Jennifer Haigh has done it again for me, folks. Baker Towers may have been released six years prior to Faith, but it successfully continues the fascination I have for her work. Baker Towers was everything I wanted, and so much more. This blue-collar family saga beginning in the 1940s in a coal-mining town in Pennsylvania was absolutely magnificent. It is a genuine look into the lives of young men and women who helped set another block into the foundation of America and made history. 

Bakerton, Pennsylvania is made up of residents who are Swedish, Polish, and Italian immigrants, with the coal mine employing a good majority. In the Novak family, the home is traditional to the time and place. Rose and Stanley, first-generations to America, live in Polish Hill in company-owned housing. Rose, an Italian wife and mother, remains at home to take care of their five children, and her Polish husband, Stanley, works every day in the coal mine. It was never expected that he, provider of the family and gentle disciplinarian, would suffer a fatal heart attack leaving too early his wife and five children to make a place for themselves in a town and in a world that is rapidly changing.

This is the story of the five children who would be members of the Greatest Generation, living in a town whose existence thrives off the hulking mass of coal mined daily from deep in the mountain, resulting in Black Lung for miners and making widows of their wives. Each of the Novak children must find their way through life and whether it's enlisting in the military, or moving to Washington, D.C. and working for the government, or running away with no other goal but to just leave Bakerton, and who cares where you end up, their lives are ultimately filled with family, loss, love, and regrets, and it is a beautiful story with sincere contemplation on the painful choices each of them make. Combined with a glimpse into what life may have been like for those who lived during this time, ignoring the expected vintage nostalgia but instead strongly imbuing the story with remarkable authenticity, Baker Towers captures America during a time that will never be forgotten. The Novaks grow up, marry, and live their lives, and although some escape small-town life, over time they find that their paths invariably meander around and back to the very place that once made them want to flee.

This was impossible to put down, the story weaving between characters and historical events with an efficiency and skill that captured me from the very first page. Quite frankly, it swallowed me up in the time and even made me feel the aesthetics and intangibles; I could see and feel the outfits the characters wore, the jobs they took, and the cars they drove. I also could easily see this as a movie, and with all of HBO's recent endeavors into successful adaptations to the small screen, I think it would follow up quite nicely after their expert remake of Mildred Pierce this past summer, starring Kate Winslet.

Jennifer Haigh is just brilliant with her storytelling, and I decided that she is now one of my favorite authors. Her writing is expressive, moving, and thoughtful, and she has an astounding way to take tough subjects and events and turn them into the most painfully memorable moments of reading that I've had in the past year. I've enjoyed it all and can't wait to read Mrs. Kimble and The Condition next.

What I read over the weekend

In the interview with the author at the end of the book, it wasn't surprising to find that the small tidbits that made the story feel so authentic to the time, came from reading old magazines and noting advertisements of popular products and places. It made me a bit wistful for a hobby I have, so I picked up a few magazines from the 1940s on Saturday. I must admit, you can get lost in reading Life magazine, and over the weekend, I read a few editions from 1943. One issue included pictures from the celebrated photographer Margaret Bourke-White and her series of women in the steel mills. It was definitely a pleasure to read what the country was experiencing at the time, and I wanted to pick up Baker Towers right away and read it all over again. 

While I can't predict what 2012 will hold for me with all of the amazing books I hope I'll be reading, I brazenly will propose that Baker Towers will more than likely be in my list of favorite books read this year. Without question, this is my favorite for January 2012.

I loved this book and promise that if you enjoy historical fiction, family sagas, the Greatest Generation, and especially if you love Jennifer Haigh's writing, you will more than likely love this book as well.

Others said:

If I missed your review, let me know so I can link to you here.

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Release Date: 12/27/2005

Pages: 368

About the Author

Jennifer Haigh is the author of the New York Times bestseller Baker Towers, winner of the 2006 PEN/L.L. Winship Award for outstanding book by a New England author; Mrs. Kimble, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction and was also a finalist for the Book Sense Book of the Year; and The Condition.

Follow the author:

• On her website
• On Facebook

Many thanks to TLC Book Tours. In celebration of the release of Faith in paperback, all of Jennifer Haigh's books are on tour through February 2012. To read all of the reviews at each tour stop, click here.

Note: This is the final post for the Wolf Hall Readalong which took place over the past three weeks. Be prepared for spoilers in this post, of course. Readalong participants should add their post's link into the Linky below so we can read your thoughts. Don't forget to visit other readalong participants.

*throws confetti*

I cannot even believe it. I can finally watch the four-part HBO miniseries when it comes out (sometime in 2013?). I finished Wolf Hall late last night and surprisingly, after my first struggles with the book, I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. And while this book was intriguing, intelligent, and fascinating, it also felt like such a journey over the past three weeks that I am now exhausted! But happy. This was a true chunkster of a book and I'm so thankful I had the paperback cover; I think my hands would have given out holding the hardcover book to read each day.

Final Thoughts

I closed the book with sadness. I know Hilary Mantel has partitioned the story into a trilogy and that 2012 brings a new book, but many of you may know that I much prefer stories to be told all at once, versus in this new trend of series/trilogies. I also understand that there is so very much to this story that putting this all into one book would have been nearly impossible; surely there would have been too many edits that would have parsed down both the story and the writing that ultimately it would have been much to difficult to enjoy if it was one book. I get it, I'm just simply stamping my foot on my frustrations with trilogies and the fact that it takes a year or more before the next in the series comes out. I hate waiting.

