Showing posts with label historical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label historical. Show all posts

Lowest Price The Time Baroness (The Time Mistress Series) Review

The Time Baroness (The Time Mistress Series)

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The Time Baroness (The Time Mistress Series) Review

Dr. Cassandra Reilly is a classic Jane Austen heroine. Georgina Young-Ellis is more than a gifted storyteller, she casts a spell that takes the reader back to 1820 Regency England. The sights, the sounds, the textures, and the smells embrace you. I had to shake myself to remember what century this is as I clicked the last magical page of The Time Baroness.
The writing is exquisite. The story of a mother struggling to rescue her son in another century, in a culture where women were seen and not heard, is a very new spin on what we all hope is possible... Time Travel. Science fiction, mystery, a mother's love, and an almost eerie sense of Déjà vu. A spellbinding story from an amazing author. Highly Recommended.
The Time Baroness

The Time Baroness (The Time Mistress Series) Overview

The Time Baroness:It started out as such a simple experiment: time-travel to Jane Austen's England, live a quiet, rural life as a woman of independent means, observe and notate. I never thought I would fall in love or... end up planning a prison break! When did everything go so terribly wrong? October 24, 1820 - Dr. Cassandra ReillyEditorial Review: The Queens Gazette, New York CityAstoria Resident Takes A Trip Back In TimeBY CRISTINA GUARINOLocal Astoria resident Georgina Young- Ellis has made dreams of time travel possible for readers in her new novel, The Time Baroness.Published by Leaping Tall Buildings Productions LLC, the novel follows mother and scientist Dr. Cassandra Reilly as she travels back to the time of Jane Austen, 1820. But she starts out ahead, in the year 2120, England. The trip starts as an experiment to understand the life of an “independent" woman of the time, specifically, a wealthy widow amongst her peers. It begins with thorough preparation: a few practice sessions in 19th century speech and mannerisms, some holographic shopping for appropriate attire, and a good night's rest.However, Reilly runs into problems greater than simply blending in at a dinner party. An affair begins, threatening her reputation and revealing the vastly different attitudes toward women at the time. Her occasional futuristic slips raise questions about her odd ways. And in the midst of her struggles, her son arrives unannounced, bringing with him a whole new set of troubles and catalyzing her own.The novel follows Reilly's journey through unexpected love, adventure and even crime as she finds herself left behind by 300 years, in a world vastly different from her own, It is from the least expected source that she finally receives help and sets history and the future back onto the right path--one that, perhaps, should have remained untampered with.Boasting a rare but impressive solid five star review on Amazon.com, The Time Baroness has become popular with lovers of the time travel genre. The novel is a creative, engaging and brilliant display of Young-Ellis' writing and storytelling skills.One percent of the profits of the book sales go to the World Food Programme and/or Heifer International. The Time Baroness has earned its place as Kindle's #88 Top Rated, Amazon's #23 in Time Travel Romances and Amazon's #1 selling travel novel set in England [at time of publication].Young-Ellis was born in California and has lived in Astoria for the past 10 years. She is a freelance writer for the Queens Gazette and is a lover of acting, the Italian language, and literature.http://www.qgazette.com/news/2011-07-13/Features/Astoria_Resident_Takes_A_Trip_Back_In_Time.html

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Buy Cheap Footsteps in Time: A Time Travel Fantasy (The After Cilmeri Series Book One) Review

Footsteps in Time: A Time Travel Fantasy (The After Cilmeri Series Book One)

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Footsteps in Time: A Time Travel Fantasy (The After Cilmeri Series Book One) Review

All of Woodbury's books seem to me characterized by a broad appeal to youth and adults, men as well as women, lovers of historical fiction as well as time-travel -- and often romance though not so much this one. Her books are founded, like all historical novels, in as much real history as the author can put together. Woodbury has become an expert on Welsh medieval history. With this, she uses time travel to reveal with humor and seriousness the distinctive places of women in both times. Assuming she is a woman not a man using a pseudonym, at the same time, her male characters also seem very real -- to me as a man. She also tells such a well-crafted story, I was forced to shed some tears here and there.

Footsteps in Time: A Time Travel Fantasy (The After Cilmeri Series Book One) Overview

In December of 1282, English soldiers ambushed and murdered Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the Prince of Wales. His death marked the end of Wales as an independent nation and the beginning of over seven hundred years of English oppression.Footsteps in Time is the story of what might have happened had Llywelyn lived. And what happens to the two teenagers who save him.Footsteps in Time is the first book in the After Cilmeri Series. Other books in the series include Book Two, Prince of Time, and Daughter of Time, a stand-alone novel within the world of the After Cilmeri Series.

