Category Archives: Historical (70s)

July 19, 2020 · 11:58 pm

Review: The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase

Title: The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 365 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

An isolated forest estate.
A family with a terrible secret.
The discovery that changes everything.

England, 1970. On the one-year anniversary of the Harrington family’s darkest night, their beautiful London home goes up in flames. Mrs. Harrington, the two children, and live-in nanny Rita relocate to Foxcote Manor, ostensibly to recuperate. But the creeping forest, where lost things have a way of coming back, is not as restful as it seems. When thirteen-year-old Hera discovers a baby girl abandoned just beyond their garden gate, this tiniest, most wondrous of secrets brings a much-needed sunlit peace, until a visitor detonates the family’s tenuous happiness. All too soon a body lies dead in the woods.

Forty years later, London-based Sylvie is an expert at looking the other way. It’s how she stayed married to her unfaithful husband for more than twenty years. But she’s turned over a new leaf, having left him for a fresh start. She buried her own origin story decades ago, never imagining her teenage daughter would have a shocking reason to dig the past up–and to ask Sylvie to finally face the secrets that lead her back to Foxcote Manor.

Review:

The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase is an atmospheric, twist-filled mystery.

In 1971, Rita is the Harrington family nanny. She is young but she loves thirteen year old Hera and six year old Teddy Harrington. Following a tragedy, Walter Harrington insists she, his wife Jeannie and the children spend a few weeks at Foxcote Manor, the family’s dilapidated house in the forest. Much to her discomfort,  Rita is expected to keep detailed notes about Jeannie’s behavior for Walter. The forest is eerie but the children love spending time exploring their surroundings. Rita is concerned about Jeannie but an unexpected visitor helps raise her spirits. As does the discovery of an abandoned baby girl that  she insists on keeping despite Rita’s unease.  With Walter’s visit fast approaching,  Rita grows increasingly concerned about the situation at the Manor.

In the present, Sylvie Broom is making much needed changes in her life. Unfortunately eighteen year old Annie is not exactly pleased with her mum’s choices. Just as she is trying to settle into her new routine, Sylvie is devastated when her mum is seriously injured in an accident.  At the same time, changes in Annie’s situation lead to an exploration of their family’s past.  After years of avoiding delving into her  history, Sylvie finally decides it is time to look into the secrets her mum has been very reluctant to reveal.  But is she prepared for the revelations awaiting her?

Weaving back and forth in time, The Daughters of Foxcote Manor is a compelling mystery. Rita is a delightful young woman but she soon finds herself out of her depth. Sylvie is finally breaking free of the inertia that has prevented her from finding happiness.  The suspense builds with each passing chapter and  Eve Chase weaves past and present into a very satisfying conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, Eve Chase, GP Putnams Sons, Historical, Historical (70s), Mystery, Rated B, Review, Suspense, The Daughters of Foxcote Manor

May 27, 2020 · 11:07 pm

Review: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Title: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Historical (60s, 70s, 80s), Fiction
Length: 350 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it’s everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters’ storylines intersect?

Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person’s decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise

Review:

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is a thought-provoking  novel that is quite engrossing.

Stella and Desiree Vignes are twins who live in a close-knit African American town which was  founded by a freed slave.  The girls live with their mother who is supporting her small family following the tragic murder of her husband. During the ’50s, the teenagers run away to New Orleans where their lives eventually go in completely different directions. In 1968, Desiree returns to her hometown with her young daughter Jude. Desiree plans to stay in town temporarily but deep down, she knows she has won’t leave again.

Jude grows up enduring terrible bullying due to her very dark skin tone. She eventually leaves for college in California where she finally finds a group of supportive friends and possibly love with Reese Carter.  By complete accident, she believes she has found her mother’s long missing twin, Stella. But Jude is uncertain of the woman’s identity since she is a white woman who is married to a wealthy businessman. However, she and  Stella’s spoiled daughter Kennedy  cross paths again.  Jude is then certain of Stella’s identity, but it is clear there will be no warm and loving family reunion. Although close with her mother, Jude keeps this discovery to herself, but will she ever tell Desiree the truth about Stella?

In New Orleans, with Desiree, Stella uncomfortably passes herself as white to secure a better paying job. She essentially comes into her new life as a blank slate and continually deflects questions about her family.  Even after she is married and firmly entrenched in her new life, Stella always feels like someone will unmask her as a fraud.  Her relationship with Bennett is complicated by her high expectations for her daughter.

