Author: Heather Webb

Blog Book Tour | “The Phantom’s Apprentice” by Heather Webb a brilliant re-telling of #PhantomOfTheOpera by the #histnov author I admire for giving us strong female leads throughout History – providing a beautiful lens into #HerStory!

Posted Monday, 26 February, 2018 by jorielov Heather Webb, Phantom of the Opera, Sonnet Press, Stephanie Burgis, The Phantom's Apprentice 5 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! I received a complimentary ARC copy of “The Phantom’s Apprentice” direct from the author Heather Webb in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I was so enamored with the premise behind ‘The Phantom’s Apprentice’:

Aside from being an admirer of the author’s collective works (as hinted at through my conversational tweets attached to the bottom of this review) and having had the joyful blessing of being able to follow her career whilst I’ve been a book blogger – all of this aside, I’ve been a girl whose appreciated Broadway and Musicals since I was old enough to listen to original soundtracks on cassette tape. I used to go to sleep with a tape of Annie – not the stage play version but the original motion picture soundtrack. From there, I graduated into more familiar Musicals – including listening to the Michael Crawford soundtrack for Phantom until it etched itself into my blood.

I continued to follow Phantom – from watching the PBS broadcast of the anniversary production from London to celebrating the motion picture adaptation starring Emmy Rossum. Whilst I was writing my ruminative thoughts on behalf of this novel, I was playing the motion picture soundtrack channel for Phantom via Pandora Radio which showcased all versions of the play and musical.

I am also an appreciator of Gothic Literature – something I haven’t actively pursued on my blog – except in short spurts and showcases – however, in the back of my wanderings is a keen interest to resume my Gothic readings, as I’ve had my eye on Kate Morton for several years now. She’s only one of the authors whose winked out a recognition of the kind of Gothic vein of interest which whets a healthy appetite to explore. Closer to finishing is my reading of Jane Eyre which I always held in high esteem – mostly stemming out of a love of the author’s vision for Eyre and what I found in a film adaptation I felt owned to the strength of who Eyre was and is for all of us to know through this beautiful novel.

The music of Phantom – irregardless of which incantation of performance and artistic vision are the songs which lift my soul. The sound of Phantom is individually distinctive and the story within it’s heart is one of gutting emotions surrounding the suspense of what is truly happening to Christine and of what motivates the Phantom himself to pursue her to such an extent of invested interest. It is also part cautionary tale about obsession and misguided love.

Knowing this story was in the hands, heart and mind of Ms Webb was enough to convince me I needed to read this evocative re-telling. She’s one author I appreciate reading due to her tenacious approach to drawing forward the strong female leads I personally find myself engaging with as I read their stories. I have a newfound interest in Feminist Historical Fiction and of finding the voices out of History who are celebrating #HerStory. You’ll find many writers who write these kinds of stories peppered throughout my archives and featured within my Story Vault. It is a pleasurable joy each time I get the chance to read a story which evokes such a strong reaction and provides me with hours of cherished happiness for having found the characters and the world in which they live.

The Phantom's Apprentice
by Heather Webb
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

In this re-imagining of Phantom of the Opera, meet a Christine Daaé you’ve never seen before…

Christine Daaé sings with her violinist Papa in salons all over Paris, but she longs to practice her favorite pastime—illusions. When her beloved Papa dies during a conjurer’s show, she abandons her magic and surrenders to grief and guilt. Life as a female illusionist seems too dangerous, and she must honor her father’s memory.

Concerned for her welfare, family friend Professor Delacroix secures an audition for her at the Nouvel Opéra—the most illustrious stage in Europe. Yet Christine soon discovers the darker side of Paris opera. Rumors of murder float through the halls, and she is quickly trapped between a scheming diva and a mysterious phantom. The Angel of Music.

But is the Angel truly a spirit, or a man obsessed, stalking Christine for mysterious reasons tangled in her past?

As Christine’s fears mount, she returns to her magical arts with the encouragement of her childhood friend, Raoul. Newfound hope and romance abounds…until one fateful night at the masquerade ball. Those she cares for—Delacroix, the Angel, and even Raoul—aren’t as they seem. Now she must decide whom she trusts and which is her rightful path: singer or illusionist.

To succeed, she will risk her life in the grandest illusion of all.

