Published by: Penguin

Published on: August 2009 (reprint)

Page Count: 368

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible using monthly credits

Audiobook Published by: Blackstone Audio

Narrator: Simon Vance

Audiobook Length: 8 hours 28 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook and Audiobook

My Mini Review

James Bond, the sexy spy who can save the world and the prettiest damsel in distress from the jaws of death can be boring. Extremely boring. We begin with a high stakes card game. One such card game in Casino Royale was interesting, but for a second time it felt old. It was cute how he caught Goldfinger cheating, but then we were ushered into another high stakes game between Bond and Goldfinger – golf. I stopped trying to hold back the yawns at that point. While there were some interesting sections as the novel progressed, it never recovered. Goldfinger, even at his most maniacal, did nothing for me. On the Bond girl side, I would have chosen Tilly’s fate if I were her, too. Her sexual preferences weren’t all that kept her from Bond’s bed. His misplaced cockiness was devoid of charm and he was as dull as my grandma’s dish rag. Pussy Galore was a shining light, but alas her role was quite small over this course of this nearly 8 and a half hour audiobook.

I love Simon Vance. He is wonderful at what he does. Even the pull of my favorite narrator could not salvage this book. Less than two hours in and I was begging for mercy. There simply was not enough enemy action and far too much happenstance and coincidence for my taste. Major stinker.

Published by: Penguin (reprint)

Published on: August 2002

Page Count: 240

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible using monthly credits

Audiobook Published by: Blackstone Audio

Narrator: Simon Vance

Audiobook Length: 7 hours 13 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook

Note: In one of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels you’re far away from the politically correct. Doctor No is no different. In addition to the typical sexism, Fleming very much stereotypes the Chinese.

My Mini Review

James Bond has been in his fair share of scrapes, but he has met his match in both villian Doctor No and Bond girl Honeychile Rider.  This book had almost the perfect mixture of character development and adventure. Quarrel, Bond’s friend we first encounter in Live and Let Die returns. As soon as his name was mentioned I took it as an omen that I would enjoy this novel. His role in this novel leads to one of the most touching moments I’ve found in an Ian Fleming novel. In addition to bringing back a favorite character, Fleming wrote my favorite Bond girl thus far in Honeychile Rider. From the nude shell seeker to the independent woman (no, James, she’s not a girl) who kept herself safe from Doctor No’s games, I thought she was sensational. My only complaint about her is her name, which is hardly her fault. Finally, Doctor No is a sadistic, evil bastard and, quite honestly, that’s just the way I like my villains. All the better to see them get their just deserts in the end.

I read Doctor No as part of Shaken, Not Stirred, a Simon Vance/Ian Fleming audiobook challenge, and really enjoyed it. It is not surprising that Simon Vance has given a consistent performance throughout the James Bond series. This is one James Bond novel I can see myself listening to again.

I’ve been fascinated with lost fragrances since long before I started writing The Book of Lost Fragrances… since I found a bottle of perfume on my great grandmother’s dresser that had belonged to her mother in Russia. Here is one of those lost fragrances that stirs the senses and the imagination… (reasearched and described with the help of the perfume writer Dimitrios Dimitriadis)

GUERLAIN – DJEDI

The most coveted and rare perfume from the Guerlain portfolio, Djedi was launched in 1926, right on the heels of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Presented in a flacon resembling a golden sarcophagus with its lid being raised, Djedi is an exploration into decomposition and decay. Gloomy and desolate, Djedi has a dry, arid quality like the shifting desert sands… a “closed over the ages” feel furnished by dry vetiver, oakmoss, musk, and leather. This olfactory requiem pays hommage to fallen ancient Egyptian dynasties that have been lost to the sands of time.

If you love fragrances, I highly recommend this novel. I also wanted to let you know about about a special promotion that M.J. Rose has made available to those who pre-order The Book of Lost Fragrances:

Discover the perfume inspired by The Book of Lost Fragrances

Pre-order The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose and we’ll send you a free sample of Âmes Soeurs, the Scent of Soulmates. This exclusive fragrance, inspired by the novel, was created by Joya Studios and is not yet for sale.  Joya’s Âmes Sœurs hints of Frankincense, Myrrh, Orange Blossom and Jasmine. It’s smoky uncommon finish suggests the past and the future, and lost souls reunited.

Just use one of the links at http://mjrose.com/fragrances/scent.asp and follow the directions there.

Offer ends March 1, but pre-order now since we have a limited number of supplies! US and Canada only.

Literate Housewife: Sarah, it’s a pleasure to interview you on the auspicious occasion of the publication of your second novel.

Sarah McCoy: It’s such a delight to be here. Thanks for having me, my Noke sister.

LH: Now that it’s been a few weeks, how are you feeling? Did you approach this event like an old pro or did you feel akin to a bride on the eve of her wedding?

SM: Total bride! My husband might even call me a book bridezilla. I was anxious and excited… and anxious. I don’t think it gets any easier your first or your tenth time at the publishing rodeo. You’re strapped in atop the bull. The crowd is waiting. The buzzer sounds and off you ride—holding on for dear life and praying you don’t look as terrified as you feel. So it might’ve been my second book, but it was only my second book. I’m hoping by my third or fourth, I’m able to rein in the insomnia and nerves better.

But, yes, weeks later I’m feeling much more in the groove thanks to fantastic book reviewing friends like you who’ve championed The Baker’s Daughter and me. That’s meant the world. Ya’ll have been like my bridesmaids: helping me prepare and dress for the big day; oo-ing and awing with me; providing words of friendship and reassurance; holding my hand when I started to tremble; encouraging me that everything looked beautiful, everything was in order, everything was perfect; and most importantly, reminding me that the launch day was just one day. Forever is what counts. And it moves me deeply to know this book has found forever love with each and every reader.

LH: We first bonded over a bottle of Mad Housewife wine and Roanoke. Do you view me as crazy wino living in the boondocks?

SM: You are a Mad LitHousewife, for shizzle! I’ve tried not to be a stage-five clinger but I wicked love your tweeting heart. We won’t be sloppopotamuses, but we’ll drink the wine and beat up the beat in your kitchen. (For translation, please reference The Jersey Shore dictionary. Not that either one of us has any tie to New Jersey—or at least I don’t think we do.)

LH: In all seriousness, I am always so excited to meet a new friend when we have something in common. When I attended Dickens of a Christmas this year, I felt like I had someone I could share the experience with.

SM:  As did I! You were so good to send me delicious snippets of the parade. I felt like I was there with you, too. When I was studying at Virginia Tech, my roommate (one of my dearest friends to this day) and I would drive to Roanoke every year for the Dickens Christmas festivities. We’d get roasted chestnuts, listen to the carolers in their costumes, and stop in at Mill Mountain for tea. It was one of our favorite traditions and most cherished memory of our college years. So to meet a fellow book-loving lady who not just knew about the parade but enjoyed it as much as I did, well, it was kismet.

LH: How did you first come to learn the exact nature of what a Hokie is? How have you gone about explaining your Hokie status to friends and family?

SM: My freshman year at Virginia Tech, our dorm RA gathered all the girls in our hall for a little college 101. We were given pamphlets on how to tell if your friend or roommate was suffering from alcohol poisoning, another on how to connect the Ethernet to our computers, a list of on-campus dining halls, and the definition of a Hokie. Yeah, the really critical stuff. So I learned then that the term “Hokie” originally came from a fight song. We were the “Gobblers” until the 1970s when the football coach decided he didn’t like that mascot and started calling the turkey bird a “Hokie bird.”

Luckily, Virginia Tech football has done extraordinarily well so a greater percentage of the United States population knows what a Hokie is. I don’t have a clue what I’d say if I had to explain it to say… my Puerto Rican relatives. I can hear them now in their beautiful Latino accents, “Hoa-Kay? Que es un Hoa-Kay?”

LH: When did you decide that you wanted to be an author? Were there any other careers you considered along the way?

SM: I always knew I wanted to write in some capacity. I think a person’s proclivity begins to show itself as early as elementary school. I got A’s on my English papers and D’s on my math. I knew the right side of my brain was stronger when during one afterschool math tutorial I make the numbers into characters. I.e. “#1 and #2 were husband and wife with baby #3 and a dog #4. They were a happy set until one day their neighbor #5 came over complaining that #4 was barking too loud…” and so forth. After an hour of sitting over my addition and subtraction worksheet, I’d accomplished hardly any sums, but oh, boy, did I have a cool story about my numbers. My math teacher was furious.

In college, I majored in Journalism and Public Relations because I thought if I majored in English I’d be reading Shakespeare and writing 50-page papers on English theory. I figured I’d already read and loved most of Shakespeare’s writing so why would I ruin my devotion by critically nitpicking? Years later, sitting in my MFA creative writing courses doing just that, I thought fate highly ironic—or extremely wise. Because by that point, I wasn’t nitpicking, I was studying the prose and learning for my own body of work.

LH: Paint for me a picture of an author’s perfect day.

SM: Hmm, a perfect day. We’re fantasizing here, right? Okay then, I’ll go with it… In my perfect dream day I’d write THE END on my next novel and the heavens would lace the pages in gold dust with hardly a revision necessary. I’d hug the manuscript and send it off to my publisher who would fall out of her chair with love and devotion. I’d make a cup of tea and the phone would ring. My amazing agent! Telling me that my most recently released book is a New York Times bestseller and the rights have been sold to every country on the globe, including Hollywood. In particular, Ryan Gosling is gaga for it and wants to star in the movie version. Oh but it’s there’s an auctioning war because Anne Hathaway wants to option the film rights for herself. As the author, I’d get to simply sit back and smile, which I would then. Big. I’d pick up my dog Gilly and snuggle him and ask him if he wanted a chewie in celebration. Then I’d go outside and pick lilies, roses, and hydrangeas from my garden (because in this dream I’d have a garden and not El Paso sand). I’d put them in my kitchen so I could smell could mingle in with chicken and veggies roasting for dinner and the crustless lemon chiffon pie cooling for dessert. Perfection.

This day, of course, would never, never, never happen. So in my reality, I take each hour and look for a moment of perfection. There is always one: the sun shines for one minute longer than it did yesterday because spring is coming; someone posts a lovely five-starred review of one of my novels; Gilly chases his own tail then wobbles to a merry heap; a reader tells me how much my stories have touched his/her life; one of my brothers calls and makes me laugh to tears; I write—in the zone—on my next book for 7 hours straight; my husband smiles at me like we’re 18-year-olds again… moments of perfection. They add up to a day.

LH: How similar or different was the process of writing The Baker’s Daughter from The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico?

SM: Vastly different. I wrote my first novel, The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico, as my thesis project for my MFA in creative writing. I had the luxury of a fabulous thesis advisor, bestselling author Sheri Reynolds, who was my trusty guide through the process. Additionally, my world was much more chaotic then. I was writing the book, newly married, and completing all the doodads of my English masters program. So it was all in all a completely different creative process.

For The Baker’s Daughter, I was on my own, 2,000 miles away from everything and everyone I knew in Virginia. El Paso was a remote and wondrous territory where I found myself writing for hours on end; researching online and at the El Paso Library; at the characters’ beck and call and submerged in their fictional world. I discovered I write best like that. I’m much more tapped into my character’s psyches. That kind of “cut off from everything” doesn’t work for some writers. The creative process is so unique to each author and to each book! In The Baker’s Daughter, the idea spark came from the people I bumped into around El Paso: a bakery owner, an old woman selling bread at a German festival, troops on Fort Bliss, neighbors, etc. The solitary nature of West Texas turned out to be the richest ground for me to then cultivate the story on the page.

The novel I’m currently working on examines the concept of parenthood. Much more of a psychological study, the book is about a husband and wife fractured by desperation and disappointment in their attempts to be parents. I’m captivated by the idea of nurturing—what it means to be a mother or a father outside the conventions. My couple moves to a new town in a last-ditch effort and meet a crazy cast of wonderful townspeople who help them redefine the definitions of mother and father. They must make monumental choices regarding betrayal and forgiveness, life and death, which ultimately shape their future. To be completely open with you (as I know I can be since we’re friends), inspiration for this novel came from my own life and from walking closely beside good friends and family members as they struggled with parenthood/fertility issues. I think this is a subject everyone confronts in some way. It’s a human instinct: to nurture; to love; to foster a future.

LH: If there is one thing you’d like every reader to know about Elsie, what would it be?

SM: Oh, I wouldn’t dare speak for Elsie. She’s a firecracker and I believe she imparts everything we are ever meant to know about her in the novel. As the author, I just hope people embrace her as I have—the light and the dark sides of her.

LH: When are you moving back to the Noke, chica? We need to restore Mini Graceland together!

SM: My dear, you can go ahead and RSVP me to that Mini Graceland jamboree. I am so there. But before then, we’ll be seeing each other at my Richmond reading at Fountain Bookstore. I may just strangle you with the girth of my hug. Be forewarned.

I’m raising my Mad Housewife wine glass now: Proust to a wonderful visit with you, my LitHousewife friend. Thanks for having me over, and I hope you enjoy reading The Baker’s Daughter!

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose

Published by: Atria Books

Published on: March 13, 2012

Page Count: 384

Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

My Reading Format: eGalley provided by the publisher in order to participate in the book tour

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook and Audiobook

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour
Welcome to my very first Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour event. I’m very pleased to host M.J. Rose today as I review her latest novel, The Book of Lost Fragrances. Be sure to come back on Thursday for a guest post from the author!

About the Author

M.J. Rose is the international best selling author of eleven novels and two non-fiction books on marketing. Her next novel The Book of Lost Fragrances (Atria/S&S) will be published in March 2012.  Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in many magazines and reviews including Oprah Magazine. She has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio.  Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the ’80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors -Authorbuzz.com.  The television series Past Life, was based on Rose’s novels in the Renincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and runs the blog- Buzz, Balls & Hype.  She is also the co-founder of Peroozal.com and BookTrib.com.

Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.

For more information on M.J. Rose and her novels, please visit her website. You can also find her on Facebook.

About The Book of Lost Fragrances

A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra–and lost for 2,000 years.

Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances–and of her mother’s suicide–she moved to America. Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it’s financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing–leaving a dead body in his wake–Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L’Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation – or is it just another dream infused perfume?

The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

My Review

The Book of Lost Fragrances is an ambitious novel that follows a thread beginning with Cleopatra and ending in modern time. Although there are several couples along the way, the main characters are those living in modern time. Jac and Robbie are sister and brother and are the current generation leading the House of L’Etoile, a French perfume company. It’s seen its better days and they disagree about how best to handle the finacial crisis. Meanwhile in China, Xie, a gifted calligrapher is biding his time in university waiting for an opportunity to meet the Dalai Lama and let him know that he is the lama who was kidnapped by the Chinese government in a ploy to destroy the Buddhist tradition in Tibet. As these story lines come together, the ties that bind them together become more clear. At the same time, the danger for all involved grows.

Could a scent truly put a person in a state where he or she remembers things that took place in past lives? I fell into Jac’s more cynical camp especially as the novel began. I do not believe in reincarnation. The most I’ve ever really thought about it was when my Dad’s mother joked in the car one day that if there is such a thing as reincarnation she prayed she came back as someone with a decent singing voice. That being said, as the story continued, I remembered just how powerful the sense of smell really is. Two years ago my brother sent me a tin for Christmas that was sealed with packing tape. We exchange gifts over the phone and when I opened that tin and smelled the beer battered peanuts that were inside, I instantly began crying. That same grandmother who joked about reincarnation made those peanuts every year for Christmas. It had been 13 years since she passed away, but in that moment when the smell hit me, she was with me again. I can’t deny the power of scent.

This book was an adventure from the beginning. After establishing the principle characters in the modern setting, it was a race for truth and for the future. Although I did feel that Jac almost enjoyed her scars from the past, I related to her straightforward approach toward Robbie and his dream of the lost fragrance. At the same time, it was Jac’s hesitancy that made me ultimately hope that things would turn out Robbie’s way in the end. I very much respected his zeal and wished his past shared equal weight with Jac’s.

I’ve wanted to read a M.J. Rose for a while because so many readers I trust have enjoyed her Reincarnationist series. After finishing The Book of Fragrances, I want to read her series even more. In addition to an interesting story, I thought the ending was just as it should have been. The best interests were served well without any type of fairy tale ending. While I felt that the story was finished, it really hasn’t been over. I’ve enjoyed letting my imagination follow Xie into his future.  I enjoyed my first  M.J. Rose experience. I would especially recommend The Book of Lost Fragrances to those who enjoy mysteries with a paranormal twist. I think you’ll like it.

Published by: St. Martin’s Press

Published on: August 30, 2011

Page Count: 400

Genre: Historical Fiction / Family Saga

My Reading Format: Audiobook provided to me by the publisher for consideration.

Audiobook Published by: Macmillan Audio

Narrator: Roger Allam and Emelia Fox

Audiobook Length: 12 hours and 41 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook and Audiobook; Mass Market Paperback edition to be released on February 28th.

Note: This is the first book in the Clifton Chronicles. The second book in the series, Sins of the Father,  is due to be published in May of 2012.

My Review

Harry Clifton was told that his father had died a war hero. Given the date of his birth, it wasn’t a possibility, but it didn’t much concern him when he was young.  Then, he was content to skip school and prepare for a life working the docks like his uncle. It wasn’t until his beautiful voice was discovered and he began talking to a mysterious and wise older gentlemen that Harry began to think of a life outside of his working class origins. His mother worked hard as a waitress to support his attendance at an exclusive boy’s school, where he meets his best friend, Giles Barrington. Giles’ father would never even shake his hand, but he assumed that was due to his humble origins. The Barrington family owned the shipyard where his father and uncle worked. It wasn’t until he reached adulthood and something heart-wrenching and unforgivable happened that Harry learned the truth about his father.

Although I have only ever read one of his novel before listening to Only Time Will Tell, Jeffrey Archer has had an influence on my life. I read Kane and Abel over Christmas break during my Sophomore year of high school. It was that book that influenced me to write the short stories that led to me being offered a place in Honors English Junior year. As with my first read, I loved the epic quality to Archer’s storytelling. I loved all of the detail during Harry’s early years because I knew his story wouldn’t be completed within the covers of Only Time Will Tell. Just as I remembered from Kane and Abel, there were rich characters throughout. I especially loved Harry’s mother Maisie and Old Jack. They were characters crafted with care and made the book a richer experience. Even those less virtuous characters are fun to read. When I came to the end of this book, I immediately wanted to pick up the next book in the series. Because it has yet to be released, I had to settle for researching the release date of Sins of the Father and add it to my Google calendar.

Both Roger Allam and Emelia Fox were new-to-me narrators with this book. I enjoyed their work immensely. They made the hours fly by. Without being able to see the structure of the novel, I was a little confused when Roger Allam and not Emelia Fox narrated a large section from Maisie’s point of view. As the audiobook progressed, it soon became clear why those decisions were made. Even if it never made sense, it would have only been a minor issue. I loved Emelia Fox and likewise would have been okay had Roger Allam narrated the entire novel. As the second novel is going to take place in the United States (not a spoiler as this detail is mentioned in the synopsis), I’m not sure how narrators will be selected. I do hope that Roger Allam’s at least is able to continue.

I very much enjoyed jumping back into Jeffrey Archer’s writing. Only Time Will Tell was everything that I’d hoped it would be. Full of interesting characters and a compelling story. As this is part of a series, there is a cliffhanger at the end. While reading this I intuitively knew that there would be one. Still, when it came it caught me off guard. I must know what happens to Harry next. Come on Sins of the Father.

When I was offered a spot on M.J. Rose’s The Book of Lost Fragrances tour, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Rose is one of the authors I’ve always been meaning to read. My review will be posted on Tuesday, the 21st. I will then have a guest post on Thursday, the 23rd.

That’s only the beginning. You may have seen my review of Sarah McCoy’s The Baker’s Daughter on Friday. Well, there’s more. I have an exclusive interview with the author that I will be posting on Wednesday, the 22nd. Then, on Friday, the 24th, I’m taking the day off of work to travel to Fountain Bookstore in Richmond to see meet her in person. As an added benefit, I’ll get the chance to see Rebecca from Book Lady’s Blog. I’m hoping to get the chance to talk to her about her interview last week with Deborah Feldman. Fascinating!

I last drove to Richmond to see Simon Van Booy and it was a wonderful experience. It’s definitely worth the drive when incredible authors come nearby. Now that the last indie bookstore in the area has closed, you have to take the opportunities when they come.

This week should be a wonderful week. With tomorrow off from work, it is going to be all that much better, even though it looks as if my kids are going to get their first snow day tomorrow. I hope your upcoming week contains just as much bookish goodness!

One of the books included in this month’s sale (ending tomorrow, February 19) is An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke.  I have wanted to read this book since it first came out. God only knows why I haven’t purchased a copy before. The title in and of itself is purchase worthy in my opinion.

It turns out that Cassandra, from Indie Reader Houston took advantage of this sale, too.  When we realized that we would be reading the same not-exactly-new release at the same time – again – we decided to read it together.  And we’re inviting you to join us. We’ll be reading the book the week of March 12 and finishing up on or before Monday, March 19.  It will be a fairly informal read-along, but we  do hope to have a surprise or two in terms of special blog content for you. That is still to be determined, however.  We’ll let you know.

It will be informal but it would be nice to have an idea as to who might be joining us so that we can send out a reminder email and let you know of any plans for discussion or other shenanigans that week.  It’s Cassandra’s spring break, so she’ll have time on her hands to get creative. As for my part, I’ll be very supportive of all her creativity. No Spring Break for me. If you’d like more information a bit closer to the date, then please fill out the very short form that you see at the bottom of the post.  Not sure if you want to join us? Here’s a sneak peak at the book:

I, Sam Pulsifer, am the man who accidentally burned down the Emily Dickinson House in Amherst, Massachusetts, and who in the process killed two people, for which I spent ten years in prison and, as letters from scholars of American literature tell me, for which I will continue to pay a high price long into the not-so-sweet hereafter. This story is locally well known, and so I won’t go into it here. It’s probably enough to say that in the Massachusetts Mt. Rushmore of big, gruesome tragedy, there are the Kennedys, and Lizzie Borden and her ax, and the burning witches at Salem, and then there’s me.

 

Excerpt from Chapter 1, An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England. Read the full excerpt here.

A big thanks to Cassandra for being the creative one in this team. Be sure to visit her blog. Not only is she creative, she’s inspiring. Just yesterday in fact she posted a wonderful reading of Pablo Neruda for Going Public.

The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy

Published by: Crown

Published on: January 24, 2012

Page Count: 304

Genre: Fiction / Historical Fiction

My Reading Format: eBook purchased for my Kindle – I’ll be buying my Hardcover copy on 02.24.2012 when Sarah McCoy will be at Fountain Bookstore  in Richmond.

Available Formats: Hardcover and eBook

My Review

Reba has been given the assignment to interview the owner of a local bakery about the Christmas traditions her family celebrated while she was growing up in Germany. This interview proves to be more difficult to come by than originally anticipated. When Elsie doesn’t return her phone calls, Reba goes to the bakery in person to get the interview. She is surprised to discover it is impossible for her to keep a professional distance. Not only do Elsie and her daughter pick up on personal difficulties Reba likes to think she’s kept hidden, Elsie’s experiences of Christmas are tarnished by WWII. What began as a simple quest for a human interest article forces both Reba and Elsie to confront the past and move forward into the future.

I liked this book right from the very beginning. Elsie’s story in Germany during her youth caught my attention. It’s outside of my reading experience to get introduced to a young woman excited to go to a Nazi party. Yet most certainly there were very many young women just like that. Watching her opinions change based on her experiences was more than interesting. In between episodes of her early life, we learn more about Reba and Elsie’s life in America. Reba’s past struck a chord with me. As someone who has lost a family member to suicide, we were instant friends. My uncle and Reba’s father had striking similarities. All that Reba felt and how she reacted to the memories was authentic and real. It brought to mind and to heart all that happened 20 years ago to my family.

When a novel takes place during a time of war, it is expected that there will be commentary about the nature of war and its affects on society and family. Sarah McCoy did this beautifully and without judgement. As much as movies and culture would like to paint any war as the good guys against the bad guys, not everyone backing the losing side is evil. Elsie’s family was a proud German family. That they started the war backing the Nazi party does not make them evil. Especially in times without the overwhelming presence of news and governmental oversight, the reality of what their government was doing dawned on them slowly. Just as hearing about the atrocities that went on are hard to stomach for those not involved, how much more difficult must that knowledge be for those who trusted their leaders? The way that McCoy told the story of Elsie’s family was honest, yet loving. They had to learn to live with the reality of what took place in a way the rest of us will never understand.

What I hadn’t been expecting about The Baker’s Daughter was the astute social commentary about the United States’ immigration policyh. With just as much compassion, McCoy shines a light on the similarities between trying to exterminate people from within and forcibly keeping others out. She did so by interlacing the stories of Elsie’s Nazi fiance and Reba’s fiance Riki. By telling their story side by side, she allows the readers to draw their own conclusions about what is happening. She points out that the folly of letting the law to do your thinking for you is still alive and well today.

The Baker’s Daughter was the perfect read for me. On top of telling a wonderful story, it connected me to my past and gave me pause to think about current social issues and the hurts I’ve been holding on to for far too long. I was in this novel the entire way through. The ending was bittersweet and brought tears to my eyes several times over. I reflected on how much there is in this life that can separate us from those we love. Those things that separate us may seem very important at the time, but in the end it is the love and the closeness that is most precious. That is why forgiveness is such a gift. Perhaps it is the capacity to be merciful more than anything else that makes us human, that makes being human worthwhile. Pick up The Baker’s Daughter. Read it for the stories Sarah McCoy has crafted. Then, pick up the phone and call those you love. Forgive and be forgiven. It feels better than you know.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston

Published by: Ecco

Published on: October 25, 2011

Page Count: 240

Genre: Historical Fiction/Scrapbook Fiction (may not be a real genre, but it should be – and I hope there is more!)

My Reading Format: Hardcover purchased at Ram’s Head Books, Roanoke, VA.

Available Formats: Hardcover and eBook

Note and Brief Summary: I had planned to copy the publisher’s synopsis, but when reading it, I felt it gave too much away. Suffice to say that The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is started when she receives a scrapbook from her widowed mother for her high school graduation in 1920 and tells the story of how she eventually found herself.

My Mini Review

Unfortunately, the last remaining independent bookstore in my neck of the woods closed it’s doors recently. I felt like a vulture shopping, but as a book lover, I couldn’t turn down a 50% off sale. It was on my second trip to the sale that I picked up The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt. I haven’t read a book like it before and finally decided that at half off it was worth the risk. I finished it before I fell asleep that night. I was completely absorbed from the first page. I absolutely loved every moment with this book. Knowing what I know now, I would have gladly paid double for this beautiful book. The story of Frankie Pratt’s coming of age was good in and of itself, but set within authentic memorabilia it becomes something beyond fantastic. It made me wonder what my grandmothers’ scrapbooks might have been like. I lingered and loved and lingered some more. As I pulled it down from the shelf to write this mini review,  I reread a quarter of it. Simply put, it’s a delight in every way.

(If you got bookish gift cards for Valentine’s Day, now you know how to use them).