Category: Book Trailer

Author Interview | In conversation discussing “The Lost History of Dreams” with Kris Waldherr taking us into her research and inspiration behind the topics explored in the novel!

Posted Wednesday, 25 March, 2020 by jorielov Atria Books, Kris Waldherr, Simon & Schuster, The Lost History of Dreams 1 Comment

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I have a wonderfully wicked surprise for you! This morning, I am featuring an author I was meant to read when this novel first published – as the publisher sent me an ARC copy of the novel. However, due to health afflictions & life as it evolved that particular year, I unfortunately never had the chance to finish reading it! Shifting forward – I put in a request for the audiobook at my regional library which was accepted and for this lovely blog tour, I not only resumed whence I had left off with the story *but!* I also listened to the audiobook version my library thankfully purchased for me!

Mind – the audiobook is quite popular and I had to wait for it to come back round to me in order to complete it for this tour, as well! I am thankful I originally knew about it via the publisher as it made accepting hosting this blog tour for Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours quite a bit easier!

The reason reading ”The Lost History of Dreams” appealled to me:

After reading “Once Upon A River”, I felt I have a good knowledge of the direction this Gothic tale might spin and it is such a unique premise, I felt it would be an interesting and captivating read. I wish there had been a Discussion Guide or Author Interview attached to this page for the book as I thoroughly enjoyed reading those for the former title. However, what was revealled seemed to fit my reading tastes as best as I could tell.

Being an appreciator of Forensic stories – either through medical examiner dramas on television such as Quincy, M.E.; Crossing Jordan; Murdoch Mysteries; NCIS & NCIS: NOLA or through narrative fiction such as the Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber – I am drawn into stories which centre round the examination of the dead. This is one of two stories I found by #newtomeauthors this year – the second, is “The Undertaker’s Assistant” by Amanda Skenandore – whilst I look forward to continuing my readings of the Lady Darby series as well.

This particular story offered an interesting approach to the context of the subject being explored – as it is not through the lens of the ME we’re focusing through but rather the photographer of the dead instead. Quite a curious leap I felt, as I knew there were photographs of the 19th Century which parlayed into this particular field – of where families wanted an after death reminder of the person they loved – the photographs in this instance are not for the examination of a crime or the cause of the deceased’s demise but rather a fitting tribute to the person who once lived.

In this instance, I felt Waldherr had a wickedly original plot and I was most compelled to seek it out to read! I was very grateful to be amongst the book bloggers who received this novel and I couldn’t wait to uncover the mysterious answers to the unique questions which would become alive as I read the story!

The Lost History of Dreams
by Kris Waldherr
Source: Direct from Publisher, Scribd | Audiobook Subscription
Narrator: Fiona Hardingham, Matthew Lloyd Davies

All love stories are ghost stories in disguise.

When famed Byronesque poet Hugh de Bonne is discovered dead of a heart attack in his bath one morning, his cousin Robert Highstead, a historian turned post-mortem photographer, is charged with a simple task: transport Hugh’s remains for burial in a chapel. This chapel, a stained glass folly set on the moors of Shropshire, was built by de Bonne sixteen years earlier to house the remains of his beloved wife and muse, Ada. Since then, the chapel has been locked and abandoned, a pilgrimage site for the rabid fans of de Bonne’s last book, The Lost History of Dreams.

However, Ada’s grief-stricken niece refuses to open the glass chapel for Robert unless he agrees to her bargain: before he can lay Hugh to rest, Robert must record Isabelle’s story of Ada and Hugh’s ill-fated marriage over the course of five nights.

As the mystery of Ada and Hugh’s relationship unfolds, so does the secret behind Robert’s own marriage—including that of his fragile wife, Sida, who has not been the same since the tragic accident three years ago, and the origins of his own morbid profession that has him seeing things he shouldn’t—things from beyond the grave.

Kris Waldherr effortlessly spins a sweeping and atmospheric gothic mystery about love and loss that blurs the line between the past and the present, truth and fiction, and ultimately, life and death.

