I am a new fan of Jane Green. Promises to Keep is a sad, joyful look at family and friends pulling together in the midst of tragedy. Written with humo...moreI am a new fan of Jane Green. Promises to Keep is a sad, joyful look at family and friends pulling together in the midst of tragedy. Written with humor and insight, this is a book you'll want to share with a friend.(less)
Stories of early American pioneers creating new lives in the wild lands of the mid-Western plains are not new literary territory. Yet, the desolate e...moreStories of early American pioneers creating new lives in the wild lands of the mid-Western plains are not new literary territory. Yet, the desolate environment provides an appealing backdrop for characters to test their mettle and authors to explore the themes of freedom and perseverance.
What Anna Solomon has accomplished in her debut novel, THE LITTLE BRIDE, is to take the familiar mail-order bride in the American Pioneer West story and add interesting twists based on little known, but actual, historical facts, such as the role of Jewish European settlers in the Great Plains. Her mail-order bride is a sixteen-year-old Ukrainian Jewish orphan from Odessa. She has been abandoned by her mother, left orphaned after her father’s death, and taken in to become the housekeeper to an unstable, older woman.
The novel begins with Minna’s unsavory ‘inspection’ by the organizers of the mail-order bride exchange. The first hundred pages were frankly uncomfortable to read, with innuendoes of sexual abuse, an instance of graphic animal cruelty, and a brutal rape. All of which felt more manipulative of the reader’s emotions than plot points necessary to move the story forward, since none of the incidents seemed to make any impact on the protagonist.
When Minna eventually reaches America and makes her way to her future husband and his mud-flat home in the Dakotas, she finds that she is to be married to a man more than twice her age, who is an inept farmer and the father of two sons, one of whom she will eventually fall in love with.
The traditional pioneer story might lead us to expect that THE LITTLE BRIDE will eventually find Minna overcoming the obstacles of her environment to build a successful life on the farm with her husband or the stepson who is closer to her in age. However, this novel is more about personal freedom than personal growth and it reads more like a contemporary, metropolitan coming of age story about self-empowerment than historical fiction. Especially given the protagonist’s self-centered actions, which would have been unrealistic in early farming settlements when cooperative behavior was necessary for survival.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of THE LITTLE BRIDE only occurred to me on reflection: this may be the first book I’ve read where the hero’s impact on every character she meets leaves them worse off. That’s generally the consequence of meeting a villain. But it also explains why I didn’t connect with this book. While in the end Minna does attain personal freedom, she never develops the compassion for others that marks true self-growth, her freedom comes at the expense of others. And for that reason, the novel feels incomplete and sadly unsatisfying. In the end, Minna seemed like a smart girl from the Big City dropped onto the Great Plains without a moral compass.(less)
To escape an abusive marriage that threatens her two teenage daughters, Camille Bergeron flees her beloved New Orleans and lands on a small island off...moreTo escape an abusive marriage that threatens her two teenage daughters, Camille Bergeron flees her beloved New Orleans and lands on a small island off the coast of Maine. Once there she finds refuge by renting the upstairs apartment in a house belonging to Ben Haskell and his son Matthew. Quickly the lives of these two broken families become intertwined both in love and in business as they use Camille’s Creole cooking talents to found the Little Gale Gumbo restaurant. While this might be the foundation that heals their broken hearts and broken lives, their idyllic existence is shattered again and again by the persistent appearance of Camille’s estranged husband shows up throughout the years culminating in one horrific event that threatens lives and causes secrets and lies of their tangled past to be revealed.
Little Gale Gumbo, the debut novel of Erika Marks, is written in the spirit of Adrianna Trigiani’s big hearted family sagas. The actions of the characters are driven by their love for one another, the obvious love between mother and daughters, the sibling rivalry and fierce loyalty between the sisters, Dahlia and Josie, and their star-crossed love for the men in their lives. The story is told in a series of alternating chapters between the aftermath of a tragedy in the present, and the events in the past years that led up to the event and provide the impetus for the tangled relationships that created the tragedy.
I enjoyed the book thoroughly and quickly got caught up in the relationships between the sisters and the men they eventually fall in love with for better or worse. However, I felt that one weakness of the story was Camille’s refusal to divorce the man who abused her for so many years, who came up to the island from time to time only to torment his family. While his appearance certainly provided dramatic energy, once the girls became adults it simply didn’t make sense that Camille didn’t divorce a man who caused her so much pain, especially when she was happily in love with Ben, who not only provided her first safe home, but helped her to start a successful business.
Thankfully, other than that one inexplicable wrinkle, Little Gale Gumbo reads like comfort food. The relationships are complex, substantial, fraught with complications and uneasy answers, but ultimately satisfying. As a reader, I found myself turning the pages quickly to find out if the high school lovers would be re-united, if the tragic accident was just that or a malicious act of revenge that would tear lovers apart. While food plays a central role in this novel, in the end the strength of the story is in how it portrays the healing love between broken hearts, the power of that love to heal in unexpected ways.(less)
Ms. Balmore has created a unique Civil War novel, one which is told from the perspective of a Southern woman who will never be confused with the stere...moreMs. Balmore has created a unique Civil War novel, one which is told from the perspective of a Southern woman who will never be confused with the stereotypical Southern Belle. And that is exactly what makes A TIGER'S HEART so refreshing. The novel is action packed from the first page and presents life in the Civil War South from both sides of the argument, as well as the striking realities of slave-ownership. This unflinching look makes the novel fresh and interesting, instead of another re-hashing of Gone With the Wind-sentimentality. Perhaps the most striking aspect of A TIGER'S HEART, is the protagonist, Samantha, who is a young woman who is fearless, motivated by a burning desire for justice, and willing to sacrifice everything to follow her principles. The characterization and dialogue in this novel is lively, and the pacing keeps the story moving forward. A terrific read!(less)
Loved this classic! My addiction to historical fiction has finally led me to the master of the craft....I have a feeling this won't be my last Heyer b...moreLoved this classic! My addiction to historical fiction has finally led me to the master of the craft....I have a feeling this won't be my last Heyer book.(less)
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