Genre: Historical Fiction

#BookReview The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson @katethompson380 @HBGCanada @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForever2023 #KateThompson #TheLittleWartimeLibrary #HBGCanada

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#BookReview The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson @katethompson380 @HBGCanada @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForever2023 #KateThompson #TheLittleWartimeLibrary #HBGCanada Title: The Little Wartime Library

Author: Kate Thompson

Published by: Forever on Feb. 21, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 480

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

An uplifting and inspiring novel based on the true story of a librarian who created an underground shelter during World War II, perfect for readers of The Paris Library or The Last Bookshop in London. 

London, 1944: Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While war ravages the city above her, Clara has risked everything she holds dear to turn the Bethnal Green tube station into the country’s only underground library. Down here, a secret community thrives with thousands of bunk beds, a nursery, a café, and a theater—offering shelter, solace, and escape from the bombs that fall upon their city.

Along with her glamorous best friend and assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war drags on, the women’s determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.

Review:

Captivating, rich, and inspirational!

The Little Wartime Library is a heartwarming, tragic, uplifting tale set in England during 1944 that takes you into the lives of Clara Button, a young, plucky librarian with a kind heart, and Ruby Munroe, a loyal friend and hardworking assistant, who after both suffering unimaginable personal loss work tirelessly to give the people and children of East London a sanctuary and source of escapism by moving the library destroyed by bombs at the start of the Blitz seventy feet underground into the haven and community created on the unused tracks of the Bethnal Green tube station.

The prose is evocative and rich. The characters are genuine, determined, and courageous. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine seamlessly into an alluring tale of life, loss, love, family, devastation, hardship, hope, friendship, adversity, self-discovery, wartime living, survival, and ultimately the power of books.

The Little Wartime Library is an insightful, poignant, engrossing read by Thompson that does a wonderful job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into an absorbing, heart-tugging tale that is exceptionally atmospheric, beautifully entertaining and a true love letter to libraries and librarians everywhere.

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Kate Thompson

Kate Thompson was born in London and worked as a journalist for women's magazines and national newspapers before becoming a novelist. Over the past ten years, Kate has written twelve fiction and nonfiction titles, three of which have made the Sunday Times top ten bestseller list. She now lives in Sunbury with her husband, two sons, and two rescued Lurcher dogs, Ted and Saphhie.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview If a Poem Could Live and Breath by Mary Calvi @MaryCalviTV @StMartinsPress #IfAPoemCouldLiveandBreath #MaryCalvi #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview If a Poem Could Live and Breath by Mary Calvi @MaryCalviTV @StMartinsPress #IfAPoemCouldLiveandBreath #MaryCalvi #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: If a Poem Could Live and Breathe

Author: Mary Calvi

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Feb. 14, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A fact-based romantic speculative novel about Teddy Roosevelt’s first love, by Mary Calvi, author of Dear George, Dear Mary.

Studded with the real love letters between a young Theodore Roosevelt and Boston beauty Alice Lee—many of them never before published—If a Poem Could Live and Breathe makes vivid what many historians believe to be the pivotal years that made the future president into the man of action that defined his political life, and cemented his legacy.

Cambridge, 1878. The era of the Gilded Age. Alice Lee sets out to break from the norms of her mother’s generation. Women are fighting for educational opportunities and exploring a new sense of intellectual and personal freedom. Native New Yorker, Harvard student Teddy Roosevelt, is on his own journey of discovery, and when they meet, unrelenting currents of love change the trajectory of his life forever.

If a Poem Could Live and Breathe is an indelible portrait of the authenticity of first love, the heartache of loss, and how overcoming the worst of life’s obstacles can push one to greatness never imagined.

Review:

Sentimental, tender, and intriguing!

If a Poem Could Live and Breathe is a compelling, heart-tugging tale that sweeps you away to the late 1870s and into the lives of Harvard student Theodore Roosevelt and debutante Alice Lee Hathaway who, after meeting on an estate in Chestnut Hill, MA, quickly became friends, confidants, and partners until Valentine’s Day just over three years from the day of their marriage when tragedy strikes and Alice succumbs to an undiagnosed kidney infection while giving birth to their first child.

The prose is evocative and rich. The characters are multilayered, intelligent, and engaging. And the plot, infused with preserved love letters, is a fascinating tale about life, loss, family, friendship, history, emotion, determination, heartbreak, passion, and love.