Genres: Crime Fiction, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781982101015

ASIN: B07L3D1L3F

Published by Atria Books

on 9th April, 2019

Format: Audiobook | Digital, Paperback ARC

Length: 12 hours and 12 minutes (unabridged)

Published By: Published By: Atria Books (@AtriaBooks)
{imprint of} Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster)

Converse via: #LostHistoryOfDreams, #HistNov and #HistFic
+ #Gothic #HistoricalMystery or #GothicSuspense
Available Formats: Hardcover, Audiobook & Ebook

About Kris Waldherr

Kris Waldherr is an award-winning author, illustrator, and designer. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, and her fiction has been awarded with fellowships by the Virginia Center of the Creative Arts and a reading grant by Poets & Writers. Kris Waldherr works and lives in Brooklyn in a Victorian-era house with her husband, the anthropologist-curator Thomas Ross Miller, and their young daughter.

Photo Credit: Robert Presutti

Posted Wednesday, 25 March, 2020 by jorielov in 19th Century, ARC | Galley Copy, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Crime Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller Suspense, Literary Fiction, Reader Submitted Author Interview, the Victorian era

#SaturdaysAreBookish | Book Review featuring @SatBookChat’s 17th November Guest Author | “Stay” by Jennifer Silverwood part of my #Mythothon readings!

Posted Saturday, 17 November, 2018 by jorielov Jennifer Silverwood, Self Published, Stay 2 Comments

In keeping with the change of name for my Romance & Women’s Fiction Twitter chat [@SatBookChat previously known as @ChocLitSaturday] – I am announcing a change of features here on Jorie Loves A Story. Since January, 2014 I carved out a niche of focus which I named #ChocLitSaturdays as I have felt the best time to read romantic and dramatic stories are the weekends. This spun into a Twitter chat featuring the authors of ChocLit whilst I supplied weekly topics which would appeal to readers, writers and book bloggers alike. We grew into our own Saturday tribe of chatters – then, somewhere round the time of my father’s stroke in late [2016] and the forthcoming year of [2017] I started to feel less inspired to host the chat.

I had new plans to re-invent the chat in its new incantation as @SatBookChat but I also wanted to re-invent the complimentary showcases on my blog which would reflect the diversity of stories, authors and publishers I would be featuring on the chat itself. As at the root and heart of #ChocLitSaturday the chat were the stories I was reading which complimented the conversations.

After a difficult year for [personal health & wellness] this 2018, I am beginning anew this Autumn – selecting the stories to resume where I left off featuring the Romance & Women’s Fiction authors I am discovering to read whilst highlighting a story by the author I am chatting with during #SatBookChat. Every Saturday will feature a different author who writes either Romance or Women’s Fiction – for the remaining weeks of October and most of November, I will be featuring special guest authors during #SatBookChat whose stories I have either read, are reading or hope to read in the future if their newer releases. The reviews on Saturdays might inspire the topics in the forthcoming chats or they might be directly connected to the current guest author.

Our holiday break for the month of December will find us resuming #SatBookChat the week after New Year’s, 2019 where new guests and new stories will lay down the foundation of inspiring the topics, the conversations and the bookish recommendations towards promoting Romance & Women’s Fiction.

Acquired Book By:

I started hosting with Prism Book Tours at the end of [2017], having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) whilst I was visiting as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. I had to put the memes on hold for several months (until I started to resume them (with Top Ten Tuesday) in January 2018). When I enquiried about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. I am unsure how many books I’ll review for them as most are offered digitally rather than in print but this happily marks one of the blog tours where I could receive a print book for review purposes. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors.

This particular review is slightly different from my regular blog tours and hosting features for Prism Book Tours – as an opportunity came along this Autumn to secure a spot on a ‘review tour’ rather than a ‘blog tour’ for the debut novel by Jennifer Silverwood entitled: Stay. Although she’s published different series and stories after this publication from 2013, I welcomed the chance to get to know her writing style from the moment it began being published. This differs as each of the reviewers and book bloggers who are committing to this review tour are posting at different intervals before the final deadline for the review tour concludes. In my case, this also included being able to anchour this review with my @SatBookChat showcase for the novel and the book discussion which came out of it.

