Genre: Historical Fiction

#BookReview The Jazz Club Spy by Roberta Rich @SimonSchusterCA #RobertaRich #TheJazzClubSpy #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Jazz Club Spy by Roberta Rich @SimonSchusterCA #RobertaRich #TheJazzClubSpy #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Jazz Club Spy

Author: Roberta Rich

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Nov. 21, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A riveting historical thriller about a Jewish cigarette girl in 1930s New York who finds the soldier who burned down her Russian village years earlier only to be swept up in a political conspiracy on the eve of World War II—from the #1 bestselling author of The Midwife of Venice .

New York, 1939

Giddy Brodsky knows she’s lucky to have a job as a cigarette girl at a Manhattan jazz club, but she dreams of opening her own beauty shop and lifting her family out of poverty. The Brodskys have lived cheek to jowl in the Lower East Side tenements since they came to America nineteen years ago, fleeing a deadly pogrom in their Russian village. But they continue to face prejudice, especially with the rise of the fascist organization the American Bund.

Yet Giddy is focused on the future—until she recognizes one of the Cossacks who irrevocably changed her life and the past comes flooding back. Determined to get justice, she enlists the help of Carter van der Zalm, a regular at the jazz club who also happens to be the director with the Department of Immigration at Ellis Island. When Carter discloses that the Cossack is an “undesirable” and may be of interest to the government, Giddy agrees to moonlight as a spy for him.

Not everyone is who they appear to be, and after a shocking betrayal, Giddy finds herself embroiled in a political conspiracy that could bring America into the war in Europe.

From the gritty tenements to the glittering jazz clubs of 1930s New York, The Jazz Club Spy is a thrilling historical novel about a brash young woman who must use all her wits to save the ones she loves.

Review:

Compelling, vivid, and absorbing!

The Jazz Club Spy is a rich, engaging tale set in NYC during 1939 that takes you into the life of Giddy Brodsky, a young woman who, after immigrating to America with her family after surviving a pogrom in her Russian village, finds herself dreaming of opening a cosmetics store, working as a cigarette girl at a jazz club, and suddenly moonlighting as a spy when she accidentally bumps into the cossack who brutalized her family, and she gets mixed up with the Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island whom she goes to for help.

The prose is evocative and expressive. The characters are independent, spirited, and brave. And the plot is a mysterious tale of life, loss, love, self-discovery, war, politics, secrets, friendship, determination, poverty, family, betrayal, and espionage.

Overall, I found The Jazz Club Spy to be an intriguing, absorbing, atmospheric tale by Rich that did a lovely job of blending historical events, intense emotion, and thought-provoking suspense.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Roberta Rich

Roberta Rich is the #1 bestselling author of The Midwife of Venice, which was published in thirteen countries, The Harem Midwife, and A Trial in Venice. She divides her time between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Colima, Mexico.

Photograph by Guy Immega.

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#BookReview The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper @ElodieITV @UnionSqandCo #TheWolfDenTrilogy #TheTempleofFortuna #ElodieHarper #UnionSqandCo

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#BookReview The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper @ElodieITV @UnionSqandCo #TheWolfDenTrilogy #TheTempleofFortuna #ElodieHarper #UnionSqandCo Title: The Temple of Fortuna

Author: Elodie Harper

Series: Wolf Den Trilogy #3

Published by: Union Square & Co. on Nov. 14, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Union Square & Co.

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Amara’s journey has taken her far; from a slave in Pompeii’s wolf den to a high-powered courtesan in Rome… though her story is not over yet.

While Amara plays for power in Rome’s imperial palace, those dearest to her remain in Pompeii. But it is AD 79, and mighty Mount Vesuvius is about to make itself known…

Review:

Atmospheric, thrilling, and intense!

The Temple of Fortuna is a fascinating, enticing tale that picks up where The House with the Golden Door left off, taking us back into the life of Amara, a young slave who, now living a free, somewhat powerful existence under the protection of her new wealthy patron in Rome, faces her most challenging battle of all when after being drawn back to Pompeii by her family, friends and the daughter she left behind has to find a way to survive the devastation and destruction wreaked by Mount Vesuvius when it’s eruption turns this once vibrant city she once called home into nothing more than a graveyard covered by ash.

