Clara and Mr Tiffany by Susan Vreeland

Clara Driscoll is not a name that most of us would recognise. Talk about Tiffany's and their lamps we would likely be much more familiar, and yet the two have now been inextricably linked through the discovery of some letters from Driscoll. Vreeland has taken what little we know about Clara and shaped a story that is filled with fascinating details about not only Clara but also about glass-making, selection of colours and the creation of many beautiful objects of art.

Clara is the central character in this book which is not only about how the iconic lamps came into being, but also about life in New York at the turn of the century and social change. There are plenty of historic milestones that are touched on, including the first time that the ball dropped at Times Square on New Year's Eve, the building of the Flatiron Building and the opening of the underground train systems amongst others.

The book opens with the recently widowed Clara Driscoll returning to work for Louis Comfort Tiffany. She had worked for him previously, but he has a very strict policy that none of the women that work for him can be married, no matter who they are, what role they perform - no exceptions.

Whilst Clara chafes a little at the injustice of this rule, she is aware that very few of the other glass makers actually employ women at all, and she is so relieved to be back at work, she is prepared to work under those restrictions.

Gradually Clara is able to pick and choose the girls who will make up her team, many of them young immigrant girls, and they are set to work on many of the challenging designs that Mr Tiffany wants whether to fulfil orders for customers or for the various big exhibitions including the Chicago World Fair.

Image from Wikipedia

Along the journey, Mr Tiffany encourages Clara in many of her designs, despite the impediments that many of the money men of the company put in her way. What he doesn't do though, is openly acknowledge his designers, not only Clara, but the others as well. This lack of recognition is something that she struggles with because whilst she does want that, she also loves her job, loves designing, and loves the process of making the complicated glass pieces. There are also challenges with the men who work for Mr Tiffany. The women are not allowed to join the union, and there are times when the men seek to stop the women from "taking their jobs".

Outside of work, Clara lives in a share house with many other artistic types and so we get a glimpse inside the lives of these people. Through them, she meets the men who shape her personal life. There is Edwin who will in time become her fiance as well as Bernard who plays an important role in her life. All the time though, the men in her life have to compete with her passion for her work.

There are times at the beginning of the book where the technical details of the production is a bit overwhelming, but once you get past that initial part, the story just flows. This isn't the first Vreeland I have read, and like the others, the author shows considerable skill in bringing the colours and images to life within the text.

On page 229, one of Clara's friends says the following;

"The butterflies, the fish and the dragonflies. Stunning, Clara. Your lamps will last through the ages, and will come to be valued as treasures from our time, worth far more than you can imagine now. I know this. I'm an importer."

Hearing that, I felt my spirit soar. I didn't breathe until his velvet voice came through the semidarkness again.

"Someday, when women are considered equal to men, it will become known that a woman of great importance created those lamps. This isn't the Middle Ages, Clara. You will not be lost to history like the makes of those medieval windows in Gloucester are. Someone will find you."

In the author note, Vreeland talks about the exhibition that she went to see that inspired her to write about Clara. You can't help but feel that this book is another step in finding Clara Driscoll.

Rating 4/5

Tour details:

Tour schedule

Clara and Mr. Tiffany on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Clara-Mr-Tiffany-Susan-Vreeland/dp/0812980182/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Read an excerpt of the book at Random House Readers Circle:
http://www.scribd.com/RHPG/d/47185618-Read-an-Excerpt-from-Clara-and-Mr-Tiffany-by-Susan-Vreeland

Susan's website: http://www.svreeland.com/

Susan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/susanvreeland


Synopsis:

Against the unforgettable backdrop of New York near the turn of the twentieth century, from the Gilded Age world of formal balls and opera to the immigrant poverty of the Lower East Side, bestselling author Susan Vreeland again breathes life into a work of art in this extraordinary novel, which brings a woman once lost in the shadows into vivid color.


It’s 1893, and at the Chicago World’s Fair, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut with a luminous exhibition of innovative stained-glass windows, which he hopes will honor his family business and earn him a place on the international artistic stage. But behind the scenes in his New York studio is the freethinking Clara Driscoll, head of his women’s division. Publicly unrecognized by Tiffany, Clara conceives of and designs nearly all of the iconic leaded-glass lamps for which he is long remembered.


Clara struggles with her desire for artistic recognition and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that she faces as a professional woman, which ultimately force her to protest against the company she has worked so hard to cultivate. She also yearns for love and companionship, and is devoted in different ways to five men, including Tiffany, who enforces to a strict policy: he does not hire married women, and any who do marry while under his employ must resign immediately. Eventually, like many women, Clara must decide what makes her happiest—the professional world of her hands or the personal world of her heart.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

Edited to add: We are giving away a copy of this book at Historical Tapestry! Head over to read Susan Vreeland's guest post and  comment for your chance to win!

Sunday Salon: Our Australian Girl - Grace

Last year, I saw a couple of posts on an Rebecca's Book Blog (an American blog which is kind of ironic in a way) talking about a new children's book series called Our Australian Girl.  After that I saw them mentioned on an Australian blog when the books were launched, and I was interested enough to see if I could track the books down. At the time there were four girls that we could meet, but since then another two girls have been added to the series. Today, I thought I would talk generally about the series, but then more specifically about the first girl, Grace.

