Glimpses of Paradise: A Novel of the 1920s by James Scott Bell My rating: 5 of 5 stars We first meet the main characters in Glimpses of Paradise, 17 year-old Doyle Lawrence (athlete and poet) and 16 year-old Zenobia (Zee) Miller (want-to-be movie star), in the spring of 1916 in Zenith, Nebraska. Doyle, fascinated by… Continue reading Glimpses of Paradise (review)
Through the Deep Waters: A Novel by Kim Vogel Sawyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Dinah Hubley is starting to attract unwanted attention and pressure from the after-dark visitors to her home, a Chicago bawdy house called the Yellow Parrot run by Miss Flo. That pressure ramps up a hundred-fold when, on her 17th… Continue reading Through the Deep Waters (review)
The Miner's Lady by Tracie Peterson My rating: 3 of 5 stars Chantel Panetta returns home from a year in Italy to find her sister Isabella has fallen in love with Orlando, a Calarco and a generations-long enemy of the Panettas. She soon finds herself in the thick of the feud when Issy asks her… Continue reading The Miner’s Lady (review)
East of Eden by John Steinbeck My rating: 5 of 5 stars This isn’t a proper review, just a list of things I noticed / liked / disliked about the Salinas Valley California family saga East of Eden by John Steinbeck. The book started out like books written in the middle of last century do—slowly,… Continue reading East of Eden (review)
Trouble in Store by Carol Cox My rating: 3 of 5 stars When Melanie Ross is sacked from her job as a governess in Ohio, she decides to take the most appealing option available. She will move to Arizona to collect the belongings of her only relative, deceased cousin George Ross. Maybe her cousin’s friend,… Continue reading Trouble In Store (review)
The Icecutter's Daughter by Tracie Peterson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Merrill Krause, the only girl in a family of boys, has fulfilled her promise to her dying mother and spent the last ten years taking care of her father and brothers. This has meant not only cooking and keeping house but also getting… Continue reading The Icecutter’s Daughter by Tracie Peterson (review)
Violet Nesdoly 