The prose is expressive and tight. The characters are selfish, determined, and resilient. And the plot is a riveting tale of life, loss, family, duty, secrets, lies, manipulation, survival, perseverance, hope, love, natural disasters, and female friendships.

Overall, The Temple of Fortuna is a unique, passionate, epic, historical fiction novel by Harper that is full of soul-searching dilemmas, dangerous situations, and complex, intriguing characters, all set during a catastrophic time in history. And while it’s a little bittersweet to say goodbye to this amazing cast of characters I’ve come to be invested in over these last three novels, it is nevertheless a superb ending to a fabulous series that I highly recommend and will undoubtedly miss.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Union Square & Co. for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Elodie Harper

Elodie Harper is a journalist and prize-winning short story writer. Her story 'Wild Swimming' won the 2016 Bazaar of Bad Dreams short story competition, which was judged by Stephen King.

She is currently a reporter at ITV News Anglia, and before that worked as a producer for Channel 4 News. Her job as a journalist has seen her join one of the most secretive wings of the Church of Scientology and cover the far right hip hop scene in Berlin, as well as crime reporting in Norfolk where her first two novels were set – The Binding Song and The Death Knock.

Elodie studied Latin poetry both in the original and in translation as part of her English Literature degree at Oxford, instilling a lifelong interest in the ancient world. The Wolf Den is the first in a trilogy of novels about the lives of women in ancient Pompeii.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #LastNightattheHollywoodCanteen #SarahJames #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #LastNightattheHollywoodCanteen #SarahJames #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen

Author: Sarah James

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Nov. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8/10

Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made.

But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen’s luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona’s friends, a bitter and cynical group―each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers―that call themselves the Ambassador’s Club.

Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador’s Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back.

Review:

Tense, suspenseful, and fun!

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is a scheming, twisty whodunit that sweeps you away to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age and into the life of Annie Laurence, a New York playwright who, after a devastating breakup and the end of her show, heads to LA to start a new life writing for the movies only to find herself quickly in a world of trouble when one of her new friends, a famous critic who seems to have had a little bit of dirt on everyone is found murdered and everybody seems to have had at least one reason to want her dead.

The writing is witty and tight. The characters are ambitious, self-obsessed, and vulnerable. And the plot is an enticing mix of lies, secrets, drama, duplicity, manipulation, mayhem, substance abuse, movie-making, amateur sleuthing, and murder.

Overall, Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is a menacing, nostalgic, highly entertaining tale by James that is the perfect choice for fans of 1940s Tinseltown mysteries that have an abundance of quirky characters, Hollywood legends, and straight-up detective work.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah James

Sarah James is the author of twisty homefront historical mysteries. Her debut novel THE WOMAN WITH TWO SHADOWS was an international best-seller. Her second novel, LAST NIGHT AT THE HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN, is forthcoming from Sourcebooks.

In addition to writing historical fiction, Sarah is a humor writer and editor of Slackjaw, Medium's largest humor publication. She has also contributed to Baseball Prospectus, Reductress, Pittsburgh City Paper, CrimeReads, and more.

Sarah is a graduate of the USC MFA Writing for Screen and Television program, and received a BA in American Studies from Fordham University. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her cat, Lucille.

Photo: Matt Mahaffey

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#BookReview The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy @freethy @StMartinsPress #ThePorcelainMaker #SarahFreethy #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy @freethy @StMartinsPress #ThePorcelainMaker #SarahFreethy #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Porcelain Maker

Author: Sarah Freethy

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Nov. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

An epic story of love, betrayal, and art that spans decades, through the horrors of World War II to 21st century America, inspired by an actual porcelain factory in Dachau.

Two lovers caught at the crossroads of history.

A daughter’s search for the truth.

Germany, 1929. At a festive gathering of young bohemians in Weimar, two young artists, Max, a skilled Jewish architect, and Bettina, a celebrated avant-garde painter, are drawn to each other and begin a whirlwind romance. Their respective talents transport them to the dazzling lights of Berlin, but this bright beginning is quickly dimmed by the rising threat of Nazism. Max is arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau where only his talent at making exquisite porcelain figures stands between him and seemingly certain death. Desperate to save her lover, Bettina risks everything to rescue him and escape Germany.