The concept is that we meet a girl from a particular time in history and through a series of four books we get to follow her life. So far, the girls are:

Grace - a convict who is transported to Australia in 1808.
Letty - a free settler who is coming to Australia in 1841
Poppy - a young girl of Chinese/Aboriginal heritage who gets caught up in goldrush fever in 1864.
Rose - lives in Melbourne during the year that Australia became an official nation in 1901
Nellie - an Irish orphan who is sent to South Australia in 1849
Alice - a young girl with a passion for ballet who lives in Perth during the World War I (1918).

The publishers have done a fabulous job with the packaging of these books. Each cover features a photo of the girl, a charm bracelet where there is a charm for the year, the letter of the girl's name, the number of the book of the series, and then a charm that is relevant to the story within the books. Inside the book there are maps showing where the book is set, historical information from the time that the book is set in, as well as each author and the illustrator's Australian girl story, whether they were born here or if they immigrated to Australia. There is also additional content to be found at the associated website, including quizzes as well as additional information for teachers and parents.

Whilst I am not in the target range for these books, I love the way that the publisher has put this series together, and if I was a girl aged between 8 and 11, I am pretty sure that I would love these books! If you have a girl in your life who likes history, then these may well be a good gift idea for her!

In this video, we meet the girls who have been chosen to be the faces of  Our Australian Girls.

So let's meet Grace.

Grace is an orphan who lives with her uncle in the slums of London. He is a harsh guardian for Grace, and she has to work as a mudlark, looking for items of value in the mudflats at the edge of the Thames river. Like so many young girls through the ages, Grace is obsessed with horses. Visiting the horses nearby usually gives Grace great comfort, except when she thinks that they are also being mistreated. When she steals an apple from a nearby fruit stall to give to the horse, she is caught, spends time in prison and is eventually sentenced to be transported to Australia.

On board the ship, Grace faces harsh conditions, but she is lucky enough to make friends with Hannah and her mother Liza which helps her survive her time on board the boat.

Once she reaches Australia, she is sent to work on a farm in the country away from her new friends. There she meets the indigenous Aboriginal population as well as seeing the strange animals and flora that abound in the country. She likes her mistress but she is not sure that her master is pleased with her. Will her obsession with horses cause her trouble again, even though she is doing her best in difficult circumstances.

Grace is terrified that she will be sent back to the Factory (where the girls who haven't been employed are kept to work in horrible conditions) and so she does her best to make her master happy, but with his horse sickening due to Grace's actions, it is looking unlikely that she will be able to stay.

The last two books (Grace and Glory and A Home for Grace) count for the Aussie Author Challenge, Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and Australian Women Writer's Challenge.

Weekend Cooking: Hungry Music

I have at least four cookbooks out from the library at the moment, plus a backlog of other ideas that I want to post for Weekend Cooking at some point, but instead, this week, I bring you 'hungry' music! I am not even sure what prompted this, but it never hurts to have an excuse to play some 80's classics (and some bonus Patrick Swayze!).









Just don't look too closely at the woman playing doing the sax solo towards the end! I also really like Make Me Lose Control which could be symbolic of my relationship with food, but I couldn't possibly include that because of the shocking 80's hair in the video. My one thing I have learned for today (so far) is that Eric Carmen sang All By Myself too.







It's probably a bit harsh to exclude an Eric Carmen song on the basis of his 80's hair and then include a Duran Duran song! Oh well.






I think my favourite Springsteen song is Glory Days, but this is right up there for me! And no, no comment on his hair, but having said that this does look like a video clip that was made a long time after the song was originally released!

Can anyone think of any other hungry songs?

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post. 

The King's Agent by Donna Russo Morin

Battista della Palla was a real figure from history. He was an art thief, a wheeler dealer, a lifelong friend of Michelangelo, a man of many different facets. He is also the central character in this book. He leads a group of men who all bring their particular skills to finding and acquiring treasures, and also in interpreting the symbolism that is so often hidden in many of the paintings of the time. Generally when he steals, any gain goes towards the cause of freeing Florence - a cause close to his heart.

Battista is a man who loves a challenges. He plans each of his thefts in meticulous detail, not afraid to take the chances he needs to take in order to meet his goal, but also not prepared to put his men, and his own life at any greater risk than he needs to. His interest is piqued when he receives an unusual missive but he has no idea that he is about to begin a quest unlike any other. He infiltrates the home of the Marquess of Mantua thinking that he will find the target item there. Instead, what he finds is a cryptic clue on a parchment, hidden in a room that looks innocent enough but in actual fact is booby trapped. He only escapes thanks to the help of Lady Aurelia.

She is the ward of the Marquess of Mantua, and lives a very sheltered life. What she longs for is adventure and for her, Battista is the key to adventure!

The parchment provides a small clue and that sets Battista and his men, and the Lady Aurelia, on the trail of an obscure triptych. The thing that becomes clear though is that the three pieces are held separately, and that each of the pieces is held in places where there are very dangerous and complex protections in place to stop anyone from finding it. If you are thinking Indiana Jones style quests at this point, then you are on the right track.

Battista and Aurelia must work together to solve the clues, both those in the paintings themselves and those held within the pages of the works of Dante's Divine Comedy. They must face symbolic Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, solve the clues, and find the pieces. In the process we meet some famous faces from history like Michelangelo and Pope Clement, visit some famous places like the Sistine Chapel, face danger,  and deal with their growing attachment to each other.