In this version of the tale of Henry VIII and the dueling battle for who the rightful queen should be, Cromwell comes out on top as a caring, loyal, generous and brilliant man. I have written this (or similar to it) every week and I say it again: Cromwell is THE MAN. He's just not one to be pushed around. Fools are those who feel they can beat him. But one thing that interested me even more so was that Cromwell could never understand how people looked at him. It always surprised him when he hears it said about him; even his own son Gregory knew this and understood the gossip. Later in the book, this passage resonated with me:

I shall not indulge More, he thinks, or his family, in any illusion that they understand me. How could that be, when my workings are hidden from myself? (pg. 536)

Hilary Mantel is successful in beautifully portraying what life might be like in the early 1500s, within the courtly and political world that Cromwell was a part of. While simultaneously weaving in these political tensions, it is the human side that rounds out the character and shows him to be one worth fighting for. Measured in his calculations and countenance, Cromwell is the very man you'd want to have on your side. The tale is haunting, with Mantel relaying ambiguously who is saying what, and while that was initially confusing (and continued to occasionally be) it finally moved past that into a comfortable rhythm that seemed to make sense. While I fought with the story initially in the first thirty or so pages, concerned that I was going to walk away unhappy with the way it was written, I instead realized that there was a method to the unclear madness, which made for a much better and more compelling story of Cromwell's life. What has stuck with me the most these past three weeks is that Cromwell's love for family was so grounded and strong. He may have grown up with a horrible and abusive father, but Cromwell looks at all in his household as part of his life and people that he needs to watch over and protect. He regularly thinks of his wife and children who died years before, and he mourns the new chapters in his "people's" lives, as they begin to make new lives outside of his home with their spouses. He misses the sounds of babies and the pitter-patter of children's feet; Hilary Mantel virtually reached out of the book with her writing and made you feel everything. What an amazing piece of work.

I look forward to her second book and I recommend this to anyone interested in historical fiction, particularly the Tudors, but I would also recommend this to those interested in political strategy and intrigue. It's quite the story, one you just will not forget. (Just remember that when you see the word "he," more than likely it's probably Cromwell speaking or thinking the thoughts.)

Major Events

1. Cristophe joins the household at Austin Friars. (How many people will Cromwell take in? A young man with a shady past, he is loyal and ready to be a Cromwell man. I wouldn't mind having this kid on my side as well; as Cromwell points out, Cristophe is like a version of Cromwell.)
2. In 1533, Lady Anne and King Henry finally take their wedding vows. Anne is crowned Queen of England shortly thereafter.
3. Cromwell gets a new post, chancellor of the exchequer.
4. Thomas More is pronounced as poor. (I must admit, this made me happy. I felt the man was a vile nut job, so his misery didn't bother me in the least bit. Especially when it was alluded to that he was more interested in his daughter and not his wife).
5. Anne gives birth to a girl, then loses her second child while giving birth.
6. Cromwell takes in Elizabeth Barton, the "prophetess" and begins to question her. Away from the priests and monks who touted her as someone who could communicate directly with God, she is now considered more ordinary. She confesses that she is a fraud and is eventually executed.
7. Mary Boleyn is pregnant with Lord Stafford's child. Anne thinks it's Henry's child so she puts Mary out. (Seriously, Anne, did you think Henry was actually going to be loyal to just you?)
8. Richard is promised in marriage to a young woman of France.
9. Rafe has secretly married Helen, another person Cromwell took in because she had two children with a husband who may have been dead and used to beat her all the time.
10. Cromwell gets another title no one has ever held before: Vicegerent in Spirituals, deputy in church affairs.
11. Thomas More is put to death. (No love lost there)

A few players that made me research more

Eustace Chapuys

Elizabeth Barton

Stephen Gardiner

Passages (the third one is my favorite)

For a moment, he seems like a carved statue, like a simpler form of himself, or one of his own ancestors; one of the race of giants that roamed Britain, and left no trace of themselves except in the dreams of their petty descendants. (pg.413)

When a woman withdraws to give birth the sun may be shining but the shutters of her room are closed so she can make her own weather. She is kept in the dark so she can dream. Her dreams drift her far away, from terra firma to a marshy tract of land, to a landing stage, to a river where a mist closes over the farther bank, and earth and sky are inseparate; there she must embark toward life and death, a muffled figure in the stern directing the oars. In this vessel prayers are said that men never hear. Bargains are struck between a woman and her God. The river is tidal, ad between one feather-stroke and the next, her tide may turn. (pg. 447)

He is conscious that his son is taller than he is: not that it takes much. He steps sideways, though only in his mind, to see his boy with a painter's eye: a boy with fine white skin and hazel eyes, a slender angel of the second rank in a fresco dappled with damp, in some hill town far from here. He thinks of him as a page in a forest riding across vellum, dark curls crisp under a narrow band of gold; whereas the young men about every day, the young men of Austin Friars, are muscled like fighting dogs, hair cropped to stubble, eyes sharp as sword points. He thinks, Gregory is all he should be. He is everything I have a right to hope for: his openness, his gentleness, the reserve and consideration with which he holds back his thoughts till he has framed them. He feels such tenderness for him he thinks he might cry. (pg. 489)

The fate of people is made like this, two men in small rooms. Forget the coronations, the conclaves of cardinals, the pomp and processions. This is how the world changes: a counter pushed across a table, a pen stroke that alters the force of a phrase, a woman's sigh as she passes and leaves on the air a trail of orange flower or rose water; her hand pulling close the bed curtain, the discreet sigh of flesh against flesh. (pg.566)

Thank you to everyone who joined in the readalong and I'm so excited we finished! Post your thoughts on your blog and add the link to the Linky below (don't forget to visit the other participants).

11/22/63. The day JFK was assassinated. A nation was devastated, stunned that a President was taken. Could it have been stopped? What if you could change history?

Let's get this out of the way. I loved this book. LOVED IT. There are 849 pages to this sucker, and not one page is a drag. (Look at me, I'm using lingo not quite current anymore, and it's all because I got sucked into this story and felt like I lived Jake Epping's time travel adventure in the late '50s, early '60s). This is a brilliant piece of work, and if I end up making a "Top 10 Books I've Read in 2011" list, this is going smack dab in the number 1 slot. (It's two days away from the last month of the year, so I feel pretty confident about my odds. I could be wrong, but...I don't really think so).

