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#historcalfiction
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Aims42
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Pickpick

Themes: 1920‘s Historical Fiction, Women Gaining Independence, Speakeasies and Jazz Clubs

This was a fun romp of a book! It held my interest throughout and you cannot help but love Zora and root for her!! Definitely a pick that I‘d recommend to all the 1920‘s historical fiction fans out there.

39 likes2 stack adds
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Amor4Libros
The Safekeep | Yael van der Wouden
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Pickpick

This is one of the most well-crafted books I‘ve read in a long time! Loved how the author kept me on my toes with anticipation.

The narration can sometimes be slow-burn, which sometimes annoys me in other books but this was done perfectly.

There are some very spicy scenes on this book, so if this is not your jam, please take note.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pub Date: 5/28/24

#NetGalley

22 likes1 stack add
blurb
Aims42
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I‘m taking a mental health day today AND it just so happened the book I bought with a birthday giftcard to Half Price Books was delivered today 😁 It‘s here, my errands are run, time for book & iced vanilla latte time 🤩💗

LiteraryinLawrence Good for you! Enjoy the day! 3w
AmyG Enjoy your day! 3w
Aims42 @LiteraryinLawrence @AmyG Thank you both! 😊🥰 3w
See All 7 Comments
Meshell1313 Enjoy!!! Sounds like a perfect day! 3w
Aims42 @Meshell1313 It has been, thank you 😌 3w
Hooked_on_books Ah, the stars have aligned! Enjoy it! 3w
Aims42 @Hooked_on_books They did 🤩🙌 Thank you! 3w
43 likes2 stack adds7 comments
blurb
lazydaizee
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Librarybelle I love her books! 4w
11 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
rachaich
From Dust to Stardust | Kathleen Rooney
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Pickpick

Oh my, what a fascinating story. I'm so glad I read the notes and understood its based on real people and events.
A truly fantastic book, woven in friendship, dreams, glittering Hollywood and reality.

review
BarbaraJean
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Panpan

A very belated review, assembled from my notes & comments for our #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion…last month!😬

“There are questions and emotional realities of Maud‘s life that remain a mystery. That is the space where fiction can enter.” (from the Author‘s Note)

To a certain extent, I agree. But I‘m also torn about this specific flavor of historical fiction. It seems presumptuous—and intrusive? sensationalist?—to speculate on ⬇️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) someone‘s emotional life in the way this book does.

Part of my discomfort here is that I disagreed with many of Steiner‘s fictional speculations, especially regarding Maud‘s courtship with Ewan and the circumstances around Maud‘s death. This is part of my problem with this type of historical fiction: presenting an interpretation of someone‘s life as fact. That said, parts of this felt entirely plausible, especially Maud‘s relationship⬇️
1mo
BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) with her cousin Frede and the glimpses we get of her interactions with her sons. Also, Steiner's emphasis on how conscious Maud was about the version of her life that would be left behind in her journals—this rang very true, given what I've read about Maud elsewhere. I really enjoyed seeing these aspects of Maud‘s life fleshed out and explored here.

Steiner also uses a number of narrative devices that were hit or miss for me.⬇️
(edited) 1mo
BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I liked the way she wove in Maud‘s ever-present consciousness of “the Reader”—an observer looking over her shoulder, evaluating and judging the writing that would be left behind. But Steiner also uses Anne as a character/voice in Maud‘s thoughts, which felt very contrived. Then Steiner chooses two framing narratives that I found distracting, which set up a non-linear construction that felt confusing early on. ⬇ 1mo
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BarbaraJean (Cont'd) My other issue with the book is how it seemed determined to relive the most difficult parts of LMM‘s life after her publishing career began. Granted, Maud‘s later life is so very sad, but there was so much more to her than the parts this book chose to focus on. The sense I‘ve gotten of Maud‘s personality through reading her letters—her humor!—was mostly absent here. It seems the author wanted to focus on what Maud might have ⬇ 1mo
BarbaraJean (Cont'd) left out of her journals—the parts of her life that were too difficult to leave a record of—which is certainly a valid approach to LMM's life. But because that leaves out SO much of Maud‘s story and personality, this felt like a very narrow, stilted picture of her life and career. 1mo
dabbe #fanofthepan! 🤩🤩🤩 What an in-depth critique, too! 1mo
BarbaraJean @dabbe 😂 I debated between So-So and Pan… it‘s really halfway between… but I decided not to round up 😆 1mo
dabbe @BarbaraJean Good choice! 🤩😂😃 4w
27 likes8 comments
review
AllDebooks
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Pickpick

# NetGalleyGroup

I enjoyed this new one from Stacey Halls almost as much as The Familiars. The story revolves around Angela Burdett-Coutts and the charitable home, Urania cottage, she establishes with a consortium of philanthropists, including Charles Dickens. It is a refuge for fallen women to give them a second chance at a decent life. Worth a read.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Angela-Burdett-Coutts/

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Reecaspieces
The Wharton Plot: A Novel | Mariah Fredericks
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Mehso-so