The biggest dilemma for Battista though is can he trust Aurelia? She is a woman with secrets and he knows that she is not being honest with him, but who is she really, and why is she so determined to be involved in the search for the three parts of the triptych? As a reader, I liked Aurelia, but despite the fact that I only finished the book a few hours ago, don't ask me to explain what her big secret role was.

When I was offered this book, I looked through the blurb and mentally ticked off several boxes for things I like in a book! Renaissance setting - check! Art History - check! Dante - check! (One of my favourite HF reads of the last few years has a Dante connection so I was happy to revisit this). Throw in secret brotherhoods (check) and I would be a happy reader. Sounds all good, right?

Unfortunately, there were a few things that would have made me rethink that if I had of known them at the time. This book is really a cross between a novel and the expanded story behind a computer game. The author freely admits this in the notes where she talks about her love for the game Princess Zelda. The quest that our characters go on therefore consists of find a clue, travel to a distant location, follow the path, find the key to open the gate/door, follow the path, dodge the shooting flames/rolling giant marbles/find your way through the maze etc etc before the final test to determine your worthiness to claim the prize and then barely escape. Rinse and repeat.

It's not really a technique that I enjoy at the best of times, and it really didn't work for me in this book. On of the other things that didn't really work for me was the reliance on the knowledge of Dante's work. Whilst I vaguely know enough, I wasn't familiar enough to see the clues. If you are more familiar with the Divine Comedy you may find it more interesting to follow the clues.

I am not sure if it was these factors that made this a very slow read for me, but it felt like it took me forever to get through it. It really was only a few days, but I could have sworn it was longer.

I must mention the author's notes which I thought were excellent. Donna Russo Morin gives us information about the real people in the book, about her inspiration, about the art in the book and more and the book also included a reading guide.

Ultimately, this book didn't work for me on many levels. If you check the reviews on places like Goodreads you will see that there are plenty of people who loved it

Rating 2/5


Synopsis

"Russo Morin skillfully blends historical fiction and fantasy in surprising ways. She draws effortlessly upon influences ranging from Dante to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the authority of her presentation makes the world she’s created come alive. A wonderfully action-packed ride through the lush landscape of Renaissance Italy." Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

The King’s Agent is based loosely on the life of Battista della Palla-a patriotic plunderer, a religious rogue-of the 16th century, a lifelong friend to the great Michelangelo.

As the cloistered ward of the Marquess of Mantua, Lady Aurelia is a woman with a profound duty, and a longing for adventure. In search of a relic intended for the King of France, Battista and Aurelia cross the breathtaking landscape of Renaissance Italy. Clues hide in great works of art, political forces collide, secret societies and enemies abound, and danger lurks in every challenge, those that mirror the passages of Dante's Divine Comedy. It is an adventurous quest with undercurrents of the supernatural, powers that could change the balance of supremacy throughout Europe.

Review originally posted at Historical Tapestry as part of a blog tour run by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

The Queen's Lover by Francine du Plessix Gray

Count Axel von Fersen is a name that any Marie Antoinette fans would most likely be familiar with. As the man that she was alleged to be having an affair with, his name is inextricably linked with hers as was his life and in some ways his death.

This book is written as a memoir, relying on known history as well as actual letters than have survived from the time and using those to tell of the events of the relationship between Axel and Marie Antoinette as well as many other major events of the late 18th century. Axel tells his story, given the reader a view into important events through the eyes of someone who was there. Various aspects are also told by his beloved sister Sophie who fills in the gaps that Axel left in his memoir or to tell us what was actually going on when he wasn't present.

Axel von Fersen was born into an aristocratic Swedish family and was educated accordingly. In his teens he was sent on a grand tour of Europe. In Paris, he met Marie Antoinette at a masked ball, and so a fateful relationship began. Initially, Axel was a close friend of both the King and Queen but in due course he and Toinette became lovers. It was, however, a turbulent time in France history, and after a brief idyll political events overtook everyone at the French Court with implications that would shape French political life for years to come.

Before those events lead to their eventual outcomes, we spend time with the young count as he signs up to go and fight in the American Revolution. Throughout his life, Axel is much respected, a figure of honour and integrity, as well as brave and handsome. He had very set ideas about honour, and about the proper place of all people within their social strata. This is part of the reason when he was so steadfast in his loyalty to Louis (although not loyal enough to abstain from dallying with his wife). It was also a big part of his unpopularity in his home country during political uprisings which eventually led to his death.

I would go so far as to say that the only place where he didn't behave with honour was really when it came to women. In the course of the book, we find out about his relationship with not only Marie Antoinette but also with other women. He recognises that his own behaviour was unbecoming but it didn't stop it from happening, and there were a couple of graphic scenes that seem to pop into the narrative quite unexpectedly.

You might expect from the title of the book that the majority of the book would focus on the relationship that Axel is portrayed as having with Marie Antoinette. It is a large part for sure, but there is more page space given to the time in America, to the time after the arrests of the royal family and how von Fersen tried to work on their behalf in any way he could, and then on his life back in Sweden where he was accorded several honours as well as behaving in ways that made him unpopular with many people and  leading up to his death.