I received a complimentary copy of “Stay” by the author Jennifer Silverwood in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I originally was keen on the writing styling of Ms Silverwood:

When I first discovered Silver Hollow, it was the genre-bending styling of the author which implored me the most to read the story. At the time, Silver Hollow was being re-released and the only version currently available back then in print was the older version. Sadly, despite my efforts to secure that copy by inter-library loan had failed. It still remains a story I want to read one day, however, what was interesting about moving inside Stay was finding the natural nuanced styling of a writer who takes cues straight out of the Mythological past!

As I hinted at during @SatBookChat today, there are moments within reading Stay where I could almost feel the presence of Poseidon and Zeus; except, I wasn’t naming them in my mind. There are enough elements of connection within the story itself to draw you closer towards naming them outright but it was the illusion of connection to these two which I appreciated even more because it deepened the suspense and the mythological proportions! If it could be them, what if it wasn’t? What if there are others out there who can behave and manipulate the elements just as cheekily and get away with it?

This bridge between the fantastical and the mythological is what made me keenly curious about Silverwood’s writing style. I wanted to see how she used the bridge itself, as generally speaking I do have a penchant for Urban Fantasy nowadays but each writer I read within that branch of literature has their own unique spin on how to make ‘modern’ settings warmly conducive to Fantasy realms.

Finding myself dearly enchanted by how she brokered a story out of the roots of Greek Mythos is only the tip of the iceberg I feel I shall be finding within her collective works! The joy of reading Stay and discussing it was finding out the sequel is arriving in 2019!

On my connection to Jennifer Silverwood:

When our paths first crossed, Ms Silverwood and I shared a mutual interest and connection; however, our friendship did not form for awhile afterwards. It was truly after the interview went live and after I noticed I was reading her blog as much as she was reading mine – where I realised we shared a lot of commonalities in our reading lives as well as our writely lives! We decided to stay in touch and it is an honour to find someone who understands the bridge between reader, blogger and writer.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Silverwood through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I hosted her Silver Hollow blog tour and privately as well. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to hosting a guest feature by the author I share a connection.

Stay
by Jennifer Silverwood
Source: Direct from Author

Rona believes love is nothing more than a myth, a tale for little girls.

Until the immortal ruler of the seas appears from thin air and she is swept into a dark and dangerous affair, turning myth into a grave reality. Commanded to work as the savior of true love, Rona realises that love is just an illusion as grandoise as magic and after two thousand years, she is ready to give up. Until the night a human, deep in the underbelly f the city that never sleeps sees her. She recognises him instantly, a lost love. Trouble is, he has no memory of her. Tasked with mending a relationship between the love she lost thousands of years ago and another woman, Rona will have to learn what it means to be human all over agai when past and present collide.

Can love transcend time or will Rona be forced to roam earth alone, forever?

Genres: Greek Mythos | Legacies, Nautical Fiction, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Paranormal Romance (PNR), Urban Fantasy

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1484116890

Also by this author: Author Interview: Jennifer Silverwood (Silver Hollow), Book Spotlight: Borderlands Saga, Silver Hollow, Book Spotlight: Blackbriar Cove

Published by Self Published

on 3rd June, 2013

Format: POD | Print On Demand Paperback

Pages: 214

Converse via: #PNR, #ParanormalRomance + #Mythos, #Mythology & #UrbanFantasy

as well as #WomensFic or #WomensFiction

About Jennifer Silverwood

Jennifer Silverwood was raised deep in the heart of Texas and has been spinning yarns a mile high since childhood. In her spare time she reads and writes and tries to sustain her wanderlust, whether it’s the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, the highlands of Ecuador or a road trip to the next town. Always on the lookout for her next adventure, in print or reality, she dreams of one day proving to the masses that everything really is better in Texas. She is the author of two series—Heaven's Edge and Wylder Tales—and the stand-alone titles Stay and Silver Hollow.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#Mythothon 2018

