Posted on by Maureen · 1 Comment

The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe

51o3tkgzznlI received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading novels set in the 19th century. I was not familiar with Anita Hemmings, the first African American woman to graduate from Vassar College, and I was intrigued by the premise of Karin Tanabe’s The Gilded Years.

Anita Hemmings is considered to be one of the great beauties of the class of 1897 at Vassar. She seems to have it all: she is a talented singer, and a gifted scholar. But Anita is hiding a terrible secret: her skin is light enough to pass as white, but she is actually a black woman. At the end of the 19th century, there are very few colleges that admit black women, and Vassar is not one of them. If anyone found out the truth about Anita, it would ruin her. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Time of Fog and Fire by Rhys Bowen

51n2bywxp8rlI received a copy of the Audible edition of Time of Fog and Fire in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy mysteries, and I have listened to the audiobook versions of some of them. I have enjoyed my previous experiences, so I was excited about the opportunity to listen to Time of Fog and Fire.

Molly (Murphy) Sullivan has halfheartedly tried to put her detective work behind her in the years following her marriage and the birth of her son, but there is always a mystery to be solved. An acquaintance insists that she has seen her husband in a newsreel featuring San Francisco, but he had no plans to be in San Francisco. Molly agrees to watch the newsreel, and is shocked to see her own Daniel in the newsreel as well. Molly knows Daniel is on assignment, but he is not supposed to be in San Francisco either. As if that were not odd enough, Molly receives an odd letter from Daniel saying things that seem very out of character. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Of Better Blood by Susan Moger

51kh9wdtaylI received a copy of this book from Albert Whitman & Company/Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy reading young adult historical fiction, so I was very excited about the opportunity to read Of Better Blood. Author Susan Moger has written several educational books and teaching materials, but this is her first novel.

Rowan Collier comes from a “good” family. She lives with her father and older sister in relative affluence, but that all changes when she contracts polio at the age of 11.   Five years later, Rowan has regained the strength in her paralyzed leg, and she can walk with a cane. She never returned home after her diagnosis, and has spent all that time living in various hospitals. When the story begins, she is spending the summer in the most humiliating way: playing the role of the “crippled” daughter in a traveling production about Fitter Families sponsored by a eugenics council. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

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I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

My town library has a section of books for sale for $1 apiece. On a recent trip, I saw four- that’s right- FOUR Deanna Raybourn books on the shelf. Her Lady Julia mysteries had been on my radar, so I was very excited to find four them in like-new condition. I have a rather large to-read pile, and before I had a chance to read them, I received an opportunity to read an advanced copy of Raybourn’s newest book, A Curious Beginning.

I was ridiculously excited about this, and I absolutely devoured the book. A Curious Beginning introduces us to Veronica Speedwell. As the story begins, Veronica is burying her last remaining guardian. This sets off a chain of events including but not limited to: a ransacked cottage, an attempted abduction, a rescue by an German baron who claimed to know her mother, and her introduction a gentleman named Stoker. When the baron is found murdered, Veronica and Stoker must flee before they are implicated for the crime. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Queen of Tomorrow by Sherry Ficklin

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I am not familiar with Sherry Ficklin’s other books, but I love young adult books and I love historical fiction, so I was excited about the opportunity to read Queen of Tomorrow.

Queen of Tomorrow is the second book in Ficklin’s Stolen Empires series. Catherine is a young girl married to the heir to the Russian throne. Court life is full of intrigue, and plots, and forbidden dalliances. Catherine knows that she needs to produce an heir in order to ensure the continuation of the dynasty, but her husband Peter is wholly unsuitable, thanks to his mercurial temperament. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Audacity by Melanie Crowder

I love browsing the new release shelves at my local library. I often request books through the library network, but the new release shelves are a great place to find books that might not have been on my radar. This is where I found Audacity, a book of free verse poetry for young adults by Melanie Crowder.

Audacity is a fictionalization of Clara Lemlich’s life. The story begins at the beginning of the 20th century in the Pale of Settlement, the portion of Russian land in which Jewish families are allowed to live. While Clara’s father and brothers devote their days to studying the Torah, Clara secretly learns Russian. She has always had a love for learning, and Russian unlocks a world of literature and learning that is not accessible via her native Yiddish. When her father discovers her Russian books, he burns them. When the Russians burn down their village in a pogrom, the family makes their way to America. Read more