Influencer #partner with #OnceUponABookClub | Book Review for “Remembrance” by Rita Woods with *special!* reveals for those lovely mystery parcels in the February #ouabookclub box!

Posted Tuesday, 10 March, 2020 by jorielov , , , 3 Comments

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Acquired Book By: I am a promotional #partner and/or Influencer with Once Upon A Book Club similar to how I receive books from publishers, authors & publicists or early review programs – I am not being monetarily compensated for sharing my experiences, impressions, reviews or the links to their website on my blog Jorie Loves A Story nor on my feeds on Twitter (@joriestory or @SatBookChat). Nor for the coupon code which is a discount for new subscribers to the Once Upon A Book Club subscription service.

Thereby, I received a complimentary copy of “Remembrance” direct from Once Upon A Book Club as part of the February Adult Box in exchange for an honest review about the gifts which connect to the story and of the story itself. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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IF you’d like to order your own Once Upon A Book Club box,

you can use my coupon code → JORIELOVES10

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Why I was intrigued and excited about reading REMEMBRANCE:

I loved how we get a quote from the book itself on a beautiful card which can be framed and hung on your wall. This particular quote felt quite telling if you ponder it for a spell – how if we do not harness the ability to be ‘still’ we will miss the truths which are attempting to alight on our souls. There is beauty in that quote and a heap of wisdom as well. I cannot wait to read “Remembrance” to better understand the connection of the quote to the story.

In regards to the story itself – “Remembrance” is a story within a uniquely told timeline – as we are transporting ourselves into *three!* (not two as usually found in time bent narratives) distinctively unique timelines of interest – shifting from the contemporary modern world of Mid-West Ohio into Haiti (1791) whilst it is nearly going through a Revolution and forwards a bit into New Orleans (1857). Three women, three timelines and a depth of a story betwixt and between their lives – I don’t know about you but what could be more rivetingly dramatic and engaging than a story which offers three individualistic perspectives of a connective narrative!?

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#OnceUponABookClubBox February Adult Box Photo Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com.
#OnceUponABookClubBox February Adult Box Photo Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com.

[ The February Adult Once Upon A Book Club selection is :

Remembrance
by Rita Woods
Source: Direct from Once Upon A Book Club

Genres: Feminist Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Time Slip and/or Time Shift



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1250298454

Published by Forge

on 21st January, 2020

Format: Hardcover Edition

Pages: 416

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comPublished by: Forge (@torbooks)

Subjects explored:

African-American History, The Underground Railroad, Earthquakes in Haiti, the Haiti Revolution, 19th Century New Orleans & Fugitive Slaves

Converse via: #onceuponabookclub, #onceuponabookclubbox & #ouabookclub

as well as #Rememberance, #HistFic & #MagicalRealism

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ahead of reading ‘remembrance’:

I love to read the extra bits inclusive of novels – whether those are the tucked away notes by the author, the appendixes or other informational inclusions about either the story or the author – odds are in good favour I’ll be reading them *before!* I begin reading the actual book! This time, I took off the hardcover’s jacket in order to read what was on the flaps – I never read a hardcover book with the jacket as I never want to affect the jacket as I’m reading. (personal preference) Whilst I was reading the first flap I saw for the first time Ms Woods was referenced as being a compliment to the writings of Christina Baker Kline and Tara Conklin.

This is an interesting revelation as I read The House Girl prior to being a book blogger (as an ARC receiver via Book Browse) whilst I had the opportunity to expound my thoughts on the story after becoming a book blogger as well. In regards to Kline, I’ve read two stories by her but my favourite of the two was Sweet Water. In this vein of contrast, I also thought of another story The Tilted World.

As this story is about the Underground Railroad – I also started to think about my great-grandfathers who are part of the Underground; including one who gave away his land in order to keep his stop open to those who were still coming. I hadn’t always known about this connection to the Underground was an ancestral one but throughout my life I have read stories which are about the journey of escaped slaves who were striving to get free of their masters whilst I sought out these stories as a book blogger as well. Most notably next to The House Girl were my readings of Redfield Farm.

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a notation about this review:

Unlike my other reviews, this review is slightly different as in-line to my ruminations and impressions of reading the story, I am interjecting what I found inside the parcels which coordinate to the context of the novel itself. There is one revelation about one of the gifted parcels where I felt it might sound like a spoiler (though it wasn’t my intention) which is why I placed it behind a spoiler cut for those who wish to keep that part unknown. Otherwise, everything else is in a timed revelation as I arrived at the matching pages to the parcels themselves as I read “Remembrance” – with one slight difference in page numbers as noted on the final parcel.

