Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SHATTERED PEACE: A Century of Silence by Julie McDonald Zander on this Black Coffee Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A forgotten diary. A century-old secret. A town still haunted by its past.
When former Navy Seabee Colleen Holmes inherits an old house in Centralia, Washington, she sees it as a chance to escape her own ghosts and start anew. But as she peels back layers of history within the home’s walls, she unearths long-buried secrets tied to a dark chapter in the town’s history.
Hidden behind crumbling plaster, a faded diary and a bundle of love letters unveil the struggles of a soldier trapped in the trenches of France and the heartbreak of those left waiting at home. Yet the diary’s brittle pages hold more than just longing—they bear witness to the explosive events of November 11, 1919, when a parade meant to celebrate peace erupted into violence and bloodshed.
As Colleen pieces together the tragic choices that shattered lives and fractured a town, she realizes history is never truly buried. The wounds of yesterday still shape today, and the past is not done with her yet.
Inspired by true events, Shattered Peace is a gripping time-slip novel of love, loss, and the echoes of history that refuse to fade. Perfect for fans of The Alice Network and The Girl You Left Behind, this haunting tale of resilience, redemption, and the pursuit of truth will linger long after the final page.
Triggers: It contains references to date rape, war violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, and faith and redemption.
SHATTERED PEACE: A Century of Silence by Julie McDonald Zander is an emotional dual timeline historical novel that is both compelling and action packed. The present-day timeline features an Iraq war veteran dealing with past trauma, a broken relationship, and PTSD from her service, while the historical timeline from 1918-19 follows two families as they deal with WWI, the Spanish flu pandemic, and a bloody clash between labor and returned WWI veterans called the Centralia Tragedy. This is a profound story by a new-to-me author that I could not stop reading.
Colleen Holmes is a former Navy Seabee who is gifted the family generational home in Centralia, Washington from her grandmother. She is grateful for the change of location and looks forward to the remodeling work to take her mind off her broken engagement and ghosts of her past. As she pulls down walls, she discovers a journal and letters hidden in the wall left there by her great grandmother that are exchanges with her fiancée fighting in France during WWI, and later her writing tells of his return and the terrible events between lumber workers, Wobblies, trying to unionize and the returned WWI veterans who believe they are communists which culminates with both sides hatred into the 1919 Centralia Tragedy on the anniversary of Armistice Day.
As Colleen is reading about the past, she discovers that the past is never truly buried, and it flows over into her present. Will discovering the facts in the past show her a way to her own redemption?
I was truly not expecting this historical fiction to move me as much as it did. The veterans of any war suffering PTSD have it manifest in their lives in so many ways and both Colleen and her distant relative, Michael, demonstrate this in their lives. This leads to so much trauma and hatred that this author dealt with from the beginning to the ultimate climax and resolution. The division and hatred between the Wobblies and the WWI veterans in this story mirror so many similar divisions in our history, even now, and it appears we just never seem to learn. There is also the trauma of Colleen losing her mother and brother in a car accident that she believes is her fault, and the date rape admissions in the story that demonstrate other forms of PTSD and the strength of forgiveness. This book is an emotional powerhouse.
I highly recommend this moving historical fiction.
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About the Author
Julie McDonald Zander, an award-winning journalist, earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and political science from the University of Washington before working two decades as a newspaper reporter and editor. Through her personal history company, Chapters of Life, she has published more than 75 individual, family, and community histories. Her debut novel, The Reluctant Pioneer, won a Will Rogers Medallion and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America’s Spur Award for Best Historical Novel. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest, where they raised their two children.
Betrayal at Blackthorn Park, Evelyne Redfern Book 2
A Dark and Deadly Journal, Evelyne Redfern Book 3
Julia Kelly
Minotaur Books
Julia Kelly’s new series introduces a new heroine, Evelyne Redfern. She is intelligent, logical, and resilient with a love of reading detective stories. Readers are plunged into WWII where Evelyne ends up as a spy. These novels have secrets and friendships.
All three books are very interesting reads with characters that are well developed. The historical insight only adds to the books’ suspense.
Book Description
1940, England: Evelyne Redfern, known as “The Parisian Orphan” as a child, is working on the line at a munitions factory in wartime London. When Mr. Fletcher, one of her father’s old friends, spots Evelyne on a night out, Evelyne finds herself plunged into the world of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet war rooms.