Genres: After Canons, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense, Re-telling &/or Sequel

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780999628508

Also by this author: Becoming Josephine, Author Interview: Heather Webb (Rodin's Lover), Rodin's Lover, Cover Reveal: Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War, Last Christmas in Paris

Published by Sonnet Press

on 6th February, 2018

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 350

Published By: Sonnet Press

Converse via: #HistFic, #HistoricalFiction + #HistNov

as well as #ThePhantomsApprentice w/ #PhantomOfTheOpera

About Heather Webb

HEATHER WEBB is the author of historical novels Becoming Josephine and Rodin’s Lover, and the anthology Fall of Poppies, which have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Elle, France Magazine, and more, as well as received national starred reviews.

RODIN’S LOVER was a Goodreads Top Pick in 2015. Last Christmas in Paris, an epistolary love story set during WWI released October 3, 2017, and The Phantom’s Apprentice, a re-imagining of the Gothic classic Phantom of the Opera from Christine Daae’s point of view releases February 6, 2018. To date, her novels have sold in ten countries. Heather is also a professional freelance editor, foodie, and travel fiend.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2018 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Monday, 26 February, 2018 by jorielov in 19th Century, After the Canon, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Cemeteries & Graveyards, Composer, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debilitating Diagnosis & Illness, Father-Daughter Relationships, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, France, French Literature, Good vs. Evil, Gothic Literature, Gothic Mystery, Gothic Romance, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Thriller Suspense, Horror-Lite, Indie Author, Inspired by Stories, Literary Adaptations, Literary Fiction, Mediums & Clairvoyants, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Musical Fiction | Non-Fiction, New York City, Opera, Psychological Suspense, PTSD, Re-Told Tales, Realistic Fiction, Unrequited Eternal Love, Women's Fiction

Blog Book Tour | “Last Christmas in Paris” (an #Epistolary novel of #WWI) by Heather Webb and Hazel Gaynor!

Posted Friday, 20 October, 2017 by jorielov HarperCollins Publishers, Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb, Last Christmas in Paris, Letters from Skye, William Morrow 5 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! I received a complimentary ARC copy of “Last Christmas in Paris” direct from the publisher William Morrow in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why this #Epistolary novel captured my attention:

It will not surprise those who regularly read Jorie Loves A Story to denote the stories Jorie loves to read most these past four years have been hinged somewhere in the historical past! Of those, I tend to reside somewhere in the World War eras more readily than other eras (other timescapes I have a penchant for are the Regency, Victorian, Edwardian and Roaring Twenties) as there is always a new approach to telling a story either at war or on the home-front which resonates with my heart for Historical Fiction. When it comes to reading Ms Webb’s stories, I had the grace of finding her whilst her debut novel ‘Becoming Josephine’ was first releasing, finding a strong voice and emerging talent where I had this to say on her behalf:

Ms. Webb gives the reader a rendering of the situations and events which befit the era of the story’s origins but on the level that even a sensitive reader could walk through the scenes without blushing too severely or cringing at the imagery painted in narrative. Even though she does plainly give the raw visceral imagery its due course. She doesn’t allow it to take over completely, but allows it to fade in the background. Except for what occurs in Rose’s home of Martinique and what happens when she returns to Paris, in which the horror of the attacks are in full measure. Rather than focus solely on the horror that erupted she gave the smaller details of the aftermath which proved just as difficult if not moreso to read. Such a horrid time in history for the survivors to have lived through. She chose instead to direct the focus on Rose’s rise into the persona of Josephine who became the woman’s edificial Phoenix.

In regards to Ms Gaynor’s writings, I am only just starting to get to the point where I can focus on her writings – having picked up a copy of ‘The Girl Who Came Home’ for my thirty-fourth birthday (four years ago). It was one of three novels I came home with by authors I either knew of or dearly wanted to read next! If you visit the Cover Reveal w/ Notes I wrote on behalf of “Fall of Poppies” her links were remiss because I could not find them ahead of posting my showcase. I was meant to receive a copy to read and review but will be reading this through my local library instead.

