Marianne Perry's Blog - Posts Tagged "travel"
What would a young woman leave her homeland?
Why would a young woman leave her homeland, cross the Atlantic Ocean as a steerage passenger on a steamship and settle in a place where she knew no one and could not speak the language?
Imagining the answer to this question combined with genealogical research and travels throughout Calabria, southern Italy led to the story that unfolds in The Inheritance. An historical fiction set in the early 1900s in Calabria, southern Italy, it is about an atypical woman who challenges norms, a priest seeking redemption and a family crumbling from conflicting loyalties.
As an August 2014 review (vol. 54 no. 3) in Families, the quarterly publication of The Ontario Genealogical Society states, "Marianne Perry weaves a very vivid tale that might well have happened hundreds of times over the centuries. The Inheritance will definitely make you think about how our ancestors came to be aboard a transatlantic vessel for a perilous three week voyage to begin a new life."
For a sample reading of The Inheritance, visit http://www.marianneperry.ca and download Chapter One.
What are your family mysteries? I'd welcome your comments and be interested in hearing your stories.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Imagining the answer to this question combined with genealogical research and travels throughout Calabria, southern Italy led to the story that unfolds in The Inheritance. An historical fiction set in the early 1900s in Calabria, southern Italy, it is about an atypical woman who challenges norms, a priest seeking redemption and a family crumbling from conflicting loyalties.
As an August 2014 review (vol. 54 no. 3) in Families, the quarterly publication of The Ontario Genealogical Society states, "Marianne Perry weaves a very vivid tale that might well have happened hundreds of times over the centuries. The Inheritance will definitely make you think about how our ancestors came to be aboard a transatlantic vessel for a perilous three week voyage to begin a new life."
For a sample reading of The Inheritance, visit http://www.marianneperry.ca and download Chapter One.
What are your family mysteries? I'd welcome your comments and be interested in hearing your stories.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Writing & Reading on Vacation
I've been vacationing with my husband for a few weeks and while enjoying the sites, I've been taking photos and making notes for possible storylines in future novels. I always set my stories in places I have been and make sure I record details that I might want to refer to someday while travelling. We were in Avignon, France and visited the first century AD Roman aqueduct, the Pont Du Gard. I was enthralled with this engineering feat and have imagined a tale of those involved with either the construction or restoration. While wandering through London, England, I snapped pictures of neighborhoods, gardens and details such as doors or flower boxes. I always take photos of food intrinsic to the area as well. As a result, there are several photos of cheese and cream-filled pastries from Paris.
In addition to working on my writing craft while on vacation, I always read! On this trip, I read Mercy by Jodi Piccoult and am halfway through Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner. When I return home, I have an article for a genealogical journal to write, blogs on my website to update plus continuing work on my second novel. On this vacation, however, I put these aside and focused on these activities.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
Author of The Inheritance
Http://www.marianneperry.ca
In addition to working on my writing craft while on vacation, I always read! On this trip, I read Mercy by Jodi Piccoult and am halfway through Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner. When I return home, I have an article for a genealogical journal to write, blogs on my website to update plus continuing work on my second novel. On this vacation, however, I put these aside and focused on these activities.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
Author of The Inheritance
Http://www.marianneperry.ca
Should You Trust Lo?
Should You Trust Lo?
Book Review:
The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Did Laura (Lo) Blackstock witness a woman’s body being thrown overboard in the cabin next to hers? Had she too much alcohol to drink at the reception and her recollection, therefore, suspect or given a history of anxiety issues, this a hallucination? A travel journalist based in North London, England, Lo accepts an assignment on the maiden voyage of the Aurora Borealis, a ten-cabin luxury liner on a week-long cruise of the Norwegian fjords and Swedish archipelago islands. Prior to this, however, she is burglarized. Traumatized by the break-in plus troubled over a conflicted relationship with her boyfriend, Judah Lewis, a foreign correspondent, Ruth Ware challenges us from the start. Can we trust Lo?
The Woman In Cabin 10 begins with a harrowing Prologue. It has thirty-seven chapters divided into eight parts that focus on pivotal events. The author uses email messages, Facebook comments, website forums and news sites plus news articles to tell her story. These varied techniques quicken the intriguing plot.
The novel is rife with twists and turns. Does the woman in cabin 10 really exist? Is the owner of the vessel and his crew involved in a cover-up? Wouldn’t a murder threaten the ship’s future and employment of all concerned?
