The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
Published January 2012 by HarperCollins
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher and TLC Book Tours for this review


My paternal grandmother's people were Scottish; one of my favorite books is Jane Eyre. How could there ever have been any doubt in my mind that I would read this book?


Gemma Hardy is an orphan who has been taken in my her uncle and his family. When her uncle dies, her aunt (who has never cared for her) ships Gemma off to a boarding school where she is a "working girl." Certainly Gemma spends more time working than she does studying and even among the other working girls, Gemma is unable to make friends. Eventually, Gemma is forced to find her own way in the world, taking on a job as an au pair for the niece of a Scottish gentleman. When a secret comes to light, Gemma runs only to find that she is not the person she thought she was but also finding that she can be loved.


As the book began, I worried that I liked the book because it was so very much like Jane Eyre and I knew that I would soon lose interest if things continued that way. I'm not a fan of derivative works; they really have to be able to stand on their own.

Much to my delight, things were enough different to keep me interested and then things really took a turn that veered well off the source material. Livesey has kept enough of the story so that those who have read Jane Eyre will recognize the essentially the same plot. She has also brought in enough new characters, altered the existing characters, and added enough plot elements to allow this book to stand on it's own.

Margot Livesey

For other thoughts on this book, check out the full tour.  You can also learn more about Margot Livesey and her other books at her website, "Like" her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter. Thanks to the ladies at TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour!

Now I might have lost interest in the book during Gemma's wanderings a bit except of two words: Castle Menzies. Gemma finds herself talking refuge in the small town of Aberfeldy, Scotland and at one point, when she is out walking in the hills, Livesey has Gemma overseeing Castle Menzies. Which, of course, means nothing to most readers. Unless you happen to have ancestors who were of Clan Menzies. Oh yes, Gemma was wandering in the lands that my ancestors had roamed hundreds of years ago. I knew where she was at then - could picture the castle, the surrounding lands. I guess an author can never really know what will hook a reader!

Castle Menzies

Paris In July 2012 - "Hugo"

Heck, this Paris In July thing is going much better than I anticipated! The other night The Big Guy came home with movies and what should he have in hand but "Hugo." Miss H and I have already seen it but it's so delightful, I sat down and watched it again. "Hugo" is Martin Scorcese's 2011 movie adaptation of Brian Selznik's The Invention of Hugo Cabret and is set almost exclusively in a train station in Paris and actually filmed, at least partially, in Paris. The soundtrack even includes music by French composer Camille Saint-Saens.

Orphan Hugo Cabret lives alone in the a train station where he tends to all of the clocks, a job he started doing when his uncle took him in after his father died. Now that his uncle has died, Hugo is left to fend for himself. He is also left with his father's legacy, an automan Hugo is convinced is storing a secret message from his father, if only he can get it repaired. To that end, Hugo has been stealing parts and mechanical toys form a small toy store in the station until one day he is caught and the store keeper takes the notebook Hugo's father has left him. Hugo is drawn into working for the storekeeper and, in meeting his goddaughter, is drawn into a mystery the automan will revel. Perhaps not the message Hugo was hoping for but a message that will allow Hugo to finally live a happy life again and bring an old man the happiness he long ago thought was lost forever.

"Hugo" is largely the story of the birth of movies but it also features a marvelous bookstore, a library, and many references to books including "Robin Hood" a book Hugo and his father were reading together. The bookstore is filled with thousands of books but, books being heavy to move around for filming, some of the books you see in this scene are actually made of fiberglass.

So far, my Paris In July has been a journey to the movies. Who knows, I might just continue that route. After all, it's been a while since I've watched "An American In Paris." On the other hand, perhaps it's time to take up some French cooking and baking.

The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay

The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
Published June 2012 by HarperCollins
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher and TLC Book Tours

Almost five years ago, The Omaha Bookworms read and loved Ami McKay's The Birth House. To this day, it remains the book we spent the most time discussing, the book that generated the most conversation about our own lives. For five years I've been waiting, impatiently, for McKay's next novel. So, yes, I did squeal a little bit when TLC Book Tours offered me the chance to be on the blog tour for McKay's latest book, The Virgin Cure.

"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart. 

My father ran off when I was three years old. He emptied the rent money out of the biscuit tin and took my mother's only piece of silver - a tarnished sugar bowl she'd found in the rubble of a Third Avenue fire."

"She never held my hand in hers or let me kiss her cheeks. If I asked to sit on her lap, she'd pout and push me away and say, "When you were a baby, I held you until I thought my arms would fall off. Oh, child, that should be enough." 

