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+Blog Book Tour+ The Tilted World by Tom Franklin & Beth Ann Fennelly #histfic

Posted Tuesday, 8 July, 2014 by jorielov , , , , 4 Comments

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The Tilted World by Tom Franklin & Beth Ann Fennelly

The Tilted World by Tom Franklin & Beth Ann Fennelly

Published By:William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
10 June 2014 (reprint – paperback edition)
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers ()
Author PagesTom Franklin & Beth Ann Fennelly @ Mississippi Writers & Musicians
Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback & Ebook
Page Count: 336

Converse on Twitter via: #TheTiltedWorld, #TomFranklin, & #BethAnnFennelly

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Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Tilted World” virtual book tour through TLC  Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher William Morrow, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

The premise of the story itself appealed to me, but truly what captured my heart and attention about this particular story was the book review posted by Max Winter on Los Angeles Review of Books. Talk about centering one’s attention around a story and the characters within the story in such a way as to illuminate The Tilted World in a tangible and cohesive way to warrant you to itch to read its chapters for yourself! I could not wait to sign up for the blog tour after reading this particular review, because I felt inspired by the words in which Winter imparted on the novel’s behalf as much as the attention he gave to the writers who penned the tale itself. It truly is a review that captures the joy of reading and the blessings of finding stories which capture our attention. The kind of review I always hope I am able to write myself, and thereby, inspire others to read the stories which instill a fond memory inside my heart for having found them.

I had found this title through my local library prior to being selected for the tour, however, I never did have the properly chance to check the book out! I simply like giving a nod to my library for being a constant source of inspiration of where I find new authors and new stories to read!

Book Synopsis:

Set against the backdrop of the historic flooding of the Mississippi River, The Tilted World is an extraordinary tale of murder and moonshine, sandbagging and saboteurs, and a man and a woman who find unexpected love, from Tom Franklin, the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, and award-winning poet Beth Ann Fennelly

The year is 1927. As rains swell the Mississippi, the mighty river threatens to burst its banks and engulf everything in its path, including federal revenue agent Ted Ingersoll and his partner, Ham Johnson. Arriving in the tiny hamlet of Hobnob, Mississippi, to investigate the disappearance of two fellow agents who’d been on the trail of a local bootlegger, they are astonished to find a baby boy abandoned in the middle of a crime scene.

Ingersoll, an orphan raised by nuns, is determined to find the infant a home, and his search leads him to Dixie Clay Holliver. A strong woman married too young to a philandering charmer, Dixie Clay has lost a child to illness and is powerless to resist this second chance at motherhood. From the moment they meet, Ingersoll and Dixie Clay are drawn to each other. He has no idea that she’s the best bootlegger in the county and may be connected to the agents’ disappearance. And while he seems kind and gentle, Dixie Clay knows full well that he is an enemy who can never be trusted.

When Ingersoll learns that a saboteur might be among them, planning a catastrophe along the river that would wreak havoc in Hobnob, he knows that he and Dixie Clay will face challenges and choices that they will be fortunate to survive. Written with extraordinary insight and tenderness, The Tilted World is that rarest of creations, a story of seemingly ordinary people who find hope and deliverance where they least expect it—in each other.

Author Biographies:Tom Franklin

Tom Franklin is the award-winning and New York Timesbestselling author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, which was nominated for nine awards and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association’s Gold Dagger Award. His previous works include Poachers, whose title story won the Edgar Award, as well as Hell at the Breech and Smonk. The winner of a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship, he teaches in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program.

Beth Ann Fennelly

Beth Ann Fennelly has won grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and United States Artists, as well as a Fulbright grant to travel to Brazil. Her honors include the Kenyon Review Prize and three inclusions in The Best American Poetry. She has published three volumes of poetry as well as a work of nonfiction, Great with Child. She directs the University of Mississippi’s MFA program, where she was named the 2011 Outstanding Teacher of the Year.

Beth Ann and Tom live in Oxford, Mississippi, with their three children.

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The Southern States and Mid-West during the 1920s:

Etched into the background of the novel, is the discourse and disillusionment of the 1920s era of socioeconomic differences between the classes. From seeing points of view of the federal agents operating under Hoover’s arm of command (prior to his Presidency, I had not realised he was what I would consider one of the first officials to take charge in a manner that is representative of what we now call FEMA) to the sweeping arc of seeing the everyday world of farmers, bootleggers, and every person in-between caught between the Mississippi and higher ground. The prejudicial views between cultural backgrounds are also fully present, as they would be as the Civil Rights era was still a ways off into the future. It was a time of distrust and a discrepancy of honour, as there are murmurings of agents on the take and of back-end deals that would disrupt the integrity of law and order.

What I appreciated the most is the manner in which everything is depicted and given a true voice to the era in which the story is set. The authors found a way to relay the fullness of the time without making you feel the heavy weight of the research. The bits they worked into the background aide the reader’s impression of the time and help paint the picture for those of us without relatives who either survived the flood or remembered its aftermath.

My review of The Tilted World:

The opening of the story is hitch-tailed to an all-out flash and dash shoot-out between two of the main lead characters: Jesse and Dixie Clay Holliver (a whipper snapper of woman if I ever laid eyes on in a novel) and two federal agents! She has the rapid fire intensity of a Southerner mixed in with a taste of moxie only a moonshining bootlegger of a woman would dare attribute to her list of qualities! She keeps calm under intense pressure of stress fused to a situation that does not bend nor yield to a positive outcome. Her husband Jesse, on the other hand, is a stick of dynamite that has less sense inside his head than a hound dog! He simply acts on impulse, lacks remorse and has no empathy for another life if given the chance to save his own skin. The two are a motley mix to be perfectly straight and frank, but fit within the manner in which the story is told through the writer’s vision that draws you into a story as complex and layered as this one is moulded!

I have always had a keen eye on Southern Literature (i.e. either literary exploits like this one OR Southern Gothic in nature), and this one by far captures the full essence of why I appreciate the category within its realm. On the one hand you have people living as best they can on the outskirts of the law, and on the opposite side you have the law itself, in the form of federal agents attempting to keep order whilst dealing with the lawbreakers who for all their quirks and sins, have captured your attention to hear their story straight til the concluding chapters! There is always going to be heavy drama against the backdrop of displacement and angst associated with natural disasters, but what I always worried about myself was the level of violence, looting, and absence of propriety during the time when it would be wiser to draw closer together as neighbours and aide each other through the worst bits still yet to come. To come together as a community rather than stand divided against each other on political or social grounds that in the end won’t add up to much if the loss of land and life outweighs the injustice of division.

I will admit, I had never heard of the Mississippi Flood of 1927 prior to my reading of The Tilted World, which struck me as a bit odd as I have always been rather keen on researching natural disasters and understanding climate change and the environmental impacts on a shifting global climate on a larger scale. Of course, truth be known until I saw back-to-back tornado documentaries on The Weather Channel this Spring, I had missed a few key storm systems, including the footage from the 1920s and 1930s which destroyed parts of the Northeast & New England states. I find that when it comes to climate and weather patterns, none of us truly know the full wrath of nature until the storm is upon us and the waters start to recede.

The murder and violence which erupts out of desperation runs counter-current to the drama unfolding for Dixie Clay (as she is commonly referred), who is running head-on into a situation quite beyond her control. The foreboding presence of the  natural world is a key element and nearly a narrator to the story. I appreciate the rooted presence of the beguiling skies and the approaching Mississippi; it gives way to understanding how fragile and how insufficient we are when it comes to the natural world and the cycles of its rhythms. There is a complete surprise sequence in the middle of the mayhem that truly warmed my heart, as is typically the plot twist I’d suspect to find inside a Romance novel (i.e. by ChocLitUK or Heartsong Presents): a brute and strong man finds his heart melts as soon as he meets a wee babe without a house, a home, or a family! I loved the sequences in which separated the federal agents: Ted Ingersoll and Ham Johnson – where one went to secure the flood zone from a supposed murderer on the lamb, the other went to sort out the affairs of the baby they found in the middle of the crime scene! That action by Ingersoll took him on a haphazard journey towards realising that he could no more leave the babe he nicknamed ‘Junior’ (after finding out his gender by way of changing his nappy!) at an orphanage than he could leave his roan in the mud!