However, shortly after she settles into her new role as a secretary, one of the girls at work is murdered, and Evelyne must use all of her amateur sleuthing expertise to find the killer. But doing so puts her right in the path of David Poole, a cagey minister’s aide who seems determined to thwart her investigations. That is, until Evelyne finds out David’s real mission is to root out a mole selling government secrets to Britain’s enemies, and the pair begrudgingly team up.
With her quick wit, sharp eyes, and determination, will Evelyne be able to find out who’s been selling England’s secrets and catch a killer, all while battling her growing attraction to David?
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Elise’s Thoughts
A Traitor in Whitehall introduces Evelyne by going into her backstory. She was known as the Parisian Orphan after her mother died, and her father was in name only. Now many years later, she is approached by Mr. Fletcher, a family friend who offers her a secretarial job in an underground bunker where the Churchill cabinet war rooms are located. Shortly after she settles into the job, one of her fellow workers is murdered. She uses her amateur detective skills to find the killer. But doing so puts her right in the path of David Poole, a cagey minister’s aide who seems determined to thwart her investigations. That is, until Evelyne finds out David’s real mission is to root out a mole selling government secrets to Britain’s enemies. The pair begrudgingly team up since it becomes obvious Evelyne can get people to speak to her.
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Book Description
Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment. Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance.
When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated. Evelyne must use all of her—and David’s—detection skills to root out who is responsible and uncover layers of deception that could change the course of the war.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Betrayal at Blackthorn Parkhas Evelyne going from a secretary to a covert spy. Now, fresh out of training, Evelyne is sent, with David as her handler, to infiltrate Blackthorn Park, a secret government installation developing clandestine weapons. They must figure out why some materials have gone missing. They are on a time limit since Prime Minister Winston Churchill is due to arrive there in a few days for a demonstration. Unfortunately, while making sure the facility is secure, Evelyne stumbles upon a dead body, that of Sir Nigel Balram, a brilliant but unpopular engineer who heads the project. Despite David and Evelyne’s slightly prickly relationship they function efficiently and intelligently together and now must quickly find the killer.
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Book Description
After being sidelined for a pesky gunshot wound, typist-turned-field agent Evelyne Redfern is ready for her next assignment with Britain’s secretive Special Investigations Unit. When a British Intelligence informant in Portugal mysteriously disappears just after hinting that he has vital information about German plans that could tip the balance of World War Two, Evelyne and her dashingly irksome partner, David Poole, are sent headed to Lisbon to find him.
Once they land, Evelyne and David aren’t even able to leave the airport, before she discovers one of their fellow aeroplane passengers murdered and uncovers a diary with a clear link between the victim and their missing informant. With their mission in jeopardy before it can truly begin, Evelyne and David fight to keep their cover intact as they descend deeper into the shadows that surround Lisbon’s glittering collection of wealthy expats and dangerous spies. This case will test Evelyne and David’s training, charm, and wit—and their growing attraction for one another.
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Elise’s Thoughts
A Dark and Deadly Journalis a cliff hanger. While the other two books are more of a mystery this book combines a mystery within a thriller making for a riveting and gripping novel. When a British Intelligence informant in Portugal mysteriously disappears just after hinting that he has vital information about German plans that could tip the balance of World War Two, Evelyne and her partner, David Poole, are sent to Lisbon to find him. Before she even leaves the plane, she discovers one of their fellow passengers murdered and uncovers a diary with a clear link between the victim and their missing informant. Unfortunately, Evelyn finds herself the main suspect in a murder before she even leaves the airport, but she is eventually released, although still considered a person of interest. As she and David try to find the informant, Evelyne feels guilty because she is hiding the other reason she is in Portugal, to locate her estranged father.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Is the theme for all the Evelyne Redfern books having her find a dead body?
Julia Kelly: I like a classic murder mystery with the set up and who done it. I always enjoyed the puzzle and figuring out what will happen. For the foreseeable future I anticipate focusing on the murder mystery side of things.
EC: How did you get the idea for the series?
JK: I was at the Imperial War Museums in London with a friend. It is interesting where they have the underground bunkers for the cabinet war rooms used during WWII. I thought this would be a good place to set a murder mystery because it is a closed room so to speak. It is a bit of a lock room mystery in a way. I wrote this into my first book, A Traitor inWhitehall.