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my book review for remembrance:

I felt as hugged into the memory of the earthquake as Gaelle did herself – the kind of emotionally crushing sense of reality about a part of your life you survived but where the pieces of its grip on you never quite release; due to what caused the impact of the initial trauma. Alighting through this lens of the earthquake which destroyed Haiti and erased the lives of those who could not survive its wrath was a jarring opening to Remembrance. Woods places you so viscerally into this lost moment in time where only memories and nightmares can take-over its place in your imagination. Woods aligns you intrinsically close enough to feel as rooted in that heightened sense of loss as her character Gaelle did as she awoke from the fright of what the memory evoked.

Even before my Mum worked in home health, I understood more about nursing homes and assisted living facilities than most as my grandparents ended up in a few of them. There is a unique rhythm to those places – for the visitors (ie. families) and for the staff. You hope to find caring nurses and aides on rotation such as Woods has described in her character Gaelle – someone who takes the time to be caring of the residents but also mindful of their duties to where they are a bit of grace in an otherwise sterile environment. Gaelle has the soul of a woman who can sense what someone needs before it is even asked of her – she lets her spirit guide her and because of this, she has a connection to someone on her ward no one else understands. Except to say, sometimes the people you think you can trust can surprise you – in unsuspecting ways and this is exactly what happens to Gaelle! I was not quite prepared for how this unassuming woman she’s taken a shine to would surprise both of us but she definitely did! It was a moment where you realise not everything is as it appears in Remembrance – a firm reminder, I would need to keep my eyes a bit more open to what I might accidentally overlook!

We slip into Louisiana’s bayou country in the 19th Century alighting inside Margot’s life with her grandmother and younger sister – a girl whose about to turn eighteen with the promise of being freed yet before she can appreciate the freedom she worries deeply about her grandmother’s connection to the spirits. These are the kinds of spirits who wake a person from dead of sleep, encourage them to walkabout late at night and talk to the person about such things which cannot be known otherwise. It is a practice Margot frets over due to their master not accepting the ritual and connections her grandmother encourages but it is also a tradition that she cannot deny either.

This is the first entrance in the novel where we see overtures of Voodoo (or a practice similar to it – as it is not rightly named in the opening arc) and the more ancient practices of bayou spirituality where there is a very thin veil between the living, the dead and the places which are veilled between the two worlds. I’ve read different stories which approach this from different angles, however, more recently it was an unpublished manuscript (by Jesse Gallow) I had the joy of betareading which re-anchoured me into this hidden world of spirits, rituals and the hidden balances of those who act as mediums for the spirit world.

There is a heightened sense of urgency for Margot’s grandmother to use her healing gifts to save their master’s five year old son. It was here on page 37 wherein I opened my first parcel – which produced a wooden pestle and mortar set with a small bundle of lavender. This is the tool of her trade – where Margot’s grandmother would grind down the ingredients she would need to treat illness and stave off death by those infirmed.

Yellow fever is a horrid disease and this is only the second novel I’ve read which talked about how it permeates into a person’s body and wrecks an incomprehensible chaos on their system. The descriptive details about yellow fever and how it erases the body’s ability to fight off the disease as it takes over the immune system is not for the faint of heart. It is one of the worst illnesses you can contract and the symptoms of it are just as wrecking to read about the second time round. I felt Woods treated those sections well – giving the details which are important for readers to understand what yellow fever does to its victims but also how jarring it is for those round them to handle what is happening; with special note to the caregivers who are looking after the victims of the disease.

The worst situation to face after tragedy and loss is financial ruin and yet this is what is on the brink of Margot’s reality because her mistress cannot handle nor accept the after effects of her husband’s passing. He was taken from this world by yellow fever and a credit to the strength of Margot (who was not yet eighteen) who could handle dealing with the creditors who never stopped arriving to claim their debts – there was a stillness of the unknown. Of what this news would mean for her, her younger sister and their grandmother – all of whom were not yet free. What would this forebear on their future and what would become of the family they had served?

The quotation which was selected and is included in this box is actually a sentiment spoken by the character Abigail’s grandmother. Found on page 60.

