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Nadine Feldman, Author

celebrating strong female characters and whatever else strikes my fancy

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fiction

One Week to Launch!

October 7, 2021 by admin

The Factory Girl and the Fey will finally come out October 14, one week from today! I am so excited to finally share Jane Thorburn with you.

The journey for this release has been a long one, six years in fact. Jane is loosely based on my great-great grandmother, and bringing her back into the family fold has punched every emotional button. I have done my best to pay tribute to her by creating a story worthy of her. Without her, I wouldn’t be here!

There were times I needed a break. I spent a year away from it nursing health problems. Other times, I struggled with the sense that I was grieving for all those in the family who never knew she existed (I won’t say why here, because it’s a big spoiler). There was also the challenge of taking the sparse facts of her life and turning them into an actual story.

I’m grateful to editors Rosie McCaffrey and Esther White, who helped me stay on track and stuck with me until it was done. I also send a shout-out to Lynne Hansen, who created the perfect cover.

Early reviews have been favorable, with some readers emotionally affected by it in the way I was, and that encourages me.

The most important review came from my mom, who pronounced it my best work yet! Since I wrote it for her, I am satisfied, whatever happens from here on out.

The journey to completion and the self-discovery along the way has made it an important and worthwhile endeavor. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Filed Under: books, Faeries, fiction Tagged With: 19thcentury, books, Fairies, fiction, historicalfantasy, Scotland, strongwomen, wondertale

Book Review: Bronte’s Mistress

July 21, 2021 by admin

In Bronte’s Mistress, author Finola Austin tells the story of Lydia Robinson, possible mistress to Branwell Bronte, the ne’er-do-well brother of the famous Bronte sisters. Lydia is lonely and frustrated, but also grieving the deaths of her young daughter and mother, leaving her vulnerable to the charms of the much-younger, roguish Branwell. As their attraction grows, others notice, causing all kinds of problems.

Robinson is portrayed as a spirited woman who was a victim of her time. She had few options as a woman to make her own choices, and thus depended on her beauty and appeal to men to get what she wanted…and who expected her three daughters to do the same.

It’s of note that even the book title reduces Lydia Robinson to her relationship to a man, even though the story is about her.

The affair may or may not have happened, and has been the source of conjecture. Clearly something was going on based on some writings that exist, but how far things went is unknown.

I found Robinson shallow and detestable at times, but still felt sympathetic toward her. She longed for the love and attention of her emotionally distant husband, and I came away believing that she would have given up her lover had her husband given her even a crumb of his attention.

Even in our modern times, if a woman is perceived as being “too much,” she is criticized for it. In Robinson’s day, women were punished. Kudos to the author for keeping a sometimes-unlikable character compelling.

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: Bronte, good reads, historical fiction, novels, strong female protagonist

What I’m Reading Now

July 14, 2021 by admin

My fiction tastes get fickle from time to time. After obsessing about fairy tales, I’m backing off a bit (not completely, mind you, but a little. I was reading one but not getting through it, so I jettisoned it for some straight up historical and contemporary fiction. I hope to get caught up on book reviews very soon!

So, while I wait to review something I really enjoy (for I won’t review it here if I don’t like it), here’s a list of my current line-up of books at the top of my TBR pile:

Bronte’s Mistress by Finola Austin – novel concerning an affair between Branwell Bronte, brother of the famous Bronte sisters, and the very married and much older Lydia Robinson. I’m a fan of all things Bronte, so I couldn’t pass this one up!

The Spinster’s Fortune by Mary Kendall – a gothic-tinged novel of family secrets. I found this one on Twitter, for writers who wonder if their books are ever really noticed there!

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin – Pro tip: if you want me to buy a book, put “bees” in the title and I’m already hooked. This story concerns a trio of unlikely friends who must work together to save the bees from a pesticide company.

There are more in my pile, but that’s what I’ll report today. Hopefully I’ll be back next week with some reviews!

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: fiction, good books, historical fiction, reading

It’s Cover Reveal Day!