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Purchase Cheap In the Garden of Disgrace (The Garden Series Book 3) Review

In the Garden of Disgrace (The Garden Series Book 3)

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In the Garden of Disgrace (The Garden Series Book 3) Review

This is the third & final installment of Wicklund's In the Garden series, and I loved every minute of it. This story lacks the intensity of the first book, as this is a well-executed story of redemption instead.
Lady Jillian is engaged, but she can't deny her best friend who wants to watch a duel incognito. She goes along but somehow finds herself in the get-away carriage of Adrian St. John, Earl of Wickham, (or "Lord Wicked," as he's known to the ton) who flees the scene when he accidentally kills his opponent. Jillian is finally returned home two days later after Adrian escapes to France, but though nothing happened, the damage to her reputation has been done. Jilted by her fiance, she retires to the country to live out her days as a fallen woman.
Eight years later, Adrian returns to England to find Jillian's brother demanding that he marry her to restore her reputatation. He's willing, but Jillian is of another mind altogether. And so an enthralling story commences.
This was a wonderful book! Wicklund is an amazing author, and I wish she had more available. Again she offers an interesting & entertaining story with characters one can't help but love.
I adore Jillian & loved reading about all of her quirks & effective bird-flipping at society's expectations. She figures her reputation was ruined when she didn't do anything wrong, so now she does exactly what she wants, when she wants.
Adrian is an exciting hero, and one can't help but root for him to win Jillian's hand. The passion between the two characters is intense, & it's amusing to see Adrian meet his match in a woman who's willing to buck convention even more than he is.
Add Jillian's aging Aunt Prudence into the mix, along with Jillian's older brother, Simon Fitzgerald, Marquess of Sutherfield (read his story in book 2 of the series, In the Garden of Seduction (The Garden Series)), their cousin Philip, Jillian's ex-fiance, & Jillian's "best friend," and the supporting cast is fleshed out nicely while helping move the story along at an appropriate pace.
I'm preparing to re-read this book as I type (I bought & read it 2 mos ago), and I find myself excited over the prospect. This is a great read & certainly price-worthy. Read it! I think you'll agree.
This is the third book in the series:
1 - In the Garden of Temptation (The Garden Series)
2 - In the Garden of Seduction (The Garden Series)
4 - In the Garden of Deceit (coming Summer 2011!)

In the Garden of Disgrace (The Garden Series Book 3) Overview

When 17-year-old Lady Jillian Fitzgerald sneaks out to spy on a duel, she believes she is merely guilty of an indiscretion. But when the duel takes a deadly turn and Jillian becomes an unwilling passenger in the fleeing carriage of the infamous "Lord Wicked," she knows what began as a lark has become a disaster. One night of bad judgment and her life is changed forever.

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The Queen's Lady

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The Queen's Lady Review

I'm a big fan of Judith Merkle Riley and Susan Wiggs, and I took notice when I saw their blurbs on the cover of "The Queen's Lady." However, I have been told since that a lot of times writers are paid up front for blurbs, without having read the book in question. I certainly hope that's the case for Ms. Riley and Ms. Wiggs, because the "Lady" really is a tramp, and not worth your hard-earned dollars. If you must read it, check it out at the library, but don't say I didn't warn you.
There's no shortage of plot- in fact, there's too much of it. The novel lurches from incident to incident, and comes across like a creepy hybrid of "A Man for All Seasons" and Paul Verhoeven's "Flesh and Blood." Honor Larke, the "heroine"- and I use the term loosely- is set upon by disaster after disaster within the first few chapters, including being orphaned, kidnapped, raped, and having her inheritance stolen from her. She manages to become Sir Thomas More's ward, and although she thinks More is the best daddy she ever had, he has the hots for her. She kind of has the hots for him too, but before we are subjected to a scene of them in bed together, she finds out he was the guy responsible for burning her best friend at the stake (which is described in disgusting detail). I guess that's kind of understandable why that would sour things.
Anyway, Honor decides that she must become the Savior of the Lutherans, and runs around rescuing Lutherans from being arrested (sort of like a Scarlet Pimpernel in a farthingale, I suppose). However, at the same time she's Catherine of Aragon's #1 lady-in-waiting, hence the title. Yet Honor decides that she must bring Protestantism into England, that Queen Cathy is cool and all, but she must sacrifice her friend to the greater good of routing the Evil Catholic Church from Old Blighty's shores; and part of that entails buddying up with Thomas Cromwell and doing her best to forward Anne Boleyn's ambitions. I found it amusing, in a way, that this scheming, backstabbing character had the name of "Honor," but no one in the book comments on the irony of that. I also found it amusing that she's able to do all of this, without her guardian More having a clue as to what she's up to. Does this guy live in a cave, or what? If he's so crazy about her as we're led to believe, wouldn't he be keeping tabs on what she's doing?
Most of the book is concerned with Honor rushing hither and thither, rescuing Protestants while she talks about how much she hates More. There's a romantic interest, some guy named Richard Thornleigh, who's saddled with a crazy wife who dies conveniently. Honor is such an awesome gal that she proposes to Richard two days after his wife kicks it, even though he protests that his wife died only two days before. But she exclaims that she's dead, they're alive, that they must live for today, etc. Of course, we are supposed to believe that Honor is assertive and filled with joie de vivre or something, and not a callous, manipulative bitch. I am sure the author means well, but the characterization is really very poorly done.
It just gets worse as the book goes along. Honor gets into Big Trouble and has to flee the country to Germany, where she ends up in Munster, among a commune of lunatic Anabaptists. The book actually gets quite interesting here, because this a time and place you never see in historical fiction. But after a great deal of excitement, Honor realizes that religion sucks, there is no soul, and GOD IS A LIE! It is all absolutely as subtle as a brick hurled through a stained glass window, and I threw the book against the wall at that moment. I hate books with an agenda, and the author of "Lady" shoves hers down your throat.
The ending of the book comes pretty quickly after that, with our hero and "heroine" galloping off into the sunset (but not before a final confrontation with Sir Thomas More, who gropes her, wallows in his own misery, and hallucinates the "imaginary" heavens, to show us what a pathetic, screwed-up martyr he is). I have never felt that strongly about More, but I am offended Ms. Kyle feels it necessary to trash the man and his beliefs, just to make those of her heroine (and presumably, her own) look better.
She does try to assert in the end that More's immortality lies not in his obviously wrong Catholic faith, but in his brilliant book "Utopia." If it is true that one's immortality depends upon on the quality of the books one leaves behind, then I'm afraid that Ms. Kyle is clearly doomed, as "The Queen's Lady" is trash. Avoid at your own peril. There are many other books by Judith Merkle Riley and Susan Wiggs to read instead.

