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A love of books, a fight against injustice and a yearning to help end the war led three women in three cities to band together and take on book banning. In New York Viv has just become a war widow and is fighting political roadblocks to save the program she has worked on tirelessly. She is fighting censorship of books that are sent to servicemen in Europe as a way of escaping the horrors of war. In Paris Hannah runs a bookshop that houses banned books that have been burned in Germany for being against new German principles. In Berlin Althea came from the U.S. at the beginning of the war enamored with the city and one of the new Chancellor Hitler's officers in particular. Soon enough her eyes are opened to the atrocities and injustice and her heart opened up to Hannah. They fought book censorship both in Europe and in the states. They fought the loss of great literature and against the loss of freedom of religion, love and ideas. On a sad note this is historical fiction that takes place in WWII but you will see many parallels to the censorship issues we are facing today. 4 stars 
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This magical mix of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and Gaiman's THE SANDMAN takes us to 1930's Chicago where a gifted ballerina on her own finds love and support in a patron with much to hide. Grace's dream of becoming not only a dancer but prima ballerina becomes reality when a mysterious patron helps her achieve all her dreams. She becomes obsessed with discovering who he is and his reasons for always remaining in the shadows and soon finds out there is many more secrets to unfold. Like a moth to the flame she wants his world but not at the cost of losing her own. Lyrical prose that pulls us in from the minute the curtain rises immersing the reader in a misty magical world that hovers between life and death. 4 stars 
Two families found on both sides of the tracks collide when a wealthy man goes missing in 1940's Trinidad. The Saroop family lives in absolute poverty in a shanty town while the father Hans works for the wealthy Changoor family. Dalton and Marlee Changoor own a booming sugarcane farm but when Dalton goes missing we start to see cracks emerge signaling that all is not paradise but this opportunity may signal a change of fortune for Hans. The language and descriptions of island life are authentic and mesmerizing. The body of the story is devoted to class structure, dueling religions and underlying violence of all sorts. We see how all of it affects the parents and how it is handed down to the children to sort out. 4 stars  Based sadly on an island community in mid 1800's Maine this is the story of a brave group of mixed race families who settled on an island hoping to create a haven away from the mainland hate and prejudice. Cut off from the mainland with the exception of a missionary who lived there in the summers and an occasional care package these islanders built crude homes and lived for generations before the outside world ripped them apart. When one of their own shows artistic talent and is convinced to go to the mainland to pursue his art and has a doomed relationship with a servant, the fragile island house of cards topples. Told in spare New England prose but with emotionally rich characters and setting, this is another historical example of bigotry and fear destroying a community. This will appeal to readers of non traditional communities as well as Annie Prouix. 3 1/2 stars  Three sisters all very different search for their own version of independence just as India is breaking away from British rule and its own future as an independent nation. Priya longs to be a doctor just as her father was which is almost impossible for a woman, Deepa wants to marry the man she loves not the man her family would choose for her and Jamini loves someone who will never be hers and seeks an independent future through her talented quilt making. The country is going through deep trauma and violence which affects all of them and their future. The tug between the old ways and this new generation of a future of change and new beginnings creates a family split. A rich story of family, religion, sibling rivalry and loyalty as well as the historical importance of what seeking independence will cost them. 4 stars  The Mitford sisters were the darlings of the British social scene but as WWII looms on the horizon two of the sisters make friends of the worst kind. Diana is just as passionate about Facism as she is about her lover and soon to be secret husband Mosley who is seeking to make a name for himself and the party in England. Young Unity falls under the spell of Nazism and the party's enigmatic leader, Adolf Hitler. As each of these sisters spend more and more time in Germany even their parents who are supporters begin to get alarmed. It is the older sister Nancy who must try to keep them out of harm's way and away from Hitler's tight leash. While the family has deep ties to England's aristocrisy and Winston Churchill their political views and support were not as conservative as you would think. Presented in a very different way than most of the British WWII stories to date this is an introspective look at an important family caught up in political upheaval and their own ambitions. Marie Benedict presents a behind the scenes look through their eyes at how easy it may have been to get pulled in to the ideals of Nazism and Hitler. For her many fans as well as readers of WWII little told stories as seen through female eyes. 4 stars  Happy book birthday to WADE IN THE WATER by Nyani Nkrumah. When a white woman shows up in the very black part of Ricksville Mississippi alarm bells go off and Ella thinks, like the rest of her neighbors that this woman is crazy. Ms. St. James claims to be from Princeton and is writing her thesis on the Civil Rights Movement and wants to get the facts from the people who were part of it. Ella having few friends and at the impressionable age of 11 befriends Ms. St. James but that friendship is not an easy one. A coming of age story of a fatherless and mother couldn't care less little girl searching for her roots and trying to figure out life. It is also a story of how the sins of the father fall on the children who should do better. Historical fiction with a soul for fans of THE VANISHING HALF and stories set in the south during the 60's. 4 stars  Happy book birthday to PANDORA by Susan Stokes! Dora's parents had a well established antiquities business well thought of by both scholars and adventurers alike. That all changed after an accident at a dig site left Dora in the care of her uncle and since that time Dora, the shop and her family's good name have deteriorated. She is determined to succeed as a jewelry designer but needs a foot in the right door to get started. Across town a young bookbinder is desperate to join the elite Antiquity Society yet even with his wealthy and titled friend's help has been unable to win them over. Myth or coincidence - the delivery of an ancient Greek vase to Pandora's uncle will change their lives. Historical fiction that blends Regency romance, the British love and hunt for all things ancient and the struggles of the working class vs. the peerage together into this imaginative debut. I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator to be a perfect choice. 4 stars  A fantastic historic romp combining an American's adventures in wartime Switzerland and then postwar in Paris fashion houses. Alix was gutted when a false lead took the lives of several agents on her watch and ended her involvement in the OSS in Switzerland. Now in Paris after the war she makes a name for herself launching Christian Dior's new fashion house which also outs her to the bad guy from the war who wants her dead. Working with a group of unlikely partners Alix must find the one who is responsible as a way to make amends. The severity and horrors of the war with the glitz and glamour of Parisian fashion make for a wonderful mix that once again highlights the brave women behind the men in wartime. Alix is also an anomaly in that she isn't rich enough to not work and is clearly not out to find a rich husband but is around those women who don't have to and are expected to land and mold their lives to their husband. This will be candy to readers of Kate Quinn, Marie Benedict and wartime historical fiction. I listened to the audio version and the narration with pitch perfect accents was perfect. 4 stars  |
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