July 8, 2021 by admin

At long last! I’ve been dying to share this cover for quite a while, and today’s the day. Thanks to the incomparable Lynne Hansen for agreeing to do the cover when she focuses mainly on horror. Please visit her page to see all her stunning work!

What I love about this cover is how it captures the actual story of a woman torn between two worlds.

Thanks also to Amy Bruno at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for setting up the tour. And thanks to the bloggers who are hosting this special day! Please click on their links below.

Books, Cooks, Looks

Books, Ramblings, and Tea

CelticLady’s Reviews

Donna’s Book Blog

Gwendalyn’s Books

Historical Fiction with Spirit

Jessica Belmont

Michelle the PA Loves to Read

momma_doc_reads

Passages to the Past

Pursuing Stacie

Reader_ceygo

Reading is My Remedy

The Book Junkie Reads

The Cozy Book Blog

The Enchanted Shelf

Two Bookish Babes

What a Whimsical Life

Filed Under: books, Faeries, fiction Tagged With: 19th Century, historical fiction, historicalfantasy, Scotland, strong female protagonist, womensfiction

Book Review: All That Shines and Whispers

July 7, 2021 by admin

I’ve been lost in folktales and 19th-century Scotland for a long time now. I decided to take a break and visit a very different era and location. All That Shines and Whispers by Jennifer Craven is set in Switzerland and Austria during the time of the Nazis.

We meet Marlene and her doctor husband Gerald in Switzerland after their escape from Nazi-held Austria. There they are working hard to re-establish their lives with their many children, from 18-year-old Lara to baby Erich. Marlene is a loving stepmom who has managed to soften Gerald’s hard edges. There are a few gentle nods to The Sound of Music, though this is a very different story.

The loving family is hiding a big secret, one which I will not reveal here. I will say, though, that the book worked better for me once I found out what was going on. Up until then I struggled with it a bit. After, though, I was hooked.

The strengths of this story lie in the family relationships and willingness to stick together. The love of a parent knows no bounds in this story, even when that parent makes a poor decision out of that love.

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: family drama, fiction, historical fiction, Nazis, women's fiction, WWII

A Visit From the Fey

June 30, 2021 by admin

The Factory Girl and the Fey was never meant to be a fairy tale. The original idea was straight historical fiction, and I had done a lot of research on the era (19th century), location (Scotland), and the lives of the working class.

There’s a mysterious process that happens when we start to put a story down, however. In this case, two of the Fair Folk showed up in a dream: Gentle and Rain, now known as Flora and Coira. Before I knew it, there was a Queen, Donella, and a whole host of others who showed up once Flora and Coira had established their presence.

Flora and Coira are sisters, but they are a yin and yang sort, with the former a gentle, sweet woman, and the latter sarcastic with a hint of danger.

I tried ignoring them, preferring to write straight historical fiction. Over and over I tried. I knew nothing about fairy tales. Hadn’t read them since childhood. Hadn’t even watched a lot of Disney movies. I was clearly in over my head. But they wouldn’t leave. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t write the story without them.

There was only one solution: do more research. I started reading Neil Gaiman. I studied Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale by Marina Warner. I found books that were retellings of fairy tales, such as Janet Yolen’s Briar Rose (sleeping beauty) and The Girls at the Kingfisher Club (The Twelve Princesses) by Genevieve Valentine. Day by day, I sought out those who could teach me what I needed to know. I found The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic and enrolled in some of their courses.

I had believed, mistakenly, that fairy tales were for children. The Factory Girl and the Fey is definitely not a children’s book, with some controversial topics in it. I wondered what adult would want to read my “weird little book.” Turns out, there’s a whole world of people who love all things Fey and Folklore.

Over time, I fell in love with the Fey. I am still learning, but I’ve learned enough to know that my story is oddly on track, despite my ignorance. Perhaps the fairy tales of my childhood were informing me, despite the decades in which they gathered dust in my brain. Or perhaps the storytelling aspect of fairy tales is hardwired within us, so it comes naturally once we allow our imaginations to carry us aloft.

Either way, I no longer try to shoo them away. They get to stay. And I suspect they have much more to tell me.

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: 19thcentury, historicalfantasy, Scotland, womensfiction

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