Tara Chevrestt's Blog, page 27

Could A Woman Have Designed the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

Heck yea, she could have, and I love that author Debbie Rix explores and hints at such in her novel, Secrets of the Tower.

I had no idea until I picked this book up that there was so much mystery around just who really designed the tower. I walk away from this story with so much more knowledge about Pisa, Italy, its history and architecture, than I had before.

But despite that awesome premise, I must confess I only made it to 65% before I had to just quit. Truth is, I wasn't enjoying the story. For me to enjoy a story I have to like and relate to its characters and while I could relate to the modern heroine, a wife and mother who has just discovered her husband has been straying yet can't leave him because he's in the hospital recovering from a stroke, I really hated the historical characters. Normally, it's the opposite for me.

While the story was dragging for me already--too much telling, not enough showing--I was actually interested in the modern heroine's research and the fact she was going back to journalism in a way and finding herself all over again, living for herself. But then it got into this historical love triangle between all the people I couldn't stand. Berta is a spoiled and self centered and mean. I can't stand the way she treats people. (The maid and the dress...geez.) I didn't think she deserved any happiness. Her maid Aurelia pines ridiculously for a jerk. And the jerk is the love interest of both of them, wooing, lying, deceiving, cheating.

And I hated them all, so the more the story got into this love triangle, the even more disinterested I became, until I finally no longer cared enough to even find out what became of the modern heroine. It simply wasn't worth it to me, trudging through that nonsense to get to what might be the good stuff.

There's also way too many coincidences. The handsome man just happens to have a father who just happens to have the original documents she needs and she just happens to run into...oh, you get the picture.

I feel the attention to detail was amazing though--about the tower, the houses, the period itself.

This just wasn't for me.

I received this via Netgalley.

Silence: Girl with Dreams of Broadway Loses Hearing & Finds Love

Stella has big dreams, Broadway dreams, and she's been blessed with a great voice. But just when things start to look like they're really happening for her, she goes to party (I don't consider this a spoiler as I KNEW it was going to be a party) and gets hurt. She gets hurt in a manner that takes away her hearing. And while our (deaf people) voices vibrate and we can control our volume for the most part, deafness usually results in tone deafness--I know this. So naturally, Stella fears her dreams have gone down the toilet, and quickly.

And she doesn't know how to do, how to be, anyone besides who she was before.

I appreciated that story line and I could relate, even though my hearing loss was gradual, even though I was able to properly prepare myself, as much as one can for such a circumstance, I got it. The day is happening around me. Not to me.

Stella is only 15, so it's a shock to her. She wallows in self pity for much of the story. I confess this irritated me after a while. I understood it, mind you, but it still irritated me, partly because I couldn't help but see all the advantages she instantly had that certainly weren't available in my day. She instantly has captioning (I didn't get that until my teens. Don't even get me started on how difficult it was to understand the tv until then), a cell phone with text messaging (I was in my twenties), and cochlear implant(s).

And yet, she being 15, she doesn't realize all the things she's lucky to have. This made sense, but doesn't mean I didn't find her attitude a little frustrating.

I must say I appreciate the research the author did into all this. I think teenagers will learn a lot from this book and perhaps see the everyday things they take for granted.

And then a boy vows to show Stella in 17 days how she can live with her new disability, that she can still be happy and do things. And with this comes new insight and growth. I thought I knew who I was. But I was limiting myself to being one thing. Defining myself by my talent. There's more to me than that. More I can give. More I can share.

The author tackled a lot of things in this story: abuse, trauma, hearing loss, anxiety, divorce, stuttering. And her writing is beautiful. It's really too beautiful though, nearly poetic. And while this prose would be fabulous in literary fiction or poetry, it seemed out of place in a young adult book.

The tightness in my chest begins to loosen like a rosebud beginning to bloom in the sun. Petals slowly open.