Overall, If a Poem Could Live and Breathe is a beautifully written, enchanting tale by Calvi that does a remarkable job of highlighting her immense knowledge and research into this complex, historical figure who although lived to have an incredibly successful life, both politically and personally, never fully recovered from the sudden loss of his first true love.

 

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 Mary Calvi

MARY CALVI is a 12-time New York Emmy award-winning journalist and national anchor. Her in-depth research for her debut book, DEAR GEORGE, DEAR MARY: A Novel of George Washington's First Love, is the basis of a Smithsonian Channel documentary. Calvi lives in Yonkers, New York.

Photo Credit: Joe Panella.

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#BookReview My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #JosephOConnor #MyFathersHouse #RomeEscapeLineTrilogy #PGCBooks

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#BookReview My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #JosephOConnor #MyFathersHouse #RomeEscapeLineTrilogy #PGCBooks Title: My Father's House

Author: Joseph O'Connor

Series: Rome Escape Line Trilogy #1

Published by: Europa Editions on Feb. 1, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 440

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Star of the Sea and winner of the 2021 Irish Book Awards Book of the Year for Shadowplay, comes a gripping and atmospheric new novel set in occupied Rome.

September 1943: German forces have Rome under their control. Gestapo boss Paul Hauptmann rules over the Eternal City with vicious efficiency. Hunger is widespread. Rumors fester. The war’s outcome is far from certain. Diplomats, refugees, Jews, and escaped Allied prisoners flee for protection into Vatican City, the world’s smallest state, a neutral, independent country nestled within the city of Rome. A small band of unlikely friends led by a courageous Irish priest is drawn into deadly battle of wits as they attempt to aid those seeking refuge.

My Father’s House is inspired by the extraordinary true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who, together with his accomplices, risked his life to smuggle Jews and escaped Allied prisoners out of Italy right under the nose of his Nazi nemesis. Suspenseful and beautifully written, My Father’s House tells an unforgettable story of love, faith, sacrifice, and courage.

Review:

Suspenseful, immersive, and intriguing!

My Father’s House is an absorbing, gripping tale set in Vatican City during WWII that follows Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, an Irish envoy to the Vatican who, after witnessing the oppression and horror encountered by the allies, resistance, and Jewish people captured by the Nazi’s in Italy under the direction of Obersturmbannführer Hauptmann, devises an escape plan codenamed “Rendimento” with a small group of individuals who call themselves “The Choir” to help as many victims as possible escape through the secret passageways, tunnels and safety offered by the Holy See on the night of Christmas Eve.

The prose is polished and eloquent. The characters are creative, driven, and determined. And the plot unravels and intertwines briskly into a sweeping saga of life, loss, betrayal, secrets, espionage, danger, deception, survival, coordination, ethics, and tragedy.

Overall, My Father’s House is an absorbing, mysterious, brilliantly plotted tale by O’Connor inspired by real-life events that, at its heart, highlights that preventing evil from running amok often involves moral dilemmas, exceptional courage, strength, action, and beyond all else, sacrifice.

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Joseph O'Connor

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes , The Salesman , Inishowen , Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls , as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction.

He was recently voted ‘Irish Writer of the Decade’ by the readers of Hot Press magazine. He broadcasts a popular weekly radio diary on RTE’s Drivetime With Mary Wilson and writes regularly for The Guardian Review and The Sunday Independent. In 2009 he was the Harman Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Baruch College, the City University of New York.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson @Sadeqasays @simonschuster @SimonSchusterCA #TheHouseofEve #SadeqaJohnson #SimonSchuster #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson @Sadeqasays @simonschuster @SimonSchusterCA #TheHouseofEve #SadeqaJohnson #SimonSchuster #SimonSchusterCA Title: The House of Eve

Author: Sadeqa Johnson

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Feb. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster

Book Rating: 10/10

From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife, a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.

Review:

Insightful, thought-provoking, and memorable!

The House of Eve is a compelling tale that sweeps you away to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., during the early 1950s and into the lives of two Black women; Ruby Pearsall, a high school junior who dreams of winning one of only two scholarships so she can attend university and become an ophthalmologist until her love for a local Jewish boy puts a little wrench in her plans, and Eleanor Quarles, a Howard University sophomore whose love for a wealthy medical student and an unexpected pregnancy opens her eyes to a world she never knew existed and a social hierarchy she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to climb.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are genuine, multilayered, and vulnerable. And the plot is a beautifully written, poignant tale about life, loss, courage, hope, dreams, motherhood, poverty, racial discrimination, inequality, forbidden love, adoption, familial drama, and the heartbreak and struggles of infertility.