EC: In the first book Evelyne mother’s death was highlighted. Why?
JK: It is one of Evelyne’s big motivations. Her mother died when she was twelve and she always felt that the death was not investigated properly. She has this lingering feeling that something does not add up. She sees it again when a murder happens at Whitehall, believing that the military police are not taking the death seriously. Her motivation was the feeling of mirrors and parallel to the investigation of her mother.
EC: The victims in the books seem to be unlikeable. Do you agree?
JK: Yes, in the first book the victim, Jean Plinkton, is not sympathetic. She is catty, likes to collect and use information on people to blackmail them, unpopular, a bully, and a snitch. Evelyne believes that she still deserves justice. In the second and third books the victims were ladies’ men who had affairs. I wanted to write about elements of their characters that were possible red herrings.
EC: What was the idea for the second book, Betrayal at Blackthorn Park?
JK: I wanted to write a country house murder mystery. During the war there was a huge number of stately homes, requestioned, including a SOE research and development facility for the creation of weapons. Evelyne was sent to investigate the security there because of breeches.
EC: Is the SOE real?
JK: It stands for Special Operations Executive, a branch of the British government that was clandestine. They are covert. Their agents use surveillance, have weapons training, use explosives, and have combat and parachute training. They blow up strategic targets, run secret missions, conduct assassinations, and extract people out of a country. They were controversial because some felt war should be fought out in the open and not in secret. Churchill believed the war would be won with not only conventional forces but also secret combat missions. It was nicknamed the Department of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
EC: The idea for the third book, A Dark and Deadly Journal?
JK: I wanted to get Evelyne and her partner David out of their comfort zone. I decided to send them to Portugal, a neutral country during WWII. It is an interesting space because there was a huge amount of espionage activity there. They were sent to Portugal to investigate the disappearance of a missing vital informant run by British intelligence. Evelyne is now growing as a field agent.
EC: Do readers get to know her father in this book?
JK: Yes. He never calls himself dad to her. He is not cautious, not meticulous, uncaring, aloof, selfish, arrogant, unfaithful, a bad father/husband, and is content that he had years of no contact with his daughter, Evelyne. To others he can be glamorous, charming and gracious. He made his living by going off on adventures and writing about them.
EC: How would you describe Evelyne?
JK: She is perceptive, insightful, curious, independent, personable, aggressive, sarcastic, likes to disarm people, and tends to sulk at times.
EC: How would you describe her partner, David?
JK: He is calm, trusting, and a rule follower. He is the straight man to Evelyne. He has a past that has not been dealt with yet.
EC: There is a debate between Evelyne and David about detective novels. Why?
JK: She likes English detective stories, and he likes American detective stories. Part of it is my enjoyment of reading them and a nod to the golden age of novels. Evelyne’s ambitions to become a detective intrigues her because of her reading of those stories. I have personally read many more British detective novels than American.
EC: What was the role of Evelyne’s Aunt Amelia?
JK: She is probably my favorite character to write. She is very bold. She came about because Evelyne is estranged from her father, her mother has died, and I wanted Evelyne to have a connection with a family member. Aunt Amelia is a strong presence but not always a welcome presence in Evelyne’s life. She is bossy, difficult, and pushy but loves her niece very much.
EC: What about Mrs. White and Mr. Fletcher?
JK: They are Evelyne’s bosses who will push her. Fletcher recruits her, a family friend. He very much believes in her. Mrs. White is much more by the book who is sharp, efficient, serious, and shrewd. She wants to make sure Evelyne is trained and knows what she is doing. They have Evelyne investigate moles and breeches of security. Mrs. White does not feel Evelyne has earned her trust yet and they have a tense relationship. Fletcher runs the department while Mrs. White runs the field agents.
EC: In the books you play on women’s issues?
JK: There were men who did not want women to be in a certain role. Especially with the first book I wanted to play up the fact how Evelyne is underestimated at every turn because she is a woman in the typing pool. She was not valued. She was able to speak to people who would otherwise not speak to an investigator and is able to fly under the radar. Women’s roles were opening during the war. The perception that women were not capable of doing certain jobs for the war effort was still part of the thinking of the time. She used that expectation to her own advantage.
EC: What about the relationship between David and Evelyne?