I don't know many people--adults or teenagers--who sit there and think in metaphors like that. And it got to be a lot, so much that I began to skim at points.

I love that this heroine isn't just cured. Too often when deaf heroines are tackled, it seems they can't have happy endings without suddenly being cured, like you can't be deaf/HoH and have a happy ending-an insult, really. I love the cochlear implant story line but at the same time I feel a great educational opportunity was squandered, as not much time was spent on them. What does she notice after they're implanted? What's it feel like? What's in there exactly? And I'm confused as to the one bandage when she was deaf on both sides. They only go in one side? More details would have been appreciated.

The romance was a over dramatic, their feelings for each other a bit over the top, but they are fifteen and at that age, everything is over dramatic. At times, however, they said things way advanced for their ages. And to be perfectly honest, it's easier to read lips when people speak normally. I can't say I really bought the "I only understand him because he stutters" thing, because as a lipreader, I can say that would make it harder.

But all in all, it's worth the read. It should be on every teenager's to read list this year.

I received a digital ARC of this via Netgalley.

Woman Joins the Cleveland Indians in Throw Like a Woman by Susan Petrone

I had no idea until I read this that women were actually banned from baseball in 1952 by a Ford Frick. What a fricker. ;) I had realized there were no women in MLB and had wondered why and thought it was because of body types/strength, but it's really just men have irrational fears about women. Don't they always?

This is by far the best woman-in-baseball novel I've read and I have attempted to read a few others. It's fun, funny, full of realism, features a heroine every woman can relate to, has a dash of feminism, and even has a moral, though it's a tough one for me to actually put into words. It's about needing to find joy in all you do, replacing negative feelings with positive and not miss a beat. It's about not pre-labeling people or not giving them a chance, especially when it's our ex-husbands...

Mothers will relate as Brenda juggles a traveling career with missing her kids (and sometimes her kids have tantrums). Divorcees will relate as Brenda dukes it out with her ex, about custody, visitation... Women everywhere will relate as Brenda deals with "frickers" who protest at every game, coworkers who leave nasty jockstraps in her locker. Feminists will relate as Brenda becomes the first ever woman in the major leagues and is right proud of it...sometimes...in between jockstraps and traveling and sport bra ads...

People will relate, period, as the life of a baseball player is shown to be not just fun and games, but--gasp!--work!

Truth is I'm having a hard time writing a review for this one. I just really liked it. I think I spent five days reading it and for me, that's pretty good. I usually get impatient after three. And no, it's not too long or even slow. It's just right. I liked the surprised bursts of humor and how Brenda handles everything in the end and what she takes away from it all. I especially just loved a woman in baseball, striking sexist men out as she inwardly cursed at them for the injustices done to women. And yet, she's not OTT, or perfect, or unbelievable. Quite the opposite. This heroine could you..or me. Most of the time, heroines in male-dominated roles are made a bit too hard, or too ridiculous to be real. The author did a superb job here.

If I have a single complaint, it's that the ending is a little vague. I guess I wish the book had been longer. Yea, that's exactly it. Just another chapter or two...

Oh--and there's a really adorable romance, the clean kind. No details.

I wish we really had a Brenda, a lady pitcher in baseball. I think she'd be a terrific role model for all of us--women and girls both.

I received this via Netgalley and I will be watching for more books by this author.

Over The Ivy Wall by Rosa Sophia

I really enjoyed this story by Rosa Sophia. She doesn't write your typical fluffy romance. She always has another hidden layer to her characters. What I really admired about this book was the hero. He has aspegars. She took the time to write a story with a hero that totally deserved a romance. He was different and still found love, and it made me really admire Rosa as an author.

Clara has been living with her aunt and uncle after her parents death. She's only a few weeks from being 18. Gaven, the hero is older. But this is a clean story, so nothing weird there.

Clara leaves each day to escape her uncle who abuses her in a way that is just unforgivable. I don't know how the Aunt put up with his. She had to know what her husband was up to. Not to go down that path...

