Category: Historical Fiction

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan

Book Description

London, 1933
 
At first glance, Austrian opera singer Elsa Mayer-Braun has little in common with the young English typist she encounters on tour. Yet she and Hattie Featherstone forge an instant connection—and strike a dangerous alliance. Using their friendship as a cover, they form a secret society with a daring goal: to rescue as many Jews as possible from Nazi persecution.
 
Though the war’s outbreak threatens Elsa and Hattie’s network, their efforts attract the covert attention of the British government, offering more opportunities to thwart the Germans. But Elsa’s growing fame as Hitler’s favorite opera singer, coupled with her secret Jewish ancestry, make her both a weapon and a target—until her future, too, hangs in the balance.
 
From the glamorous stages of Covent Garden and Salzburg to the horrors of Bergen-Belsen,  two ordinary women swept up by the tide of war discover an extraordinary friendship—and the courage to save countless lives.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan is a heartwarming story with heartfelt characters.  In this current period, when there is so much decisiveness, reading stories like this reminds people how working collectively brings everyone together.  Ms. Ryan has hit a home run.

Elsa and Hattie are the most unlikely individuals to become sister-like friends. As with her previous books, Ryan writes about two strong women who work together for a common goal.  These two women attempt to save the lives of Jewish refugees during WWII. In the mid-1930s, Londoner Hattie Featherstone, an aspiring artist, falls in love with opera and after hearing Elsa Mayer-Braun sing paints a picture of her.  While Elsa is in London, Hattie gives her a picture she painted of the famous opera star. Wanting to return the kind gesture, Elsa invites Hattie and her sister to see a performance.

Meeting backstage at several performances all three realize they have a lot in common, becoming close friends. Hattie, the painter, her sister Vera, the writer, and Elsa, the opera singer, have in common a medium where they express themselves.  As the Nazis gain more and more power, they band together to help people escape them, including Elsa’s Aunt Malvina, who is Jewish and living in Germany. A network is built to rescue as many Jewish people as possible. 

The mystery of the story comes into play after Elsa is arrested in 1943 and taken to a concentration camp.  Who betrayed her and will she survive the harsh conditions of Bergen-Belsen?

The characters were brave, kind, loving, and resilient during a dark time in history.  Readers will be on the edge of their seats as the story has suspense, danger, and intrigue. This is a novel that will stay in readers’ thoughts long after they are finished.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Renee Ryan: In 2013 I was at a conference working on my previous historical novel, The Widows of Champagne, and was told about this person’s autobiography, Ida Cook. She was a British typist who ultimately became a Harlequin Romance writer. But more importantly, she and her sister Louise rescued 29 Jews from Nazi persecution. They would go to Opera Festivals and help Jews escape through that route. I did the ‘what if’ and slowly the story came together. Instead of a sister book like the Cooks I wanted to make it a friendship book of unlikely people.

EC:  How did being partially Jewish affect Elsa?

RR:  Being part-Jewish she felt she needed to help Jews escape the Nazis to survive. Because her late mother wanted her to hide her heritage and change her name, she had Elsa’s aunt raise her as a Catholic. This drives Elsa on so many levels.

EC:  How would you describe Elsa?

RR:  A musical prodigy who loved her art form so much. She was desperate to be great, but also had a fear of falling short.  She has guilt feelings that things came so easy to her.  She always wanted to share her wealth. She is lonely, independent, dignified, optimistic, kind, grateful, and strong. There is also a naivety which was willful, refusing to see people who they really were.

EC:  Is Wilhelm, Elsa’s husband, an evil character?

RR:  A lot of Maestros have some of his traits. They know they are good, the best of what they do. Everything regarding the show falls on their shoulders, the leader. With Wilhelm, he could spot Elsa’s talent. But beyond that Wilhelm was arrogant, conceited, ruthless, selfish, greedy, optimistic, and smug.

EC:  The relationship with Wilhelm and Elsa?

