Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: women’s fiction

Celebrating Women’s History Month 2022 at Chanticleer

Happy Women’s History Month from Chanticleer

Women’s History Month began being celebrated nationally in just 1981

And back then it was only Women’s History Week! As a woman owned company, Chanticleer is a big proponent of Women’s History Month. Generally the month is about celebrating and recognizing the accomplishments of women throughout history. It also is the month where we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th. You can read more about current events happening with Women’s History Month here.

The 2022 National Women’s History Theme
“Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope”

President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation in February 1980 declaring the Week of March 2nd – 8th 1980 as National Women’s History Week.

“From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.” President Jimmy Carter’s Message to the Nation.

What Exactly is International Women’s Day?

The origins of the holiday may surprise you. The Socialist Party of America celebrated decided February 28, 1909 would be the first National Women’s Day. The day was meant to honor immigrant women who went on strike.

The day gained international recognition just the following year, and has focused in the last century on equal rights for women and suffrage, and then evolved to include a greater focus on working class women of color. For an excellent deep dive into a fuller history of International Women’s Day you can read this article from the Washington Post here.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is Break the Bias — #BreakTheBias – focusing on creating a gender equal world.

Women in Words

One of the most famous recent examples of a woman in the world of words is Amy Schneider on the hit show Jeopardy! She made history not only as the second longest streak holder (behind Ken Jennings), but also is the first openly transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions and as the most successful woman to grace the show with both a 40-game streak and $1.3 million in winnings!

When asked why she specifically did so well at the wordplay questions Schneider said, “I think a lot of it comes from doing crosswords for years, it’s given me practice at thinking of words as both a concept and a collection of letters at the same time.”

Now Amy has quit her former job as a software engineering manager. She’s sitting down to focus on one of our favorite activities: writing a book! It’s wonderful to see a woman go so far in such a popular television program.

Women at Chanticleer

Recently we were excited to share the good news of Dr. Janice Ellis being featured across the nation as she discussed the recent decision surrounding the next Justice for the Supreme Court. If Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed, she will be the fourth woman on the court and the first Black woman ever appointed to the US Supreme Court. You can read our report on Dr. Ellis’s full article here.

Here is a link to our Homage to the Suffrage Centennial – Women’s Rights, Suffrage, the 19th Amendment post that celebrates the 100 Year Centennial Celebration of the 19th Amendment.

Click on the above link to read more about these amazing women: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Electa Joslyn, Alice stone Blackwell, Belle Squire, Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrel, and Harriet Tubman.

Wyoming Territory Women could vote in 1869.

It would take until 1920 for the 19th Amendment to pass that would allow women to vote. ANOTHER 51 YEARS!

Now let’s dive into some of our favorite recent reviews of books written by women:

PAUSE
By Sara Stamey
First Place Winner in Somerset Awards

Sara Stamey’s Pause features a hero who defies gravity, a scintillating setting, and a lovely backdrop for this riveting story.

This story is about women: strong, weak, abused, cherished, divorced, cancer survivors, mothers, sisters, friends, frenemies. It is a book about survival and hope, about getting back to self to reemerge into a life worth living.

Meet Lindsey, a fifty-two-year-old divorced woman going through menopause, living alone with her two cats, and worrying about her 1 and ¾ breasts. Readers will be hooked from the very beginning with the first of many poignant and funny journal entries. Here is Lindsey’s reality: a middle-aged woman suffering hot flashes that sear her skin and cause spells of nausea, who suffers PTSD from an abusive spouse.

Continue reading here.

THE ALOHA SPIRIT
By Linda Ulleseit
Grand Prize Winner in Goethe Awards

In Linda Ulleseit’s novel The Aloha Spirit, we meet the plucky heroine, Dolores, as her father leaves her.

“Dolores’s father deemed her useless when she was seven. Neither he nor her older brother, Pablo, ever said that, but every detail of their leaving told her so. Papa had tried to explain the Hawaiian custom of hānai to her. All she understood was the giving away, leaving her to live with a family not her own.”

Her story starts in 1922; the place, multiethnic, multilingual Hawaii. Papa, a sugar cane cutter from Spain who worked in Hawaii, decides to take his son Pablo with him to seek his fortune in California. His wife died five years earlier. He leaves 7-year-old Dolores with a large family on Oahu in an arrangement called hānai, an informal adoption. Dolores doesn’t know the family well. She feels abandoned, with no idea when or if her father will send for her or return.

Continue reading here.

MYSTERY in HARARE
By M.J. Simms-Maddox
First Place Winner in M&M Awards

In M.J. Simms-Maddox’s atmospheric thriller, Mystery in Harare: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa, a former legislative aide’s wedding day turns deadly.