Quite a classic scene in the early bits of the novel is when Ingersoll saunders rain-soaked down to his shins, covered in mud and muck, with an infant at his chest into what we would refer to as a General Mercantile with an attached Soda Fountain café with a bewildered expression that begged for help to secure his needs. He plucked out a bit of the money Hoover had given him to take the journey towards Hobnob and spent it on securing a better future for Junior. My own mind flitted back towards Dixie Clay and how she was suffering from postpartum depression from the loss of her own babe Jacob. Call me crazy, or maybe I’ve read a few too many romances in my time, but I thought to myself as the scene was setting up for Ingersoll and Junior, wouldn’t that make a mighty fine resolution to Dixie Clay’s situation? She’s a Mum-to-Be who lost her wee child too fast and too tragically. A woman in her early twenties without much of a prospect of a life outside of hard work and depressing living conditions with a husband who chases skirts and forgets he’s even married. Perhaps not the most ideal match, I grant you, but I had a hankering of a feeling the writers might spin this tale into a bit of a redemptive arc and give Dixie Clay a second chance at life, motherhood, and love.

I positively adore finding stories where men who otherwise are engaged into their careers would not even consider they were ready to become parents suddenly find themselves in the custody and care of a child! The way in which they approach the situation and how they handle the onslaught of emotions and conflicting beliefs of whether or not they feel befit to raise a child never loses its hold on my heart. I love seeing how unexpected circumstances give a ‘second view of life’ to someone who never thought they would have any life outside their respective job of choice. To see how their life would be different as a father, especially is a joy for a reader who loves how these kind of stories knit together. In this way, I was overjoyed with the passages Franklin & Fennelly stitched into “The Tilted World” on behalf of Ingersoll and Junior.

By the time I reached Chapter 14 & Chapter 15, my feelings of the novel started to shift and turn against the story as I was thinking of the tale heading in one direction only to arrive in one I was hoping against. The earlier chapters where Dixie Clay was describing her life and starting to piece together a life for her and Willy (Junior’s adopted name), I felt were the strongest parts knitting the story together and bringing forward a chance for Ingersoll and Dixie to come together. In the back of my mind, however, I knew that Jesse was a character who was as evil as the pitch of night, and that he might not be the type to simply let her walk out of his life, much less leave with her life in tact.

Dixie Clay’s life was not the kind of life most fathers would have wanted for their daughters, but her story reminded me of the women who find themselves trapped inside of a life they did not realise they had married into either. She was smarter than she felt, but she did not always make the right choices at the right moments to escape the heartache and the violence her husband would cast upon her without mercy. The rest of the story ebbed away from me, as I simply felt a bit disconnected from the remaining chapters of the story. For me, the better part of the story involved the second chance Dixie Clay and Ted Ingersoll had at having a life which involved love and the care of a child they both have fallen in love with the first moment they met him. The bits I struggled with were the menacing factors attributed to Jesse and his ill-plans for the towne he was attempting to destroy whilst erasing every inch of his life with Dixie Clay. The Mississippi true to its natural strength plays a strong role in how everything ties together and how wicked events can turn when acted upon out of hate and spite.

On the dual writing styles of a husband & wife team:

Tom Franklin & Beth Ann Fennelly co-write The Tilted World in such a way as to allow the reader to jettison into the Deep South, the Mississippi Delta region, and portions of the Mid-West as though we were alighting our shoes and feet during those epic days and nights awaiting for the floodwaters to crest and overtake our very own lands in 1927! The way in which they indued the setting and the swirling nightmaric event yet to come is a credit to their understanding of Southern Literature and the elements in which drift us back through time itself. They very much understand the subtlety of prose interwoven with narrative, and their ability to shine a light on a catastrophic event with the keen insight of the counter-culture affecting the tides of the people whose lives hang in the balance is rather brilliant!

The entire time I was reading The Tilted World, all I could think about was Clarkesville, Missouri a towne that was told there wasn’t enough resources (i.e. money) to battle the approaching flood-waters. They were very much on their own. A towne whose Mayor full of grief knew what that declaration would mean to her towne and to the people who lived there. We are still living through soul-wrecking natural disasters which are going to test not only our resolve but our strength as a nation. To not only survive, but to find ways to help each other without leaving anyone behind or without the resources for aide. I also recollected the efforts Fargoians gave to help stop the Red River from overtaking both Fargo (North Dakota) and Moorhead (Minnesota) not so long ago from today. We have a surge of bravery inside us, but nature is going to continue to test our will and our fortitude. We need to find ways to better prepare ourselves for what is going to become imminently devastating and minimalise the aftereffects.

 A small notation about vulgarity and the stronger language used proportionally throughout the text: as I consider this particular title to be held within the arena of literary fiction, there is a small measure of grace given for the inclusion of strong language, esp considering the time frame in which the story is set, the degree of the extreme events depicted, and the mindset of the characters who are reflecting their true natures within the context of the story’s arc. None of the blights of language used within the text affected me, because at the rare moments a word was said or used, it fit the subjective nature of the sentence or paragraph, did not alter or takeaway the narrative voice, and was realistically representative of the story. My only grave concerns on this particular topic of vulgarity is when it is used to shock or to jolt a reader out of the context of a story, or used surreptitiously without foundation. In this case, the writers owned the essence of their setting, the manner in which their style eludes to the greater horror of the historic flood, and conveyed their characters with honour. 

I also purposely did not mention the hurricane which destroyed the Gulf States in 2005. I believed it was quite apparent how this epic flood in 1927 was a precursor to Katrina and that mentioning it was not necessary. Afterall, none of us who live in this region will ever forget the storm, whether we were directly or indirectly impacted by its wrath. I personally still remember being on the road and interacting with survivors as much as the men and women who came into the region to provide aide, resources, and a sense of normalcy when the world was once again upturnt. What did surprise me is that this particular flood was not mentioned in any of the stories I listened too during Katrina, nor was it referenced after 2005. I am quite gobsmacked how this part of history seems to have disappeared from view and mind, like the writers hint at inside their Author’s Note.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comThis Blog Tour Stop is courtesy of TLC Book Tours:

TLC Book Tours | Tour HostFun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comVirtual Road Map of “The Tilted World” Blog Tour:

Thursday, June 12th: Cruising Susan Reviews

Thursday, June 19th: I’d Rather Be At The Beach

Friday, June 27th: The Relentless Reader

Monday, June 30th: Kritters Ramblings

Wednesday, July 2nd: Books on the Table

Thursday, July 3rd: Anita Loves Books

Monday, July 7th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Tuesday, July 8th: Jorie Loves a Story

Wednesday, July 9th: A Bookworm’s World

TBD: Unabridged Chick

Please visit my Bookish Events page to stay in the know for upcoming events!

{SOURCES: Book cover for “The Tilted World”, Author Biography, Author Photograph, and Book Synopsis  were provided by TLC Book Tours and used with permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Buy links on Scribd excerpt are not affiliated with Jorie Loves A Story. Book Excerpt was able to be embedded due to codes provided by Scribd.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

Related Articles:

After the Deluge – (smithsonianmag.com)

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Posted Tuesday, 8 July, 2014 by jorielov in 20th Century, Adoption, African-American History, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Bookish Discussions, Bootleggers & Smugglers, Crime Fiction, Domestic Violence, Family Life, Historical Fiction, Historical Perspectives, History, Library Find, Life Shift, Literary Fiction, Mississippi River, Natural Disasters & Catastrophic Events, Orphans & Guardians, Prohibition, Scribd, Small Towne Fiction, The Deep South, the Mississippi Flood of 1927, The Natural World, TLC Book Tours, Vulgarity in Literature, Writing Style & Voice

+Blog Book Tour+ Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

Posted Thursday, 12 June, 2014 by jorielov , , , 2 Comments

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Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

Mrs. Poe Virtual Tour via HFVBT

Published By: Gallery Books ()
(an imprint of
Simon & Schuster: ), 1 April, 2014 (paperback edition)
Official Author Websites: Site | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Available Formats:  Hardback, Paperback, E-Book
Page Count: 352

Accomplishments Thus Far:

Great Reads of 2013 –NPR
Books That Make Time Stand Still –Oprah.com
Editor’s Pick—The Historical Novels Review
Best Books of 2013—Atlanta Magazine
Indie Next List Pick

Converse on Twitter: #MrsPoeBlogTour  OR #MrsPoe

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Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Mrs. Poe” virtual book tour through HFVBT: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from publisher Gallery Books, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Curiosity Inspired Me to Read:

I actually requested to be placed on this blog tour originally, as I had heard of this book previously and was always fascinated by the premise! I wasn’t into Edgar growing up, but then, I sort of became curious about him in my twenties!? And, of course I adore *biographical fiction*! I even devoted an entire A to Z challenge post all about it! (Jorie’s Letter B) I am also finding creative new ways to blog about the books I am reviewing to garnish new interest in my book reviews! Not to mention I undertook the A to Z to be a bit of an ‘introduction’ to who I am as a book blogger! A project that I am still keen to continue writing once I sort out how to convey my thoughts for F through Z!