The Queen's Lady Overview

London, 1527. Marry or serve: for Honor Larke, the choice is clear. Unwilling to perish of boredom as an obedient wife, she leaves the home of her ward to attend Her Majesty, Queen Catherine of Aragon. But life at Henry VIII's court holds more than artifice for an intelligent observer, and Honor knows how to watch--and when to act...Angered by the humiliation heaped upon her mistress as Henry cavorts with Anne Boleyn and presses Rome for a divorce, Honor volunteers to carry letters to the Queen's allies. It's a risky game, but Honor is confident--until she's proven wrong by dashing courtier Richard Thornleigh--a man who awakens her heart, and who also has something to hide. . .. Swept into a tide of intrigue and danger that stretches across Europe, the Queen's lady is about to learn everything: about pride, passion, greed--and the conscience of the King... "Weaves a fast-paced plot through some of the most harrowing years of English history." --Judith Merkle Riley"Excellent, exciting, compellingly readable." --Ellen Jones"Riveting, heady, glorious, inspired." --Susan Wiggs Includes a Reading Group Guide!

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Lowest Price Wild Montana Sky (The Montana Sky Series) Review

Wild Montana Sky (The Montana Sky Series)

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Wild Montana Sky (The Montana Sky Series) Review

I have missed good, solid settling the West romances--like the sort written in the '80s and '90s, and was so delighted to find this wonderful romance by Debra Holland.
Elizabeth is basically forced out of her brother's household when he marries a real witch of a woman, and so Elizabeth decides to move to Montana where her best friend lives with her husband and family. A handsome cowboy named Nick, who's been in love with Elizabeth's picture for years, is her traveling companion...but when Elizbeth gets to Montana, she has the surprise of her life when she meets a well-dressed man.
A wonderful story. If you loved Little House on the Prairie and the Wagons West series, as well as the early Linda Lael Miller and Susan Wiggs books, you'll enjoy Wild Montana Sky and, I'm sure, its sequel, Starry Montana Sky.

Wild Montana Sky (The Montana Sky Series) Overview

A "Sweet" Romance set in 1893 Montana With the tragic death of her fiancé, Elizabeth Hamilton believed she'd never love again. The comfortable life she's settled into with her brother in Boston, is upset when he abruptly marries. Displaced by her spiteful new sister-in-law, and hoping to find a home for herself, Elizabeth allows handsome cowboy Nick Sanders to escort her from Boston to her friend's Montana ranch. In Montana, Elizabeth meets attractive Caleb Livingston, a wealthy banker who strongly resembles her beloved fiancé, and believes she has a second chance at love. Yet, she has to fight a growing attraction to Nick. In braving the dangers and hardships of the West, Elizabeth discovers unexpected strengths within herself--strengths tested when an influenza epidemic ravages the town. As a child's life hangs in the balance, Elizabeth must choose between the man who has everything, and the one with nothing but his heart to offer.