RR:  Because she lost her parents at such a young age she is struggling with this grief.  Part of her attraction to Wilhelm is because he was so much older than her that there was this parental feel. He was really smitten with Elsa in the beginning, wanting them to be a superstar couple. Elsa could not see beyond his charm and was mesmerized by him.  She tried to ignore his negative traits. As Elsa became more independent, he lost control over her and became a mentally abusive husband. His attraction and admiration for her turned to possessiveness, always loyal to himself. Wilhelm was a complete narcissist who was consumed with controlling Elsa’s life, career, and future.

EC:  How would you describe Hattie?

RR:  Based loosely on Ida Cook.  A dreamer.  She was a rule follower, yet defiant at times, impulsive.  Hattie was also bold, courageous, and stubborn. 

EC: How would you describe the sisters’ relationship, Vera and Hattie?

RR:  Also, based on Ida Cook since she became the romance writer in the story. Vera was the older sister who became mother-like to Hattie, grounding her, and preventing Hattie from diving off the proverbial cliff.  Vera was Hattie’s Jimmy Cricket, a voice of reason.

EC:  Describe the relationship between Hattie and Elsa?

RR:  Both lost their mothers at a young age.  This brought them together. Hattie’s mother passed on her love of art to her, while Elsa’s mom passed on the love of music. They were kindred spirits. Hattie found her own dream within Elsa’s dream, after hearing Elsa sing opera. Hattie admired Elsa. They became friends very quickly. It went from devoted fans, to friends, to allies, to sister-like where they were very loyal to each other.

EC:  What was the role of Elsa’s Aunt Malvina?

RR:  Through her story I was able to bring in the information about Jews since she was Jewish. They lost their jobs, dignity, and citizenship, and could get arrested at any given time. One of my goals with this story was to show how Jews could not just leave Germany and Austria because of the strict immigration policies of unoccupied nations, who would not let them in. I also wanted to have Elsa have a personal reason to build a network with Hattie and Vera. She feared for Malvina’s survival.  Elsa handed Malvina’s care into the sisters’ hands.  The aunt was the glue that brought all three together.

EC:  Was opera sort of a character?

RR:  It was the connection between all the characters. It plays every kind of role including the setting.  It is how the characters’ meet, stay together, and what drives them. The clandestine work was able to happen because Hattie and Vera attended opera festivals in occupied countries. Opera is Elsa’s life and it inspired Hattie’s art. I had to learn a lot about opera.  Through the opera scenes readers can see the pain, sorrow, joy, and hope of the world and characters. Opera is highly dramatic and emotional, and the era was highly dramatic and emotional.

EC:  What about your next book?

RR: It is titled The Paris Housekeeper and comes out this time next year.  It has three women: one who is Jewish, an American, and a girl from Brittany. The American is an heiress and the other two work at the hotel Ritz in Paris. The story is how they navigate German occupation. I wanted to show that the Germans did what they did because of the Jewish race, not just the religion. I also show how the Nazis get help from other nationalities in the treatment towards the Jews.

THANK YOU!!

***

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.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Mini Book Review: The Lipstick Bureau by Michelle Gable

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LIPSTICK BUREAU by Michelle Gable on this Graydon House Books blog tour.

Below you will find an author Q&A, an about the book section, my mini book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Author Q&A

Q: How did you learn about Barbara Lauwers? How did you come to discover this piece of history?

I don’t remember when or how I first heard about Barbara, she was just in my file of “interesting people to eventually write about” when it came time for book #6. Most likely, she was in a listicle along the lines of “fascinating women from history you don’t know about.” Whatever the case, she made my file because of her intriguing role in the OSS (precursor to the CIA) and the misinformation campaigns she participated in. The website https://www.psywarrior.com/ has photographs of many of their campaigns, and that sucked me right in. 

Q: Why do you believe there continues to be a fascination for writers exploring and writing WWII novels for readers? Why are readers so interested?

I think people are drawn to WWII stories because there are so many different countries and continents involved, and therefore thousands of angles. For Americans in particular, though we were involved in the war, it was not fought on our shores, so I think there’s a yearning to know what it was like to live with war on a more day-to-day basis. 100 million were deployed and there are millions of stories of ordinary people showing heroism when facing the worst. 

Q: Many women were part of the OSS. Did they experience sexism?

