Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

#BookReview The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah @RaincoastBooks @StMartinsPress #TheFourWinds #KristinHannah

#BookReview The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah @RaincoastBooks @StMartinsPress #TheFourWinds #KristinHannah Title: The Four Winds

Author: Kristin Hannah

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Feb. 2, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 464

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Raincoast Books

Book Rating: 10/10

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression.

Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.


Review:

Gritty, insightful, and incredibly atmospheric!

The Four Winds is an intriguing tale that sweeps you away to Dalhart, Texas during the 1920s – 1930s, when the country is reeling from the great depression and the townsfolk of West Texas must decide to continue to struggle to maintain their livelihoods, identities, and health through the relentless heat, devastating wind storms, and catastrophic droughts or relocate to the lushness of California where water is plentiful, the land is fertile, but survival may be just as difficult or worse.

The prose is poetic and lyrical. The main characters are strong, resilient, and hardworking. And the plot is an enthralling, emotional saga filled with life, loss, self-discovery, motherhood, familial drama, social stratification, poverty, tragedy, discrimination, inequality, heartbreak, courage, romance, and friendship.

Overall, The Four Winds is another exquisitely written, exceptionally detailed, beautiful novel by Hannah that I absolutely adored, and is undoubtedly going to be a big hit with historical fiction fans and book clubs everywhere.

This novel is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kristin Hannah

KRISTIN HANNAH is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds. A former lawyer turned writer, she lives with her husband in the Pacific Northwest.

Photo by Kevin Lynch.

#BookReview The Temptation of Gracie by Santa Montefiore @SantaMontefiore @SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview The Temptation of Gracie by Santa Montefiore @SantaMontefiore @SimonSchusterCA Title: The Temptation of Gracie

Author: Santa Montefiore

Published by: Simon & Schuster UK on Apr. 16, 2019

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Love may be lost, but it’s not gone forever.

When Gracie Burton stumbles upon a weeklong cooking course at Castello Montefosco, a castle in the sun-kissed Tuscan countryside, she cannot resist the opportunity to revisit the past she left behind in Italy. Since her husband’s death eight years earlier, Gracie has grown apart from her daughter, Carina, a high-powered businesswoman in London and her granddaughter, Anastasia, who would rather spend her time on her phone than with her family, but both women decide to join her. Little do they know that a lifetime of secrets await them in Italy.

Over the course of the week, Gracie reveals the truth about what has drawn her back to the castle and its owner, the mysterious Count Bassanelli. Carina and Anastasia are shocked to discover that Gracie spent fifteen years in Italy as an apprentice to her uncle, a renowned art restorer and collector. While there, she fell madly in love. Now, forty-one years later, she has returned in hopes of righting past wrongs. With the help of Mamma Bernadetta’s magical recipes and the kindness of her fellow guests, Gracie reconnects with her family and together, all three women learn that love once lost, is not gone forever.

The Temptation of Gracie is a poignant, timeless tale of grand romance, a story of women through the generations, and a reminder that it’s never too late to love.


Review:

Atmospheric, immersive, and delightfully moving!

The Temptation of Gracie is a classic, magical tale that sweeps you away to Tuscany, Italy and into the life of Gracie Burton, as she revisits the past, repairs strained relationships, forges new friendships, and searches for love long lost.

The prose is seamless and lush. The characters are complex, independent, and memorable. And the plot moves between past and present effortlessly spinning a beautifully tender, beguiling tale of life, loss, family, friendship, revelations, secrets, guilt, forbidden love, art, passion, and food.

Once again with The Temptation of Gracie, Montefiore has written another skillfully plotted, multi-generational, family saga that has just the right amount of intrigue, colourful history, and enduring passion to be pleasing to both lovers of historical fiction and romance.

 

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

 

About Santa Montefiore

Santa Montefiore’s books have been translated into twenty languages and have sold more than four million copies in England and Europe. She is married to writer Simon Sebag Montefiore. They live with their two children, Lily and Sasha, in London.

Photograph by Santa Montefiore

#BookReview Daughters of Castle Deverill by Santa Montefiore @SantaMontefiore @SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview Daughters of Castle Deverill by Santa Montefiore @SantaMontefiore @SimonSchusterCA Title: Daughters of Castle Deverill

Author: Santa Montefiore

Series: Deverill Chronicles #2

Published by: Simon & Schuster UK on Sep. 4, 2018

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 592

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The second book in the #1 international bestselling series about the powerful ties between three women and their determination to return home.