Clara seeks comfort in Gaven, who doesn't know how to give comfort. Clara has never left her home, her uncle keeps her and his daughter hidden away from the world. Gaven gives her the strength to reach out for help and the courage to leave.

This was a great story. I absolutely loved it. I can't wait for Tammy's story. If she was a real person, I'd be praying for her to wisen up and find the courage she needs to get out of her bad situation.

The writing was good and the story flowed well. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a clean romance that will tug at your heart strings.


Lacey's Rating:
About The Book:
Clara Pendleton is a prisoner in her home. Always searching for new places to hide from her uncle, whose drunken attention terrifies and confuses her, she finds a tiny clearing in the back of the property near a disintegrating section of the ivy-covered wall that surrounds the estate.

Gaven Bridge has been sent to Clearwater to live with his Uncle Daniel. Never fitting in, he doesn’t believe he’ll ever meet anyone who understands him. But when he goes out for a walk in the woods, he happens upon a young lady sleeping soundly on a patch of moss.

A deep bond is fostered between them, helping Clara find the courage to change her life. When she finally decides to climb over the ivy wall and out into the world, there is no going back. Will Clara escape her horrible past, or will it destroy the love she and Gaven share?

Ten Questions from Tara: Interview with Konstantina Sozou-Kyrkou

Tara: Welcome. You're here to promote Black Greek Coffee. Before you tell us a bit about it, I'd like to share a blurb with readers...

Want to see the darker side of Greek life?

Black Greek Coffee is a collection of twenty-three short stories, most of them set in rural 20th century Greece. Laced with harrowing truths, these stories deal with the darker side of life in Greece – the domestic violence, male domination, superstition and ignorance, the strong influence of religion and suffocating traditions.

Konstantina Sozou-Kyrkou paints a vivid picture of everyday life in a Greek village. Culture, landscape and traditions are a backdrop to the divisions, gaps and barriers that lie between people and their relationships. There is a prejudice and unjustified animosity that hangs in the air around them, dividing and troubling them…

This series of short stories touches on themes of self-righteousness, religion, migration, chauvinism, illness, loss, death, war, superstition, honour and gender issues. Stories of the domestic, and occasionally reaching into the supernatural, they surprise, educate and challenge the reader’s intellect.

Konstantina: What inspired me to write ‘Black Greek Coffee’ is the personal stories of people I have met or heard about, themes that have intrigued me and spurred me into turning them into coherent, exciting, fictional stories, based on real life events and existing characters.

Tara: Tell us about your heroines and their strengths.

Konstantina: My heroines are women of the 20th c. rural Greece mainly, usually suppressed in a male dominated society, women often abused physically or psychologically. They fight to assert themselves, to have their voices heard, their rights and status defended, to be rendered equal to their male partners, relatives, fellow citizens. They draw strength from personal qualities such as patience, desire to live, to love and be loved, to be respected and be given credit for their personal achievements and their contribution within the domestic area mainly.

Tara: Do you share any traits with them?

Konstantina: Some of the stories have autobiographical elements and being myself a woman raised in a male dominated environment and suppressed by the suffocating traditions and ethics of a small, mountainous Greek village, I certainly feel I share common traits and experiences with my heroines. The notion, for example, that women shouldn’t have great expectations other than get married and raise kids was prevalent at my village, particularly in those early days of my youth. Things have been changing fortunately.