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Purchase Cheap The Care and Taming of a Rogue (Adventurers' Club) Review

The Care and Taming of a Rogue (Adventurers' Club)

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The Care and Taming of a Rogue (Adventurers' Club) Review

Suzanne Enoch is a fabulous writer and some of my absolute favorite historical romances have been written by her, namely London's Perfect Scoundrel and Always a Scoundrel, with close second favorites being England's Perfect Hero, By Love Undone, and After the Kiss. Needless to say, I was ecstatic about this book coming out and expected it to join my "all-time favorite" bookshelf - it won't, and frankly, I'm considering whether to post it on PaperBack Swap right away, because I doubt that I will want to reread this.
The Care and Taming of a Rogue (The Adventurers Club, Book 1) wasn't bad in the sense that I didn't actively dislike it, but in almost every aspect it either fell short or just didn't click; it was boring and I was at times somewhat tempted to just put it down and forget about it. The premise was an interesting one and quite original, and I'm always a huge fan of books where the heroine is overlooked, shy, bookish, unusual, whatever. Plus, taking into account it's written by Enoch, it should be a natural five-star book, right? Wrong: THE CARE AND TAMING OF A ROGUE did not live up to my expectations. Both of the main characters were pretty forgettable, their relationship is not compelling and I never really understood how they got together or why they felt (or even THAT they felt) so strongly about one another, and the chemistry just wasn't there (which starkly contrasts with some of Enoch's other books).
SPECIFIC CRITICISMS:
Both Bennett (29) and Phillipa (20) felt somewhat flat and one-dimensional. Bennett is supposed to be this "uncivilized explorer" who won't obey any of London society's "rules" and wants to drag his woman back to his cave ... and although we're told this repeatedly and other characters constantly describe him this way, it didn't really ring true. Yes, he was blustery and aggressive, but it ended up just being annoying and not at all endearing, adventurous, bad-boy-attractive, or any other positive thing; he wasn't as unconventional as he was made out to be (an example of where that type of unconventional adventurer-hero was well done and *did* work is Christina Dodd's Rules of Surrender).
Phillipa is a nice heroine, but nothing to write home about. We're told that she's practical and logical ... but I didn't see that emphasized very much (there was no resemblance to someone like Dr. Brennan from the TV show "Bones," who is definitely an extreme of those two adjectives). She's also supposed to be unconventional in her own way - embracing her "bluestocking" tendencies, completely bookish and somewhat anti-social (though friendly) - yet she insists on Bennett courting her according to the rules and keeps placing emphasis on teaching him how to behave in London society (no such teaching really occurs) ... while then going in broad daylight to the house he's staying in and making love for the first time with him in a kitchen larder (umm, can you say unromantic?).
Then there is their relationship, which seemed completely unsubstantiated to me and so was hard to believe. Basically he hears her voice - is attracted to her, sees her face - likes how she looks, remarks on her smelling of lemons - oh how nice, and bam! they're off. We know that Phillipa already has a little thing for Bennett in that she has been an admirer of his travel/adventure books, but why this romantic interest in Phillipa in particular? We're never really shown why he is THE ONE for her and she is THE ONE for him. [Sidenote: Why is it that aside from our heroines (and whatever friends they may have) almost all the other women in these novels are nitwit chits who only giggle, simper, and are catty when it comes to men??? Even Flip's sister, Olivia, kind of falls into this category - at least for the first two adjectives.] Bennett and Phillipa are both nice people, sure, but I just don't see why their relationship takes off so quickly, with no trouble going from hello to kisses to making love to declaring love to talking about marriage (though actually that happens before some of those other ones) ... which brings me to another point ...
There are no obstacles in their romantic relationship!!! Well save one, to be fair, which was in fact a good one: she likes to stay at home and read, he's Mr. Adventure, so how is a real, lasting relationship (i.e. marriage) going to work for them? This was an interesting twist because it was a real consideration that is similar to the problems that nowaday long-distance relationships face. However during the book it isn't really dissected, just mentioned repeatedly and put aside; then in the end, it's resolved very nicely and quickly (TOO nicely and quickly). Other than that though, which wasn't even fully explored, any hurdles placed by themselves or other characters were either completely missing or not very substantial. I *HATE* books that have those big misunderstandings or throw obstacle after obstacle in front of the main characters for no apparent reason, but can't there be a happy balance between those two extremes??
Finally, the whole "Adventurers' Club" was a little ridiculous and when that's first introduced in the beginning of the book my reaction was "What? This seems very contrived ... Maybe it's going to be made into a series?" ... Which I then discovered it is. I don't understand the purpose of the club, don't see it's use or understand how it works or why it exists, etc. - basically it's all a huge contrivance.
BOTTOM LINE:
I feel very bad about giving such a negative review for a Suzanne Enoch book, but I was so disappointed! She has such talent and has written other novels that literally have me going to sleep with a smile on my face and waking up the next morning wanting to read the book all over again; THE CARE AND TAMING OF A ROGUE in no way compares to those books. There were some funny moments, some sweet ones, Kero (Bennett's pet monkey) was a great addition, but check it out from the library if you're set on reading it, don't buy it.

The Care and Taming of a Rogue (Adventurers' Club) Overview


How to tell if a man is an unrepentant rogue:

1. He has no patience for frivolous debutantes 2. He kisses you after a single dance 3. He makes you forget yourself and kiss him back . . .