There is a bit of a back-story about how my path crossed originally with Ms Gaynor as it goes back to #LitChat in May of 2014! Here I refer to snippets of the conversation I participated in which led me to become curious about the story I would find inside ‘The Girl Who Came Home’ and plant the seed of interest to follow Ms Gaynor’s career:

@JLovesAStory The 14 are known as The Addergoole Fourteen. You can read more about them here http://t.co/upSw3ND05l #LitChat

— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) May 14, 2014

While The Girl Who Came Home is based on the 14, I fictionalised all the characters. Part of the novel told in 1912. Part in 1982. #LitChat

— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) May 14, 2014

@JLovesAStory Timeslip. We move from 1912, when Maggie is 17 yr old, to 1982, when an elderly lady. We hear her in first person … #LitChat

— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) May 14, 2014

…through her journal entries. I wanted to give readers a really immersive Titanic experience. To walk on Titanic with her. #LitChat

— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) May 14, 2014

@JLovesAStory With time slip, we see how the event affected Maggie throughout her life. The survivor story really interested me. #LitChat

— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) May 14, 2014

@JLovesAStory Wow. BIG question! I think the past can only but help to inform our future. That's what fascinates me about it. #LitChat

— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) May 14, 2014

I had fully planned to host a dual-interview between Ms Webb & Ms Gaynor, however, as I had to turn my questions in rather late (within the past week or so) I am unsure if the interview will still be able to be completed at this time. I was hoping to get two perspectives on the same questions which would culminate on a lively chat about this novel and Historical Fiction. Meanwhile, I was unable to finish reading the story itself by the 13th as originally scheduled and had to push my review forward to Sunday giving me enough time to finish collecting my thoughts as I am sharing them now.

As previously mentioned last week as I reviewed ‘Dennis and Greer: A Love Story’, I have a strong passion for Epistolary Fiction – which alighted in my life quite happily when I first read ‘Letters from Skye’. Since then, I have sought out various authors and story-lines which follow either a letters & correspondence narrative or entreat through slippages in time via diaries or journals. Either way, I feel quite the zest of mirth for finding a new ‘story’ caught inside the time capsule of what is left behind through the words people write down – either to be shared or kept private for their own edification.

I hadn’t known at the time when I asked to be a part of this blog tour, I’d finally find a story written through the sequences of letters & correspondences I had first discovered in ‘Letters from Skye’! I cannot even begin to tell you how overjoyed I was at this little discovery when I first started reading the ARC! I hadn’t known when it first arrived either – as I wanted to savour reading this without doing what I usually do which is to look over a novel tip to stern – never reading out of sequence but becoming acquainted with what it contains – I sometimes read the Appendixes first, too, as those are places where Authors Notes or other such lovelies could reside or even for those of us who like a bit more information, where back-stories or research notes are presented!

I was also wicked happy for reading a new release by William Morrow – as this is one imprint I have fond memories of reviewing for off and on for the past four years! It has become one of my favourite imprints for finding convicting fiction and characters of whom give me lasting hours of joy walking beside them!

Last Christmas in Paris
Subtitle: A Novel of World War I
by Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb
Source: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.

August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.

But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…

Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?

Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…

Genres: Epistolary | Letters & Correspondences, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Military Fiction, War Drama

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780062562685

Also by this author: Cover Reveal: Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War, Becoming Josephine, Author Interview: Heather Webb (Rodin's Lover), Rodin's Lover, The Phantom's Apprentice

Published by William Morrow

on 3rd October, 2017

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 368

Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)

Converse via: #HistFic, #HistoricalFiction + #Epistolary

About Hazel Gaynor

HAZEL GAYNOR is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Memory of Violets and The Girl Who Came Home, for which she received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. Her third novel The Girl from the Savoy was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail Canada bestseller, and was shortlisted for the BGE Irish Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year. The Cottingley Secret and Last Christmas in Paris will be published in 2017.

Hazel was selected by US Library Journal as one of ‘Ten Big Breakout Authors’ for 2015 and her work has been translated into several languages. Originally from Yorkshire, England, Hazel now lives in Ireland.

About Heather Webb

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Friday, 20 October, 2017 by jorielov in 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Debilitating Diagnosis & Illness, Diary Accountment of Life, During WWI, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History, Literary Fiction, Medical Fiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Postal Mail | Letters & Correspondence, Psychiatric Facilities, PTSD, Realistic Fiction, Story in Diary-Style Format, the Nineteen Hundreds, The World Wars, Women's Fiction

Cover Reveal | “Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War” an #anthology of war dramas including three #authors I personally love! reading: Lauren Willig, Jessica Brockmole + Heather Webb! Including a small notation on Jorie Loves A Story’s 2nd Birthday!