Posted Saturday, 17 November, 2018 by jorielov in #Mythothon, #SaturdaysAreBookish, 21st Century, After the Canon, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Trailer, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Contemporary Romance, Content Note, Dark Fantasy, Debut Novel, Earthen Magic, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Fly in the Ointment, Folklore and Mythology, Gods & Goddesses, Greek Mythology, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Indie Author, Modern Day, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Mythological Societies, Nautical Fiction, Parapsychological Suspense, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Self-Published Author, Spin-Off Authors, Supernatural Fiction, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event, Urban Fantasy

#WaitingOnWednesday No.3 | “The Crowns of Croswald” (Book No.1 of the Croswald series) by D.E. Night (aka. Jorie’s magically lovely mystery #bookmail which gave her this beautifully fantastical story!)

Posted Wednesday, 19 July, 2017 by jorielov D.E. Night, The Croswald Series, The Crowns of Croswald 4 Comments

Acquired Book By: JKS is the first publicity firm I started working with when I launched Jorie Loves A Story in August, 2013. I am honoured to continue to work with them now as a 4th Year Book Blogger. I was approached to receive a mystery book mail box from a debut YA author (D.E. Night) in conjunction with her release The Crowns of Croswald wherein I would have a lovely bookish box to open, photograph and share with my readers the impressions it gave me ahead of reading the novel! This review comes after showcasing my #unboxing during last Wednesday’s #WaitingOnWednesday showcase as a follow-up and surprise for my readers!

I received my complimentary ARC copy of “The Crowns of Croswald” from D.E. Night courtesy of the publicist at JKS Communications in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

a word about ‘waiting on Wednesday’:

I have decided to start participating in this book blogsphere meme with a few small changes of how it’s regularly blogged about by my fellow book bloggers. I will either be introducing my current reads of upcoming releases as I am in the process of reading them and/or I might be releasing a book review about a forthcoming title by which I had been blessed to read ahead of publication. The main purpose behind the meme is to encourage readers and your fellow book bloggers to become aware of new books being released which caught your eye and which held your interest to read. Sometimes if your still in the process of reading the books, its the titles which encouraged your bookish heart. I look forward to spending the next seasons of the year, talking about the books I have on hand to read, the books I’ve been reading and the books I might not even have a copy to read but which are of wicked sweet interest to become a #nextread of mine.

Thus, this book review is showcasing a title which is set to release in a few short days (21st July)! This review is an anchour to my #unboxing post about the same book & author wherein I had a bit of magical joy in sharing how I opened the book parcel which gave me such a delightfully magical reading experience! I must admit, both experiences for me has been wonderful and I would not be surprised if this is only one of several unboxings you might see flutter onto Jorie Loves A Story!

This is my 3rd #WaitingOnWednesday showcase, be sure to visit my 1st & my 2nd!

A new meme inspired by Waiting on Wednesday is Can’t Wait Wednesday for which this marks my first #WaitingOnWednesday post I’ve been able to share with the bloggers following this version of the meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings! (Tressa introduces her meme) Here is the post by which I shared my link. Be sure to find out which book bloggers I visited who helped ADD to my #TBRList by finding my blog hop route below this showcase!!

be sure to visit my #unboxing to understand why I became so dearly attached to Croswald ahead of reading it’s debut to Middle grade fantasy:

The Crowns of Croswald

In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret...

For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald's mysterious gems.

When Ivy's magic - and her life- is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 978-0-9969486-5-4

on 21st July, 2017

Pages: 314

Published By: Self Published / Stories Untold Press

Available Formats: Trade Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #CrownsOfCroswald or #CroswaldSeries + #MGFantasy

OR #MiddleGrade + #Fantasy

About D.E. Night

D.E. Night lives, dreams, and writes in South Florida amid her menagerie – two dogs and two cats – with her husband.

