Set during the Great Depression, this story covers a variety of experiences a Native American family faced living on the fringes of an Appalachian community. The narrator is Little Tree, a five-year-old part-Cherokee boy whose goes to live with his grandparents after the death of his mother and father. His grandmother is full Cherokee while his grandfather is part Cherokee and Scots. Little Tree’s education begins the day he arrives at the log cabin they call home. He learns how and when to be a hunter, fisherman, farmer, gatherer, and even a moon-shiner. Although he must learn to thrive in th ..read more

Rebecca has been on the to-read list for ages, and thanks to Book Club, it has been marked off (and was much enjoyed)! First, a short and spoiler-free synopsis: Late 1930’s. An unnamed protagonist narrates this story–a young woman training to become a lady’s companion. She meets a mysterious widower in Monte Carlo and before she knows it, she’s a newlywed looking forward to starting her life as mistress of Manderley, a great ancestral home in Cornwall, England. Her lack of qualifications haunts her, as the staff–especially the head housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers–continually deride her for her short ..read more

Queen in Waiting opens with Caroline of Ansbach at only 8 years of age leading a difficult life as an outcast in her own home due to her father’s death and step-brother’s disdain. Luckily for her, however, she is accepted into the household of the Electress of Brandenburg where she receives an excellent education and is considered quite a catch among Protestant bachelors. A series of events brings her to the notice of George Augustus, son of the future King George I of England. It looks like I have finally finished the 11-book Georgia Saga by Jean Plaidy after about as many years! And, what’s ..read more

The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White This is another book club read, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it included sections that are historical–Great Depression and WWII era. The main character, Merilee, is a recently divorced mother of two trying to make it on her own in a new environment–among the more affluent members of society–due to her kids being enrolled in a private school. She makes a few friends among the mothers, but feels a greater connection with 94-year-old Sugar Prescott, her new on-site landlady. The two grow closer (reluctantly on Sugar’s end) as they share perso ..read more

Here’s the first review for my 2021 Reading Goals, which I announced back in November as catching up on my backlog of Kindle books. I added Horton’s Bend by Dave Davis a few years ago when I came across it searching for Horton’s Bend: George Washington Horton and His Kin by Annette Horton Herrington (a genealogy reference book). Davis’s Horton’s Bend is a novel labeled as “An Archaeological Mystery”, which is not a prolific subgenre. What intrigued me with this book is that the piece of land in question, around a bend in the Oostanaula River in Rome, Georgia, belonged to a branch of my family ..read more

For several years now I have refused to focus on number goals for reading. This past year I have read mostly non-fiction reference and research books for work projects, putting fiction on the backburner. Other than a few Plaidy/Holt books, and my book clubs reads, I haven’t read and reviewed historical fiction at all. I’d like to break out of this slump, and decided the best way to do this is by clearing out my Kindle. First I deleted the ones I wasn’t truly interested in reading, and I’m now left with nearly 30 books that have been collecting for years. Below is the list that I’m claiming as ..read more

Today being Hedy Lamarr’s birthday, it seems an appropriate time to publish this review! The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict was the pick for my book club last month and I found it a quick and enjoyable read. Although it is not greatly detailed on Hedy’s life as a Hollywood actress or as a budding scientist, these two roles are touched upon in the rushed second half of the novel. Mostly, it covers her exit from the Austrian theater and a volatile marriage with her first husband, Fredrich Mandl. The story should appeal to those interested in WWII fiction, however the real focal point o ..read more

Jan 2020 Release – Amazon Link BOOK DESCRIPTION It’s 1911, and 21-year-old Evelyn Northey desperately wants to become a doctor. Her father forbids it, withholding the inheritance that would allow her to attend university. At the outbreak of World War I, Evelyn disobeys her father, enlisting as an army nurse bound for Egypt and the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. Under the blazing desert sun, Evelyn develops feelings for polio survivor Dr William Brent, who believes his disability makes him unfit to marry. For Evelyn, still pursuing her goal of studying medicine, a man has no place in her future ..read more

Jan 2020 Release – Amazon Link BOOK DESCRIPTION The Miltons are a powerful old New York family – the kind of family that used to run the world. And in 1935, they still do. Kitty and Ogden Milton seem to have it all: an elegant apartment on the Upper East Side, two beautiful little boys, a love everyone envies. When a tragedy befalls them, Ogden comforts Kitty the only way he knows how – they go sailing, picnic on a small island off the coast of Maine, and buy it. For generations the Miltons of Crockett Island revel in a place that is entirely their own. But it’s 1959, and the world is changing ..read more

Jan 2020 Release – Amazon Link BOOK DESCRIPTION A deeply moving and masterfully written story of human resilience and enduring love, The Plum Tree follows a young German woman through the chaos of World War II and its aftermath. “Bloom where you’re planted,” is the advice Christine Bölz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It’s a world she’s begun to glimpse through music, books—and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for. Yet the future she and ..read more