#Blogtour Counting Lost Stars by Kim Van Alkemade

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Counting Lost Stars by Kim van Alkemade.

About the Author

Kim van Alkemade is the New York Times bestselling author of the historical novels Orphan #8 and Bachelor Girl. Born in Manhattan, she grew up in New Jersey and went to college in Wisconsin, where she earned a Ph.D. in English. For many years, she was a professor at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. Now a full-time writer, she resides in Saratoga Springs, New York, with her partner, their two rescue dogs, and three feisty backyard chickens.

About the book

New York Times bestselling author of Orphan #8, Kim van Alkemade returns with a gripping and poignant historical saga in which an unmarried college student who’s given up her baby for adoption helps a Dutch Holocaust survivor search for his lost mother. 

1960, New York City: College student Rita Klein is a pioneering woman in the new field of computer programming—until she unexpectedly becomes pregnant. At the Hudson Home for Unwed Mothers, social workers pressure her into surrendering her baby for adoption. Rita is struggling to get on with her life when she meets Jacob Nassy, a charming yet troubled man from the Netherlands who is traumatized by his childhood experience of being separated from his mother during the Holocaust. When Rita learns that Hitler’s Final Solution was organized using Hollerith punch-card computers, she sets out to find the answers that will help Jacob heal. 

1941, The Hague: Cornelia Vogel is working as a punch-card operator at the Ministry of Information when a census of Holland’s population is ordered by the Germans. After the Ministry acquires a Hollerith computer made in America, Cornelia is tasked with translating its instructions from English into Dutch. She seeks help from her fascinating Jewish neighbour, Leah Blom, an unconventional young woman whose mother was born in New York. When Cornelia learns the census is being used to persecute Holland’s Jews, she risks everything to help Leah escape.

After Rita uncovers a connection between Cornelia Vogel and Jacob’s mother, long-buried secrets come to light. Will shocking revelations tear them apart, or will learning the truth about the past enable Rita and Jacob to face the future together?

Review

The story switches between Rita and her numbness at the rejection she is experiencing and the loss, after being forced to give birth and then hand the baby over to strangers. In another timeline a few decades earlier we meet Cornelia, who is drawn into the machination of data collection and its deadly impact on the Jewish population. How do the two lives become connected when both women live in different times and countries, what do they have in common?

One question rears its head quite often, when discussing the Holocaust. People ask why is this particular atrocity worse than other genocides ect. Not that there should be any comparisons drawn when it comes to the murder of innocent people - the question is rather why the Holocaust stands out as a constant reminder of what humans are capable of doing to their fellow humans. My answer is always: the level of planning, the profit margin in a constant comparison to the end goal, the machinery of vast collaboration and the minutiae of the execution of said plans.

The author captures exactly that element of the Holocaust, which I find one of the most inhumane facts of its entirety. The documentation, the structure and evidence of their crimes that they didn't manage to destroy, is quite frankly horrifying. The Hollerith machines were used to collect and process data, specifically in WW2 to collect Census data, which was used to identify and find their victims. Then further used to trace, track in camps - evidenced in certain camps, assumed in others.

I enjoyed the way the author brought characters with the generational trauma of the Holocaust into the story and combined it with characters living with the trauma of forced birth, which is a topic that has once again become a reality for many women in the 21st century. The grandchildren of the millions of children taken from unmarried girls and women, before contraception and abortion were legal legislative options, are now returning to the dark ages of control over women.

It's an excellent read and also an informative one from an historical perspective. The story never loses sight of the tragedy, regardless of whether it is on a personal level or on a global level. The two levels inevitably become the tie that binds.

Buy Counting Lost Stars at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  WmMorrowPB; pub date 31 Aug. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour By Her Own Design by Piper Huguley

It's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour By Her Own Design: A Novel of Ann Lowe, Fashion Designer to the Social Register written by Piper Huguley. I loved this book!

