Giveaway

This post is also a giveaway post. If you live in the United States or Canada and would like the chance to win a copy of The Winter Palace, please leave a comment to this post. This giveaway is open to entries until Wednesday, January 18. I will announce the winner the next day. Good luck!

Without further interruption, here is Eva Stachniak’s  wonderful post about the connection between historical fiction and research:

On writing historical novels and the temptations of research

I’ve long suspected that indiscriminate research is the ultimate writer’s excuse. If writing becomes hard, there are always all those wonderful books to read and places to visit, all related with the novel and thus guilt-free.

When I decided to write a novel about Catherine the Great I knew of at least eight excellent biographies of her, in addition to her own Memoirs, letters, and plays. A quick search through academic databases unearthed a seemingly unending bibliography of scholarly articles, on every aspect of her reign. If that was not enough I took a trip to St. Petersburg, for I could not imagine writing about Catherine without seeing the place where she spent most of her life.

My notebook quickly filled with descriptions: of the Winter Palace and the Hermitage, paintings Catherine collected, objects she touched: cameos, engraved stones, her china collection, her jewels. Then came the palaces where Catherine spent her summers: Oranienbaum, Tsarskoye Selo, and Peterhof. And the small Monplaisir pavilion where Alexei Orlov woke the then Grand Duchess of Russia up on June 28, 1762 to take her to the capital where she would proclaim herself Empress.

How do you contain all this?

In the end it was one sentence from Catherine’s letter to the British ambassador in Russia which saved me from despair. The ruling empress Elizabeth Petrovna’s health has just begun to fail when Catherine wrote: Three people who never leave her room, and who do not know about one another, inform me of what is going on, and will not fail to acquaint me when the crucial moment arrives.

The crucial moment was to be the death of the empress. But who were the spies who will not fail to inform her? The moment I began thinking of these spies I realized that I’ll have to write two novels, the first narrated by one of the spies who helped the young Catherine in the long and dangerous way to power, the second narrated by the older Catherine, at the end of her life, an empress and mistress of many spies. The Winter Palace is the first of the two, The Empire of the Night—which I am working on now—will be next.

The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald

Published by: Random House

Published on: August 16, 2011 (paperback)

Page Count: 448

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent by the publisher in order to participate in this book tour

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook, audioboook

Today it is my great pleasure to be Lisa Grunwald’s host on her TLC Book Tour. This tour is to celebrate her novel, The Irresistible Henry House.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

My Review

There was once a time when home economics was taught on American college campuses. During the last few decades of that time, there were college campuses that offered courses in carrying for infants that used actual babies. These babies were cared for by any number of student mothers for a year or more and then returned to the orphanage to be placed for adoption in a permanent home. At the time, no one considered how this might impact the child. After all, these babies were loved by several mothers. If one mother is good, more can only be better. Henry House was one of those practice babies.

In the afterward of  The Irresistible Henry House, Lisa Grunwald explains how finding a photo of an actual practice baby created that spark that eventually became this novel. From that adorable photo, she weaved an often compelling story about an infant who received excellent care but never had the solid, unconditional emotional anchor that a parent provides. As a child, he was always “on,” playing the boy expected of him by the current caregiver. He never had the luxury of self discovery. When you can’t be yourself, you can’t give of yourself, no matter how much another person demands it. Grunwald’s writing and the storytelling created a sharp image of life at a Practice House. I could almost feel the uncomfortable stress in that prefabricated home on my fingertips as I turned the pages.

Growing up in an age where people lobby against and protest the use of animals in any kind of experiment, it was shocking to begin reading this novel and discovering its premise. Actual babies were once used to teach college women how to care for a baby and run a home. How is it that anyone in a place of higher education could have conceived that this would be a good idea? I raced through the first half of this novel almost feverishly because I had to know more. Martha Gaines, the woman who ran the Practice House where Henry was brought as a near newborn was so fascinating. She is the type of woman who cannot function without order and logic, yet she takes all of the pain of a failed marriage and a still born child and places that burden on the top of Henry’s head. As a parent I’ve learned that having children requires me to die to myself in a very real way. Martha was incapable of doing that. She made sure to keep Henry with her as her not quite adopted son so that he might fix what was broken inside of her. Henry, caught up in the drama of so many different broken mothers, had to find his own way to cope.

The novel was at its best when Henry had to deal with Martha front and center. As Martha’s sphere of influence weakened, the national and world events that occurred during Henry’s young adult and older took a more prominent place. As much as I enjoyed and appreciated the historical figures that patched together Henry’s adulthood, it felt empty. Henry’s access to several interesting pop culture places in time was made possible by his smooth charm and resourcefulness, but without Martha to fight against, it seemed that Henry ambled through life without concrete purpose or meaning.