Writing a novel as either a diary or letters or in this case fictional memoir can be quite difficult and there are very few authors around who seem to be able to do it very well. I didn't mind this book, but it never quite captured my imagination in the way that I really wanted it to. I did find parts very interesting, for example the political interest that Marie Antoinette showed after being arrested and the details of her trial as well as the events in Sweden which is a place that you don't often read much about in historical fiction.

If you are a fan of Marie Antoinette or really enjoy reading about the French Revolution, then you may really enjoy this book. I thought it was a solid read, without being spectacular.

Rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to TLC Booktours and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

Synopsis

Historical fiction of the highest order, The Queen’s Lover reveals the untold love affair between Swedish aristocrat Count Axel Von Fersen and Marie Antoinette

The Queen’s Lover begins at a masquerade ball in Paris in 1774, when the dashing Swedish nobleman Count Axel Von Fersen first meets the mesmerizing nineteen-year old Dauphine Marie Antoinette, wife of the shy, reclusive prince who will soon become Louis XVI. This electric encounter launches a life-long romance that will span the course of the French Revolution.            


The affair begins in friendship, however, and Fersen quickly becomes a devoted companion to the entire royal family. As he roams through the halls of Versailles and visits the private haven of Petit Trianon, Fersen discovers the deepest secrets of the court, even learning about the startling erotic details of Marie-Antoinette’s marriage to Louis XVI. But the events of the American Revolution tear Fersen away. Moved by the colonists’ fight for freedom, he is one of the very first to enlist in the French contingent of troops that will fight for America’s independence.


When he returns, he finds France on the brink of disintegration. After the Revolution of 1789 the royal family is moved from Versailles to the Tuileries. Fersen devises an escape for the family and their young children--Marie-Thérèse and the Dauphin Louis-Charles--whom many suspect to be Fersen’s son. The failed evasion attempt eventually leads to a grueling imprisonment, and the family spends its excruciating final days in captivity before the King and Queen face the guillotine.


Grieving his lost love after he returns to his native Stockholm, Fersen begins to sense the effects of the French Revolution in his own homeland. Royalists are now targets of the people’s ire, and the carefree, sensuous world of his youth is fast vanishing. Fersen, who has been named Grand Marshal of Sweden, is incapable of realizing that centuries of tradition have disappeared, and he pays dearly for his naïveté, losing his life at the hands of a savage mob that views him as a pivotal member of the aristocracy.


Scion of Sweden’s most esteemed nobility, Fersen came to be seen as an enemy of the homeland he loved. His fate is symbolic of the violent speed with which the events of the 18th century transformed European culture. Expertly researched and deeply imagined, The Queen’s Lover offers a fresh vision of of the French Revolution and of the French royal family, as told through the love story that was at its center.

Library Loot: May 9 to 16

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Claire has Mr Linky this week so head over there to add your link for others to see what loot you picked up! Here is my loot:

Red Spice Road Cookbook by John McLeay - I went out for dinner to Red Spice Road a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience, so when I saw the cookbook sitting on the shelf (and I had some space on my library card) I had to pick it up!

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - The next choice for my online book club.

Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani - After loving The Shoemaker's Wife now I am determined to work my way through Adriana Trigiani's backlist!

Faithful Place: A Novel by Tana French - Will this be the time that I finally read this book?

A Home for Grace by Sophie Laguna - The last of Grace's books in the Our Australian Girl series.

A Monster Calls: A Novel by Patrick Ness - After finishing the Chaos Walking trilogy, I had to read this book, and pretty much anything else that Patrick Ness puts out!

Merle's Kitchen by Merle Parrish - Bree bought this one and said she liked it, so I thought I would take a look at it!

Two Challenges Completed

I mentioned in my Sunday Salon post the other day that I have technically completed two challenges recently. Whilst I am still planning to continue reading for both of these challenges, here is what I read (so I can at least put my challenge completed post up on the relevant sites).

Aussie Author Challenge


All That I Am by Anna Funder
Exposed: Misbehaving with the Magnate by Kelly Hunter
Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
Bride by Mistake by Anne Gracie
Liar Bird by Lisa Walker
Putting Alice Back Together by Carol Marinelli
Showtime by Narelle M Harris
Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood
Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex
Grace and Glory bySophie Laguna

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge


All That I Am by Anna Funder
Far Fly the Eagles by Evelyn Anthony
All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson
Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman
The Black Pearl by Cynthia Harrod-Eaglers
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Turning of Anne Merrick by Christine Blevins
The Tory Widow by Christine Blevins
The Bungalow by Sarah Jio
The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau
Shalimar by Rebecca Ryman
Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt
The Island  by Victoria Hislop
The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff
The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons
The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
The King's Agent by Donna Russo Morin
Legacy by Susan Kay

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Earlier this year, I read and LOVED Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I started recommending it to anyone who would listen. I am pretty sure I mentioned it more than once to Bree from All the Books You Can Read. I never did get around to writing my review though. When Bree finally read it, and loved it too, I jumped at the chance to do a discussion style review of this amazing book!

Bree has the first half of the discussion, so head on over there to read that, and then come back to read the second half of the discussion. Bree's thoughts are in italics and mine in normal text.