America, 1993. Clara, Bettina’s daughter, embarks on a journey to trace her roots and determine the identity of her father, a secret her mother has kept from her for reasons she’s never understood. Clara’s quest to piece together the puzzle of her origins transports us back in time to the darkness of Nazi Germany, where life is lived on a razor’s edge and deception and death lurk around every corner. Survival depends on strength, loyalty, and knowing true friend from hidden foe. And as Clara digs further, she begins to question why her mother was so determined to leave the truth of her harrowing past behind…

The Porcelain Maker is a powerful novel of enduring love and courage in the face of appalling brutality as a daughter seeks to unlock the mystery of her past.

Review:

Absorbing, sincere, and expressive!

The Porcelain Maker is a rich, engaging tale predominately set in Germany from the mid-1920s through WWII, as well as 1993, that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Bettina Vogel, a young woman who, through determination and resilience, uses her artistic talents to help the resistance and stay as close to the one she loves as she possibly can; and Clara Vogel, a middle-aged mother who, after her mother’s passing decides with the help of her daughter to embark on a journey to discover the true identity of her father who seems to have had a connection to the acclaimed porcelain maker of Dachau.

The prose is eloquent and well-turned. The characters are lonely, strong, and brave. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel seamlessly into a heartfelt saga of life, loss, secrets, surprises, separation, heartbreak, betrayal, desperation, tragedy, survival, danger, friendship, the horrors of war, and enduring love.

Overall, The Porcelain Maker is an evocative, sentimental, moving debut by Freethy with compelling characters that I devoured from start to finish and one which I highly recommend for anyone who loves a well-written WWII time-slip tale.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Freethy

SARAH FREETHY worked as a writer, script consultant, producer and development editor in television before turning her hand to fiction. THE PORCELAIN MAKER is her first novel. She lives in England with her family.

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#BookReview The Woman with a Purple Heart by Diane Hanks @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheWomanwithaPurpleHeart #DianeHanks #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Woman with a Purple Heart by Diane Hanks @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheWomanwithaPurpleHeart #DianeHanks #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Woman with a Purple Heart

Author: Diane Hanks

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Nov. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

Based on the real life of Lieutenant Annie Fox, Chief Nurse of Hickam Hospital, The Woman with a Purple Heart is an inspiring WWII novel of heroic leadership, courage, and friendship that also exposes a shocking and shameful side of history.

Annie Fox will stop at nothing to serve her country. But what happens when her country fails her? In November 1941, Annie Fox, an Army nurse, is transferred to Hickam Field, an air force base in Honolulu. The others on her transport plane are thrilled to work in paradise, but Annie sees her new duty station as the Army’s way of holding the door open to her retirement. But serving her country is her calling and she will go wherever she is told. On December 7, Annie’s on her way to work when the first Japanese Zero fighter plane flies low over Hickam’s Parade Ground.

The death and destruction that follow leave her no time to process what’s happening. She rallies her nurses, and they work to save as many lives as they can. But soon their small hospital is overwhelmed. Annie drives into Honolulu to gather supplies, nurses, and several women who will donate blood. However, the nurses are Japanese Americans, and the blood donors are prostitutes.

Under Annie’s leadership and working together in unexpected ways, they make it through that horrific day, when one of the Japanese American nurses and Annie’s friend, Kay, is arrested as a suspected subversive. As Hickam tries to recover, Annie works to find her friend and return Kay to her family. But Annie’s love for her country is put to the test. How can she reconcile the American bravery and resilience she saw on December 7 with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses just a few months later?

Review:

Poignant, informative, and incredibly absorbing!

The Woman with a Purple Heart is an intriguing tale that sweeps you away to the shores of Oahu and immerses you into the life of seasoned U.S. Army Nurse Corps Lieutenant Annie Fox as her knowledge, heart, strength, compassion and skills are all tested to the max when the Japanese unexpectedly rage war on Hickam Field and Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.

The prose is eloquent and vivid. The characters are complex, resilient, genuine, and endearing. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel subtly into a captivating tale of life, loss, family, heartbreak, secrets, betrayal, friendship, courage, determination, self-discovery, forced incarceration, racial prejudice, and the devastating consequences of war.