About the Author

Piper Huguley is the author of the Home to Milford College and the Migrations of the Heart series. She is a multiple-time Golden Heart finalist. Piper blogs about the history behind her novels on her website. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and son. Follow @piperhuguley on Twitter, Visit piperhuguley.com

About the book

The incredible untold story of how Ann Lowe, a Black woman and granddaughter of slaves, rose above personal struggles and racial prejudice to design and create one of America's most famous wedding dresses of all time for Jackie Kennedy.

1953, New York City - Less than a week before the society wedding of the year where Jacqueline Bouvier will marry John F. Kennedy, a pipe bursts at Ann Lowe’s dress shop and ruins eleven dresses, including the expensive wedding dress, a dress that will be judged by thousands. A Black designer who has fought every step of the way, Ann knows this is only one struggle after a lifetime of them. She and her seamstresses will find the way to re-create the dresses. It may take all day and all night for the next week to accomplish the task, but they will do it.

1918, Tampa - Raised in Jim Crow Alabama, Ann learned the art of sewing from her mother and her grandmother, a former slave, who are the most talented seamstresses in the state. After Ann elopes at twelve with an older man who soon proves himself to be an abusive alcoholic, her dreams of becoming a celebrated designer seem to be put on hold. But then a wealthy Tampa socialite sees Ann’s talent and offers her an amazing opportunity—the chance to sew and design clothing for Florida’s society elite. Taking her young son in the middle of the night, Ann escapes her husband and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.

Based on the true story of one of the most famous designers of the twenties through the sixties who has since been unjustly forgotten, By Her Own Design is an unforgettable novel of determination despite countless obstacles and a triumph celebrated by the world.

Review

Although the story of Ann begins at the end of her life, it perhaps does her more justice, because the battles she fought and the hills she had to climb to achieve her dreams and goals - the reader thinks they know how her journey will progress or at least they think they do. 

The reality of course is that the hardships endured, the racism faced, and the courageous and dangerous decisions made, are the norm for her because she is a black woman. The white privilege she is surrounded by is a pill to be taken daily with a portion of steadily controlled seething anger. And yet at the core is the child, the girl who is plucked from innocence and thrust into the stark reality of womanhood. The girl, who learns to covet and embrace the bonds of sisterhood, maternal strength and the protection of those who endured and survived the same before her.

This is the story of an artist, a woman with an incredible talent for design and fashion, who wrote history and yet has been forgotten by those who wrote it.

I absolutely loved this book and I really hope someone makes a screen version of it - Oscar material right here. The author has fixed an injustice by bringing the important story of Ann to the forefront of our minds, and in doing so ensures that she receives her rightful place in the history of design and fashion. Kudos to the author for the storytelling, the excellent writing and for sharing this story with us all.

It is a travesty that the voices, the achievements, designs, inventions, and their pivotal input and influence on our developments and history in general, of women - especially women who belong to marginalised and oppressed groups - have been erased from historical narratives. Whitewashed from history. This is a perfect example of every detail being known to the world, except the part where a black woman designed the wedding dress of one of the most well-known historical figures of the 20th century, and yet somehow it has become the one detail that is never mentioned. I highly recommend this book - it's an excellent read.

Buy By Her Own Design at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : William Morrow PB, pub date 21 July 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire

 It's my turn on the BlogTour A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire. A poignant coming-of-age story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans,' set amid the magic of Christmas in 1960s New York. (Author photo by Andy Newman)

About the Author

Gregory Maguire received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England. He still serves as co-director of CLNE, although that organization has announced its intention to close after its 2006 institute.

The bestselling author of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, Mirror Mirror, and the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men. Wicked, now a beloved classic, is the basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Maguire has lectured on art, literature, and culture both at home and abroad.

He has three adopted children and is married to painter Andy Newman. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

About the book

Laura lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in an aging brownstone with her old-world grandparents - but she may well be sent to a boarding school in Montreal in the new year after being expelled from school for behaviour unbecoming of a young lady.

