The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

 It doesn't matter who you are, reading is a sanctuary and everyone has a need and purpose to read.  

In the Kentucky Appalachians, Cussy Mary Carter is the Book Woman.  She travels by donkey with books, magazines, pamphlets, and any other reading material the local library can scrounge up and send to the hill people.  

Cussy Mary lives with her dear father.  Working in the coal mines, her father is fearful of an early death while he attempts to get a mate for Cussy.  Mating season in the hills is noted by placing a burning candle in the window.  A lit candle means an available bride.  

With little faith in the candle, she knows her unique blue skin places her status on the lowest rung of humanity.  Cussy's job as Book Woman gives her all the freedom she can hope for.  She teaches the mountain people to read and surprises them with materials of interest, when available, to keep them excited about knowledge.

On Cussy's route, Jackson Lovett settled himself in a cabin after traveling the country.  He appears to have an eye for Cussy, which she refuses to acknowledge.  No man of such wondrous standing would want anything to do with a blue woman.  

The local doctor repeatedly requests testing on Cussy's color.  Maybe there's hope to change from blue to white.  Or is the color of a person a vanity issue while the person remains the same?  Another problem for Cussy to encounter.

Jackson is held back from approaching Cussy, but he does show interest in simple ways when she approaches his home with her reading materials.  A bouquet of wildflowers confuses her.  Yet, does she sense his interest? 

Tragedy's are exchanged for hope.  Hope in life, reading, and love.  With each show of anger, jealousy, and prejudice, a page turns with strengthened friendship and love.  

Richardson's story is an intelligent, hopeful, and heartwarming tale.   It's easy to get involved with Cussy's life and wish her the best.

Happy reading,

Dawn

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

 Heather Morris brings us a true love story set in one of the most horrific times in the world's memorable history.  Morris interviews a Holocaust survivor, Lale Sokolov, near the end of his life.  Lale wants his story remembered and learned from. 

Lale is placed in the concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in 1942.  He speaks many languages, which promotes him to the position of tattooist.  He will be the one who uses permanent ink to number Hitler's prisoners in the camp.  

A new prisoner named Gita, puts her arm in front of Lale at the table the prisoners are herded to for labeling.   He immediately wants to know the fearful woman in front of him.  

With his limited extra privileges, he finds what "block" she's assigned and sneaks a treat to the guard in order to meet Gita.  

A deep love develops between the two.  Gita doesn't reveal her last name or details of her life, yet Lale knows he needs her love as she does his to survive the dark hell of the camp and beyond.  

Taking many risks, Lale uses his position to gather jewels and money from the deceased in trade for food for his fellow prisoners.  

It's not hard to find black moments in the tale from WWII, but it is difficult to imagine Lale and Gita surviving and finding each other after the official release of barely alive prisoners at the end of the war.  The strength of love has amazing results.

Happy reading,

Dawn  

Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Coal river, Pennsylvania  has made it's mark on historical fiction/romance.  The town is created, yet the history is a horrific reality.  To soften the blow, romance blossoms in a bad situation.

Emma Malloy is pushed out of a New York hospital after her parents are documented as dead from the same theater fire Emma survived.  In 1912, the social programs haven't been created, so the only place she knows to go, other than the poor house, is Coal River.  

Her aunt and uncle grudgingly take her in with the prerequisite to earn her keep as a house maid and stay in the shadows.  Uncle Otis is a supervisor for the local coal mine, which sparks Emma's curiosity after she notices many local boys with missing limbs, coal-dirty, and not in school.  

Clayton Nash works in the coal mine and can't help but notice Emma as a new woman in town.  He has his family, minus a wife, in mind when he works long dangerous hours in the toxic environment of coal.

By an accidental meeting, Clayton and Emma hide their interest in one another as they realize the mutual help to attain their goals is foreseeable if they team up.  Clayton is determined to make the coal mines safer and operate under better regulations while keeping his adopted orphans healthy and safe.  Emma dreams of teaching children and adds making the coal mine safe for the families and children after learning how dangerous they are.

