Queen of the Northern Mines by

“In 1863, California’s gold can decide the outcome of the Civil War.

At Missouri House, a stagecoach stop in the goldfields of the Sierra Nevada, Ida Hatfield and her mother, Molly, are surrounded by danger as Yankees, Rebels, and outlaws vie to possess the glittering treasure of the Northern Mines. In nearby Nevada City, Will Stafford, a young Virginian attorney, finds California becoming as dear to his heart as his Southern homeland. When the War of Rebellion rages on, his loves and loyalties are put to the ultimate test.

Nevada City, The Queen of the Northern Mines, was a vibrant community in the 1860′s. The story’s characters, real and fictional, come from all over the globe. In addition to the central theme of warring Americans, the book tells of Ah Tie, a Chinese mine owner who is denied justice for his two murdered guards; of Peter Kessel, an Austrian musician and absconded revolutionary, who finds an improbable bride in the American wilderness; and of Nutim, a Maidu orphan, who plots revenge against the white ‘ghost people’ who are destroying his tribe.”

What a lovely surprise Queen of the Northern Mines was! From the very first page, it grabbed my interest. The story focuses on Northern California during the Civil War era. The rich and complex historical details were a pleasure to read because they were gently wound around the novel’s intriguing characters and fascinating storyline. The story is told through the point of view of its main character, Will Stafford who becomes interested in Molly, who runs a boarding house. A love triangle develops when Ida, Molly’s teenage daughter, sets her sights on Will for herself. From mine owners, to orphans, to hitmen, there is something on every page to hold your interest. A true treat to enjoy and a wonderful historical fiction novel. 

...And Remember That I Am A Man by John Bushore

Reviewed by Ginger Simpson

…And Remember That I Am A Man - The Life of Moses Grandy by John Bushore, is a superbly SHOWN story of a strong, humble being born as a Negro, and is an adept portrayal of his life from childhood until death.

According to the author’s notes at the end of the novel, this book was written with several purposes in mind…and after a great deal of research.  I didn’t  have to read his narrative to know the purposes because I’d realized them during the reading of his book. Although I’ve long known about slavery and professed no accountability for it, this was an eye-opening experience.  Everyone of us is most likely a descendent of someone who owned slaves and treated human beings as property.  I’ve always considered the attitude young blacks carry as the excess baggage of their ancestry, but I have a much better understanding of the bitterness that has transcended time.  Mr. Bushore made Moses Grandy my new friend, and I took his treatment and betrayals very personally.

 As for the research, I thoroughly admire Mr. Bushore for doing his homework and knowing his subject so well.  Talk about putting a reader in the character’s shoes…I walked as a slave through every page.  I dripped with sweat at the back-breaking work, swatted bugs in the Dismal Swamp, and cried when my babies were sold.

The few writing issues that jumped out at my editorial eye were minimal considering the power of the story, the emotions, and the reality of Mr. Bushore’s descriptions. This story is definitely a keeper…if not on a shelf, then in the back of your mind so that never again in this country will we so devalue the worth of others simply because of the color of their skin.

As a postscript to my review, the timing of reading about Moses was further enhanced by watching the TV program, "Who Do You Think You Are," where three celebrities traced their roots back to slavery and were appalled at learning their own personal family history.  I so wished I could have recommended they read Mr. Bushore’s novel.  I missed that opportunity, but I can certainly make that suggestion to everyone who reads this.  I’m definitely going to be looking for the companion novel Boy In Chains which is a true story  of the Great Dismal Swamp. Although listed as suitable for mid-grade students through young adults, I intend to share it with my grandson to help him learn there is no place for prejudice in his life.

Mr. Bushore is a three-time recipient of the James Award, and two of his stories are included in a university course. He’s a multi-genre author, with dozens of stories and poems in both e-book and print.  You can view his website at http://www.johnbushore.com and find his books listed for sale on http://monkeyjohnstore.homestead.com.  Please treat yourself.  I’m so thankful that I picked this book to review, and I thank Mr. Bushore for the opportunity to examine my own values.

Forgotten by Nicole Salomone

Review by Lavender Ironside

Forgotten charts rare territory in the historical fiction genre:  It’s centered around medical history, and follows the early career of a healer/nurse during the American Revolutionary War.