After years away from London, Captain Bennett Wolfe is back—and alive, much to Society's surprise. Having been presumed dead, this rugged adventurer is now much sought after by every marriage-minded young woman . . . but Bennett only has eyes for the intriguing Lady Phillipa Eddison.

Phillipa would rather read than flirt, but she does know a thing or two about proper courtship rituals. A gentleman does not kiss a lady senseless, and he certainly does not bring his pet monkey when he comes calling. Lady Phillipa's ever been so scandalized . . . or tempted. She simply must teach Bennett some manners—before she succumbs to temptation as wild as the man who offers it.


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Lowest Price An Unsuitable Wife Review

An Unsuitable Wife

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An Unsuitable Wife Review

Mary Kingsley weaves together a clever tale of how two good people can be kept apart by their own assumptions and insecurities. Meanwhile, unfriendly forces trying to work against the couple end up providing the stress needed to ultimately force them together in order to fight a common enemy. Very enjoyable.

An Unsuitable Wife Overview

After a scandalous encounter at a country inn, Justin, Earl of Chatleigh, and Miss Melissa Selby are forced to make an unsuitable match. Justin, facing an uncertain future, believes he has been trapped into marriage by a scheming miss. Melissa, running from a dangerous past, fears she has gotten herself into even deeper trouble. It is not the best way to begin a marriage. Matters become even worse when it becomes apparent that someone is threatening Justin's life. It will take all Melissa's courage and strength to protect her husband - and to win his love. "Ms. Kingsley develops a strong plot with attractive characters and just the right touch of sensuality." - Rave Reviews, 1991, 4 stars

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Lowest Price Starry Montana Sky (Montana Sky Series) Review

Starry Montana Sky (Montana Sky Series)

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Starry Montana Sky (Montana Sky Series) Review

Long after reading the last page of Starry Montana Sky, I found myself thinking of Wyatt and Samantha. This is a heartwarming story you don't want to miss.

Starry Montana Sky (Montana Sky Series) Overview

A "Sweet" romance set in 1894 Montana When widowed Samantha Sawyers Rodriguez inherits her Uncle Ezra's Montana ranch, she believes she finally has a chance to put down roots, fulfilling her dream of running an orphanage for wayward children and raising miniature horses. Prosperous rancher, Wyatt Thompson, has coveted Ezra's river property to expand his spread and fulfill his goal to overcome his poverty-stricken turbulent past. Samantha's arrival throws his careful plans into chaos, and her newly-adopted orphan boys awaken memories he's struggled to forget. When an arsonist sets fires in town, and the people turn against Samantha and her boys, Wyatt risks exposing his shameful secret in order to save the woman he loves.

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The Paris Wife: A Novel

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The Paris Wife: A Novel Review

At the end of Ernest Hemingway's memoir, A Moveable Feast , he writes of his first wife, Hadley Richardson, "I wish I had died before I loved anyone but her." After their divorce, Hemingway marries three more times, each one prompt to follow, like serial wives. This is the story of the woman that loved him before he was famous.
Paula McLain researched their biographies, letters, and Hemingway's novels, culling the material to imagine a story of their charmed and battered marriage in Paris, from 1921-1926. The tortured life and tragically foreshadowed suicide of Ernest Hemingway is public knowledge, as was his legendary womanizing. McLain's novel dodges the palaver, blending the facts that are known together with credible inference, creating a plausible, informed depiction of Hemingway and Hadley's marriage--the quotidian, the famed, the halcyon, the harsh.
The author writes from Hadley's point of view, inviting the reader inside their most tender and demolishing moments. A few choice sections belong to Hemingway's perspective, urgent and telling. The narrative deftly folds in their histories--the years before they met--artfully revealing early and private woes, which ripple and sometimes hiss beneath the ardor. We get the back stories without muddled exposition; by the time it arrives at the failure of their union, readers have acquired a fluency of Hadley's nature and Hemingway's core.
Hadley sustained several painful childhood experiences that eerily parallel Hemingway's, and was a recluse and "spinster" at twenty-eight, when she met and was courted by the twenty-one-year-old Hemingway. He was a struggling, ambitious writer, home after the shock and agonies of the Great War, where he endured trauma and its aftereffects, described today as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). He couldn't sleep without a light. His mother was an insufferable controller, and he didn't want to marry a woman like that.
The pliable and less progressive Hadley was a sound match for the needy, talented, and egocentric Ernest. He required a woman who would unshakably support his career. Hadley was a generous lover and devoted supporter who sacrificed her personal ambitions for Ernest. She was also playful and warm and smart, but not savvy and edgy like the emerging modern women of the 1920's.