Although the second half of the book never achieved the “I must read just one more page” frenzy I experienced through the first half, I enjoyed The Irresistible Henry House. Throughout my reading, there was so much that gave me pause to think and question. I wish I wasn’t reading it alone. I wanted to know if others felt what I felt or saw what I saw. If your book club were to chose The Irresistible Henry House, you’d find that Lisa Grunwald will provide you with the foundation for an excellent discussion.

You know how I felt about Henry. Why not check out what my fellow hostesses have to say?

Lisa Grunwald’s TLC Book Tours Tour Stops:

Monday, August 8th:  Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, August 10th:  Knowing the Difference

Thursday, August 11th:  The Broke and the Bookish

Monday, August 15th:  Nomad Reader

Tuesday, August 16th:  Luxury Reading

Wednesday, August 17th:  Jenn’s Bookshelves

Thursday, August 18th:  Melody & Words

Monday, August 22nd:  A Bookshelf Monstrosity

Wednesday, August 24th:  BookNAround

Thursday, August 25th:  Life in Review

Monday, August 29th:  Book Club Classics

Wednesday, August 31st:  Write Meg!

Faith

Published by: Harper

Published on: May 2011

Page Count: 336

Genre: fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by the publisher for me to participate in the author’s book tour.

Available Formats: Hardcover & eBook

Today it is my great pleasure to be Jennifer Haigh’s host on her TLC Book Tour. This tour is to celebrate her new novel, Faith.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

My Review

I am a cradle Catholic. My parents were always active in our local parish. We even attended what we called Family Camp, a week long family retreat run by Fr. R, a Roman Catholic priest I loved to death. With all the typical boredom associated with having to go to Mass every week and not a small amount of ever-present guilt, my faith life, that of my family and that of our family’s friends was a stable, comforting and accepting place to grow up. It wasn’t until I was an adult when the sexual abuse scandals hit home. I believe I was in college when Fr. R, a man who made faith tangible to me, was forced out of the priesthood because of sexual misconduct. This revelation devastated me. I loved him, but what he did sickened me. How to reconcile that? Then, not too many years ago, my Dad called me. I love him, but he never calls me with good news. He called to let me know that the priest who led me through Confirmation and got me involved in the Church in a more adult capacity had been defrocked because of sexual abuse that took place during his early priesthood. Again, how do you reconcile a man you loved with a man who harmed and terrorized other children? When you continue to love the man who did these things, you feel like a traitor to those who suffered. Turning your back on him makes you feel like a traitor to all of the good things he brought into your life. It’s my experience that the Church’s child sex abuse scandals hurts each and everyone of us. It is this personal experience that I brought to the table when I began reading Faith.

Sheila McGann, the oldest child from her mother’s second marriage, rarely returns home to Boston. Although she loves her brothers, Art Breen from her mother’s first marriage, and Mike, her younger full-brother, she has escaped from the dysfunction of growing up in an alcoholic father and a devoutly Catholic mother. It is no secret to either Shelia or Mike that their mother favors her oldest son. Art was much older than both of them. He joined the seminary when they were little. On top of that, Sheila has long since left the church and is unmarried, much to her mother’s disapproval. She is obligated to return to Boston when she discovers that her brother has been accused of sexually abusing a young boy who was in his care. Sheila, knowing her brother like she does, does not believe Art to be capable of such an atrocity. While one might think that this would bring mother and daughter closer together, it does not. Sheila’s convictions also put her at odds with Mike. He questions Art’s innocence so much that he attempts to investigate the case and learn for sure one way or the other. As the father of three sons, he can’t stomach the idea of anyone abusing little children and living. Even the bonds that do exist in the McGann family are hobbled by the news.

This is my first Jennifer Haigh novel, so I didn’t anymore know what to expect from her writing than I did from her approach to this subject matter. I was blown away by the beauty of her words. There was something so familiar about her turns of phrase and about the way she unraveled this story of abuse and family secrets. I simply couldn’t resist reading with a pen in hand to mark especially meaningful passages. I’d like to share two of  them with you:

In my fantasy we sit together in her quiet kitchen, just us two. I open my heart to her and lay it on the table between us. I am still child enough to wish it were possible, adult enough to know it isn’t. We are too much ourselves, the people we have always been. (page 22)

Art’s news was unspeakable, by him or by anyone. I didn’t take this personally. If I felt excluded, injured and aggrieved, that bolus of emotion was at least familiar. It attends all my dealings with my family, and theirs with me. Every one of us limps from old wounds. In a perverse way, they entertain us. We poke each other’s tender places with a stick. (page 82)

The sexual abuse scandals leave the Catholic Church vulnerable and most deserving of vicious attack. I was prepared for the worst. What I got was an insightful piece of literature that honestly reflects the complexities involved with the Church’s deepest shame. It is written from Sheila’s point of view as a confessional memoir. She gleans what she can from those directly involved and intuited that which couldn’t be known from what was true to the character of those involved. She doesn’t cut herself any more slack than she gives others. It simply is an incredible read.

