Book Review: A Necessary Deception
Description:
When young widow Lady Lydia Gale helps a French prisoner obtain parole, she never dreamed he would turn up in her parlor. But just as the London Season is getting under way, there he is, along with a few other questionable personages. While she should be focused on helping her headstrong younger sister prepare for her entré into London society, Lady Gale finds herself preoccupied with the mysterious Frenchman. Is he a spy or a suitor? Can she trust him? Or is she putting her family in danger?
My Review:
How wistful and romantic to be swept into this tale and time period. After reading mostly World War II era novels, this was a lovely break. It stretched my limited knowledge of French vocabulary, which caused me to stumble a time or two, but I still overall really enjoyed this book.
Laurie Alice Eakes has a beautiful storytelling style and her words flow with ease. Her characters were all genuine and memorable, as were the conflicts and twists.
Lydia’s devotion to her family and her conviction resonated with me and kept me wanting to read on. There were also very sweet moments and a lovely romance. I enjoy Regency tales and this was not a disappointment.
Disclosure – I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Read MoreBook Review: December 1941
Description:
December 1941 traces, day-by-day, the most important 31 days in the history of America’s participation in WWII, which snuffed out the lives of millions and changed history forever.
From December 1, 1941, until the morning of December 7, 1941, America was at peace and—with the exception of the stubborn and persistent high unemployment of the Great Depression—was a relatively happy country. By the afternoon of the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, America was a radically changed country, forever. Its isolationist impulses evaporated, and both major political parties became more or less internationalist. The month also introduced food and gas rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, a military draft, and the conversion of Detroit into an “arsenal of democracy.” From the moment of America’s entry into World War II, people of all kinds, but mostly women looking for work, flooded into the city. Instant apartment buildings sprang up, as did eating and drinking salons, all to the advantage of the massive increase in spending generated by the federal government.
My Review:
I began this book back in November and was working my way through it (studying and absorbing each word) as the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor came about.
Here is some of what I wrote on that day:
On December 1st, 1941, America was still in the remnants of the Great Depression but things were starting to look up. Newspaper headlines were flooded with war news from across the world, but the Americans firmly stood in isolation aside from the Lend-Lease program and FDR’s other subtle programs that diverted resources to the British, who now stood nearly alone against the Nazi force.
Americans called the war across the seas as “the emergency.”
In 1941, Americans flocked to theatres to escape the trying times. Families dressed in their Sunday best to attend a movie. Movie tickets cost 10 cents. Sergeant York, The Maltese Falcon, A Yank in the RAF, Dive Bomber and Dumbo were released in 1941, along with the first tastes of film noir, Citizen Kane. On the radio, Bob Hope made millions laugh and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller entertained with their big bands. Everyone smoked cigarettes everywhere. Football and baseball were the sports of choice and on their way to becoming national pastimes.
German U-boats had sunk an unarmed American freighter and Hitler even ordered U-boats to fire directly on American ships. But no one at the time really believed America would be going to war.
As I went through the rest of the book, I was amazed by the level of detail and the context that December 1941 provides. I’m a history nut and research addict to start with, so this book appealed to me on a variety of levels.
That said, it was a bit lengthy and tedious at times. I wished for more of a “storyline,” but that is the novelist in me. For the real-world feel of what happened in those 30 days that changed the world, December 1941 is a gem.
Highly recommended for anyone who wants to study America and its reaction to Pearl Harbor and the war in general.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze program in exchange for my honest review.
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Review: A Sound Among the Trees
Description:
For 150 years, Holly Oak, a spacious Southern home, has stood the test of time and wills in historic Fredericksburg with Civil War scars to prove it. Marielle Bishop marries into the family with multi-generational ties to the home, leaving behind her independence and her love of Arizona’s deserts to move to Holly Oak to become a wife and stepmother. But it isn’t long before Marielle is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings trouble and misfortune to all the women who live there. Local folklore has it that Susannah Page, a Yankee spy who housed Union soldiers, haunts Holly Oak because she’s longing for pardon. When Susannah’s great-granddaughter Adelaide McClane tells her that the house is “stuck” because of it’s tumultuous past, Marielle is determined to get past the rumors and uncover the secrets that are buried within its walls. With Adelaide’s richly peppered superstitions and deep family roots at stake, Marielle must carve her new life out carefully as she sorts out the truth and makes peace with the sacrifices she has made for love.
My Review:
After having reviewed Meissner’s Lady in Waiting and The Shape of Mercy, I was thrilled to get another chance to read her writing. Meissner has a true gift of transporting you into the story and wrapping you into the character’s worlds.
That said, I was a little disappointed with A Sound Among the Trees. It was harder for me to get into and care about the characters, except for Susannah’s story. As a history writer, I knew the historical plot would interest me a little more than the contemporary (it’s just how I’m wired) but I wished the whole book was through Susannah’s perspective.