I've recently started reading Stephen King's work. I've been choosy, selecting ones considered King classics, so when 11/22/63 was being touted as the next best thing, I was hesitant. Selfishly, I wanted to wait until others read it.

But then I got a Klout perk, downloaded it to my iPad, and was snagged from the first page into this time travel adventure and read it just under a week. For me, that's insane.

Jake Epping, a small town New England teacher who recently went through a divorce from a struggling alcoholic, is introduced to this time warp by a good friend who invites him to help change history. In some freak of who-knows-what, there's some sort of wonky rabbit hole in his friend's diner that transports him from 2011 to 1958. The crazy thing is it always brings Jake to September 9, 1958, no earlier or later. Same time every time, and even crazier is that no matter how long Jake stays "in the past," when he returns to 2011, he's only missed two minutes. That's it. Whether he spends a day, a week, or  even a few years, whenever he returns, it is only two minutes later "in the present."

So what's a time-traveling good guy to do? The closest major event to 1958 is the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, which spiraled a flurry of events including Robert Kennedy's assassination, Martin Luther King, the Vietnam conflict. Some events could be associated with JFK's death, some maybe not...but it's up to Jake to take his friend's place and live five years in the past and, hopefully, save a President. While living "in the past," he meets a multitude of memorable characters (both good and downright troubling), obsessively stalks Lee Harvey Oswald, becomes attached to a community that makes him feel at home, and falls in love with the incredible and amazing Sadie.

Let's also address this: It is not a horror story. It is all time travel.

What I really enjoyed is that King doesn't waste time trying to explain the science or logistics of why there's a rabbit hole, and why it only deposits you on the same day and time in 1958, or even why only two minutes have passed when returning to the "present." It just is what it is, and that works just fine in this chunkster wallop of a story. I'm not the most experienced sci-fi reader, but I like to think I'm fairly logical. When a book presents me with some convoluted explanation on why something is happening scientifically, I tend to try to poke a hole in it. King, though, doesn't quibble over this, so as the reader I don't have to sit, wonder and worry if something really makes sense. It's as though I'm being told, "Look, the time/worm/rabbit-hole just drops you on September 9, 1958 every time. Why try to figure that out?" So I didn't worry about it.

What is important to discuss is something often debated with time travel: If you change the past, even just slightly, will it have a positive or negative effect on the future? It's that "butterfly effect" which is evaluated in depth and it made me wonder what I would choose to do. I sure am glad I don't have to worry about that.

I love this picture. (image source)

Stephen King is a MASTER. In the short time I've gotten to know his work, it's refreshing. He leaves the pompous BS alone that some storytellers can succumb to within their fiction, and just tells a story humbly and genuinely, which is probably why his horror is so scary and why his non-horror is also loved. It isn't fake. And in this book, it is simply Jake's story and he tells it all in the first person and describes how he takes on another identity in a time when he hasn't even been born yet, how he has to acclimate to the culture shock of living in a world he knows, but doesn't really know, and simultaneously battles an unseen presence that does everything possible to make sure that the past is not changed.

This is a multi-layered story of coincidences, along with Jake's struggles to stop awful events from happening to good people. All of this in the writing of another author might have gotten jumbled and lethargic. Instead, King deftly maneuvers through the story lines, successfully weaving in history and science-fiction, all the while taking you along for the ride so simple to understand that you're left dealing with the raw emotion of each event.

The bottom line is there's a lot to tackle in this book, what with Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK, and the other events Jake tries to change along the way. And then there is also the other side of living, the human side of love, loss, and regret. It's beautiful and I will not lie, I choked up towards the end. When that last page comes, I felt like I was punched in the gut that it was all over. I hated leaving these characters. Do you remember when you were younger and when you read a book you loved, you hated that the story ended not because it was a good book that was now over, but because you had to suddenly face the reality that the characters you fell in love with really didn't exist? I don't know about you, but I experienced that when I was a kid, and I felt that tonight when I finished the book. I loved Jake, Sadie, Deke...every single one of the good guys. I miss them already.

Favorite line

"Goose walked over my grave, I guess." (Sorta like getting goosebumps).

Regrets?

That I'm a new fan of Stephen King so when he brings back a character from a prior book, I don't realize it at all. I instead just like the character and then I find out from friends that so-and-so is from such-and-such, and man, did they love them. It bums me out that I couldn't experience fan-girl joy when a character returns. It's probably a lesson I should read King's work in the order of when it was published.

About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty novels, including The Stand, The Dark Tower, It, The Shining, oh...what more can be written that one doesn't already know? So here you go, click here to visit this cool author's official website.

It's been a busy few weeks but the Thanksgiving holiday certainly brings it all back to a reset. There was a ton of food, and quite a ton of reading. I've been enjoying 11/22/63 by Stephen King and am ready to move onto the third installment of George R.R. Martin's The Song of Ice and Fire series with A Storm of Swords. I'm in a reading peak of happiness.

I also visited Prince Books in Norfolk, Virginia yesterday, and I cannot wait to post on this independent bookstore. While I wish we had an indie bookstore in Virginia Beach, I'm completely willing to drive the twenty-five minutes to this incredible shop. I can't wait to share with you! Question: How long do you have to drive to go to your favorite indie bookstore?

Also... as a reminder, the Wolf Hall Readalong commences today for reading (or before). Do. Not. Be. Scared. Let's read!

The first time to post on Parts 1 & 2 will be next Sunday, December 4th. I'm excited to co-host this with Nicole from Linus's Blanket, who has a wonderful blog, and a blogger I've been chatting with on Twitter about our similar reading interests. Check out her site, it's fantastic!