I didn't mind. I loved her."

Unfortunately for 12-year-old Moth, her mother didn't reciprocate those feelings, more concerned with her own needs and desires. Still, when Moth was sold to a rich woman, Moth believed her mother was sending her off not just to make money but to live a better life. Abused in her new situation, Moth escapes only to end up on the streets, in more desperate straits than ever and it's then that she's "saved" and brought to Miss Everett's "Infant School," a home where the proprietress grooms young girls for their deflowering by the highest bidder. In 1871 New York City, Moth knew she would have to make a sacrifice in order to survive in the style she'd for which she longed.

It's no secret that I love well-researched books that don't feel like the author is trying to cram every piece of knowledge they gained into the book. McKay does it right; her books are so immersed time and place that's it's easy to forget that the books weren't written long ago. Her unique style here, of adding asides, special notes, and "newspaper clippings" allow her to flesh out parts of the story without distracting from it.

Then there are McKay's characters. Moth, who will become Ada to be more appealing to men, is both worldly and naive, so trusting in each new situation. Mrs. Wentworth, who hires young girls to tend to her only so that she can abuse them for reasons that will later become clear to Moth. Mr. Dink, a P.T. Barnum competitor, who capitalizes on his acts and oddities but who genuinely cares for them. And Dr. Sadie, one of the first female doctors (modeled after McKay's own great-great grandmother) who does all she can to protect and comfort Miss Everett's girls and destitute of the New York's Lower East Side even though it has cost her a place in her own family.

As for the writing, I'll let McKay speak for herself:

"Sometimes, for  a moment, everything is just as you need it to be. The memories of such moments live in the heart, waiting for the time you need to think on them, if only to remind yourself that for a short while, everything had been fine, and might be so again."

Featuring strong female characters, issues that still resonate today, and an ending that it just right, I highly recommend The Virgin Cure. Like The Birth House it would make an excellent book club selection.Thanks to TLC Book Tours for including me in this tour; for other opinions, check out the full tour here. Ami McKay is active on the internet - check out her website, "like" her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, or check out her boards on Pinterest.

Guest Review: The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich
Published in paperback February 2012 by Gallery Books
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher

I made a terrible mistake at Mother's Day. I had looked at the pile of books my mom had sitting waiting to be read and decided not to give her Catherine The Great by Robert Massie because she already had too many books. Me. I did that. Me, who wishes that people would give me books for birthdays and Christmas despite the fact that I have far more books than I will finish in the next few years. Plus, I had forgotten something about my mom - she's retired. So if she wants to sit down and read all day, she can. When I gave her The Midwife of Venice to read recently, that's pretty much what she did. Because she loved it, I suggested she write a review. Even with a cut on her finger that pretty much relegated her to resorting to the hunt-and-peck method of typing (and if you knew how fast my mom can type, you'd know just how frustrating that was for her!), she had the review for me in a little more than a day. Here's what she has to say about The Midwife of Venice:

When I sit down to read a book, I have several objectives: I want a good story, characters well-developed that come alive and that make me want to know them better and better and create loneliness when they are gone, descriptive phrases to help visualize the environment, and enough fact that I can learn something about the setting.  I am delighted to say that MIDWIFE OF VENICE filled my needs in each of these categories.  For several days after I finished the book (I was so drawn into the book that I abandoned all chores and just read), I thought about Hannah and wanted to know more.

Hannah is an Esthetic Jew living in the Jewish ghetto of Venice in 1575.  She is extremely poor and supports herself by serving as a midwife to the women of the ghetto.  Her husband Isaac has been captured as he set off to make his fortune and is now a prisoner (slave) on the island of Malta.  They parted with cross words so raising the money to earn his pardon is extremely important to Hannah.

Because of her profession, Hannah is used to late-night visitors.  But on this one night she was surprised to find a count and his brother along with the Rabbi at her door.  The count’s wife was in labor and had been for some time.  He wanted Hannah’s help.  The Rabbi forbid Hannah to go.  The rules for the Jews were very strict and she was forbidden to help a gentile.  After much haggling, Hannah finally said she would come with the count for the sum of 200 ducats–the amount she needed for the ransom.  The count agreed, the rabbi was furious, and Hannah was stunned.

She went with the count and took along her birthing spoons–a device she had created to assist in the somewhat unorthodox methods she used as a midwife.  When she reached the count’s home, she found the midwife there and the count’s wife in extreme distress.  She must negotiate carefully with the other midwife and try to save the baby (and if possible, the wife).  This is important to the count who must have an heir to save the fortune from his brothers. 