In 2021, Johnson’s previous novel, The Yellow Wife, was one of my favourite novels of the year, and it’s safe to say The House of Eve will be on that list for 2023. It’s a powerful, emotional, masterfully woven tale that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the personalities, feelings, and lives of the characters you can’t help but be completely absorbed and fully invested.

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 for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sadeqa Johnson

Sadeqa Johnson is the award-winning author of four novels. Her accolades include being the recipient of the National Book Club Award, the Phillis Wheatley Award and the USA Best Book Award for best fiction. She is a Kimbilo Fellow, former board member of the James River Writers, and a Tall Poppy Writer. Originally from Philadelphia, she currently lives near Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and three children.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #DearMissHermione #OfMannersandMurder #AnastasiaHastings #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #DearMissHermione #OfMannersandMurder #AnastasiaHastings #SMPInfluencers Title: Of Manners and Murder

Author: Anastasia Hastings

Series: Dear Miss Hermione #1

Published by: Minotaur Books on Feb. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8/10

Of Manners and Murder is the first in the delightful new Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings.

1885: London, England. When Violet’s Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, “Miss Hermione,” in Violet’s hands.

And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she finds that Ivy is already dead.

She’ll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course.

Review:

Atmospheric, mysterious, and delightfully entertaining!

Of Manners and Murder is a playful, engaging tale set in England during 1885 that features Violet Manville, a spirited bluestocking who, after her Aunt Adelia heads to the Continent on vacation leaving her in charge of the “Dear Miss Hermione” column, finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery with the most unusual suspects after travelling to Willingdale to meet up with a young woman who wrote to her in fear for her life only to discover when she arrives there that she’s already dead.

The writing style is light and witty. The characters are intelligent, adventurous, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, compelling whodunit full of red herrings, amateur sleuthing, tricky situations, awkward moments, deduction, danger, attraction, and a touch of romance.

Of Manners and Murder is the first book in the Dear Miss Hermione series, and if you love historical mysteries/romances, this novel won’t disappoint. It is an amusing, enjoyable, cosy read that is the first novel I’ve read by Hasting but undoubtedly won’t be my last.

 

This novel is available February 7, 2023.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Anastasia Hastings

ANASTASIA HASTINGS is a penname for Connie Laux who has, over a thirty-year career, published 65 novels in a number of different genres and under a number of names.

She began her career writing historical romance, and has also written contemporary romance, YA, and a children's book. Over fifteen years ago, she set her sights on writing in her favorite genre, mystery, and since then has published 30+ mysteries for Minotaur and Penguin Random House.

As Kylie Logan, she wrote the Jazz Ramsey books for Minotaur as well as a number of cozy mysteries for Berkley, including the League of Literary Ladies series, the Ethnic Eats series, and the Button Box mysteries. She's also written the Haunted Mansion mysteries as Lucy Ness and the Love is Murder mysteries (set in a romance bookstore) as Mimi Granger. As Casey Daniels, she authored the Pepper Martin mysteries, a series in which she put her knowledge of old cemeteries and the paranormal to good use.

She is a Sherlock Holmes devotee, a Victorian England aficionado, and she enjoys learning about history as it applies to the everyday lives of the people who lived it. Connie learned to love mysteries at an early age thanks to her dad who was a Cleveland Police detective. He not only introduced her to the Holmes stories, he took her along on his days off and they went in search of stolen cars.

Connie lives outside of Cleveland with her husband, David, and her Airedale, Eliot Ness, who is a ribbon-winning show dog when he's outside and a couch potato when he's home.

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#BookReview The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheMitfordAffair #MarieBenedict #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheMitfordAffair #MarieBenedict #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Mitford Affair

Author: Marie Benedict

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Jan. 17, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict—she’ll have to choose: her country or her sisters?

Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they’ve weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister’s lead, inciting rumors that she’s become Hitler’s own mistress.

Novelist Nancy Mitford is the only member of her family to keep in touch with Diana and Unity after their desertion, so it falls to her to act when her sisters become spies for the Nazi party.

Probing the torrid political climate of World War II and the ways that sensible people can be sucked into radical action, The Mitford Affair follows Nancy’s valiant efforts to end the war and the cost of placing loyalty to her country above loyalty to her family.

Review:

Engaging, informative, and colourful!

