The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

 

What type of books do you like to read on vacation?

The Lost Summers of Newport was the perfect vacation read for me.  It had an engaging plot with great characters that kept me enthralled.  Even my 11-year-old daughter kept asking me for updates on what was happening in my book. 

This novel is set at a mansion in Newport in three time periods:  1899, 1957, and 2019.  A mystery runs through all of the timelines.  Each timeline was a strong story and there were great cross connections.  I loved it!

In 2019, Andrea “Andie” Figuero is working on the reality show, Mansion Makeovers.  The show has traveled to Newport, Rhode Island, to focus on the lavish mansions that were built in the area during the gilded age.  The filming of the show does not go as planned with her boss constantly missing and not all of the family on board with the show.  When Andie starts digging into the house’s history, she discovers that there are many secrets that may be unearthed.

In 1957, Lucky Sprague grew up in Italy, but returned with her grandmother to Sprague Hall during World War II.  She married her handsome cousin Stu, but he has a wandering eye.  Will Lucky be able to find happiness?

In 1899, Ellen has escaped her past to teach music to young heiress, Maybelle Sprague at Sprague Hall.  Her brother wants Maybelle to catch a prince with her song.  As Ellen tries to keep the household together, she helps Maybelle to prepare for her big debut.  Will Maybelle marry her prince?  Will anyone find out about Ellen’s past?

I loved all three stories equally and really enjoyed the mysteries.  I love old homes and live in a National Historic Registry Home myself.  It was the home of a Wisconsin lumber baron and is pretty cool, but reading the size of the Newport Homes, my home pales in comparison.  I enjoyed the Mansion Makeovers show too, although I was on the side of Andie having a historical makeover of the home and not just a glitzy update.

This book is also perfect for fans of the great TV show, The Gilded Age, or of any of Edith Wharton’s novels.

Favorite Quote:

“That was the trouble with this family, wasn’t it?  Like Sprague Hall itself, you never knew what kind of rot lay behind the façade.”

Review Copy from William Morrow Books.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

 

Title:  Band of Sisters

Author: Lauren Willig

Read by:  Julia Whelan

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 15 hours and 59 minutes

Source: Review Copy from HarperAudio and Netgalley.  Thank-you! 

 Band of Sisters is the story of nineteen Smith College graduates who go to the front lines in World War I France to help French civilians survive after being ravaged by the Germans.   Emmie Van Alden convinces her best friend Kate Moran to go with her to France after a rousing speech from Smith alumna Betsy Rutherford.  Emmie comes from a life of privilege with a domineering mother, while Kate lived a hardscrabble life and was a scholarship student at Smith.  As the ladies arrive in France, they face many obstacles and the true brutality of war.  Will they be able to make a difference and will they make it home alive?

 I was fascinated by this story.  I had never known about American women social workers in France during World War I and the important work that they completed to help French women and children survive.  I loved their stories and how they worked to ensure that there would be food and education for the people.  I also loved how they were resourceful and made do with what they had, including putting together their vehicles.  They also faced hard and scary situations.  Together the women are able to make their way through it, although like in many situations, there were people who didn’t get along with everyone else.  I loved their bonds that they forged.  I also loved a wonderfully sweet romance that occurs as well. 

 I listened to the audiobook version and it was hard to stop listening to it.  It was excellent.  I especially like the author’s note at the end where she discussed her research and the real story.  She used snippets from the real letters written by the women and real events to create this fictional story. 

 Overall, Band of Sisters is a riveting historical fiction novel about a group of brave women who made a difference in World War I and deserve to be remembered.

Laura’s Top Fourteen Books of 2019

I am behind on my top books list for 2019, but better late than never, right? I read a lot of outstanding books this past year and had a hard time narrowing my list down to only the top ten, so instead I am doing a top 14 books of the year.  I also noticed most are historical fiction or historical non-fiction books, you can definitely tell my favorite genre. These books were not necessarily books published in 2019, but they were books I read in 2019.  I did not include books that I was rereading, but only books that I’ve read for the first time. They are only in the order of when I read them through the year of 2019.  Click on the titles for the full review of the book.  And now without further ado, my top ten books of 2019.

The Gown by Jennifer Robson – The Gown was one of the first books I read in 2019 and it was one of the best.  It told the riveting story of the women who made Elizabeth II’s wedding gown and was a great look at the bleakness of life in post WWII era England.  

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – I read The Hate U Give as part of the Kewaunee Library book club and I don’t know if any other book has every prompted so much discussion on race and current news topics.  It was an eye-opening novel that gives you a different perspective.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn – The Huntress was set during and after WWII and told the story of three different women.  One is a daring aviatrix flying bombing raids for Russia, the other is a young girl in post WWII America with suspicions about her Step Mom, and the third is the Step Mom who may be more than she lets on with a secret cruel past in Nazi Germany.

