story to afford historical context for their situations, and I found this helpful but at times disrupting to the women’s story that was being presented. 
There are additional 1-2 page segments that are implanted outside of these chapters (located between the chapters of the women’s stories, since it is not directly linked to the women) to provide context to the timeline in regards to important events that are transpiring outside of these women’s lives; for example, in 2015 when a Jordan pilot is captured and ISIS releases the video of him burning alive. 

It seemed to follow an expository format at times, so I felt misguided at various intervals considering this as nonfiction material. Throughout the better last half of this book, the facts and information are often used to promote an opinion or idea. It still would have been instructive and emotionally captivating without these speculative assessments. Also, the last part of the book (Part V), felt rushed and left me without closure on the collapse of the caliphate, making the conclusion of the women’s stories left unsettled. Since it follows the story of thirteen individuals, it was at times hard to keep the characters straight when picking up the book after putting it down. At 50% of the book, there was still a new woman being introduced. Sometimes it felt like pieces of the puzzle were missing, especially to various regions and the politics evolving.

Significant events involved, but not limited to: Arab Spring (2011 Arab Uprising), The Syrian Three, 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the al-Qaeda narrative, Raqqa under Assad, Sarah Khan’s campaign, 2012 Ghouta gas attack, the Nusra Front, 1982 Hama rebellion, 2011 Syrian Civil War

Many thanks to Random House, NetGalley, and Azadeh Moaveni for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

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