The Mitford Affair is a timely, intriguing tale set in England in the 1930s, pre-WWII, that takes you into the lives of the Mitford family, specifically three of the six sisters. Nancy, a novelist and the oldest of the siblings whose concern for the family’s political leanings she expresses through her writing and through information she secretly gathers and shares with her cousin Winston Churchill; Diana, a true beauty whose love for the fascist movement leads to the destruction of her marriage to the Guinness heir yet facilitates an ambivalent relationship with the founder of the British Union of Fascists, and perhaps even more controversial a friendship with the Führer of Germany; and Unity, one of the youngest of the sisters who through her all-consuming Nazi obsession becomes one of Hitler’s closest companions until war is declared and tragedy ultimately strikes.

The prose is smooth and precise. The characters are spirited, self-indulgent, and cultured. And the plot is an evocative tale of life, loss, love, self-discovery, passion, war, secrets, friendship, determination, betrayal, treachery, family, espionage, and manipulation.

Overall, The Mitford Affair is an alluring, insightful, compelling novel by Benedict that does a spectacular job of highlighting her incredible knowledge and research into these fascinating historical figures whose complex lives, relationships, and political alliances are often unknown, overlooked, or perhaps just long forgotten.

 

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 Marie Benedict

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator at two of the country's premier law firms and Fortune 500 companies. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College with a focus on history and a cum laude graduate of the Boston University School of Law. She is the author of New York Times bestseller The Only Woman in the Room, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa @ArmandoCorrea @SimonSchusterCA @AtriaBooks #TheNightTravelers #ArmandoLucasCorrea #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa @ArmandoCorrea @SimonSchusterCA @AtriaBooks #TheNightTravelers #ArmandoLucasCorrea #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Night Travelers

Author: Armando Lucas Correa

Published by: Atria Books on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Four generations of women experience love, loss, war, and hope from the rise of Nazism to the Cuban Revolution and finally, the fall of the Berlin Wall in this sweeping novel from the bestselling author of The German Girl.

Berlin, 1931: Ally Keller, a talented young poet, is alone and scared when she gives birth to a mixed-race daughter she names Lilith. As the Nazis rise to power, Ally knows she must keep her baby in the shadows to protect her against Hitler’s deadly ideology of Aryan purity. But as she grows, it becomes more and more difficult to keep Lilith hidden so Ally sets in motion a dangerous and desperate plan to send her daughter across the ocean to safety.

Havana, 1958: Now an adult, Lilith has few memories of her mother or her childhood in Germany. Besides, she’s too excited for her future with her beloved Martin, a Cuban pilot with strong ties to the Batista government. But as the flames of revolution ignite, Lilith and her newborn daughter, Nadine, find themselves at a terrifying crossroads.

Berlin, 1988: As a scientist in Berlin, Nadine is dedicated to ensuring the dignity of the remains of all those who were murdered by the Nazis. Yet she has spent her entire lifetime avoiding the truth about her own family’s history. It takes her daughter, Luna, to encourage Nadine to uncover the truth about the choices her mother and grandmother made to ensure the survival of their children. And it will fall to Luna to come to terms with a shocking betrayal that changes everything she thought she knew about her family’s past.

Separated by time but united by sacrifice, four women embark on journeys of self-discovery and find themselves to be living testaments to the power of motherly love.

Review:

Compelling, rich, and moving!

The Night Travelers is a heartbreaking, alluring tale that transports you between Germany, Cuba, and the USA from 1931 to 2015 and immerses you in all the oppression, tragedy, emotions, memories, racism, and scars that mar and define the multi-generational women of the Keller family.

The prose is fluid and expressive. The characters are wounded, selfless, and intelligent. And the plot is a tender tale about life, loss, love, grief, forgiveness, sacrifice, friendship, courage, hope, romance, the unbreakable ties that bind us as family, and the horrors of both WWII and the Cuban Revolution.

Overall, The Night Travelers is an atmospheric, absorbing, heartfelt tale by Correa that does a beautiful job of highlighting his exceptional ability to portray complex, memorable characters and historically troubling times in such a way that is not only impactful but stays with you long after you finish the final page.

 

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 Armando Lucas Correa

Armando Lucas Correa is an award-winning journalist, editor, author, and the recipient of several awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications and the Society of Professional Journalism. He is the author of the international bestseller The German Girl, which is now being published in thirteen languages. He lives in New York City with his partner and their three children.

Photograph by Héctor O. Torres.

