Tag Archives: historical fiction

Truths I Never Told You, by Kelly Rimmer

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“What do you do if you find yourself as a new mom and you realize you’re just not capable?”

Told in two timelines, Grace struggles with postpartum depression in 1957 while Beth, in 1996, reluctantly helps her father move into a nursing home since he is suffering from dementia. Beth then helps her siblings clean out her fathers house where she finds letters from her mother, Grace, revealing untold family truths.

Synopsis below provided by the publisher.

“I want a career and I want to see other women have the option to make choices, too, instead of operating as a breeding machines for entitled men.”

The plot was very slow to build. The first half felt repetitive and the characters were hard to connect with. It was surprising to feel such a disconnect from the characters since the subjects at hand were so solemn and emotional. The second half presented some unexpected twists after a different narrator surprisingly enters… which helped move the plot along. The ending was okay.

Gender roles and the feminist movement in the 1950’s is explored and sufficiently represented. The issues brought up in the book regarding this are engaging topics.
Overall, the topics presented were interesting but the characters were flat and the plot was tedious.

Kelly Rimmer is a best selling author. Visit her website.

Read Publishers Weekly review for Truths I Never Told You.

The Things We Cannot Say was a New York Times best seller. Watch K. Rimmer discuss The Things We Cannot Say below in a Q&A.

Follow Kelly Rimmer on Twitter or Facebook.

Thank you to NeGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.

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The Paris Hours, by Alex George

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This is first and foremost a work of literary fiction. I inhaled the pages because of the enhanced prose; every word and sentence was bewitching.
The author took one day in the life of four characters and turned it into a beautiful story. Set in post-WWI Paris, four ordinary people begin an ordinary day until their paths cross.

Below is the book summary provided by the publisher:

Mostly, the first few chapters start out with the characters everyday routines. Some ordinary stuff. But the polished language made these everyday things seem fascinating. As the story progresses, their past is revealed in flashbacks. Secrets, regret, loss, and betrayal loom in the shadows as each character continues throughout their day.

Chapters are short and the pacing is good. The cast of characters is colorful and engaging. It took me a few chapters in the beginning to remember which character was which. Chapters are narrated by each of the four different characters.

If you do not like prolific writing or if you want mega fast-paced, then this probably isn’t for you.

The Paris Hours is a May 2020 Indie Next List Pick. Visit Alex George’s website to learn more.

Read Publisher Weekly’s review of The Paris Hours.

Visit the publishers page for more information about The Paris Hours.

Read Bookweb’s Q &A with Alex George about his previous book, A Good American.

Follow Alex George on Twitter or Facebook.

Thank you to Flatiron books for sending me an advance print copy. Opinions are my own.

|Purchase on Amazon| Goodreads Review|

The Book of Lost Friends, by Lisa Wingate

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“Where will they hear the story if not from you- the story of being stolen away from family?”

Told in dual timelines, Hannie is an 18 year old slave living during the Reconstruction Era in Louisiana in 1875. Having been taken from her family before slavery ended, Hannie joins the plantation owner’s daughters on an odyssey of sorts to find the two girls father while Hannie herself quests to find her own mother and siblings. Benny is a first year teacher in 1987 who wants to make a difference in the lives of her Louisiana students. Benny is working on a school project about local family lineage when her timeline crosses Hannie’s.

“You been in slavery days, you know there’s things a heap less peaceable than being dead.”

It was very slow moving and I really struggled with the pacing. The beginning really dragged, but around chapter 9 something happens and it picks up….momentarily. After that moment of excitement, I found myself twiddling my thumbs for quite a few chapters waiting for the story to progress. It had a few more moments of ups, but most of the time I felt disinterested because it was so wordy. I thought Hannie’s story was powerful, and I wanted more from her. I didn’t look forward to Benny’s chapters as much as Hannie’s.

Graphic violence and gory details are completely left out. There is a scene that hints that something derogatory happened, but it must be inferred by the reader.

I would describe this as a lighter historical fiction about family, courage, loss, and friendship.

Lisa Wingate is a bestselling author. Visit her website.

Read the Shreveport Times article spotlighting The Book of Lost Friends.

Watch the book trailer for The Book of Lost Friends.

I really enjoyed Lisa Wingate’s bestselling novel, Before We Were Yours.

Follow Lisa Wingate on Twitter or Instagram.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.