I'm also nervous about reading this book because I've heard a lot about it. Good and bad, but mostly all reviews stating that complete focus must be given when reading. Any distraction will result in leaving you lost and confused. Not that I drift a lot when I read a book, but we all know it can happen, and I don't want to miss a thing.

We have fourteen participants with blogs joining the readalong (including me and Nicole), and a few more without blogs who will also be joining either through posting comments on the blog, or on our Facebook sites (Coffee and a Book Chick or on Linus's Blanket). This is pretty exciting and I can't wait to see everyone's contributions. As I've been tweeting out there, "The more the merrier," or... "There is safety in numbers!"

I did receive an email asking if they could listen to the audiobook instead of reading it, and the answer is: Absolutely! Jump to the blog post by clicking here to read the introductory info and to post your intent to participate by either adding your blog link to the list, or by adding a comment if you don't have a blog. As you can see in that post, Nicole and I are completely flexible, there are no hard and fast rules at all, and it's so not a big deal on how you want to experience the reading, when you want to post, yada, yada. Let's just read this beast of a book together and commiserate on any questions or love we have for the story!

Happy Reading,
Natalie ~ the Coffee and a Book Chick

I can't even believe it. I've learned to love audiobooks this year (what would my errands be like without a good book to listen to), but I unfortunately came across two I couldn't complete. I debated on posting it out in the blogosphere since I didn't finish them, but hey, this is also a personal rant site at times, so why not? Here are the brief reasons why I couldn't finish The American Heiress and Moneyball.

Let me also make sure to note that these are my own opinions and certainly do not represent the love that fans have for these two stories. I'm just an odd duck sometimes.

The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin.

I can't tell you how much I wanted to like this one. I love historical fiction, but... It's 1893 and Cora Cash is the richest American heiress and her mother wants Cora to marry an appropriate man, one with a title. After a trip to England, Cora meets the Duke of Wareham and they get married in a lavish wedding in New York. Upon her return to England, Cora begins to realize that her only true friend is her maid, Bertha, who is also an outsider.

This is going to sound silly, but right out the gate, I was a little annoyed by the characters' names. The richest heiress' last name is Cash? The maid's name is Bertha?

I just couldn't get into the story. And *mini-spoiler alert for this paragraph* when the story opened up with Cora wanting to be ready to kiss her love interest at the party that night, she enlists her maid to "show her how." It was intended to be shocking, but I thought it was going for the cheap "thrill."

Guys, you know I love historical fiction. But this one just didn't do it for me at all.

My thoughts on the audio? The narrator certainly carried off the snobbish accent of the turn of the century, but it wasn't the most enjoyable for me to listen to.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning the Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis.

Okay, bottom line, let me first put the disclaimer out there that I love sports, and I love sports stories. I most especially love the science behind sports.

Moneyball is about how one man led the change at the Oakland Athletics on how players are selected. With his team of "geek statisticians," Billy Beane revolutionized the old way of baseball recruiters and didn't opt for the large payroll. Go for the guys who can get on base, even if they don't "look like" a "real" baseball player. In fact, they called Kevin Youkilis from the Boston Red Sox fat, for cryin' out loud, but they knew he could get on base.  The old school recruiters liked the traditional look of a baseball player, but Beane and his geeks pushed to bring "others" to the team. Consequently, the Oakland Athletics had one of the lowest payrolls at the time for baseball, but had one of the best records. Sounds completely fascinating for a geek like me, right?

Moneyball, though, is a whole heck of a lot of stats about baseball, and if you are not a baseball nut (meaning not just a sports fan, but a baseball NUT that knows obscure facts and stats), it is a struggle to get into this story and understand what is happening. I also kept waiting for a storyline to pick up, but quite frankly, it jumped from one reason to another of why Billy Beane changed the recruiting philosophy of baseball. To me, it felt like a legal case: it was one fact after another, further evidence of why Billy Beane was the man.

My husband did end up finishing it, but he's a baseball nut. He did reassure me that it was extremely difficult, though and a lot of events passed him by, too. I felt a little better that it wasn't just me. Moneyball is for the pure baseball fan who doesn't really like a lot of story, but likes a whole lot of facts, stats, and events.

My thoughts on the audio? Unfortunately, even the phenomenal Scott Brick couldn't help me get into this one.

Were it not for a 1973 book by Michael Lesy entitled Wisconsin Death Trip, which showcased news reports and a collection of photographs that depicted the harsh Midwestern landscape and some of its residents who suffered mental illness, crime, and the claustrophobic effects of a winter that seems like it might never end, Robert Goolrick would never have found the inspiration to create a fictitious story of life in the frigid Wisconsin winter. I'll need to research Michael Lesy's book since it's clearly been influential for many. Not only has Wisconsin Death Trip been adapted into a film, there is also an album, and one of Stephen King's short stories, 1922, from the collection "Full Dark, No Stars" was also influenced by it.

It is 1907 and Catherine has arrived to Truitt, Wisconsin to marry Ralph Truitt, the namesake of the town and the man who owns everything in it. Everyone in the town works for him, and making money is both his work and his livelihood. He has no family to remember anymore, and Catherine is the start of a new life for him.

She will be his second wife, a wife he selected from hundreds of responses to an advertisement he placed in the paper. He's lived the past twenty years alone with regret, but he's always wanted a life like everyone else, a simple one in which he wakes up with a woman he loves and who loves him, and goes to sleep with her at night after making love. But this wish of a simple life may never be possible. He grew up with a religious fanatic who tormented him to show him what hell was like and he ended up marrying a woman who he caught cheating. He threw her out but kept their son, and beat him every day until he ran away.

Unbeknownst to him, Catherine isn't the innocent she's claimed to be. She brings a terrifying plan and secret that will ultimately put their arranged marriage to the ultimate challenge. While all of them are deplorable characters initially, it soon becomes clear that they are all just a product of their own difficult childhood. They've just made a sad mess of their adult lives.