Posted Thursday, 6 August, 2015 by jorielov Beatriz Williams, Evangeline Holland, Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War, HarperCollins Publishers, Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb, Jennifer Robson, Jessica Brockmole, Kate Kerrigan, Lauren Willig, Marci Jefferson, William Morrow 0 Comments

I didn’t take long to decide to join the Cover Reveal blog tour for this enticingly curious NEW RELEASE by William Morrow Spring, 2016! For starters, I have become entranced and captured by *three!* of the authors whose convicting stories etch their characters and literary worlds straight into my mind’s eye in such a convincing way as to leave heart prints of their memories inside my spirit long after I have put down their novels!

There is a aching realism to war dramas and a churning of courage intermixed with a fierce dedication to service, country, self, and family. The lives of servicemen and women as much as the civilian staff who aide them directly both at home and overseas are dedicated to keeping all of us safe in an unsafe world. Their sacrifices are passionately applauded and it is our honour to celebrate their lives of which have ensured our times of peace.

Notations on the realisation some of the authors are already ‘familiar’ to me:

Being a regular book blogger for William Morrow (as I have a heart full of gratitude for the books which come up for review by HarperCollins, of whom has become one of my favourite Major Trade publishers) I was overjoyed at finding out this anthology collection of shorts (stories) not only includes a new work by Jessica Brockmore (of my beloved Letters from Skye), Lauren Willig (of whom has created a delish historical/contemporary suspense series in Pink Carnation), and the historically passionate researcher (novelist) Heather Webb (of Becoming Josephine + Rodin’s Lover) this collection yields many #newtomeauthors of whom I would be most delighted to ‘meet’ for the first-time!

Prior to confirmation of my participation on this tour, I had the joy of finding a beautifully up-close and personal review of Marci Jefferson’s new release Enchantress of Paris via Literary, Etc. wherein I enjoyed adding to the conversation surrounding it’s story. Ms Jefferson’s previous novel Girl on the Golden Coin was a novel I had hoped to have read in 2014 and sadly was not able to get to it. I definitely hope I can find a way to borrow both copies from the library once their available!

For my thirty-fourth birthday I selected Hazel Gaynor’s The Girl Who Came Home as one of my *birthday books* of choice which was gifted to me by my Mum and Da! It remains one of the books I am most adamant of reading as soon as I have the hours to devout to it! A Memory of Violets has intrigued me as well although it is constantly being checked out at my library!

I hadn’t realised it until I visited her website, but the novels of Jennifer Robson have been garnishing my curious eye towards picking them up and seeing what I shall find inside for quite awhile now! I have either seen her in the book blogosphere or finding I can borrow her books from my local library! Wicked sweet!

I typically gravitate and devour novels of WWII, and it is a rare treat indeed when I find a novel based on WWI! I tend to be a bit particular about the kind of war dramas I prefer reading and therefore my quest to find new stories to soak my mind inside takes a bit of seeking and patience! This collection not only winked out a keen interest to read it, I felt as though the authors knew exactly what kind of war dramas I would appreciate reading in shorter form! I cannot wait for this release!

Read a delish snippet of a preview:

Excerpt from “Hour of the Bells”
A short story included in Fall of Poppies

Reprinted Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers

Beatrix whisked around the showroom, feather duster in hand. Not a speck of dirt could remain or Joseph would be disappointed. The hour struck noon. A chorus of clocks whirred, their birds popping out from hiding to announce midday. Maidens twirled in their frocks with braids down their backs, woodcutters clacked their axes against pine, and the odd sawmill wheel spun in tune to the melody of a nursery rhyme. Two dozen cuckoos warbled and dinged, each crafted with loving detail by the same pair of hands—those with thick fingers and a steady grip.

Beatrix paused in her cleaning. One clock chimed to its own rhythm, apart from the others. She could turn them off—the tinkling melodies, the incessant clatter of pendulums, wheels, and cogs, with the levers located near the weights—just as their creator had done before bed each evening, but she could not bring herself to do the same. To silence their music was to silence him, her husband, Joseph. The Great War had already done that; ravaged his gentle nature, stolen his final breath, and silenced him forever. Read More

Posted Thursday, 6 August, 2015 by jorielov in 20th Century, Anthology Collection of Stories, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Birthdays & Blogoversaries, Blog Tour Host, Blogs I Regularly Read, Book | Novel Extract, Book Cover Reveal, During WWI, Historical Fiction, Literary Etc., Short Stories or Essays, The World Wars, War Drama

Blog Book Tour | “Rodin’s Lover” by Heather Webb An introspective historical fiction set around Rodin & Camille Claudel! Passionately attune to art history & the attachments of the heart.