The sexism was outrageous! Many of the quotes I included in the book were actually said. Like Niki (the Barbara character) being told to sew her travel documents into her girdle, and the trainers telling the women not to mess this up. 

When I started out in corporate America in the late 90s, sexism was rampant enough that we more or less accepted it as part of our jobs. I can only imagine (and tried to do this in the book!) how much worse it was in the 40s, amidst the stress of war, when men were away from their families. 

Q: Did many women join these groups to escape difficult marriages?

It’s possible! Many husbands were sent to fight, so I think a lot of women wanted to contribute. Stateside, women were being asked to chip in and many unmarried women viewed it as a more interesting way to help versus working in a missile factory or something along those lines. 

Q: What specifically stood out in the time and place of Rome during WWII?

Rome is my favorite city so I was excited to set another book there! I also found it a fascinating time…after the city was liberated from the Nazis, and before the war was over. Also the fact Italy changed alliances partway through the war, and half the country was still under Axis control, heightened the tensions in the city, and people were extremely suspicious, all around. 

Q: What challenged you about writing THE LIPSTICK BUREAU?

I try very hard to keep as close to real facts as possible, building fiction around the truth. This can be very limiting, and so it’s always a challenge for me to remember I’m telling a story, not writing a biography. It’s a big reason I changed Barbara’s name–so I could go a little more “rogue.”

A smaller challenge was finding out what was happening in Niki’s hometown in Czechoslovakia during the war. As in the novel, no news was getting out. Also, I use a lot of first-hand accounts and government records in my research, and many of these were destroyed in the war. Not that I can read Czech, but I’ve definitely had records translated in the past. 

Q: Which character do you most relate to and why?

There was no character I related to outright, but I appreciated Niki’s gumption and how she wanted to prove herself on her own terms. 

Q: What are you hoping readers will come away with after they’ve read THE LIPSTICK BUREAU?

As always, I want people to get swept up in the story but also learn something new along the way. 

Q: What research did you do to bring the history to life in this fiction?

Anything I could get my hands on. Several OSS women wrote memoirs, and I read these, along with interviews, biographies of the major OSS players, and thousands of internal memos and documents (some of which are included in the novel), including all of Allen Dulles’s wartime intelligence reports (this was pretty boring!) I read the Stars & Stripes newspapers published during this time (fun fact: my dad wrote for Stars & Stripes in Vietnam), among other things. My favorite was a biography of Saul Steinberg (the inspiration for Ezra) by Deirdre Bair.   

Q: How do you think this conversation into the use of misinformation plays in today’s politics?

In real life as in the novel, the OSS used Hitler’s own rules for propaganda/misinformation when creating theirs. There were three key strategies: 1) the disinformation must be easy to comprehend (not too highbrow), 2) it must be addressed to the masses (NOT the intellectuals), and 3) it should hit on emotions, not logic or fact. These are very effective strategies, as we’ve seen, and it’s been reported that Trump has also specifically followed Hitler’s rulebook for spreading disinformation. The OSS folks were the “good guys” and would say they were doing this for a greater purpose (e.g. ending the war), and the ends justify the means. And maybe it does, but perhaps Trump believes the same thing? 

Q: What are you working on next?

A book set in the 1960s Jet Set, about a failed San Francisco debutante who becomes assistant to beloved society photographer Slim Aarons as a way to social climb her way to a rich husband, but is instead drawn into the complicated inner circle of young Palm Beach socialites, and to the star at its center, heiress and rising fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer.

***

About the Book

Inspired by a real-life female spy, a WWII-set novel about a woman challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the cost.

1944, Rome. Newlywed Niki Novotná is recruited by a new American spy agency to establish a secret branch in Italy’s capital. One of the OSS’s few female operatives abroad and multilingual, she’s tasked with crafting fake stories and distributing propaganda to lower the morale of enemy soldiers.

Despite limited resources, Niki and a scrappy team of artists, forgers and others—now nicknamed The Lipstick Bureau—find success, forming a bond amid the cobblestoned streets and storied villas of the newly liberated city. But her work is also a way to escape devastating truths about the family she left behind in Czechoslovakia and a future with her controlling American husband.