Constantly telling herself stories about the events surrounding her to divorce herself from te tragedies of her life, Laura truly finds herself inside a fairy tale when a handsome boy with a swan wing in place of a left arm lands on her roof. But Laura must forge unlikely allies in her quest to keep this storybook character from overturning her life in all the wrong ways.

Greogory  Maquire conjures a haunting tale of magical realism that illuminates one young woman's heartbreak and hope as she begins the inevitable journey to adulthood.

Review

Laura has a hard time connecting to her peers and finds her grandparents rules and choices hard to comprehend. She is isolated, and yet lives in a family where her safety and wellbeing is paramount. When her life is disrupted by a young man with one arm and a wing for the other, she recognises him from the many fairy tales she has read. It seems so magical in the stories, however the reality of the swan boy is slightly more disturbing and disruptive.

I haven't read anything by Maguire before, but I will certainly be changing that going forward. He writes with such eloquence and projects the illusion of shallow, whilst delivering great depth. The fluid interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales as he merges them with a story filled with magical realism.

In a way it feels as if the story is an homage to Andersen, and simultaneously it is a postmodern tale with pinch of noir and a flair of repressed violence, which lends itself to a more speculative read. The balance between old-world and modern is noted in the relationship between the grandparents and Laura. The grandparents try to keep her cocooned in their bubble and views, to protect and nurture. Laura is trying to burst free of the constraints of her own anxieties, her additional needs, and the the grandparents who are reluctant to let her fly.

The swan boy becomes an analogy for the gilded cage, the fear of the unknown, the equally repressed fluttering of sexuality, the longing to escape and desire for love.

I absolutely loved it. It's a beautifully crafted story.

Buy A Wild Winter Swan at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: WmMorrowPB; pub date 14 Oct. 2021. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi.

About the Author

Alka Joshi is a graduate of Stanford University and received her MFA from the California College of Arts. She has worked as an advertising copywriter, a marketing consultant and an illustrator. Alka was born in India, in the state of Rajasthan. Her family moved to the USA when she was nine, and now she lives on California's Monterey Peninsula with her husband and two misbehaving pups. The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is her second novel. Visit her website and blog at www.thehennaartist.com, Follow @alkajoshi on Twitter,

About the book 

Henna artist Lakshmi arranges for her protégé, Malik, to intern at the Jaipur Palace in this tale rich in character, atmosphere, and lavish storytelling. It's the spring of 1969, and Lakshmi, now married to Dr Jay Kumar, directs the Healing Garden in Shimla. Malik has finished his private shool education. 

At twenty, he has just met a young woman named Nimmi when he leaves to apprentice at the Facilities Office of the Jaipur Royal Palace. Their latest project: a state-of -the-art cinema. Malik soon finds that not much has changed as he navigates the Pink City of his childhood. Power and money still move seamlessly among the wealthy class, and favours flow from Jaipur's Royal Palace, but only if certain secrets remain buried. 

When the cinema's balcony tragically collapses on opening night, blame is placed where it is convenient. But Malik suspects something far darker and sets out to uncover the truth. As a former street child, he always knew to keep his own counsel: it's a lesson that will serve him as he untangles a web of lies.

Review

The magic of The Henna Artist still prevails in this second part of the trilogy, although Lakshmi doesn't feature as heavily in this book the essence of culture, heritage and the surroundings the author brings to the table is still what makes the read.

Both books can be read as standalone novels, which is important to note, however I would definitely suggest reading the first in the series just because it is such a great book.

Lakshmi's assistant Malik is making his way in the big world, leaving behind a fledgling relationship and heading towards a quagmire of lies, antiquated societal rules, destruction and deception. He finds himself in the midst of a struggle for power and money.

