1920’s

Review: FALLEN BEAUTY by Erika Robuck

/ drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I recently won a free copy of Erika Robuck’s new book FALLEN BEAUTY, about Edna St. Vincent Millay. I had loved Erika’s CALL ME ZELDA last year, and also enjoyed meeting her at the Concord Bookshop, so this book was special to me!

FALLEN BEAUTY tells the story of Laura Kelley, a young woman who, in the 1920’s,  falls in love and takes some chances which unfortunately end up with her being single, poor, and with a young daughter to raise. Just outside of Laura’s small New York hometown lives the larger-than-life poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay and her husband. Millay lives a grandiose and bohemian lifestyle and when her path crosses with Laura’s, she becomes almost obsessed with making Laura part of her life. Laura resists and staunchly perseveres in her harsh and mostly isolated reality, making the best life she can for her beloved little girl. Millay continues to reach out to her. In times their lives intertwine and the plot winds to a shattering climax and conclusion.

I really enjoyed this book. Erika is a really great writer and her stories flow so easily. I liked the (fictional) character of Laura and kept rooting for her to have some sort of lucky break, and I loved the themes of redemption that came throughout the story. I found Millay’s character fascinating as it was closely based on real facts. This was a woman who definitely worked hard and played hard! She wore her emotions right under the surface and was ruled by her physical needs and emotional weaknesses. Truly this was a fascinating portrait of a genius mind.

I highly recommend this novel if you enjoy historical fiction and/or reading about Millay.

Thank you for my copy, Erika! I look forward to your next book. I even have a guess of whom it might be about!

Review: ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline

/ drbethnolan / 1 Comment

During a recent one day sale on Amazon, I bought ORPHAN TRAIN for only a few dollars for my Kindle. I have read other books about the real orphan trains: trains full of NYC street urchins that brought them to the Midwest for “adoption” and a new life in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

In ORPHAN TRAIN, the story flips between current day foster kid, Molly, who is doing community service at an elderly woman’s house, and the Irish immigrant girl Niamh, whose family perishes in a fire in the late 1920’s. Molly is part Native American and while not an orphan (her mother is alive), she is in the foster care system and has moved about many times. She is almost eighteen and hopes to stay out of trouble until then. Unfortunately, she chooses to steal a copy of “Jane Eyre” from the library and has to do community service to make up for her theft. The elderly woman she works for (they are cleaning her attic) is named Vivian. She is a wealthy widow and she tells Molly the stories behind the items in her attic. Vivian is really Niamh, though – a young Irish girl who leaves NYC after her family supposedly all dies in a tenement fire. Niamh’s tenacity to survive and her integrity to be the best she can be given her circumstances is mirrored in modern day Molly. Over time the two stories connect and we see how each character has become who she is at the end.

I loved reading this story. I always find historical fiction interesting, and Niamh’s story held my attention. My only dislike in the book was the character of Molly’s foster mother, whom I found to be almost a caricature.  Also the ending wrapped up quickly and neatly – I would have loved to follow Niamh’s earlier life a bit longer.

In all, I’d recommend it if you like to read about this period in history.

Never heard of the orphan trains? Check out the PBS documentary (or see the references on their page) at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/orphan/

Review of On the Rocks: A Willa Cather and Edith Lewis Mystery by Sue Hallgarth

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Love, love, love.

I picked up this short mystery while at the library and read it on the plane to California two weeks ago. At first I was a bit skeptical – Willa Cather and Edith Lewis solving mysteries?? But I have to say, I really enjoyed this delightful delving into the personalities of Willa and Edith and the “Cottage Girls” of the early 20th century.

About fifteen years ago I went through a “Cather phase”, where I read all her writings and some biographies on her. I found her so interesting and such a gifted writer. Edith Lewis, for those who don’t know, was Willa’s partner and closest friend. This book made them come alive, along with their other female friends, a group of independent and educated women who summered on Grand Manan in the 1920’s and were known collectively as the “Cottage Girls”.

The mystery itself was enjoyable and well-plotted, I thought. In essence, Edith is painting one day when she witnesses a body plunging off a cliff to the rocks below. Is it an accident – or murder?

Highly recommended to those who enjoy this historical genre, and to fans of great women authors! I’ll be curious to see if Ms. Hallgarth has this as the start of a series or not. She is an expert on Cather and clearly “knows” her well.

Quick Review: “Frozen” by Mary Casanova (releasing 9.7.12)

/ drbethnolan / 2 Comments

This novel was a Net Galley ARC download for me, and considered YA but I think it’s good historical fiction for adults, too.

In “Frozen”, Mary Casanova writes an intriguing tale of Sadie Rose, a teenager in Minnesota in the 1920’s. She hasn’t spoken a word in many years, not since the night her mother (a young prostitute) was killed and Sadie was found frozen in a snow bank. Now Sadie is starting to speak, and as her personality blossoms so does her emotions and her feelings for a local young man. Add to this a dynamic,though mentally ill, new friend and the dredging up of Sadie’s mother’s murder – this time with some new information – and you have the makings of compelling and interesting historical fiction!

While I had never read Mary Casanova’s works before, she has written for American Girl. I enjoyed this story and Casanova’s writing, and I thank Net Galley and University of Minnesota Press for my copy.  I believe I read that this story is based on real events, and I’d be curious to find out what exactly the true story is!

“Meet the author” through this You Tube video:

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

/ drbethnolan / 2 Comments

I loved, loved, loved this unique novel I picked up today at the library on the new releases shelf. Told in pictures and memorabilia from the 1920’s, Frances “Frankie” Pratt is a young woman newly graduated from high school in 1920 and planning the rest of her life. Her mother gives her a scrapbook for her high school graduation, and she finds her deceased father’s Corona typewriter in the barn (Frankie dreams of being a writer). What follows is an engaging look at a young girl becoming a woman in a time that now almost 100 years ago. Told entirely through Frankie’s scrapbook, we follow her from high school, to her first job, to her first fling, to college, to Europe, and beyond.

I really enjoyed this book! I read it in an afternoon.

Love the book trailer from You Tube!