As the war drags on and the pressure intensifies, Niki begins to question the rules she’s been instructed to follow, and a colleague unexpectedly captures her heart. But one step out of line, one mistake, could mean life or death…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59952175-the-lipstick-bureau?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=q26ZJxx41c&rank=1

The Lipstick Bureau : A Novel Inspired by a Real-Life Female Spy 

Michelle Gable

On Sale Date: December 27, 2022

9781525811470

Trade Paperback

$16.99 USD

464 pages

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My Mini Book Review

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

THE LIPSTICK BUREAU by Michelle Gable is a historical fiction story loosely based on a real female spy during WWII working for the fledgling OSS (Office of Strategic Services) later to become the CIA.

I loved the premise and the extensive historical research, but the characters never hooked me emotionally, the writing at times seemed disjointed and the pace was slow. I really wish the characters had been more developed and intrigued me as much as the plot regarding U.S. political propaganda developed and distributed during the war to undermine the Nazi Party and Hitler.

I feel I would have enjoyed this story much more if it had been an actual biography of the fictionalized main characters. The history and information surrounding the OSS and Department of Morale Operations was the reason I continued reading this book to the end.

***

Excerpt

NIKI

May 1989

Washington, DC

Niki’s stomach flip-flops, and there’s a wild fluttering in her chest. You’re fine, she tells herself. In this buzzing, glittering room of some three hundred, she’s unlikely to encounter anyone she knows. Not that she’d recognize them if she did. It’s been almost forty-five years. 

“Jeez, what a turnout,” her daughter, Andrea, says as Niki takes several short inhales, trying to wrangle her breath. “Did you know this many people would show up?” 

“I had no idea what to expect,” Niki answers, and this much is true. When the invitation arrived three months ago, she’d almost pitched it straight into the trash.

You are invited

to a Black-Tie Dinner

Honoring

The Ladies of the O.S.S.

The ladies of the OSS. A deceptively quaint title, like a neighborhood bridge club, or a collection of wives whose given names are not important.

“You should go,” Niki’s husband had said when she showed him the thick, ecru cardstock with its ornate engraving. “Relive your war days.”

“Manfred,” Niki had replied sternly. “Nobody wants to relive those.”

Though he’d convinced Niki to accept the invitation, it hadn’t been the hardest sell. Manfred was ill—dying, in fact, of latestage lung cancer—and Niki figured the tick mark beside “yes” was merely a way to delay a no.

The week before the event, Manfred was weaker than ever, and Niki saw her chance to back out. “I’ll just skip it,” she’d said. “This is for the best. You’d be bored out of your skull, and no one I worked with will even be there!”

“Zuska,” Manfred said, using her old pet name. As always, he’d known what his wife was up to. “I want you to go. Take Andrea. She could use a night out. It’d be like a holiday for her.”

“I don’t know…” Niki demurred. Their daughter did hate to cook, and no doubt longed for a break from her two extremely pert teenagers.

“You can’t refuse,” Manfred said. “What if this ends up qualifying as my dying wish?” It was a joke, but what could Niki possibly say to that?

Now she regrets having shown Manfred the invitation and is discomfited by the scene. Niki feels naked, exposed, as though she’s wearing a transparent blouse instead of a black sparkly top with double shoulder pads.

“Do you think you’ll spot anyone you know?” Andrea asks as they wend their way through the tables, scanning for number eighteen. Every Czech native considers eighteen an auspicious number, so maybe this is a positive sign.

“It’s unlikely,” Niki says. “The dinner is honoring women, and I mostly worked with men.” Most of whom are now dead, she does not add.

Soon enough, mother and daughter find their table, and exchange greetings with the two women already seated. Niki squints at their badges and notes they worked in different theaters of operation. Onstage is a podium, behind it a screen emblazoned with O.S.S. Beneath the letters is a gold spade encircled in black.

“What a beautiful outfit!” says one of their tablemates in a tight Texas twang.

“Thank you.” Niki blushes lightly, smoothing her billowy, bright green chiffon skirt.

“You’re the prettiest one in the place,” Andrea whispers as they sit.

“What a load of shit,” Niki spits back. In this room, it’s sequins and diamonds and fur for miles. She pats Andrea’s hand. “But thank you for the compliment.” And thank God for Manfred, who’d raised their girl to treat her mother so well.