Courting Mr. Lincoln by Louis Bayard – I still keep thinking about this novel.  It was a wonderful book about the relationship between Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln, and his best friend, Joshua Speed.  I couldn’t put this book down. I loved that the story framed Lincoln as the enigmatic lead that both Mary and Joshua loved.  The story was told through their point of view.  It reminded me again why Louis Bayard is one of my favorite historical fiction authors.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom – This non-fiction book was written in the 1970’s and tells Corrie Ten Boom’s story of her family, faith, and survival after being persecuted by the Nazis for helping Jewish people escape.  It was an inspiring read.

 

Refugee by Alan Gratz – This middle grade fiction read should not be missed by adults.  It is set in three different time frames and tells the story of a Jewish boy trying to flee German on a boat to America, a Cuban girl trying to flee Cuba to America, and a boy trying to flee Syria to Germany.  It gives a great understanding to the plight of a refugee and connects the stories wonderfully at the end.  This is a must read.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See – The Island of Sea Women told a part of history that I sadly knew nothing about.  The Island of JeJu is off the coast of Korea and is a matriarchal society run with its main industry being deep sea diving for fish by the women of the island.  As WWII looms, both Japan and Korea force atrocities on the island that will change their lives forever.  This is an unforgettable story.

 

The Summer Country by Lauren Willig – The Summer Country was another wonderful historical fiction novel that explores race and love.  This was another book I couldn’t put down once I started reading it.  It was a multi-layered Victorian story with a mystery involved.  Set on Barbados, the story dug into what it meant to be a slave and to own slaves in the society.  This novel was a Jane Austen manners novel, mixed with Charlotte Bronte gothic, with a modern look at race relations.  It also includes a Cholera epidemic, which is fitting for this year’s reading.

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham – Midnight in Chernobyl is a fascinating look at what lead up to the incident in Chernobyl and the aftermath.  It is non-fiction, but reads like fiction.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – I loved the mystery, nature, and romance of this novel.  I felt like it was a grown-up version of A Girl of the Limberlost.

The Martian by Andy Weir – Quite simply, The Martian is one of the best science fiction novels I’ve ever read.  The story itself was a fast-paced adventure, and I loved the real science involved.

The Only Plane in the Sky:  An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M.  Graff – The Only Plane in the Sky was the best audiobook I have ever listened to.  It was another book I just couldn’t stop listening to.  It used first person narration to tell the story of 9/11 in real time.  I think this is another must read for all Americans.

They Called Us Enemy byGeorge Takei – My 11-year-old son Daniel and I read this graphic novel together.  I have been a lifelong fan of George Takei loving him in Star Trek and now loving him on social media.  I love that he took the story of his life and has been telling it in person, with a play, and with this graphic novel so that we can take an honest look at our past and see that we did not always treat our citizens right.  Takei’s look at his childhood in the Japanese internment camps is both heartbreaking and eye opening.

The Testaments byMargaret Atwood – I was amazed that Margaret Atwood was able to follow up the unforgettable The Handmaid’s Tale with the Testaments, a novel that continues the story in the world of The Handmaid’s Tale and turns everything you thought you knew upside down.  This was another book that kept me up too late at night.

Other books I loved this year, but didn’t quite make my top 14 included:

• With this Pledge by Tamera Alexander
• Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
• Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
• The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• White Elephant by Trish Harnetiaux
• Best. Movie.  Year.  Ever: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raferty

For more top reads from the past, check out my lists from 2018, 2017 & 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007.

What were your favorite books of 2019?

Winner of The Summer Country by Lauren Willig

The lucky winner of The Summer Country by Lauren Willig is Heidi G who left a comment on July 2nd.  Heidi was chosen using random.org and has one week to respond with her address before a new winner will be chosen.  Congrats to Heidi!

The Summer Country is an excellent novel that explores race relations in the Caribbean in the 19th century in a Gothic setting.  To learn more about it, check out my review at this link.

Thank-you for all who entered and to William Morrow for providing the giveaway copy. 

The Summer Country by Lauren Willig (TLC Book Tour Review and GIVEAWAY!)

Once I read the first page of The Summer Country, this novel held me within its grip and didn’t let me go until the very last page.  Even then, I couldn’t stop thinking about this story and this novel.  I was hosting a family reunion, but I stayed up too late at night as I couldn’t stop reading this book. The Summer Country is another novel that is going to end up on my favorite books of 2019.