As the second installment of The Priscilla Trilogy opens, Priscilla J. readies to walk down the aisle in an American church to marry Jonathan. Not the man of her dreams, but the man she believes may be right for her. Love isn’t exactly on the table, but Priscilla hopes it will be in the future.

Before she can even take her vows, her soon-to-be husband is murdered in cold blood in front of her and those in attendance. Priscilla catches a glimpse of the murderer before succumbing to unconsciousness. She’s been drugged, and the kidnappers will confound and surprise readers.

Continue reading here.

ACROSS the DISTANCE
By Christina A. Kemp

In her nonfiction debut Across the Distance, Christina Kemp showcases a collection of eight personal stories that delve into the most poignant relationships throughout her life.

The well-crafted narratives encompass relationships with her parents, brother, childhood friends, boyfriends, and mentors as they moved in and out of her life. Themes of love, loss, distance, self-preservation, and healing rise to the surface.

Within the book, Kemp ponders the course of a romantic relationship as she realizes that love cannot make underlying differences disappear. At thirteen years old, her father died, and Kemp analyzes how she was able to come to terms with his death, reflecting on his kindness and heroic deeds. Several years later, she is diagnosed with the same condition that took her father; she feels as if she carries her father’s memory in the cells of her own body.

Continue reading here.

SOULMATED
By Shaila Patel
First Place Winner in Paranormal Awards

Eighteen-year-old Liam Whelan must balance the pressure and danger of his new role leading his entire empath clan while searching for a fabled ‘soulmate’ in Shaila Patel’s paranormal romance novel, Soulmated.

Since the age of six, guided by his father’s visions, Liam and his family have traveled across the United States, moving from town to town searching for the girl destined to “join” with Liam. However, no empath in centuries has found a soulmated union. No one knows what joining actually means. Liam tires of his parents’ search for what he considers a fantasy girl, but he agrees to give up one more year of his life. The family moves to North Carolina for Liam’s senior year.

Continue reading here.

SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION
By Janice Ellis, Ph.D.
Grand Prize Winner in Nellie Bly Awards

Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D., introduces the journalistic theories of Walter Lippmann in her new non-fiction work, Shaping Public Opinion: How Real Advocacy Journalism™ Should be Practiced.

Walter Lippmann, considered one of the foremost journalists in the field over the last 100 years, was a mentor in absentia of Dr. Ellis in the art of advocacy journalism. During Lippmann’s 40+ year career, his columns were syndicated in over 250 newspapers nationwide and over 25 other international news and information outlets. Lippman focused on the ethical dissemination of information, especially about communities, society, and the world. A theory, which Dr. Ellis calls Real Advocacy Journalism™.

Real Advocacy Journalism™ theory pertains to foundational behavior and ethical standing for those who report on, translate, and share information with the masses. This theory identifies the tension between individualism and collectivism, the private sector and public sector, the ruling elite, and the dormant masses.

Continue reading here.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure of books, and we hope you found a read that will help you celebrate the women in your life!

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March 10, 2022
PAUSE by Sara Stamey – Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Family Fiction, Literary Fiction
Sara Stamey’s Pause features a hero who defies gravity, a scintillating setting, and a lovely backdrop for this riveting story.

This story is about women: strong, weak, abused, cherished, divorced, cancer survivors, mothers, sisters, friends, frenemies. It is a book about survival and hope, about getting back to self to reemerge into a life worth living.

Meet Lindsey, a fifty-two-year-old divorced woman going through menopause, living alone with her two cats, and worrying about her 1 and ¾ breasts. Readers will be hooked from the very beginning with the first of many poignant and funny journal entries. Here is Lindsey’s reality: a middle-aged woman suffering hot flashes that sear her skin and cause spells of nausea, who suffers PTSD from an abusive spouse.

Lindsey never thought of herself as a victim, though.

The fact that she walked on eggshells around Nick becomes a reflection of Lindsey’s parents’ relationship. Her father’s abuse of the mother and the mother’s frailty combined with her refusal to accept help and get out of the situation leave Lindsey feeling helpless and trigger her PTSD.

A certifiable mess, Lindsey seeks out an old flame, Newman. And at least for her, the flame ignites, and Lindsey finds herself falling in love. Newman, however, never opens up to her or becomes more available than a part-time lover. When she meets Damon, she is torn between being treated like a queen by a man ten years younger than her or as a booty-call by Newman.

Stamey weaves these issues and more into her novel, giving her protagonist a chance to try on life again after surviving cancer and divorce.