Kennedy is spoiled but she knows her own mind and she goes after what she wants. She is self-centered and demanding but she finally achieves a modicum of success in her chosen career. It is initially through her career that she Jade finds Kennedy again and Jude is hopeful she will find answers about Stella. However, their relationship remains tenuous and during an angry argument, Jude angrily spills the secrets she has been keeping. Despite her mother’s denials, Kennedy cannot help but wonder if Jude’s revelations are true.

Alternating between the mothers’ and daughters’ points of view, The Vanishing Half is a well-written novel that deftly explores colorism, racisim and identity. All of the characters are superbly developed with enviable strengths and relatable flaws. While some of the women are more likable than others, their individual stories are fascinating. Brit Bennett brings this powerful and introspective novel to a moving conclusion. I highly recommend this incredible novel.

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Filed under Brit Bennett, Fiction, Historical, Historical (60s), Historical (70s), Historical (80s), Rated B+, Review, Riverhead Books, The Vanishing Half

April 1, 2020 · 11:58 pm

Review: Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore

Title: Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
Publisher: Harper
Genre: Historical (70s), Fiction
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: C

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

Written with the haunting emotional power of Elizabeth Strout and Barbara Kingsolver, an astonishing debut novel that explores the lingering effects of a brutal crime on the women of one small Texas oil town in the 1970s.

Mercy is hard in a place like this . . .

It’s February 1976, and Odessa, Texas, stands on the cusp of the next great oil boom. While the town’s men embrace the coming prosperity, its women intimately know and fear the violence that always seems to follow.

In the early hours of the morning after Valentine’s Day, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramírez appears on the front porch of Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house, broken and barely alive. The teenager had been viciously attacked in a nearby oil field—an act of brutality that is tried in the churches and barrooms of Odessa before it can reach a court of law. When justice is evasive, the stage is set for a showdown with potentially devastating consequences.

Valentine is a haunting exploration of the intersections of violence and race, class and region in a story that plumbs the depths of darkness and fear, yet offers a window into beauty and hope. Told through the alternating points of view of indelible characters who burrow deep in the reader’s heart, this fierce, unflinching, and surprisingly tender novel illuminates women’s strength and vulnerability, and reminds us that it is the stories we tell ourselves that keep us alive.

Review:

Set in Odessa, TX, Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore is an interesting novel which takes place in the mid 1970s.

Beginning with the vicious sexual and physical assault  on fourteen year old Gloria Ramirez by oil worker Dale Strickland, the story unfolds through a series of vignettes by five different women.  Gloria’s life quickly intersects with ranch wife Mary Rose Whitehead who provides refuge to the young woman. Mary Rose is pregnant with her second child at the time and she is willing to do whatever it takes for justice for Gloria. But she is unable to cope with the isolated setting and she moves to town where she becomes neighbors with widow Corrine Shepard. Corrine is struggling following the death of her husband. The narrative paints a somewhat grim portrait of life in the oil boomtown as it wanders to other women and a young girl in the neighborhood. The story also highlights the dearth of women’s rights during the time period and the rampant xenophobia against Mexicans.

Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore is well-written but the story is slow-paced,  a little disjointed and meandering. The characters are relatively well-developed but some are more likable than others. Mary Rose and Gloria are multi-dimensional and easy to empathize with as they deal with the aftermath of the attack. The issues the various characters are dealing with are well-articulated and true to the time period. The resolution of Gloria’s case against Dale is realistic and sets the stage for the novel’s somewhat dramatic conclusion.

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Filed under Elizabeth Wetmore, Harper, Historical, Historical (70s), Rated C, Review, Valentine

August 5, 2019 · 11:58 pm

Review: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

Title: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Historical (60s & 70s), Fiction
Length: 306 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

The heartbreaking and uplifting story, inspired by true events, of how far one mother must go to protect her daughter.

Dover, Massachusetts, 1969. Ginny Richardson’s heart was torn open when her baby girl, Lucy, born with Down Syndrome, was taken from her. Under pressure from his powerful family, her husband, Ab, sent Lucy away to Willowridge, a special school for the “feeble-minded.” Ab tried to convince Ginny it was for the best. That they should grieve for their daughter as though she were dead. That they should try to move on.