At once quiet and thoughtful, exploring a different time and world, it is also loud, torrid and passionate. Frantic in its excesses of scene after scene of sex, it could be considered cheap and tasteless, the moments literally throbbing off the page with descriptions to make you blush. Instead, it provided harsh contrast to the quiet and brutal life in the wintery Midwest. Like the winter, sex is an important and symbolic part of the story. The primal passion ties Ralph's old life to his new one and while it could become tedious at times, I felt it made sense for the story's evolution.

What Robert Goolrick is trying to paint in this novel that was inspired by Wisconsin Death Trip (and I believe he succeeds) is the picture that life was extremely hard for those who suffered the Midwest winters over a hundred years ago, and that while horrible things happened, it was just part of life. The old adage of "it is what it is" seems appropriate. These tiny towns in America may have been unheard of on a map, but they carried the same tragedies as the big cities, and yet approached it with an almost quiet and clinical detachment. One spouse commits infidelity, another is murdered, and yet another family experiences a suicide. It is what it is. Funerals are attended, newspapers relay more horror, and the next day the town has yet another sad event to focus on.

For some, normal lives turned to nightmare. They starved to death in the horrible winters. They removed themselves from society and lived alone in ramshackle huts in the woods. They were found drooling and naked and were committed to the insane asylum at Mendota where they were wrapped in icy sheets and lashed with electrical currents until they could be restored to sanity and quietude. These things happened.

People either love or hate this book. I've found that when people hate it, it tends to be for one of two things (or both), which I can understand: Too much sex or choppy sentences. The argument for both is there since I thought there was a whole heck of a lot of intimacy described with everyone, but I never thought it was too much. The choppy sentences also were there, but I didn't find it troubling. In fact, there are several sections that are choppy, but actually blend fluidly. Here's an example of it, which I think works well:

They laughed. They spoke quietly, out of respect for what they know to be Ralph Truitt's failure. The train was late. They felt the snow in the air. They knew the blizzard would soon begin. Just as there was a day every spring when the women of the town, as though by some secret signal, appeared in their summer dresses before the first heat was felt, there was as well a day when winter showed the knife before the first laceration.

It's choppy, I know, but something about it resonates, particularly the comparison of when you first feel winter coming with "the knife before the first laceration."

With a marriage built on lies starting anew in a town that quietly accepts tragedy, A Reliable Wife is the stark and beautifully written story of life at the turn of the twentieth century. Taking the reader through Wisconsin and the seedy nightlife of St. Louis, Robert Goolrick's tale of two people and their hope for love, is haunting and compelling. I appreciated the writing and look forward to more from Robert Goolrick. I would recommend this in the printed version versus the audiobook, simply due to the sex. If you do listen to it, just remember to listen with your headphones on, or keep the windows up if you're in the car.

Fans of Patrick McGrath's modern Gothic stories, particularly Asylum, will like A Reliable Wife.

About the Author

Click here to visit the author on his website.
Click here to visit the author on Facebook.

This is my final selection for the RIP Challenge. You can read more RIP reviews from other participants by clicking here.

Hardcover

Paperback Cover

Interested in the Salem Witch Trials? Then you should definitely read Kathleen Kent's two books, The Heretic's Daughter and The Wolves of Andover. The Wolves of Andover has now been released in paperback, and has also been retitled to The Traitor's Wife. Do not be confused - they are the same book!

Click to read my review of The Heretic's Daughter and here for The Wolves of Andover. I'll put it simply: I love Kathleen Kent's writing.

The haunting story of the real life Thomas and Martha Carrier during one of the most horrific moments in America's history during the Salem Witch Trials, is expertly drawn and shared in her capable hands. I highly recommend this book and if you enjoy learning about the Salem Witch Trials, you won't be disappointed.

Click here to visit Kathleen Kent's website and view the book trailer.

Click here to visit Kathleen Kent's blog.

Click here to follow Kathleen Kent on Twitter.

Click here to follow Kathleen Kent's Facebook page.

No question about it, I have a fascination with Dracula. Not just Bram Stoker's book, but the myth, the legend, and of course, Vlad Dracul-a or Vlad Tepes. The Impaler.

It was the subject of my first group read that I hosted at On the Ledge Readalongs last year and it continues to be something that hypnotizes me for its darkness, and frightens me just the same.

The History I Should Know More About:

(Dracul is the name of the father, and the -a at the end signifies "son of." Hence, Dracul-a, or Dracula).

Vlad and his younger brother Radu were members of the Order of the Dragon with their father, fighting enemies of Christianity, specifically the Turks, the powerhouse empire of the day. In order to cease the warring, the Sultan holds Young Vlad and Radu as hostages for approximately five years.

Young Vlad was extremely intelligent and excelled in history, languages, and war. Having to leave his brother behind who ultimately converts to Islam, Vlad returns to his home country of Wallachia and continues his father's quest to fight for Christianity. He becomes the leader of his country three different times, all the while warding off traitorous members of his own royal court. While history tends to focus more on the macabre when it comes Vlad, even little is known about Vlad actually providing one of the safest times in his country's history by assuring that anyone could travel on the open road without fear. Vlad punished thieves, rapists, and murderers equally with harsh death and the message was abundantly clear - to be a criminal under Vlad's rule meant death. As a leader, it meant safety for his people, and as a warlord, it meant a horrific end to an enemy's life. Vlad ultimately became known as Vlad Tepes for the barbarous execution of thousands of enemies and traitors by impalement. (Suffice it to say that I will not explain the process here as it turns my stomach, but the book is very, very clear on how it is performed). *shudder*

In Vlad: The Last Confession, C.C. Humphreys has invested a lot of time and research into crafting a version of the infamous voivode (ruler) of a tiny country in Eastern Europe. Although Bram Stoker immortalized the name, the actual man behind the legend is told in this version. It is centered on three crucial figures from Vlad's life: his lover, the beautiful Ilona; an unnamed man of religious counsel; and his both faithful and disloyal friend, Ion.