In prose that reflects the style of the era, McLain illustrates a glittering world of élan expatriates and literati. Hadley and Ernest (and their baby, Bumby) lived in the (then) modest Latin Quarter, and soon became a vibrant part of the Left Bank artists, such as Gertrude Stein, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Ford Maddox Ford, Jean Rhys, and many others. Open marriage, and mistresses living in the same house with wives, were not unheard of in this set.
Blithe talk, bottomless glasses of whiskey, and bottle after bottle of wine was the norm in their active social lives. In the mornings, the hair of the dog was the cure for the night on the town. Jaunts to Pamplona to see the bullfights were illustrated by McClain in all their gory splendor.
During this time, Hemingway wrote copiously and tirelessly, jealous of some of his peers who were already established. The germination and completion of The Sun Also Rises is covered, as well as his ruthless parody of Sherwood Anderson's work, The TORRENTS OF SPRING. Hadley loved him utterly, propped him up buoyantly, and assured him of his inevitable success. Eventually, Ernest acquired more expansive needs, and Hadley needed less, but got more than she bargained for. McClain limns their marriage as more than just a cautionary tale.
"To keep you from thinking, there was liquor, an ocean's worth at least, all the usual vices and plenty of rope to hang yourself with. But some of us, a very few in the end, bet on marriage against the odds."
This isn't standard "chick-lit" fare, nor is it cloying. I recommend this to anyone interested in the psyche of Hemingway, his first marriage, and his genesis as one of the greatest American authors of our time--from a wife's perspective.

The Paris Wife: A Novel Overview



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Far Away Home

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Far Away Home Review

Some writers excel at creating a world we want to succumb to, while others master the dynamics of a story that has the power to affect our sense of humanity. I feel that Susan Denning has found THE balance. Because I come from a filmmaking perspective, I especially enjoyed her skill at immediately grabbing the reader by the collar and dropping him in Aislynn's meticulously crafted world - the smells, the textures, the social dynamic, the moral compass of that time. And I found myself smiling with gratitude when, by page two, I realized I wanted to remain in that world. And I did, and left only when I unfortunately had to, at the end of Aislynn's journey from the girl she was to the woman she was always meant to become. I am ready, Mrs. Denning, as some of your other reviewers also seem to be, to be there for her next journey.
This is not a book you read; it is a book you experience. I hope that many, many, many get to enjoy it.
Sebastian Smeureanu
Director
Dacian Wolf Productions, LLC

Far Away Home Overview

In post-Civil War New York City, sixteen-year-old Aislynn Denehy cannot find a job, she has no place to live and no family to help her. Some might think this is a problem; Aislynn believes it is an opportunity, but she has a lot to learn. No formulaic romance, this well-researched love story depicts life as it truly was for the thousands of women who went west reaching for a new life. Aislynn's journey begins in a New York City tenement and leads her across the frontier to a Utah mining camp where she must cope with the three very different men in her life: smart, solicitous Tim, good-natured, good-guy Johnny and the intense but intriguing Liam Moran. Life in the roughshod camp brings small joys and devastating losses. The novel races through authentic experiences involving historical events until it erupts in an unexpected ending. In today's troubled world, Far Away Home will make you believe no matter how many challenges fate sends your way, the human spirit can triumph.

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Best Price Shanghai Girls: A Novel Review

Shanghai Girls: A Novel

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Shanghai Girls: A Novel Review

I'm a fan of Lisa See's two earlier novels, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" and "Peony in Love", both of which were set in 19th and 17th century China respectively. In "Shanghai Girls", the author moves the setting of the novel to Shanghai and later to the US. Lisa See paints a vivid portrait of life in pre-World War II Shanghai and takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through the Japanese invasion of China and its aftermath.
The protagonists in this novel are two sisters - Pearl and May. Pearl is the older sister, born in the auspicious Year of the Dragon, yet frowned upon by her Baba [father] who dislikes her tall appearance. Pearl is also educated, having completed college, and is proficient in a few languages and dialects. In contrast, younger sister May, born in the Year of the Sheep, is shorter yet lovely, and has only managed to complete high school. Yet, for all Pearl's accomplishments, it is May that is the apple of her parent's eyes, and uses this partiality to her advantage. Both sisters live a life of privilege, yet they work as 'beautiful girls' posing for pictures used in ads and posters and earn a good living. This may appear surprising given their parent's conservative outlook [the girls' mother has bound feet], yet not altogether strange as later events bring to light the family's dire financial straits.
When the girls are told their father has huge debts and has decided to marry them off to a pair of brothers, Gold Mountain Men residing in LA [men who have left China to go to America to seek their fortunes, returning to find China Brides], they realize their days of freedom are over and decide to revolt. Unfortunately, the Japanese invasion of Shanghai puts an end to any of their plans. Fleeing the Japanese is not without its horrors and ultimately Pearl and May find themselves alone except for one another.
Even after leaving China, the pair find their situation is still dire as upon arrival in the United States, Pearl and May are detained on Angel's Island for months undergoing untold suffering. They finally meet their 'spouses' but life for the sisters still has many trials in store, and a secret shared between them threatens their future.
"Shanghai Girls" is a well-woven narrative that flows well and Lisa See credibly evokes the bond between two sisters, whose love for one another is strong, yet also fraught by rivalries. This is not just a story about siblings for it is also about the clash between East and West as the sisters struggle to find their footing in a new world, even as the bonds of their old world remain strong. Lisa See is truly a gifted author for being able to portray both the old world of 17th and 19th century China [as seen in Peony and Snow Flower] and the new as seen in "Shanghai Girls". Final verdict: a compelling read.