Tara: What was most difficult for you about writing this?
Konstantina: I find the process of creating a short story similar in difficulty to child bearing. It’s hard to conceive it, even harder to bear it, form it into its constituent parts, e.g. realistic dialogue, interesting plot, believable characters, a climax and a resolution and when you reach the stage of the complete, final outcome the exhilaration is unbelievable. You come to love your brain child the way a mother loves her offspring, which, nevertheless, makes it hard to spot its flaws and edit it further. That’s why it’s always useful to have a second eye, somebody else’s view on it, to judge whether it works and help you make any necessary amendments.
Tara: Tell us about the research you did.
Konstantina: I had to research on the effects of rat poisoning for the story ‘The Rats’ and learn a few things about cleaning a G43, a German rifle that features in my story ‘My Pappous and his G43’. I also had to study about the political situation during the Colonels’ coop in 1974 in particular for the story ‘Freedom and Democracy’ and learn a few things about hyenas for the story ‘The Hyenas’. The rest of the stories demanded little research on my part as they were mostly based on personal experience.

Tara: What do you want readers to glean from your book?

Konstantina: Readers will learn a lot about life in rural 20th c. Greece, about traditions and customs, about the ethics and moral values of the era. They will sympathize with women’s and children’s inferior position then, maybe identify with some of their characters and their sufferings, the unjust treatment by other stronger members of Greek society, their troubled route towards a catharsis or not.

Tara: If I were a tourist visiting Greece, what you recommend I see?

Konstantina: Black Greek Coffee takes place in several locations, the most common being a replica of the small mountainous village in Western Greece I was born in. There’s not much a tourist can see there but he/she would certainly get a feel of real, rural Greece, be acquainted with simple people with crude often manners, of shepherds mainly who also cultivate small plots of land and live on the bare necessities. Civilization hasn’t penetrated the place yet. They do have TVs and fridges but one won’t find many of the city’s amenities in a country house. The village is amphitheatric with a view of the Amvrakikos gulf and the colours of the area change with every season, the place never looking the same.

Tara: If you could time travel, where would you go, what time, and why?

Konstantina: If I could time travel I would certainly go to ancient Greece because the arts bloomed back then. People created magnificent works of art, impressive murals and sculpture, majestic temples and of course superb plays. One cannot ignore the skillful tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides as well as the hilarious but didactic comedies of Aristophanes. I would like to be working by their side, learn the skills of good writing and staging such superior plays.
Tara: What's your main goal life, something you really want to do before you pass on?
Konstantina: Being a mother of two, my main and most important goal in life is to raise healthy, honest, useful members of society. Another goal, of course, would be to write interesting books, pass on some important messages to people all over the world. Tara: I always ask this...tell me about your pets if you have any.

Konstantina:I love pets but unfortunately I live in a flat and we are not allowed to keep any, apart from goldfish. But, I guess my kids make up for not having any pets, equaling two wild lions in their angry teenage years.
Tara: Actually, goldish are pretty entertaining. I had one named Ed for a long time. I remember my dad letting the house get too cold and that poor fish actually partially froze and lived a year slightly bent. LOL
Thanks for joining us today and good luck with Black Greek Coffee.
*** Konstantina Sozou-Kyrkou was born in a small mountainous village in Western Greece. She travelled to Athens to study in 1985 and has been living there since then with her husband and two children. She holds a BA(Hons) in Literature and an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. One of her stories has appeared in the anthology Even Birds are Chained to the Sky and many more have been published online in literary magazines.

Mademoiselle Chanel: Lover, Designer, Spy?

There have been other duchesses of Westminster, but there can only be one Coco Chanel.

I've watched two different movies about Coco now. I've had the same complaint about each one.... They show us her childhood quickly--her growing up an orphan in a nunnery, her talent for sewing increasing each day. Then we'll see her singing in a bar, sewing for a cheap shrew nearly in exchange for room and board. Then it introduces us to her first lover, the wealthy horseman, who let her make hats in his home and introduced her to her second lover, Boy.

And Boy comes and sweeps her off her feet and then...he dies.

And perhaps the movie will show Coco designing a line of clothes after that and yet, that's it. The movie, and with it, her story, ends. As if that was all there was to Coco--her love with Boy, her loss of him, and oh, a few clothes.