Told in flashback during a somewhat public confession before a Cardinal of Rome, a few monks, and a member of the Order of the Dragon, Vlad's acts in life are recounted, shared and debated in a cold castle five years after Vlad's death on the battlefield. Questions are posed - impalement is horrible, but during this time, for this supposed cause, was it necessary? Did it not strike fear into his enemies, into the traitors within his own court? The arguments abound as the confessions continue, which is to be sent for review by the Pope. The remaining Order of the Dragon hopes that the Church will forgive what Vlad did on behalf of God. Brutal, medieval, vicious - yes. Do the actions solely define the man that was also a friend, father, teacher, and lover? An impossible question to answer with 21st century eyes. Thank goodness we don't live in that time, so who knows how we would have wanted the leader of a country to be.

Let's be clear - this book is not for the faint of heart. Medieval torture is explicitly described, and the infamous moniker of "The Impaler" is so vividly drawn that when I first came to that section, I lost all my appetite for the dinner I had just started eating. Needless to say for me, I pulled the book closer and forgot all about my plate. After all, this time period seems like there was always war - one country fighting for another spot of land, or to crusade for one's religion, to defend one's honor. Death seemed to be everywhere, and never in a "pleasant" form. C.C. Humphreys is successful in richly describing a period in time that was fraught with despair and peril, while simultaneously revealing the man behind the legend and myth - a man who was conflicted, tormented by his own past, distrustful of others, hardened by his own horrific experiences with torture and suffering, and struggling with winning a war while watching deserters flee the ranks. It will never excuse the cruel actions, but perhaps it's a reminder to always look at history with more of a discerning eye and questioning nature. After all, somewhere in the middle of it all, might be the truth.

And for all its ghastly descriptions, nightmare-inducing, stomach-churning scenes - I was hooked and read this book fast. Excellently written and engaging, within two days I had experienced the trauma of this time and closed the book - expelling a breath in relief that it was over, but recognizing that it was in fact, an incredible read. My first reading of C.C. Humphreys and won't be my last. I'm also off to track down some of the sources he referenced as well...

About the Author

Chris (C.C.) Humphreys was born in Toronto and grew up in the UK. Following his family's established footprint in acting, he has acted all over the world, appearing on stage as Hamlet, on NBC as Caleb the Gladiator in "AD - Anno Domini," and Jack Absolute in Sheridan's "The Rivals." He has written seven historical novels including The French Execution and a trilogy for Young Adults called The Runestone Saga.

Not only is he an actor and writer, but he's also a fight choreographer. Pretty cool, huh?

Click here to visit the author on his website.

This is my fourth selection for the RIP Challenge VI hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. While I've completed the level of Peril the First, I'm certainly not finished in reading this type of story. It's just now getting cooler in Virginia Beach, Halloween is right around the corner, and I've always loved the creepy, the spooky, and the horror in my books and movies. I think I'm just getting started. You can read more RIP reviews from other participants by clicking here.

Many know the story of Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis XVI. The subject of scores of debates and studies, biographies and a few films, Marie Antoinette's ultimate fate is known to all. While her name conjures romantic images of a French monarchy of old, and the scandals surrounding her name, rarely do we get the glimpse of how the little girl in Austria actually became her.

Juliet Grey's exhaustive research incorporated into her unique debut fiction novel, Becoming Marie Antoinette, in stores this Tuesday, August, 9, does just that. With a new take on her life and simultaneously providing insight into little "Toinette," who at the age of ten, is pronounced the future wife of the eldest heir to the throne of France, Grey turns over the negative assumptions of Marie Antoinette (who really said, "Let them eat cake?) and details extensively the process of turning the young, naive, and fun-loving girl into the very image of a Queen. Although Marie Antoinette does not willingly immerse herself in the joys of reading, the agonizing hours and days of physical transformation are, without question, the toughest. Little is known about the months spent in a contraption that was horrifyingly fixed to her teeth in order to straighten them, or the hours spent to "fix" her head of hair to make more regal, to the point of intense pain. Beauty, in that day and age, was painful, and Grey leaves nothing out.

Merely a child when this process began,  Marie Antoinette's relationships with family are extremely detailed. The cold and calculating Empress of Austria is her mother, constantly fretting over Marie Antoinette's poor education and penmanship, and goes through one tutor after another without success. Her main concern is to ensure that Austria is protected, and to do so, the mother of sixteen children must marry each of her daughters off to leaders of countries who can ultimately benefit their homeland. With that, Marie Antoinette is obligated to France, and Charlotte, her sister and best friend, is sent to become the Queen of Two Sicilies, never to see her little sister again, only to communicate through correspondence. Charlotte's letters regaling the sadness of her marriage to a man she cannot love are touching, and even more so when it is remembered how very young these girls are, mere pawns in a game of diplomacy.

Age 13, portrait presented to Louis XVI before meeting

Juliet Grey also takes a different tack to validate a unique perspective of the relationship between Marie Antoinette and her husband and the suggested reasons on their lack of intimacy. That alone is much to handle for Marie Antoinette, but combined with her attempts to remove herself from scandals and gossip, it becomes even more overwhelming. These are events which are difficult to endure as an adult, much less a teenager. All to  ensure that national affairs were in order. Who could expect a young girl and boy to truly understand the consequences of their actions, particularly as it comes to leading a country?