On the level of Poe, I think I spoke rather well about where my curiosity arose on the Interview for this blog tour:

When I first saw the blog tour for “Mrs. Poe” arrive on the dockets for Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I was quite hopeful that I might secure a spot on the blog tour! And, I knew if I had, I would be more than compelled to enquiry a bit into the back-story of the novel itself as well as ask questions that would go a bit into the disparaging differences between the Edgar Allan Poe I grew up knowing as the true ‘Poe’, and the Poe, of whom is only recently (after apparently 150+ years of ill-begotten truths tainted our minds) has emerged as quite the dapper Dan (in appearance) and a wholly new Poe by personality! His measurement as a writer and of a man, have completely changed in my eyes and that was *before!* I ever breathed one word of the novel by Ms. Cullen! 

– quoted from the Interview I gave on behalf of Ms. Cullen author of Mrs. Poe

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Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen (excerpt) by Simon and Schuster

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Book Synopsis:

A vivid and compelling novel about a woman who becomes entangled in an affair with Edgar Allan Poe—at the same time she becomes the unwilling confidante of his much-younger wife.

It is 1845, and Frances Osgood is desperately trying to make a living as a writer in New York; not an easy task for a woman—especially one with two children and a philandering portrait painter as her husband. As Frances tries to sell her work, she finds that editors are only interested in writing similar to that of the new renegade literary sensation Edgar Allan Poe, whose poem, “The Raven” has struck a public nerve.

She meets the handsome and mysterious Poe at a literary party, and the two have an immediate connection. Poe wants Frances to meet with his wife since she claims to be an admirer of her poems, and Frances is curious to see the woman whom Edgar married.

As Frances spends more and more time with the intriguing couple, her intense attraction for Edgar brings her into dangerous territory. And Mrs. Poe, who acts like an innocent child, is actually more manipulative and threatening than she appears. As Frances and Edgar’s passionate affair escalates, Frances must decide whether she can walk away before it’s too late…

Set amidst the fascinating world of New York’s literati, this smart and sexy novel offers a unique view into the life of one of history’s most unforgettable literary figures.

Author Biography:Lynn Cullen

Lynn Cullen grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the fifth girl in a family of seven children. She learned to love history combined with traveling while visiting historic sites across the U.S. on annual family camping trips. She attended Indiana University in Bloomington and Fort Wayne, and took writing classes with Tom McHaney at Georgia State. She wrote children’s books as her three daughters were growing up, while working in a pediatric office and later, at Emory University on the editorial staff of a psychoanalytic journal. While her camping expeditions across the States have become fact-finding missions across Europe, she still loves digging into the past. She does not miss, however, sleeping in musty sleeping bags. Or eating canned fruit cocktail. She now lives in Atlanta with her husband, their dog, and two unscrupulous cats.

Lynn Cullen is the author of The Creation of Eve, named among the best fiction books of 2010 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and as an April 2010 Indie Next selection. She is also the author of numerous award-winning books for children, including the young adult novel I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter, which was a 2007 Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers” selection, and an ALA Best Book of 2008. Her novel, Reign of Madness, about Juana the Mad, daughter of the Spanish Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand, was chosen as a 2011 Best of the South selection by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and was a 2012 Townsend Prize finalist. Her newest novel, MRS. POE, examines the fall of Edgar Allan Poe through the eyes of poet Francis Osgood.

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New York in 1845:

The blackened viewing of New York City in the mid-19th Century does not surprise me, because most of the larger metro cities during the same era were full of wretched realities for the working class. I am not even sure how anyone fared well living amongst the filth and the grit of what would be visible on the streets, much less what could be smelt in the air. Cullen paints a true black picture of a reality that can be seen as it shines out of her narrative, giving New York City’s backdrop a character narrative it its own.

I was delighted how the everyday muck and interesting bits of ordinary life were spun into life by the pen of Cullen, who had a true knack for descriptive narrative to propel the reader directly into the light of the scenes. Even if the scene was featured in the background rather than the foreground, as a sweeping arc of giving the narrative depth, what I appreciated was the level of realism stitched into those words whose paragraphs held bewitching choices of word and phrase. She had a way of saying something Osgood might be thinking, but in a way which conveyed the scene of which was before Osgood’s own eyes as she traversed through her everyday environment. In this, we are given a closer pull and tug towards this specific bracket of elapsed time between Poe and Osgood, almost as though our time travel experience was set on a singular slice of time and not a second more.

Fly in the Ointment: The bit that surprised me the most is the art on the cover art of the novel itself: where I had first felt the woman was either Mrs. Poe directly (as to being Edgar’s actual wife) or Frances Osgood, I was a bit disappointed to have learnt through the disclosure of its materials that the frame and the woman were stock images used to compile the theme of the novel. I felt for sure that perhaps historical photographs might have been found through research and then, used to paint a realism of who the story unfolds to encompass. However, I sadly am finding there is a shift with publishers to use more stock images and less original sources of art. Even if an illustrator could have created a likeness to Osgood, I think I might have preferred that over a stock image of a woman who could seemingly ‘fit’ inside the era of the story’s heart.

Perhaps I am simply a reader who is growing tired of being tricked and fooled by cover art that may or may not have a connection to the story underneath the pages it is attached.

My Review of Mrs. Poe:

I found myself betwixt and at ease whilst setting into the atmosphere of Mrs. Poe, due to the beguiling bent of mischievous intrigue woven into the fabric of the opening chapters. Here, I am lamenting on the level of stepping inside the folds of where time intersects with Edgar Allan Poe and Frances Osgood, at a point of a place in New York where the two writers would become ill-fated to draw a close match of wills towards each other. Their story envelopes you into their innermost nooks of thought and sanctum of writerly enclave to broach a dialogue of thought which extends out of history’s timeline.

The finger pulse of Osgood outing Poe on behalf of The Raven was quite fetching of her character, because it is Osgood who comes out strong and viable in this story, moreso than Poe, of whom is a counterpart compliment of her own search for literary freedom. The choices she had to contend with as a married woman with a louse of a husband would make any modern woman shudder – for her was not a choice of will, but one of propriety which determined her worth. Worth which could only be bartered against her willingness to pen what her heart was not always willing to concede. I liked the conversation she had with her daughters about the poem, because it etched alive in my own mind what I found so vexing about the poem myself! It was surely not what I had forethought it would be! How clever the full scope of its measure is included in the opening bits of the novel! It takes on a lifeblood of its own as the story progresses, and if anything becomes a measuring stick for Osgood to assert her own voice in ink to compete with Poe himself.

Osgood comes across as a woman who is determined to right her own sails and make her way in the world on her own means. She was given a hand that dealt her against her society’s provisions of acceptability when her husband walked out and left her in the wake of two small girls and the edge of propriety’s mirror peering into her soul. Rallying a force from inside she knew not the strength, she continued to chin up the courage to draw a breath of creativity through her pen, and ink stories which would sell a handsome income. Likewise, Poe on the other hand is an affable bloke of whom you are endeared due to his cautious and conscience nature towards his young bride-wife, who is afflicted and sickly. His loving kindness towards her and his awkward way of acknowledging Osgood paint a different portrait than the one of a writer I was most determined not to read during my own lifetime.

Having read and learnt of the literary salons of Paris whilst reading Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, I was pleasantly surprised by the tone of the private salon mentioned in this story, where Osgood would garnish her ability to learn without notice of others, and buckle down in strength to write what needed to be writ in order to survive on a wage that would allow her and her girls a bit of independence. Her friendship with Poe was by a strange fate of interlocking souls who creatively were equal to the other. She was attracted to Poe for the same reasons he was keen on her, to sense a recognition of understanding and of clarity of thought behind the outward appearance they each upheld to keep their place in society. A mask to allow each of them the grace of moving within the circles of their peers, yet always striving to step out of their circumstances. Neither willing to falter the illusion for the real connection they each shared, as their friendship blossomed during a crossroads they were each walking alone.

I enjoyed watching her mind draw a knitted brow of confliction, in wondering if the course she were to pursue would be worth any anguish in the long-term. Cullen writes a breadth of reflection and echoes Osgood vividly through her nuances of her character’s thoughtful mind, and culling process of teetering on which side of the line of right and wrong she wants to cross. I could have languished inside this ebb of life bubbling to the surface of the text, because inside the pages where Poe is interacting with Osgood, you start to notice a bit of a dance. A dance with two partners not always willing to keep distance, and yet, partners who appear to notice the shocking truth of where their feet wish to lead.