This book has had a profound effect on me. It is more than just about the child sexual abuse scandals. It’s about the ugliness of secrets. It’s about overlooking that which does not fit your picture of your life. It’s about regret and redemption. Faith leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of how it feels to be Catholic today. Reflecting on my reading, it was as if Jennifer Haigh knew my heart, has witnessed my personal struggles with faith. It allows me the opportunity to see myself and my Church from a less biased distance. Faith is timely today’s world, but the artistry with which the story is  told and written will keep this novel relevant and worthwhile for generations to come.

Jennifer Haigh’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, May 10th: Booking Mama

Wednesday, May 11th: The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness

Thursday, May 12th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Friday, May 13th: 5 Minutes for Books

Monday, May 16th: Hospitable Pursuits

Tuesday, May 17th: The House of the Seven Tails

Wednesday, May 18th: nomadreader

Thursday, May 19th: Bookchickdi

Friday, May 20th: Stargazerpuj’s Book Blog

Monday, May 23rd: As I turn the pages

Tuesday, May 24th: Books in the City

Wednesday, May 25th: Life In Review

Friday, May 27th: The Prissy Book Snob

Monday, May 30th: Bookstack

Tuesday, May 31st: Confessions of a Rambling Mind

Wednesday, June 1st: Colloquium

Thursday, June 2nd: Proud Book Nerd

Friday, June 3rd: My Reading Room

Saturday, June 4th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books

Monday, June 6th: Reading Between the Lines

Tuesday, June 7th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Wednesday, June 8th: Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, June 9th: The Book Chick

Friday, June 10th: BookNAround

Tuesday, June 14th: Rundpinne

Wednesday, June 15th: For the love of books

Thursday, June 16th: Literate Housewife

Friday, June 17th: Amused By Books

Not That Kind of Girl

Published by: HarperCollins

Published on: June 29, 2010

Page Count: 288

Genre: Memoir

My Reading Format: Trade paperback review copy provided by the publisher.

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

Raised in evangelical churches that preached apocalypse now, Carlene Bauer grows up happy to oblige the God who presides over her New Jersey girlhood. But in high school and college, her intellectual and spiritual horizons widen, and she becomes skeptical of the judgmental God she’s been given. Still, she finds it hard to let go of the ideals she’s been raised with, and to rebel as she knows she should. She loves rock and roll, but politely declines offers of sex and drugs; she thinks the Bible and the Norton Anthology of American Literature are equally authoritative guides to life. Since there are no churches worshipping the Jesus Paul Westerberg sang about in “Can’t Hardly Wait,” and no tidy categories for those who are neither riot grrrls nor altar girls, she hovers between a hunger for the world and a suspicion of it.

In her twenties, however, determined to make up for lost time, Bauer undertakes a belated and often comic coming-of-age in New York City. Between late blooming at parties and staying late at work, it seems that she might become as bold as she’d hoped to be—even if the late blooming is a little more hapless than highly erotic. And yet the city and its pleasures do not distract her from another hope: that she might learn how to have a faith that she can truly call her own. Enter the Catholic Church, and a conversion. But then she falls in love, and loses her religion—which leaves her wondering just what it means to be good.

Sharply written, hilarious, and touching, Not That Kind of Girl is the story of one young woman’s efforts to define worldliness, ambition, and love on her own terms—while believing in, among other things, The Smiths, Virginia Woolf, and the transformative power of New York City. Fellow restless seekers will find solace in Bauer’s struggle to create meaning in the face of overwhelming doubt, and fall in love with the highly original voice at the center of this unforgettable debut.

My Review

All things pointed to me loving Not That Kind of Girl, a spiritual memoir by Carlene Bauer.  She tells of her upbringing in an evangelical Christian home, her conversion to Catholicism, and ultimately letting go of God and her inner good-girl. I’m intersted in the stories of those who grew up in an evangelical household because it’s so much different than my own, Catholic upbringing. That she later chose to become Catholic made me want to find out why.  Once I started reading, I discovered that we are roughly the same age and that we share very similar musical tastes and influences I became even more excited. While very well written, Not That Kind of Girl did not work well for me. Bauer is extremely intelligent and is logical in the examination of her spiritual history. It’s just that cerebral approach that kept me at an arm’s distance.  She provided intellectual arguments for who she was and the choices she made, but she doesn’t let her readers see into her heart.