The letters, though, between her and her sister, Charlotte, virtually disappears after Marie Antoinette is married. Although it was mentioned through the narrative that they continued to write to each other, it was a surprising absence to not include what they might have been like after both were finally married. It would have been interesting to see what the written conversations could have been between Marie Antoinette and Charlotte, especially since now they could compare the differences in their wedded intimate lives. After all, Charlotte had already shared how disgusted she was by her husband, but Marie Antoinette was completely denied intimacy with hers. What an interesting conversation that could have been between the two sisters if a letter or two after Marie Antoinette was married were included. It seemed odd that it didn't crop up at all in the book.

But, Grey is a passionately descriptive writer. Passages easily paint the picture of the times and evoke a sense of history and the flourishing period intrigue, along with startling refreshing moments that display the internal conflict a young girl would have on becoming this future Queen. In this paragraph detailing her travels from Austria to her new country, Grey accomplishes the beauty of the moment, along with the fear of the unknown:

I felt bad, as the cobbles they had carpeted with spring flowers were now being heedlessly trod upon by hundreds of horses. Eager faces pressed forward to see me, eyes shining, cheeks rosy and flushed with excitement. An elderly man, violin tucked beneath his chin, serenaded me from an iron balcony. Regaining my poise as Maman would have wished, I smiled and waved to everyone, especially the little children who skipped alongside the coaches with posies in their hands. They would never see how frightened I was; never know that my stomach was tumbling like an acrobat and that I was drowning in a sea of perfume and perspiration that trickled from my hairline down the back of my neck toward the yellow ruching on my gown. (p.177)

In reading the Author's Note at the end, I discovered that this was book one in a trilogy, so the ending is not empty but instead gives an eerie promise of more to come, which makes sense. And although I am interested to read more about this historical figure's life from Juliet Grey's research, I must admit that (although I realize there is so much story to tell with Marie Antoinette) I wish trilogies were not so in fashion now. It might just be me, but it seems as though every book out now is only the first of three and I sort of miss the days when the story was told all in one.

Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction, particularly French history, and Marie Antoinette.

About the Author
Juliet Grey has extensively researched European royal history and is a particular devotee of Marie Antoinette.  She and her husband divide their time between New York City and southern Vermont.

Many thanks to TLC Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to read this book. Upcoming tour stops can be found by clicking here.

World War II has always been a fascinating subject for me to read, whether fiction or non-fiction. I'm extremely interested by this period in history, so when an email comes into my inbox requesting my review of historical fiction that takes place primarily in Poland, it grabs me immediately. I only wish I could have read it much sooner than I did.

Douglas W. Jacobson has crafted an intense and thoroughly engaging novel about Adam, an American assassin and Natalia, an undercover Polish agent fighting the Nazis, two people who have lost their families because of the war and are now fully entrenched in the battle. Together they try to locate a horrifying 1940 Soviet order authorizing the murders of Polish Army officers and civilians. This massacre did take place and when I researched even more about it, I was dumbfounded by yet another moment in history I never learned until now.

The History I Should Know More About

The Katyn Order was a mass execution carried out by the Soviet NKVD. Approved by Joseph Stalin, Polish officers were murdered in the Katyn forest in Russia in 1940 and the number of victims is a staggering amount at approximately 22,000. (ref: Wikipedia)

Monument in Katowice, Poland

It's books like this that make me grateful for, well, books. Invariably there is always something that is new for me, and an event like this is one that we cannot forget. To do so, yet again does a disservice to the victims and their families, families who waited in vain for their loved ones to come home, never knowing that they had been mercilessly slaughtered.

Adam and Natalia were characters I immediately liked, along with a young teenager nicknamed Rabbit, a skillful messenger and a general jack-of-all-trades, who particularly stuck with me. Reading about history can sometimes be a dry experience, but with Jacobson's knowledgeable and masterful storytelling, The Katyn Order instead becomes an absorbing and suspenseful ride through the end of World War II. It's a thoughtful exposé of the truths surrounding this event, while at the same time positioning a fictional story as its primary driver, which keeps the reader excited to continue reading and learning at the same time. It's this device that makes it difficult to put the book down, and The Katyn Order provided me with that same result - once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading. When I had to put it down, I continued to think about the story, the brutality of war, particularly World War II, and the graphic moments that were included successfully served to provide me with just enough insight into the experiences that Adam and Natalia went through together and separately. The barbaric execution of Polish officers still makes me speechless with the intense sense of mournfulness of the act.

While there were some moments of the love story between Adam and Natalia that had me shaking my head in disbelief, I had to question myself and ask what I would really do if I was falling in love and war raged around me. Because of this, I couldn't say I would or wouldn't act in the same way that the main characters did, and I'd like to think I'd be smart and run my butt off, far and away from certain death, but...maybe not. Maybe I would be completely overwhelmed with the magnitude of all of the emotions that war would force on me. So maybe I would just have a moment with a mysterious man while I was fighting to save my country and fighting for my people against horrible injustices. Now that I think about it, why not?

This book is available in stores now, published in May 2011. This comes highly recommended from me for those who enjoy historical fiction, particularly World War II.

About the Author

Douglas W. Jacobson is an engineer, business owner and World War II history enthusiast. Doug has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, Night of Flames: A Novel of World Two was published in 2007 by McBooks Press, and was released in paperback in 2008. Night of Flames won the "2008 Outstanding Achievement Award" from the Wisconsin Library Association. Doug writes a monthly column on Poland's contribution during WW2, and has published articles on Belgium's WW2 escape organization, the Comet Line and other European Resistance organizations. Doug's second historical novel, The Katyn Order, which will be released in May 2011 focuses on one of history's most notorious war crimes, the Katyn massacre.

Click here to visit the author on his website.

FTC Disclosure: Thanks to Pump Up Your Book for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Books sweep you away into their world, but historical fiction makes you live in it.