Abigail is a woman who has fallen from high society.  When her abusive husband is mobbed and killed by Patriots under suspicion of being a Tory, Abigail eventually finds herself homeless and searching for a way to get by in life.  A chance acquaintance with two Patriot soldiers leads her to the camp of the American army, under the command of General George Washington.  Abigail’s small skill with home remedies affords her a place among the medical tents, where the staff is stretched thin and unable to cope with the disease and injuries of war.

As Abigail’s knowledge and confidence in her new role grows, she becomes a favorite among the soldiers and eventually develops a cure for a disease which has been raging uncontrolled throughout the camp.  Many camp personages are unhappy with her rise to minor celebrity, and despise her for reasons ranging from apparent jealousy to misogyny.  Abigail faces perils and enjoys kindnesses as both her enemies and friends increase in number.  Eventually she accepts a position working in a doctor’s surgery clinic.

It is my assumption that this is the first book in a series, for the story ends abruptly with little resolution of the open conflicts. 

The book is short – a novella – and is full of familiar names from history.  Abigail forms relationships with George Washington, his wife Martha, Alexander Hamilton (and there is a hint of a burgeoning romance there), and more important figures from the Revolutionary War.  It’s a fast read with occasionally difficult moments, as the author has clearly done her research on medicine during the War.  Wrenching details of the treatment of serious war wounds and illnesses are not spared.  If more books are to come, the series promises to be engaging and informative, and it’s nice to see a medical historical series taking shape, as such specialty niches are rare in historical fiction.

Forgotten

Nicole Salomone

172 pages

July, 2011

Independently published

Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini

A fascinating story about love and courage set during America's Prohibition.

Book Summary:

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini, a powerful and dramatic Prohibition-era story that follows the fortunes of Rosa Diaz Barclay, a woman who plunges into the unknown for the safety of her children and the love of a good but flawed man.

As the nation grapples with the strictures of Prohibition, Rosa Barclay lives on a Southern California rye farm with her volatile husband, John, who has lately found another source of income far outside the federal purview.

Mother to eight children, Rosa mourns the loss of four who succumbed to the mysterious wasting disease that is now afflicting young Ana and Miguel. Two daughters born of another father are in perfect health. When an act of violence shatters Rosa's resolve to maintain her increasingly dangerous existence, she flees with the children and her precious heirloom quilts to the mesa where she last saw her beloved mother alive.

As a flash flood traps them in a treacherous canyon, only one man is brave-or foolhardy-enough to come to their rescue: Lars Jorgenson, Rosa's first love and the father of her healthy daughters. Together they escape to Berkeley, where a leading specialist offers their only hope of saving Ana and Miguel. Here in northern California, they create new identities to protect themselves from Rosa's vengeful husband, the police who seek her for questioning, and the gangsters Lars reported to Prohibition agents-officers representing a department often as corrupt as the Mob itself. Ever mindful that his youthful alcoholism provoked Rosa to spurn him, Lars nevertheless supports Rosa's daring plan to stake their futures on a struggling Sonoma Valley vineyard-despite the recent hardships of local winemakers whose honest labors at viticulture have, through no fault of their own, become illegal.

Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini is fascinating novel set during Prohibition in the southern United States. I loved the retro cover. It reminded me of many classic novels that I enjoyed so many years ago, or finding an old dusty classic hidden at the back of a library's bookshelf. This novel weaves through time as it follows the trials Rosa and Lars face as they attempt to escape their past and avoid treachery in their new life. One immediately feels sympathy for poor Rose who is trapped in a loveless marriage with an embittered man who refuses to provide the necessary care for her ill children and regularly abuses her.

This is an epic story that weaves itself over several years and takes the reader into the heart of wine country during the era of Prohibition. The author gave us an in-depth look at the struggle of vineyard owners at a time when wine-making was severely and how they struggled to survive. Insight was also given as to how celiac disease was first diagnosed and treated.

The novel was easy to read. Its characters, both protagonist and antagonist, were well written and realistic. It is nice to learn about lesser known eras in unusual settings, and this novel certainly made that mark. Beautiful prose, rich descriptions, and an endearing story of courage and hope make this an awesome read.