Posted Wednesday, 28 January, 2015 by jorielov Heather Webb, Penguin Group (USA), Plume, Rodin's Lover 2 Comments

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Rodin’s Lover” virtual book tour through France Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Plume, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

I barely had time to read the full premise of Rodin’s Lover when I signed up for the blog tour, as I had a sixth sense about this particular release! I had a strong feeling that after the success of Webb’s debut novel on behalf of Josephine Bonaparte, this next one would draw quite a large readership — partially out of curiosity and partially out of the fact all of us knew how intricate she layers the historical fact with the fiction; etching into our collective memories a full-bodied novel rooted in history, with characters who step off the page as if they were being given a second life to live in front of us!

I had heard an inkling about this being set in France and knew it had a strong impact on the world of art, but as far as what it was precisely about — that was something I was happily surprised to have found out much, much later! Rodin is one sculptural artist I do not know too much about overall, as I had mentioned on the interview I gave on this tour, most of the artists I am familiar with are Italian in origin! I had to smile when I realised this, as Webb’s art history appreciations lie in France, with mine further south in Italy! I never had thought about how different we (here refers to ‘everyone’ not merely Webb) approach what draws our eye into an artist, and what it is about that particular artist’s style and voice out of the medium and materials he/she uses that stabilises the connection for us. Even the country of origin can have a resounding effect on our peception and our acception of a particular era of art.

On my connection to Ms. Webb:

Ever since I first hosted her debut novel Becoming Josephine on her original blog tour in January 2014, I have happily had the pleasure of crossing paths with her in the twitterverse! We would share quite a lot of happy conversation rather spontaneously as the year carried forward. We have the tendency to duck inside the same Twitter events, chats, and/or follow or converse with writers in common whilst delighting in the bookish and writerly joy that extend out of our paths continuously crossing. I delight in the joy of being able to interact with writers I have had the honour of reading stories of inasmuch as the writers who become a delight to know in this virtual bookish community.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with her and have enjoyed our random conversations on Twitter. 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.

Rodin's Lover
by Heather Webb
Source: Publisher via France Book Tours

Book Synopsis:

A mesmerizing tale of art and passion in Belle Époque France

As a woman, aspiring sculptor Camille Claudel has plenty of critics, especially her ultra-traditional mother. But when Auguste Rodin makes Camille his apprentice—and his muse—their passion inspires groundbreaking works. Yet, Camille’s success is overshadowed by her lover’s rising star, and her obsessions cross the line into madness.

Rodin’s Lover brings to life the volatile love affair between one of the era’s greatest artists and a woman entwined in a tragic dilemma she cannot escape.

Genres: Art & Art History, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Also by this author: Becoming Josephine, Author Interview: Heather Webb (Rodin's Lover), Cover Reveal: Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War, Last Christmas in Paris, The Phantom's Apprentice

Published by Plume

on 27th January, 2015

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Published by: Plume (@PlumeBooks)

an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) (@penguinusa)

Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #RodinsLover, #HeatherWebb, & #FranceBT

About Heather Webb

Camille Claudel & Rodin:

Claudel is a self-sacrificing artist unto where she doesn’t see past her creativity and the ache she has to explore more with her mouldings of clay. She did not just give her light, heart, and soul to the art she fused every part of her being to the medium; lending an outside observation that without art, Claudel would no longer exist because art had replaced the words and experiences that manifest outside that scope.

You can see quite a bit about Rodin’s temperament whilst he is in conversation with Monet; both men were working in Paris whilst approaching their careers with equal passion yet with different trueness to their own individualistic character. Where Monet was melancholic due to tragic loss, Rodin is seen a bit too esteemed to defy the rules by which both men worked in order to make their livings. On Monet’s behalf, I believe he did not feel his course was set to break the rules but rather to fuse his own artistic joy into a visual element that would appeal to the public. Rodin on the other hand was a bourne rebel who did not want to be placed inside a pre-determined path nor adhere to a rule of how to sculpt when he himself would sort that out in his studio. Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Wednesday, 28 January, 2015 by jorielov in 19th Century, Adulterous Affair, Art, Art History, Auguste Rodin, Belle Epoque Era, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Camille Claudel, Cookery, France, France Book Tours, Historical Fiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Passionate Researcher, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Sculpture, Sociological Behavior, Taboo Relationships & Romance, Writing Style & Voice

Author Interview | Conversing with Heather Webb on her passion for Rodin and #amwriting thought-provoking literary fiction for women!