There was so much more to Coco and C.W. Gortner shows us that. He goes far beyond the death of Boy. When Boy passes on, it's only halfway through the novel, that's how much Gortner gives us of Coco, the woman, the designer, the lover, the spy.

We see her as a daughter, then an orphan who loves to read and sew and feels slighted by her remaining family members, abandoned. Then we live with Coco as young woman working for a pittance, singing, debating whether she wants to take a lover or not. Lover Coco wonders why she doesn't feel the way others do. Marriage and children do not appeal. She wants to be independent and she makes this happen through persistence and hard work. We love Boy with her and feel her frustration at the things he does. We travel all over France with her as she renovates houses and designs clothes, introduces the little black dress, battles over a perfume contract, mourns, takes lovers. We go the ballet with her, get to know her sisters--who pines for marriage, who has a baby out of wedlock--and her friends--artist types and drug addicts.

The writing is terrific, though there are a few spots that are more telling than showing, almost info dumps, almost but not quite. And if my mind began to stray at times, the next page would hook me once again.

Most fascinating of all--and I applaud Gortner for tackling this--we finally see Coco the "spy" during WWII. Was she really a spy or was all she did for the sake of survival? Was she an unwitting accomplice? Did she care about her nephew so very much? Should we shun her for having taken a German lover? Taking a lover doesn't make one a spy...

Everyone will make their own conclusions. Me, I liked Gortner's take on the rumor. I didn't always like WWII Coco, I won't lie. But it all makes sense when you put together the rumors and Gortner's story.

There were many sides to Coco, as there is to all women. I appreciated her drive, her independence, her ability to shun society. I didn't like how she handled her perfume contract (it was your idea, you signed it, you can't change it now), nor did I care for her WWII persona (you've barely paid attention to your nephew), but I related to her (especially the motherhood debate) and she came alive for me in this novel. I also really really enjoyed the history behind No. 5.

Mr. Gortner, excellent job. I can't wait to see what strong woman in history you decide to write about next.

I had to curb my tongue when another corseted-to-her-teeth matron wailed, "Never in my life has anyone dared to make a fool of me until now!" because if she ever bothered to look in her mirror, she would have seen that her dressmaker had done precisely that.

I received a digital ARC via Edelweiss.

The Reading Radar 3/14/2015

Spotted on NG and as Sourcebooks Landmark is one of my all-time favorite publishers, I must get my hands on The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes.

The smallest items can hold centuries of secrets...

Inara Erickson is exploring her deceased aunt's island estate when she finds an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. As she peels back layer upon layer of the secrets it holds, Inara's life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein, a young Chinese girl mysteriously driven from her home a century before. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core — and force her to make an impossible choice.

Inspired by true events, Kelli Estes's brilliant and atmospheric debut serves as a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, and the power of our own stories.

***
Spotted on Goodreads Giveaways and caught my interest...Flower Girl by David Marshall Hunt.

What happens when a scientist with top secret clearance and a rogue CIA agent join forces, and he happens to be her father?

As a kidnapped orphan she hires out as a flower girl on Cheju-do Island, Korea the honeymoon capital of Asia. At 12 she is rescued from being sold as a child bride. Her rescuer is a rogue CIA Agent, who happens to be her father, who returns her to the USA to get an education. At 26 she is a scientist and linguist with a top secret clearance working for a government contractor when her rogue agent father suggests that they start a family business as assassins for hire. An unexpected turn of events on an assignment sends them back to Cheju-do where she is faced with the difficult choice of service to family and community or revenge.
"To start a family business you first need a family." Hunt (circa 1990)
A novel of mystery, adventure, and discovery, with a touch of whimsy, where past meets present as an atypical family comes together and learns about themselves while learning to trust each other as they start up an unusual and dangerous family business.

