Category: Literary Fiction

Book Review | “The Little Paris Bookshop” by Nina George #BloggingForBooks

Posted Friday, 20 May, 2016 by jorielov , , , , , 1 Comment

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By: I decided to join the “Blogging for Books” programme (on 9th July, 2014) which is a book for review programme created by the Crown Publishing Group. As a book blogger you are offered books in exchange for an honest review on your book blog as well as the ability to reach new readers when you cross-post your review to the Blogging for Books website. The benefit for the blogger is exposure as a reviewer as they put direct links back to your blog post on the book you select to review as well as your homepage.

I received a complimentary copy of “The Little Paris Bookshop” direct from the publisher Crown Publishers, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

Although I have taken a bit of a reprieve from seeking out French Literature from writers who are French bourne or simply stories that arise out of being set in France – I must confess, I still have a healthy interest in reading any story that would warm a Francophile’s heart. I simply think I overdid it initially – you can overtake your sensibility at times, wherein you devour such a large portion of something you love that a short hiatus away from it is better than becoming burnt out completely. In regards to the topic at hand, I believe I kept picking such hard hitting stories of the French, my mind and heart could not re-sync to yearn for more at that particular point in time.

When I first learnt of the story inside The Little Paris Bookshop my heart swelled with interest, as any booklover would whose also a bonefide postal correspondent – such as I. The mere idea of how letters are intersecting with personal lives and how stories are capturing the hearts of unexpected readers through circumstances that are quite kismet as they are karmic and serendipitously lovely. What is not to love at the onset of digging inside a novel like this one? I felt for the first time in a long while, I might have stumbled across a novel that would be enchanting rather than mind numbing and uplifting rather than angst ridden to the extreme. Personally I think I should limit how many war dramas I consume per annum. It has a way of getting to a girl! And, why pray tell I have the tendency to read such emotionally draining works of French Lit is beyond me – I need to sprinkle in some contemporaries and some light-hearted historicals; or simply expire my ticket for war dramas for a fraction of time before resuming where I left off.

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Notation on Cover Art: Do you see that little postal stamp in the upper right corner of the postcard? Notice how half cover is overtaken by said postcard? Do you have know wicked happy it is to receive a letter by postal mail? There is such a ferret of joy erupting out of seeing a postmark, a stamp and an envelope addressed to you arriving by Post. A well of happiness about to enter your life via the written or typed conversation eagerly greeting your fingers as you slice open the envelope to reveal it’s contents. So too, is the same thirst for excitement I found in spying this book cover as a precursor to what I might find inside it’s novel’s heart. The backdrop of Paris was quite a smashing find as well.

Book Review | “The Little Paris Bookshop” by Nina George #BloggingForBooksThe Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George
Source: Publisher via Blogging for Books

Monsieur Perdu can prescribe the perfect book for a broken heart. But can he fix his own?

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people’s lives.


Places to find the book:

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ISBN: 9780553418774

on 23rd June, 2015

Pages: 400

 Published By: Crown Publishers (@crownpublishing)

(an imprint of Crown Publishing Group)

Available Formats: Hardcover, Audiobook & Ebook

Converse on Twitter via: #TheLittleParisBookshop + #BloggingForBooks

Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards Badge created by Jorie in Canva. Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo.

About Nina George

NINA GEORGE works as a journalist, writer, and storytelling teacher. She is the award winning author of 26 books, and also writes feature articles, short stories, and columns.

The Little Paris Bookshop spent over a year on bestseller lists in Germany, and was a bestseller in Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands. George is married to the writer Jens J. Kramer and lives in Hamburg and in Brittany, France.

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Posted Friday, 20 May, 2016 by jorielov in Adulterous Affair, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, Apothecary, Blog Tour Host, Blogging for Books, Book Review (non-blog tour), Bookish Discussions, Cats and Kittens, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, France, French Literature, French Novel Translated into English, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Humour & Satire in Fiction / Non Fiction, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Literary Fiction, Men's Fiction, Mental Health, Modern Day, Philosophical Intuitiveness, Publishing Industry & Trade, Vulgarity in Literature, Wordsmiths & Palettes of Sage

Book Review | A #LuminisBooks special focus on #stringtheory with Chris Katsaropoulos. Two stories, two books, and a world of thought: “Antiphony” & “Entrevoir”.

Posted Monday, 28 December, 2015 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to review “Entrevoir” by JKS Communications: A Literary Publicity Firm. 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 2nd Year Book Blogger. I received my complimentary copy of Entrevoir direct from JKS Communications in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Whilst I was discussing reviewing Entrevoir, I enquired about Antiphony as to the best of my understanding although the two stories are independent of each other, I felt it would behoove me to read them in tandem rather than to attempt to read Entrevoir without knowledge of Antiphony. Therefore, I received a complimentary copy of Antiphony without obligation to post a review as I did so for my own edification.