And then once you have read both parts of the discussion, head to your favourite bookstore, or library, or your favourite place to download books. Just get hold of this fabulous book!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

B: There’s a lot going on in this book really. The narrative is mostly Lou’s but there are a couple of chapters from the point of view of some of the others - one from Will’s mother, one from Will’s carer Nathan and also one from Lou’s sister. Did you enjoy those brief glimpses into other people’s thoughts? Or were they distracting? Would you have preferred the narrative to be all Lou’s or maybe to have gotten a glimpse into Will’s thoughts?

M: I liked the glimpses into other people’s thoughts because it is an important reminder that when things like this happen, it isn’t just the person themself that is affected - every single person around them is also impacted in some ways. I found Will’s sister a bit hard to deal with but I think that she was grieving for the brother that she had lost and found it difficult to deal with the man who was left behind.

As for being in Will’s thoughts, I think we saw enough through how he was feeling and what was happening to him. To be right inside his brain would likely been a very dark place for a lot of the book!

Did you like the other perspectives?

B: I did like the other perspectives and I do agree that perhaps to have been in Will’s head might’ve changed the tone of the book and made it -too- dark. Despite the fact that there are some very sad portions in this book, there is a lot of very lovely light-hearted, beautiful moments. You don’t feel like the book is 450p of tragedy - sad moments with the guy in the wheelchair. And I think that’s quite a talent, given the topic.

M: So, I think we have skirted around the topic for long enough.  We are going to have to head into

+++SPOILER+++

territory to be able to discuss this properly.

For all that this is a fabulous book for all the reasons that we mentioned above, it is an amazing book because of the subject matter and the way that the author treated a sensitive subject whilst still giving us memorable characters and without getting bogged down in depressing thoughts.

The subject at the heart of this book is a controversial one - euthanasia. Do people like Will have the right to choose how and when they die, or should they continue to live a difficult life for as long as modern medicine can keep him alive? For Will, he has lost complete quality of life. He can’t live the adventurous life he lived before, but it isn’t just his quadriplegic status that has prompted these thoughts., there are also the constant illnesses that he is more susceptible too, regular hospitalisation and the  knowledge that things are not going to get any better for him.

B: For me, I appreciate that an author has ‘gone there’. Euthanasia is an extremely sensitive and volatile topic and it raises a lot of questions. Before I read this book I already had an opinion on the topic and that hasn’t changed. I do believe that a person has the right to choose to die on their own terms when faced with crippling terminal illness or a situation such as Will’s. As I mentioned earlier, I had no idea what it meant to be in Will’s position. Not just being trapped in a chair unable to really move from the upper chest down, but the constant pain he faced, even in limbs he strictly couldn’t ‘feel’, the chance of illness, the humiliations, the indignity. Will lived like this for two years and as someone who values my privacy, I can’t imagine what it would be like to require 24hr care. To not even be able to feed myself. As Marg said, Will isn’t just depressed because he’s in a wheelchair and can’t climb a mountain. His quality of life is utterly gone. He cannot even regulate his own temperature anymore. It’s hard to really find an argument to keep him alive at all costs, when he is the one that has to live with what he now is. It’s the people that would be left behind that passionately oppose the idea and you have to feel for them too. As a mother I know that I wouldn’t want either of my sons to die, even if one of them were so devastatingly injured. Because as their mother, I’m selfish. I would want them alive and I would want them in my life. So I understand the dilemma that Will’s family faces. But as a person with beliefs and opinions, I support the right of people to choose for themselves. And Will has had every other decision stripped from him. So I understand why he wants to do this.

M: Like you, I already had an opinion, and yes, I understood why Will sees this as his only option. It must be so heartbreaking for families who have to face this decision in reality. For them, they are hurting to see their once healthy and active loved one in such pain, but then they still would see glimpses of the old Will underneath, so the thought of that final goodbye is so difficult.

I thought it was very clever the way that the author actually kept this discussion until later in the book. Lou had no idea that this was in Will’s mind and so she was busy trying to research activities and outings that would try and make him happier, becoming more and more attached to him all the time. It was a much more dramatic way to present the story rather than knowing up front that this is where the story was going. Even as we got closer to the end of the book, Moyes did a fantastic job of showing the mixed emotions and motivations of everyone concerned but also in managing to give Will moments of contentment, if not happiness.

Jojo Moyes manages to keep the pace of the book moving along at the perfect pace and with a lightness of touch that balances out the seriousness of the subject matter perfectly.

B: The pacing is excellent and the journey is just wonderful. I don’t often gush over books like this! There’s just something about it that I really connected with.

M: I am pretty stingy when it comes to giving out 5/5 grades, and I think that Bree is even more stingy than I am, but we both loved this book so much. I really think that Jojo Moyes is hitting new writing heights as I really loved her last book, Last Letter from your Lover as well.

B: It’s a 10/10 for me. I’ve requested Last Letter From Your Lover from the library and I can’t wait to get to it. I want to read everything Moyes has ever written now.

Synopsis

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. 

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. 

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. 

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

Sunday Salon: April Reading Reflections

Doesn't the year go really quickly? How can it be May already? It is getting much colder here and the heater has been on the last few days. Winter is on it's way so I am starting to think about spending the weekends curled up in the chair or in bed with a good book and about cooking soups and stews for dinner.

The highlight of this month was definitely the book Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - my first 5/5 read for the year. I will have a discussion type review up of the book tomorrow, but I would preempt that by saying I loved that book!