***
Spotted on Shelf Awareness, The Distant Marvels by Chantel Acevedo made the list.

Maria Sirena tells stories. She does it for money—she was a favorite in the cigar factory where she worked as a lettora—and for love, spinning gossamer tales out of her own past for the benefit of friends, neighbors, and family. But now, like a modern-day Scheherazade, she will be asked to tell one last story so that eight women can keep both hope and themselves alive.

Cuba, 1963. Hurricane Flora, one of the deadliest hurricanes in recorded history, is bearing down on the island. Seven women have been forcibly evacuated from their homes and herded into the former governor’s mansion, where they are watched over by another woman, a young soldier of Castro’s new Cuba named Ofelia. Outside the storm is raging and the floodwaters are rising. In a single room on the top floor of the governor’s mansion, Maria Sirena begins to tell the incredible story of her childhood during Cuba’s Third War of Independence; of her father Augustin, a ferocious rebel; of her mother, Lulu, an astonishing woman who fought, loved, dreamed, and suffered as fiercely as her husband. Stories, however, have a way of taking on a life of their own, and transported by her story’s momentum, Maria Sirena will reveal more about herself than she or anyone ever expected.

***
Hover by Anne A. Wilson, penned by a former Navy pilot, has made the women-in-aviation list as well as wishlist. I spotted it on Netgalley, but they're only offering an excerpt.

Helicopter pilot Lt. Sara Denning joins a Navy battle group with little fanfare—and that’s just the way she likes it. After her brother Ian’s tragic death, her career path seemed obvious: step into his shoes and join the Naval Academy, despite her fear of water. Sara’s philosophy is simple—blend in, be competent, and above all, never do anything to stand out as a woman in a man’s world.

Somewhere along the way, Sara lost herself—her feminine, easygoing soul is now buried under so many defensive layers, she can’t reach it anymore.

When she meets strong, self-assured Lt. Eric Marxen, her defenses start to falter. Eric coordinates flight operations for a Navy SEAL team that requests Sara as the exclusive pilot. This blatant show of favoritism causes conflict with the other pilots; Sara's sexist boss seems intent on making her life miserable, and her roommate and best friend, the only other woman on the ship, is avoiding her. It doesn’t help that her interactions with Eric leave her reeling.

The endgame of the SEALs' mission is so secret, even Sara doesn’t know the reason behind her mandated participation. Soon, though, the training missions become real, and Sara must overcome her fears before they plunge her into danger. When Sara’s life is on the line, can she find her true self again and follow the orders of her heart before it is too late?

***
And of course, a novel about the pilot Beryl Markham is a must read for me after I spotted it on NG. Circling the Sun by Paula McLain.

Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Paris Wife, takes readers into the glamorous and decadent circle of British expats living in Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun tells the story of the beautiful young horse trainer, adventurer, and aviator Beryl Markham, from her childhood in British East Africa to her relationship with hunter Denys Finch Hatton and rivalry with Out of Africa author Karen Blixen—a notorious love triangle that changed the course of Beryl’s life.

The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson: Two (Equally Boring) Parallel Lives

I expected to love this story. It takes place in the sixties and follows an independent woman who owns a book shop. She begins living in a parallel world in her dreams at night. When awake, she's the bookshop owner with her best friend. She has a cat and loves her parents and is helping the neighbor boy learn to read.

When she's asleep she's the mother of triplets with this blue-eyed husband who takes her to cocktail parties.

There's a situation with one of the kids that I didn't know what to make of. Am I supposed to feel sorry for the mother? Am I supposed to learn more about aggressive autistic kids? Or am I supposed to believe that sixties' crappola about how if you're not there to raise your kids, they come out wrong in the head? Nevertheless, I gained nothing from this story line and did not enjoy it. If I was Katharyn, the mother and wife, I'd darn well make an alternate reality for myself just to get away.

Actually, I gained nothing from this book. I feel mean saying that, but it's the truth. Parallel lives...would be interesting as heck if both lives weren't so dull. If I'm going to read about someone life--or lives--in this case, please make them more interesting and exciting than my own.