“The Crowns of Croswald” is her first book. She draws inspiration from silver-screen storytellers, magical imaginings, and her younger brothers. A day spent in Croswald, or another whimsical world, is her favorite kind of day.

Entering ‘Croswald’:

The fey are called ‘Hairies’ and they remind me of Trolls (ie. the cheeky dolls recently starring in their anime film which honestly wasn’t my cuppa?) – they have seriously long hair and the ability to :blink: from sight simply by extending their ‘hair’. I can see how they came to have their nickname! And, here dear hearts is where things start to get interesting – because within my #bookmail parcel, was a piece of the newsprint Derwin is referencing in the Prologue! (I kid you NOT!) I can now see how ingenius my little magical parcel was – it wasn’t just a clever way of giving a reader a magical mystery to unbox, no, it was literally giving a reader bits and bobbles of Croswald itself! To take the world out of it’s dimensional space and inserting it into our own – crossing the gap between the imagined and the tangible! Now, that’s seriously wicked clever!

Posted Wednesday, 19 July, 2017 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Trailer, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Bookish Memes, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Middle Grade Novel, Waiting on Wednesday

#WaitingOnWednesday No.2 | #Unboxing No.1 | A debut author [D.E. Night] of Middle Grade Fantasy [series] Croswald, enchanted Jorie with her (original) website & the allure of her novel’s back-story!

Posted Wednesday, 12 July, 2017 by jorielov D.E. Night, The Croswald Series, The Crowns of Croswald 11 Comments

Acquired #BookMail By: JKS is the first publicity firm I started working with when I launched Jorie Loves A Story in August, 2013. I am honoured to continue to work with them now as a 4th Year Book Blogger. I was approached to receive a mystery book mail box from a debut YA author (D.E. Night) in conjunction with her release The Crowns of Croswald wherein I would have a lovely bookish box to open, photograph and share with my readers the impressions it gave me ahead of reading the novel!

I received my complimentary book box from D.E. Night courtesy of the publicist at JKS Communications in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

a word about ‘waiting on Wednesday’:

Thus, this #unboxing is showcasing a title which is set to release in less than a fortnight (21st July) – wherein you will be happily excited to know I’ll be sharing my ruminative thoughts with you the week of it’s release! This post was inspired by the first #WaitingOnWednesday post I published and happily it gave me the inspiration to see if I could sort out how to showcase an ‘unboxing’ through photographs rather than a vlog post! I must admit, the experience has been wonderful and I would not be surprised if this is only one of several unboxings you might see flutter onto Jorie Loves A Story!

This is my 2nd #WaitingOnWednesday showcase, be sure to visit my 1st!

before i unboxed the #bookmail:

Shown in this photograph: The #bookmail box I received courtesy of D.E. Night via JKS Communications & Publicity and a letter opener given to those who are a member of The History Channel Club.

& long before the #bookmail was received,

i met this author’s world virtually through her site:

My initial reactions were so fully felt I could barely type words to describe my feelings:

I cannot wait to see what the author is working on with the box, as I was truly captured by the ingenuity of how she’s enveloping readers into her world-building whilst giving us a taste of the magical elements which bring her world to life. The music overlays and the illustrations help re-align you inside her story and of the arc in which will be carried throughout the series. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to read a new MG Fantasy but also to feel the magic of how the author inspires readers to take a chance on her world and its message.

The reason I was so smitten with this book and the author is because her ENTIRE website was fully immersive – it felt as if you had stepped through an invisible threshold and were now entering into the world she’s built. Sadly, at the time of this #unboxing post the website I knew of the author’s is :gone:! I was truly gobsmacked! The overhaul is like any other author’s website – really, the bare bones of what it once was if you can even see a smidge of it’s origins. Even the chapter sampler which was so wickedly creative – hidden within the site itself – popping up as if by magical evocation and enchanting you to read it as it hovered in front of your eyes, whilst the illustrations which accompanied it were adding to the dimensional beauty of the author’s poetic prose – has been reduced to a ‘pop-up PDF’ – truly, dear hearts, I was smitten at the very first all-sensory experience (I, personally have found for a new release by an Indie Author) of Ms D.E. Night’s website!