The hint and inclusion of other writers of the century’s prolific achievers were stitched into the backdrop, especially on behalf of the literary salon, which gained an element of joy for me. I enjoyed seeing which authors would intermingle with each other and the atmosphere of taking such different personalities and placing them aside one another. Although the story has a heart of depth, it is truly centered in its telling tale of two hearts betwixt with each other during a point in their lives where neither was free to be entwined. The subtle notions of their lives, the small attachments of their spirits, and their uncanny way of understanding before words were broached aloud is what drew me instantly into their story. This is a story that warms itself into your mind’s eye, for favour of reading the subtleties of life and how within those hidden moments, we all must decide which way our next course of action is meant to be.

My thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe:

Being this is the first time I have allowed myself to drink in the words of “The Raven” by Poe, I must confess, that what I was thinking I’d find inside the poem was most amiss of my attention and what laid bare inside took me by quite a happy surprise? Could I have been lead to believe one variation of Poe’s legacy over the truer nature of his gifts leading towards another ending of museful thoughts? I find that the Poe in which I was taught to know throughout the years I spent in lower grades at school did a most disserviceable disfavour towards allowing me to perceive Poe as he were rather than the Poe of whom everyone broached an acquaintance of. In this way, I think the impressions of how we perceive those of the literary past and those of whom are of the literary past can blur and blind us from the truth, if we were only given a marginal opening perception of who they were whilst they lived. In this particular instance, having found through the interview of Ms. Cullen I previously posted that Poe was marginalised and erased from an authentic true reality of his living years from the annals of history, I find myself besotted with a sorrow for the years in whence I could have spent knowing of his other writings. Giving myself the joy of knowing his truer self and revealing the legacy he would have preferred to have left behind in earnest.

Poe is most certainly not the first bloke whose memory has been asconed and defaced by a person who’d rather have control over the populist perception of their living reality, but to what disadvantage is served by not to bring forward the information which upturnt the prior legacy with the truth of the what scholars have unearthed? And, why then does it take such a long grievous of time to rectify what was already a blight on one man’s soulful truth? I was processing the 150+ mentioning of time elapsed between the Poe who lived and the Poe of whom we were tainted to be appalled and abhorred. Whole generations of readers were befuddled and bemuddled by one man’s ghastly take on another man’s dreams. That is the greater interest of mine. Of rectifying my own perception of a writer I truly never knew and allowing myself the grace in knowing there is still time in the clock-piece to visit with Poe.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comThis Book Review is courtesy of:

Mrs. Poe Virtual Tour via HFVBT

Monday, May 19
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, May 20
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, May 21
Interview & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, May 22
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Friday, May 23
Review at A Bookish Affair

Monday, May 26
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, May 27
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, May 28
Review at Turning the Pages

Friday, May 30
Review at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Monday, June 2
Review at Let Them Read Books
Review & Giveaway at Book Lovers Paradise

Tuesday, June 3
Review at Kelsey’s Book Corner
Guest Post & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, June 4
Review & Giveaway at Reading Lark

Thursday, June 5
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Friday, June 6
postponed due to illness*Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Interview & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection

Monday, June 9
Review at Historical Tapestry

Wednesday, June 11
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Tapestry

Thursday, June 12
Interview & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Friday, June 13
Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, June 16
Review at Unabridged Chick
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews

Tuesday, June 17
Review & Interview at Layered Pages
Interview & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, June 18
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comas I am happily honoured to be a blog tour hostess for:

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours - HFVBTPlease visit my Bookish Events page to stay in the know for upcoming events!

Previously I interviewed Ms. Cullen on this blog tour & enjoyed what I learnt on Poe!

As this book has been released for awhile now, what was the greatest takeaway you learnt whilst reading about Edgar Allan Poe & Frances Osgood!? What surprised you the most about the nature of their characters and of how the story revealed itself within the narrative? Were you a dedicated appreciator of Poe OR did you come into the story completely without prior knowledge such as I had?

{SOURCES: Book cover for “Mrs. Poe”, Author Biography and Book Synopsis  were provided by HFVBT – Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers & My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Buy links on Scribd excerpt are not affiliated with Jorie Loves A Story. Book Excerpt was able to be embedded due to codes provided by Scribd.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Thursday, 12 June, 2014 by jorielov in 19th Century, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Edgar Allan Poe, Fly in the Ointment, Frances Osgood, Geographically Specific, Gothic Literature, Gothic Poetry, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, New York City, Scribd

*Blog Book Tour*: Illuminations by Mary Sharratt

Posted Friday, 1 November, 2013 by jorielov , , 1 Comment

Parajunkee Designs

Illuminations: {A novel of Hildegard von Bingen} by Mary Sharratt

Iluminations by Mary Sharratt Book Tour HFVBT
Published ByHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, 9 October, 2012
Published By: Mariner Books, 15 October, 2013 [paperback edition]
Official Author Websites: Sharratt on Facebook; Sharratt on Twitter;
Personal Website and Blog.
Available Formats: Paperback, Hardback, and E-Book
Page Count: 288

Acquired Book By: Winning a contest adverted through “Shelf Awareness for Readers” bi-weekly newsletter, October 2012. I received the hardcover book direct from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt without obligation to post a review. When I started to work with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I made a request to join this book tour, as due to different reasons I have not yet had the pleasure of reading this book! I thought it would be lovely to participate in a blog book tour on behalf of a book I was rather intrigued to start reading! I was thankful to be selected to participate on the tour! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts herein.

Original Interest to Read: I originally had discovered the author and the book on Book Browse prior to seeing the contest on Shelf Awareness. I was swept away by the research, the passion, and the dedication Sharratt enfused into the book “Illuminations” as it was not only a historical biography of a woman very few of us would have uncovered without her efforts, but it felt like a living testament of how the strength of a woman can make a marked change on the world around her. I have always celebrated the lives of women who stand up for social injustice as well as indoctrinated wrongs that others’ might be too passive to attack themselves. As women, we’re given a beautiful gift of being able to use our enlightened minds for the power of positive change, and I felt as I read the synopsis and words on this book, that that is exactly the type of story that would envelope me if I read Hildegard’s story.

Design HMary SharrattAuthor Biography:

The author of four critically acclaimed historical novels, Mary Sharratt is an American who lives in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, the setting for her acclaimed Daughters of the Witching Hill, which recasts the Pendle Witches of 1612 in their historical context as cunning folk and healers. She also lived for twelve years in Germany, which, along with her interest in sacred music and herbal medicine, inspired her to write Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen. Illuminations won the Nautilus Gold Award for Better Books for a Better World and was selected as a Kirkus Book of the Year.

Book Synopsis:

Skillfully weaving historical fact with psychological insight and vivid imagination, Illuminations brings to life one of the Illuminations by Mary Sharrattmost extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.

Offered to the Church at the age of eight, Hildegard was expected to live in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned, disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim. But Hildegard rejected Jutta’s masochistic piety, rejoicing in her own secret visions of the divine. When Jutta died, Hildegard broke out of her prison, answering the heavenly call to speak and write about her visions and to liberate her sisters. Riveting and utterly unforgettable, Illuminations is a deeply moving portrayal of a woman willing to risk everything for what she believed.

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Out of Darkness and Anguish,…

The opening bits of Illuminations, is guttingly honest and real, as Hildegard is in her elder years of seventy on the brink of eighty, whilst on the precipice of a vengeful storm requiring sufferance! Her longanimity of the impeding darkness that is about to swirl around herself and the daughters’ in her charge is of impeccable clarity! How she endeavoured to have the forethought to circumvent the discretion of a buried soul with the full knowledge of how severely the act would affect her, is beyond comprehension; except to say, her raw courage was fully illumine from a source greater than the wrath of man! The quotation that Sharratt used as preface to Chapter One, taken from Hildegard’s own writings on how she foresaw the Feminine Divine is stirringly moving to the point of feeling an inward sense of calm. Which you reflect upon whilst reading where we enter her life at such an arduous time that bespeaks a greater evocable merit of trust. I had a forbearance of knowing, that her humble protection of humanity will become the forefront of her life.

Her solitude of being cast into a brick tiered wall of the Anchorite chamber made me lament about how at such a young age of eight she was sent into darkness to seek out the light. Her anguish for losing her innocence and childhood vexed her as she grew accustomed to being shrouded in a tomb. Her only outside contact was through a grate and a window on high that allowed in bits of the outside world through its portal. I wondered how she fought her discourse to crave into an inward spiral and instead, constantly found the ability to dig deeper and seek out the light. I think if she had not been blessed with the orbs (visions), she might have lost herself in that dark space whilst she spent her young years on a sojourn for learning and knowledge. Her life lessons came to her abruptly at an age where most of us are still exploring our environments, testing the wills of independence, and finding our voice, confidence, and the path of interest we wish to walk as we age.