Here are the books that I read during April:

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 4/5
Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt 4/5
MoVida: Spanish Culinary Adventures by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish 4/5
Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex 3/5
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett 4.5/5
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 5/5
The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff 4/5
The Firefly Dance Anthology 2.5/5
Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare 4/5
The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis 3.5/5
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott 3/5
Changeless by Gail Carriger 4/8
Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas 4/5
Can't Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards 4/5
Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox 4.5/5
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff 4/5
Hot Under Pressure by Louisa Edwards 4/5
The Novel in the Viola Natasha Solomons 4
The Shoemaker's Wife Adriani Trigiani 4.5

This was a pretty good month for my challenges as well. Technically, with the last couple of books that I read in May, I think I have now completed quite a few of my challenges.

Thief of Lives counted for both the Australian Women Writer's Challenge and the Aussie Author Challenge. I have a couple more books to read for AWWC, but I have completed the requirements for the Aussie Author Challenge.

I have also completed the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge with The Diplomat's Wife, The Iron Hand of Mars, The Dressmaker, The Novel in the Viola and The Shoemaker's Wife all fitting the criteria for the challenge in this month.

I also counted The Shoemaker's Wife for the War Through the Generations challenge which means I have now completed it but I will keep reading for both this and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Guards! Guards! was my one read for Once Upon a Time challenge and I didn't read anything for the What's in a Name challenge.

How was your reading in April?

Weekend Cooking: The Rising Star Chef series by Louisa Edwards

Late last year I read the first book in the Rising Star Chef series by Louisa Edwards. I even quoted a section about brussel sprouts as a Weekend Cooking post because I don't really like them but the way that the scene was written made me think that maybe, just maybe, I could eat brussel sprouts if they were cooked that way. And if the chef looked like the cover....bonus.... although surely that would be against health regulations or something?

This series is actually kind of connected to Louisa Edwards first Recipe for Love trilogy, in that one of the characters from that trilogy is one of the judges in the contest that forms the central premise of this series. The link is tenuous enough that it needn't bother about reading out of order if you do decide to start with these books first.

The overarching premise is that there is a national competition held annually that looks to find the best chefs in America. The drama in the plot is multi layered, both within the various teams, between the teams, between the judges and oh so much more! Before I go too far, I have to mention that whilst each of the three books in the trilogy features it's own hero and heroine, there is also a secondary romance that winds its way in the background featuring Claire (uptight, French, foodie, magazine editor) and Kane (rock star, foodie, young and handsome). I have seen quite a few comments around the place that say that this background relationship as actually some people's favourite in the whole trilogy.

A warning first - these are relatively standard modern contemporary romances, in that the reader does go into the bedroom with the characters, so if you prefer for the bedroom door to be firmly shut you might want to bear this in mind.

Anyway, let's look at each of the individual books in the series:

Welcome to the Rising Star Chef competition, where today’s hottest chefs battle it out on national TV for a chance at fame, fortune and culinary supremacy. Every contestant hungers to win, but only one will take the prize...
HE’S GOT THE SIZZLE
When it comes to competitive cooking, Max Lunden is no stranger to winning...though he’s never been great at working with a team. A master chef—and major hunk—he’s traveled the world, picking up new cooking techniques as well as beautiful women. But when the prodigal chef returns home to his family’s Greenwich Village restaurant, he discovers one too many cooks in the kitchen—and she’s every bit as passionate as he is...
SHE’S GOT THE FIRE
Juliet Cavanaugh used to have a crush on Max when she was just a teenager, hanging out at Lunden & Sons Tavern, hoping to catch a glimpse of the owner’s oldest, and hottest, son. Now a chef herself—competing in the biggest culinary contest in the country—Juliet will be cooking side by side with the one man she’s always admired...and desired. But despite their simmering attraction, Juliet is determined to keep her cool—no matter how hot it gets...

The team from Lunden's Tavern is all set to go to enter into the prestigious Rising Star Chef competition, or at least they were until the owner and head chef falls ill. They need another team member to join head of the team Jules, pastry chef Danny, fish chef Beck and sous chef Winslow. Enter Max Lunden. Max is the son of the owners of the tavern and Danny's brother but he has been gone for years. Max is the kind of chef who has travelled the world, studying obscure techniques and working in some of the most amazing locations going. When his mother asks him to come home, he agrees that he can spare one month before he is due to head off to Italy. One month only.

Max is also the brother that Jules had a crush on years before, but he never realised. Cue the drama, not only between the two of them, but also lots of unresolved issues between the two brothers, Max and Danny, mainly to do with the fact that Max not only left New York, but he also left Danny behind without so much as a backward glance.

Danny is a traditionalist at heart and so when Max keeps on wanting to try new things during the competition things are bound to get heated in the kitchen, and that's before we start talking about the smoking chemistry between Jules and Max.

The team from Lunden's needs to wow the judges enough to wind through to the next stage of the Rising Star Chef competition. First though, they might need to learn how to be a team, and quickly.

A sizzling blend of food, passion—and searing romance—the Rising Star Chef competition brings together the world’s hottest chefs for an all-star cook-off that’s sure to stir up excitement...and melt some hearts.

