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The Pearl that Broke its Shell

May 7, 2014

pearl

Nadia Hashimi merges the past with the present in the story of two women from one family. Rahima has the grave misfortune to be yet another daughter born into her family. In Afghanistan the lack of sons is a social and economic disaster. Her father is addicted to opium and does little or no work. Without a son to go out in the world and shop and work for the family their ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Afghanistan, book clubs, cultural, historical fiction, William Morrow

The Pink Suit

May 5, 2014

pink suit

The pink suit is both the description of the outfit worn by Jacqueline Kennedy when her husband was assassinated and the name of Nicole Mary Kelby’s new novel, The Pink Suit. The novel traces the history of the infamous suit, but Kelby goes beyond that to seamlessly weave a story behind the facts. Kate is a young Irish immigrant whose sewing is of such high quality that she ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1960s, book clubs, fashion, historical fiction, Little Brown and Company, New York City, women

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932

May 2, 2014

It’s a testament to author Francine Prose’s prodigious talent that she can bring together a cross-dressing lesbian Nazi spy, a French baroness, and a Hungarian photographer, and not have it read like a bad joke. Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932   takes all of the characters listed, adds an American author, the photographer’s French girlfriend, and the Chameleon Club’s ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, Harper, historical fiction, Paris, WWII

A Paris Apartment

April 18, 2014

paris apartment

  Apparently, this is the week for Paris, as it is once again on my reading list as the subject of a new novel. And, again, it is based in fact. A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable takes the ultra-intriguing facts of a Parisian apartment that lay undisturbed from before WII until 2010 and layers it in with the fiction of American furniture specialist, April Vogt, who is called ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, historical fiction, Paris, Thomas Dunne Books

The Shadow Queen

April 16, 2014

shadow queen

  Louis XIV may have been a fascinating king but thankfully for readers, author Sandra Gulland prefers to focus on the woman behind the man. In The Shadow Queen, that woman is Athénaїs de Montespan, an aristocratic beauty who is able to pull the King’s interest away from his longtime mistress and claim him for herself. Forget the Queen, apparently she is too shy and ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 17th century, Doubleday, France, historical fiction, royalty

Empress of the Night: Review and a GIVEAWAY

March 24, 2014

empress of the night

  Power lies in hearing what is not meant to be heard. In understanding what motivates those who plot against you. In knowing what could make them turn about-face, come to your side.   Empress of the Night, Eva Stachniak’s new historical novel about Catherine the Great, begins at the end by opening with the last days before her death. Catherine is in the 34th year of her ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, Catherine the Great, giveaway, historical fiction, Russia

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