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#BookReview The Other Daughter by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOtherDaughter #CarolineBishop

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#BookReview The Other Daughter by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOtherDaughter #CarolineBishop Title: The Other Daughter

Author: Caroline Bishop

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A timely novel about an ambitious London journalist who reports on the fight for women’s rights in 1970s Switzerland, and the daughter who uncovers the long-buried truth about the assignment years later—for fans of Genevieve Graham and Heather Marshall.

2016

Jess is at a crossroads in life. In her late thirties, all she has to show for it is a broken marriage and a job teaching a bunch of uninterested kids. But when she discovers a shocking secret about her late mother, Sylvia, Jess begins to question all she’s ever known. Her search for answers leads to a 1970s article about women’s rights in Switzerland that Sylvia wrote when she was a young journalist. But to uncover the real story of what happened all those years ago, Jess will have to go to Switzerland and find someone who knew her mother…

1976

Sylvia’s life is on track. She has a loving fiancé and her dream job as a features writer in a busy London newsroom—if only her editor would give her the chance to write about something important instead of relegating her to fashion, flowers, and celebrities. When Sylvia learns about the growing women’s liberation movement in Switzerland, where women only recently got the right to vote, she knows the story could be her big break. There’s just one wrinkle: she’s pregnant.

Determined to put her career first, Sylvia travels to Switzerland, and as she meets the courageous band of women fighting for their rights, she stumbles across an even bigger scoop, one that would make her male colleagues take her seriously. But telling the story will change her—and her baby’s—life forever.

Inspired by an important chapter of women’s history, The Other Daughter is an unforgettable novel about the bond between mothers and daughters—and the fight of women, generations over, for the freedom to choose their own path.

Review:

Astute, tender, and nostalgic!

The Other Daughter is a layered, intriguing tale set in Europe during 1976, as well as 2016, that is told from two different perspectives; Jess, a young woman who journeys to Switzerland after her mother’s death to unravel the secrets of her birth, and Sylvia, a writer who after travelling abroad to cover women’s rights not only befriends a wonderful group of courageous women but also unexpectedly delivers her baby girl early resulting in a turn of events that will ultimately have heart-shattering consequences.

The prose is reflective and sweet. The characters are troubled, inquisitive, and endearing. And the plot using a past/present, back-and-forth style, intertwines and unravels effortlessly into a touching tale of life, loss, family, friendship, drama, emotion, secrets, heartbreak, passion, self-discovery, and love.

Overall, The Other Daughter is a heartfelt, sentimental, affecting read by Bishop that does a lovely job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into an insightful, heart-tugging tale that is atmospheric and highly absorbing.

 

This book 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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Caroline Bishop

Caroline Bishop is a journalist, an editor, and the author of two novels, The Other Daughter and The Lost Chapter. For the past fifteen years, she has written about travel, food, and theatre for many publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, and BBC Travel. A British-Canadian, she currently lives in Switzerland.

Photo courtesy of S&S website.

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#BookReview The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester @HBGCanada @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForever2022 #NatashaLester #TheThreeLivesofAlixStPierre #HBGCanada

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#BookReview The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester @HBGCanada @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForever2022 #NatashaLester #TheThreeLivesofAlixStPierre #HBGCanada Title: The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre

Author: Natasha Lester

Published by: Forever on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: Hardcover

Source: Forever, HBG Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

New York Times bestselling author Natasha Lester delivers an unforgettable story of an orphan turned WWII spy turned fashion icon in Paris—perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Fiona Davis.
 
Alix St. Pierre. An unforgettable name for an unforgettable woman. She grew up surrounded by Hollywood glamor, but, as an orphan, never truly felt part of that world. In 1943, with WWII raging and men headed overseas to fight, she lands a publicity job to recruit women into the workforce. Her skills—persuasion, daring, quick-witted under pressure—catch the attention of the U.S. government and she finds herself with an even bigger assignment: sent to Switzerland as a spy. Soon Alix is on the precipice of something big, very big. But how far can she trust her German informant…?
 
After an Allied victory that didn’t come nearly soon enough, Alix moves to Paris, ready to immerse herself in a new position as director of publicity for the yet-to-be-launched House of Dior. In the glamorous halls of the French fashion house, she can nearly forget everything she lost and the dangerous secret she carries. But when a figure from the war reappears and threatens to destroy her future, Alix realizes that only she can right the wrongs of the past …and finally find justice.

Review:

Sincere, vivid, and engaging!