However, everything which gave me a girlhood sense of wonderment and of the purity of unexpected joy – to the fluttering sounds of the fey only heard just a farthing away from my computer screen – now, dear hearts, it’s a hollowed out shell of that original site! For me personally, if this had been the site I’d first visited, I wouldn’t have felt like a graduate of Hogwarts about to re-enter into a dimensional space of such startling magical JOY as I had initially. Those first furtive footsteps I took into Ms Night’s world – as I clicked my mouse – where so evocative of what I hope to find within the realms of Fantasy (either through Children’s Lit releases or the adult realms) – I daresay, I nearly pinched myself realising I would soon be receiving this lovely #bookmail!

I was overtaken by the ingenuity of it – fragments now in my imagination and mental memory – as so much personal strife has happened in the few short weeks (since Mid-May!) since I first arrived on site to now. Such a gutting realisation, dear hearts, to know I’m revealling this story to you whilst noting I cannot give you that catalyst of JOY. I don’t believe I have felt so shattered ahead of reading a novel. I wanted more of that website – more of that world – it cast such a magical spell on me! I felt rejuvenated and inspired. I felt like this world I was about to enter was tangible, real and wholly visceral!

What pray tell happened to the music? The beautiful music which not only overlaid the words but rooted you inside Croswald? My heart grieves dear hearts, for you might not ever know the Croswald I originally ‘met’ by an inventively innovative creative author’s website. I felt as if the wind had left my sails upon my return. Almost as if you’ve misplaced something you had felt a part of but instead is nothing more than a mere figment of your own imagination.

[ skip forward – read what I said AFTER I shared my #unboxing photos !! ]

[ you dear hearts have a SURPRISE inasmuch as I did upon waking this morn! ]

Whenever I am receiving #bookmail from a publicist, author or publisher – I never know what I am going to find inside the book parcel. In this instance, the bundle I received in the Post was extra special because I knew going into receiving it there were going to be book-related extras & surprises! I truly was captured by the small details – from the collage of books on a shelf on the box itself – the curiously small box which was meant to contain all the surprises which nearly had me perplexed more than anything else – as I wasn’t quite sure how the smallness of it’s dimensions could hold so much inside it’s depths!

Posted Wednesday, 12 July, 2017 by jorielov in #Unboxing BookMail, Blog Tour Host, Book Trailer, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Bookish Memes, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Middle Grade Novel, Waiting on Wednesday

#PubDay Book Review | “The Fortune Teller” by Gwedolyn Womack Sophomore release by the author of “The Memory Painter”

Posted Tuesday, 6 June, 2017 by jorielov Gwendolyn Womack, MacMillian Publishers, Picador, The Fortune Teller 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: Originally, as a hostess of HFVBTs (Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours) I was able to participate on the blog tour for Ms Womack’s debut novel: The Memory Painter. (see also Review) I was contacted by the author to gauge if I had interest in her sophomore release ‘The Fortune Teller’ of which I researched on her site and found the premise to be quite intriguing. I readily accepted her offer to read this for an honest review and she had her publisher send me a paperback copy of which I was grateful. I received a complimentary copy of “The Fortune Teller” direct from the publisher Picador in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I enjoyed reading this author’s previous release: The Memory Painter

Womack uses creative juxtapositions throughout her novel – where we’re with Bryan and Linz one moment, whilst being treated to a sequence of knowledge not yet introduced to the main thread of the story-line. This is where she shifts both perspective and the trisectional splitting between the main context of how Bryan & Linz are inter-connected to each other, the critical research on Alzheimer’s and the mystery History has attempted to shroud out of memory and sight from humanity. She presents her characters with a depth of being who are grounded as much as they are dimensional. You can sense their emotions, even at a first glance to how they hold themselves and how they allow themselves to interact with others. There is quite a lot bubbling just below the surface – not only of the narrative direction but through the stitchings of how her characters are moulded together.