Manfred. Niki feels a quake somewhere deep. She is losing him. She’s been losing him for a long time, and maybe this is the reason she came tonight. Those three letters on-screen call up—rather, exhume—a swarm of emotions, not all of them good. But they also offer a strange kind of hope, a reminder that Niki’s survived loss before, and this old body of hers has lived more than one life.


Excerpted from The Lipstick Bureau by Michelle Gable Bilski. Copyright © 2022 by Michelle Gable Bilski. Published by Graydon House Books.

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About the Author

MICHELLE GABLE is the New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment, I’ll See You in Paris, The Book of Summer, and The Summer I Met Jack. She attended the College of William & Mary and spent twenty years working in finance before becoming a full-time writer. She grew up in San Diego and lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California.

Social Media Links

Author Website: https://michellegable.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MGableWriter

IG: https://www.instagram.com/mgablewriter/

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-lipstick-bureau-a-novel-inspired-by-true-wwii-events-original-michelle-gable/17917455

Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781525811470 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lipstick-bureau-michelle-gable/1142529516 

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-lipstick-bureau-a-novel/9781525804977-item.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lipstick-Bureau-Novel-Inspired-Events/dp/1525811479/

Feature Post and Book Review: The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing My Feature Post and Book Review for THE SECRET SOCIETY OF SALZBURG by Renee Ryan from Harlequin Love Inspired Trade.

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

Inspired by true events, comes a gripping and heart-wrenching story of two very different women united to bring light to the darkest days of World War II.
 
London, 1933
 
At first glance, Austrian opera singer Elsa Mayer-Braun has little in common with the young English typist she encounters on tour. Yet she and Hattie Featherstone forge an instant connection—and strike a dangerous alliance. Using their friendship as a cover, they form a secret society with a daring goal: to rescue as many Jews as possible from Nazi persecution.
 
Though the war’s outbreak threatens Elsa and Hattie’s network, their efforts attract the covert attention of the British government, offering more opportunities to thwart the Germans. But Elsa’s growing fame as Hitler’s favorite opera singer, coupled with her secret Jewish ancestry, make her both a weapon and a target—until her future, too, hangs in the balance.
 
From the glamorous stages of Covent Garden and Salzburg to the horrors of Bergen-Belsen,  two ordinary women swept up by the tide of war discover an extraordinary friendship—and the courage to save countless lives.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60374849-the-secret-society-of-salzburg?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=bmzOGvhrYW&rank=4

THE SECRET SOCIETY OF SALZBURG

Author: Renee Ryan

On-sale: December 27, 2022

Formats: Trade Paperback, Ebook

Imprint: Love Inspired Trade

Price: $16.99 U.S. / $19.99 CAN

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE SECRET SOCIETY OF SALZBURG by Renee Ryan is an emotionally riveting historical fiction story primarily set in WWII Salzburg and London featuring two talented artists who risk everything to save as many Jewish lives as possible from persecution. Loosely based on a true story, I was unable to put this book down. Make sure you have some tissues handy.

Hattie and Vera Featherstone are sisters who have been working clerical jobs to survive, but they both have bigger dreams. Vera, being the oldest has also been a mother figure to the younger Hattie since their mother’s death. Even as she does everything in her power to encourage Hattie’s dream of being an accomplished artist, she works on her own dream behind closed doors. Hattie’s art is good, but there is still an emotional depth missing until she and Vera are introduced to a young opera singer’s work.

Elsa Mayer-Braun has worked her entire young life in Salzburg to reach operatic recognition and fame. As her fame rises, so does the threat from the new Nazi party. When Elsa meets the two sisters Featherstone on tour, she forms an instant bond with Hattie. Elsa and Hattie refuse to ignore the threat to the Jewish population and set up network to help as many as possible escape to England.

This dangerous alliance will test both women’s courage and bond of friendship forged in a time of danger with spies, traitors, and informers around every corner.