The war is over. But life will never be the same…

It is 1925 and Castle Deverill has burned to the ground. War and deception have divided the daughters of Ireland, but Celia vows to return her ancestral home to its former glory. Kitty raises a young family but longs for something more, and Bridie flourishes as a New York socialite consumed by revenge. Celia works to reunite her childhood friends and restore the place they once called home, but soon everything she knows is cast into doubt as the Great Depression looms.

In the second installment of Santa Montefiore’s sweeping generational epic, Celia, Kitty, and Bridie must once again face the dark shadows of history. Daughters of Castle Deverill is an unforgettable story of enduring friendship and the inner strength needed to start again.

Previously published in the US as The Daughters of Ireland.


Review:

Epic, intriguing, and mesmeric!

Daughters of Castle Deverill is a meticulous, fascinating tale that picks up where Songs of Love and War left off, taking us back to south-east Ireland during 1925 where Kitty is raising her father’s illegitimate child, Birdie has returned wealthy and intent on claiming her son, and Celia is determined to restore Castle Deverill to a more luxurious version no matter the cost.

The prose is polished and rich. The characters are flawed, driven, eccentric, and alluring. And the exceptionally compelling, well-paced plot is filled with familial dynamics, drama, emotion, self-discovery, secrets, revelations, love, loss, heartbreak, courage, duty, and passion all surrounded by authentic historical events of the time.

Once again with Daughters of Castle Deverill (Deverill Chronicles #2), Montefiore has written a novel that showcases her extraordinary talent as a writer and her passion for history in a tale that sweeps you away to another time and place and leaves you yearning for more. It’s a beautifully written, romantic, heartwarming tale that grabs you from the very first page and leaves you eagerly awaiting the final novel in the series, The Last Secret of the Deverills, due to be published in Canada in January 2019.

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

 

About Santa Montefiore

Santa Montefiore’s books have been translated into twenty languages and have sold more than four million copies in England and Europe. She is married to writer Simon Sebag Montefiore. They live with their two children, Lily and Sasha, in London.

Photograph by Santa Montefiore

#BookReview Songs of Love and War by Santa Montefiore @SantaMontefiore @SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview Songs of Love and War by Santa Montefiore @SantaMontefiore @SimonSchusterCA Title: Songs of Love and War

Author: Santa Montefiore

Series: Deverill Chronicles #1

Published by: Simon & Schuster UK on Feb. 13, 2018

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 528

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The #1 international bestseller about the enduring bond between three women and the castle they will never forget.

Their lives were mapped out ahead of them. But love and war will change everything…

It’s the early 1900s and Castle Deverill stands staunchly untouched by time, hidden away in the rolling Irish hills. Within the castle walls, three friends have formed a close bond: affluent, flame-haired Kitty Deverill; Bridie Doyle, Kitty’s best friend and daughter of the castle’s cook; and Celia Deverill, Kitty’s flamboyant English cousin. They’ve grown up together, always sheltered from the conflict embroiling the rest of the country. But when Bridie learns of a secret Kitty has been keeping, their idyllic world is forever torn apart.

Later, the three women scatter to different parts of the globe. Kitty must salvage what she can before Castle Deverill and everything she has ever known is reduced to ash. Songs of Love and War is an epic generational saga about the lasting bonds of true friendship and the powerful ties we all have to the place we call home.

Previously published in the US as The Girl in the Castle.


Review:

Insightful, riveting, and incredibly atmospheric!

Songs of Love and War is an intriguing tale that sweeps you to Co. Cork in the early 1900s when Ireland is full of unrest and upheaval not only due to the Great War being waged on the fields of Europe but in their own countryside where the simmering anger and need for self-identity, patriotism, and independence from Anglo rule are about to come to a head.

The prose is poetic and vividly described. The three main characters Kitty, Birdie, and Celia are strong and independent, and their lives are bound and entangled together by the magnificent Castle Deverill that graces the Irish hillside and in some way each calls home. And the plot is an engaging saga filled with self-discovery, familial drama, social stratification, spiritual occurrences, tragedy, heartbreak, romance, war, life, loss, and friendship.

Songs of Love and War is an exquisitely written, exceptionally detailed, beautiful start to a trilogy that is sure to be a big hit with historical fiction fans and book clubs everywhere, and you can be sure that Daughters of Castle Deverill, Deverill Chronicles #2, is already on my TBR list.

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

 

About Santa Montefiore

Santa Montefiore’s books have been translated into twenty languages and have sold more than four million copies in England and Europe. She is married to writer Simon Sebag Montefiore. They live with their two children, Lily and Sasha, in London.

Photograph by Santa Montefiore