Sweet Sanctuary by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Janet

This story set in New York and Boston during World War II, centers on Dr. Hatcher’s envolvment with immigrants coming into the United States. Lydia Eldredge living in Boston with her son Nicky, was surprised when Dr. Micah Hatcher showed up on her Father’s doorstep. Why would her father summon Dr. Hatcher to Boston with the accusation of being Nicky’s father? Micah, had been even more surprised when he had received the letter from Mr. Eldredge, proclaiming him to be his grandson’s father. Micah and Lydia had worked together at the Schofield Station Hospital, when she had hurriedly left Oahu because of a “mysterious emergency” he hadn’t thought much about, but now he knew.

When Micah met Nicky, the little boy captured his heart. Then when Lydia explained the dilemma they faced, he was even more drawn into the Eldredge’s lives to help find safety for the little boy. But his responsibilities with the immigrants in New York, kept him from being available when the Eldredge’s needed him most. Kim Vogel Sawyer has once again touch my heart with her inspiring story in Sweet Sanctuary. It is another book you won’t want to put down.

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Mary

Charles Lindbergh’s achievements are fairly well known, but his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is portrayed in The Aviator’s Wife as a woman to be remembered for many reasons. Melanie Benjamin tells the story of Anne Morrow, the first American woman to earn a first-class glider pilot’s license, first woman to win the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal for exploration, and a National Book Award-winning novelist. Her marriage to Charles was difficult as his fame caused their life to be in the public’s eye. The terrible loss of their first little boy in a kidnapping added to their notoriety and heartache. Charles extremely disciplined manner and driven nature caused relationship issues with Anne and their children. Anne’s life comes alive for reader’s as we see her devotion to this celebrity husband and the problems that result.

The Confidant by Helene Gremillon

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Mary

Lifelong family secrets are revealed through a series of letters which arrive along with condolence notes in this novel written by French novelist Helene Gremillon. Camille, a single woman in her thirties has just lost her mother and has recently found herself to be pregnant. She begins receiving long, unsigned letters telling a story that she knows nothing about. As they continue to arrive she learns of a previous war time love triangle. Wealthy Monsieur and Madame M cannot conceive a child. Madame M is deperate to have a baby, and the wartime efforts are pushing all women to have children. She befriends a teenage girl of lower class and helps provide the necessary art supplies that Annie needs to encourage her creativity. Annie becomes so close to Madame M that she empathizes with her to the point of offering to have her child.

This dark tale of love gone wrong jumps between the present and the past with many twists and involved secrets. Camille begins to guess that these letters may involve her much more deeply than she wants to know in The Confidant.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Mary

Julie Kibler has written a debut novel that won my heart. I could not put this tragic love story down without continuing to dwell on the power of love and the tragedy of racial discrimination. In the south during the 1930′s, a wealthy white doctor’s daughter, Isabelle, falls in love with the handsome black son of their family maid. This story combines two time periods as years later now ninty year old Isabelle, asks her young black hairdresser, Dorrie, to drive her to a funeral 1000 miles from their homes. The two women share their troubled family stories with Isabelles secrets unfolding at the same time Dorrie’s teenage son calls with his own life changing problems. Calling Me Home kept me mesmerized till the very end. I hope for more by Julie Kibler!

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Mary

For all Austen enthusiasts Syrie James has written a novel in the essence and style of Jane. It begins with a contemporary story of American librarian, Samantha McDonough, discovering a hidden letter written by Jane Austen in the back of a book of poetry while vacationing in London She gains enough insight from the letter to begin to believe that Jane has written and lost another manuscript while visiting friends at Greenbrier in Devonshire. Pursuing this exciting possibility, Samantha meets handsome owner of Greenbrier, Anthony Whtaker and begins the search within his home. Now the story within the story begins when the manuscript is found and the two begin reading it to each other. We walk the streets of Bath with Austen characters in a story with all the atmosphere, romance and charm found in a Jane Austen novel.

A Plain and Simple Heart

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Janet

by Lori Copeland

Rebecca just knew Jesse Montgomery would join the Amish life in Apple Grove, Kansas, if she could just find him. When she hears of his whereabouts, she decides to take off to Lawrence, Kansas to find him. Leaving home at age 17 by herself probably wasn’t the smartest thing she ever did, but finding Jesse was worth any trouble she might face.

