1950s

Bookouture Tour for THE IRISH INHERITANCE by Daisy O’Shea

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Today I’m part of the blog tour for a new novel by Daisy O’Shea: The Irish Inheritance. This was a story full of secrets as Tara and her mother Aoife trace the events that shaped the life of Aoife’s twin, Eithne, who was thought to be deceased for decades.

I liked this story a lot, and I have a lot of Irish in me (50%)! Some of the emotional and physical abuse is hard to read (warning to readers), but unfortunately, it’s a story shared by many young women of that time. That said, I feel compelled to say that I grew up with many nuns and priests in my life and my personal experience was only one of positive experiences and interactions. Ireland is such a beautiful country, but it has a history marked by great darkness and suffering.

Thank you for my copy and having me on the tour!

Tara took in the grand farmhouse sitting high on the hill amidst the emerald grass. She never knew her mother came from money. Now, this house will be passed down to her. But how can Tara accept it when there is still a mystery hiding within the faded walls?

When Tara Hourihan’s mother receives a letter informing her she’s inherited a house down south in Roone Bay, Tara sees her mother pale. Aoife hasn’t been back to her tiny hometown in years.

When mother and daughter arrive in town, the lawyer handling the estate gives them some shocking news: the inheritance may be split. There is evidence that Aoife’s twin sister Eithne, thought to have died as a teenager, may still be alive. Her name is listed as a patient at a local mother and baby home.

With the help of handsome local garda, Declan Ford, Tara and Aoife must untangle a decades old family secret and a possible terrible cover-up that tore the sisters apart. Did Aoife’s parents lie to her about Eithne?

What the women discover will change everything they thought they knew about their history. But can they finally put the past to rest, before it is too late?

A totally gripping and heartbreaking tale about family secrets, the ties that bind mothers and daughters and the tragedy of the Irish mother and baby homes. Fans of Kathleen McGurl, Tricia O’Malley and Maeve Binchy will be utterly swept away.

About the author:

Sue Lewando was a teacher for several years before migrating to the office environment, where she was PA to the Treasurer of Clarks Shoes, a multi-national company, then, briefly, PA to Susan George, the actress best known for Straw Dogs. Sue had many genre books published (M&B and Virgin), under pseudonyms, and self-publishes her crime thrillers. She was on the committee of the Romantic Novelists’ Association in England, for whom she assessed typescripts. She has been a fiction tutor for the London School of Journalism for twenty years. She has two grown-up children, a happy second marriage, and a bundle of cats and dogs. She moved to West Cork with her husband to undertake a farmhouse refurbishment project, foster their joint passion for playing Irish traditional music, and to invest time in their individual academic projects. She recently completed a Masters in Creative Writing at UCC, taking the opportunity to explore diverse writing genres. She works with the Jeremy Murphy Literary Consultancy in the capacity of typescript analyst, ghostwriter, editor, and online publishing advisor. She loves good commercial fiction, and is a devotee of the Oxford comma.

A Map to Paradise by Susan Meissner

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I LOVE the writing of Susan Meissner, so I was excited to see that she had a new novel coming out this month. This was an interesting and engaging story, set in Southern California during the McCarthy era. I always love Ms. Meissner’s characters and how they change over the course of a novel. I find her stories always end on a note that, while not always happy, is affirming.

Here’s the scoop on this one. I got mine through Net Galley – thank you!

1956, Malibu, California: Something is not right on Paradise Circle.

With her name on the Hollywood blacklist and her life on hold, starlet Melanie Cole has little choice in company. There is her next-door neighbor, Elwood, but the screenwriter’s agoraphobia allows for just short chats through open windows. He’s her sole confidante, though, as she and her housekeeper, Eva, an immigrant from war-torn Europe, rarely make conversation.

Then one early morning Melanie and Eva spot Elwood’s sister-in-law and caretaker, June, digging in his beloved rose garden. After that they don’t see Elwood at all anymore. Where could a man who never leaves the house possibly have gone?
 
As they try to find out if something has happened to him, unexpected secrets are revealed among all three women, leading to an alliance that seems the only way for any of them to hold on to what they can still call their own. But it’s a fragile pact and one little spark could send it all up in smoke…

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly

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One of my summer goals was to go through my kindle (which has over 500 books) and find books that I had meant to read but hadn’t gotten to yet. I came across this one and thought “What???” Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls was a favorite read of mine, so clearly I had gotten distracted and overlooked this novel which follows two female spies after WWII as they seek a Nazi doctor in hiding and the missing son of one of them. Such a good story and such great characters. Reading about the atrocities of the concentration camps is disturbing, but knowing that people risked their lives to bring those running them to justice is so inspiring. While this book is historical fiction, it is based on real events, primarily concerning the women’s camp at Ravensbrück. It is also a testament to women’s friendships and loyalty and maternal love.