HE’S FEELING THE HEAT

Sexy, single, and even sweeter than the treats he bakes, New York pastry chef Danny Lunden is trying to stay focused on food—not females. With the Rising Star Chef competition approaching, he doesn’t have time to get all steamed up over the gorgeous woman he encounters on the plane to Chicago. Even if she is Eva Jansen—the billionaire heiress in charge of the contest...

SHE TAKES THE CAKE

Danny assumes that “Eva the Diva” is a spoiled rich girl who doesn’t share his passion for food. But when the two meet up again in an elevator—alone—they share more than just passion. They share a kiss hot enough to start a kitchen fire—and they’re hungry for more. To indulge their new secret craving, Eva and Danny have to break every rule in the cookbook. But—like chocolate and caramel—some ingredients are are so sinfully good together, one scrumptious bite is never enough...

I rated all three books in this trilogy as 4/4 reads, but as I think back, this was probably the most problematic of the books for me, and that is all down to one person, and one person only. Eva.

Eva has recently taken over the series from her father and is trying to put her own stamp on the competition, to give it a higher profile, and what better way to do that than by getting it aired on The Cooking Channel. Unfortunately, the powers that be seem to want more drama, more of a reality TV show feel and that leads Eva to make some questionable decision. I got the reason that were given for this - the need to step out of daddy's shadow and the absolute need to make this work - but I did really struggle to like Eva at some points during this book.

When Danny Lunden's plane is held up and he finds out that it was because of Eva, he assumes that she is a spoilt little rich girl. Later they share a lift and a steamy kiss and he finds out that maybe, just maybe, she also makes him a little hot under the collar and so he is determined to get to know her a little better.

Danny is the team's pastry chef and so it is up to him to provide the finishing touches to the menus that are served up to the judges. At stake, a place in the national finals of the competition. With Jules and Max wrapped up in each other, Danny can't afford to lose his focus, but it is hard to keep it when every interaction that he has with Eva has him hungering for more.

Henry Beck thought he’d already faced the toughest kitchen challenge of his life. After all, what could top sweating it out as a Navy cook on a submarine? But when he learns his competition for the title of Rising Star Chef is the sweet hippie girl he married…and left…ten years ago, the heat is on.

Now Beck and Skye Gladwell are going head to head in the finals…and sparking up old flames every time they touch. But
Skye wants more than a win over the man who abandoned her when she needed him most—she wants a divorce! Then her sexy almost-ex makes a deliciously dangerous proposition. He’ll give in to her demands, but if his team wins the RSC, he has a demand of his own…one last taste of the only woman he ever loved.

I just read this book last weekend, and so it is much fresher in my mind than the others.

Whilst all of the heroes in the series are delectable, Beck was the one that intrigued me most. He is the enigmatic one of the group. Before the big reveal in the last book, even his team mates didn't know much about Beck. He was good at his job, and was an important part of the team, but they didn't know where he came from, where he had been, and they had no idea that he is married....to one of their main rivals.

Admittedly Henry and Skye hadn't actually seen each other for ten years before the competition bought them together again. Henry and Skye were young when they married and still young when circumstance and then tragedy ripped them apart. Skye is determined that this is her chance to move on so she asks for a divorce. He agrees, but on one condition. They bet on the outcome of the competition. If she wins, she gets her divorce. If he wins, she gets her divorce but he gets one more night with her.

The final challenge to determine who is the winner of the competition is a doozy. The contestants have to tell their life story in five courses. For a man like Beck who never reveals his emotions or his past to anyone this is beyond a challenge - it is out and out confrontational. For Skye, it's a chance for him to see how the events of the past formed her and shaped her into the woman she is today. I cried most of the way through as Beck told his story, and again as Skye shared her life story.

I am looking forward to seeing what foodie flavoured romances Louisa Edwards has in store for us next!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post. 

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

Back in April, we had a special event at Historical Tapestry to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Kelly, in particular, did an amazing job. My contribution was to read this book and then Kelly and I did a joint review of it!