On my fascination with the Quantum World:

The following is an excerpt of my response to the JKS publicist who contacted me. I elected to share most of this conversation as it illuminates my interest in Quantum Physics and how relevant my curiosity has remained me with me ever since I first started researching the field; both in my early twenties and previously as a young adult teen.

I am keenly interested in this author and his works, as I personally love string theory and quantum physics — I started to collect books on the subject in my early twenties, including but not limited to “Lucifer’s Legacy” and the works of Dr. Brian Greene. I approach it through Copernicus, Aristotle, and Einstein’s legacies of thought and dimensional observations on the subjects, but I have a keen interest in da Vinci as well, who was a bit ahead of his time across all fields. It isn’t often quantum physics is a featured subject for either non-fiction or fictional releases, and I’m always giddy as a cat when I discover a new author or physicist, who is endeavouring to have us enlarge our perspective and point of view on the world and realms by which we live inside.

I pulled up the author’s Twitter feeds and liked the esoteric and metaphysical tweeting he was projecting inasmuch as the clarity of his thoughts being conveyed in such a small space! I love introspective and thought-provoking texts, especially when your shifting from how we view and understand our world and the cosmos above us.

I was going to ask, can “Entrevoir” be read and understood without having read “Antiphony”? Sometimes physicists carry forward their thoughts from one release to another, so I wasn’t sure if perchance this is the case here or if they are substantially heading off in different directions from one release to the other?! [the key reason I requested to read both of these titles together]

Anything to do with the quantum world, either in fiction (esp hard science fiction) or non-fiction is going to appeal to me, as I love black hole science, string theory, quantum mechanics, dimensional space and the theory of the time continuum, as well as straight-up quantum physics and the curious attraction I have to studying symmetry vs asymmetry in both design and elemental physics. I started to soak inside the theories after picking up “A Wrinkle in Time” which opened the door to understanding the projections of the theories inside “Flatland” by Edwin Abbott. From these two explorations as one was rooted in fact and the other was expressed in fiction (fiction is a beautiful gateway to the imagination, to help us harbour a direct connection in how to purport what was not able to be fathomed by granting us the grace of familiarity), I moved forward into the works I mentioned above: “Lucifer’s Legacy” and the works of Dr. Greene.

You have a keen eye to notice [in reference to the publicist] where my interests lie, as Dr. Brian Greene is one contemporary physicist alongside Dr. Michio Kaku I have my eye on. Another is a mathematician: Dr. Clifford Pickover, where I get to explore where mathematics have a sublet of inspiration on the bearing of how art is seen, produced, and explored — especially when it comes to fractals!

Sometimes I just like to “browse” the science shelves in book shoppes to see what jumps out at me, and therein, I discover other wicked sweet things like ‘quasars, quirks, and the little bits’ which make up the interior fabric and framework of outer space possible. Mathematics is the language of how the design of our world is possible but it also bears understanding to become closer to God. He left behind such a prism of insight just by the science of how everything kinetically works together. Most scientists (i.e. Issac Newton, Einstein, etc) were attempting to understand God through the language of mathematics and the intricacies of quantum physics; this fascinates me, and as I follow their paths, I start to see what they discovered too. The infinite beauty of how all of what we know and everything we have yet to know is plausible; it’s joy doubled and bound through eternity.

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Book Review | A #LuminisBooks special focus on #stringtheory with Chris Katsaropoulos. Two stories, two books, and a world of thought: “Antiphony” & “Entrevoir”.Entrevoir

The unveiling of a new work of art by Jacob Marsteller is typically one of the most highly anticipated events in the international art scene—but not this time. Jacob's new piece is a labyrinth of gossamer fabric perched on the peak of a mountain called Entrevoir in a remote corner of the south of France. It looks as if nobody except Jacob's teenage children and a few neighbors from the village will bother to show up at the gallery.

As Jacob finishes dressing for the party, he and his wife Marya begin to argue. She warned him that moving from the vibrant art scene of New York to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere would be a fatal mistake for his career. As she turns her back to him and walks down the stairs, Jacob tells her there was a reason he had to come here to create this piece—and that's when Jacob's whole world begins to unravel. Without realizing what is happening, he is lifted out of his body and taken to another dimension, where he becomes the watcher, the witness, and experiencer of lives he lived six decades ago and thousands of years ago, on other planets and as the highest forms of life.