While very different memoirs, Not That Kind of Girl reminded me of Eat, Pray, Love.  In both memoirs, I felt that the author were prone to over-analyzing.  In tone, this memoir reminded me of The Mistress’ Daughter.  Both are well written memoirs, but with a cynical edge that made the authors remote and untouchable.  That’s not why I read memoirs.  I read them because I want to share in another person’s experiences, be they delightful or terrifying.  It’s a way of connecting to others and consider my own life.  I just wasn’t able to get that close this time.

Because of the potential it had at the start, I wish that I had enjoyed this memoir more.  I have always been curious evangelical churches.  To someone used to the same routine week in and week out, those services seem so alive.  Having attended many such services over the years, they just haven’t clicked with me.  As lively as they are, they’ve never clicked with my soul the way the Mass has as I’ve grown older and matured.  I really wanted to know why Ms. Bauer left and joined the Catholic Church.  In the end, I never really understood.  She related to Dorothy Day and her conversion.  She liked the Liberation Theology and the focus on social justice.  Still, knowing about the history of the Church and the sexual abuse scandals, she converts.  Shortly thereafter, she finds herself unable to sit through Mass thinking about what the priest might have done, might have thought to do, or might have covered up.  Without the emotional connection to the author, it all seemed hollow.

I am glad that Ms. Bauer is happy with her life in New York and with the spiritual choices she’s made.  Perhaps her memoir would be more up your alley, though.  If you’d be interested in reading Not That Kind of Girl, I would be happy to send you my gently read copy.  Leave a comment here letting me know.  I’ll use my favorite Randomizer to select the lucky reader.

Please be sure to check out the rest of the stops on this tour:

Thursday, July 1st: Tales of a Capricious Reader

Tuesday, July 6th: The Book Nest

Monday, July 12th: Drey’sLibrary

Wednesday, July 14th: As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves

Thursday, July 15th: she reads and reads

Tuesday, July 20th: Heart 2 Heart

Friday, July 23rd: Knowing the Difference

Monday, July 26th: Bookshipper

Tuesday, July 27th: Life In Pink

Wednesday, July 28th: my books. my life.

Thursday, July 29th: Suko’s Notebook

Friday, July 30th: A Fair Substitute for Heaven

Monday, August 2nd: A Certain Bent Appeal

Wednesday, August 4th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Sunrise in the West begins with the struggle between Llewelyn the Great’s two sons – the eldest illegitimate while the younger is born of marriage.  They are  fighting over who would take their father’s place.  This fight continues into the next generation.  Their fight against each other and England is narrated by Samson, the loyal servant to Llewelyn the younger.

I genuinely liked Samson, the narrator.  He is an honest, moral, and noble man.  He took the cards that were dealt to him and played them to the best of his ability.  The story of his birth and early life were interesting, but it seemed that they were told at a distance.  In fact, much of his narration felt that way.  It was as if he didn’t want anyone to get close to him at all.  Here he was in the middle of what must have been an exciting period in Welsh history and he discussed it almost clinically.  I am not sure if the author’s lengthy and rather passive sentences were the cause of this or simply exacerbated it.  Regardless, this lack of emotional involvement on Samson’s part made much of the novel feel as though nothing was happening when in reality the world was changing all around him.

When Samson became emotionally engaged there were flashes of the story that became compelling and easily readable.  As much as I hate to say that it took the advent of a love interest to catch my full attention, Cristin did just that.  I wished that the whole book could have been more like that chapter.

Overall, I found reading this first installment somewhat trying due to the author’s writing style.  As such, I ended up reading a chapter or less each night.  Sunrise in the West is clearly fiction, but it often read like a textbook.  I cannot say that I didn’t find the overall story interesting because I did.  Now that I’ve had some experience with Pargeter’s writing, I’m hoping that the upcoming installments will be more enjoyable to read.

If you are interested in finding out more about the book or see what others think, there is going to be an online chat about each section of the quartet hosted at a different blog. The discussion of Sunrise in the West will be hosted by Amy at Passages to the Past on Monday night, May 24 at 7pm EST.  You can alsocheck out what other people in Sourcebook’s summer book club had to say about their experiences of reading this part of the book.

May 17 Reviews

The Burton Review
The Bibliophilic Book Blog
Rundpinne
A Reader’s Respite
History Undressed
Linda Banche Blog
A Hoyden’s Look at Literature
Renee’s Reads

May 18 Reviews

Between the Pages
The Broken Teepee
Books and Coffee
Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell
Tanzanite’s Shelf and Stuff
Passages to the Past
The Book Faery
A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore
Martha’s Bookshelf

May 19 Reviews

Beth Fish Reads
Deb’s Book Bag
Book Tumbling
A Work in Progress
Stiletto Storytime
Queen of Happy Endings

May 20 Reviews

Reading Adventures
Books Like Breathing
Kailana’s Written World
Confessions of a Muse in the Fog
Wendy’s Minding Spot
Mrs. Q Book Addict
The Life and Lies of a Flying Inanimate Object
Starting Fresh