 The Summer Country is a historical fiction novel set in the 19th century in Barbados.  Emily is a fish out of water visiting Barbados for the first time with her cousin Adam and his wife, her best friend Laura, in 1854.  Upon their arrival, Emily finds out that while her cousin Adam has inherited the family business, she has inherited a ruined plantation.  Adam is even more surprised that the business associate that his grandfather has sent them to is of African descent.  As Emily, Adam, and Laura get to know the area, they are invited to stay at Beckles, which is the neighboring estate to Emily’s inheritance of Peverills.  As they stay at the estate, a mystery unravels that took place over forty years before in 1812.  What does this mystery have to do with them?  Why has Emily inherited the estate?  And why does Mrs. Davenant seem to have set her sights on obtaining the Peverills estate?

Charles Davenant has just arrived back to Barbados after spending most of his youth in England being educated.  His father has died, but he has returned to take over the Peverill estate.  His younger brother is less than thrilled to receive him, and Charles is shocked to see the true state of the island and the moral quandary of owning slaves.  With his trusted bookkeeper, Fenty, Charles attempts to put the estate back in order.  Will he be able to turn things around?  Will marriage help his estate?

I loved this novel.  The setting and story were fantastic.  The novel read like a Victorian novel (I love Victorian novels!), but unlike most Victorian novels, The Summer Country digs into the story of race in Barbados and what it meant to those that were slaves and those that owned slaves.  The story was multilayered.  Besides being told between two narrators in two different time periods, the story is a mystery that gives you one piece at a time to eventually lead to an intriguing conclusion.  I couldn’t stop reading this novel.  It reminded me structurally of The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morten, a novel I also greatly enjoyed.

As a water resources engineer, I was greatly intrigued by the cholera epidemic in the 1854 timeline.  It was truly terrifying and a great look into what life would have been like when cholera would sweep through and devastate a city.

Favorite Quotes:

“Not servants; slaves.  It was too easy to fall into the local custom, mincing about with euphemisms sidling past uncomfortable realities with half-truths.”

“Her mother had written about the moral rot of slavery; sinking into the soul one luxury at a time, and Emily could feel her own soul in the balance, a decaying thing tricked out in lace and gold bangles.”

“If I were to put my reputation before my responsibilities, then I would be a poor character, indeed.  I don’t care what busybodies think, but I do care for my own good opinion.”

“It’s a virtue to know one’s own heart and mind.  It saves a lot of bother and a great deal of unhappiness.”

Overall, The Summer Country is one of the best novels I have read this year. It is a Victorian story that delves into the heart of slavery as it searches for the truth of one family’s past.  The story had a tone of Jane Austen manners at time mixed with Charlotte Bronte gothic mystery.  I highly recommend it.

Book Source:  Review Copy for being a part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you!  For more stops on this tour - check out this link.

About The Summer Country

  A brilliant, multigenerational saga in the tradition of THE THORN BIRDS and NORTH AND SOUTH, New York Timesbestselling historical novelist Lauren Willig delivers her biggest, boldest, and most ambitious novel yet—a sweeping Victorian epic of lost love, lies, jealousy, and rebellion set in colonial Barbados.
 Barbados, 1854: Emily Dawson has always been the poor cousin in a prosperous English merchant clan-- merely a vicar’s daughter, and a reform-minded vicar’s daughter, at that. Everyone knows that the family’s lucrative shipping business will go to her cousin, Adam, one day. But when her grandfather dies, Emily receives an unexpected inheritance: Peverills, a sugar plantation in Barbados—a plantation her grandfather never told anyone he owned.

When Emily accompanies her cousin and his new wife to Barbados, she finds Peverills a burnt-out shell, reduced to ruins in 1816, when a rising of enslaved people sent the island up in flames. Rumors swirl around the derelict plantation; people whisper of ghosts.

Why would her practical-minded grandfather leave her a property in ruins? Why are the neighboring plantation owners, the Davenants, so eager to acquire Peverills?

The answer lies in the past— a tangled history of lies, greed, clandestine love, heartbreaking betrayal, and a bold bid for freedom. THE SUMMER COUNTRY will beguile readers with its rendering of families, heartbreak, and the endurance of hope against all odds.
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Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Amanda Suanne Photography[/caption]

About Lauren Willig

Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several novels. She lives in New York City with her family. Find out more about Lauren at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

GIVEAWAY
I was accidentally mailed two Advance Reader Edition's of The Summer Country so I am going to give one of them away! If you would like to win this book, please leave a comment on what interests you about this book.  What is your favorite Victorian novel or your favorite novel that explores slavery?
 

As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.

For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway or post it on your sidebar. Provide a link to this post in your comment.

I will be using random.org (or a Monte Carlo simulation in excel) to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to addresses in the United States.

The deadline for entry is midnight on Friday July 12th!

Please make sure to check the week of July 15th to see if you are a winner. I send emails to the winner, but lately I've been put in their "junk mail" folder instead of their inbox.

Good luck!