JK: He has high regard for her. At first, he does not look on her as an equal partner but comes around. They can read each other. They do not necessarily trust each other. It is a relationship that is still growing. In the last book I do not leave them in a very good place.
EC: Next book?
JK: I want to not focus not only on the murder mystery themselves, but the development of the characters. Going forward I will have some changes and tension between them. I wanted to put their relationship on some strain and pressure. The next book is in the making.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE HOUSE OF LOST CHILDREN by Marty Wingate on this Bookouture Books-On-Tour blog post.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
English countryside, 1940. A brave mother’s love offers hope for children fleeing war. When her world falls apart, will they be her guiding light?
When a class of frightened children escape the city’s bombs for her countryside home, Louisa vows to do everything in her power to protect them. As she sends up silent prayers for her only son David, fighting the Nazis in the skies above Britain, she tucks them in to bed. Her heart aches as they cry in their sleep, and she knows they need all her love and care.
Among them is wide-eyed orphan Gracie, who was found next to her mother in the rubble, and clings to Louisa like a shadow. And little Alf, who begins to smile again as he cares for Lulu the dog, the only other survivor of his family. Alongside their handsome teacher Jack, can Louisa help the children to heal? Or when the school governors threaten closure and the war edges closer than ever before, will she soon lose them all?
Then devastating news about David shatters Louisa’s world. Through the depths of her grief, she must find the strength to fight for her beloved lost children. Can they show her the way through the darkness? Or when German planes fly over their peaceful village, will Louisa and the orphans be torn forever apart?
THE HOUSE FOR LOST CHILDREN by Marty Wingate is an emotional and heartwarming standalone WWII historical fiction novel with romantic elements. Set in England during the Blitz, it features a generous and loving woman who opens her home in the country to a group of children and their teachers who have their charity school destroyed in London.
Lady Louisa Brightford is alone in a rambling mansion in the countryside with a minimal staff and her son, David, away flying Spitfires for the British Air Force. When she learns of a group of children and their two teachers displaced by a bombing in London, she calls the family lawyer and asks for his assistance in moving them to the mansion. She hopes the children can find safety and love of the countryside as they each capture her heart in their individual ways and with their particular needs, especially the youngest named, Gracie.
Louisa becomes attached to Gracie, who lost her mother in the bombing. Gracie has not spoken since she lost her mother, but clings to Louisa who continues to offer her love. Louisa also finds herself becoming closer to Jack Barry, one of the teachers. So, when the governors of the charity that run the school threaten to take the children away because she is a divorced woman, she will do everything in her power to keep them. While she is fighting for the children to stay, she receives news that her son is missing in action.
Even through her grief and anxiety over her son, Louisa is determined to keep the children in her home. With the help of Jack, long-time friends in the village, and new surprise allies, Louisa does not give in to despair but fights for the future of the children.
This is an emotionally uplifting and satisfying read that had me completely invested in all the characters. Ms. Wingate brought all the characters in this story to life. Louisa was so strong in the face of everything she had gone through personally and was still able to share so much love and understanding with the children. It was also satisfying that she found someone for herself as well. I loved all the children and their individual personalities. This story demonstrates love in all its manifestations even when you have to go through worry or despair to find it.
I highly recommend this WWII historical fiction with romantic elements and dare you to not fall in love with Gracie!
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Author Bio
Marty Wingate is a USA Today best-selling author of both mysteries and historical fiction. Marty enjoys weaving humor into her books and creating characters—from quirky and loveable to sinister and duplicitous—that leap off the page. Before embarking on her series about the London Ladies Murder Club with Bookouture, Marty published three contemporary cozy mystery series (the Potting Shed, Birds of a Feather, and First Edition Library books). She has also published two standalone books of historical fiction and found stories of the past to be compelling. She’s delighted to combine her penchant for both mysteries and histories to bring her readers more satisfying stories. Marty currently resides near Seattle, Washington.
Surrey, England, 1938. After thirty devoted years of marriage, Ellie Endicott is blindsided by her husband’s appeal for divorce. It’s Ellie’s opportunity for change too. The unfaithful cad can have the house. She’s taking the Bentley. Ellie, her housekeeper Mavis, and her elderly friend Dora—each needing escape—impulsively head for parts unknown in the South of France.