Highly recommended!

Description

Two female spies risk everything to hunt down an infamous Nazi in this sweeping, profound tale of bravery from the bestselling author of Lilac Girls.

“A riveting story of two brave and amazing women who work in the French resistance during World War II . . . a triumph!”—Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of Eternal

American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become known as the Golden Doves, renowned across France and hunted by the Gestapo. Their courage will cost them everything. When they are finally arrested and taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with their loved ones, a reclusive Nazi doctor does unspeakable things to Josie’s mother, a celebrated Jewish singer who joined her daughter in Paris when the world seemed bright. And Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again.

A decade later the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: Josie is working for U.S. Army Intelligence and accepts an assignment to hunt down the infamous doctor, while a mysterious man tells Arlette he may have found her son. The Golden Doves embark on a quest across Europe and ultimately to French Guiana, discovering a web of terrible secrets, and must put themselves in grave danger to finally secure justice and protect the ones they love.

Martha Hall Kelly has garnered acclaim for her stunning combination of empathy and research into the stories of women throughout history and for exploring the terrors of Ravensbrück. With The Golden Doves, she has crafted an unforgettable story about the fates of Nazi fugitives in the wake of World War II—and the unsung female spies who risked it all to bring them to justice.

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

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I just love the writing of Fiona Davis (The Lions of Fifth Avenue among others) so I was excited to get her latest read off Net Galley. This was a fun story for me since we love the Rockettes and the Holiday Spectacular, and my mother used to tell me stories of seeing them in NYC in the 1940’s (she wanted to be one but at 5’0 was too short!). This story was an interesting mix of mystery, romance, and historical fiction. And it has quite a bit of truth to it (beyond the Rockettes!) in that there really was a “mad bomber” in NYC at that time who was a disgruntled worker from an electrical company.

Thank you for my e-galley. I’ll be recommending this one to others who enjoy historical fiction of this period. Ms. Davis has a way of making the past come alive through her attention to details. You won’t be disappointed!

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Magnolia Palace: A thrilling story about love, sacrifice, and the pursuit of dreams, set amidst the glamour and glitz of Radio City Music Hall in its mid-century heyday.

New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer. 

Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling. 

As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.

WATER MUSIC by Marcia Peck

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I’m currently reading this beautifully written and evocative book – a coming-of-age story of a young girl and her family as they summer on Cape Cod.

Thank you for my copy. I look forward to reading more by Marcia Peck!

Here’s the scoop:

Water Music is the story of eleven-year-old budding musician Lily Grainger, who, while encamped with her family on a Cape Cod salt pond during the summer of 1956, longs to capture her mother’s love and attention. In her struggle to help relieve the rancor in her parents’ marriage, Lily draws on her weekly cello lessons as well as her love for a pre-Kennedy Cape Cod infused with beach plums, cormorants, stranded pilot whales, a decommissioned Liberty Ship, and the shipwreck of the Andrea Doria. As Lily discovers the small ways in which people try to rescue each other, she must find the courage to venture beyond the relative safety of her salt pond to taste the larger world of the open ocean.

Praise:

“What happens when a writer plays cello in a professional orchestra for her entire career? Her prose soars. In Water Music, Marcia Peck traces one intricate, intimate melody through the symphonic complexity of a disintegrating family’s summer on Cape Cod. Music and love are interchangeable. Here is a book worthy of reading aloud—and cherishing.”
—Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, author of Swinging on the Garden Gate

“Peck has written a moving and melodic triumph of imagination and story, a fine harmony of intimacies and passions.”
—Nicole Helget, author of The Summer of Ordinary Ways, The Turtle Catcher, Stillwater 

Marcia Peck’s writing has received a variety of awards, including New Millenium Writings (First prize for “Memento Mori”) and Lake Superior Writers’ Conference (First Prize for “Pride and Humility”). Her articles have appeared in Musical America, Strad Magazine, Strings Magazine, Senza Sordino, and the op-ed pages of the Minneapolis StarTribune.  Marcia’s fiction has appeared in Chautauqua Journal, New Millenium Writings, Gemini Magazine, and Glimmer Train, among others. 

Growing up in New Jersey with parents who were both musicians, Marcia set out to be the best cellist she could be. She spent two years studying in Germany in the Master Class of the renowned Italian cellist, Antonio Janigro. Since then she has spent her musical career with the Minnesota Orchestra, where she met and married the handsome fourth horn player.

Marcia has always been a cat person. But she has learned to love dogs—even the naughty ones, maybe especially the naughty ones.