In the span of one instant and over the course of millions of years, Jacob comes to understand that he is not his body, he is not his mind, and he is not even his soul. By the end of the amazing unveiling of Jacob's true self, he will experience the greatest transfiguration any human being has ever known: the realization of the ultimate nature of human life, and of spirit itself.


Places to find the book:

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on 15th April, 2015

Pages: 208

Book Synopsis for Antiphony:

Chris Katsaropoulos dramatically depicts the downfall of Theodore, a String Theory physicist who commits the biggest faux pas in the world of science, proposing to his colleagues at a major international conference that perhaps consciousness—God—could be the missing piece in discovering the Final Theory of the universe. To the horror of everyone at the meeting, Theodore proposes, “What if the Universe is really a giant thought?”

ANTIPHONY traces the downward spiral of Theodore’s career in the wake of what he has said, and the remarkable transformation that leads him into the depths of madness . . . or the revelation of the Final Theory, the ultimate secret of the universe.

Katsaropoulos explores Theodore’s downfall with a depth of feeling and meaning that is expressed in a lyrical style that challenges readers to think beyond what is readily apparent and on the surface of things. As novelist Al Riske put it in his recent review of ANTIPHONY, “Katsaropoulos has a way of delving deeply into what seem like small moments—the whole novel takes place in just three or four days—and capturing all their nuances and vibrating tension.”

As Riske says in his review, “Throughout Antiphony, the protagonist experiences dreams and visions that fill pages the way a flash flood fills a ravine—a torrent of words flowing into the space between the margins and pressing onward to the next page and the next. It makes me wonder how he did it.”

Is there a God, and if so, is science fighting a losing battle in its search for the ultimate Theory of Everything? In the end, ANTIPHONY lets each reader decide for themselves…

Read an Excerpt of the Novel:

Antiphony via Midpoint Trade Books (Luminis Books)

[ Antiphony ] Add to Riffle | Public Library

Genre(s): Science Fiction based on Science Fact | Quantum Theory

Spiritual Metaphysics | String Theory | Hard Sci-Fi | Literary Fiction

Published By: Luminis Books (@LuminisBooks) | Blog

Available Formats [for both]: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via Twitter: #StringTheory, #SciGeek,

#LuminisBooks and #JKSLitPublicity

About Chris Katsaropoulos

Chris Katsaropoulos is the author of more than a dozen books, including two critically acclaimed novels, Fragile and Antiphony, and Complex Knowing, the first collection of his poems. He has been an editor at several major publishing houses and has published numerous trade books, textbooks, and novels over the course of his publishing career. He lives in Carmel, Indiana.

Interview on Luminis Books Blog | About "Antiphony"

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Posted Monday, 28 December, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, ARC | Galley Copy, Astrophysics, Asymmetry, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Review (non-blog tour), Debut Author, Debut Novel, Fly in the Ointment, Genre-bender, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Literary Fiction, Quantum | Mechanics Physics Theory, Quantum Physics, Scribd, String Theory, Superstrings, Supersymmetry, Vulgarity in Literature

Blog Book Tour | “Unlocking Worlds: a reading companion for book lovers” by Sally Allen

Posted Friday, 18 December, 2015 by jorielov , , 2 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a part of the blog tour for “Unlocking Worlds” hosted by iRead Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of “Unlocking Worlds” direct from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why this particular non-fiction topical book on reading appealed to me:

If I were to be earnest, I’d say I have had a curiosity about ‘metafiction’ and non-fiction works for quite a bit of time – those curious delights inter-related to the craft of writing and the tomes of stories writers give us on an annual basis. Metafiction by definition is a collective work about how fiction becomes writ and how it’s story is technically put together. For me, I like the broader term to encompass any work that seeks to enlighten the reader about the benefits of reading and how reading is singularly a unique visitation with worlds writ through the eyes of writers we may never have the pleasure of knowing personally but whose worlds have given us such a breadth of joy as to give us this awe-inspiring moment of clarity.

I haven’t picked up the habit of selecting non-fiction works to read each year, as my non-fiction selections are such a random allotment of subjects, topics and near fanciful treats of unexpected delights, I simply do not make it an organised effort to consume more of this literary scope as well I should. What drew me into this particular release is how it was spoken about prior to seeing the book arrive by Post. It lent the impression that this was not only meant for ‘readers’ but for those who are passionately addicted to reading – to give themselves over to the stories and to allow the stories to give them back a piece of their memories for having spent a moment settled in thought and mirth of exploration of that world.

Blog Book Tour | “Unlocking Worlds: a reading companion for book lovers” by Sally AllenUnlocking Worlds
Subtitle: a reading companion for book lovers

Award-winning writer and teacher Sally Allen knows that good books don’t just draw us in; they talk to us, shape us, and transport us to times, places, and minds different from our own.

In Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers, Allen deftly weaves personal stories with fifteen thematized, annotated, and illustrated reading lists for what to read next. By sharing some of the treasures in her library and the secret lives they reveal, she gives us permission to embrace the shameless book lover inside each of us. Unlocking Worlds is a testament to how reading passionately — and compassionately — can unlock the world beyond our back yard. Celebrating books and those who read them, Allen shows how the solitary act of reading can be a powerful thread that creates community and connection.

Thought-provoking and eloquent, Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers is a must-have for anyone who can’t leave the house without a book in hand.


Places to find the book:

ISBN: 9780983644613

Published by Griffins Wharf Productions

on 2nd September 2015

Pages: 248

Available Formats: Paperback

About Sally Allen

Sally Allen

Award winning writer and teacher Sally Allen holds a Ph.D. from New York University in English Education, with an emphasis in writing and rhetoric, and a M.A. in English Language and Literature. She teaches writing, literature, and communications, leads book group discussions, and is the founder and editor of Books, Ink at HamletHub.

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Posted Friday, 18 December, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, Anthology Collection of Stories, Banned Books, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Classical Literature, Debut Author, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Journal, Literary Fiction, Metafiction, Non-Fiction, Short Stories or Essays, The Writers Life, Writing Style & Voice

Blog Book Tour | “The Beautiful American” by Jeanne Mackin

Posted Tuesday, 29 September, 2015 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

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

Why I felt I might fancy this novel:

I have a personal penchant for what I refer to as ‘Biographical Historical Fiction’ wherein the historical persons who lived are aptly portrayed through a historical treatment of their lives by a novelist who has a flaire for bringing their lives so fully to life, we feel as though we’ve met them in person. You’ll find that I have read quite a hearty array of historicals which befit this category and am always quite in full search of new writers who can lead me back through the corridors of the past and introduce me to someone who will bring history alive to me in all it’s glory and heartache. As for each life told, there is a happy balance of joy and strife, such is a well-rounded life well lived and told thereafter the person has passed on.

I personally find joy in this section of historical stories because the past becomes fiercely alive through the voices of the authors who pen these kinds of stories. We get to take an up close and personal voyage back through the tides of time whilst being caught up in the livelihood of a person who truly lived and felt every inch of the emotions we hope to catch sight of in the novel.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Note on the Cover Art: Did anyone else notice the sepia tone of hue on the cover when Lee Miller is being highlighted and how Paris in the background is a more muted reverie? I felt this was a fitting touch to the novel, especially as you become further into her folds, this novel doesn’t quite want to let you go – it stays with you, and you realise things you hadn’t seen at first glaance.

Blog Book Tour | “The Beautiful American” by Jeanne MackinThe Beautiful American
by Jeanne Mackin

As recovery from World War II begins, expat American Nora Tours travels from her home in southern France to London in search of her missing sixteen-year-old daughter. There, she unexpectedly meets up with an old acquaintance, famous model-turned-photographer Lee Miller. Neither has emerged from the war unscathed. Nora is racked with the fear that her efforts to survive under the Vichy regime may have cost her daughter’s life. Lee suffers from what she witnessed as a war correspondent photographing the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.

Nora and Lee knew each other in the heady days of late 1920’s Paris, when Nora was giddy with love for her childhood sweetheart, Lee became the celebrated mistress of the artist Man Ray, and Lee’s magnetic beauty drew them all into the glamorous lives of famous artists and their wealthy patrons. But Lee fails to realize that her friendship with Nora is even older, that it goes back to their days as children in Poughkeepsie, New York, when a devastating trauma marked Lee forever. Will Nora’s reunion with Lee give them a chance to forgive past betrayals, and break years of silence?

A novel of freedom and frailty, desire and daring, The Beautiful American portrays the extraordinary relationship between two passionate, unconventional woman.


Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

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Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9780451465825

Also by this author:

on 3rd June 2014

Pages: 352

Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards Badge created by Jorie in Canva. Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo.

Published By: New American Library (NAL)
( ) an imprint of Penguin Group (USA
)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #TheBeautifulAmerican

About Jeanne Mackin

Jeanne Mackin

Jeanne Mackin’s novel, The Beautiful American (New American Library), based on the life of photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller, received the 2014 CNY award for fiction. Her other novels include A Lady of Good Family, about gilded age personality Beatrix Farrand, The Sweet By and By, about nineteenth century spiritualist Maggie Fox, Dreams of Empire set in Napoleonic Egypt, The Queen’s War, about Eleanor of Aquitaine, and The Frenchwoman, set in revolutionary France and the Pennsylvania wilderness.