With the Rhône surging beside them, they have nowhere to be and everywhere to go. Until the Bentley breaks down in the inviting fishing hamlet of Saint Benet. Here, Ellie rents an abandoned villa in the hills, makes wonderful friends among the villagers, and finds herself drawn to Nico, a handsome and enigmatic fisherman. As for unexpected destinations, the simple paradis of Saint Benet is perfect. But fates soon change when the threat of war encroaches.
Ellie’s second act in life is just beginning—and becoming an adventure she never expected.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen is a gripping novel. No matter what book Bowen writes, readers feel they are taking the journey with the characters and are transported into the setting. The descriptions of the town and its residents are very detailed.
Readers meet Ellie Endicott in Surrey, England during 1938. After raising two grown sons and having devoted her entire married life to catering to her husband’s needs, her husband wants a divorce. He has met a younger woman and tries to bulldoze Ellie into a favorable financial settlement. She will have no part of it and decides to hire her own lawyer who helps her obtain a fair settlement.
Deciding to take a trip to the South of France, she steals her husband’s Bentley and agrees to take two companions along. Mavis Moss, her loyal housekeeper who has an abusive husband, and Miss Smith-Humphries, a pillar of the community dying from heart disease but wants to revisit happy places of her youth. While stopping for gas they rescue a pregnant young girl, Yvette, who claims she is being kidnapped.
The Bentley breaks down in the inviting fishing hamlet of Saint Benet. They’re aided by handyman, Louis; Nico, a mysterious fisherman; and welcomed by other villagers including a resident gay English couple. While exploring the small town of Saint Benet they find an abandoned villa in the hills and decide to fix it up and rent it from the owner. The simple paradiseof Saint Benet is perfect until fate plays a role and WWII looms over their heads.
The three women blossom and enjoy the beautiful setting of their second chance lives, having a splendid adventure, until the German troops move into the village in 1942-43. The women and the villagers face hardships, betrayals, danger, uncertainties, and retaliations. When the war comes to an end readers realize these women were resilient, inquisitive, caring with strong minds, hearts, and souls.
This book captivates readers from chapter one and never lets up. It shows the strong bond between friends as well as how a middle-aged woman can find true love with Nico, a villager.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Rhys Bowen: There were driving forces behind this story. We were on this lake, and I saw a villa that must have been abandoned for years. It was beautiful once but now the shutters were hanging off and the grounds were full of leaves. I thought who could walk away from something as gorgeous as this and why were there no heirs? I wanted to bring it back to its formal glory. It stayed with me, so I had a character do that, vicariously. I loved giving these women this close bond and second chances in life.
EC: Is this a woman’s adventure story?
RB: It is a story about invisible women. Middle-aged women can be conceived as no longer physically attractive. I noticed this many times in my own life after I became a certain age. Miss Marple is invisible with her knitting as nobody notices her. She sees and hears everything. I wanted to write how women were not treated well by life or had lived someone else’s life. I also wanted to write the strength of women bonding and how they could blossom into the people they should be. These three women were not treated well and has a sense of belonging.
EC: How would you describe Ellie?
RB: She never lived her own life and is now a middle-aged woman. There is this book quote how she feels all alone, “It was fine when I had my friends with me, but now I find myself alone. I had everything I desired, people I loved and who loved me. And one by one they have been taken away. I have this lovely big house and beautiful view but nobody to share it with.” I wanted to give her everything she wanted: friends, a beautiful house, a love interest, and a baby. Then all those were taken away. I wanted to explore how strong she was when once again everything was taken away from her. I think she is a survivor, optimistic, is willing to take risks, and resilient by the end of the book. But in the beginning, she was broken, angry, resentful, the perfect housewife, and feels hopeless at times. Throughout she is sensible, passionate, vulnerable, and reasonable.
EC: How would you describe Miss Theodora Smith-Humphries?
RB: She is critical, sickly, formidable, smug, blunt, organized, faithful, and a good listener. We never really know her. She gave the world the face she wanted them to see, that of an efficient smart spinster who runs everything, and who people are slightly scared of. But no one knows she had a great romance. She was not sweet, attractive, and submissive so she never had that good marriage. She had a romance that could never be, after both her married employer and she fell in love. She accepted the role of the mistress.
EC: How would you describe Ellie’s former maid, Mavis?