Overall, The Woman with a Purple Heart is an atmospheric, evocative, beautifully written novel by Hanks about a remarkable woman that grabs you from the very first page and does an exceptional job of blending historical facts with fiction that’s both moving and wonderfully captivating.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Diane Hanks

Diane Hanks has a BFA in Creative Writing from Roger Williams University and an MA in Professional Writing & Publishing from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. A medical writer by day, she has written numerous screenplays and recently returned to her first love—writing novels. Diane also is a mentor for the Writers Guild Initiative, which makes the art of storytelling accessible to underserved populations. When not writing, she enjoys walking by the river near her home.

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#BookReview The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger @WmKentKrueger @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #WilliamKentKrueger #TheRiverWeRemember #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger @WmKentKrueger @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #WilliamKentKrueger #TheRiverWeRemember #SimonSchusterCA Title: The River We Remember

Author: William Kent Krueger

Published by: Atria Books on Sep. 5, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 421

Format: Hardcover

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land.

On Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.

Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

Both a complex, spellbinding mystery and a masterful portrait of midcentury American life, The River We Remember is an unflinching look at the wounds left by the wars we fight abroad and at home, a moving exploration of the ways in which we seek to heal, and a testament to the enduring power of the stories we tell about the places we call home.

Review:

Haunting, intimate, and impactful!

The River We Remember is a gritty, moving, character-driven tale that sweeps you away to Jewel, Minnesota, during 1958 and into the lives of a handful of people, including a sheriff with a tormented past, a wealthy murder victim who seems to have had sadistic tendencies, and a suspect who the people are more than happy to convict purely due to his Dakota Sioux blood and choice of a bride.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, scarred, and strong. And the plot is a raw, absorbing tale about life, loss, love, grief, strength, bravery, hope, survival, violence, injustice, racism, abuse, gossip, suicide, community, and fear.

Overall, The River We Remember makes you think, makes you feel, and ultimately resonates long after the final page. It’s a beautifully written, sobering, memorable story by Krueger that uses extraordinary character development to weave a combination of an impressive, intricate mystery with a heartbreaking, nostalgic tale, all steeped in an abundance of tragedy, discrimination, and pain.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About William Kent Krueger

William Kent Krueger is the New York Times bestselling author of The River We Remember, This Tender Land, Ordinary Grace (winner of the Edgar Award for best novel), and the original audio novella The Levee, as well as nineteen acclaimed books in the Cork O’Connor mystery series, including Lightning Strike and Fox Creek. He lives in the Twin Cities with his family.

Photo by Diane Krueger.

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#BookReview Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris @StMartinsPress #SistersUndertheRisingSun #HeatherMorrisAuthor #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris @StMartinsPress #SistersUndertheRisingSun #HeatherMorrisAuthor #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Sisters Under the Rising Sun

Author: Heather Morris

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Oct. 24, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A phenomenal novel of resilience and survival from bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris.

In the midst of World War II, an English musician, Norah Chambers, places her eight-year-old daughter Sally on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe from the Japanese army as they move down through the Pacific. Norah remains to care for her husband and elderly parents, knowing she may never see her child again.

Sister Nesta James, a Welsh Australian nurse, has enlisted to tend to Allied troops. But as Singapore falls to the Japanese she joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard the Vyner Brooke merchant ship. Only two days later, they are bombarded from the air off the coast of Indonesia, and in a matter of hours, the Vyner Brooke lies broken on the seabed.

After surviving a brutal 24 hours in the sea, Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of a remote island, only to be captured by the Japanese and held in one of their notorious POW camps. The camps are places of starvation and brutality, where disease runs rampant. Sisters in arms, Norah and Nesta fight side by side every day, helping whoever they can, and discovering in themselves and each other extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness and determination.

Sisters under the Rising Sun is a story of women in war: a novel of sisterhood, bravery and friendship in the darkest of circumstances, from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka’s Journey and Three Sisters.

Review:

Immersive, evocative, and affecting!

Sisters Under the Rising Sun is an alluring tale set in Singapore and Indonesia during WWII that follows several women, especially Sister Nesta James, an Australian nurse, and Norah Chambers, a mother and British musician, as they do whatever it takes to help each other survive the horror and hardships of life in a Japanese POW camp in order to one day be able to reunite with the people that have kept their fighting spirits alive and strong.