Posted Wednesday, 21 January, 2015 by jorielov Heather Webb, Penguin Group (USA), Plume, Rodin's Lover 6 Comments

What an incredible amount of joy it is for me to welcome to Jorie Loves A Story, the writer of historically enriched French novels which ache to be classified as literary as much as they are most decisively historical in breadth of scope — Ms. Heather Webb!

I was quite wickedly intrigued by her debut novel: “Becoming Josephine” which not only introduced me to the Bonaparte’s in a way I had not expected possible, but it clued me into the particulars of Revolutionary France and the swirling tide of rule that would alter time and history. I was not quite ready to meet Josephine as her story was quite brutally harsh and incredibly layered, (a credit to the writer who brought her truth to light from her pen) but what I walked away with was this undying intrigue for France & for eclipsing previously unknown eras of French history through stories presenting a lifeblood of a living person who dared to make their mark at a time that was fashionably slanted against them!

This has become Ms. Webb’s signature style — of interweaving historical fact and the mysterious unknown spirit of truth of her characters into a riveting read of history encased in a figmented glass of eloquence.

I’ve come full circle — I hosted Ms. Webb for her debut novel, and now after having spent many a spontaneously happy moon meeting up with her in the twitterverse, I am hosting her for her second novel, this time centered around the Belle Epoque era of artistic dynasty!

You’ve previously reflected how much you adore the Belle Epoque era of French history due to the well of inspiring innovative thoughts, movements, and progress stepping out of it. Do you remember what gave you the first bonefide passionate link to the Belle Epoque world? Was it a particular person, story, or movement that eclipsed your heart?

Webb responds: It began when I was twelve years old and living in Nashville. (My dad was military so we moved around a lot.) A traveling exhibit of the impressionists came to one of the museums downtown. My mom, ever on the hunt for the cultural things to see in each place we lived, bought us tickets immediately. I’ll never forget marveling over the array of gorgeous paintings, how the artists used color to depict light and movement. From that point on, I wanted to know more about these painters and thus began my interest in this era.

I have oft found the best discoveries we have in our lives are the ones that are fortuitously spontaneous and unexpectedly alighting on our path! How keen your Mum had a bit of inspiration towards your growing curiosity on art history inasmuch as sparking a flame inside your mind that would one day lead you toward’s telling the story within Rodin’s Lover! I love finding such connective pieces of where inspiration and curiosity start to carve such an intricate thread through our mind’s eye towards revealing in our future how that moment solidified a desire we had yet to give a name too!

When it comes to fine art, I have drifted between Renaissance artists of Italy (i.e. Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Michaelangelo and Raphael) to the Pre-Raphaelites (i.e. John W. Waterhouse, Bouguereau, or Godward), yet I haven’t explored Rodin. Except to say I have lamented about his sculpture “The Thinker” throughout my childhood, whilst I studied fine art. What tipped your interest on Rodin initially, and sparked your joy in bringing out Camille Claudel who had such anguish in loving Rodin?!

Webb responds: I fell in love with both Camille and Rodin while in my French film class in college. The film, simply called Camille Claudel, was multiple award-winning in Europe and the U.S. with stars Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu playing the roles of Camille and Rodin. Their tragic love story gripped me and I swooned at the beauty they created both together and separately. After the film, I became rather obsessed with sculpture in general. Many years later, I had not forgotten Camille, and knew I wanted to delve more into her life.

Isn’t that interesting?! Depardieu, you say?! I remember finding him for the first time in Green Card; yet I had not realised they had brought Rodin & Claudel to the screen! Although having become further interested in the real-life counterparts to this story, I had nearly suspected there might have been a classic motion picture on behalf of their life, as they so oft had brought to life people who had such a strong impact on art and society. There is beauty within tragedy as much as there is solace out of darkness — I can see how the strong emotional ties of their orbit heightened your motivation to tell their stories!

As an additional note to my readers: this film is available at your Public Library! Read More

Posted Wednesday, 21 January, 2015 by jorielov in 19th Century, Adulterous Affair, Art, Art History, Auguste Rodin, Belle Epoque Era, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Camille Claudel, Cookery, France, France Book Tours, Historical Fiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Passionate Researcher, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Sculpture, Sociological Behavior, Taboo Relationships & Romance, Writing Style & Voice