Meeting frequently, Emma and Clayton develop a bond with strong feelings as they organize to bring safety and health to the coal workers.  

An amazing story replicating the danger present in early American coal mines and the fact that health and love can grow in a toxic and fixable work environment.

Happy reading,

Dawn 

The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

 The Philadelphia homes and streets are ravaged by the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.  Pia Lange loves her home, family, and life before the autumn and the sickness prevails in everyone's life.

As a young teen, Pia lives in the countryside of Pennsylvania until her father moves the family to the city for new work.  He leaves for WWI in Europe and her mother and twin baby brothers are left to fight the flu and their German ancestry.

Flynn is the only friend Pia can rely on.  As a young man, he walks her to school and stands up for her when anti-German slurs are yelled.   

Many months pass and Pia is separated from Flynn.  Neither is aware of why, whether it's the flu, lack of home, food, or doings of police or orphan authorities.  

There is one suspicious person, Bernice Groves, who plays an integral part in the separation of Pia and Flynn.  Groves takes advantage of the weak during a crisis and focuses on babies and children.  She is unnoticed in her activities until odd pieces of information begin to collect in Pia's experiences.

I just hope the information can reunite Pia and Flynn after a scarring existence and endurance of family losses.  Love and happiness can be a great healer.

Happy reading, 

Dawn

The Key by Kathryn Hughes

So many loves stories and they start at a mental asylum.  That’s what they used to call such places where families sent what they construed as a misfit or a person the family has no use for.  Didn’t matter the person could be throw behind locked doors for any and all reasons without psychiatric or medical doctor reports.

Sarah has an undying interest in the long closed and dilapidated Ambergate Lunatic Asylum in London.  Snooping around the battered rooms to find details of the lives of those left to endure an unsympathetic existence, not only does Sarah find a friend, a pile of leftover suitcases with clues, her father’s past as a doctor, and the man she will fall in love with.

Most suitcases held miscellaneous personal items, never returned to the inmates, yet the key to a certain piece of luggage opened Sarah’s curiosity about a yellowed wedding dress and a painting.

Sarah enlisted a fellow librarian, Matt, to help her dig up the history of the asylum patients.  She eventually enjoyed the time she spent with him to do her project, his wit and helpfulness, his caring ways.  

So many lives changed because of the what Sarah uncovered.  Sarah’s father had been a doctor at the asylum.  He had a connection with the woman and the faded wedding dress.  A vagrant who lived in the rundown building needed to find his way home, and the lives of many of the patients turned toward love and friendship when Sarah revealed the secrets held in the dreary walls of the asylum, ready for demolition and a fresh start.

 A poignant story based on the early lack of knowledge of those who aren’t like everyone else.  Love heals a lot.

Happy reading,

Dawn

The White Russian by Vanora Bennett

In 1937, love was not so easily expressed.  Many women were frustratingly subordinate to the men in their lives.

Evie, a young twenties lady, didn’t want to end up like her mother in that respect while she grew up in a privileged family.  Rather, Evie relished the idea of meeting her grandmother, who lived in Paris and had randomly sent Evie suggestions on being her own woman through the arts. 

After college, Evie escaped her family and flew to Paris.  Finally, she’d meet her estranged grandmother, find out why her grandmother is excluded from the family, and maybe start her own career!

This isn’t giving away the story, but grandma’s dead when Evie arrives.  Grandma left a request for Evie, and that’s to find a man from grandma’s past. 

Evie researches and travels to unravel why a man named Zhenya is so important.  Grandma is connected with the White Russians and the story gets more complex as Evie accepts the help of a taxi driver to find Zhenya. 

Jean drives taxi to help with the family economy and is well versed in the connection between the White Russians and the office Grandma had set up for them. 