This is an inspirational historical fiction story beautifully written with memorable characters, acts of bravery and of human depravity and treachery which kept me on an emotional roller coaster. Hattie and Elsa displayed courage, bravery, and an unbreakable bond of friendship. All the secondary characters are as realistic and fully fleshed as the main characters. The plot is divided between two timelines that merge into an uplifting and triumphant ending.

I highly recommend this inspirational historical fiction!

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About the Author

Multi-published, award-winning author Renee Ryan grew up in Florida. She’s written nearly thirty books in several genres, including historical fiction, historical romance and contemporary romance. She currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and a large cat many have mistaken for a small bear.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.ReneeRyan.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/renee.ryan.31/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReneeRyanBooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2884421.Renee_Ryan

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Secrets of Emberwild by Stephenia H. McGee

Book Description

A gifted trainer in a time women are not allowed to race, Nora Fenton prefers horses to men. They’re easier to handle, they’re more reliable, and they never tell her what to do. After her father’s passing, Nora is determined to save her struggling horse farm, starting with entering her prize colt into the harness races at the 1905 Mississippi Fair. If she wins, she may have a chance at independence. But when a stranger arrives and starts asking disconcerting questions, she suspects he may have other motives than unseating her in the training job that is rightfully hers.

Silas Cavallero will do whatever it takes to solve the mystery of his father’s death–even if it means training an unwieldy colt for Nora, who wants nothing more than to see him gone. But when mysterious accidents threaten their safety and circumstances shrouded in secrets begin unlocking clues to his past, Silas will have to decide if the truth is worth risking ruining everything for the feisty woman he’s come to admire.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Secrets of Emberwild by Stephenia H. McGee is a great read combining mystery, some romance, and historical facts about the South in 1905. There are secrets, manipulation, and roadblocks that the characters must confront to solve the mystery.

Silas Cavallero has long doubted the sheriff’s account of his father’s death 15 years earlier, that Silas’s father was accidentally trampled by his prized stallion, never to be found. He decides to investigate which leads him to Mississippi’s Emberwild Horse Farm.  There he is he hired to train Arrow, a harness racing horse, but must contend with the horse’s owner Nora Felton.  She prefers her horse to people and makes it known that she should be training Arrow.  Unfortunately, after her father died, her uncle and mother conspire to wed Nora since they believe she should be a proper lady and leave the horse training and racing to men. Yet, Nora is determined to save her struggling horse farm, starting with entering her prize colt Arrow into the harness races at the 1905 Mississippi Fair. If she wins, she may have a chance at independence. With Silas’ support and encouragement, he and she team up to prepare Arrow for the harness races. But after mysterious accidents threaten their safety and circumstances shrouded in secrets begin unlocking clues to the past, Silas must decide if the truth is worth risking and endangering the feisty, gritty woman he’s come to admire.

This story will captivate readers from page one. The characters are very relatable and believable. The insight into how women were treated is eye-opening.  Regarding the mystery there are many surprises that keep readers on their toes and guessing as to what really happened.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Stephenia McGee:  I have a degree in animal science and equestrian science. I worked as a horse trainer.  Because my back went out, I could not do any horse training anymore. I wanted to write a story with the horsemanship skills I used, having a heroine who would face difficulties because of the time, the early 1900s. 

EC:  There is a mystery thread?

SM:  Yes.  Silas is trying to find out what happened to his father, never believing it was an accident.  He is also looking for the horse that disappeared. The readers know there is a connection somehow between all these characters. One of the bad guys have motives that are suspect, the Uncle Amos. He is overconfident, a liar, uncaring, manipulative, and does not have much regard for women.

EC:  How would you describe the heroine, Nora?

SM:  She is a little bit older and has led a sheltered life. She is trying to learn how to be independent.   Nora is headstrong, curious, very opinionated, and struggles with the society pressures of the time. Her own family wanted her to be quiet, soft-spoken, act like a lady, and get married. This goes against everything in her personality. Nora is a spitfire, rebellious, defiant, and coy.  She is like a horse whisperer.

EC:  How would you describe Silas, the hero?

SM:  Quiet, gentle, and easy-going. He is confident, sincere, protective, and honorable.

EC: Why the setting?