We slip into the 18th Century as readily as we had the 19th – as we move into Haiti’s past where plantation owners are afeared of a slave uprising and where we find Abigail is more afraid of her husband joining the rebels who are going against the grain of their masters. It was an interesting shift in the story because I first felt this might be a better glimpse and clue towards understanding the unknown woman in Gaelle’s life at the facility – of a woman with untold gifts and an uncanny power to overtake a woman much younger than herself. It would have taken not just incredible strength and fortitude but the kind of internal strength of a highly trained mind and a person with gifts which see beyond this singular life we live. In essence, I was curious at the time if the woman might have been a priestess in her own right and as we shifted into Abigail’s entrance into the story – part of me wouldn’t be surprised if she and her were the same woman.

I was almost unable to tear myself away from what happened to Abigail’s husband – the brutality of it and the injustice. I had known that slave owners had taken these kinds of actions against their slaves but to read about a scene like that and to see it firsthand as Abigail had experienced it herself was another matter entirely. I was thankful Woods described only what was necessary and hadn’t taken this scene further because it was hard enough as it was written to turn the page. How Abigail found the strength to endure this – to survive this moment I cannot even speculate. It is the worst fate to see someone you love go through this and yet, she did endure and she did survive. She even managed to impart a small amount of focused respite from the horror of the situation before she succumbed to the helplessness of what was happening as her spirit collapsed under the emotional weight of her loss.

It took me awhile to recognise something rather keenly insightful about Remembrance – in each of the sequences of this story we have a commonality amongst the characters – Gaelle fondly speaks about her sister Rose and their grandmother whilst Margot talks avidly about her sister Veronique and their grandmother – there seemed to be a tethering of ancestral connections between grandaughters and grandmothers; of the intricate ways in which two generations of a family can connect and of how those connections can become strengthened through their systems of belief. Whilst at the same time, most gifts such as the ones which are spoken about throughout the story can be intergenerational and passed down through one line of ancestry – such a line of women.

As we shifted back into the life of Margot, I knew due to the foreboding of what has been revealled earlier this was one shift in time I was going to struggle with as you become attached to these characters. I also knew it was time for Margot and her sister to run – to take flight on the Railroad and to hope to find their futures better than their present. Though a part of me wondered if what I had been sensing earlier in the story was going to come true now and of course, I unfortunately had been right about a few things…

This has become such an emotional read for me – I had already intuited what I was going to open next – there could be only one gift waiting for me on page 101 – the locket View Spoiler » It was with a heavy heart I opened the box and found out I had been right about the locket being one of the enclosed parcels.

Shifting back into the footsteps of Abigail we find she’s been transported to New Orleans which in my mind felt like something which needed to happen if the hidden threads of this story would unravel in a way that is not just believable about how connective they truly are to each other but how time remains temporal and interestingly wound in a symmetry of cohesive synchronicity. As we journey with Abigail to this new world and city; we ache alongside her grieving heart as the fuller weight of what she is shouldering has no words to describe them. It is here where she is proving her spirit is built of a foundation of internal strength – where she finds the will to carry-on even if she wishes for a life outside of this one she’s found to be her own.

In a moment where she needed a bit of self-reassurance and a bit of bolster of the courage she didn’t always feel but had all the same – she pulls out a wooden disc such as the next gift I opened as referenced on page 101. This is a piece of natural wood where you can see the circles of a tree’s living roots and the years of its age. The enclosed card welcomes the reader to a craft night on the 25th of March where by the small photos on the card elude too this wooden disc can be imprinted by hand to highlight a quote from the novel of the reader’s choosing. It looks and has the same texture of touch you’d expect to find per how Abigail described it herself!

After becoming privy to how Abigail begins her journey towards understanding her truer self and what the catalyst would be for this change to evolve onto her path whilst in New Orleans – we shift back into Gaelle’s life where the past and the present start to collide. It was in this section where I wanted to give a bit of a shout towards piercing together some of the threads of the story – of peering through the vision Woods had for her characters and the trajectory of the storyline itself because there was a small bit of confirmation starting to bubble and boil to the surface!

Where the Magical Realism starts to intersect with the story is when we start to learn about Winter and Mother Abigail (as she was given a new name) – as this is a place between our world and a world not visibly seen by others who are not welcomed to find it. This is where there is a bending of how time is known to exist from our world and this other world as well – as there are rules to both and an order to both wherein if the balance is to be maintained certain things must be followed. I appreciated how we gained insight into this section of the story – as each step of the way, Woods has been nudging us along, guiding us forward and exchanging one character’s point-of-view for another as we dive deeper into the constructs of Remembrance. And, of course, part of a wicked good story-teller is being able to draw out the fuller ramifications and meanings behind the title they give their story!