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The German Heiress, by Anika Scott

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“She would have to be careful. But surely no one would recognize her now?”

Clara hides in post-WWII Germany under a different name until someone recognizes her and unveils her true identity. Is that all she is? Her whole life comes down to the years during the war when she made poor choices. The focus of this novel illuminates morality through the eyes of a female war criminal.

Clara’s circumstances put the reader in tight spot, and it is hard to trust her sometimes. As soon as I leaned one way, the next chapter would sway my feelings towards the opposite direction. I wanted hope, but I wanted justice.

Other characters thrown into the mix went well with the progress and principles of the story. One character particularly, who I don’t want to say because it would spoil it, had a really sad story regarding the influence that the war had on him even after it is over. Secrets, betrayal, and deception are buried deep within Clara’s family. Expect a twist or two!

Chapters are told in third person. While there are small flashbacks here and there, the bulk of the novel takes place after the war in 1946. There is one brief animal abuse scene near the beginning of the story.

The German Heiress is Anika Scott’s debut novel. Visit her website to learn more.

Read Publisher Weekly’s review for The German Heiress.

The German Heiress is also titled Finding Clara in the UK. Click here to learn more about the two titles.

Library Love Fest welcomes Anika Scott.

Seven things author Anika Scott wants her readers to know about her.

Follow Anika Scott on Facebook or Twitter.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.

|Purchase on Amazon| Goodreads Review|

Code Name Hélène, by Ariel Lawhon

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“The weapons of warfare are different for women. Rarely do we have the luxury of bullets and bombs. Our tools are benign. Silk stockings and red lipstick. Laughter. Cunning. The ability to curse in foreign languages and make eye contact without trembling.”

Synopsis above provided by the publisher.

Fictionally, Nancy is presented as a chic tough heroine who never fights without a fresh application of lipstick. The character of Nancy Wake holistically is interesting and I enjoyed her unapologetic nature.

A lot of the past, 1936, is about how Nancy met her husband, Henri. The development of their relationship takes the limelight for the first half of the book.

Nancy’s different identities, totaling four, are not exactly told chronologically. The book is told in dual timelines, but two of her identities are not described until much later in the second half of the book. But, what happens is kind of all over the place. The story of Nancy as the WWII heroine was scattered and rambling. The telling of what she did under each identity isn’t balanced, and the reader sees more from her as the fighter Madame Andrèe.

Every little thing seems to be dictated in the narrative, making it much much longer than it needs to be. As an example, a detailed description of hair color and hair texture is specified for nearly everyone that Nancy Wake meets or sees whether a significant character or just a character passing by.
There was excessive dialogue that didn’t progress the plot about day to day things unrelated to the major storyline. The book is 464 pages, but probably could have been 100-200 pages shorter if these extraneous details were cut. Because of this, I was often bored and the prose didn’t flow for me.

Read Publisher Weekly’s Review for Code Name Hèlène.

https://youtu.be/bbgWKSre4U0

Read Nashville Scene’s article about Code Name Hèlène.

This is Ariel Lawhon’s fourth book. Visit her website to learn more.

Follow Ariel Lawhon on Twitter or Instagram.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.

|Purchase on Amazon |Goodreads Review |

These Ghosts are Family, by Maisy Card

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The connection of ancestors and how the dead still effect the living is explored in the tangled web of Irene Paisley and Stanford Solomon’s family. Generations of family members are navigating their life decades and centuries later based on their past ancestors. A domino effect is seen when their Jamaican family members continue to comb through secrets, history, and lineage.

Each chapter goes through a story about a different family member. The multi-generational saga is weaves through different time periods and different family connections.
Jamaican history, plantation life for slaves, and the exploitation of women in 19th century Jamaica is explored throughout the novel as the characters try to atone with the ghosts of their past.

The first chapter starts off a bit confusing. It front-loads all of the characters and many events making it hard to separate who from who and what from what. But after that short introduction, everything fell into place. The Jamaican dialogue was hard to understand sometimes, but I could figure out what was happening overall.

I enjoyed this debut novel and recommend it historical fiction readers.

Visit author Maisy Card’s website.

Refinery29 article recommends These Ghosts are Family.

Bustle recognizes These Ghosts are Family as an immigrant experience novel.

Follow Maisy Card on Twitter.