The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre is a gripping, heartfelt story set predominantly in Switzerland and France between 1942 and 1947 that takes you into the life of Alix St. Pierre, a young woman who spends the last few years of the war working for the OSS as a spy in Bern helping to create a secure courier line for the Italian partisans, and the next few years post WWII working as hard as she can to make the new Maison Christian Dior a worldwide phenomenon as his Directrice of the Service de la Presse while also using her spare time to hunt down the Nazi informant who shattered her world and left her responsible for the needless slaughtering of nine lives, two of whom she deeply cared for.

The prose is polished and eloquent. The characters are driven, tormented, and resilient. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel effortlessly into a sweeping saga of life, loss, heartbreak, betrayal, secrets, espionage, danger, survival, tragedy, friendship, and a touch of romance.

As a historical fiction lover for the past few years Natasha Lester’s books have been some of my all-time favourites, and even though I didn’t think it was possible to love another one of her books more than the ones I’ve already read, she proved me wrong. The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre is an unbelievable story that captured me from the very first page, and not only did I devour it, I absolutely loved it!

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to HBG Canada & Forever for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Natasha Lester

Natasha Lester is a USA Today, internationally best-selling author. Prior to writing, she worked as a marketing executive for L’Oreal, managing the Maybelline brand, before returning to university to study creative writing.

Her first historical novel, the bestselling A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald, was published in 2016. This was followed by Her Mother’s Secret in 2017 and The Paris Seamstress in 2018. The French Photographer is her latest book (note: this will be published as The Paris Orphan in North America in September 2019).

Natasha's books have been published in the US, the UK, Australia and throughout Europe. She lives in Perth, Western Australia with her 3 children and loves travelling, Paris, vintage fashion and, of course, books.

Photograph courtesy of Goodreads Author Page.

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#BookReview The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan @ReneeRyanBooks @Harlequinbooks #TheSecretSocietyOfSalzburg #ReneeRyan #LoveInspired

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#BookReview The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan @ReneeRyanBooks @Harlequinbooks #TheSecretSocietyOfSalzburg #ReneeRyan #LoveInspired Title: The Secret Society of Salzburg

Author: Renee Ryan

Published by: Love Inspired on Dec. 27, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Harlequin Books

Book Rating: 9/10

London, 1933. At first glance, Austrian opera singer Elsa Mayer-Braun has little in common with the young English typist she encounters on tour. Yet she and Hattie Featherstone forge an instant connection—and strike a dangerous alliance. Using their friendship as a cover, they form a secret society with a daring goal: to rescue as many Jews as possible from Nazi persecution.

Though the war’s outbreak threatens Elsa and Hattie’s network, their efforts attract the covert attention of the British government, offering more opportunities to thwart the Germans. But Elsa’s growing fame as Hitler’s favorite opera singer, coupled with her secret Jewish ancestry, make her both a weapon and a target—until her future, too, hangs in the balance.

From the glamorous stages of Covent Garden and Salzburg to the horrors of Bergen-Belsen, two ordinary women swept up by the tide of war discover an extraordinary friendship—and the courage to save countless lives.

Review:

Compelling, intense, and absorbing!

The Secret Society of Salzburg is a charged, intriguing tale set between the mid-1930s to the end of WWII that takes you into the lives of Hattie Fetherstone, a young British artist with a love for opera and a kind heart, and Elsa Mayer-Braun, an Austrian operatic singer, who after befriending a devoted fan and discovering just how dangerous the world is about to become, creates a network with the help of her new friends to transport as many Jewish people as possible out of Nazi-occupied Europe to the safety of the United Kingdom.

The prose is fluid and rich. The characters are resourceful, loyal, and trustworthy. And the plot is a captivating mix of life, love, loss, secrets, passion, heartbreak, betrayal, tragedy, survival, danger, friendship, art, opera, and war.

Overall, The Secret Society of Salzburg is an enticing, heart-tugging, atmospheric tale by Ryan that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the feelings, lives, and personalities of the characters you can’t help but be fully engrossed and completely invested throughout.

 

This novel is available now.

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

                

 

 

Thank you to Harlequin Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Renee Ryan

Renee Ryan grew up in a Florida beach town outside Jacksonville, FL. Armed with a degree in Economics and Religion from Florida State University, she explored various career opportunities, including stints at a Florida theme park and a modeling agency. She currently lives in Savannah, Georgia with her husband and a large, fluffy cat many have mistaken for a small bear.

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