Kitty--she goes to work, talks to her friend, talks to her parents, goes home and sleeps, and of course frets about this dream life.

Katharyn--she does the motherhood/wifey thing, attends a cocktail party or two, shops, fights with her kid.

What is supposed to appeal to me about either life? Kitty's life was dull and predictable, but Katharyn's life was not only dull--but intolerable. Would send me to the looney bin.

And in between these boring lives, the book is filled with boring descriptions and histories. I don't care about Kitty's Freida's high school days. I don't care how the living room looks, from the windows to the carpet to the architecture. I don't care about the neighborhood or all the different people who live here or there.

Long review short: this is the most boring book I've picked up in a while. It's a boring, over descriptive narrative following two extremely boring lives. And the ending really disappointed me. (A point in the book's favor: I did find the ending unpredictable. It seems most readers were predicting it all along. For me, however, I was surprised.) It's not the life I would have chosen...but then again, we don't get to choose our lives. We merely make tiny choices that lead to a big result and we have little control over things.

I received this via Edelweiss.

Cairo 678: Sexually Harassed Woman Becomes Vigilante

Incredible movie. I didn't know what to expect when I watched this on Amazon Prime. It's a powerful tale of how three different women handle the growing sexual harassment in Egypt.

Woman one is harassed on a daily basis, on every bus, on the streets she walks. She dresses as dowdy as possible, covers herself head to toe. Unfortunately Egypt's bus system has men and women crowded extremely close together and some men seem to think it's a sport to grab women standing near them. Some of the men go so far as to unzip their own pants.

We see how her low opinion of the men around her in general begins to affect her marriage.

And then one day, she decides no man is going to touch her and get away with it again...and she becomes a vigilante, stabbing stabbing the perps in the crotch.

Her path crosses with that of two other women. One is a wealthy one who was (I think) raped at a football game. Her husband didn't handle the situation well, so hers is a story about emotional abandonment as well. About how, whether people intend it or not, they can punish us for being assaulted.

The third story is a the first woman in Egypt to file a sexual harassment claim. If she continues the claim, she will lose her fiance.

To avoid spoilers, I'm not going to get into further detail about what they do. The movie follows them, their troubles, their emotions, their families' reactions, their everyday life as well as that of a detective as he tries to track down the vigilante on the buses. I was pleasantly surprised by him and his actions.

Long review short, this is an empowering movie, about the different ways women can take action and seek justice. It's also extremely enlightening about the situation women in Egypt face on a daily basis. Though this occurred (this is based on a true story) in 2009, when you think about it, it wasn't that long ago.

Ten Questions from Tara: Interview with Adria J. Cimino

Tara: Welcome. You’re here to promote “Close to Destiny,” a contemporary fiction book. Tell me, please, what was the inspiration behind this story? How did it come to you?

Readers, here's a blurb:

Does déjà vu have a deeper meaning?

A puzzling gift from a stranger in a hat shop. Whisperings and footsteps in a dim luxury hotel. Dreams that transport to elegant parties where champagne flows like water. Kat is both frightened and intrigued by the events that have plagued her since she arrived in London, in a final effort to save herself from anorexia and recover from her latest suicide attempt.

Most disturbing is an encounter with a mysterious woman who introduces Kat to Will. And this lovely messenger has information she desperately wants to share with Kat: an incident from more than a century ago that could transform Kat’s future. But will Kat listen?

A story of the role of destiny in life... and of righting the wrongs of the past.
Adria: “Close to Destiny” is about a young woman whose unusual encounters in a London hotel lead her to discover a past she never imagined could exist. My inspiration actually began with a hotel in London, where I used to travel for business. And each time I stayed at that particular hotel, in spite of the size of the place, I felt almost as if I was the only one there. It had a mysterious feel to it. Like the main character in “Close to Destiny,” I could walk through the mazelike halls and never cross a soul. Yet, I would hear laughter far off. So one time, when I was staying there, I asked myself “What if…,” and the story wrote itself in my mind.