SM:  I put her in Neshoba County Mississippi because of the fair. It started in the late 1800s.  It is a huge deal.  People take off a week to go, staying in cabins. One of the big events is the harness racing, the only legal horse racing track in Mississippi. I thought it would be fun to put Nora there so she could be a racer.

EC:  Women in the early 1900s?

SM:  They had to have their place, following orders, and being seen and not heard. They were stifled and had no say in their marriage.  Nora had a tug and pull with the way women were treated in the times. Although, she had some freedom since it was in the middle of the suffrage period.

EC:  What role does Arrow the horse play in the story?

SM:  Arrow plays a big part in the story. He is a character.  Like Nora, he is headstrong, ornery, high strung, temperamental, high energy, and wild.  Silas tempers both Nora and Arrow.  Ever since Arrow was born, he became Nora’s best friend since she was so lonely. She loves him and spills her problems out to him. I was able to use my experiences with my horse, Rona, for Arrow. Rona is retired after she broke a bone in her hoof.

EC: There is a book quote comparing Arrow and Silas.  Please explain.

SM:  I put in this book quote, “They are like two stallions.  They assess one another looking for weakness, while at the same time offering due respect to one another.” Nora is watching how Silas will handle Arrow. He is not rough with Arrow and does not man-handle him.  They both give each other mutual respect.

EC:  What about the relationship between Silas and Nora?

SM:  When he is first hired, she does not want anything to do with him, having the feeling he is taking over her duties. She is trying to establish her position.  She slowly gains respect for him, watching how he handles the horse, people around him, and even her. They share a passion for horses, develop a friendship, and then it turns to love. In a sense they are kindred spirits.  He finds her fascinating, becomes intrigued with her, and is never overbearing.  He takes her for what she is.

EC:  What about Nora and her mother’s relationship?

SM:  Nora and her mom are complete opposites who hardly agree on anything. Her mother wants Nora to have a stable life, to do feminine things like cook and sew.  This causes mother and daughter to butt heads. After the father died, they try to understand each other more. They each want the bond and friendship that goes beyond parent-child.

EC:  What about your next book?

SM:  This current book is stand-alone.  The next book is called The Swindler’s Daughter, set in 1918 in rural Georgia.  A girl finds out her dad just died in prison even though she thought he died a long time ago. She has been left an unusual inheritance. It comes out in May 2023.

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.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Orphans of War by Sylvia Broady

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for ORPHANS OF WAR by Sylvia Broady on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Blog 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

Kingston Upon Hull, 1941.

German bombs are raining down on the city. Racing to the nearest air-raid shelter, Charlotte hears an almighty explosion. Her mother’s haberdashery shop has taken a direct hit, reducing the shop to a pile of rubble — and killing her mother outright. Suddenly sixteen-year-old Charlotte is all alone in the world.

But then mysterious Aunt Hilda comes forward — an aunt Charlotte never knew she had — and offers her a home in the sleepy Yorkshire village of Mornington where she runs the local pub with her husband George.

Charlotte doesn’t mind helping out in the pub, but she can’t understand why her Aunt Hilda seems to resent her so. Nor why her mother never revealed she had a sister.

Everything changes when a group of French orphans are brought to live in the big house. Charlotte volunteers to help look after them — and finds a new purpose in life.

Then a band of Free French soldiers is billeted in the village, including a handsome young officer with the deepest brown eyes . . . But Emile has a tragedy in his past — and Charlotte must uncover both his and her own family’s secrets if they are to have a chance of happiness.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62873533-orphans-of-war?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=9TTgRVKegK&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

ORPHANS OF WAR by Sylvia Broady is an emotional YA historical fiction story set in the English countryside during World War II featuring a young protagonist and her tumultuous life during the war years. This is an easily read and engaging standalone book.

Charlotte is a happy sixteen-year-old who assists her mother in her haberdashery shop in the port city of Hull. As the Germans begin bombing England, their city is a prime target with its port and factories. Charlotte’s mother is killed in a raid and their business destroyed. Her father died when she was young, but a mysterious aunt shows up to take her to her home in the country where she works in the pub her aunt and uncle own.

