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The Nightingale

February 9, 2015

nightingale

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah begins with Viann Mauriac, living comfortably in a small town in the south of France with her husband and daughter. Her younger sister Isabelle is in one of the many boarding schools their father has sent her to. When she is expelled again she goes to live with him in Paris, which he does not want, as he has ignored both young women since their ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, family, historical fiction, St. Martin's Press, world war II

Vanessa and her Sister

January 5, 2015

Vanessa

Virginia Woolf is an icon in the world of literature and much has been written about her life so it is a courageous move on the part of author Priya Parmar to explore not Virginia but her lesser known sister Vanessa, in her new novel Vanessa and Her Sister. The novel begins during the heady years when the Stephen family—Thoby, Adrian, Vanessa, and Virginia—are living on their ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 20th century, Ballantine, book clubs, England, family, historical fiction, writers' lives

The Paris Winter

December 12, 2014

paris winter

  In The Paris Winter, Maud Heighton is a young British woman in 1910, escaping the conventions that bind by moving to Paris to train as an artist at the renowned Academie LaFond. Unfortunately, unlike a number of her classmates she does not have a family fortune to support her Parisian life and so must find employment to continue to stay in Paris. When a friend finds her a ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: historical fiction, mystery, St. Martin's Press

The Other Typist

December 1, 2014

other typist

  Suzanne Rindell sets her novel The Other Typist in 1920s New York City where Rose is one of a new kind of working woman, earning her living as a typist for the police department. She is an orphan living a quiet simple life despite working in a job that exposes her to some of the roughest men in the city. When Abolition begins, the department needs additional typists as ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1920s, book clubs, debut, historical fiction, mystery, Penguin

What the Lady Wants

November 12, 2014

what the lady

  For almost as long as I have loved books I have loved fashion and before my career in the book world I was a buyer for a large department store in Atlanta called Rich’s. Remember the good old days when department stores had a name other than Macy’s?! One of the best known in the Midwest was Marshall Field’s and in her new novel, What the Lady Wants, Renée Rosen captures its ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 19th century, book clubs, Chicago, fashion, historical fiction, NAL

Land of Dreams

October 29, 2014

land of dreams

When Ellie Hogan’s sixteen-year-old son leaves his expensive boarding school and heads across the country to Hollywood she wastes no time in asking questions but gets on a train from New York City and follows him. Once in L.A. she decides that rather than punish the boy she’s going to let him have his chance at fame. It’s 1942 and this is Land of Dreams by Kate Kerrigan. Ellie ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: family saga, historical fiction, William Morrow, WWII

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