A Star for Mrs. Blake in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 05, 2014 Kimberly rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, france, 2014-bookshelf

What. A. Read.
When I signed up for the tour I was really interested in the book because I had never heard of the Gold Star Mothers. I'm a Canadian so I'm not well versed in American history but I found the idea of this government initiative to be what drove me to sign up since I rarely read historical fiction set after 1900 and I was very interested in reading a book based on a fictional woman, from small town America travelling overseas to finally see where her son rested 13 years after his dea What. A. Read.
When I signed up for the tour I was really interested in the book because I had never heard of the Gold Star Mothers. I'm a Canadian so I'm not well versed in American history but I found the idea of this government initiative to be what drove me to sign up since I rarely read historical fiction set after 1900 and I was very interested in reading a book based on a fictional woman, from small town America travelling overseas to finally see where her son rested 13 years after his death.

I loved Cora, especially how we were introduced to her. We got to know her, and what kind of life she led right from the beginning. For me I especially loved the fact that Cora was an average woman. She was intelligent, and strong and so giving I was in awe of her strength to move on after the death of her son and her courage to confront his grave site so many years on. I'm not a mother yet, but I can't imagine burying my son or daughter overseas and being separated from them, but I respected her decision because of how much thought she gave it. Which was another thing that I enjoyed about Cora, she was a thinker and always weighed her options and she made me feel so much for her.

Since I don't read many novels set in this time period I though it was a fantastic change of pace. I loved getting to know the world through Cora's eyes. I could tell how well researched the novel was and really appreciated that she chose to write the novel based on the perspective of a common woman rather than that of an upper class woman. I loved seeing Cora transform into a new woman whilst on her journey to see her son and the people she met along the way were every bit as interesting as she was, even if there were one or two I didn't care for as much.

In the end, I thought this was a though provoking read, I wonder about the real Gold Star Mothers, I wonder if they were relieved to see their fallen sons grave sites or only full of resolution that they had done the right thing in keeping them where they'd fallen. A Star for Mrs. Blake opened up a part of history that I had known nothing about before and made me remember all those brave men who died in the service for our nations and thankful to the mothers who lost their boys for the war effort. It was an emotional read, and definitely has me wanting to look into the time period more as well as leaving me wanting to read more by April Smith. Her writing is rich and descriptive and I loved her characters.

I would recommend A Star for Mrs. Blake to all those who enjoy historical fiction, and historical fiction set in the 1930's. It provides a brief glimpse into a past not so long ago but the differences in life between then and now are striking. This will make you think, and feel a wide range of emotions.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my free and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are 100% my own. ...more

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Jan 27, 2014 Laura (booksnob) rated it really liked it

Shelves: literature, 2014, history

2014 marks the 100 year anniversary of World War I. In 1917-18, the Americans entered the war, toward the end, to support the allies and defeat the Germans. 116, 516 American soldiers were killed and paid the ultimate sacrifice. 30, 000 soldiers were buried overseas in American cemeteries. In 1929, the U.S. Congress voted to send U. S. mothers overseas to visit their sons' graves in France. 6,693 mothers made the trip.

A Star for Mrs. Blake takes on a little known piece of history and brings it t ...more

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Feb 04, 2014 Lisa of Hopewell rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-books, read-in-2014

What a sweet book! Still I was jarred by the necessity of informing us that the Ambassador's 'friends' [and the Ambassador was not a character in the story] were homosexuals. Why in the world did this merit a mention? The man had no part in the story save accepting a phone call. That was weird.

And, while only a librarian of my age or older (i.e. born in the JFK years or before) would find it just plain weird that the main character worried about the state of the library card catalog when she go ...more

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Nov 23, 2014 Pam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-books-read

AUTHOR: Smith, April
TITLE: A Star For Mr.s Blake
DATE READ: 01/07/2016
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS Fiction / 2014 / Random House / 319 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE: SA
CHARACTERS AUTHOR: Mrs. Cora Blake/ mother of Sammy -- killed in WWI
TIME/PLACE: Post WWI Maine & Paris
FIRST LINES Cora Blake was certainly not planning on going to Paris that spring.
COMMENTS: This is a book I won on goodreads. Very happy to finally get around to it … This book is historical fiction -- taking place in 1 ...more

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Feb 24, 2014 Katie rated it it was ok

Shelves: female-author, historical-fiction

Not a big fan of this book. I thought the writing was average at best, the characters not well developed, the plot contrived, and the first two thirds of the book was just really boring. By the time things started happening, I didn't care anymore. ...more

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