To illumine the mind and strengthen the spirit,…

I have always known of the interconnectedness of humanity, the natural world, and the realm behind the veil of this world which is the gateway to spirit world. Each of us is connected to each other and to what is not yet understood though believed to be in existence on faith alone. What I appreciated about reading Hilegard’s story is that she is touching on the elemental truths that each spiritual person comes to realise and accept: the circle of life and of time, the abundance of the interlocking connections, and how we are only in the infancy of our understandings of the greater whole that we strive to obtain whilst we walk Earth.

By examining her life through this biographic exposition, we are striving to become closer to understanding what she came to understand herself. Each of us are given gifts in life to share and pass down, small legacies of goodwill, hope, peace, love, charity, and grace. We tap into where our lifepath is leading us whilst we are openly receptive to where we are being guided to go next. Hilegard was unique in this, as she viewed herself as a flawed human who made more mistakes than deemed repentable, and yet, she could not help acknowledge that she had become a vessel of truth, as chosen as her destiny to give others’ insight that they were not privy too. She reminds me of women I have heard about prior to her, who never felt they were good enough to be placed in a position of importance. How humbling it is then, to realise that these are the women and spiritual beings who are called upon to do the most good during their lifetime!? To ingenuate a plausibility of which most of us might forego or bypass whilst caught up in the clatterment of living our lives!?

A wordsmith of Divine Grace:

The words in which consume Illuminations, are set on a higher keeling of intellect, that draw the reader forward and back into a time whereupon the essence of explaining the Divine in singular breaths of words was not as readily forthright to convey, as it was a time in need of edifying the truth by which was shown to the limited few who could hear the Voice. Sharratt has undertaken a gift for channeling the words of which Hildegard herself might have used to express not only the experiences of her life, but of the time in which she lived. The story begins in 1177, set on the cusp between the 12th and 13th centuries, in a time of harrowing and clandestine turmoil. And, yet Sharratt has a way of speaking through the essence of Hildegard as though we can be transported back into her timescape, wholly aware of her surroundings, and seeing everything unfold as it once did for her. Including glimmerments of her internal thoughts and emotional angst. There are poetic ruminations throughout the text that draw you into the story and let’s your imagination not skip forward off the page your eyes are consuming.

Hilegard’s humbleness is infused with her fortitude, for not only being a woman in high regard in her abbey but to have reached an apex of celebrity amongst her peers in the Church and Orders, due to her gift for visionary prophecies. Her elucidate nature of being a woman who thinks before she speaks, and one who doesn’t falter in will when she is taken unawares proves that she internally had strengthened herself long ago in her younger years to be anchored to her faith.

Review of Illuminations:

Hilegard von Bingen was a Renaissance Woman ahead of her time, given the hour of her birth and the compass point of her life. Alongside da Vinci, she embarked on not only ascertaining a living truth of Latin and Religion, but of each interconnected subject and topic that would cross sect with an interest that was at the tip of importance for knowledge of what would become imparted to her through visionary grace. She was a formidable woman whose humble nature did not wish to extract her weaknesses, but rather shed light on them for what they were and to utilize her strengths when necessity demanded them.

As a young child growing up surrounded by the Crusades, she was given her first taste of the visions that would later set the course of her life. I was touched by how genuinely innocent they were and how frequent they would visit her, hoping to find a way for her to yield to her gift. I’d imagine that most youngsters at the age of five might rather attempt to ‘fit in’ than to be cast out as an enigma! For this, I musefully could understand her reasoning! How she drew upon a strength of resolve to survive her cast into an Anchorite Order at the age of eight, I do not readily know! Yet, she embodied a pure caste of curiosity, which strove for her to further her knowledge, and learn as much as her mind could encompass. In that regard, I believe her will to learn became her first saving grace whilst she was entombed as an Anchorite.

I was not quite prepared for how long her term as an Anchorite would last, as she was well into her mid-thirties when I realised just how long she had been in captivity! She even sacrificed her own freedom to save two young girls whose plight in life would have been doubly worse than had they joined her. My heart ached for all three of them, and for the fourth, Jutta who long ago had given up on living, wretched by a transgression made against her and blackened against all light and love. They had few moments of joy, but for the most part, their lives were endured by an endless see of ritual, rite, and prayer.

Hilegard’s inner resolve to find peace with her faith and with her lot in life is a testament to how we each struggle to make sense of the circumstances that arise that lay obstacles in our path. Each of us is walking our own path towards understanding, for where we are meant to live as much as how we are meant to live. Her solitude from the outside world provided her with wisdom that even she, I dare not think, could fully grasp or understand. She was given visions of knowledge that fall outside the realm of what we would regularly be led to see. Her maternal nature I think, is one of her greatest gifts, as she unearthed of all the attributes that we are bestowed it’s our ability to love and give love that counts the most on high.

In the midst of lost hope, she found liberty and justice. Her heart swelled for the freedom which she was finally granted to live as a proper nun, rather than an entombed Anchorite. I could relate to her attachment to the natural world and the calm balm of insight and mirth that walking in nature can give you. She found God’s light and joy nestled amongst the woods, herbs, and flowers. As much as basking in the glow of the warming sun. How I have oft found myself swept into warm embrace that walking in nature can afford! If we look keenly, we shall see His light wherever we turn.

Illluminations is an apt title to give this story, because it is also its central theme. The luminescent purity of God’s spoken word igniting itself into her mind, heart, and soul. And, yet, Illuminations also spoke to me of the whispers of truth and guidance that sometimes we try to sweep away, not willing to accept them for what they are and for the reason by which they were given to us. I think the best gift of her life is to remain true to ourselves, but yield to the will of God even if the path He is placing in front of us has its share of tribulations, it’s the bits we cannot yet see that come through on the other side of our discomfort that lead to our restitution.

A note of gratitude:

I am always fervently thankful for authors who conduct intensive research to breathe life into their stories with such an exquisite hand of probable narrative, that when you go to read a biographical fiction accountment of a life once lived, that there are enough pieces and fragments of the person etched into the text your reading. I am thankful to say, it would appear that Sharratt is one such writer who is happily consumed and entrenched in the work that goes into fortifying the story with historical remnants and facts. I haven’t read other biographies of Hilegard von Bingen, as this is the first book that tipped my hat of interest towards learning more about her, but the voice of Hilegard inside Illuminations is one that begs you to give her a chance to say her peace. She’s an unassuming woman whose faith tested her in ways that not all of us could have endured. She appears to have longed for a bit of normalcy even within the confines of her vows, which thankfully, if history and fact are correct in this account, she at least found a bit of that when the bricks of her hidden prison were taken down.

Sharratt gives you a lot to chew on whilst your reading, from the way in which she paints the visions to life, to the contemplations of the human spirit, the Divine Grace, and the elements of faith and spirituality itself. She gives you a hearty tome of reflection and presents a woman who lived in touch with the Feminine Divine. I marked this as “Inspirational Fiction” as I think it befits that declaration as much as “Historical Fiction” and “Biographical Fiction”, as religion and spirituality are at the core and heart of this story, yet the time in which she lived is so far removed from modern eras it’s historically inclined to be reflective of how we perceive the 12th Century through the modern lens we approach it by.

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“Illuminations” Book Trailer by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Converse About “Illuminations”
via the Discussion Guide:

[ IF you have read the book, I encourage you to open a conversation
in the comments section below!]

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt — Discussion Questions

by Houghton Miffton Harcourt

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The “Iluminations” Virtual Book Tour Roadmap:
  1. 14 October: Review @ The Maiden’s Court
  2. 15 October: Review (from 2012) Interview @ Unabridged Chick
  3. 16 October: Review @ Bitches with Books
  4. 17 October: Review @ Flashlight Commentary
  5. 17 October: Review @ A Bookish Libraria
  6. 18 October: Interview @ Flashlight Commentary
  7. 21 October: Review @ Book of Secrets
  8. 22 October: Review @ The Most Happy Reader
  9. 22 October: Review @ Book Lovers Paradise
  10. 23 October: Review @ Books, Belles, and Beaux
  11. 23 October: Review @ Confessions of an Avid Reader
  12. 24 October: Review @ Just One More Chapter
  13. 24 October: Guest Post @ Books, Belles, and Beaux
  14. 25 October: Interview @ Just One More Chapter
  15. 28 October: Review @ Bloggin’ bout Books
  16. 29 October: Review @ Griperangs Bookmarks
  17. 29 October: Guest Post @ HF Book Muse – News
  18. 30 October: Review @ Ageless Pages Reviews
  19. All Saint’s Day: Review @ Jorie Loves A Story
  20. All Saint’s Day: Review @ Broken Teepee
  21. 4 November: Review @ Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
  22. 5 November: Review @ The True Book Addict
  23. 5 November: Interview @ Erika Mailman Blog
  24. 6 November: Review @ CelticLady’s Reviews
  25. 6 November: Guest Post @ The True Book Addict
  26. 7 November: Review @ Oh, For the Hook of a Book!
  27. 8 November: Review @ History and Women
  28. 8 November: Interview @ Oh, For the Hook of a Book!
  29. 11 November: Review @ A Bookish Affair
  30. 11 November: Review @ Closed the Cover
  31. 12 November: Review @ vvb32reads
  32. 12 November: Guest Post @ A Bookish Affair
  33. 13 November: Review @ The Musings of ALMYBNENR
  34. 14 November: Review @ So Many Books, So Little Time
  35. 14 November: Feature @ Book-alicious Mama
  36. 15 November: Review @ Books in the Burbs
  37. 16 November: Book Spotlight @ Passages to the Past
IF you want to follow the conversation by Twitter, please tune into: #IlluminationsTour There is also a Twitter share button below this post for your convenience as well.