Hannah finally delivers a healthy son and from this point her life becomes very complicated as both of the count’s brothers try to destroy her, the baby, and all that is dear to both of them.  She is reunited with her sister Jessica who has abandoned her Jewish faith and she and Jessica find a way to help the baby and Hannah.

In the meantime, we also are provided with the life that Isaac is forced to lead as he is sold to Joseph who is cruel beyond measure.  Isaac is saved by a Catholic nun who will help Isaac only if he converts to Christianity.  He refuses and is given back to Joseph.  Isaac is clever and manages to keep himself alive, but barely, on the island.  The money for his ransom comes through but only if he will divorce Hannah which he refuses to do.

To tell more would spoil the story for the reader who will be taken into the ghetto of Venice and discover the rules that dominated, who will become acquainted with the plague, who will learn of intrigue and brutality.

It is an excellent book, well written, and one that captivates.  I am eager to read more of Roberta Rich’s work.  She spins a web and draws a reader into its depths.

Now adding Roberta Rich books to the idea list for my mom for her birthday. Because from now on, I'm not going to pass on giving her a book just because she's already got a pile of books on her nightstand! Thanks, Mom, for another great review!

Sunday Salon - July 15

I found this great article on Flavorwire highlighting the ten best fictional bookstores. Curiously I found it right after I finished a post about the movie "Hugo." My post included a paragraph about the bookstore in that movie. Lo and behold, that bookstore is on this list. Shouldn't be too much of a surprise, I suppose, it is a great bookstore. I kept thinking there was a movie where a bookstore played a big part in it. Then I remembered, it was a series of bookstores that John Cusack's character goes into in search of a copy of the book Love In The Time Of Cholera where Kate Beckinsale's character had left her phone number in the movie "Serendipity." I'm still a little annoyed at that film for convincing me to read that book!

Other movies that featured bookstores include one of my favorites "Notting Hill" (The Travel Book Co - a bookstore that seems to have no customers other than Julia Roberts), "The Big Sleep" starring Humphrey Bogart, "84, Charing Cross Road" starring Anne Bancroft and "When Harry Met Sally" starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Can you think of any other movies that have featured bookstores? What about movies that featured libraries?

Another coincidence - while I was looking for bookstores in movies, I came across this article about the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. I posted my  review of Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone on Tuesday. One of the central characters of that book is actress Louise Brooks, a person I had never heard of before. But silent film fans clearly know about her. For this festival she comes up twice in reference to movies that she appeared in. She really was incredibly beautiful. But apparently such a pain to work with that rumors were spread that she had a terrible voice when the "talkies" came into their own and her career died.

So far, I'm feeling remarkable light since the great resolve to lift the guilt associated with blogging off my shoulders. I've given away books, passed on more than a dozen book offers (accepting only one that was too good to pass on!) without any guilt, and put together a calendar for review obligations for the rest of the year. That's allowing me to see where my challenge books will fit in and where I can just read whatever I want. I think there will be more paring on both my feed reader and my bookshelves but I've given myself a good start and I'm looking forward to a much more relaxed second half of 2012.

This week I read Ami McKay's The Virgin Cure and started Margot Livesey's The Flight of Gemma Hardy. What are you reading this week?

Where In The World Are You Reading?

"Where In The World Are You Reading" is hosted by Trish of Love, Laughter And A Touch of Insanity, Kelly of The Written World, and Lisa of Books. Lists. Life. with idea to share a piece of your reading world through pictures and/or words. This month's meme prompt was to write about your local bookstore. Local bookstore can be any physical brick and mortar store--one you've visited on vacation or one local to you. The bookstore can be an Indie or Chain.

My local indie bookstore is one you've heard me talk about before - The Bookworm. The Bookworm has been in existence since 1986, moving to it's present location in the Countryside Village in 1999. There's been a bookstore in the Countryside Village since 1964 (back when all bookstores were indies!). I must say that I have kind of mixed feelings about The Bookworm (I'd prefer not to have dogs in the store with me) but they have everything I want in a bookstore and there's even a cafe attached.

The booksellers love to have fun at The Bookworm

 

Notice THE CHAPERONE on the shelf?

My go-to place for seeing authors, including Mary Helen Stefaniak

The Bookworm has eleven in-house book clubs including one for fans of Sherlock Holmes, one for Civil War buffs and even one called Aardbaark (Amiable Adults Readers Discussing Books Almost Always Read by Kids). Plus, they host over 100 book clubs, offering 20% discounts to book club members, and they will even order books just for clubs. If I could only get the members of the Omaha Bookworms to actually buy books!