Lindsey’s spiritual awakening occurs as she works as a medical transcriber at a local hospital. While typing up a rush job on an emergency case, she discovers that a friend’s son was admitted with head trauma. The doctor who did the neurosurgery regularly botches the surgery, either killing his patients or leaving them vegetables. She informs the parents of her fears about this doctor while launching a full-scale lawsuit against the hospital that knowingly kept this doctor on staff and destroyed their son’s chances for recovery.

She gets fired for breach of confidentiality and finds herself unemployed, but her original plan to pursue environmental writing, essays, articles, and books after graduating from college beckons. She finds her first topic while riding through a park slated to become a hospital parking lot. She submits her essay about endangered owls living in the trees there; the piece is published and becomes instrumental in saving the space. The paper’s editor recognizes her talent and approaches her with another project with an environmental theme, and Lindsey agrees. A new career blossoms for her, which builds her up instead of tearing her apart.

Stamey develops Lindsey as a woman who won’t succeed until she takes charge and stands up for herself and her dreams.

Lindsey must learn to heal and move beyond cancer, the divorce, and the PTSD of the abuse. Readers will adore Lindsey for all of it. Powerfully written with melodic imagery, Stamey draws her readers in. Be prepared to cry, laugh, and cheer for Linsey as she finally takes the leap of faith necessary to begin believing in herself.

Stamey’s Pacific Northwest backdrop is captured in her skillfully crafted narrative. Readers are with Lindsey on the rapids, riding bikes through a maple forest, or walking beside a salmon-filled stream. We sit with her looking out over the Pacific Ocean at sunset and watching eagles as they hunt along the shore. Stamey’s brush strokes are deft, and her palette is rich as she creates this story’s world.

Stamey’s Pause is a riveting tale of one woman’s exploration to discover herself in a world where she has been dominated and controlled. She learns to take back control and finds herself whole and healed.

Pause is beautiful and thought-provoking and comes highly recommended. This title won 1st Place in the 2020 CIBA Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary and Literary Fiction.
March 4, 2022
BEHIND the MASK by Dana Ridenour – Terrorism Thrillers, Police Procedurals, Women’s Crime Fiction

Like a high wire performer working without a net, Dana Ridenour’s captivating and provocative yarn, Behind the Mask, carefully treads that fine line between fact and fiction and does it with aplomb.

Between the covers of this contemporary, detective thriller, is a well-crafted plot revealing alarming aspects of animal enterprise practices, and militant animal rights advocacy. Set in Los Angeles, it is peopled with believable, engaging characters, and taps into sights, smells, and flavors unique to that area.

When 29-year-old, FBI Special Agent Alexis Montgomery, or Lexie, as she prefers to be called, reaches LA, she has one goal in mind—to make her bones. A fledgling undercover operator, newly trained and on her first assignment, she must infiltrate a militant ALF cell and ensure its terrorist members are brought to justice.

In her assumed identity as a vegan, animal-rights extremist, who drives a battered Volkswagen bug, and lives in a modest Venice Beach apartment, Lexie ingratiates herself with local activists. Over time, an unanticipated friendship with Savannah Riley, whom she meets at a vociferous demonstration, helps her nail it. Just as her FBI mentor predicted, she fits right in with those crazy vegans.

Savannah, raised in a traditional southern family, declined The Citadel, in South Carolina, in favor of SoCal, with one goal in mind— to exchange the same old, dull routine of Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, for the mystery and exhilaration of California life. In school, studying for a career in the film industry, her roommate introduces her to the world of animal rights activism. Meeting Lexie, a kindred spirit from the south is an unexpected plus.

As members of the local, militant cell, Lexie and Savannah learn hard lessons. After a night watchman dies in a liberate and destroy operation at the UCLA animal lab, their lives are changed forever.

During their ensuing months under the California sun, Savannah loses her love, her trust, her innocence, and comes close to losing her freedom; Lexie emerges from the dark side a wiser woman, tempered and honed, with deeper understandings of herself and the human condition.

Ridenour’s realistic portrayal of opposing worldviews, replete with tangible danger, and intense, fanatical emotion, in Behind the Mask challenges the status quo. It is a novel of the here and now. Its well-drawn characters, complex plot, and true-to-life setting will resonate with the reader long after the book is finished.

Behind the Mask by Dana Ridenour won 1st Place in Category in the 2016 CIBAs in the CLUE division for Thrillers and Suspense novels.

December 17, 2021
Celebrating INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY with a LOOK at the GENRE of WOMEN’S FICTION
Appreciating International Women’s Day and looking at Women’s Fiction

The theme for 2021’s international Women’s Day is Choose to Challenge. We thought an excellent challenge to offer to our wonderful Chanticleerians would be to read more women’s fiction. To read more about International Women’s Day, click here. To jump into it though, we first want to define the genre.