Be sure to scope out upcoming tours I will be hosting with:

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours - HFVBTon my Bookish Events Featured on JLAS

{SOURCES: Cover art of “Illuminations” as well as Mary Sharratt’s photograph and biography, the blog tour badge, and the logo banner for HFVBT were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. The book trailer by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as well as the discussion guide via Scribd had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it. Post dividers were provided by Shabby Blogs, who give bloggers free resources to add personality to their blogs. Blog tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. }

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

Related Articles:

Hildegard of Bingen – (en.wikipedia.org)

Polymath – (en.wikipedia.org)

Doctor of the Church – (en.wikipedia.org)

Primary Source Breaththrough! – Hilegard’s Letter to the Prelates of Mainz (symphonialisestanima.wordpress.com)

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Posted Friday, 1 November, 2013 by jorielov in 12th Century, Benedictine Abbess, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Book Browse, Christian Mystic, Composer, Early Middle Ages [the Dark Ages] (1001-1300), High Middle Ages (1000-1299), Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Nun, Philosopher, Polymath, Scribd, Shelf Awareness, Writer

A swirlment of folklore surging to life in New York City,… “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker, a debut novelist who captured my heart

Posted Wednesday, 17 July, 2013 by jorielov , , 13 Comments

Parajunkee DesignsThe Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Published by: HarperCollins PublishersApril 2013.

Page Count: 496 Converse on Twitter: #GolemandtheJinni

Borrowed Book By: My local library for which I am forever grateful in seeking out fantastical new writers, who pen brilliantly conceived worlds with the breath of a realm just past ours! I know one day I want this book to be amongst those treasured books in my personal library!

What captivated me to wish to drink in the narrative, whilst I discovered it amongst the stacks of books featured on Book Browse? I think it was the premise that sparked a curiosity that would only become quenched if I were to drink in the narrative. Sometimes I feel as though the books speak to me, in that, it’s the full effect of their presence,… from premise to cover art to the foreboding idea of what may lie beneath of the pages. I get a sense that I am drawn to certain titles moreso than others. You have to admit, to embark on an adventure that spans centuries and involves mystical and fantastical elements of magical proportions packs quite the appealment! Over on the author’s website, you will find a hearty excerpt, as well as bonus information on the neighbourhoods in New York City, as much as the characters which you can find on the right toolbar whilst your reading the excerpt! To seek out more information behind the scenes of the book, read the articles threaded through the Jewish Book Council.

 Read an Excerpt of the Novel:

The Golem and the Djinni – Helene Wecker extract by HarperCollinsPublishersUK

Inspired to Share: I think anytime you’re giving the gift of hearing an author speak about their book is a moment you do not want to bypass! I haven’t always been able to travel to book signings or author lectures, but through the availability of author interviews online, I am finding that I enjoy hearing in their own words why they choose a particular story to tell. Listen to hear Ms. Wecker speak about a book that is stitched close to her heart.

Interview with Helene Wecker, author of “The Golem and the Jinni”,

by HarperBooks, which is part of HarperCollins, the publisher.

This interview became a private video at some point between when I first shared it and now.
– February, 2022.

By the Time I reached Page 34: I had settled into the atmosphere of the setting and the presumption of knowing what I might be in for as the story progressed forward, as both the Golem and the Jinni had made their individual appearances. I was struck by similarities to other fantasy characters I had already become acquainted with, as with the Jinni I was reminded instantly of “Q”: the arrogantly curious omnipotence being who could not detach himself from humans due to his disgust with the simplicity of the species and the curious nature behind their innate humanity.

Two entities bound by an infinite level of what they can yield and achieve, yet struck down by boredom, impertinence, and impatience! {Q is a character from Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek”, a series of four tv serials and eight motion pictures by which I loved whilst growing up and continue to appreciate to this day! Q was portrayed by the incomparable John d’ Lancie who made him endearing to watch!} Whereas the Golem, took on a few hintings of Troi, {Another reference to Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek”.}, where the Golem struggled to deal with the voices she overheard whilst amongst humans, because she emphatically and telepathically was connected to their innermost thoughts and desires. Yet, reminded me more of Data, in the struggle towards being more human! Both entities shared the common element of being made by man and for man’s purposes, at least initially. Her ability to be self-aware and learn from her experiences also held Data in my mind as I began to know more of her character.

From there, as those were my initial points of reference to sink further into the world Ms. Wecker had created,… I was enjoying the references of cultural heritages, immigrations through Ellis Island, and noting the author’s use of the Five Elements, Plus One: the Golem {of Clay}, the Jinni {of Fire}, Humans {of Earth},… which led my mind to speculate a sequel involving Air and Water! And, how intriguing it would be to stitch all of this together! I was not even sure at first if this would be the type of story that I could comfortably sink myself into, as although I used to read quite a heap of science fiction and fantasy novels, it’s been half an age since I last picked one up! It’s always been my fervent intention, if not desire, to regain a passion for this part of literature, and as the words drenched through my eyes and permeated my imagination; I felt that for once, I might have stumbled across a way back into the genre I’ve ached for since I was seventeen! The very moment upon which the genre was vibrantly enticing, entirely new, and easily able to be read! It’s a wonderful moment for a reader to find their way back into a section of literature they once feared they’d have to abandon completely!

I Always Appreciate a Wordsmith: And, Ms. Wecker is amongst my favourites in this regard, because she chooses to entice your mind and imagination with a palette of textural rich incantations of literary narrative! She has the ability to write a viscerally stimulating setting set in distinctively enriched cultural neighbourhoods of New York City with a clarity that befools your mind into not realising we’re currently in the 21st Century whilst reading this book in hand! Your drawn back into the past, as the veils of time reveal a world where immigrants lived with a constant fear of not fitting in or being understood. Where they hoped to re-create a new life for themselves, but always questioned if they were succeeding. A world where you could either make it or break it based on the resolve and strength you carried within you when you travelled by boat to the New World.

I couldn’t drink in her narrative fast enough, and even then, I debated if I should be so very hungry and thirsty for the next page, because I didn’t want to run like lightning through such an enriched text! I wanted to linger as I absorbed the sights, sounds, and aromas of each neighbourhood and crevice of space that is shared with us. We take a journey alongside the characters, as we’re introduced to not only two remarkably unique characters, in the “Golem” herself and in the “Jinni” himself, but the passageways that led them to New York City. Oh how I appreciate a wordsmith who delicately weaves her tale into our mind’s eye with a bewitching vernacular!

Ruminatively Inclined to Muse About: The original necessity of conjuring a Golem and the mythlogical-mysticism surrounding the Jin! This book encompasses such haunting notions of a man-made creature brought to life from clay, though upon a bit of superficial digging into the origins of Golems, I learnt that they can be conjured from more than mere clay, but always by the hand of man, not God. In fact, that is a distinction that is proposed in the story itself, as how can a creature of man, be not only curious about God, but question how faith and religion plays a part in their existence as much as mankind? There are overlapping topics that draw a breath of digging deeper than mere folklore surging to life in a city that many are intrigued and fascinated by each year. The very essence of self-identity, self-awareness, faith, religion, ethnical heritage, cultural identity, self-worth, ethics and logic, good vs. evil, and the oldest of adages, best not to meddle in affairs that we are not meant to muddle into much less grasp! I appreciated the underpinnings of Jewish and Arabic mythologies interwoven into the plot, which I learnt by way of the interview posted here were inspired directly by Ms. Wecker’s own background and that of her husband’s! To cultivate a novel that gives a plausible thesis with a difficult resolution is one of literary brilliance.