The Healing by Jonathan Odell

An engrossing novel about slavery!

Mississippi plantation mistress Amanda Satterfield loses her daughter to cholera after her husband refuses to treat her for what he considers to be a “slave disease.” Insane with grief, Amanda takes a newborn slave child as her own and names her Granada, much to the outrage of her husband and the amusement of their white neighbors. Troubled by his wife’s disturbing mental state and concerned about a mysterious plague sweeping through his slave population, Master Satterfield purchases Polly Shine, a slave reputed to be a healer. But Polly’s sharp tongue and troubling predictions cause unrest across the plantation. Complicating matters further, Polly recognizes “the gift” in Granada, the mistress’s pet, and a domestic battle of wills ensues.

Seventy-five years later, Granada, now known as Gran Gran, is still living on the plantation and must revive the buried memories of her past in order to heal a young girl abandoned to her care. Together they learn the power of story to heal the body, the spirit and the soul.

Rich in mood and atmosphere, The Healing is the kind of novel readers can’t put down—and can’t wait to recommend once they’ve finished.

The Healing is a novel about an old woman named Gran Gran. The former slave lives alone in an abandoned mansion on a Southern plantation. In her youth, she worked as a midwife and healer to the slaves. Once revered for her skills, as time progressed, the respect she once enjoyed has faded away.

Lonely, she finds herself taking care of a young girl named Violet whose mother died after a botched abortion. Gran Gran shares her memories of her life as a slave on the plantation with the young girl, soothing her grief over her mother’s death. An unhinged mistress, the hardships the slaves suffered because of heartless masters, disease, sorrow, and cruel racial prejudices abounds on every page of this engrossing novel.

Moving between present and past, the author tantalizes by revealing dark secrets and mistakes. But this novel is more than a story of the South. It is a revelation about the difficulties black women faced at the hands of slaveholders - forced separation from children and family, lack of food and clothing, and their resilience to succeed despite numerous adversities.

Odell delves deep into womanhood, never shying away from poverty, rape, and horrendous abuses that were considered normal in the treatment of slaves. And he does so in a way that evokes great respect and sympathy for the women who were not only resilient, but courageous. Above all, this is a poignant novel of hope and courage that will deeply touch readers. I truly loved this book and look forward to reading future books by this very talented author.

Synopsis:

Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.

Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes.

Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.

On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love.

Review:

The Dressmaker is the story of a young woman who dreams of fleeing the harshness of her life in England where she works as a maid. Alone in the world, her only talent lies in her skill to design and sew dresses. Yet the only work available to her are ones that require housework or the most basic of sewing skills.

So Tess Collins sets her sights on the New World, to America. A chance encounter with Lady Lucile Duff Gordon results in her being hired as an assistant to the world renowned fashion designer. Together they embark on the Titanic. Miraculously the two women survive and are brought to New York. In the aftermath of the sinking, with all the confusion and the pandemonium, Tess struggles to make her way in this new world while trying to get along with her formidable boss. She soon falls in love with two men, one of high social class and the other poor. These love interests, along with a feisty reporter named Pinky, makes for an entertaining sub-plot. 

Author Kate Alcott definitely offers an interesting story. It is important for readers to know, however, that this  novel focuses mostly on the fictional story and characters than on what actually happened on the Titanic. More attention is placed on the aftermath of the sinking than what happened in the final hours before the ship sunk. And this is what I enjoyed most about this tale. 

Through her characters, the author briefly delves into the facts of what happened on the Titanic, especially what happened on Lifeboat One and the quandry between those in the water and those who were fortunate enough to find space in a lifeboat, and more heavily on what happened to the survivors afterwards when they arrived in New York and faced a media frenzy.

The story of the Titanic has been told through film and book, so it is a challenge for any author to tackle such a challenging, complicated historical event. Some of the characters in this story were fictional, while others were drawn from the actual persons aboard the tragic ship. Although I enjoyed reading and learning about the aftermath of the Titanic's sinking and the subsequent subplots that arose with the survivors, I was left yearning for a little more about the circumstances that arose on the ship itself. Some of that was disclosed at the end of the novel. Nevertheless, the story was enjoyable, informative, and accurately written based upon meticulous research. It was tasteful and didn't play upon the tragedy, being so respectfully written. For those fascinated with the Titanic, this makes for pleasant reading. 