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are dependable, courageous, and resilient. And the plot is a moving tale of life, loss, self-discovery, heartbreak, determination, hope, loyalty, tragedy, survival, love, friendship, sisterhood, and wartime brutalities.

Overall, Sisters Under the Rising Sun is an emotive, rich, absorbing tale that I devoured from start to finish. I’m a huge fan of Heather Morris’ writing, and this novel didn’t disappoint. If you enjoy well-researched WWII novels with a fresh and unique perspective, then I highly recommend it.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Heather Morris

HEATHER MORRIS is a native of New Zealand, now resident in Australia. For several years, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, she studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the US. In 2003, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Their friendship grew and Lale embarked on a journey of self-scrutiny, entrusting the innermost details of his life during the Holocaust to her. Heather originally wrote Lale’s story as a screenplay – which ranked high in international competitions – before reshaping it into her debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Photo by Tina Smigielski.

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#BookReview Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward @jesmimi @ScribnerBooks @SimonSchusterCA #JesmynWard #LetUsDescend #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward @jesmimi @ScribnerBooks @SimonSchusterCA #JesmynWard #LetUsDescend #SimonSchusterCA Title: Let Us Descend

Author: Jesmyn Ward

Published by: Scribner on Oct. 3, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.

Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.

From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.

Review:

Haunting, poignant, and impactful!

Let Us Descend is an atmospheric, moving tale that sweeps you away to North Carolina during the mid-1800s and into the life of Annis, a young woman of mixed race trained by her mother in more than just servitude who, after being sold one year after her beloved Mama, is forced in chains on a gruelling march from the rice fields she’s only ever known to the sugar plantations of New Orleans where with a little help from the spirit world beyond she endures extreme hardships and brutal savagery until she can find an opportunity to finally slip free.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, scarred, and strong. And the plot is an exceptionally enthralling tale about life, loss, strength, bravery, hope, survival, violence, injustice, racism, slavery, and death, all interwoven with a thread of the supernatural.

Overall, Let Us Descend is an enchanting blend of historical facts, powerful fiction, and heart-wrenching emotion that does a wonderful job of reminding us that even under the most cruel and barbaric conditions, humanity can be incredibly resilient, compassionate, and kind.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jesmyn Ward

Jesmyn Ward received her MFA from the University of Michigan and has received the MacArthur Genius Grant, a Stegner Fellowship, a John and Renee Grisham Writers Residency, the Strauss Living Prize, and the 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. She is the historic winner—first woman and first Black American—of two National Book Awards for Fiction for Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) and Salvage the Bones (2011). She is also the author of the novel Where the Line Bleeds and the memoir Men We Reaped, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize and the Media for a Just Society Award. She is currently a professor of creative writing at Tulane University and lives in Mississippi.

Photograph by Beowulf Sheehan.

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#BookReview What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #NancyJooyounKim #WhatWeKeptToOurselves #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #NancyJooyounKim #WhatWeKeptToOurselves #SimonSchusterCA Title: What We kept to Ourselves

Author: Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Published by: Atria Books on Oct. 10, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

The New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Story of Mina Lee returns with a timely and surprising new novel about a family’s search for answers following the disappearance of their mother.

1999: The Kim family is struggling to move on after their mother, Sunny, vanished a year ago. Sixty-one-year-old John Kim feels more isolated from his grown children, Anastasia and Ronald, than ever before. But one evening, their fragile lives are further upended when John finds the body of a stranger in the backyard, carrying a letter to Sunny, leaving the family with more questions than ever about the stranger’s history and possible connections to their mother.

1977: Sunny is pregnant and has just moved to Los Angeles from Korea with her aloof and often-absent husband. America is not turning out the way she had dreamed it to be, and the loneliness and isolation are broken only by a fateful encounter at a bus stop. The unexpected connection spans the decades and echoes into the family’s lives in the present as they uncover devastating secrets that put not only everything they thought they knew about their mother but their very lives at risk.

Both a riveting page-turner and moving family story, What We Kept to Ourselves masterfully explores the consequences of secrets between parents and children, hus­bands and wives. It is the story of one unforgettable family’s search for home when all seems lost, and a powerful meditation on identity, migration, and what it means to dream in America.