Jeanne Mackin is also the author of the Cornell Book of Herbs and Edible Flowers (Cornell University publications) and co-editor of The Book of Love (W.W. Norton.) She was the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society and a keynote speaker for The Dickens Fellowship. Her work in journalism won awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, in Washington, D.C. She has taught or conducted workshops in Pennsylvania, Hawaii and at Goddard College in Vermont.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • 2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
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Posted Tuesday, 29 September, 2015 by jorielov in 20th Century, Adulterous Affair, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Bookish Discussions, Clever Turns of Phrase, Fashion Industry, Father-Daughter Relationships, France, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Lee Miller, Literary Fiction, Parfum Industry, Passionate Researcher, Photography, The World Wars, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, War-time Romance, Women's Health, Women's Rights, Wordsmiths & Palettes of Sage, Writing Style & Voice

Blog Book Tour | “Balm” by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Posted Friday, 3 July, 2015 by jorielov , , , , 2 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on “Balm” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours.  I received a complimentary ARC copy of “Balm” direct from the publisher Amistad (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers), in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein. 

Whilst I was requesting to be placed on this blog tour, I requested a copy of the author’s debut novel “Wench” to become introduced to her style and possible continuity; blessedly I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Amistad (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers), without being obligated to post a review, as my ruminations on behalf of this novel are for my own edification only.

Interest in reading the stories:

Loved the continuity of the historical era in which the author started inside Wench. I regularly read Southern Lit in regards to the Deep South, plantations, abolitionists and the Underground Railroad in general. My first TLC Book Tour was for The House Girl and since then I have continued to find novels set within this era either for TLC or other publicists; the last of which was Redfield Farm.

Blog Book Tour | “Balm” by Dolen Perkins-ValdezBalm
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Narrator: Lisa Renee Pitts

The New York Times bestselling author of Wench—called "a fascinating and tragic story" by NPR.org, "deeply moving" by USA Today, and "lyrical and devastatingly beautiful" by People magazine—returns to the Civil War era to explore history's next chapter in this powerful story of love and healing.

The Civil War has ended, and Madge, Sadie, and Hemp have each come to Chicago in search of a new life.

Born with magical hands, Madge has the power to discern others' suffering and ease it, but she cannot heal her own damaged heart. To mend herself and continue to help those in need, she must return to Tennessee to face the women healers who rejected her as a child.

Sadie can commune with the dead, but until she makes peace with her father, she, too, cannot fully engage her gift.

Searching for his missing family, Hemp arrives in this northern city that shimmers with possibility. But redemption cannot be possible until he is reunited with those taken from him.

In the bitter aftermath of a terrible, bloody war, as a divided nation tries to come together once again, Madge, Sadie, and Hemp will be caught up in an unexpected battle for survival in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest.

Beautiful in its historical atmosphere and emotional depth, Balm is a stirring novel of love, loss, hope, and reconciliation set during one of the most critical periods in American history.

Genres: Historical Fiction, War Drama, Literary Fiction, Southern Lit



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Borrow from a Public Library

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Published by Amistad

on 3rd January, 2015

Format: Paperback

Length: 9.2 hours

Pages: 374

Published By: Amistad (@AmistadBooks)
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Available Formats: Hardcover, Softcover, Audiobook, and Ebook

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Wench
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Narrator: Quincy Tyler Bernstine

Genres: Historical Fiction, Southern Lit



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Series: P.S. Series


Published by Amistad

on 25th, January 2011

Format: P.S. Edition Paperback

Length: 8 hours, 17 minutes

Pages: 294

Wench Available Formats: Hardcover, P.S. Edition paperback, Audiobook, and Ebook

Listen to an Excerpt: WENCH via audiobooks.com

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Converse via: #Balm and #DolenPerkinsValdez

 

About Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Wench. Her fiction has appeared in the Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, StorySouth, and elsewhere.

In 2011 she was a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for fiction. She was also awarded the First Novelist Award by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.

She teaches in the Stonecoast MFA program in Maine. A graduate of Harvard and a former University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA, Dolen Perkins-Valdez lives in Washington, D.C., with her family.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • 2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
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Posted Friday, 3 July, 2015 by jorielov in #LitChat, 19th Century, African-American History, ARC | Galley Copy, Audiobook, Audiobook Excerpt, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Novel, Domestic Violence, Equality In Literature, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Historical Fiction, History, Literary Fiction, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Passionate Researcher, Psychological Abuse, Small Towne USA, Soundcloud, Taboo Relationships & Romance, The Deep South, TLC Book Tours, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, Underground Railroad