Growing Up Patton by Benjamin Patton with Jennifer Scruby

A book that takes the reader into unusual places to meet unusual people!

Growing Up Patton

by

Benjamin Patton with Jennifer Scruby

Reviewed by

Gregory Graham

At the age of seventeen, Benjamin Patton made a decision to not join the U.S. Army. For most teenagers, it is an easy decision; not so if you are the grandson of General George S. Patton Jr, a hero of World War II and the son of General George S. Patton IV. Benjamin has a family military history that stretches back to the Civil War. In many ways, this book is the expiation of Benjamin's guilt for living a life outside the family trade, and an affirmation that life outside of the military can be as meaningful if one uses it to praise its military roots.

As a result, this book is hard to classify. It is part history, part reminiscence, there is some biography thrown in, and, of course, autobiography. You will find no Patton family skeletons here. All people in the book are presented with polished brass and at their Sunday best. What the book does quite nicely is take the reader into unusual places to meet unusual people. That, in fact, is what keeps this book from becoming a puff piece for the Patton family.

The first section deals with family history, and the second section with correspondence between George Jr. and George the IV during World War II. Junior is busy winning the war in Europe, and George the IV is studying hard at West Point. Dad's letters are full of fatherly advice for his son, and the son's letters are full of anxiety about the war ending before he can fight.

I think this section is meant to show the human side of the WWII general or at least dispel the image of him branded into our collective memory by George C. Scott in the movie, Patton. You get the impression that he was loved by the people who worked directly for him, but I know for a fact that this love did not extend to the soldiers in his Army. My father, an Infantry sergeant, who fought for Patton on his race across France and Germany had a different view. He called him 'Old Guts and Glory, our guts and his glory'.

The third section of the book is by far the best. It deals with the remarkable people that had an impact on the family. We get a short biography of General Creighton Abrams, a masterful general who worked for George Jr during World War II and who shaped the career of George the IV. Manfred Rommel is covered and the relationship that developed between Rommel's son and George the IV. We also meet Sammy Choi, a Korean Horatio Alger, Julius Becton, one of the first black generals in the US Army, and Vera Duss, an Abbess.

In the next section, Benjamin Patton covers young commanders shaped by his father who are the future of the US Army. A nod is given to the spiritual leaders who worked with his father, and the next to last section is devoted to his mother and the correspondence between her and his father during his Vietnam assignments. 

The final section deals with Benjamin's brother, George. If you're keeping count, that is George the V, who is mentally challenged.

I'm not sure what the totality of the book is. I found parts of it compelling. There were certainly parts of it that allowed me to peak into different ways of life and those parts were fun, but it is hard to escape the fact that the book is a chimera. The parts don't seem to fit together into a cogent whole.

This final question is who should read this book. I suppose if you're a student of military history, this book would be interesting. As it passes through the generations the reader can see how the Army has morphed from the fighting force of WWII to what it is today.

I would also read it for serendipity. One of my father's favorite stories about WWII was how on Christmas Eve during the Battle of the Bulge, he and his men came upon a banquet set out for German officers in a church. He remembers that the food was still warm and smelled wonderful although no one would touch anything because it might be booby trapped.

In the chapter on Creighton Abrams, Benjamin Patton describes how Abrams broke through to the town of Bastogne by using a little used side road. He surprised German officers along the way as they were sitting down to Christmas Eve dinner.

I now know where my father was on Christmas Eve, 1944. He was at the tip of the spear of the relief column sent to relieve Bastogne. The odd part is that I found it in a book by another man who is searching for his father and grandfather.

Much Ado About Marshalls by Jacquie Rogers

Wendy Laharnar’s Book Review of Much Ado About Marshalls by Jacquie Rogers

Hysterical, Historical Western. 5 stars.