Charlotte finds her uncle and aunt cold and indifferent, but she does not mind the work. When she has been there for a year, county aid workers open a large, abandoned mansion for rescued French orphans. She volunteers and finds she loves working with the children. At the same time a group of Free French soldiers are training on tanks just outside the village and she becomes attracted to a young French officer.

As the war continues, Charlotte finds her purpose in life working with the children and finds young love with Emile before he is sent back to the war. Over the next years of the war, Charlotte will learn many life lessons that will affect her, friends, and family.

I loved reading about Charlotte’s life. This is not a WWII set in the war zone, but a story of a young girl’s life at home in England and how the war affected her life over the five-year period and how much she matured, changed, and found love. All the characters were fully drawn, believable, and memorable. The romance between Charlotte and Emile was realistic. The story deals with family, friendship, hardship and hope during perilous times. Even with the war in the background of the story, it is still full of interesting historical details. I was pulled into Charlotte’s life and story.

I highly recommend this YA historical fiction!

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About the Author

I’m Sylvia. Hull is the city of my birth, but I have lived in the Beverley area for the past 20 years. I have a family in Hull and a family in Australia. Travelling to shores, both near and far, is often on my agenda. What keeps me young at heart? My grandchildren and my zest for life.

Social Media Links

Website: https://sylviabroadyauthor.com/about-me/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SylviaBroadyAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SylviaBroady

Book Review: The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE LOST GIRLS OF WILLOWBROOK by Ellen Marie Wiseman is a haunting and disturbing story of the deplorable state of a real-life state institution for physically and mentally handicapped children in the 1970’s told through the eyes of the sixteen-year-old female protagonist. This is also a suspense novel with a serial killer on the loose.

Sage Winters and her identical twin sister Rosemary had a happy life until the divorce of their parents. Left with an alcoholic mother and an indifferent stepfather, the twins were just surviving. Sage always knew that Rosemary was different and as they grew, her sister’s problems increased.

Six years after the death of her twin and two years after the death of her mother, the now sixteen-year-old Sage overhears her stepfather telling his buddy that for the last six years her twin was not dead but institutionalized in the infamous Willowbrook State School on Staten Island from which she is now missing. Sage is determined to go to Willowbrook to help search for her twin, but when she arrives the administration mistakenly believes she is Rosemary and locks her up. As she learns the horrors of her sister’s life, will she be able to find someone who believes her before she gives up all hope or ends up dead?

This book is not easy to read. It is anxiety producing and especially hard hitting when you learn that this institution was real and there were many more all over the country at that time. I worked as an aide in several nursing homes in the 1980’s and some were excellent, but many made me never want to return. Low pay, low staffing, untrained employees, and administrators trying to make the most money per person per bed made me leave that profession quickly. I had applied at an institution for children, and I was glad I did not get the job because the indifference to the seniors broke my heart enough.

The plot of this historical fiction started with a well-researched true place and took the reader through the atrocities and lives of the patients through Sage’s eyes. When the serial killer secondary plot came into play about two-thirds of the way through the book, it became predictable, but still interesting. All the secondary characters were fully fleshed and believable. This is a very good reminder of the way our society dealt with physically and mentally handicapped children in the not so distant past and I hope we never go back there.

I recommend this historical fiction and hope it reminds people that these types of places did exist.

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About the Author

A first-generation German American, Ellen Marie Wiseman discovered her love of reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in NYS. She is a New York Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into twenty languages. Her debut novel, THE PLUM TREE, is loosely based on her mother’s stories about growing up in Germany during the chaos of WWII. Bookbub named THE PLUM TREE One of Thirteen Books To Read if You Loved ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE. Ellen’s second novel, WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND, was named a Huffington Post Best Books of Summer 2015. Her third novel, COAL RIVER, was called “one of the most “unputdownable” books of 2015″ by The Historical Novel Review. THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN, was named A GREAT GROUP READS Selection of the Women’s National Book Association and National Reading Group Month and a Goodreads Best Book of the Month. THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR was an instant New York Times Bestseller. Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and a spoiled Shih-tzu named Izzy. When she’s not busy writing, she loves spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Social Media Links

Website: https://ellenmariewiseman.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllenMarieWisemanAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EllenMarieWise

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/ellen-marie-wiseman