A Lasting Impression: The Golem and the Jinni is a classic premise of star-crossed lovers who do not realise they’re meant to be in each other’s lives. The story is a play on Pride and Prejudice as well, as you become introduced to Ahmed {the Jinni} and Chava {the Golem}, they tend to take on counterparts of characters you might already love as I do. Yet, there are distinctive differences as well. I appreciated the fragility and flawed character of Chava, who despite all her best efforts and attempts to becoming a humanoid, she must render herself hinged to her nature as a Golem. This startling fact for her, is not a surprise to the reader as there are enough facts pointed out to this regard, but to read her reaction and her acceptance of this was done with a deft hand! Nature or Nurture is a heavily argued point to understand the underpinnings of one’s personality and traits of action. 

It’s not all whittled down into black and white principles or plausible scientific explanations either. This is a running play of acknowledging that even if you think you know a particular subject, there is always the possibility that the subject is going to surprise you, and take you to places you hadn’t yet fathomed to be true.

The Jinni, Ahmed is as arrogant as they come, determined to place himself superior above all others, even if his actions are a hazard to those he chooses not to attach himself too. He’s the complete opposite of Chava, who being an empathic being is well and fully aware of human emotions and the counter balance it takes to live amongst them. She is constantly aware of the consequences of both thought and action. Whereas Ahmed is more concerned with his own affairs and his own needs to even consider another person first. This tug of war between their character traits and the way in which they choose to live ultimately has a high price for those in their inner circles.

Each were set on a course to learn and grow out of their experiences in a place neither expected to be. They each succumb to their inherent natures, but I feel only one of them is able to change the other for the good. Because one of them is stronger than the other as far as knowing how to make good on what has been turned for the bad. Their journey leads not to a resolution of sorts to overcome their individual obstacles towards true freedom, but rather too a junction point that leads them to question everything they felt they knew thus far along. And, in that conclusion the reader has to sit back and ponder the true meaning behind “The Golem and the Jinni”, for was it a journey of theirs that you took or an inward journey of understanding the limitations of humanity?

 

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker,

Book Trailer by HarperBooks, which is part of HarperCollins, the publisher.

It Should Be Known: I am always excited by the curious peculiarities of the frequency of serendipitous discoveries! In the world of books, I can attest to having many an adventure of coming upon a book, a book that I might not yet feel a warming towards, only to become further entranced by its premise and the curious nature of ‘what I could find inside it’s pages’ to the brink that I simply MUST find a copy to give myself the ability to decide for myself, “Is this or is this not a book I am attracted too rather than simply being infatuated with?” Within the trailer, there is a brief cursory mentioning of “The Night Circus” and “A Discovery of Witches”,… the first was a book of interest the year it originally published although the reasoning behind ‘why’ I wanted to read it remained elusive; and the latter is a book I plucked off the shelf of the library on an ordinary ‘library run’ which led me to realise the author was soon to be featured on Booktalk Nation,… yet… the stars did not align for me. Not to read either book OR to participate in the Booktalk Nation event. Isn’t it curious then, that this book in particular, by which I was able to read at a moment I was most keen too, leads me back to these!?

Fly in the Ointment: I was most distracted by the scene [opening pages of Chapter Twelve] by which Chava returns to the Rabbi’s flat after he has passed on,… she runs into Michael, his nephew at the door, and the exchangement of dialogue felt out of context for what she would normally have said much less thought: it was too peculiar, as she seemed to ‘understand’ the process of a Jewish passing far more than she’s meant too, and the whole scene reeked of a displacement for me! It was nearly as if this was a part of a re-edit that went terribly wrong OR was not fully congealed to the rest of the story — I ran it through my mind and if it was left out completely, it wouldn’t have affected my understanding the flow of the story. After a second reading of the same scene, after having gone well past it’s section {nearly a quarter further into the story!}, I denoted what the main issue actually was! Chava was responding to Michael with the presumption that she was reading his thoughts, but there was an absence of his internal voice from this sequence of dialogue and narrative exchangements! That is precisely what I had picked up on, but hadn’t registered fully because I was too entranced to lament what stoked my ire! This small absence felt a jutting away from Chava’s character straight down to her personality traits and how she interacts with humans.

Cliffhanger Ending: I will admit, that I was twenty pages out when the book was recalled to the library, and I didn’t want to forsake my enjoyment of the story’s conclusion by rushing the pages and missing out on the experience! I never want to skip over dialogue or narrative for the sake of completing a novel, but at the very same time, I was betwixt what to do, as I felt for certain this book would be a ‘must read’ selection at the library! Imagine my gobsmacked expression when I learnt it was returning back with me! No one had placed a hold!? That was beyond shocking to me! I’ll admit, when I first picked up the book, as the initial pages started to prop up the images in my mind,… I wasn’t certain if I’d fully enjoy reading this story or if I would be too far afield in a narrative I was not used too.

Yet. At the ending chapters, I found myself moving into a place I wasn’t expecting to land: the quagmire of a cliffhanger! Perhaps its the optimist in me that hopes for a resolution that characters can live with OR either accept if the cards do not come to pass their way,… but to exit a novel such as this with a cliffhanger ending was not something I had surmised for myself! Sophia’s character had a mere passing of thought after her main appearance at a pivotal moment for the Jinni {which I will not reveal here as it’s too gutting to even think of spoilting it for a reader!}. And, then there is the Golem and the Jinni themselves who more or less are left with an ambiguous ending of this part of their journey! I closed the book half aghast at myself for being so properly irked! I felt a bit short-changed I suppose, because more than anything, I thought everything leading up to those pages was preparing me for the inevitable! Saleh I think had the easier path in the end, as he ultimately did find the peace he sought so hard to achieve. It’s Ahmed and Chava that I am concerned about, and wonder if my original ideas about Water and Air might play a part in what I hope will be a sequel? How can we forevermore not know the conclusion!? Surely there is a door to unlock this literary key!? Read More

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Posted Wednesday, 17 July, 2013 by jorielov in 19th Century, Author Interview, Book Browse, Book Trailer, Cliffhanger Ending, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Fly in the Ointment, Folklore and Mythology, Magical Realism, New York City, Scribd, Time Slip

Journey to Skye: slip into Elspeth’s shoes, one letter at a time,… “Letters from Skye” by Jessica Brockmole an epistolary novel which stitches into your heart

Posted Wednesday, 3 July, 2013 by jorielov , , , 4 Comments

Parajunkee Designs

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole
 Published By: Ballantine Books,
an imprint of Random House Publishing Group, 9 July 2013

Official Author Websites: Site | Twitter | Facebook
Page Count: 304

Converse via Twitter: #LettersFromSkye

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Acquired Book By: Book Browse First Impressions Programme: I received a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review on Book Browse, from the publisher Ballantine Books. Letters from Skye was amongst the offerings for May 2013, as this book will be published 9th of July 2013. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared therein or herein.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comWhat drew my eye to want to drink in this story: I am not sure about you, but whenever I read the premise of a novel on the flyleaf OR on the backside, I immediately start to assert an impression of what the story inside potentially will contain. “Letters from Skye” held within its synopsis a few key words that made me want to devour the story and step into Elspeth’s shoes! Those words and expressions of Ms. Brockmole’s voice which drew an inward breath of delight were as follows: atmospheric {a sense of a foreboding and mysterious presence or adventure}, poet on a remote Scottish island named Skye {gives a sense of solidarity and isolation, as much as a wind-swept glossing of natural beauty}, the time slip between World War I and World War II {a labyrinth of choices to explore and walk down}, a love bourne through and sustained by letters {for a correspondent, I nearly could not be patient enough to learn if I would receive this selection! i was thus determined to read it!}, and lastly, a disappearance that was unexpected. That last bit always lends itself to a deeper mystery and a deeper meaning of what the whole of the novel will encompass because people who exit abruptly from their lives are attempting to resolve a confliction in the past or present, in order to resolve their future.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comWhy I think they should leave the Editor’s Note as a foreword to novels: Previously I had been completely unaware of the nature of ARCs and of the differences that lay inside their printings. One of the obvious things to note is that there not final copies set for publication but rather instead uncorrected proofs by which still have a bit to go ahead of release! Therefore as you receive them, you start to notice the different ways each publisher chooses to market their author and the author’s work. Yet. They have this lovely addition that is always absent in the final copy that we see by way of libraries and bookshoppes, something you wouldn’t expect to hold such key secrets into the reason behind why the book was published OR the very stirring of what the editor felt when she or he first read the manuscript! This delightful insight is contained generally on the very first page of the ARC, so it’s an ARC’s reader’s first introduction to what their about to read.