May 21 Reviews

Loving Heart Mommy
Peeking Between the Pages
Celtic Lady’s Ramblings
Bookfoolery
One Literature Nut
The Book Tree
My Reading Room

May 23 Reviews

Carla Nayland’s Blog

South of Broad

Published by: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Published on: August 2009

Page Count: 528

Genre: Literary Fiction

Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher

Availability: hardcover, eBook, and audio book

Giveaway: The publisher is graciously allowing me to giveaway one trade paperback copy of South of Broad to one of my readers.  Please see the end of this review for more details.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

Leopold Bloom King has a great deal to live up to.  He’s named after James Joyce’s most famous characters and his mother, a former Roman Catholic nun, is his local school principal.  After the suicide death of his older, beloved brother, Leo has trouble dealing with his own grief and the weight of knowing that he can never live up his brother Steve’s potential.  He spends much of his adolescent years in treatment for mental illness, including a stay at a mental hospital.  As a high school freshman he finally returns back to the world only to be arrested on a serious drug charge.  His life is a mess on Bloomsday of 1969, the day his mother asks him a few favors.  Those favors lead him back into a normal life and introduce him to the first friends he’s ever had in his peer group.  His life is forever changed, but not without a price.

There is so much going on in South of Broad.  it is split up into two time periods – the 1969-1970 school year, and 1989.  Half of the time, it’s like reading about the grandparents of the cast of Glee during the prime of their lives.  You have a misfit band of high school students thrown together by circumstances not always to their liking.  In addition to awkward middle class Leo, there are the glamor twins Sheba and Trevor, the high society trio of Chad, Fraser, and Molly (doesn’t every Leo need his Molly?), the near-wild orphans Niles, Starla, and Betty, and finally Ike, the son of Peninsula High School’s first black football coach.  During their senior year of high school, the adults create just as much havoc for them as their own fumblings toward adulthood.  The other half is like attending a 20-year high school reunion.  You see how their beginnings shaped their lives.  You see how single events can have shocking and far-reaching impacts long down the road.

As Leo’s group of friends range from just about every social class in Charleston during a time of desegregation, they had to cover a great deal of new territory in order to make their friendships work in the beginning and last over the long haul.  Perhaps in order to mask their insecurities and discomfort, they were often sarcastic with each other, relying on stereotypes and not-so-PC name calling.  After a while, this got to be a bit much for me.  I would hope that after 20 years I wouldn’t need to hide behind my classifications within society to communicate with my friends – regardless of the region in which I grew up.  I wished that as the characters grew into adulthood that they would have developed a little more in that way as well.  It kept me an arm’s distance away from the characters, muting what might have otherwise a much more emotional experience.

One of the toughest and most fulfilling classes I took as an undergraduate (or even as a graduate student) was devoted to studying James Joyce.  I studied with an amazing professor and have been forever proud of my accomplishment of reading that book.  For this reason, I connected with South of Broad immediately.  It made my heart happy how the book began and ended on Bloomsday.  Despite Leo and his father’s propensity to roll their eyes at her, I know exactly what excited Leo’s mother about Ulysses.  Conroy’s inclusion of Ulysses wasn’t simply name dropping.  South of Broad shares the themes of class structure and faith with Ulysses.  Leo’s paper route brought me directly into Charleston, giving the story the same strong a sense of place that Joyce did.  Despite not getting as close to the characters as I would have liked, I loved this novel and look forward to reading more of Conroy’s work.

Giveaway

For a chance to win a trade paperback copy of South of Broad, leave a comment on this post by 11:59pm EST on Sunday, May 2nd.  In your comment, tell me about a novel you read and enjoyed that referred to another classic book that you loved.  I’ve found that I really like that combination.

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Pat Conroy’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Now that you know what I think, why not check out these other reviews?

Thursday, April 1st:  Jen’s Book Thoughts

Monday, April 5th:  Lit and Life

Tuesday, April 6th:  Rundpinne

Wednesday, April 7th:  Meanderings and Muses

Friday, April 9th:  Luxury Reading

Monday, April 12th:  Books and Cooks

Tuesday, April 13th:  The Brain Lair

Wednesday, April 14th: Po(sey) Sessions

Thursday, April 15th:  Raging Bibliomania

Monday, April 19th:  Life in the Thumb

Tuesday, April 20th:  Maggie Reads

Thursday, April 22nd:  Stephanie’s Written Word

Friday, April 23rd:  Sherri’s Jubilee

Tuesday, April 27th:  Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, April 28th:  Library Queue

Thursday, April 29th:  Lakeside Musing

Friday, April 30th:  A Circle of Books

Seeing Stars

Published by: Harper Collins

Published on: March 23, 2010

Page Count: 459

Genre: General Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by the publisher

Available Formats: paperback and eBook

Giveaway: please see the end of my review for details

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

If your child showed a talent for acting and wanted to give Hollywood a try, would you do all that you could to help him or her live their dreams?  Ruth Rabinowitz decides that she will when she moves to an apartment in Hollywood with her daughter Bethany, leaving her dentist husband behind in Seattle.  She quickly learns that however special she believes Bethany to be, there’s so much more to acting in LA than talent.  Together, the two of them forge a place of their own amidst the agents, managers, casting, directors, other actors, and, most especially, others wanting to act.  Do they have what it takes to survive and make Bethany’s dream come true?