This is the second part of the discussion. Check out the first part of the discussion here. My thoughts are in purple and Kelly's in black.

~~~~~~~~~~~

M: I was disturbed by the story of Lifeboat 1. I really was. Over the years there have been numerous tragedies around the world and one of the positives is that there are so often heroes who put themselves in danger to save others. There definitely didn’t seem to be many people who were willing to help others on that night, and particularly in Lifeboat 1. The portrayal in this book seems to be the very antithesis of heroes - utterly selfish to the core. I guess this is just speculation as to what really happened by putting two and two together and maybe coming up with five, but if what is true comes anything close to the actual events, then the Gordons and their companions behaved abysmally.


Having said that, it does seem that the Duff Gordon’s were vilified to a great degree. You have to wonder if it was a case of making them scapegoats or was their profile so high that they were the obvious choice to be the focus of the media attention. I suspect that if Lady Duff Gordon’s personality was anything like it was portrayed here then she would have upset plenty of people over the years, and she really didn’t have any idea of how to act appropriately in the hours and days following the tragedy. Should she have put her life (i.e. the fashion parade of her line of clothes) on hold indefinitely? Probably not, but it does seem insensitive that it went on so soon after the sinking.


I did find the conversation about the changing nature of clothes and also Tess’s attendance at the suffragette rally interesting, but I didn’t actually think that the latter fit all that well into the book. In some ways, I felt as though the author was trying to fit in more details about New York and the times to try and give a bit more context, but it didn’t necessarily add much to the storyline. There actually was enough drama in the sinking and the hearings.

K: Well, there were a lot of heroes on the Titanic, but yes, there were a lot of people that acted terribly in the face of danger. It was all about them and they didn’t want to risk their lives for anyone else. It was said over and over again that the boats didn’t go back because they were worried they would be swamped or they sailed away quickly because they were worried about suction. I think the thing that sets the Duff Gordon’s apart is the portrayal that she demanded the boat be lowered with so few people in it. Whether or not it really happened, who can say. And, the money. Who really knows what that was about. If it was to help out the crew that wouldn’t be getting paid anymore, they were actually doing a good thing, but it didn’t play out that way.

The suffragettes make an appearance in lots of fiction about the Titanic. Even the mini-series that aired special for the the event had a character that was a suffragette. So, I sort of expected it to be there somewhere in this book. I think I would have liked it better if it was two books. One about the Titanic and some of the aftereffects, but then another book about what it was like for Tess in New York. Then the suffragette stuff would have had their time to be the focal point of the book. There was just too much going on and I was reading the book because it was a Titanic book. I liked that it gave a view of the hearings, too, but by that point of the book there was so much else going on it sort of got pushed aside.

The other two things to talk about is Tess herself and the love triangle that was another major aspect of the book. Personally, Tess annoyed me. I thought she was just a little bit too perfect. She always knew how to get out of a situation and everything just sort of worked out for her no matter what the odds. Even when Lady Duff had her temper tantrums they were not that detrimental to Tess. I mean, the author would try and create problems for Tess, but I never once was worried. I just felt Tess was almost a flat character. I never really worked up any emotion for her... And then, there was the love triangle. My biggest pet peeve with books lately is how they work love triangles into everything... Even the love triangle just seemed fake. What did you think of Tess and what were your thoughts on the love triangle?

M: Tess was okay for me. Not all that memorable but she didn’t annoy me which is a bit of a problem given that she is the title character. There were too many improbables to get her where she needed to be for the story. For example, would a woman like Lady Duff Gordon really just pickup a maid on the docks with no references at all, and then would she have moved her up from the lower decks to stay in first class and join them for dinner etc? Maybe the first could happen the way it did, but there was lots of other events which took Tess out of what I would have expected for her designated role.


The love triangle....sigh. There was one aspect of the triangle that absolutely felt probable, but the other was not. Would a young girl like Tess really catch the attention of both of these men, one a sailor and the other a very wealthy, urbane man? Not to my mind. I really enjoyed the interactions with one of them, but the other didn’t work for me at all.


Sounds like we both pretty much agree that this was an okay but not stellar read?

K: Yeah, maybe how Tess was written annoyed me more than the actual character. I noticed all the improbable things, too. That was kind of what I was trying to say above, but I looked at it a bit differently. As to the love triangle, I don’t think it was all that believable because I think she was trying to use an element that is very popular in books right now, but didn’t really work all that well for this particular book. I think there could have still been a romance without the two men involved.

But, yes, I agree with you that it was just an okay read. When I was originally going to review this by myself I kept opening the document and then not knowing what to say, so I would shut it again. If the book at least gave me more of a response it would have been easier to talk about. Of the books I have read for the last two weeks, it was my least favourite. Actually, for a much more accurate portrayal of what it was like in a lifeboat, albeit a different one, you should read Lifeboat No. 8 which I reviewed here. It is non-fiction, but for what actually occurs on the Titanic in this book, it suits the same purpose.

M: I would have been happy for the romance to be just with the one man!


I will have to see if I can get hold of Lifeboat No. 8.

Synopsis

Tess, an aspiring seamstress, is stunned at her luck when the famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon hires her to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. On board, Tess meets a rough-hewn but kind sailor and an enigmatic Chicago businessman, and is intrigued by their differing views of what could lie ahead for her in American.

On the fourth night of the voyage, disaster strikes. Tess is one of the last people amidst the chaos to escape into a lifeboat. Her sailor also survives, ordered into a sparsely filled boat commandeered by Lady Duff Gordon’. Many others - including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.

The survivors are rescued and taken to New York. The US enquiry into the sinking of the titanic begins almost immediately, even as rumors about the survivors begin to circulate about the survivors and the choices they made. An enterprising female reporter, Pinky Wade, hears that Lady Duff Gordon may have saved herself at the expense of others, and the ensuing stories catapult the imperious fashion designer onto the front pages of the newspapers, turning her into an immediate object of scorn.

Tess is torn between loyalty to the fiery woman who would be her mentor and the insistence of her sailor that Lady Duff Gordon's version of events on that dark sea is far from the truth.

Unsure where her loyalties and her heart lie, Tess is caught at a crossroads, one with increasing complications and surprises along the way. Through it all, Tess must navigate her place in the world, hoping to realize her dream of becoming a skilled dressmaker.

Filled with powerful scenes from the Titanic hearings played against the backdrop of such New York landmarks as Central Park, the Waldorf Astoria, Macy's, and Carnegie Hall, The Dressmaker is atmospheric delight filled with all the period's lush glamour, all the raw feeling of a national tragedy, and all the contradictory emotions of young love.