The close contact between Evie and Jean leads to their own growing relationship, and it couldn’t be any more romantic than the friends that become lovers.

The story of the grandmother’s illicit past and Evie’s beginning on her own are tied together in an intriguing plot of affairs, secrets, and pre- WW1 forgotten history.

Happy Reading,

Dawn

People of the Wolf by Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear

For those of you who love historical fiction, here’s one not to miss.  People of the Wolf is staged in prehistoric times with a lot of theory and bits and pieces of factual findings during the ice age. 

We are introduced to an ancient clan, People of the Wolf, and their trials and fight to simply survive.

The clan has a new, young leader attaining the name Wolf Dreamer.  A dreamer is the strongest of a clan and can often see the future through dreams hinting and telling the dreamer what their clan must do.

A sticky attribute of a dreamer is that he or she cannot claim a spouse for the spouse will interfere in pure dreams.

Dancing Fox has been waiting for Wolf Dreamer to take her from her forced position of wife to a false dreamer.

Wolf Dreamer loves Dancing Fox, but is more concerned about saving his clan from the forces of nature and fighting clans.  The dream he believes in splits the clan into believers and non-believers.

The story tells an epic tale of travel, starvation, attacks, and the curse of love, so different from contemporary issues.  Dancing Fox has three men contending for her heart in radically different ways. 

The outcome of the life of the clan and the man who wins and keeps Dancing Fox’s heart is a tense and surprising journey.  Definitely take time for this novel.

 

Happy reading,

Dawn

 

 

A Romance Author's Vacation...Part II

Continuing up the road…We saw a lot of historical and fascinating scenes in London including Westminster, the Tower of London, Big Ben, and The Eye.  I also got a big thrill passing the MI5 and MI6 fortresses.  This is similar to the FBI and CIA of the US.  The US and England work closely together.  I’ll keep that in mind for my next book-that’s a hint!

Going north in England we stopped at Anne Hathaway’s home, complete with Old English roses everywhere.  The stop at William Shakespeare’s home was enchanting.  His home was anything but grand compared to today’s formula for an exquisite home, yet the small and simple style of life did hold its own charm.

Headed to Glasgow, Scotland brought a whole new meaning to witchcraft.  A book store represented itself with a devil sitting at a desk.  Hundreds of years ago, those who could read and write were considered possessed or having bad magic, so they were represented by the devil as so few people knew this great art.

A visit to Edinburgh Castle was mystical.  The cobbles and stones covering the ground between castle rooms and buildings were if varying styles, bricks, cobbles, and large stones.  The type of footing depicted the year they were laid. 

 A final item for viewing pleasure before I let you go was the bagpiper.  Leading our group from a castle, down the cobblestone to the restaurant for dinner was an authentic bagpiper.  I couldn’t get a picture of the “authenticity” of his garment, but I assure you he said it was real!

I tried a sip of Scotch (smooth!) and a bit of haggis.  Who cares, right?  Haggis is a traditional dish literally made inside the skin of a sheep stomach.  The piper and a volunteer brought it on a platter to show the group.  Fortunately, when it was served the presentation overrode my distaste for the mixture of dark gut-meat and barley with wonderful seasoning.

The food got better the further from London and storylines brewed strong!

 

Every place can be an adventure, so go with it!

Dawn

 

Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones

 

 

Jones has put together a remarkable novel encompassing the lives of four sisters who, through the ingenious efforts of their mother, all become queens throughout medieval Europe.

Each sister is represented by the cunning description their mother paints according to the wants of the targeted king or king-to-be. 

Granted, to be a queen of a country and its provinces sounds worldly, heady, and full of perks, yet the actual lives and forfeits of freedom for the sisters sounds downright primitive and full of abuse. 

Love is not considered in the trade for a kingdom, yet each sister strains her efforts to find love amidst the trading, money, wars, and all it takes to be a queen.

An unforgettable novel full of sacrifices for the family, love, and politics.

 

Happy reading,

Dawn