Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
Similar to why I had to change my post yesterday, I was just as excited to host an interview for this blog tour when I first signed on to host the author and her story – however, whilst I was in the throes of co-hosting #WyrdAndWonder (see also Post) for our 3rd Year of celebrating the fantastical throughout May, I was also succumbing to wicked horrid seasonal allergies which truly upturnt my world for the month. Somehow I managed to forget to finish my questions for the author in time for my tour stop and requested to change it to a spotlight as this is an author I’ve been intrigued about reading for quite a long while now.
You might remember my announcements for #WitchAThon this past March?
I had planned to read & review “Catching A Witch” by this author during the readathon for #WitchyReads – however, this was the month my parents both ended up in the ER and my reading life took a bit of a hiatus along with losing a bit of interest in blogging. Sometimes the crises of life can divert our attention and we have to hug close to family and faith to get through them. It took me until #WyrdAndWonder to finally find the joy again in both reading & blogging – as the event helped reset my focus and renewed my joy of diving into stories. Until Wyrd And Wonder – I’ve been struggling since last Autumn to have that same kind of joyfulness I experienced whilst reading “Christmas Once Again”.
You’ll be finding my #WitchyReads are coming to Jorie Loves A Story this June – as I’m co-hosting a new event with Armed with a Book (@_armedwithabook) which focuses on our #ReviewReads (more details soon!).
Today, I want to talk about this new Historical Mystery series and why this series caught my attention as much as Ms Eljarbo’s “Catching A Witch”.
Of Darkness and Light
by Heidi Eljarbo
In this first book of a new historical mystery series, a young art historian faces a tough choice in German-occupied Norway.
Oslo, 1944. Soli Hansen’s passion for art history is and always has been a way of life for her. While she spends her days working in an art shop, WWII is taking its toll on everyone. Apprehensive of the consequences, Soli avoids becoming entangled in the war resistance efforts. She closes her eyes in hopes the enemy will retreat and leave her beautiful country for good.
But when a woman is found dead in the alley alongside the art shop and a painting from the last auction goes missing, Soli is thrown into the thickest of the fray involving both Nazi art theft and the Norwegian resistance.
Once Soli finds her courage, there’s no turning back. Her personal life is turned upside-down with danger, lies, spying, and an incredible discovery.
In this dual timeline novel, Heidi Eljarbo paints a vivid picture of what people are willing to do in desperate times. With unforgettable characters and rich historical details, Of Darkness and Light will keep the reader mesmerized until the last satisfying page.
Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Lucinda Riley, Katherine Neville, and Kate Mosse.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9798639681653
on 2nd May, 2020
Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov
+ #HistoricalThriller and #HFVBTBlogTours
Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook
One particular area of interest I don’t believe I’ve had the chance to talk about on my blog in the past is Art History. I first was bitten with curiosity about the ‘history’ behind Classical Art when I was a freshman and sophomore in high school as through my art classes we would study Classical artists and then have either discussions about our impressions about their artwork or we would be encouraged to write essays about the pieces which gave us the most to contemplate after viewing them. It was an essay I wrote about Leonardo da Vinci’s infamous portrait which sparked my attention that perhaps Art History was a field I would want to explore further. And, I had contemplated studying it at the time – until I realised that it is quite hard to balance both Art and Science when your heart is spilt between both divisions of study. I decided to study both disciplines as an independent scholar rather than to pursue a degree in both.
At the heart of this new Historical Thriller is a woman who loves the history of Art as much as I do and it is through that passion of hers (I believe!) is how she’s able to sleuth out the mysteries which arrive for her to solve. I love finding Historical Mystery series which put an amateur sleuth in the front seat of the series but of whom have a specialised field of study and work. I would love to see if Ms Eljarbo incorporates her tenacity for Art & History into the processes she uses to solve the crimes whilst at the same time – this is partially a war drama as it is set during the World War era.
I’ve been shifting which kinds of war dramas I want to be reading over the past several years – tucking closer to human interest stories and/or Historical Mysteries, Thrillers or stories of Suspense. The key reason why is because I’ve had such a long history of reading these kinds of stories which took me to the grittier battle sequences and the intensity of what makes reading a war drama feel as though you’ve lived through that generation yourself – though commendable for authenticity, I’ve decided to redirect how I read stories set during the early 20th Century and side step those moments if I can for stories which occur during or after the war(s) but are not entirely focused on the war(s) themselves.
Towards that end, in the background of this story is the Norwegian Resistance which is interesting a part of History I haven’t heard or learnt about previously. I’ve known about the Dutch, German and French sides of this part of the war era but not the Norwegian. Aside from this – what truly broke my heart is learning about all the art and artifacts which were stolen throughout the war(s) and which are still being found, recovered and returnt today. When I watched the film Woman in Gold it is even more apparent how hard it is to prove ownership and have what was rightly one person’s property returnt to them or their descendants. This story threads into that part of the darker undertones of what came out of the war era and keeps us close to those who are finding out the truth of what was happening. (from what I can gather prior to reading)
I look forward to seeing how all these layers are crossed through the narrative and how the author showcases not just what is percolating behind her lead character but how she takes us into the story of an art geek who suddenly finds herself a sleuth who holds the answers to the crimes!
This blog tour is courtesy of:
Follow the Virtual Road Map
as you visit others participating:
As this particular one has a bookaway along the route:
NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{SOURCES: Book covers for “Of Darkness and Light”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Heidi Eljarbo, the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts 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 banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
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