This other place had its own rules and its own expanse of time – it curved close to our own realm but it was as withdrawn from it as the Expanse in Star Trek: Enterprise. Within its folds there was an intersection with the Railroad where slaves seeking freedom could take refuge and where those who felt they could harness a bit of peace for themselves learnt how to breathe a bit easier. Yet, like most places where you feel you have nothing left to fear except how to occupy your days, even this otherworld has its own secrets, especially when it comes to Mother Abigail’s grasp of her own vulnerabilities and the truer nature warming inside Winter.

Although my final gift said page 245 the final sticky note to open the gift was actually on page 275. This is the only gift I opened early as I had reached page 273 and realised I was quite far afield! The final surprise was something I personally LOVE: tea! It came with a copper tea steeper, too!

By the time I had opened my final parcel and unearthed the tea – I must admit, I felt a deep longing to brew the tea and close the door on Remembrance. This story took a lot out of me emotionally and it is the kind of story which lays on your mind and your heart – thick as molasses because of the churning dramatic twists within its chapters. I was not prepared nor ready for all the twists which were awaiting me – the further I disappeared into the novel, the harder it was to separate my hopes for the characters and the realities of what they were living through in the reality of the novel.

In many ways, their lives were taking on a bit too much chaos and instead of finding sanctuary and solace from the past, it was the past which would not release them. They could not outrun it nor could the effectively distance themselves from a past which had classified them as the oppressed and persecuted. I had to take a firm step away from my readings for a night and half a day just to return to read more of the text because of how jarring it is on me to process. It is one thing understanding the premise of a novel before you read it but it is quite another to fully accept and process what that story is going to evolve into becoming as it is read. At this point in time, my heart cannot finish the story. I grieve too much for the needless violence against these women and the others who are caught in the cycle of slavery before they were freed by a change in the law. This is not a story for a sensitive reader (which I tend to be) because it will constantly affect you and it is a hard story to find resolution because of the way in which it was written.

Small Fly in the Ointment: Note on Content:

There is a scene depicted on 103 which is similar to a scene (or rather a sequence) described in Rivington Street which is a novel writ by Meredith Tax which centre round Jewish immigrants at the turning of the 20th Century and the shirtwaist fires in New York City. When it comes to mobs of people who are eliciting violence against others there are certain scenes which can be a bit more horrific to read than others. IF I hadn’t known about Rivington Street and its sequel (which I barely lasted through the first few pages whereas I read the original in whole) and the types of things humans can do to fellow humans, I think I would haven’t been as prepared. If anyone has seen the film series Pirates of the Caribbean then you are already familiar with another version of what happens to the person in this chapter’s opening paragraph.

This is one scene out of several throughout the context of Remembrance where you have to brace yourself for some visual graphics but I wouldn’t consider them a step too far from the point of view of a reader (such as myself) who doesn’t read graphic Horror or graphic violence – it is more circumspect of the events and the timeline of the novel; where I credit Woods for having the ability each time one of these scenes comes forth in the narrative to only ‘take us thus far’ and then redirect our attention elsewhere.

I would advise if you are not used to reading guttingly realistic and visually accurate Historical Fiction stories like the ones I’ve mentioned or stories which deal with slavery, the Underground Railroad or the uprisings of slaves against their masters – I would suggest this might not be the best fit for you as a reader because there are passages which might be harder for you to handle.

on the historical magical realism & time slip styling of rita woods:

I liked the gentle touches of guidance Woods creates to where even in the opening chapters, you have moments of where you can start to accept there are truths which are organically weaving into the background of the story – how heart-truths and spirit-truths have a way of alighting in the foreground of the novel inasmuch as the suspension of connections about how some of the characters might be interlinked to each other. There is a quiet murmuring in this novel – of things yet to be seen and understood and those are the kinds of stories I love seeking out to read the most.

I love finding languages connected to characters threading into their sections of a story as well – for Gaelle this was Creole and I loved how Woods made this part of her character’s authentic self and identity. She used the language in ways that not only made sense as your reading her story but it added another dimension of connection and insight into who Gaelle was and why her language is important for her to continue to use.

Woods allowed her characters to prompt us as readers when we would start to shift through time – as there was a purposeful intention about when we would re-align in a different century to walk alongside her characters and I felt this was one of the more organic ways to let time ‘slip’ into three distinctively unique timescapes. She captured the era of her characters well and also their beliefs and the ways in which they live their lives. She allowed you the ability to stay with them long enough to understand them, to see their motivations and to respect their stations whilst giving you something deeper to ponder as you read deeper into the story wherein all of the characters were becoming threaded together into a woven tapestry of connectedness.