RB: She is scared, street smart, loyal, and has a great relationship with Ellie. She is closest to a friend and confidant Ellie has ever had. In England people don’t say something if they see something because of the stiff upper lip attitude. Yet, Ellie realizes Mavis was abused and she must save her. When Mavis gets to France she blossoms. She becomes a strong person in the community. Yet, she lives the first half of this book in fear of her husband, always having walked on eggshells.
EC: How would you describe Yvette?
RB: Young, pregnant, sacred, and a shadow figure. She plays the part well of a vulnerable person. Mavis realizes she is not who she says she is. Mavis has good instincts.
EC: What is the role of WWII in this book?
RB: I wanted to show the brutality of the Germans, and how Ellie and company tried to save Jewish men. Ellie took a big risk by staying in France, but she is so happy there she decides to stay. Then she becomes an enemy alien, unable to get a ration card or identity card. The first years of the war are not bad for the South of France. Everything is fine for her until the Germans become stationed in her village in 1943. There was a resistance cell in Marseille that smuggled out Jewish people.
EC: How come the Germans ignored the villa?
RB: They did not know it existed until quite late in the story. It was not visible from the village, up in the hillside hidden away. As long as Ellie and company stayed quiet, she was safe until the Germans found out they were smuggling Jewish men out.
EC: What about the relationship between Nico and Ellie?
RB: It was confusing to both, but they did love and respect each other. In the end they found a soul mate in each other. I wanted Nico to be an enigmatic figure. People thought of him as a local fisherman, yet he never fished that much. Ellie thinks he is a smuggler and although attracted to him does not want much to do with him because she thinks he does things against the law because he has plenty of money. The moment the war starts he helps the resistance cells by bringing in weapons and gasoline. I wanted him to be the classic bad boy in the beginning, attractive to Ellie, but dangerous.
EC: What about the village of Saint-Benet, is it based on Cassis?
RB: It is a little town outside of Marseille, an area where there are fields surrounded by high cliffs. It has a pretty waterfront with cafes surrounding it. I went there last year to make sure I had all the details correct. I did not want to call the village Cassis because I wrote things that did not happen there. It was much easier to make it the fictional town of Saint-Benet, very much like Cassis.
EC: Next books?
RB: The next book comes out in November, titled, From Cradle to Grave, a Royal Spyness novel. Georgie is given the nanny from hell is one part of the story. The other part has a possible serial killer getting rid of aristocrats.
The next Molly Murphy book comes out in March, titled Vanished in the Crowd. It focuses on the role of women. A woman scientist is working on the polio virus but gets no credit and has the findings published in her husband’s name.
The next historical novel has a working title, From Sea to Sky, coming out next July. It is about an elderly famous writer who is suffering from dementia and cannot finish her last book. A young writer is hired to finish it for her. The young writer sees things that makes her believe the story is not fiction.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Since her arrest for disobeying orders and going ashore at Iwo Jima almost a decade earlier, combat correspondent Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle has been unmoored. Her military accreditation revoked, her marriage failing, and her savings dwindling, Dickey jumps at the next opportunity. In the aftermath of a an assignment gone wrong, a flame is lit deep inside Dickey—to survive in order to be the world’s witness to war from the front lines.
Never content to report on battles unless her own boots are on the ground, Dickey and her camera journey with American and international soldiers from frozen wastelands to raging seas to luscious jungles, revealing one woman’s extraordinary courage and tenacity in the face of discrimination and danger. And it’s along the way, in Dickey’s desire to save the world, she realizes she might also be saving herself.
At a time when a woman’s heroic spirit often gave way to homeland reality, Dickey blazed a trail for the revolutionary hearts inside us all.
THE LAST ASSIGNMENT by Erika Robuck is a historical biographical fiction story featuring the later portion of photojournalist Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle’s life. Ms. Robuck does a wonderful job of bringing her to life not only writing about her achievements, but also her impetuosity which could get her into dangerous and terrible situations. This standalone story is a look at an impressive woman in history that I knew nothing about.
Dickey Chapelle led an awe-inspiring life photographing and writing about her favorite men, the Marines, on Iwo Jima during WWII, Europe’s reconstruction, Hungary’s revolution, dictators, refugees, and strife in foreign countries, all the way up to once again being with her Marines during the Vietnam War until her death in country. Her photography and stories were featured in many major magazines, and she received many awards, but that was never her goal. She always wanted to take that one picture that would end all wars. While her family and friends always worried about her, she could never sit still on the sidelines when she believed her photography could shine a light on injustice.