While one might the that the Chatelaine Awards would be the location of Women’s Fiction, especially with the image of Jane Morris being used when her story could be written as an excellent example of women’s fiction. If you’re interested in entering the Chatelaine Awards you can click here, and if you want to read more about our most recent Spotlight for the Awards, click here.

Jane Morris’ life is often said to be the inspiration for Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw’s My Fair Lady. Morris trained herself into being a lady, learning French and Italian while reading anything she could get her hands on. She was a renowned embroiderer, even running an embroidery company that did quite well. She was also the muse of pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Rossetti (the model for our Rossetti Awards). By the end of her life, she even managed to purchase the home she lived in so that her daughters would have an inheritance to support them after her death.

Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle

While Morris could be a great subject for a book of women’s fiction, her story is often peppered with romantic narratives, even in fictional retellings like My Fair Lady. It’s true that her husband and Rossetti all rented an apartment together, which allowed for Morris and Rossetti to have an affair while her husband was in Iceland, presumably with her husband’s knowledge as the painter and the subject were considered an open secret, though it seems a painful one for William Morris.

Surrounded by so much romance and intrigue, we couldn’t help but have Jane Morris’ portrait by her lover be the representation of the Chatelaine Awards, which leads us to the use of William Somerset Maugham as the representative of the Somerset Awards.

The Somerset Awards focuses on:
- Contemporary Theme
- Adventure/Suspense
- Literary
- Women’s Fiction + Family Themes
- Satire/Allegorical
- Magic Realism
- Action/Adventure
- Connections
- Social/Psychological Themes
To read more or to enter the Somerset Awards, click here.

Of course, here we want to focus on the women’s fiction portion of that, though there is overlap. Somerset’s first novel that won him critical acclaim was Liza of Lambeth, (1897) which propelled him to become one of the highest paid authors of the turn of the century. He was inspired to write this novel while he was working as an obstetric clerk and medical student at a hospital in a working-class district of London. Somerset is known for his “shrewd understanding of human nature. Britannica

In the novel, Liza, like many women in novels of this era, has her life dictated by the men who surround her, unable to break free of the desires and expectations that surround her, ultimately leading to her death. This examination of consent and the harmfulness of denying women agency can be seen reflected in the urgency of the suffrage movement.

With his story of Liza, Somerset focuses on the hardships women face, especially concerning domestic violence and abuse. He highlights the lack of consequences men face for treating women like animals, and the ways in which people ignore clear signs of abuse as something that isn’t their problem or maybe even deserved. The novel Somerset writes is a critique of the time in which he lives, but is it women’s fiction?

Almost there…

Probably not by today’s standard.

Women’s fiction is difficult to define. Generally, we think Amy Sue Nathan did a good job in this article here, but our take is a little more personal. First, we do think that for a book to be considered in the genre of women’s fiction, it obviously has to focus on women. The next point is that the plot progresses alongside the narrator’s self, whether that be self-discovery, self-preservation, or even perhaps self-destruction (though storylines with a negative outcome can be difficult to fit into this genre).

Since Somerset’s telling of Liza’s story focuses on the ways in which she is denied agency rather than the ways in which she can focus on the self

The struggle with whether or not a book is women’s fiction resolves around the fact that the protagonist must be the one who, as Nathan says, “saves herself.”

The driving force of women’s fiction is the motivation of the main character to get herself from point A to point B to point C, learning and changing and growing and making mistakes along the way. What makes a women’s fiction main character tick is the methods by which she learns and changes and grows and makes mistakes. – Amy Sue Nathan

Even a little growth

Since the focus of women’s fiction is often growth, unhappy endings don’t always necessarily fit. Of course, endings that aren’t unhappy won’t automatically be happy, and women’s fiction often ends up with a complex ending that leaves the reader thoughtful and reflective on their own growth as they read along with the main character.

Of course a book that is considered women’s fiction can have many other themes, and could even fit into other Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) beyond the Somerset Awards. You can see the different genres in the books below:

HARD CIDER by Barbara Stark-Nemon
Women’s Literature, Literary, Women’s Fiction
Grand Prize Winner in Somerset Awards (2018)

Abbie Rose Stone is a woman determined to follow her newly discovered dream of producing her own craft hard apple cider while navigating the ups and downs of family life with her grown sons and husband.

Abbie Rose knows how to deal with adversity, and dives headfirst into this new chapter of her life with energy and passion. She describes her early adulthood years of infertility struggles and the hardscrabble way she built her young family through invasive medical procedures, a surrogate attempt, and adoption barriers.

Continue reading here

FROM LIBERTY to MAGNOLIA: In SEARCH of the AMERICAN DREAM by Janice Ellis, Ph.D.
Black History, Discrimination & Racism, Memoir, Non-Fiction
Grand Prize Winner in Journey Awards (2019)

As a black woman on a cotton farm in Mississippi in the 1960s, Janice Ellis could have resigned herself to a life full of status quo: never speaking up for herself, never speaking out against injustice or racism. Instead, she never let unsettling times define her or hold her back, even as a witness to some of the ugliest racial violence this country has seen. In her candid and thought-provoking memoir, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream, Ellis vividly depicts her life in the South during the height of the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements.

Through fluid and skillful writing, Ellis recounts the battles she encountered due to her skin color or due to her gender: an abusive husband, discouragement to further her education, sexual and racial discrimination in the workplace, a lack of support from friends and family when she runs for election. Despite these mounting obstacles, she goes on to earn her Ph.D., lands leadership roles and furthers her career, and even runs for mayor in a major US city. Her faith in God and her unwavering belief that the American Dream should be accessible and attainable to everyone are what lead her.

Continue reading here

WE DID WHAT WE COULD by Nancy H. Wynen
Historical Fiction, WWII Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction

Nancy Wynen’s We Did What We Could is a well-conceived, smart, character-driven novel set across a grand European landscape. Here a formidable trio of young women groomed for mere social status demonstrates their strength, endurance, and courage as they move beyond the walls of academia to experience careers. The three must also deal with relationships, family expectations, and life issues amidst the often devastating and upending climate of war.

Lady Archer is a widow from the Great War. As Assistant Head Mistress at St. Martin’s School, she feels girls should receive solid educations and prepare for real professions. With her high level of social ties, Archer looks for “future perfect leaders” within each new graduating class, possessing ideal traits of intelligence and creativity. In May of 1936, Archer sets her sights on three such proteges whose memorable antics foretell their potential for more significant life accomplishments.

Continue reading here

The SHAPE of the ATMOSPHERE by Jessica Dainty
Literary, Psychology, Women’s Fiction

Jessica Dainty’s, The Shape of the Atmosphere is remarkable for its startling realism, its gritty young heroine, and its hopeful conclusion.

When Gertie’s father and sister are killed in an accident on Gertie’s sixteenth birthday in 1957, she is left with one cherished memory: viewing the heavens with her father on the night of the world-changing Sputnik flight.

After the funerals, Gertie wounds herself as a way of coping with her inner anguish, after which her alcohol-addicted mother commits her to an insane asylum. Such institutions were considered modern and scientifically advanced for their time, but as author Jessica Dainty frankly depicts, Gertie’s new home is a combination prison and torture chamber. The naïve but intelligent girl soon becomes acquainted with such therapies as immersion in icy cold water and electroshock (both designed to calm the inmates), as she gradually gets to know her fellow patients, the women on Ward 2.

Continue reading here

DISOWNED – The RED-HEELED REBELS Series Novel One by Tikiri
Women’s Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, International Crime

Spanning three continents and taking on crucial issues of child marriage and human trafficking, Disowned features a brave teen heroine struggling against international criminality with nothing but her wits and grit.

Asha, born in Tanzania, is still a child when her parents are tragically killed while on a family safari in Kenya. Within a short period of time she is transported to Goa, India, to live with relatives she has never met. Her grandmother is an angry, culture-bound crone, her aunt and cousin living, as Asha now must, under the old woman’s seemingly heartless sway.

Continue reading here

PECCADILLO at the PALACE: An Annie Oakley Mystery by Kari Bovée
Historical Thrillers, Women’s Historical Fiction, Biographical Fiction
Grand Prize Winner in Goethe Awards (2019)

Kari Boveé’s Peccadillo at the Palace, the second book in the Annie Oakley Mystery series, is a historical, mystery thriller extraordinaire. Fans of both genres will thrill at Boveé’s complex plot that keeps us guessing from its action-packed beginning to the satisfying reveal at the end.

The book opens with the Honorable Colonel Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show to England on a voyage to perform for Queen Victoria. They are not on the high seas long, when Annie’s beloved horse, Buck, jumps overboard. Her husband and the Queen’s loyal servant, Mr. Bhakta, jump in to save the horse, or was Mr. Bhakta already dead before he reached the water? Thus, begins the mystery of who killed Mr. Bhakta, leaving all to wonder, is the Queen safe?

Continue reading here

We appreciate you spending time with us in celebration of International Women’s Day!

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March 8, 2021
END of the RACE by Judith Kirscht – Contemporary Literature, Family Drama, Women’s Literature, Women’s Fiction

An intricate mystery set in a small fictional town in northern Michigan, End of the Race is contemporary fiction at its finest. Annika Wolfson is a young mother and accomplished swimmer that has faced adversity in many areas of her life. Growing up in the Berglund household was rarely quiet for Annika because her father struggled with mental health and his unwavering feud against the affluent Wolfson family. Despite the long feud between the two families, Brian Wolfson and Annika bond as kids over swimming and their dream of the Olympics. Fast-forward a handful of years, Brian and Annika are now married and have a daughter. Their dreams of Olympic gold have been close to reality but always just out of reach.

After facing defeat in Athens a few years prior, Annika dives back into training for one last shot at Olympic gold, but then tragedy strikes. While in a low and vulnerable place, her husband Brian leaves to go on a sailing trip with friends from college and ends up missing. As Annika tries to unravel what has happened to her husband, she begins to suspect that the Wolfsons are not all they appear on the surface. Navigating a complicated family dynamic, she races to find answers as her life comes crumbling down around her and her daughter.

Kirscht keeps readers on the edge of their seats as she delicately deepens the mystery of Brian Wolfson’s disappearance. This mystery is far from the only one within the story. What happened that caused Annika to miss the Sydney and Athens Olympics? What happened all those years ago between Tom Berglund and Karl Wolfson that has created an almost Shakespearean divide between their houses? As the story progresses, Kirscht answers these questions bit by bit as the narrative alternates between the past and present. Towards the end of the novel, the timelines catch up with one another. There are still many things left unsaid and plenty of room for interpretation after the novel’s conclusion.

The mystery is presented mostly through Annika’s eyes, so readers only learn what she does. The full picture of the Wolfson family and their secretive attitude towards any outsiders is never fully explained. Even though Annika is a Wolfson by marriage, she is an outsider to her in-laws and her own family. The frustration and confusion she feels as a result adds complexity to the story as a whole.

Journey to the rustic setting of northern Michigan, where the idea of family may not be as simple as it seems. End of the Race is a quiet and refreshing story that will have readers longing for a trip out on the water.

End of the Race won First in Category in the CIBA 2019 Somerset Awards for Literary novels.

March 3, 2021
WE DID WHAT WE COULD by Nancy H. Wynen – Historical Fiction, WWII Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction

Nancy Wynen’s We Did What We Could is a well-conceived, smart, character-driven novel set across a grand European landscape. Here a formidable trio of young women, groomed for mere social status, demonstrate their strength, endurance, and courage as they move beyond the walls of academia to experience careers. The three must also deal with relationships, family expectations, and life issues amidst the often devastating and upending climate of war.

Lady Archer is a widow from the Great War. As Assistant Head Mistress at St. Martin’s School, she feels girls should receive solid educations and prepare for real professions. With her high level of social ties, Archer looks for “future perfect leaders” within each new graduating class, possessing ideal traits of intelligence and creativity. In May of 1936, Archer sets her sights on three such proteges whose memorable antics foretell their potential for more significant life accomplishments.

In this three-part literary work, Wynen moves the narrative between the interconnected lives of these central characters. In the mind of their individual goals, natural-born leader Maggie Shelford obtains a job at the London Times, Agnes Fletcher heads for nursing school, and creative Ellie DeWever prepares to join the Netherlands foreign services. Ellie’s kindred spirit Gran, another select alumna of St. Martin’s, offers up smart advice to the tune of, “Be prepared, and then you can adjust to whatever happens … Improvise as you go along.”

From royal debutante ceremonies where these three friends sneak an outsider into high society’s ranks to Agnes’ innate ability to bluff her advancement through nursing school, imagination and talent help these women forge ahead. With the continuing influence of Lady Agnes, Maggie finds herself a member of the RAF (Royal Air Force), reporting for the Union Jack, and ultimately a chief press camp officer. Events of the day fill the storyline. With Ellie the first in the group to marry and start a family, Maggie and Agnes begin to contemplate their own destinies and opportunities to find love, romance, and a “real deal” relationship.

As expected, the backdrop of war predominates in a story playing out within a 1936-1945 timeframe. During this uncertain time, life is likened to a ballet where each step was delicate, and “losing one’s balance was costly.” Here towns are destroyed, families are forced from their homes, secrets are buried, and love and loss are intertwined. But the narrative isn’t always frayed with hardship. Wynen aptly weaves humor throughout her work that serves well to balance tension and storyline.

When a significant twist in the plot occurs, Lady Archer’s hard work with her proteges pays off. Here Wynen cleverly brings the story full circle with the re-enactment of an ingenious prank incorporated from their school days. A detailed wrap-up highlights these characters’ futures and leaves Lady Archer hoping for post-war generations instilled with equally creative and indomitable spirits.

For those readers drawn to stories filled with the harsh realities of a war era and the emotional triumphs and tragedies of those involved, We Did What We Could proves a lively and entertaining exploration that showcases the fine art of determination and will power during the best and worst of times.

December 28, 2020
PECCADILLO at the PALACE: An Annie Oakley Mystery by Kari Bovée – Historical Thrillers, Women’s Historical Fiction, Biographical Fiction
Kari Bovée’s Peccadillo at the Palace, the second book in the Annie Oakley Mystery series, is a historical, mystery thriller extraordinaire. Fans of both genres will thrill at Bovée’s complex plot that keeps us guessing from its action-packed beginning to the satisfying reveal at the end.

The book opens with the Honorable Colonel Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show to England on a voyage to perform for Queen Victoria. They are not on the high seas long, when Annie’s beloved horse, Buck, jumps overboard. Her husband and the Queen’s loyal servant, Mr. Bhakta, jump in to save the horse, or was Mr. Bhakta already dead before he reached the water? Thus, begins the mystery of who killed Mr. Bhakta, leaving all to wonder, is the Queen safe?

Someone wanted the Queen’s man dead, and he is, but was it a matter of racism, intrigue, or an accident? Annie’s search for clues points her in several directions, but is it the doctor, or the woman dressed in rags with the posh accent, or the crass American businessman and his floozy wife? All have motive. Even Annie’s husband has motive with his Irish background and ties to the Fenians and the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Annie rushes through her days, trying to find clues and care for her husband who fell ill on the voyage and isn’t recovering. Is her husband’s illness seasickness, flu, or something else? Her husband forbids her to search for clues, fearing that Annie will get herself in over her head, but “Little Miss Sure shot” has no fear – as long as she’s packing her pistols.

Annie follows her leads from the ship, the State of Nebraska, to the show’s camp at the Earl’s Court, the market, and the Queen’s court. In a sea of suspects, everyone looks guilty. But, are Annie’s hunches always right?

This wild romp through England’s royal court is sure to thrill readers as tantalizing clues lead us astray; even as the body count rises and suspects are murdered.

Peccadillo at the Palace by Kari Bovée is a page-turner from beginning to end, so much so, that Bovée took home the Grand Prize in the CIBA 2019 GOETHE Awards for Historical Fiction. Readers will burn the midnight oil with this one. Highly recommended.

A marvelous, riveting whodunit with a complicated hero in Annie Oakley at the helm. A perfect read for mystery lovers and one we love. Highly recommended.
December 18, 2020
HARD CIDER by Barbara Stark-Nemon – Women’s Literature, Literary, Women’s Fiction

Abbie Rose Stone is a woman determined to follow her newly discovered dream of producing her own craft hard apple cider while navigating the ups and downs of family life with her grown sons and husband.

Abbie Rose knows how to deal with adversity, and dives headfirst into this new chapter of her life with energy and passion. She describes her early adulthood years of infertility struggles and the hardscrabble way she built her young family through invasive medical procedures, a surrogate attempt, and adoption barriers.

After finishing a successful career in education and raising her three sons, Abbie Rose now sees an opportunity to create a new segment of her life’s work in a blossoming business venture. She’s set to take on this new venture by herself, determined to succeed, with or without her husband’s support. Yet, while she lays out her meticulous plans for her cider business, life keeps happening around her, attempting to derail Abbie Rose at every turn.

Hard Cider is a well-researched second novel for Stark-Nemon, providing intricate details on everything from orchard planning and cider creation to knitted handicrafts. Stark-Nemon leaves no stone unturned and is meticulous with her descriptions of the lands and seasons of Michigan. So much so, that readers may leave this story ready to travel to this Midwest region and will find familiarity in the real-life scenes based on her elaborate imagery.

The story builds slowly, relying upon richly descriptive settings to create the Stone family and the world in which they live. The tidbits of information presented about infertility, a shocking house-fire, parenting a troubled child, and marital woes are intriguing, and some may find, too brief, leaving the reader wanting more. Which isn’t altogether a bad thing. In fact, the strength of this work is that the reader is left wanting more, imagining what might happen next for this cast of characters we’re not quite ready to leave behind.

A central theme of this down-to-earth story is the word new. New business ventures, new life changes, new family mixed with old, and new lives for the Stone family. Abbie Rose handles each of these life-altering adaptions with courage and a reflecting thoughtfulness. She teaches those around her what it means to manage life with a grace we can all hope to emulate.

All in all, Hard Cider is a thoughtful literary novel of one woman and her ambitions to rise above what life has handed her to create an experience of beauty, one that is formed not void of hardship, but despite it. Recommended.

Hard Cider won Grand Prize in the CIBA 2018 Somerset Awards for Literary Fiction.

July 12, 2019
The SHAPE of the ATMOSPHERE by Jessica Dainty – Literary, Psychology, Women’s Fiction

Jessica Dainty’s, The Shape of the Atmosphere is remarkable for its startling realism, its gritty young heroine, and its hopeful conclusion.

When Gertie’s father and sister are killed in an accident on Gertie’s sixteenth birthday in 1957, she is left with one cherished memory: viewing the heavens with her father on the night of the world-changing Sputnik flight.

After the funerals, Gertie wounds herself as a way of coping with her inner anguish, after which her alcohol-addicted mother commits her to an insane asylum. Such institutions were considered modern and scientifically advanced for their time, but as author Jessica Dainty frankly depicts, Gertie’s new home is a combination prison and torture chamber. The naïve but intelligent girl soon becomes acquainted with such therapies as immersion in icy cold water and electroshock (both designed to calm the inmates), as she gradually gets to know her fellow patients, the women on Ward 2.

Gertie observes that some of her companions are not mentally ill at all: one has a speech defect that he is struggling on his own to correct, and another has Down Syndrome. Yet such people – anyone not wanted by family – are consigned to such asylums and often get lost in its labyrinthine system. Gertie slowly gains inner resolve, becomes an advocate for her rights and those of her companions, and starts an in-house newsletter that tells their stories. But when her compositions find their way outside the walls of the asylum, she is forced to take even bolder measures.

Dainty writes this traumatizing tale as though she’d lived it, so starkly painful and remarkably poignant are her portraits of Gertie and her fellow sufferers. She portrays the doctors as caring only up to a point, mainly interested in maintaining a full house of captive mental “cases” to keep the income rolling in. One staff member is sympathetic toward Gertie, but most are cold and indifferent, strictly allowing only 3-minute bathroom breaks, a single towel at communal shower times, and almost no time spent unmonitored.

Treatments such as electroshock (Electro Convulsive Therapy, ECT) are performed differently today for the treatment of severe depression, treatment resistant depression, severe mania, catatonia, and agitation and aggression in dementia patients (Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/electroconvulsive-therapy/about/pac-20393894), for example. But today, this treatment is done under general anesthesia and at reduced levels. This was not the case in the 1950s or in Dainty’s harrowing novel. ECT was conducted without any form of anesthesia and often without patient’s consent.

Reminiscent of the less enlightened times also is the blatantly denigrating attitude shown towards people of color and other minorities. The author’s descriptions of daily life in a mental institution of the 1950s are filled with scenes of mistreatment tantamount to torture. But many readers will find the story inspiring, especially as Gertie, sustained by images of space travel, finds her own stars to aspire to and reaches out to help others. Debut novelist Dainty is a high school teacher with many points of contact with the teens she hopes to engage with this evocative coming-of-age saga.

The Shape of Atmosphere won First Place in the 2022 Goethe Book Awards for Post-1750s Historical Fiction.

November 29, 2018
SECRETS REVEALED, Cedar Islands Tales Book 4 by Kate Vale – Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Women’s Fiction

Owen Haskins is returning to his childhood home on fictional Cedar Island (which has an uncanny resemblance to Whidbey Island for those readers in the know) with his seven-year-old son Ian so they can have a new start. Ian has had trouble being bullied in his old school, and Owen is worried that new teacher, Faith Russell, may not be up to the job of helping his vulnerable son. Of course, Faith and Owen clash, while simultaneously being attracted to each other, but painful experiences in their past initially keep them from acting on their growing feelings for one another.

Secrets Revealed by Kate Vale is the 4th book in her Cedar Island Tales series, and it is not necessary to read the previous tales to jump right into this heartwarming romance. Each of the main characters has their own secret that affects their relationship. Faith is an accomplished teacher but is distrustful of men. She dresses in clothes that used to fit but now are worn and oversized, almost as a shield to keep people at bay, something her mother (who shares the other side of a duplex with her) constantly harps about.

Owen left his hometown due to a very difficult relationship with his abusive father. He didn’t return until after his mother’s death—something he regrets.

Ian is withdrawn, possibly from the bullying he endured at his old school, but he has a secret as well, one that goes back to the tragedies of losing both his mother and grandmother in Idaho while still a young boy.

As Owen and Faith interact, they can’t ignore the attraction between them, and they begin a sensual relationship but agree not to become “serious.” Faith can’t help but fall in love with Owen, but their relationship is complicated by misunderstandings and young Ian’s desire to have Miss Russell become his new mom. These secrets have a lot of sway over the lives of those keeping them, and the story is a good reminder of the power of secrets and words in our lives.

A nice twist in the romance genre, Vale tells her story from not just the point-of-view of the two romantic leads, but also from the viewpoint of young Ian, a character whom readers will care about from the very beginning of the novel.

Secrets Revealed won First Place in the 2016 Mystery & Mayhem Awards for Kate Vale.

August 1, 2018