Seeing Stars brought to light an interesting juxtaposition there is between two types of parents  bringing their children to Hollywood – those committed parents shuttling their kids from auditions and acting classes and those parents who happily drop their children off under the Hollywood sign never to look back.  With committed parents, you wonder why they are sinking thousands upon thousands of dollars into such an illusive career for children who have barely begun to live their lives?  Is it their child’s dream they’re helping them to pursue, or is it their own? The other situation is simply sad, making the stories of Allison and Quinn so compelling.  Their parents found it easier to let LA raise their children than to let them get in the way of budding relationships with new spouses.  While this may not be anything new, it seems particularly irresponsible to allow a place like that to raise your child.  It’s a form of prostitution in and of itself.  God only knows what happens to such kids who are not successful.  Allison and Quinn are the lucky ones, I’m sure.

Just as there are more actors in Hollywood than there are legitimate roles, there were too many characters in Seeing Stars.  For long stretches of time, Ruth and Bethany disappeared from the story.  Other than seeing some of these characters at an occasional audition or party, Laurel and her mother and even Quinn are not even on Ruth and Bethany’s radar screen.  Even though I really enjoyed Quinn‘s story, I lost interest in Laurel’s fairly quickly because they just did not seem relevant to Bethany’s story other than she and her mother have been at the game longer.  Had those three characters not been included, this novel would have read much more quickly and the second half wouldn’t have seemed as long.

Reading this novel was an enjoyable and educational experience.  Although I’ve seen the same made for TV movies, read the same interviews  with former child actors, I really had no idea about the workings of the Hollywood machine.  I found the terminology and background information fascinating. Diane Hammond wrote this novel after experiencing Hollywood as the mother of a hopeful child actor.  Her experience and knowledge is readily apparent in Seeing Stars.  You felt the hope and shared the disappointments.  Unlike other books I’ve read set in Hollywood, the characters and their stories weren’t sensationalized.  It tells about real people and how they survive in a world that is dominated by all that is artificial.  After reading this book, you’ll find that you no longer look at child actors or the bit roles on TV shows the same way.

Giveaway

Let’s have some fun with this giveaway.  If you’d like a chance to win a copy of this novel, leave a comment telling me about your childhood dream.  Did you want to be an award winning actor? An astronaut?  A mountain climber?  A ballerina?  Or were you like me and aspired to becoming a radio DJ?

Let me know – and if you have lived out your dream, include that, too.  I did get to guest DJ on my 21st birthday for an hour and it was so much fun.

Leave your comments by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, April 7th for a chance to win this novel.

Diane’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS

Monday, March 1st: Lit and Life

Wednesday, March 24th: Clever Girl Goes Blog

Tuesday, March 30th: Metroreader

Friday, April 2nd: Booking Mama

Sunday, April 4th: BookNAround

Wednesday, April 7th: Write Meg

Thursday, April 8th: A Sea of Books

Monday, April 12th: Confessions…of a Real Librarian

Tuesday, April 13th: Serendipitous Reading

Friday, April 16th: Café of Dreams

Wednesday, April 21st: Book Club Classics!

The Wives of Henry Oades

Published by: Ballantine Books

Published on: February 2010

Page Count: 384

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: ARC snagged through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program

Availability: paperback and eBook

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

My Review

During the late 19th century, Henry Oades was looking to get ahead in his career and make an even better life for his family when he agreed to take a position that required he move his family from England to a much less civilized New Zealand.  His wife Meg didn’t really want to leave her family, but supported her husband because it would only be for a few years.  What neither of them anticipated was the hostility between white settlers and the native Maori  increasing after their arrival. One evening, in revenge of a Maori beating, Henry’s family is kidnapped while he is away at work.  From there begins a heart wrenching nightmare almost beyond comprehension. After holding out hope longer than most people felt sane, Henry eventually leaves New Zealand for America.  In San Fransisco, he discovers a love for farming and eventually falls in love with a young widow.  Shorty after Henry and Nancy marry, Meg brings her family out of captivity.  When Henry and his first family reunite, a struggle of a much different kind begins.