I received an advance readers copy through Netgalley and Edelweiss. Opinions are my own.

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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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The Light From The Dark Side Of The Moon, By Norman G. Gautreau

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The description for this book is slightly misleading. The majority of this novel centers around romance rather than actions, experiences, and history. The story is told through flashbacks Henry has as a 92 year old man; so it alternates between his present time at 2014 and his past time with Elodie during WWII.

From the moment Henry crash lands behind Utah beach, he is rescued by Elodie, a member of the French resistance who is posing as a German nurse. While healing, he journeys with her and her resistance group across France. Most of their journey materializes while taking a group of refuge children across the Pyrenees. At times, a historical incident might occur but it is typically overshadowed by their budding romance. The story was very slow moving at times. 

The character of Elodie seemed romanticized and fanciful. She had no flaws and was capable of anything without effort. From musician, to a sharpshooter, to a nurse, hero, linguist, tour guide, and the list goes on…her character was unbelievably unblemished. As a result, this caused her flawless character to seem unauthentic.

The most entertaining element of the novel was the character of 92 year old Henry. As a vehemently sarcastic, energized, and strong-willed 92 year old, his character was entertaining and whimsical. However, he was too often pining for his lost war love, Elodie. Everything reminded him of her- perfumes, songs, tastes, beaches, dogs, foods, semantics; and, the writing would sometimes fill a whole page at times explaining how he missed her so. At times, it felt extraneous. Again, too much romance for me.
I did like the ending.
3.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, Blank Slate Press, and Norman G. Gautreau for providing me with a copy of this novel.

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The World That We Knew, by Alice Hoffman

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I have to admit that I was ambivalent about the description of this novel, but I was completely swept off of my feet. From the first line, you are pulled into the world painted by Alice Hoffman. Yes, this is historical fiction with a splash of magical realism; and yes, it is awesome. This book is filled with insightful quotes, and will saturate you with sensibility and nostalgia. 

From the involvement of the Huguenots, Jewish resistance groups, Operation Spring Breeze, etc., I was blown away by the amount of history she incorporated. I would say that there is more history surrounding the characters in this novel than fantasy. While this novel does bare magic, the story revolves around the setting in history.
The fantasy advances the internal conflict within the social setting of Germany and France itself while magical realism vividly paints this picture over the atmosphere of WWII that have never been put into words before. Beasts, angels, and fate contribute to the blanket of symbolism and metaphorical environment of Nazi occupied territories. 

I did not enjoy when the golem is made in the beginning. The creation itself seemed to unnecessarily drag on and it almost made me want to stop reading. However, it was only for a chapter, although a tiresome long chapter. This was minute and not enough to take off a star. 
If you like WWII novels, I recommend adding this to your list.
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Alice Hoffman for giving me the opportunity to read and review this novel. The opinions in this review are my own.

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The Secret Letter, by Debbie Rix

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Are morals innately defined by organic character or predominately influenced by the setting of anthropology? Does everyone retain some secrecy behind their own veil of security? Do familial ties remain constitutional if bartering with infringement? 

The experiences and journey of Magda and Imogen are refreshing and genuine, rather than romanticized. The story is not always ideal for the character, and likewise the character is not always faultless. This story range focuses on identifying the connection between the two main characters, Magda and Imogen, following the modern historical fiction trend. Yet, the association between the two girls is intriguing from the beginning and stays constantly alluring throughout the entirety of the novel.

The inclusion of the radio broadcasts, leaflet prints, speeches, and newspapers clippings added to the authenticity of the story. Likewise, the dialogue between the girls and their mothers is especially palpable. The mother-daughter relationships were carefully crafted and conscientiously instrumental throughout the story. 

The Wrens (Womens Royal Naval Service) are detailed through Imogen. I appreciated that the prose of Imogen during her time as a Wren did not transform into an entire address on women’s suffrage. The reader did experience the injustice of equality during the time period through Imogen, but it was uplifting that she was not paralyzed by this notion in order to foster her success.

This story incorporates the resistance of The White Rose group, but it only included the same information that other WWII novels have. So, I was hoping for new information. 
Also, the age of the surviving characters at the end is questionable.

This story is based on the inspiration of her parents- her mom was a Wren and her dad who was an RAF fighter. The epilogue at the end is a must read but only after finishing the story as it contains spoilers.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Debbie Rix, and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

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