Tara: We focus a lot on heroines here on Book Babe. Tell me what makes your heroine strong. 
Adria: Kat, my main character, is strong in several ways. She is in the process of overcoming a long battle with anorexia. And as the story progresses, Kat takes charge of her own life and decisions rather than relying on her older sister as she always did in the past. She remains close to her sister and still values her thoughts, but as the story develops, we see her becoming more and more independent. Kat also is strong because she takes the lead when it comes to ending or continuing romantic relationships.

Tara: Do you see any of yourself in her?

Adria: Yes, I see my sense of curiosity and determination, an eagerness to get to the bottom of a situation that’s unclear.

Tara: Was there any particular part of this story that was the hardest for you to write? Tell me why.

Adria: I had to be particularly careful writing the final part of the book because there were many elements that I had to explain or weave in at just the right moment. There had to be a lot of attention to detail at this stage rather than just writing driven by inspiration. For me, this is more difficult than the freedom of letting inspiration carry you.

Tara: What kind of research did you do when you penned this novel? Did anything surprising come up in your search?

Adria: Since my novel is set in London and New York, and I’m very specific about places the main characters frequent, I did on-the-ground research when I was in both places. There is some magical realism in the novel, so developing that aspect of the book required research as well. What most surprised me in my research: Sometimes a mystical explanation for an event makes more sense than a concrete one!

Tara: What would you like readers to gain from reading your book? Is there a strong moral? Do you hope they will laugh, learn something about a particular subject/person, ponder a point?

Adria: I hope my readers will question the reality around them, will think about the control they might have over their own destiny and will be filled with a feeling of hope!

Tara: Your book takes place in London and New York. If I were a tourist, what would you recommend I see these cities?

Adria: In London, Hyde Park, and in New York, Central Park. I’m really a fan of natural spaces in big cities! My main character, Kat, actually does a lot of thinking during strolls through Central Park, as I’ve done in the past as well.

Tara: Moving on to personal things...if you could time travel to absolute any time and place in history, where and when would you go and what is it that draws you to this time period? What would you do whilst there?

Adria: Nineteenth century London. The idea of society, social behavior and traditions. All that I’ve read in the classics I devoured as a teenager. I would enjoy visiting people at teatime and simply walking through the streets at the busiest time of day. I love to observe the world around me!

Tara: What’s the one thing you hope to accomplish before you die? Your main goal?

Adria: A few years ago, before having my daughter, I would say: “Become a famous author!” But now that I have my little girl, I would say bringing her into adulthood and seeing her become a strong, independent woman.

Tara: I like that answer! I’m a dog mom, so I always ask this. Do you have pets? If so, tell me about them and do provide pictures.

Adria: We actually had our dear cat, Lelee, for 13 years, but she passed away a few years ago, and we’re still mentally preparing ourselves to adopt another cat. It’s not easy to move forward sometimes. Lelee was the cat we adopted in South Carolina, and she moved around with us, finishing her very spoiled cat life in Paris, France. She practically lived on the couch and bed, and loved gourmet sardines. We miss her terribly.
Tara: She was gorgeous!! And she obviously still lives deep in your heart. Thank you for sharing and for visiting us today. Best luck to you with your new release.

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Adria J. Cimino is the author of novels “Paris, Rue des Martyrs” and “Close to Destiny” and is co-founder of indie publishing house Velvet Morning Press (http://www.velvetmorningpress.com). Prior to jumping into the publishing world full time, she spent more than a decade as a journalist at news organizations including The AP and Bloomberg News. In addition to writing fiction and discovering new authors, Adria writes about her real-life adventures in her blog “Adria in Paris.” (http://adriainparis.blogspot.com/). You also may learn more about Adria and her work by visiting her website at http://ajcimino.com/ or following her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Adria_in_Paris.