The juxtaposition of Lakshmi and Nimmi is a poignant element of the book. It demonstrates the difference in status, but interestingly instead of presenting or writing Nimmi as the uneducated submissive, Joshi let's the hesitation, lack of trust and occasional animosity shine through. The equality of their gender becomes the basis for their relationship.

It's a captivating balance between people, country, sights, sounds and smells. Said balance is tipped back and forth as the threads of betrayal, class structure, shame and elitist dishonesty are woven through Jaipur and the lives of the characters. It's a beautiful written and riveting story often filled with lyrical prose - I can't wait to read more by this author.

Buy The Secret Keeper of Jaipur at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher pub date 24th June 2021|Hardback £18.99 | Mira Books, an imprint of HarperCollins also available in ebook and audiobook. Buy at Amazon com. At Waterstones.

#BlogTour Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins

It's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins.

After the critical success of her first two books of nonfiction, New York Times bestselling author Morgan Jerkins brings us a captivating fiction debut, Caul Baby, a family saga filled with secrets and magic. 

About the Author

Morgan is the author of Wandering in Strange Lands and the New York Times bestseller This Will Be My Undoing and a Senior Editor at ZORA. A visiting professor at Columbia University and a Forbes 30 under 30 Leader in Media, Jerkins’s short form work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, ELLE, Esquire, and The Guardian, among many others. She is based in Harlem. Follow @MorganJerkins on Twitter, Visit morgan-jerkins.com

About the book

Desperate to be a mother after her multiple pregnancies ended in heartbreak, Laila turns to the Melancons, an old and powerful Harlem family known for their caul, a precious layer of skin that is the secret source of their healing power. When the deal for Laila to acquire the piece of caul falls through and her child is stillborn, she is overcome with grief and rage. What she doesn’t know is that her family will be forever intertwined with the Melancons when her niece, Amara, an ambitious college student, delivers a baby girl and gives her to the Melancons to raise as one of their own.

The baby, Hallow, is special. She is born with a caul and the Melancons’ matriarch, Maman, believes she will restore the family’s prosperity. Growing up, Hallow is kept sheltered in the Melancons’ decrepit brownstone while her cousin, Helena, is free to roam the streets. As she grows older, Hallow becomes suspicious of the Melancon women, particularly of whether Josephine, the woman she calls mother, really brought her into the world, and of Maman, who only seems to care about Hallow’s caul and the wealth it can bring to the family. As Hallow grows more distrustful of the family, the home itself begins to fall apart.

As the Melancons’ thirst to maintain their status grows, Amara, now a successful lawyer running for district attorney, looks for a way to avenge her longstanding grudge against the family. When Hallow and Amara cross paths, Hallow must decide where her loyalty lies.

Review

Laila has reached the point of no return when it comes to being so desperate she will do anything to ensure her pregnancy doesn't end in tragedy again. She turns to the Melancon women, who are known for their potent witchcraft like persuasion, perhaps too potent. Their tactics only serve to create a malignant atmosphere, which opens a door to the real faces behind the doors of the magic they purport to wield.

It's a cleverly melded story of magical realism, culture and identity. Jerkins has created a family saga that simultaneously is intricate blueprint of the juxtaposition of cultural and historical dynamics with the demands of modern society.

The cultural beliefs surrounding cauls aren't always positive and in this story their use leans towards negative, manipulative and obsessive. It's that essence of old culture that the Melancon women use to create their basis of power. Their gift of support in the form of magical realism can become a double-edged sword to wield - retracting the power of the caul drives the pain and emotional power of this story.

I really enjoyed the read and especially the way the author ended it. The two worlds and families collide with such an intensity that the repercussions are felt over decades. The power struggle takes place within the community and both families, the caul baby is the powerful element that will either split them apart or finally draw them together.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Jerkins, the story is emotionally fraught, energetic and yet at the same time incredibly moving.

Buy Caul Baby at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Harper pub date 6 April 2021. Buy at Amazon com. At Waterstones.