If a murder is proven, how will the issue of international waters impact the crime? This Chapter 20 excerpt from the conversation between Lo and Lord Richard Bullmer, director of the Northern Lights Company which owns the Aurora speaks to the situation.
“The Norwegian police may not be able to act if the incident took place in British or international waters-it’s a question of legal jurisdiction, you understand, not their willingness to investigate. It will all depend.”
Lo encounters mostly non-existent internet signal on board and, therefore, is unable to contact the police or Judah for help. Is this real or purposed?
Ware populates her novel with eclectic characters: financiers, ex-model, travel expert, photographer, etc. One male had a complicated relationship with Lo in the past. Are these people who they present themselves to be?
Ware excels at describing the “gobsmacking interior” of the boutique ship. I cite this example from Chapter 5:
“That one chandelier has more than two thousand Swarovski crystals.”
She presents the turbulent sea as a metaphor for Lo’s confusion as the following Chapter 19 excerpt shows:
“I watched the sea rise and fall outside the window, its ceaseless movement echoing the restless thoughts that were running around inside my head.”
The wife of the Aurora’s owner, a wealthy heiress, suffers from cancer. Ware deftly captures the scourge of this disease in this Chapter 10 excerpt:
“To see someone like Anna Bullmer, so privileges, with every advantage that money could buy-the latest medicine, the best doctors and treatments available-to see her fighting for her life like this, before our very eyes, was almost unbearable.”
The concluding chapters are a bit of a stretch with respect what happens to Lo and the ultimate resolution. Nevertheless, Ruth Ware pens an exciting mystery that is a goodread.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Book Review:
The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Did Laura (Lo) Blackstock witness a woman’s body being thrown overboard in the cabin next to hers? Had she too much alcohol to drink at the reception and her recollection, therefore, suspect or given a history of anxiety issues, this a hallucination? A travel journalist based in North London, England, Lo accepts an assignment on the maiden voyage of the Aurora Borealis, a ten-cabin luxury liner on a week-long cruise of the Norwegian fjords and Swedish archipelago islands. Prior to this, however, she is burglarized. Traumatized by the break-in plus troubled over a conflicted relationship with her boyfriend, Judah Lewis, a foreign correspondent, Ruth Ware challenges us from the start. Can we trust Lo?
The Woman In Cabin 10 begins with a harrowing Prologue. It has thirty-seven chapters divided into eight parts that focus on pivotal events. The author uses email messages, Facebook comments, website forums and news sites plus news articles to tell her story. These varied techniques quicken the intriguing plot.
The novel is rife with twists and turns. Does the woman in cabin 10 really exist? Is the owner of the vessel and his crew involved in a cover-up? Wouldn’t a murder threaten the ship’s future and employment of all concerned?
If a murder is proven, how will the issue of international waters impact the crime? This Chapter 20 excerpt from the conversation between Lo and Lord Richard Bullmer, director of the Northern Lights Company which owns the Aurora speaks to the situation.
“The Norwegian police may not be able to act if the incident took place in British or international waters-it’s a question of legal jurisdiction, you understand, not their willingness to investigate. It will all depend.”
Lo encounters mostly non-existent internet signal on board and, therefore, is unable to contact the police or Judah for help. Is this real or purposed?
Ware populates her novel with eclectic characters: financiers, ex-model, travel expert, photographer, etc. One male had a complicated relationship with Lo in the past. Are these people who they present themselves to be?
Ware excels at describing the “gobsmacking interior” of the boutique ship. I cite this example from Chapter 5:
“That one chandelier has more than two thousand Swarovski crystals.”
She presents the turbulent sea as a metaphor for Lo’s confusion as the following Chapter 19 excerpt shows:
“I watched the sea rise and fall outside the window, its ceaseless movement echoing the restless thoughts that were running around inside my head.”
The wife of the Aurora’s owner, a wealthy heiress, suffers from cancer. Ware deftly captures the scourge of this disease in this Chapter 10 excerpt:
“To see someone like Anna Bullmer, so privileges, with every advantage that money could buy-the latest medicine, the best doctors and treatments available-to see her fighting for her life like this, before our very eyes, was almost unbearable.”
The concluding chapters are a bit of a stretch with respect what happens to Lo and the ultimate resolution. Nevertheless, Ruth Ware pens an exciting mystery that is a goodread.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