But two years later, when Ginny’s best friend, Marsha, shows her a series of articles exposing Willowridge as a hell-on-earth–its squalid hallways filled with neglected children–she knows she can’t leave her daughter there. With Ginny’s six-year-old son in tow, Ginny and Marsha drive to the school to see Lucy for themselves. What they find sets their course on a heart-racing journey across state lines—turning Ginny into a fugitive.

For the first time, Ginny must test her own strength and face the world head-on as she fights Ab and his domineering father for the right to keep Lucy. Racing from Massachusetts to the beaches of Atlantic City, through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to a roadside mermaid show in Florida, Keeping Lucy is a searing portrait of just how far a mother’s love can take her.

Based on incredible true events, Keeping Lucy is the searing, heartfelt, and breathtaking story of just how far a mother’s love can take her.

Review:

Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood is a heartrending yet ultimately uplifting novel.

Ginny Richardson and her husband are from very different socio-economic backgrounds but the first years of their marriage are mostly happy.  Ab’s wealthy family helps them purchase their first home while Ab finishes law school and Ginny stays home with their son Peyton.  After law school, Ab joins his father’s law firm and he works long hours moving up through the ranks. Their delight at Ginny’s second pregnancy ends in despair when their daughter Lucy is born.  She has Down syndrome and frightened by their physician’s dire prognosis, they immediately put her in Willowridge School.

Fast forward two years and Ginny is growing more unhappy with her life.  She has no friends in the local area and since Ab works long hours, he is rarely home with her and Peyton.  Ginny’s relationship with her in-laws remains distant and she continues to feel inadequate.  But when her best friend Marsha calls to tell her a reporter has exposed horrific conditions at Willowridge, Ginny goes against Ab’s wishes when she takes Peyton and Marsha to check on Lucy.

Immediately sickened by what she discovers at Willowridge, Ginny leaves with Lucy for a long overdue visit. She also hopes to convince Ab that it is time for them to bring Lucy home. However, Lucy is angered by his refusal to even consider her request.   Although Ginny does not want to go against her husband’s wishes, she also cannot surrender her daughter for a second time.  Needing time to figure out what she is going to do, Ginny makes an impetuous decision that will alter the course of her life. But will she ruin her marriage in the process?

With Marsha behind the wheel, she, Peyton and Lucy embark on a journey in which Ginny decides to regain control of her life. Having completely surrendered to her husband’s and father-in-law’s will,  the distance and time away provides her the opportunity to reflect on what she wants for herself and her family.  But defying her husband is not easy and she often second-guesses her decisions. When a crisis strikes, will Ginny find the strength she needs to protect her daughter?

Keeping Lucy is an emotionally compelling novel that is based on true events.  The storyline is engaging and the characters are well-developed and likable. Ginny is fundamentally changed by her experiences and her fierce desire to protect Lucy once she knows the truth about Willowridge.  The various settings and the time period are vibrantly developed and realistically portrayed.   T. Greenwood brings this deeply affecting novel to a heartwarming conclusion that is quite gratifying.

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Filed under Fiction, Historical, Historical (60s), Historical (70s), Rated B+, Review, St Martin's Press, T Greenwood

April 8, 2019 · 11:58 pm

Review: The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman

Title: The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Historical (60s & 70s), Fiction
Length: 303 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

In this tender and wise novel about love and forgiveness in 1960s Australia, a lonely farmer finds his life turned upside down by the arrival of a vibrant bookseller.

Can one unlikely bookshop heal two broken souls?

It is 1968 in rural Australia and lonely Tom Hope can’t make heads or tails of Hannah Babel. Newly arrived from Hungary, Hannah is unlike anyone he’s ever met–she’s passionate, brilliant, and fiercely determined to open sleepy Hometown’s first bookshop.

Despite the fact that Tom has only read only one book in his life, when Hannah hires him to install shelving for the shop, the two discover an astonishing spark. Recently abandoned by an unfaithful wife–and still missing her sweet son, Peter–Tom dares to believe that he might make Hannah happy. But Hannah is a haunted woman. Twenty-four years earlier, she had been marched to the gates of Auschwitz.

Perfect for fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Light Between Oceans, The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted cherishes the power of love, literature, and forgiveness to transform our lives, and–if we dare allow them–to mend our broken hearts.

Review:

The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman is a bittersweet novel of healing and love. Interspersed with flashbacks to World II, this riveting story is set in rural Australia during the 1960s and 1970s.