Exit the Actress by Priya Parmar takes place in the mid-1600s and tells the story of Ellen Gwynn, also known as Nell. Starting out as an orange seller to the audience during theater productions, and with a mother who is an alcoholic and a sister who is a prostitute, Nell rises into the world of stage acting and catches the eye of King Charles. Simultaneously becoming a friend to his queen, Nelly also becomes mistress to him. This could certainly present a problem, but Ellen's a sweet young woman who doesn't have ill intentions. She simply loves her man, loves her family, and loves her friends and she tells her story through journal entries, and it's one that truly captures the imagination effectively.

Ellen was very much the people's actress, a young woman who rose up through society's ranks and became one with the King's courts, gallivanting with them on trips to the countryside, and developing relationships with noted historical figures. It was such a simple task to connect with Ellen and I found every single journal entry to be so engaging and cleverly written. I blushed in certain spots, giggled in others, and raged against injustices. I was hooked on the story, and the story didn't let me go.

Priya Parmar did one heck of a job keeping the story relatable to contemporary times without losing any edge of the 1600s. Her attention to detail was both breathtaking and refreshing, and my personal favorites were the snippets of articles written by the gossip columnist of the times, along with mentions of proper etiquette of a lady. Recipes for curing common ills were oftentimes hilarious, and I giggled with glee awaiting those moments of insight. This is a wonderfully creative story! Well done to the author and I look forward to the next book! (By the way I found myself so interested in stage acting during the 1600s. I blame Priya Parmar for the hours I've spent on my Mac having the most fun researching this topic...)

If you like historical fiction, go get this one. You won't be disappointed. You'll enjoy each endearing page as the story unfolds.

About the Author

Priya Parmar, a former freelance editor and dramaturg holds degrees in English Literature and theatre. She attended Mount Holyoke College, Oxford University and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Edinburgh. She divides her time between Hawaii and London. Exit the Actress is her first book. If you would like to learn more about Priya please visit her Simon and Schuster Author Portal

Visit the author on her website by clicking here.

Visit the author on Facebook by clicking here.

Visit the author on her blog by clicking here.

Happy Reading,

Coffee and a Book Chick

FTC Disclosure: I received the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

Let me first start off by saying that I will most assuredly be gushing about this book. And it will be a lengthy post because there is so much to share. Debut author Elizabeth Loupas has hooked me in with The Second Duchess, which was just released this month. Go to the store, flip through the pages...

I was traveling to Portland, Oregon for a business meeting, so I had plenty of time to read while traveling from one coast to the other. Since I was only there for Monday's meeting, I had to make the most out of my air travel, which I was dreading. I brought along The Second Duchess although I had promised myself that the reason why I got my Nook Color was because it made traveling so much easier for my back (no hardcover or thick books to carry with my briefcase). But I just had to bring this one with me - I was emotionally invested in the storyline already and I craved more.

Scandal and murder... this was life in 16th century Italy, and more specifically, Barbara of Austria and her marriage to Alfonso. Thus, the Duke and second Duchess of Ferrara begin their marriage with a whispering servant in Barbara's ear...did you know that his first wife was murdered, and that he murdered her...

When Barbara of Austria marries Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara, rumors wind their way around the Duke's previous marriage to Lucrezia de' Medici, a young fifteen-year-old girl from Florence. That marriage ended with an untimely death after the Duke confined her to a monastery. Barbara, intelligent and independent for a woman of her time, begins to secretly ask questions about what happened to Lucrezia, but as she begins her investigation, she herself becomes the victim of attempts on her own life.

With an intriguing character introduced into the story that I cannot give away, I found I was absolutely captivated. Elizabeth Loupas has developed an elegant whodunit wrapped in Italy in the 16th century. Detailed descriptions carry the reader into a comprehensive and enthralling story that I couldn't put down. While Barbara of Austria was compelling and engaging, and I enjoyed her spirit and intelligence as she slowly began to piece the puzzle together, I found that I was also pulled into the Duke's conflicted emotions and mannerisms. He was both very much a man of his day, but at times, so much a modern man of our contemporary times. Now this... this was a book. A book that I loved.

I sat on my four hour flight to Portland, Oregon and barely noticed my growling stomach, the flight attendants' offers of something to drink, the horrible turbulence on the flight. I soaked in the descriptions of the food and the clothing in 16th century Italy, and as I turned each page I got more and more swept up in the mystery. I kept questioning every character that graced the pages - did the Duke do it? What about his nasty sisters? Or that diplomatic sneak I couldn't stand? Who killed the first duchess and is trying to kill the second?

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, mysteries, and Italy... I loved this book!

Click here to read the first chapter on the author's site.

About the Author

Elizabeth Loupas has worked as a writer, producer, and executive in the broadcasting industry; in other times and other places she has been a librarian, a magazine editor, a teacher, and a marketing consultant. She holds degrees in literary studies and library/information science.

She lives on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, with her husband and two beagles.

Visit Elizabeth Loupas on her website by clicking here.

Become a fan of Elizabeth Loupas on Facebook by clicking here.

And One More Thing...
Did you hear about the new Showtime mini-series called The Borgias? Pick yourself back up off the floor because I have one more exciting thing - Jeremy Irons is in it. Yes, I think I just heard you faint.

The Second Duchess will be one of the books featured in a Barnes & Noble and Nook Color promotional sweepstakes built around the Showtime mini-series The Borgias. You'll soon see commercials promoting the sweepstakes which will run nationally at the beginning of the shows throughout April and May. One of the prizes is a trip to Rome? Oh. My. Goodness. Yes, I will be watching! Barnes & Noble will also be promoting the sweepstakes with in-store end caps that will feature The Second Duchess.

Regular readers of this blog know how much I love Italy and how much I dream about moving there one day. So I think you can safely assume that I'll be watching this mini-series.

This book is one to include for my Italy in Books Reading Challenge hosted by Book After Book.

Happy Reading,

Coffee and a Book Chick