When I saw information about The Wives of Henry Oades while reviewing the list of Early Reviewer books last year, I knew it was one that I’d have to read.  I could not imagine what it would be like to be in Henry Oades’ shoes.  He believed he had lost his entire family and it was only reluctantly that he set off to start his life over again.  Just when he found purpose and contentment, he learns that his original family was alive and well.  What would you do?  Worse yet, what would or could a woman in the late 19th century do if she was given up for dead and her husband remarried?  What would or could a young widow with a small baby do when her new husband’s dead wife shows up on her doorstep.  I was so thrilled to learn that I had snagged it because I was going to be able to find out.

This book was a perfect match for me.  I love that it was told mainly through the voices of Meg and Nancy, Henry’s two wives.  I was intrigued from the very first when Meg and Henry set off to New Zealand and I didn’t want to put the book down until it was finished.  Some parts were difficult to read, especially the scenes of the kidnapping and the direct aftermath, but I could not stop reading.  I also found it interesting how Berkeley society, now seen as such a liberal, accepting place, could not see the difference between purposeful bigamy and an accident of fate that fell upon both halves of Henry’s family.  The community was too busy titillating themselves with what might be happening behind the Oades’ doors to take take stock of what really did.

The Wives of Henry Oades was inspired by a legal extract  about the Oades case that Moran’s father brought home to her mother.  What an interesting launching pad of a novel.  I enjoyed it all the way through.  I do have one lingering question about a decision Henry makes along the way, but mentioning that here would give too much of the story away.  My question aside, there would be an evening’s worth of topics to discuss after reading this novel.  It would also be interesting to read this novel and The 19th Wife back to back and discuss the impact of bigamy on the women involved during the 19th century.  I highly recommend this novel.  There are so many ways to look at this novel and the events it brings to life.  I would love to hear what you think.

*****

Giveaway

I am excited to offer one lucky reader an opportunity to win a copy of this novel from the publisher.  To enter, leave a comment to this post with your thoughts about how bigamy impacts the women involved.  There is so much to say about it.  As much as I could never see myself coping well with that kind of living arrangement, I wonder how much cleaner my house would be if I had a sister wife around here…

This giveaway will be open for entries until Thursday, March 18 at 11:59 EST.  I will use the wonderful Randomizer to select the winner and will make the announcement soon thereafter.

++++

Check out Johanna Moran’s other TLC Book Tours Tour Stops:

Monday, February 15th:  Luxury Reading

Wednesday, February 17th:  Book Club Classics!

Thursday, February 18th:  My Friend Amy

Friday, February 19th:  Beth Fish Reads author guest post

Monday, February 22nd:  Jenn’s Bookshelves

Tuesday, February 23rd: The 3 R’s Blog

Thursday, February 25th:  It’s All About Books

Friday, February 26th:  Thoughts of an Evil Overlord

Monday, March 1st:  Rundpinne

Tuesday, March 2nd:  Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, March 3rd:  A High and Hidden Place

Friday, March 5th:  Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-aholic

Monday, March 8th:  Bibliofreak

Tuesday, March 9th: A Lifetime of Books

Wednesday, March 10th:  Starting Fresh

Thursday, March 11th:  Savvy Verse and Wit

Monday, March 15th:  The Calico Critic

Kathleen Grissom, the author of The Kitchen House, will be stopping in Lynchburg at Givens Books at 2pm on February 13th.  The book was published on the 2nd, so it’s hot off the presses.  It got me out of my reading blahs.  I just could not put it down.  I read The Kitchen House last month and absolutely loved it.  Check back here on Friday for my review.  I will also be posting about the book tour during my next Sunday Salon post.  If all goes well, I’m hoping to have a signed copy to giveaway.

In the meantime, you can check out Kathleen’s site.  On her About The Kitchen House page.  There are some great resources there, including pictures I wish  I had seen while I was reading the book.  There is a book trailer as well.  I just finished watching it.  A slight word of caution: if you don’t like to know much about a book before reading it, you might want to hold off on it.

Now, be honest.  How many of you thought I was referring to this weekend’s snow storm?  Well, that news also fits my post title.    We had a great time sledding in the snow and making a snowman.  Thankfully we were able to make it to church this morning and then to the mall.  I had a serious case of cabin fever since this weekend was the second in a row that we were snowbound.  Yesterday morning I took a short video of our front yard.  We didn’t get hit as hard as some of my book blogging girlfriends in Northern Virginia or Maryland, but it was an anomaly for the Roanoke Valley.  I want to thank everyone who stopped by on our Friday snow day.

Reading and Reviews This Week

This week I read and reviewed Tainted by Brooke Morgan as part of the author’s TLC Book Tour.  I’m hosting a giveaway of Morgan’s debut novel, so be sure to check out my review.