Review:

Simmering, dramatic, and sensitive!

What We Kept to Ourselves is a tender, compelling tale that sweeps you away to Los Angeles between the 1970s and 1999 and into the lives of the Korean-American Kim family as they grapple with the disappearance of the matriarch one year ago, the sudden discovery of a dead man in their backyard in possession of a letter addressed to their missing mother, and all the wounds, secrets, tears, and hurt that seem to have swirled around them forever.

The prose is fluid and smooth. The characters are bitter, troubled, and flawed. And the plot, using flashbacks and a back-and-forth style, is a captivating tale about life, loss, heartache, guilt, love, secrets, revelations, acceptance, familial drama, friendship, hope, racism, misogyny, corruption, forgiveness, introspection, and generational trauma, all interlaced with a sliver of mystery. 

Overall, What We Kept to Ourselves is a heartfelt, multilayered, timely tale by Nancy Jooyoun Kim that reminds us that families are complicated and messy, the choices we make often have far-reaching consequences, and secrets often find their way to the surface no matter how well they’re buried.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Nancy Jooyoun Kim is the New York Times bestselling author of What We Kept to Ourselves and The Last Story of Mina Lee, a Reese’s Book Club pick. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Photograph by Andria Lo.

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#BookReview The Woman at the Wheel by Penny Haw @PennyHaw @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheWomanattheWheel #PennyHaw #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Woman at the Wheel by Penny Haw @PennyHaw @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheWomanattheWheel #PennyHaw #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Woman at the Wheel

Author: Penny Haw

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Oct. 3, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

Inspiring historical fiction based on the real life of Bertha Benz, whose husband built the first prototype automobile, which eventually evolved into the Mercedes-Benz marque.

“Unfortunately, only a girl again.”

From a young age, Cäcilie Bertha Ringer is fascinated by her father’s work as a master builder in Pforzheim, Germany. But those five words, which he wrote next to her name in the family Bible, haunt Bertha.

Years later, Bertha meets Carl Benz and falls in love—with him and his extraordinary dream of building a horseless carriage. Bertha has such faith in him that she invests her dowry in his plans, a dicey move since they alone believe in the machine. When Carl’s partners threaten to withdraw their support, he’s ready to cut ties. Bertha knows the decision would ruin everything. Ignoring the cynics, she takes matters into her own hands, secretly planning a scheme that will either hasten the family’s passage to absolute derision or prove their genius. What Bertha doesn’t know is that Carl is on the cusp of making a deal with their nemesis. She’s not only risking her marriage and their life’s work, but is also up against the patriarchy, Carl’s own self-doubt, and the clock.

Like so many other women, Bertha lived largely in her husband’s shadow, but her contributions are now celebrated in this inspiring story of perseverance, resilience, and love.

Review:

Fascinating, compelling, and descriptive!

The Woman at the Wheel is an insightful, immersive tale that sweeps you away to Germany in the late 1800s and into the life of Cäcilie Bertha Ringer, a young woman ahead of her time who not only supported and encouraged her engineer husband, Carl Benz, who was determined to create the first horseless carriage but was also the first person to ever drive a vehicle powered by a gas engine long distance when she travelled with two of her sons to her hometown over hundred kilometres away.

The prose is expressive and rich. The characters are driven, supportive, and engaging. And the plot is an absorbing tale of life, loss, love, hope, scepticism, innovation, family, sacrifices, struggles, and successes, as well as the intricacies involved in building an internal-combustion-engine vehicle in the late 19th century.

Overall, The Woman at the Wheel is an alluring, inspirational, well-written tale by Haw that does a beautiful job of highlighting her considerable research and knowledge into this impressive woman I previously knew little to nothing about and her role in developing such an engineering feat that it is still the most commonly used method of transportation today.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Penny Haw

Penny Haw worked as a journalist and columnist for more than three decades, writing for many leading South African newspapers and magazines before yielding to a lifelong yearning to create fiction. Her stories feature remarkable women, illustrate her love for nature, and explore the interconnectedness of all living things. The Invincible Miss Cust is Penny’s debut historical fiction. She lives near Cape Town with her husband and three dogs, all of whom are well-walked.

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