Letters to Skye’s Editor’s Note spoke about the technologic shift in communication and how as our lives ebb forward and away from inter-personal communication {ie: letters by postal mail, meet-ups over coffee or tea, dinner parties, and other such venues where you’re committed to conversing directly with your conversationist companion} we are losing a vital piece of our humanity. I have oft spoke of this myself in my own friendship circles as much as my own community. I am paraphrasing her words and even adding in a bit of my own, but the essence of what she is lamenting about is if we’re not careful all of our interactions will become virtual and unspoken.

Even letters by postal mail have an intimacy and immediacy to them. They evoke a calling back to revealing our inner selves and most internal of thoughts in an open and accepting manner. They pull back the pretense and the uncertainty of acceptance we might face in person because of the format by which we are using to communicate. A letter is a transformative medium where we can be ourselves without the pre-occupation of noticing our insecurities. This is a general theme that is even carried out throughout the novel, as anyone who has ever been a correspondent will notice the same truths as their friendships develop and evolve.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comRead an Excerpt of the Novel:

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole by Random House Publishing Group

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comAn ethereal atmospheric cover design which begs the question: if the place your going to be transported too is as ethereal as the design that this cover art provokes to mind! However, the cover art of the ARC was not the same as the art shown through the Excerpt by Scribd! Instead, your given a photograph viewing of the inside of Elspeth’s cottage: David’s grandfather’s pocket watch, Isle of Sky peeking out through the window, two individual pearls: one for her necklace from Christmas 1915 and one for Margaret; a smattering of postcards, envelopes and a fountain pen; perhaps a posy that would draw to mind the one Elspeth left for Iain on his grave!? Along with a short stack of hardback novels, which were always being passed between David and Elspeth OR at the very least mentioned to be read!

There is such a personal touch on the cover of the ARC, that draws out pieces of the story in such a clever way, that I am not sure if the original ethereal version holds as much weight when you stop to consider what the publisher placed inside this alternative one!? All too often I am discovering that rather than being careful about what is adorned on the covers, on the level, of actually pertaining to the breadth of the story inside the pages, publishers are short-changing the reader by using stock photographs and arrangements that either are loosely conceived as plausible OR too far-fetched to take seriously! I finally gave up on taking anything away from most covers of books that I read,… which is why saying that as I read “Letters from Skye” the ARC’s cover propelled me to think back and ponder the exactness of what is described! Food for thought, I’d say!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comAnd, why the hours dissolved away like fragments of a whispering wind:  I was a bit delayed in reading “Letters from Skye” due to a relapsed virus that left me miserably fatigued! I had been aching to dip into this narrative ever since it first arrived by Post! I think that is singularly my favourite moment of receiving a First Impressions Book ~ the air of anticipation that greets you as you pick up the package and dare to wonder, what will I find inside!? The very instant that I settled into my comfy chair to disappear into this Scottish Isle of mystery, (as I had watched the book trailer as soon as I had found it [how could I wait?]), I noticed ever so slightly that this was the story that would dissolve hours away like fragments of a whispering wind! The format was completely foreign to me, and yet, it was quite familiar at the very same time! I have been reading letters from my own friends for the near-full of my life!! Once I realised the rhythm of the story, I nearly could hear a whispering of wind, the only fraction of the passing time, as I sank further and further into the exchanges between Elspeth and Davey! When the outside world disappears to the brink you have to force your eyes and being back into your own reality, that is when you know, you’ve stumbled across a book that has captured your heart!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comThe review I posted on Book Browse:

Journey to Skye: slip into Elspeth’s shoes, one letter at a time

Elspeth is a Highlander Scot endowed to reside on the enchanted Isle of Skye, which sparks an intuitive creative voice inside her soul as a young girl. She learnt to channel this gift by etching her observations and heartfelt wisdoms into droplets of visceral poetry. Inasmuch as igniting a young man half a world away to discover something he had not felt was lost and conveyed his gratitude by penning her a letter. A letter he never expected her to reply too and thus began their entwined story. Of a woman entrapped by fear of the sea by which she couldn’t allow herself to experience the world beyond Skye and of a boy struggling to become a man on the threshold of war.

Letters are at their very core intimately raw in their conveyance of our innermost thoughts and emotions. We can spilt onto a page by word and context a connection that goes deeper than the superficial, fully absent of pretense and rightly an instinctive pause to reveal our truest of selves. You become lost in their exchanges to the brink that each time slip between the World Wars loses its mirth and all that is left is the anticipation of what news the next letter shall bring! You’re caught in a vortex of uncertainty living through each painful revelation and consolation between Elspeth and David.

And, yet this is a story that involves Margaret, the daughter of Elspeth who never knew her origins nor understood her mother as a woman. She too, is on a collision course with destiny that is half stitched in the past and half propelled forward by future events. Your heart aches and bleeds with Elspeth as she becomes fraught with despair and the anguish of the unknown. The churning of the tides ebbs and flows during the second half of the novel, but it’s not foreshadowed to reveal the ending which washes away the dried tears and leaves the reader a smile upon her lips!

 

And, here are the other thoughts which First Impression readers shared after having read “Letters from Skye”. Only a small bit of my review was edited after I posted it, as the word “learnt” was exchanged for “learned”. I was expecting it might be edited for length, as try as I might to stay within the 200 to 300 word limitations,… I find myself at a loss to always rein my thoughts into that perimeter! This review clocked in at: 332 words!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comInspired to Share: As soon as this book trailer begins, I was wrapped inside a time portal to a new land of adventurous proportions! The sweeping arc of the book trailer is reminiscent of a motion picture ~ your embarking a brief stay inside the world of Elspeth’s Skye and the very eternal hope that sparks alive inside the idea that a person’s life can be lived, breathed, and evolved through the exchangement of letters. Envelopes ever so tiny, yet ever so vital to parlay information between two souls whose paths have intertwined through a chance encounter inspired by a book of poetry. You can feel the emotional churning of the novel in this book trailer. You sense the heart-wrecking disconnection between Elspeth and David, as much as you see a kernel of Hope lit strong as the picture dissolves and you have to wait until you pick up the book to see how it all unfolds. This is the type of book trailer that readers live to see ahead of sinking into a piece of narrative. A flashing glimpse of two hearts and two characters, spread throughout the span of two World Wars and a lifetime of letters. How can you not want to drink in their story? A story translucent and sageful within our own lifetime.

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole, Book Trailer by Windmill Books, a division of Random House Publishing Group. Windmill Books main website.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Fly in the Ointment: The only discerning issue I took with the novel is that throughout the years of correspondences, David acknowledges Elspeth as “Sue” which for me, did not suit her very well! It came out of left field as far as I am concerned, because I could not discern the way by which he sorted out how that would ‘fit’ her personality and character traits!? Afterall, she’s a Highlander Scot living a kissing distance from the sea in a sheltering small hamlet of Gaelic origins! Most of the women in the novel are named traditionally for the time frame: Margaret, Lara, Iain, Alasdair, Elsie, and Chrissie for instance, and the author used the Gaelic form of ‘mother’ {Màthair} to reflect Elspeth’s Mum, and Da to reflect father, is why I suppose I was a bit disappointed in the a plum usage of “Sue”.

Conversely, having had the pleasure of borrowing the Complete Series of Monarch of the Glen AND Foyle’s War through my local library — I must contend that I picked up subtle differences in dialect. For instance, I am not sure why “learned” was not “learnt” as an example of certain key words of Scottish/British/UK origins were not shown in full light. I have many memories of watching Monarch of the Glen ill-fated to not understand all the dialogue taking place because of the baroque accent and unfamiliarity of the words used. In this way, I can understand if the author decided to Anglicize Elspeth’s letters for broader audience appealment. Personally, I would have rather read a more authentic difference between Elspeth’s and David’s letters.

Personally I can relay that when your corresponding with a friend who lives elsewhere than you, on a whole new continent and grows up with a language unlike your own, part of the joy and treasurement of your developing friendship are the subtle differences in phrase and language! I have been honoured to have such a diverse array of friends whose first language was not English OR even British English, whereupon we learnt more about each other in how our words inked onto the page! The differences between American and British English can fill the ocean it takes to cross by way of the Queen Mary! It’s a full learning curve and I think, as I have fond memories of my personal correspondences, I noticed this absence in Letters from Skye.

I decided to share these parting thoughts on my blog verse inside my review for Book Browse because they do not deter from the story nor would they prevent the pleasure of reading it. These two things that resonated with me, but I did not think needed to be broached in a review but rather as an aside on my blog!

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Posted Wednesday, 3 July, 2013 by jorielov in Author Interview, Book Browse, Book Trailer, Debut Novel, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, First Impressions, Fly in the Ointment, Geographically Specific, Historical Fiction, Postal Mail | Letters & Correspondence, Scotland, Scribd, the Forties, the Nineteen Hundreds, The World Wars, Time Slip