This Historical Western Romance set in 1885, Oreana, Idaho. is a hoot. It’s hot, funny, and romantic; in others words this is a seductive read. I couldn’t put it down. Guilty secrets, love triangles, mistaken identity, forbidden love, Shakespeare couldn’t have given us more, but Jacquie Rogers does. She includes bank robbers, a wannabe lady detective and a whole town full of memorable characters who take us on a rollicking ride in the Wild West.

Warmth of innocence and true love are endearing qualities in the main characters.

Cole Richards living a lie as the Marshal Sidney Adler is loveable because, as well as his fear of capture for his unintentional part in a bank robbery, it’s his sense of honour and commitment to his new role and his love for the Mayor’s daughter that prevents him revealing his true identity. The marshal clearly understands the difference between true love and lust.

Daisy Gardiner is lovable because she knows what she wants and in her innocence she works out how to get it. She wants the marshal. Married to this handsomely sexy man she can be his helpmate and pursue her career as private detective, like the fictional Honey Beaulieu in her detective novels. But first she must nurse him back to health after the gunshot wound to his leg and prove her usefulness by helping to capture two unethical miners.

Ms Roger’s humour swings between slapstick (e.g. scenes with the boy and his dog) to irony (e.g. the proposed use of the medicinal “Dr Liebig’s Lost Manhood Restorer.”) She plays on Bosco Kunkle’s love of food which brings out the sweet and sad side of the lonely widows who fawn over him. She uses the naivety of young women in this by-gone era and has her reader smiling and laughing out loud.

Shame the Devil by Debra Brenegan

Fanny Fern - A wickedly outspoken author!

Shame the Devil is based upon the remarkable and true story of 19th century novelist, journalist, and feminist, Fanny Fern, also known as Sara Payson Willis (1811 – 1872). She was born in Portland Maine. Her father, Nathaniel Willis, owned a newspaper. Early on, she chose the pen name of Fanny Fern because it reminded her of her mother as she picked ferns.

She attended a boarding school in Hartford Connecticut where she was dubbed as one of te worst behaved but most beloved girls. In 1837 she married Charles Harrington Eldredge, a banker. Fanny bore him three daughters. Tragedy struck eight years later when her eldest daughter died of meningitis and her husband died of typhoid fever. Willis was left nearly destitute. With little help from either her father or her in-laws or her brother, she struggled to support herself and her two surviving daughters. Her father encouraged her to remarry as a means to solve their financial difficulties.

So in 1849, she married a merchant by the name of Samuel Farrington. Right from the start, they faced difficulties due to her husband’s intense jealousy. Two years later, she left him, creating a scandal and divorced him.

On her own and with two daughters to support, Fanny began to write in earnest, publishing articles. She sent samples of her work under her own name to her brother Nathaniel, who owned a magazine, but he refused them and said her writing was not marketable. She kept her identity hidden as her abusive ex-husband continued to make strife by spreading vicious rumours. But this didn’t stop Fanny. Her work was accepted by newspapers and journals in New York where she wrote a witty column that proved highly popular.

In the 1850’s a children’s novel she wrote sold 70,000 copies in its first year, quite an achievement for the times. James Parton, editor for the Home Journal, a magazine owned by Fanny’s brother, published her columns. But when her brother discovered this, he forbade Parton from publishing any more of Fern's work. In protest, Parton resigned.

Fanny’s first book, Fern Leaves (1853), was a best seller. It sold 46,000 copies in the first four months, and over 70,000 copies the first year. With her royalties, she bought a house in Brooklyn and lived comfortably well. She soon became the highest paid columnist in the U.S.

Fern wrote about her happy first marriage, the poverty she endured after he died and lack of help from male relatives, and her struggle to achieve financial independence as a journalist. She did not hesitate to write unflattering portrayals of those who had treated her uncharitably when she most needed help, including her father, her in-laws, her brother N.P. Willis, and two newspaper editors. When Fern's identity was revealed shortly after the novel's publication, some critics believed it scandalous that she had attacked her own relatives; they decried her lack of filial piety and her want of "womanly gentleness" in such characterizations.

Author Nathaniel Hawthorne praised her work. He said, “...enjoyed it a great deal. The woman writes as if the devil was in her, and that is the only condition in which a woman ever writes anything worth reading."

Fanny died of cancer in 1872.

Author Debra Brenegan did an exceptional job writing this inspiring and engrossing biography. She not only writes with very vivid detail, but she did so in a way that truly made Fanny and her surroundings seem real. It is a poignant story of the struggles women faced to survive in a world where few opportunities existed.

This is a really, really great book.

Here is a brief sample of her sarcastic and sometimes vitriolic writing. This piece is entitled, I Can't.

I CAN'T

APOLLO!—what a face! Doleful as a hearse; folded hands; hollow chest; whining voice; the very picture of cowardly irresolution. Spring to your feet, hold up your head, set your teeth together, draw that fine form of yours up to the height that God made it; draw an immense long breath, and look about you. What do you see? Why, all creation taking care of number one;—pushing ahead like the car of Juggernaut, over live victims. There it is; and you can't help it. Are you going to lie down and be crushed?

By all that is manly, no!—dash ahead! You have as good a right to mount the triumphal car as your neighbor. Snap your fingers at croakers. If you can't get round a stump, leap over it, high and dry. Have nerves of steel, a will of iron. Never mind sideaches, or heartaches, or headaches,—dig away without stopping to breathe, or to notice envy or malice. Set your target in the clouds, and aim at it. If your arrow falls short of the mark, what of that? Pick it up and go at it again. If you should never reach it, you will shoot higher than if you only aimed at a bush. Don't whine, if your friends fall off. At the first stroke of good luck, by Mammon! they will swarm around you like a hive of bees, till you are disgusted with human nature. "I can't!" O, pshaw! I throw my glove in your face, if I am a woman! You are a disgrace to corduroys. What! a man lack courage? A man want independence? A man to be discouraged at obstacles? A man afraid to face anything on earth, save his Maker? Why! I have the most unmitigated contempt for you, you little pusillanimous pussy-cat! There is nothing manly about you, except your whiskers.

Under the Same Sky, by Genevieve Graham

Review by Lavender Ironside

Genevieve Graham’s debut novel, set dually in Colonial America and Scotland, is a sweet, inspiring romance spiked with just enough action and mystery to keep the reader turning pages just as fast as she can.

Under the Same Sky follows the lives of two people destined to be lovers, though they are separated by a vast distance.  Maggie is the eldest daughter of a poor farming family in South Carolina, gifted with “the Sight” -- the ability to dream the future, and sometimes the present as well.  She is also able to summon up images of a boy her age living in an unknown place, and she and the dream-boy grow up together, constant companions who never the less have not yet met. 

The dream boy is Andrew, a Scottish lad of the MacDonnell clan.  As Andrew and Maggie grow to adulthood, he, his brothers, and father are swept into the war with England; meanwhile, Maggie’s family is devastated by the murder of their mother and the girls’ capture and attempted sale into sexual slavery.  Unthinkable tragedies befall Maggie’s family and Andrew’s, and the two set out to build new lives for themselves, still maintaining their mystical connection and the comfort that their strange friendship brings.

Maggie’s path leads her to take up with the local Cherokee village, where she is allowed to hone her skill with the Sight without fear of being burned as a witch.  Andrew, meanwhile, feels compelled to leave Scotland and head for the New World – partly to seek out Maggie, whom he can feel calling to him.

Graham’s prose at the beginning of the novel is absolutely rapturous, full of lush imagery and a quietly confident voice that had me hooked immediately.  My one quibble with the book is that after a few chapters that lovely prose settled into a plainer, more straightforward storytelling style – not an authorial crime by any means, but I did find myself wishing for more of that delicious prose as I read to the novel’s final scene.  In spite of that one complaint, Under the Same Sky is a well-paced book, switching deftly between the two point-of-view characters at just the right moments and never lagging too long between scenes of tension or action.

Ultimately, this is a novel about redemption – either Maggie or Andrew could have turned sour after the tragedies they’ve faced, but both choose to turn to the promise of love instead, and both take comfort and find purpose in caring for people in need.  They are inspiring characters, and it is a delight to watch their romance develop.  Genevieve Graham is one to watch for historical romance readers.

Guardians of the Gate by Vincent N. Parrillo

Ellis Island was a beacon and haven for thousands of immigrants. For some immigrants, however, it was a nightmare. In Guardians of the Gate, professor and immigration expert Vincent Parrillo shows the both sides of the coin that was Ellis Island at the end of the 19^th century.

In the 1890s, America had its doors open – presumably to everyone. The truth, however, was that the gate that presented hope and a better life to so many individuals could also be vicious, unforgiving and indelibly closed to some. Persons deemed “undesirable” or “sick” were often denied entry, finding themselves transported back to their home countries on the next ship. Other individuals were exploited or abused before being allowed to set foot on the mainland U.S.

The culprits of this corruption? Ellis Island employees themselves, the Guardians of the Gate.

Despite being the entry point for so many contemporary American’s ancestors (this reviewer for one), many people know very little about this place that possesses an indelible role in American history. Using real events, Parrillo brings readers back in time to Ellis Island, the place of dreams and also of unforgivable human abuses. Through Dr. Matthew Stafford, the novel follows the trials and travails that immigrants faced upon exiting the gangplank at Ellis Island, and the work of the few honest men involved in the Island’s operation to help immigrants begin new lives. The novel follows Stafford from his very first interaction with the Island until the Island’s government-induced overall investigation after exposure of the abuses occurring on it.

Interwoven in this tale is the story of Stafford’s illicit love affair with one of the Island’s nurses. How the affair would be perceived and accepted as well as its social and personal consequences are discussed, providing a portrait of non-Island New York society in the 1890s.

The historical facts contained in Guardians of the Gate provide a perfect foundation for the imagined ones, creating a novel that brilliantly combines the real and unreal. It is a wonderful addition to the world of historical fiction, particularly because it focuses on a time and place that few other works in the genre consider.

Rain Falls like Mercy by Jack Todd

A gripping and graphic story of murder!

Description

Set against the sweeping backdrop of World War II, Rain Falls Like Mercy is a gripping depiction of a family and a country touched by the grand violence of war, the senseless violence of crime, and the intimate violence of the heart.

IN THE TRADITION OF TRUE CRIME narratives such as In Cold Blood, acclaimed author Jack Todd’s new novel grips the reader from the first page; and as it spans continents and generations of one family, its taut and shocking undercurrent of violence builds to a stunning crescendo. Todd’s first novel, Sun Going Down, which introduced the Paint family, won praise from reviewers and major authors such as Michael Korda and Michael Blake. His second novel, Come Again No More, recounted the Paints’ saga of triumph and tragedy through the Great Depression, inspiring the Ottawa Citizen to label Todd “a first-rate novelist with a tender heart.”

Rain Falls Like Mercy opens with the murder investigation of a young girl in Wyoming in mid- 1941. Tom Call, the young sheriff running the investigation, falls in love with Juanita, the wife of Eli Paint, whose son Leo and grandson Bobby Watson are on duty with the U.S. Navy. Almost overnight, the case is derailed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, disrupting the lives of all involved. Bobby mans an antiaircraft gun during the attack. Tom joins the U.S. Air Force and is deployed to England to fly bombers, still trying to pursue his murder investigation. His suspicion falls on Pardo Bury, the psychotic son of a wealthy rancher in Wyoming.

As Pardo and Tom make their ways to their inevitable and shattering confrontation, Rain Falls Like Mercy displays Todd’s uncanny ability to zero in on his characters’ emotional lives while simultaneously painting a sweeping picture of the historical events that shape their destinies.

Review

Rain Falls Like Mercy is the third edition in Jack Todd’s trilogy about the Paint family. You do not necessarily need to read the first two in order to enjoy this third book, but I suspect you will wish to do so after you read this one.

This story takes place in 1941 during World War II in a small Wyoming town where the murder investigation of a slain teen girl is underway.

The town sheriff, Tom Call, must forego his investigation when Pearl Harbour is bombed and he soon finds himself in the U.S. Air Force flying dangerous missions in England. Yet he still tries to unravel the circumstances of the murder investigation that awaits him at home and his sole suspect, Pardo Bury, the son of a very affluent and powerful businessman.  

While Tom Call is embroiled in the war in England, Pardo Bury waits out his time a Texas jail for slicing a prostitute. The moment he is released, sets out on a new spree of violence, victimizing both men and women.

Part Western, part World War II, the story unfolds with intensity as Jack Todd holds nothing back in his graphic descriptions, strong language, and twisting plot. The reader embarks on a journey from the U.S. to England, Japan to Germany, and then back to the U.S., keeping us enthralled throughout. 

Elijah Rising by Lyn LeJeune

Overview: The story of the Ishmael-like friendship between two young men: a wealthy white New Yorker, Michael Cooke Holt, and a black tent-fundamentalist preacher, Elijah Broom, set in that period of turmoil and crisis in American history in which scientific marvels, social unrest, economic disasters, and the First World War, created new vistas about the individual and the nation.

In Lyn LeJeune's Elijah Rising, the heir to a railroad fortune, Michael is an aimless soul struggling to find his path in life. In World War I America, patriotism prevails and pacifists are punished. A misfit in the academic world and rejected for military service, Michael lives off a generous allowance from his callous mother and passes time in between bouts of drinking by wandering the streets of New York City. There he meets the disadvantaged and downtrodden and feels the need to share about their suffering through his writing.

One of his encounters is with a young, orphaned black boy named Elijah Broom. For reasons even Michael can’t understand, he is compelled to learn more about Elijah’s life. When he later finds out that Elijah has become a revivalist preacher, traveling through America to bring God’s message to the masses, Michael decides to follow him. Their journey takes them through the dangerous territory of the Klan and further west to the dusty deserts. Elijah becomes far more than a personal interest story to Michael – he becomes the answer to everything he has sought in life. Michael, the once-tortured soul, has found a cause in Elijah, the embodiment of hope and salvation. But the charismatic Elijah is more than what he seems to be on the surface…

I relish a story where I reach the last page with a better understanding of the times in which it took place. Elijah Rising, in which the narrative alternates between Michael and Elijah, is one such book. I learned far more about the social and political workings of earlier 20th century America than I ever did from a textbook. This is by no means a light read; it is as times dark and disturbing to know of the prejudices that persisted long after Emancipation and that hate crimes existed long before they had a name. The author does not avoid close inspections of squalor, disease and crime. Michael is a humanitarian ahead of his time and through his eyes we view the complex and often ugly society that existed just a century ago in America.

Available from inGroup Press and at Amazon.com.

Blood Brothers by E. Thomas Behr

In 1805 in the war-ravaged Mediterranean, Henry Doyle, a soldier of fortune and professional killer arrives at a squalid tavern in the roughest section of Malta for a meeting with a man he should hate.

His appointment: William Eaton, an American army officer, Indian fighter, and secret agent for Thomas Jefferson. Eaton is plotting a daring venture: the invasion of Tripoli to liberate three hundred Americans held hostage by the Pasha of Tripoli, place a pro-American ruler on Tripoli’s throne, and bring freedom to a Muslim country that has known only tyranny.

Eaton has money to spend for a scout to lead a rag tag invading army of Arabs, Eurpean mercenaries, and seven U.S. marines across 500 miles of merciless desert to attack an enemy force ten times their size.

Raised by the Mohawk Indians in 1770’s, Doyle’s memories of the destruction of his people by the American army during the Revolution are still painful after twenty five years and bitter. But in spite of his feelings, Doyle accepts the assignment.

Eaton’s mission throws together two unlikely allies: Doyle and the half-brother he never knew he had, Peter Kirkpatrick, the young, brashly confident captain of the U.S.S. Eagle.

When he joins Eaton’s mission, Kirkpatrick plunges into an unfamiliar, unforgiving world that will test his – and America’s character as a nation – to the breaking point. For Doyle, the question becomes: do I help my brother – or let him die? 

“Blood Brothers” is the story of Henry Doyle as much as it’s the tale of the U.S.’s actions in Tripoli. The book’s first quarter is weighted with Doyle’s history and the pace of the book suffers because of it. Also, there is a legion of characters with few identifiers to help us love or hate them. However, for the reader who sticks with the story, the military engagements are realistic and the multiple settings of America, Malta, and Turkey engage the senses.