Womack writes with a subtle accuracy of giving you just enough information per each scene or character visit to allow you to tie everything together in the larger scope of things. It’s an interesting told narrative, from the point-of-view of shifting perceptions and how you are augmented through different portals of how the story-line is moving forward. The main focus is centred on Bryan and Linz, but you have other influences moving the timeline as well as how each cross-section pertains to the two protagonists who hold the key to the whole story! You can simply let your mind alight through Womack’s graceful narrative and let yourself wander as you wonder how the author knitted the story out of the ethers!

I give a nod of excellence to Womack for compellingly giving her readers a visceral level of realism towards understanding how Bryan painted his portraits of life and death! She used words as he uses paint – you could not help but feel as if you were standing below his portraits, seeing how everything felt alive and telling in that stance you took to see what shouldn’t be able to be seen. It’s a lovely novel of depth for the world of art, as similar to music, art is at times hard to conceptionalise on the page; Womack had such an organic way of presenting the art, you could not help but appreciate it in full!

How Womack was able to intervene on History to such a level of intriguing juxtapositions, I am uncertain! As she even brought back to life the compelling argument of how sometimes not everything is fully resolved before or after death! She interwove Egyptology in such a fascinating and inventive way as to cross their Ancient History with our current timeline! It was wonderful to watch her pull her layers together, explore the details further and to watch how even her characters were a bit startled by how everything was inter-connecting straight through to the finish! Her mind truly has captured the intricacies of a plot that is told not only through multiple perspectives but through a threading of counter current lives who are affectingly drawn to each other due to how their past lives originally affected their soul’s journey. Now that’s beyond impressive for a debut novel!

-as quoted from my review of The Memory Painter

The Fortune Teller

Semele Cavnow appraises antiquities for an exclusive Manhattan auction house, specializing in deciphering ancient texts. And when she discovers a manuscript written in the time of Cleopatra, she knows it will be the find of her career. Its author tells the story of a priceless tarot deck, now lost to history, but as Semele delves further she realizes the manuscript is more than it seems. Both a memoir and a prophecy, it appears to be the work of a powerful seer, describing devastating wars and natural disasters in detail thousands of years before they occurred.

The more she reads, the more the manuscript begins to affect Semele's life. But what happened to the cards? As the mystery of her connection to the manuscript deepens, Semele can’t shake the feeling that she’s being followed. Only one person can help her make sense of it all: her client, Theo Brossard. Yet Theo is arrogant and elusive, concealing secrets of his own, and there’s more to Semele’s desire to speak with him than she would like to admit. Can Semele even trust him?

The auction date is swiftly approaching, and someone wants to interfere—someone who knows the cards exist, and that the Brossard manuscript is tied to her. Semele realizes it’s up to her to stop them: the manuscript holds the key to a two-thousand-year-old secret, a secret someone will do anything to possess.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9781250099778

on 6th of June, 2017

Pages: 368

Published By: Picador (@PicadorUSA) via St. Martin’s Press
imprints of St. Martin’s Publishing Group,
which is now a part of MacMillian Publishers
Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

About Gwendolyn Womack

Gwendolyn Womack Photo Credit: Copyright JennKL Photography

Originally from Houston, Texas, Gwendolyn Womack began writing theater plays in college at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She went on to receive an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Directing Theatre, Video & Cinema.

Currently she resides in Los Angeles with her husband and son where she can be found at the keyboard working on her next novel. The Memory Painter is her first novel.

Photo Credit: Copyright JennKL Photography

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Tuesday, 6 June, 2017 by jorielov in Ancient Civilisation, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Book Trailer, Content Note, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, Equality In Literature, Father-Daughter Relationships, Genre-bender, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense, Modern Day, Pharaohs & Dynasties, Premonition-Precognitive Visions, Seers, Supernatural Fiction