Tom Hope is a sheep farmer and orchard grower whose wife Trudy has just left him after less than two years of marriage. When she returns as abruptly as she left, he welcomes her back despite her pregnancy by another man. Following the birth of her son, Peter, she is a disinterested mother whereas Tom is a delighted father. Deciding to join her mother and sister at a religious cult, Trudy once again leaves Tom  and abandons Peter. Life on a farm with a young boy is difficult, but Tom handily manages to make the situation work. He adores Peter but after a few years, Trudy claims her son leaving Tom heartsick and lonely.  He finds unexpected solace with Hannah Babel, an Auschwitz survivor who is opening a bookstore.  Despite having nothing in common, Tom and Hannah set the town on its ear when they decide to marry. Tom’s patience and compassion are just what his new bride needs as she continues to struggle with the pain of her wartime losses.  Hannah’s bookstore is an unexpected success  but what will she do when Trudy again upends Tom’s life with her decision to grant him custody of Peter?

Tom is a gentle and dependable man who fell into farming. He is well-respected but he does not much care what people think about the decisions he makes. He makes the best of any situation he finds himself in, but Tom has a difficult time coping when Trudy takes Peter away from him. Despite the differences between him and Hannah, Tom would not imagine living without her.

Strong-willed with a forceful personality, Hannah’s past is full of sorrow and heartache. Having endured unimaginable losses and unthinkable hardship, she has forged a new life for herself in Australia. Although most of the time,  Hannah is able to keep her heartbreaking memories at bay, there are times when she is emotionally distant and inaccessible. She is grateful for Tom’s unending patience and while she would do anything for him, Hannah does not plan on having children in her life.  Will her love for Tom allow her to accept Peter into their lives?

The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted is a marvelous novel that is emotional and uplifting. The characters are beautifully developed with heartrending back stories. The storyline is absolutely compelling and the flashbacks to Hannah’s experiences in World War II are deeply affecting. Tom’s farm is a serene setting that will charm readers. This riveting story by Robert Hillman is captivating, touching and ultimately, quite heartening.

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Filed under Fiction, GP Putnams Sons, Historical, Historical (60s), Historical (70s), Rated B+, Review, Robert Hillman, The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted

October 31, 2018 · 11:56 pm

Review: Love in a Mist by Sarah Harrison

Title: Love in a Mist by Sarah Harrison
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Genre: Historical (70s & 90s), Fiction
Length: 224 pages
Book Rating: C+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Who knows what secrets lie within a marriage …? Sarah Harrison’s compelling new romantic drama.

Everyone envies young Flora Mayfield: she has the best parents in the world. A successful, handsome father and a gorgeous, vivacious mother who adore each other, and no siblings with whom to share the limelight of their love and attention.

But Flora has always known there’s something rather different about her family life. Her parents, Nico and Zinny, set an impossible standard – of beauty, of success, of romance. Clever, plain Flora feels condemned to live in their shadow. But just as she begins to blossom, having fallen in love for the first time, a devastating piece of news forces Flora to confront her parents about the past, unearthing a series of shocking secrets and causing Flora to question her very identity.

Love in a Mist is a compelling tale about the corruption of lies, the terrifying discovery of truth and the hard-won freedom, finally, to love.

Review:

Love in a Mist by Sarah Harrison is an intriguing novel that reads like a memoir.

Flora Mayfield lives with her parents Nico and Zinny in a seaside town along the British coast. Her mom is glamorous and beautiful whereas her dad is more playful without much ambition.  They are so in love that Flora sometimes often feels like an afterthought to their lives.  An only child, Flora is rather introverted with few friends.  It is not until she is an adult that Flora uncovers the truth about the odd dynamic between her and her parents.

After reaching adulthood, Flora eschews going on to university and she enjoys the various jobs she undertakes. It is not until she begins working for college professor and mystery writer  Edwin Clayborne that she is completely content. She and Edwin have a easy working relationship and she is content with her life. However, Flora’s relationship with her parents remains a bit distant but an unexpected letter leads to a shocking revelation.

Weaving back and forth in time,  Love in a Mist is a somewhat slow-paced novel with an interesting premise. Flora is a delightful narrator but she is rather prone to introspection. The plot is well-written and Sarah Harrison’s descriptive prose brings the various settings vibrantly to life. An overall enjoyable read that keeps readers in suspense right up until the novel’s surprising conclusion.

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Filed under Fiction, Historical, Historical (70s), Historical (90s), Love in a Mist, Rated C+, Review, Sarah Harrison, Severn House Publishers