Fantastical Elements:

The elements of Magical Realism in the story are rooted in the spirituality and religious beliefs of the characters – especially the women of the novel who have inherited certain gifts which have a reaching effect on how the story is presented. Their gifts in of themselves is what draws the magic out of the ordinary moments because of how their talent is tied to a more ancient belief system which deserves respect in of itself.

This is a story enchanted by old magic – where there is a force within the character they cannot even fully understand themselves because it is older than they have lived years on Earth. It is incredible they could focus their energy into this talent just knowing what can happen if you let your attention and your focus falter even a half an inch off what you are attempting to accomplish.

What I loved learning about each of the women connected in the story are the following:

Gaelle (modern day) believes in what cannot be seen nor explained through modern science or religious beliefs. She doesn’t quite explain herself as we first meet her only that she has a firm sense about how she has unique talents that are limited to a few like her and that I believed she wasn’t entirely sure how those particular talents are passed down.

Margot (19th Century, Louisiana) was gifted with the ability to heal but in the kind of method that is sometimes known as psychic healing as she can see what is wrong with someone simply through her touch and that is a unique gift to have in of itself. Yet her grandmother has the gift of hearing spirits and of intoning their messages; together they worked towards respecting what the spirits foretold but also in having Margot not forsake her talent if it were needed.

Abigail (18th Century, Haiti) was a mother of twin boys who lived on the island and worked for a plantation owner. Her life’s path was not immediately known in the story as it had to evolve forward through the harrowing uprising of the slaves before she would meet her destiny in New Orleans.

Winter (18th Century) as I was reading Remembrance I sensed the fourth woman noted on the cover art of the novel would be a hidden character. One of whom might be slightly overlooked or perhaps slightly hidden from our perspective until her story was meant to be revealled. In the end, I was right on both counts and it is Winter’s thread of the story which I had a feeling would unite all the threads of the tapestry her story was meant to weave together.

Footnotes:

As I read Remembrance, I remembered how hard it was to read The Story of Land and Sea most directly due to how hard-hitting stories which evolve through yellow fever are on the reader. Similar to my prior readings about yellow fever, I found the depictions within Remembrance to be wholly accurate and just as gutting to get through.

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My final thoughts about the February Adult Box featuring “Remembrance”:

#OnceUponABookClubBox February Adult Box Gift Reveal Photo Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com.
#OnceUponABookClubBox February Adult Box Gift Reveal Photo Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com.

As this was my first #bookbox subscription, I went into it with an open mind – I didn’t want to have anything spoilt my reveals when it came to opening the parcels themselves, which is why although I snuck a quick look inside the book when I first opened the Adult box itself – I only spied out one of the sticky notes which said “open your gift” before I closed it to be read lateron. I arranged everything for the first #bookbox reveal photo to include on my 1st #bookclubVIP reveal post before I gathered up the parcels and placed them with the book on my shelf to be read before Tuesday, the 10th.

I had intended to start reading the story a bit closer to when I posted the reveal of receiving the #bookbox from Once Upon A Book Club, however, I had a hard recovery from the cold I succumbed to in late February. It wasn’t until Sunday, the 8th of March where I could finally begin to read “Remembrance” as I had the parcels with me as I was reading the story – I began where I always begin reading a book with the little extras which are found to be inclusive of the story (as mentioned on my review) before I proceeded into the text itself.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel as I arrived on the matching page numbers of the parcels but each step of the way, I felt more attached to the story and to Woods characters to where opening the parcels became a bit more emotional than I first realised they would be! When I opened the mortar and pestle my heart lurched a bit because I knew how important of a tool it was for Margot’s grandmother. Yet, when I opened the locket – a part of my grieving heart still wasn’t fully recovered from the passages I had just read to appreciate the ornate design and the way in which the locket connected directly to the continuity of the story. Whilst despite the adverse life Abigail had lived, finding the wooden disc felt respectful of her hard-won resolve and the freedom in which she sought out in order to save her own soul from crumbling under the weight of such intense loss and circumstances beyond what anyone should endure in one lifetime. The tea at the end was a bittersweet reveal because I had reached a point in the story where I could not read further and the warmth of a cuppa tea was definitely something I was craving if only to be a balm to my weary readerly soul.

When Once Upon A Book Club promotes themselves as giving you a way to have “books come alive” with their #onceuponabookclubbox they quite literally mean this to explain the experience of opening their boxes, finding the parcels and awaiting the prompts in the books they’ve left for you to find to be the overall experience of reading one of their featured book selections. You quite literally take-on a more active role as a reader – you know a parcel will become opened but you can’t speculate about why a parcel is coming up next or what it could contain within it until you reach that matching page.