This is an intensive look into this female photojournalist’s later life. She always wanted to be first on the ground to uncover the truth. She was interested in the Civil Rights Movement, and it would have been safer for her to stay home in the states, but she needed and preferred to be out in the world and covering international conflicts. Dickey was by no means perfect and got in trouble, even imprisonment in Hungary for her actions, but it was always because she truly cared about the people she was covering.
This historical biography is brought to life through Dickey and with the obvious extensive research of Ms. Robuck. It is interesting to follow Dickey through this period and remember how the stories she covered were portrayed at that time and then the changes, or not, in perspective, as it became history to be analyzed and studied.
I highly recommend this engaging historical biographical fiction story, and I am very glad to be able to go back myself and see the important work Dickey left for the world.
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About the Author
Erika Robuck is the national bestselling author of historical fiction including SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and HEMINGWAY’S GIRL. Her articles have appeared in Writer Unboxed, Crime Reads, and Writer’s Digest, and she has been named a Maryland Writer’s Association Notable Writer of 2024. A boating enthusiast, amateur historian, and teacher, she resides in Annapolis with her husband and three sons.
Ruby blinks back tears and gazes across the violet-studded moors from the doorstep of Heather House before she turns and lifts the key. What heart-wrenching secret will she discover in her childhood home?
When Ruby inherits her family’s crumbling old house in the wild English countryside, she is devastated to think it might be sold. Heather House was once an artists’ haven filled with Ruby’s family and their colorful friends. Ruby has always been captivated by the glamorous Clara, a famous pilot whose love story came to a tragic end. Now black-and-white photographs transport her back to World War Two…
With the future of Heather House uncertain, Ruby loses herself in history. But it seems romance is not only a thing of the past when Jake, a jumper-clad American author with silver-flecked hair turns up at her door. Jake is investigating a wartime mystery about Clara, and he soon falls in love with the historic home. But when Clara shows him a view of the moors ablaze under the setting sun, his dark green eyes cause another flame to spark …
Together Ruby and Jake begin to unravel the secret hidden in the past. But can they find a way to save Heather House, or will Ruby be forced to sell it before the truth about Clara is at last unearthed and her new love has a chance to bloom?
MEMORIES OF HEATHER HOUSE (Wildflower Secrets Book #2) by Rebecca Alexander is an emotional dual timeline women’s fiction story featuring generations of strong, independent woman. While this is the second book in this series, the books are connected by their small village location on the moors in the English countryside with minimal character crossover so they each easily stand alone.
Ruby is a genealogist and historian who has inherited the run-down countryside mansion of her childhood when her mother dies of cancer. For many years she just wanted to get away, but now it is her only connection to her matriarchal line of artistically talented women. Once an artists’ haven filled with bohemian characters, now only two of the elderly occupants remain.
With the future of the mansion uncertain, Ruby is also dealing with a handsome American who is researching her family’s famous WWII female ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) pilot for an American who believes she is also related to the mysterious Clara. As the two work together to dig up Clara’s secrets and try to come up with a solution to save Ruby’s home, they discover not only secrets from the past, but possibly a new love in the present.
This is a wonderful dual timeline story featuring Ruby in the present and Clara during WWII. While Ruby’s story is interesting with its search for Clara and her growing interest in Jake at times, I was frustrated with her always fluctuating in her beliefs that Jake had ulterior motives. It got to be a bit too often and should not have lasted as long as it did in the plotline because it felt repetitive. I was really pulled into the story when it switched to Clara’s WWII story. The WWII research is skillfully slipped into the story without feeling like a data dump. Clara is an amazing and compelling character that lived life to the fullest even in the middle of a terrible war and the tragic ending of her life, which is not a spoiler, was still so sad.
I highly recommend this dual timeline second book in the Wildflower Secrets series and I am anxiously looking forward to the next.
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About the Author
Rebecca Alexander was born in Malta and grew up on the south coast of England, becoming a psychologist. She escaped parenting six children to study writing in 2011, and the Secrets series of novels was published in 2013. A Baby’s Bones and sequel followed. Rebecca lives in a haunted 300-year-old cottage in Devon where she grows fruit, paints, and bakes. She reads and writes all sorts of genres, from women’s fiction to fantasy to crime. She is married with four chickens, two grandchildren and a cat.