The details of the life at Holly Oak fascinated me and I loved the way Civil War history mixed with the story of these women. By the end, I was truly delighted and I loved spending time in Meissner’s phenomenal writing. Though the beginning half didn’t connect with me as quickly as her other novels, this is still a unique tale that will appeal to many readers.
Recommended!
Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book by Waterbrook-Multnomah’s Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review.
Read MoreThrough the eyes of animals: perspective and effect
“…a horse’s life is maybe even more important than a man’s, ’cause a horse hasn’t got no evil in him except any that’s put there by men…”
- War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
After seeing War Horse in a pre-screening and blogging about it, I’ve been thrilled to watch the responses of others who have gone to see “War Horse” or who have read the book, which is sitting high on the Kindle Bestseller list (even though the book was published back in the 80s.)
What is it about this story that is so gripping?
What is it that has touched so many people?
What is it that keeps people from even going to see it?
The animals. Seeing the war through the eyes of a horse, taken from his serene country home to enter the torrent of slaughter and death in the Great War battlefields.
I have friends who can watch violent movies without flinching. Human-on-human violence is almost overdone that we’re immune to it (cue the Hunger Games reference). But at the thought of going to see “War Horse,” they balk and say, “I couldn’t handle watching that…”
Think Old Yeller. Where the Red Fern Grows. Bambi. These movies all deeply touch their viewers. And for most people, watching them once is more than enough.
As a long-time animal lover, horse owner and advocate, these movies and books all deeply touch me as well. What touches me more is the bringing to light of issues that the public largely ignores. Animal abuse and abandonment, shown even through snips and scenes of this powerful movie, are even more real today than they were in 1914.
War Horse has earned some award nominations and mixed reviews but still ranked well among box offices. But if telling these stories by focusing on these animals is “too hard” for some viewers, does it accomplish it’s goal?
Have you seen War Horse yet? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments, please!
Read MoreBook Review: All Our Worldly Goods
Description:
Pierre and Agnes marry for love against the wishes of his parents and the family patriarch, the tyrannical industrialist Julien Hardelot, provoking a family feud which cascades down the generations. This is Balzac or The Forsyte Saga on a smaller, more intimate scale, the bourgeoisie observed close-up, with Némirovsky’s characteristically sly humour and clear-eyed compassion. Full of drama and heartbreak, and telling observations of the devastating effects of two wars on a small town and an industrial family, Némirovsky is at the height of her powers.
Taut, evocative and beautifully paced, the novel points out with heartbreaking detail and clarity how close those two wars were, how history repeated itself, tragically and shockingly. The story opens in the Edwardian era, on a fashionable Normandy beach and ends with a changed world under Nazi occupation.
My Review:
Irène Némirovsky’s story is as amazing as any of her writing. Born in Kiev, she moved with her family to France where she became a successful novelist. In World War II, she ended up in Auschwitz and died there in 1942.
Knowing all that Némirovsky endured in her lifetime puts a slightly different perspective on her novels themselves. Perhaps it shouldn’t. Perhaps the story is all that should matter. Nevertheless, if we were all honest with each other, everything from what others have said about a book to the very cover itself affects how you perceive a novel.
In All Our Worldly Goods, the story feels all the more real knowing the author’s first-hand experience enduring so many wars. The love story between Pierre and Agnes is genuine, sweet and practical. While the novel is more of a family saga than a love story, there are tender moments and peaceful moments that reminds you to cherish such times.
Though Némirovsky’s style is a bit distant and succinct, I enjoyed her pacing and use of scenes to show the true heart of a character. With a large cast of characters that sweeps over several generations, it is easy to get them mixed up, but Némirovsky paints them clearly and by the end, weaves everything together masterfully.
I recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and is looking for a fresh perspective on the war – the homefront of those in the invaded countries. There aren’t any battle scenes, but the turmoil at home is as clear and real as ever.
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One of the best of 2011…
Originally posted January, 2011
This book completely took my breath away. I was in love with Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit, but this one eclipses it—and then some.
I downloaded this to my Kindle and thanked God I had it during a 16-hour roadtrip with my family. I was raptured by the book from page one.
I read during each five-minute drive between errands and for seven solid hours at a time. The tale of these men and what they endured during the war.
Hillenbrand creates characters that seem larger than life—characters that might not even fly if this was a “fiction” book. But the truth behind each chapter makes it all the more powerful and riveting.
The detail and depth of this book is astounding. As a writer, it blew me away as I imagined the amount of research, interviews and documents necessary to create such an opus.
This was a long book, but it didn’t feel like it. At the end I was grasping for more, soaking up each word of the acknowledgments. Whether or not you’re into WWII history, this is a story about human nature and redemption that will leave you walking away a different person.
If you only read one book in 2011, make it Unbroken.
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