For me, it made me read a bit closer to the text – to see what inspired the parcels themselves and to see how you can take out a bit more meaning from a story if you seek out certain objects which are important to the story’s characters. A bit of a hidden map of insight if you will into what can be gleamed by the objects themselves and how their importance to a character speaks a bit of humbled truth of that character’s state of mind.

I am forever moved by the experience – it is not one I shall soon forget because of how much *closer!* you feel to a novel, how you can start to see a thickening of connection with the writer and how intrigued you are about how Once Upon A Book Club put this box together for you to discover – almost as if they had this magical way of knowing which of the objects would broach the most introspective reflection on the reader and which objects would be the most emotional to open!

I am truly grateful for being a new member of their #bookclubVIP and I look excitedly towards my next #bookbox experience – eager to see what waits me as I journey next into a beautiful adventure only Once Upon A Book Club can provide us as readers who want to engage more intuitively with the stories we are reading.

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This book review is courtesy of being a social influencer & blogger
for Once Upon A Book Club. I became a #bookclubVIP
member in February, 2020.

Once Upon A Book Club VIP badge provided by onceuponabookclub.com and is used with permission.

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Personally what was impressive (and Mum agreed!)

is how VIP = Very Important Page-Turner!

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Thank you for continuing to take this journey with me as hopefully I’ve left you curious about Once Upon A Book Club subscription box services – be sure to visit the HINTS page to read the current boxes featured which represent their Adult & Young Adult boxes for March.

And, don’t forget to use my coupon code to save on your order!

Previously I shared my BIG REVEAL of receiving this February box. as well as how I started to becoming one of the #bookclubVIP members of #ouabookclub!

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Have you heard about #OnceUponABookClub prior to my posts?

IF so, what was your favourite box you’ve received?

IF not, does this sound like the kind of box you’d enjoy receiving?

What are your personal experiences with #bookboxes!?

Dish in the comments!

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Help me spread the word by clicking this s/o tweet to your followers:

I just experienced how #onceuponabookclubbox can be read in-line with the parcels this #booksubscription box can provide a #reader via Jorie Loves A Story! This #bookblogger has a coupon code for one of their #bookboxes! Click To Tweet

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{SOURCES: #OnceUponABookClubBox February Adult Box Photos Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com. Book Review banner created by Jorie via Canva. Once Upon A Book Club VIP badge provided by onceuponabookclub.com and is used with permission. Coupon Code JORIELOVES10 was given to me by onceuponabookclub.com as I am a new Influencer / promotional partner of theirs for their book subscription boxes (I do not receive monetary compensation). Post dividers provided by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.

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About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Tuesday, 10 March, 2020 by jorielov in #bookclubVIP, #Unboxing BookMail, 18th Century, 19th Century, 21st Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Book Review (non-blog tour), Book Subscription Boxes, Content Note, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Modern Day, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Once Upon A Book Club, Underground Railroad, Vulgarity in Literature




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3 responses to “Influencer #partner with #OnceUponABookClub | Book Review for “Remembrance” by Rita Woods with *special!* reveals for those lovely mystery parcels in the February #ouabookclub box!

  1. Looks like a wonderful set, and I love that this is a triple timeline rather than the usual dual timeline, as you point out. How neat- especially if it works! I can imagine that’s tough to pull off. anyway, the book itelf sounds fabulous.

    I can see where a package like this would really add to the book reading experience.

    • Hallo, Hallo Greg,

      I *loved!* the reading experience this box provided with me – I can’t even describe properly what it was like to reach those prompted notes to find the objects hidden in the box!! I loved how they sorted out the connections and how the story suddenly felt ‘alive’ because portions of it were now reflecting in the objects which were included with the book! It was literally the best immersive experience I’ve had and I loved the mystery of it – never knowing what I’d unwrap and uncover and yet it all routed back to the story itself. Someone put a lot of time and effort into pulling those moments out and of tying them together to the items. If you ever get a chance to experience one of these boxes – let me know your reactions. I think you’d love it because of how random and unexpected it is to read and then discover what each gift represents as it relates back to the storyline.

      I was quite impressed with how she pulled off the triple timelines – I had never seen that done previously (or at least I don’t believe I have?) and she did such a smashing job!!

      Thanks for relating your reactions to this post and for giving me a lot of good cheer in the process.

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