I also finished Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls.  I started that during my reading malaise and put it down because I didn’t want it to be ruined by my lack of reading enthusiasm.  I thought it was a great companion to The Glass Castle and will be reviewing this novel soon.

For those of you not watching the Super Bowl (I’m assuming anyone reading this isn’t – who watching the big event would also read book blogs during the show?), I hope you enjoy your evening snuggled up with a good book.  I’ll be reading Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliot.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Today it is my great pleasure to be Lisa See’s host on her TLC Book Tour for her novel, Shanghai Girls.  I would like to thank her publisher for sending me a review copy.  Please see the end of my review for a list of the blogs who are on this tour with me.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

My Review

Pearl and May are young women growing up at a time just after foot binding was banned and arranged marriages seemed to be heading in the same direction.  It was the 1930s in Shanghai, the Paris of the Orient. Pearl is oldest sister and college educated, but May has the love of her parents.  She is prettier, has a gorgeous complexion, and can seemingly get away with murder.  Pearl takes her role as being the oldest sister seriously and tries not to let her jealousy of May come between them.  They are not traditional Chinese women anyway.  They are out all night posing as Beautiful Girls.  Their painted  images used to sell anything and they live as if they own Shanghai.  They do until their father’s gambling debts force him to sell them into arranged marriages to a man whose sons lived in America.  At the same time, the Japanese attack Shanghai, shattering their hope completely.  They need to discover if they are more than simply Beautiful Girls, able to survive whatever fate life brings them.

Shanghai Girls is in equal parts a novel about Chinese life and immigration and the bond between sisters.  Just as in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See’s work brings Chinese history, particularly as it relates to women, to life.  In this novel, women have more freedom and options under the Republic than they had previously, at least for those women living in as cosmopolitan a place as Shanghai.  While these changes are for the good, they bring about additional stress within families.  This change in culture is so apparent in the opening scenes with Pearl, May, and their parents.  It was interesting to watch their attitudes and beliefs evolve with their life experiences.  Still, when you take away the Beautiful Girls, their heritage, and the environments in which they live, you are sisters.  They grew up in the same house with the same parents and they each notice anything and everything that is not the same.  Who has a sibling and doesn’t do that?  What I found exceptional about these particular sisters is how they loved each other so fiercely despite the jealousies and resentments that accumulate over time.  They each take their roles as older and younger sister every bit as seriously as their culture once dictated.

War makes up a great part of Shanghai Girls.  Pearl and May’s time as Beautiful Girls would have come to an end at the hands of the Japanese during World War II if it hadn’t been because of their father’s weaknesses.  This perspective of China under attack is something I haven’t read about before.  Even before the war, the scene with the girls stepping over a baby that had been left to die on the street was sickening.  When war broke out, it was that much more fascinating and horrific.  The fear and chaos came across so clearly in Pearl and May’s reactions to all that they witnessed and survived.  As this tied in to the girls’ experiences in Los Angeles as immigrants, I was reminded of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  These novels would go together quite well if one wanted to explore the experiences of Chinese immigrants in the United States during WWII.

After reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I bought Peony in Love very quickly.  I loved Snow Flower so much that I kept looking at my copy of Peony in Love with longing nearly every time I looked through my bookshelf.  I didn’t have to think very hard when I was asked to take part in this tour.  I wanted and needed the excuse to pick up another of Lisa See’s books.  I was not disappointed in the least.  Although there was much sorrow and darkness to this novel, I could not tear myself away.  There was one scene in particular between Pearl and her mother which will remain with me for a very long time.  It brought tears to my eyes and made me feel lucky to be alive, which is saying quite a lot under the circumstances.  I fully connected to this novel as a sister, a woman, and as a human being.  My only regret was not being able to make time with this book during the holidays in time to send questions to the author.  She remains one of my favorite modern authors.

Lisa See’s TLC Tour  Dates

You’ve read what I think about Shanghai Girls.  Why don’t you check out what other have and will be saying this month:

Monday, January 4th:  Suko’s Notebook
Wednesday, January 6th: Stephanie’s Written Word
Thursday, January 7th:  She is Too Fond of Books
Friday, January 8th:  Book Club Classics
Monday, January 11th:  Luxury Reading
Tuesday, January 12th:  Diary of an Eccentric
Wednesday, January 13th:  Peeking Between the Pages
Thursday, January 14th:  Caribousmom
Friday, January 15th:  The Book Faery Reviews
Monday, January 18th:  Booking Mama
Tuesday, January 19th:  Savvy Verse & Wit
Wednesday, January 20th:  Dolce Bellezza
Thursday, January 21st:  Book, Line, and Sinker
Friday, January 22nd:  Word Lily
Monday, January 25th:  The Brain Lair
Tuesday, January 26th:  A Lifetime of Books
Wednesday, January 27th:  The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness