Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I have a special treat for you today! Earlier in February, of this year – I had the joyful pleasure of interacting with Ms Lane during her #HistFicChat! As you might know if you’re following me via Twitter – #HistFicChat is hosted by Vivian Conroy (@VivWrites) which gives readers and authors of Historical Fiction a chance to interact! Aside from my beloved #HistoricalFix chat hosted by Erin Lindsay McCabe (of which has been on hiatus for a year or so now) – this is my next favourite due to the conversations it encourages between everyone who participates!
Sadly due to different reasons which arose through the Spring and Summer months, I haven’t had the chance to pop back round into #HistFicChat. I think the chat might be on hiatus as when I tried to pull up the recent scheduled guess, I was not finding one.
You can read an archive of our chat discussing “The Spitfire Girls” wherein I was delighted about not just discovering more about her writing style but more about the stories which she is passionate about writing! I have a special niche of love in my heart for war dramas – always have – yet, it has been through recent years where I’ve had to amend my search for the war dramas I desire to be reading. Sometimes as a reader, my bookish heart breaks and my soul feels crushed due to how authentically accurate some war dramas are being written. This is a credit to the novelists, yes, but as a reader, I have to be cautious about how I proceed forward.
When it came to Ms Lane’s war dramas – I still remember awaiting her chat and being happily consumed by how her narrator was pulling me into her narratives! I love listening to audiobooks for the full-on immersion experience of how I can feel transported directly into the heart of a novel in a different layer of insight than I can as I read stories in print. I am a traditional reader in that regard, as I only read books in print or audio, but what I love most about audio is how transformative the stories become as there is this pure fusion of an experience as the narrators evoke such a stirringly realistic connection to the characters and the world in which they are building us through their narrations.
Into late Summer, early Autumn, I’ll be listening to my first novel by Ms Lane (“Hearts of Resistance”) and I hope to be listening to more of her releases thereafter, as I am looking forward to getting back my Scribd membership to listen to audiobooks as I had to take a brief hiatus due the last bout of migraines I had in May. Right now in July, I’m six weeks migraine-free and I feel blessed for the reprieve.
Today, however, I wanted to highlight her latest release “The Girls of Pearl Harbour” as I felt it was an incredible premise and a story which I felt was a dramatic one to be told.
The Girls of Pearl Harbor
by Soraya M. Lane
From the bestselling author of Wives of War comes a harrowing tale of four brave young nurses whose lives change forever in the wake of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
When Grace, April, and Poppy join the US Army Nurse Corps, they see it as little more than an adventure, one made all the better by their first station: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Joined at the hip, idealistic Grace, exuberant Poppy, and brave but haunted April frolic in the sun, attending parties, flirting with the handsome soldiers, and becoming fast friends with seasoned nurse Eva. Like the Hawaiian sun, their future seems warm and bright—until the infamous morning of December 7.
Within just a few horrifying hours, their sparkling hopes turn to black rubble and ash. Now embroiled in a war they never could have imagined, they must decide what truly matters to them and face grief as they never have before. Death may await them—but so do hope and purpose. In the midst of the carnage, can they find happiness and learn to fight not just for their country’s honor but for themselves?
Places to find the book:
ASIN: B07PLHWP46
Published by Lake Union Publishing
on 16th July, 2019
Format: Paperback ARC
Published by: Lake Union (@AmazonPub)
Follow Lake Union Authors (@LUAuthors) for updates on their releases!
Converse via: #GirlsOfPearlHarbor, #HistNov and #HistFic
as well as #LakeUnionAuthors
This is a Digital First release → print and audiobook releases are forthcoming!
→ Audiobook & Print cross-release scheduled for 10th September, 2019!
The Historical Fiction novels of Soraya M. Lane
I look forward to reading each of them in turn!
Voyage of the Heart (2014)
Wives of War (2017)
Hearts of Resistance (2018)
The Spitfire Girls (2019)
The Girls of Pear Harbor (2019)
As you can see, Ms Lane has written a lovely collection of dramatic Historical Fiction – what is interesting to me is how how she writes these stories, as each of the novels walks you through a series of characters who are on the fringes of major changes in their lives with the backdrop of the world war era. I love multiple perspectives in novels and large ensemble casts – these each feel like an interestingly lovely novel to disappear inside as you are gaining different points of view as you enter into each of the women’s lives Ms Lane is highlighting to tell their individual stories whilst giving you a dramatic historical narrative at the core of stories as well.
I am looking forward to listening to these lovelies on audiobook – as I purchased “Hearts of Resistance” via Audible when I had my membership with them whilst Scribd has copies of “Voyage of the Heart” & “The Spitfire Girls”. Sadly, I did not find “Wives of War” available via Scribd. I am hoping to resume my Scribd membership towards the end of Summer in August.
I am most curious – what are your own readerly preferences when it comes to reading war dramas? Do you like how the narrators are giving you an emotionally authentic connection to the stories and/or do you prefer to immerse yourself into this 20th Century era through the print books instead? (or maybe, even your an ereader?) Whichever way you enter Historical dramas let’s take a moment to celebrate the novelists like Ms Lane who are bringing these eras to life and whose dedication to the research of their stories is something to continuously applaud!
When it comes to nurses in the war era directly, my first encounter was through the first trilogy for my beloved series Charton Minster which was “The Silver Locket” by Margaret James. I am truly looking forward to seeing how Ms Lane treats this subject and how her nurses connect us to what was happening at Pearl Harbour!
This Book Spotlight is courtesy of:
Soraya M. Lane
{SOURCES: Book covers for “Voyage of the Heart”, “Wives of War”, “Hearts of Resistance”, “The Spitfire Girls” and “The Girls of Pearl Harbour”, as well as the author biography and author photograph of Soraya M. Lane and the “The Girls of Pearl Harbour” promo banner were all provided by the author Soraya M. Lane and are used with permission. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Spotlight, Historical Fiction Reading Challenge banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
Happy #PubDay @Soraya_Lane!! ??#bookspotlight for #GirlsOfPearlHarbor – her latest war era #HistNov We follow in the footsteps of Grace, April and Poppy who are #nurses in the Army Corps of Nurses
??https://t.co/MzSz4tmDSz#LakeUnionAuthors | @LUAuthors | @VivWrites pic.twitter.com/pKqcfSPED6
— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) July 16, 2019
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