Little did she realize that trouble would be time in a jail cell for disturbing the peace. The women, all of whom are marching for temperance, help Rebecca. But her ninety day sentence may just get the best of Sheriff Colin Maddox. Colin only has a few more weeks before the new sheriff arrives and he is free to pursue his calling of becoming a minister. But with a woman in his jail cell and wanted men being sighted in town, that few weeks seems like an eternity. I actually read A Plain and Simple Heart from Sunflower eLibrary on my tablet, but it is available in hard copy. Highly recommended to those that enjoy this genre!

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Mary

Who remembers Girl with a Pearl Earring? Tracy Chevalier wrote that international bestseller in 1999 which was adapted into a movie in 2003 with three Academy Award nominations. Her newest novel is again historical fiction but for the first time has ventured into pioneer America. A major focus of the abolitionist movement, Oberlin, Ohio is the setting for Honor Bright’s story of arriving in America from England after a very difficult ocean crossing. Knowing she can never survive the incapacitating seasickness again, Honor must make the best of life in the harsh landscape of this backward land. Grace, her restless sister, corresponded with and agreed to marry an older man who had started a new life in America. Honor decided to accompany her after suffering the heartache of being released from her engagement to a local Quaker man who found another to love. Grace dies suddenly from yellow fever and Honor must find her way among the Friends believers in Ohio. Much of the story deals with the Underground Railroad and how it affected families. We feel compassion for the runaway slaves and how lives were put in jeopardy for helping to move them to safety in Canada. The austere life of a rough existence in this new land with few friends is felt by the reader as Honor remembers the comforts of home. The Last Runaway is an experience of heartache and hope as we live life through the mind of a Quaker looking for the Light in all, even the slave catchers.

Queen of Hearts by Martha Brooks

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Mary

Tuberculous is a dreadful diagnosis any time but especially before antibiotics existed during the first half of the twentieth century. Queen of Hearts is a realistic and heartwrenching story of how this disease touched lives in a Canadian sanitarium at the beginning of World War II. This young adult book hooked me and kept me emotionally charged as I followed the story of Marie Claire and her family as they battled this disease. People of all ages and all stations in life spent months to years in TB sanitariums. This historical novel does what I love in any good novel set in a prior time; it made me want to find out more about the history of tuberculosis. In the nineteenth century it was named the romantic disease because people suffering from tuberculosis were thought to have been bestowed with heightened sensitivity. The slow progress of the disease allowed for a “good death” as sufferers could arrange their affairs. It wasn’t until the development of streptomycin in 1944 that cures became the norm. Now with multidrug resistant strains there has been a resurgence of the disease. Every year, nearly half a million new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are estimated to occur worldwide.

Pillsbury Crossing

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Janet

by Donna Mabry

Donna Mabry wrote an endearing book set in the late 1800′s about the Manhattan, KS area. The story starts with Emma, age 9, stumbling into Pillsbury Crossing and Akecheta, age 12, rescuing her. A bond is set between the two as they grow up. Akecheta, alias Isaac Matthew, heads to College in New York City and leaves Emma behind to finish her high school years. While in New York, Akecheta is exposed to a whole new world and falls in love with a beautiful woman there. Emma has her heart set on marrying Akecheta, so when she finds out he intends to marry another she is heart broken. Pillsbury Crossing tells the story of a country boy who is given the chance to see and be a part of a totally different world.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: a Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Rhonna

When Frankie Pratt graduates from high school in 1920, she receives a scrapbook and her father’s old Corona typewriter. She can’t wait to leave her small New Hampshire home town and take on the world as a writer, but of course complications ensue. Frankie’s experiences include education, heartbreak, encouragement, and decisions both misguided and brave. We get to be there every step of the way as she types up her journal entries for her scrapbook and includes letters, candy wrappers, fashion spreads, and ticket stubs for our archival pleasure. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is a quick and delightful read with images that bring her and her era to life.

Band of Sisters

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Janet

by Cathy Gohlke

Maureen O’Rielly and her younger sister flee Ireland in hopes of connecting with Colonel Wakefield in America, who had promised their father, 20 years previously via a letter, to help them any time they were in need. When they arrived in Ellis Island, Maureen’s sister had to stay in the hospital on the island. Maureen was torn, she didn’t want to leave her sister, but she had to find the Wakefield’s and a job.

As it turns out the Colonel was dead, and the son-in-law threw Maureen out without consulting his sister-in-law, Olivia. Olivia discovers evidence that Maureen O’Rielly’s father was truly connected to her father and sets out to find Maureen. In the mean time, Maureen finds a job where her co-workers start mysteriously disappearing. Maureen has suspicions and goes to great lengths to find out what has happened to them. Band of Sisters tells of the mistreatment of newly immigrated women and of an American group of women banded together to help them.

The Butterfly Cabinet

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Janet

by Bernie McGill

The Butterfly Cabinet is set in Ireland, telling a long kept secret from the castle back in 1893. Maddie McGlade, now in her nineties, the year 1968, begins the story of her life and the things she witnessed as a servant under Harriet Ormond. Harriet also tells her end of the story through her prison diaries.

Harriet never put up with any nonsense from her children. They had to learn a lesson, if she didn’t punish them they would never become the obedient children they should. Maddie, and other servants in the house, thought Harriet went too far in her discipline. The sevants risked Harriet’s ire by sneaking food and drink to the children during long durations of learning how to behave. When the youngest child is found dead, Harriet is accused and thrown in prison. It seems that Maddie has a guilty conscious and must tell her story to someone before she dies. This book was inspired by a true story of the death of the daughter of an aristocratic Irish family at the end of the nineteenth century.

City of Women by David Gillham

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Mary

City of Women is a deeply wrenching story set in Berlin during World War II. Most of the men have been shipped off to fight on one of the fronts, including the husband of Sigrid Schroder. She tries to maintain a normal life going to work at the patent office and coming home to a meager existence in an apartment with her impossible mother-in-law. Sigrid, as many other Germans, tries to ignore the atrocities that are happening all around her. She hides her involvement with a Jewish lover and then becomes friends with and helps a young woman who is hiding a group of desperate people.

This is not an easy book to read. Sigrid is not a likeable character even with her involvement against Hitler’s movement. The setting of Berlin during bombing raids is very bleak and disturbing. It is a very interesting perspective of war as we are taken inside the minds of people caught up in an ugly, desperate situation. The theme captures you as it plays out during a very real moment in history.

The Tower, The Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Mary

Balthazar and Hebe Jones were very happily married and parents of a small son, Milo,when Balthazar accepted a new job in a very unique place. The family moved to the Tower of London so Balthazar could serve the Queen as a Beefeater.. The adjustments were many, such as adjusting to living in rooms with no square corners only rounded walls with ancient markings left by the centuries of prisoners who were held there while imprisoned. Balthazar is nominated to become the Keeper of the Royal Menagerie. Gift animals given to the Queen by heads of state had been kept in the Tower from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries when they were transferred to the London Zoo. Now they are being returned to the Tower to attract more visitors. Hebe and Bazlthazar are upset over the new responsibilities, but their most difficult problem is learning to deal with their grief over the loss of their son. The curious setting and unique, zany and funny story is actually a very charming love story with much historical interest. Like most historical fiction there is some truth to the story of the Royal Menagerie explained in this link.

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Mary

Louise Brooks was a beautiful silent-film star from Wichita, Kansas who began her career in New York City studying dance at the tender age of 15. Her mother arranged a chaperone to accompany Louise to the glitzy, cosmopolitan city. Laura Moriarty’s latest book, The Chaperone, tells the story of Louise Brooks, but centers on the secret life behind Cora Carlisle, her chaperone. Cora leaves her husband to accompany the troubled and talented Louise for one purpose, to find out more about her background and her first memories of a dark-haired women in a red shawl at ‘The Home for Friendless Girls’. Cora was one of the lucky orphans who came west on an orphan train as she was chosen by a loving Kansas farm couple. Now as a proper, society wife her secret is tugging at her very being.

The history of the war years in Wichita when the city was doubling in population at an amazing rate as the center of the air industry is a fascinating part of the story

Little Apple Bookworm

Category Archives: historical fiction