Shanghai Girls: A Novel Overview



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32% Off Discounts: Purchase Cheap La Sombra del Viento (Vintage Espanol) (Spanish Edition) Review

La Sombra del Viento (Vintage Espanol) (Spanish Edition)

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La Sombra del Viento (Vintage Espanol) (Spanish Edition) Review

El talento literario de Carlos Ruiz Zafón envuelve a los
protagonistas de La Sombra del Viento en un sinfín de recovecos
progresivamente sorprendentes y misteriosos, estimulando la
continuidad de la lectura. Es una novela que combina genialmente
el poder insospechado de los libros, la motivación imparable de
la juventud, la capacidad del amor para derribar barreras, la
fidelidad incondicional de la amistad y el triunfo del bien sobre
el mal, en una narrativa de misterio con ambiente histórico. Su
estructura recuerda obras clásicas decimonónicas, sin dejar de
ser popular. Está tan bien trabajada que se seguirá leyendo en
generaciones por venir. Las posibilidades de que el libro sea
llevado a la pantalla gigante son muy buenas. Le auguro éxito.

La Sombra del Viento (Vintage Espanol) (Spanish Edition) Overview



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Purchase Cheap Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It Review

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It

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Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It Review

The brilliant thing about science is that when something is disproved once, it's disproved forever. The not-so-brilliant thing about public health policy is that it has little to do with science.
Everyone in the developed world knows what's causing our obesity epidemic. BBC nailed it: "We eat too much, and too much of the wrong things," and Michelle Obama tells us "We have to move more." Clearly what we need is a balanced diet of lean meats, some good fats, and complex carbohydrates like fruit, vegetables and whole grain bread, and exercise of 30 to 90 minutes per day. Their prescription is completely reasonable and makes intuitive sense.
It is neat, plausible, and wrong. It has in fact been disproved, as nearly as "disproof" can exist in nutrition science.
In his previous book, Good Calories Bad Calories, respected science journalist Gary Taubes exhaustively researched and cited two centuries worth of research in nutrition. He came to the conclusion that none of those recommendations is supported by science, because the fundamental theory on which they're based is wrong. Why We Get Fat is an updated summary of that earlier work, much quicker and easier to read, with some significant points clarified.
The most important point of the book is that all those public recommendations -- the food pyramid, the "eat food, not too much" approach, everything we know about a balanced lifestyle -- is founded on the premise of Calories In vs. Calories Out. That we get fat because we eat too many calories, or we don't burn enough of them through movement. But this is nonsense. It's not just wrong, it is actually not a statement about what causes obesity at all (or heart disease, cancer or diabetes, for that matter.) It is, in Taubes' words, a "junior high level mistake," because it tells us nothing about fat accumulation. If we get fat, by definition we have taken in more calories than we've put out -- but WHY we took in those calories, or didn't burn them, is the key point.
Taubes reviews the scientific literature (rather than the popular press) and presents a conclusion that was common knowledge before WWII, and heresy afterward: we get fat because our fat cells have become disregulated and are taking nutrients that should be available to other tissues. Like a tumor, the cells live for themselves rather than in balance with the rest of the body. And since those nutrients aren't available, we become hungry and tired. Therefore we eat more, and move less.
For the chronic dieters among us, one passage about animal models will explain decades of frustration. Rodents with a particular part of the hypothalamus destroyed would become obese and/or sedentary *as a consequence* of their bodies putting on more fat. "After the surgery, their fat tissue sucks up calories to make more fat; this leaves insufficient fuel for the rest of the body...The only way to prevent these animals from getting obese is to starve them...they get fat not by overeating but by eating at all." Sound familiar?
The problem isn't one of gluttony and sloth, as Taubes refers to it, but of hormone balance. Simply put, some people are more sensitive to the hormone effects of insulin, cortisol, and a few other -ols, than other people are. The more sensitive you are, the more you're likely to get fat, and the more fat you're likely to get, in the presence of even small amounts of carbohydrate -- and in the absence of enough fat.
That's right, this book advocates eating fat. Not just moderately, but as much fat as possible, up to 78% of calories. Not lean meats, not Jenny-O 99.6% fat-free turkey, not skinless chicken breasts, but lard. Yes, lard. The healthy way of eating, according to Taubes, is moderately high protein and high fat. Yes, high fat. About a 3:1 ratio of fat to protein, and almost no carbohydrates. (Telling people to eat a balanced diet containing carbohydrates is, he says, equivalent to telling smokers to include a balanced serving of cigarettes.) And he demonstrates exactly why a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet is the most heart-healthy approach, as borne out by several dozen recent studies.
While Taubes acknowledges that exercise seems to be good for us for a variety of reasons, weight control isn't one of them. Study after study conducted by proponents of exercise have admitted that they see no compelling evidence for exercise as a weight-loss tool. And it makes sense if you throw out the calories in/calories out model of why we get fat. If we're fat because our fat tissues are starving the rest of our cells of fuel, exercise is just going to make us hungrier and more tired, not leaner and more fit. (It's worth noting that according to Taubes, in the 1930s obese patients were treated with bed rest.)
[This review was edited to clarify the following point.] The main thrust of Taubes' argument, however, surrounds sugar and to a lesser extent any carbohydrate. Insulin is the primary hormone that fixes fat in the fat cells. This is why Type I diabetics lose weight: they're not producing enough insulin. Since insulin is manufactured in direct response to carbohydrates, if you don't eat them, you won't have a mechanism by which to store fat. (Taubes notes that this mechanism is not controversial; it simply hasn't had an impact on nutrition policy.) Taubes argues that any success in standard diets can be attributed directly to the dieter's reduced intake of carbohydrates, especially sugars and particularly fructose.
Once the underlying cause of obesity is understood (hormone balance, not gluttony/sloth) the recommendations on what to do about it are surprisingly simple and therefore brief. This is a book about the science of nutrition, not a diet book, but there is a list of recommended foods in the Appendix. The book does not tell you how to eat in a restaurant. But it does tell you that the issue isn't in your brain, your willpower, your character, your job, your environment or even (except to the extent that you're sensitive to carbohydrate) in your genes. The problem with fat is in your fat cells.
For a lay audience, this book is as good as it gets if you want to read actual science about health and nutrition. If you're of scientific or technical bent, read Good Calories Bad Calories first, then give Why We Get Fat to your parents.

