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fiction

Book Review: The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

June 2, 2021 by admin

While working to finish The Factory Girl and the Fey, I went looking for books that might compare. Having not expected to write a “fairy tale,” I wondered if anyone else had written a story in the way I have.

My search has led me down an exciting rabbit hole, one where I am finding people who love folklore and fairy tales. It’s an exciting search, and The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine is one of the nuggets of gold I found along the way. It’s not similar to my story, but it’s still a lot of fun and well worth mentioning here.

The Girls at the Kingfisher club is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, a German fairy tale that’s part of the Brothers Grimm collection (which themselves are retellings!). In the original story, twelve princesses were locked in their room every night by their father, but each night they would sneak out and go dancing. Every day their shoes were worn out. He invited suitors to vie for the right to marry one of the princesses. They had three days, and the requirement was for them to figure out how they were getting out of the house. If the prospective suitors didn’t figure it out in three days, they were put to death. Many men tried and failed, reaching their brutal end. Because it’s a fairy tale, though, someone figured out how they did it. He was rewarded with marriage to the oldest daughter.

In the retelling, the setting is Manhattan during the Roaring 20s. Our princesses are twelve daughters of a wealthy man who has no interest in his daughters whatsoever. His wife died in a final attempt to bring forth a son. Jo, the oldest, and Lou, the sister to which she is closest, fall in love with dancing and teach the younger girls how to do it. They sneak out into the night to the speakeasys to dance.

Naturally, problems arise, especially once the father catches on to what they’re doing.

The Girls at the Kingfisher Club is a tale of patriarchy, but it is also a tale of the resilience and strength of women. It is also a glimpse into a fascinating period of American history. There are no fairies in this fairy tale, but it’s a great example of how fairy tales can be used as a basis for new and enjoyable stories. I’ll be sharing more of these in future blog posts.


If you enjoy this blog, please consider purchasing one of my books. More information on the titles can be found here. The Factory Girl and the Fey will be available in October 2021. Stay tuned for more details!

Filed Under: books, Fairy Tale Retellings, fiction Tagged With: fairy tale retelling, fiction, prohibition, Roaring 20s, strong women

Book Review: The Lost Apothecary

May 26, 2021 by admin

In this stunning debut by Sarah Penner, The Lost Apothecary weaves the reader between present day and the late 18th-century London. Part mystery, part women’s fiction, part history, I found this to be a page-turner. Particularly intriguing is the apothecary herself, Nella, who provides poisons to women whose men done ’em wrong. Her body is rebelling against her, in large part, she believes, because of her guilt about her work. Basically, Penner turns a serial killer into a sympathetic character, which is no easy feat.

Caroline, the protagonist of the present-time story, has arrived in London for what would have been her tenth anniversary…but arrives alone. Like many women, she allowed life and marriage to take over and forgot her own dreams. On an outing, she finds an apothecary bottle that awakens her interest in history. Soon she is sleuthing the past to learn more about the woman who owned that bottle.

Nella keeps a record of every woman who came to her shop, including their name, the person who is to be poisoned, and the substance used. It is her way of keeping these women from disappearing entirely. Yet she herself was to disappear before Caroline rediscovered her.

As a side note, my upcoming novel, The Factory Girl and the Fey, also tells of a woman who disappeared from history, and is my attempt to give her the recognition she deserves. Perhaps that is why this story intrigued me so much, the pain of having women fall into obscurity.

I could not put this book down. Enjoy!


If you enjoy this blog, please consider purchasing one or more of my books. The Factory Girl and the Fey, a historical fantasy, is coming this fall, so stay tuned for more details! For more info on my contemporary women’s fiction, click here.

Starting in June, I’ll add a second blog post about topics not related to book reviews. Stay tuned!

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: fiction, historical fiction, women's fiction

Book Review: Migrations

May 19, 2021 by admin

I’m always buying books, and sometimes they get lost on my Kindle app. Recently I found one I’d bought back in December but hadn’t read. It was well worth the wait, but why not sooner? I have no good answer for that. I’m just glad I finally took the time to read it!

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy is an extraordinary debut novel about a woman with a passion for birds. Franny Stone is determined to follow the migration of the Arctic tern, a bird that flies from the north pole to the south every year, but which is endangered. She talks her way onto a fishing boat, promising that as she tracks the birds, she will find fish for the crew whose livelihood has been decimated by climate change. NOTE: The story is set sometime in the future, but close enough to present to be uncomfortable.

As the boat heads out to sea looking for fish, Franny’s background is carefully unspooled by the author. We learn about her marriage and her need to be on the run at all times, breaking the heart of her loyal husband who loves her exactly as she is. We learn she is a troubled soul with a startling past. And, at the end, we learn the real reason for her journey, not the one she states early on (which is troubled enough).

As I was reading, I thought I had it all figured out. I was wrong. Well, not totally. I guessed correctly at some of it, but the journey there brought me to an unexpected place.

Migrations is a haunting book that will stay with me for some time. Enjoy!