Best part of The Bookworm? I can get there over my lunch break!

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty - Giveaway

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Published June 2012 by Penguin Group
Source: I actually have two copies - one courtesy of the publisher and one I bought to have signed when I saw Moriarty

Soon to be Hollywood starlet, Louise Brooks was only a 15-year-old living in Wichita, Kansas when she was accepted to study at the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York City. Louise's mother, Myra, isn't much of a mother but agrees when her husband demands that Louise have a chaperone for the trip. Myra hires 36-year-old Cora Carlisle for the job. Cora is a wife, mother, and respected member of Wichita society but with her twin boys headed off to college, she has her own reasons for making the trip. Cora is in for much more than she bargained for - bob-haired Louise is every bit as arrogant and strong-willed as her mother led Cora to believe. While Louise is fighting Cora every step of the way, Cora begins to wonder at her own reasons for the beliefs she is trying to foist off onto Louise. Cora's own mission will lead her to make discovers that aren't exactly what she was expecting. Both Louise's and Cora's lives will be changed forever by their time in New York.

Louise Brooks was a real person who made over twenty films. Every events in this book involving Louise is true, according to Moriarty and even a cursory look at Brook's live confirms this. Although a chaperone did attend Louise to New York in 1922, almost nothing is known about the woman and Moriarty took this opportunity to craft a story around that character. Cora is very much a woman of her time - corseted, appearance above all else, luncheon with the ladies, good wife and mother. It's a role she's grown into after years of wanting nothing more than a family but it's come at a cost. She's also a woman who has worked to win the right to vote, showing strength even she may not know she has.

"His voice was so commanding, so loud that she complied, or tried to, reaching out for the knob. But her corset was tight against her ribs, and she couldn't breathe. She grabbed the edge of the door frame, believing she would faint, hoping she would faint, if only to escape what was happening, what she had just seen, and fall into nothingness as she had during the twins' birth. But something obstinate in her wouldn't fade out, and wouldn't go down to the ground. She was still conscious, still standing, still horribly aware."

I've waited a couple of weeks to write my review of this book to avoid the gushing I was certain would occur if I wrote it earlier. It may only have saved you from having to read the word "love" repeatedly. Perhaps having seen Moriarty speak before I started the book made a difference; I'm always prone to like a book more when I know the story behind the story. Perhaps it's because I'm a sucker for books that incorporate real people and events into a work of fiction (I'm a huge fan of E.L. Doctorow).

I'm more inclined to believe that I loved this book because it is a wonderfully written book about a woman who overcomes great odds and learns and allows herself to grow with every experience she has. From the young virgin discovering sex with her husband to the woman who champions birth control; from the woman afraid to admit to her husband that she enjoys sex to the woman willing to violate the sexual mores of Wichita; from the woman scandalized when Louise comes home drunk one night in New York to the woman who stands alone against Prohibition - Cora is a woman who grows into her own person as the years pass but never in a way that feels unreal. Moriarty is a force of passion in person and it shows in her writing. She is also a woman who has clearly done her homework and has managed to work it into her novel in a way that never feels forced.

Midway through the book, Moriarty begins making jumps in time after Cora returns to Wichita. It's a shift that might have seemed jarring to readers yet she makes it work seamlessly. I appreciated that Moriarty kept the book moving along and didn't get bogged down trying to feel in all of those time gaps.

Simon Doonan

Moriarty has even managed to work in little tidbits of Wichita history that added an element of humor to the story while also emphasizing the culture of the time. For example the story of the man who was arrested for wearing a flowered shirt in public. Oh my, what ever would those people have made of window dresser/author Simon Doonan whose wardrobe almost entirely consists of floral shirts?! Also included is the story of a baseball game pitting an exhibition team from the Negro Baseball League and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Seriously - in Kansas in the 1920's. They had to have the Catholics referee figuring they wouldn't favor either side!

I can't say this book was a surprise (reviews I'd read had all been favorable) and yet I struck by how much I liked the book. The Chaperone is a book I will gladly recommend to anyone who asks for books suggestions.
Giveaway:

Several weeks ago, I was offered the opportunity to read and review The Chaperone by the publisher. Given the reviews I was reading, I was happy to accept. The book arrived and I was swamped with books and life and put it on a shelf where I promptly forgot I had it. When I went to Laura Moriarty at my local indie bookstore, I still didn't remember I had the book and bought myself a hardcover copy to have signed. Which leaves me with an extra copy of the book and you a chance to win a copy. If you live in the U.S., just leave me a comment giving me a women's literature book recommendation by Saturday, July 14 for a chance to win. Good luck!