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It Overview



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Auschwitz

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Auschwitz Review

Having just finished this book, I will say that it is a must read. This is a very disturbing look into Auschwitz and the attrocities that took place, under the direction of Mengele. This account, from a Dr. details that number of people massacred and how they were relieved of their lives. This man, for one reason or another, managed to stay alive and recount the life in Auschwitz as no other could. He is detailed in his memories of the place and gives a clear image for the reader to understand. It is one of those books that you don't often find, in which once you start, you simply cannot put it down. Truly one of the best accounts to date, as it has held up under the years.

Auschwitz Overview

Auschwitz was one of the first books to bring the full horror of the Nazi death camps to the American public; this is, as the New York Review of Books said, "the best brief account of the Auschwitz experience available."When the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, they sent virtually the entire Jewish population to Auschwitz. A Jew and a medical doctor, the prisoner Dr. Miklos Nyiszli was spared death for a grimmer fate: to perform "scientific research" on his fellow inmates under the supervision of the man who became known as the infamous "Angel of Death"--Dr. Josef Mengele. Nyiszli was named Mengele's personal research pathologist. In that capactity he also served as physician to the Sonderkommando, the Jewish prisoners who worked exclusively in the crematoriums and were routinely executed after four months. Miraculously, Nyiszli survived to give this horrifying and sobering account.Auschwitz was one of the first books to bring the full horror of the Nazi death camps to the American public. Although much has since been written about the Holocaust, this eyewitness account remains, as the New York Review of Bookssaid in 1987, "the best brief account of the Auschwitz experience available." Of Bruno Bettelheim's famous foreword Neal Ascherson has written, "Its eloquence and outrage must guarantee it a permanent place in Jewish historiography."

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Buy Cheap Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Puffin Modern Classics) Review

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Puffin Modern Classics)

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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Puffin Modern Classics) Review

Teaching in a primarily white school district(which is just a fact, not a problem), I enjoy teaching novels that bring knowledge of various groups' struggles, beliefs, and similarities that lead to the fact that "we are not as different as some choose to think." In teaching Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, I felt that my students felt sorry for Tom Robinson, but we needed to have a better understanding of where Tom was coming from. The two novels are very similar in settings, themes, point of view being that of a young girl, conflicts, and overall emotional impact they have on their readers. Kids love Little Man's strength that stretches beyond his size. They admire Stacey's confidence and loyalty to his family, friends, and people. Readers view T.J. with hatred, then confusion, and finally sympathy to this lost child...who can be compared with Harper Lee's Tom Robinson. Many of my students can relate to Jeremy Simms, who respects & enjoys the Logan family more than his own. And then there's Cassie, the narrator. Kids find Cassie to be the most complex of the Logans. Taylor presents Cassie as someone who is naive to discrimination(for lack of a better term). Often my students would write that they wished they could jump into the pages of the text and explain to Cassie what was going on so they could save her from further problems, as we see Big Ma do. My kids also wanted to just "give her a big hug." This book is a great read aloud & the sequels to follow are good as well. Let the Circle be Unbroken is #2 and also goes well with Harper's Tom Robinson's fate. The Road to Memphis is #3 and good as well, although I found the first two the best!

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Puffin Modern Classics) Overview



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