Thanks for reading! Starting in June, I will be adding a second blog post per week about other topics, and I hope you’ll join me! I invite you to subscribe to my blog.

Also, please consider purchasing one or more of my books. The Factory Girl and the Fey, a historical fantasy, is coming this fall, so stay tuned for more details! For more info on my contemporary women’s fiction, click here.

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: birds, climate change, fiction, good books

Book Review: Joyous Lies

May 12, 2021 by admin

A former commune, now organic farm, is at the center of Joyous Lies by Margaret Ann Spence as a group of aging hippies is forced to confront what’s next in their lives. The catalyst is the arrival of a documentary film crew, approved by the group’s charismatic leader Neil but objected to by his partner Johanna. As filming commences, old hurts and jealousies arise.

Meanwhile, granddaughter Maelle is struggling to finish her Ph.D. thesis about plant communication. Raised on the farm, she has a strong connection to the land. When Neil’s parents (who owned the land) die, and his siblings want to sell the land, many questions are raised. If the land is sold, the pristine environment would be razed for expensive real estate. If it isn’t, how can a group of old hippies, now beset by arthritis and other age-related problems, continue to support themselves?

The commune was not as idyllic as presented, and author Margaret Ann Spence unspools secrets, denials, hypocrisy, and lies. There is a huge chasm between the ideals of the commune, set up by hopeful young draft dodgers, and the harsh reality of survival.

I saw this novel as being, in part, about reflecting on one’s earlier life and choices. Are there regrets? Did we do the right thing? How can we face the big mistakes we made without being utterly destroyed by them? In other words, people are complicated…something young, idealistic Maelle will need to learn.


Thanks for reading! Starting in June, I will be adding a second blog post per week about other topics, and I hope you’ll join me! I invite you to subscribe to my blog.

Also, please consider purchasing one or more of my books. The Factory Girl and the Fey is coming this fall, so stay tuned for more details! It’s a historical fantasy, quite different from my other books. For more info on my contemporary women’s fiction, click here.

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: book review, fiction, good books, women's fiction

Book Review: My Boring Life

May 5, 2021 by admin

Many of the books I’ve read recently have been well-known and best sellers. This week, I explore the work of emerging author Kerry Chaput and her recent release, My Boring Life.

Set in 1969, the novel centers around Gavenia, a young woman whose first year at Barnard has not gone well, and she’s on the verge of flunking out. She must complete several assignments during the summer to try to earn her place back.

As she returns home to lick her wounds and ponder her future, she faces her brother who has been wounded in Vietnam, a sister who lives at home and spends her days protesting the war, and two parents who are both hilarious and clueless. The family emigrated from Great Britain, with Gavenia being the only child born in the U.S., and there’s a parade of British food and customs, whether Gavenia likes them or not.

Simon, a crush from Gavenia’s younger days, reappears and sparks fly. But will he distract her from her schoolwork?

With humor and heart, My Boring Life explores a turbulent time in history that brought back many memories for me. Chaput uses music, television shows, and other imagery to anchor readers to that time period. Though the tone is light, she does not gloss over the seriousness of the issues she explores, including PTSD, the anger over the war, and Gavenia’s own dilemmas. After all, when someone is coming of age, their problems loom as large to them as any on the national stage.

I found myself wondering what the characters would be like today, decades later. Gavenia would be a few years older than I am, and I wanted to know how she ended up. That’s not a usual response for me.

This is a small press book, and there are a few editorial/proofreading glitches in the book (though I can usually find some in nearly everything I read these days). But the story is wonderful, and I hope we see a lot more of Ms. Chaput’s work.

Filed Under: books, fiction Tagged With: fiction, historical fiction, women's fiction

Book Review: The Henna Artist

April 28, 2021 by admin

Lakshmi ran away from her abusive husband and used her artistic talents to become a henna artist to wealthy women. Clever and quick-minded, she built a successful business over the years, earning enough money to build a house of her own. Her life is about to be upended, though, with the appearance of a younger sister Radha, who she didn’t know she had, and her estranged husband. In The Henna Artist, author Alka Joshi transports us to 1950s India, where old cultural traditions make life difficult for women.

The Henna Artist has been a hugely successful book that has justifiably earned praise from Reese Witherspoon’s book club, so it doesn’t need the endorsement of a little book blogger like me. However, if I love a book I’m going to recommend it, so here we are.

Lakshmi’s emotional journey is absorbing. After all, how does an already successful businesswoman, making her way in a society that is suspicious of unmarried and childless women, grow? Yet Rahda, as an emotional and precocious teenager, becomes a catalyst for the big changes in Lakshmi’s life.

The details of Indian culture, from food to the societal rules, held my interest. And though the story is set in what for us is an exotic locale, there is much for women to relate to in terms of the challenges we face and how we survive.

There is a level of predictability in the story, and some of the resolution seemed a bit too pat for me. It builds beautifully but seems to wrap up too quickly. Also, there were a number of editorial and proofreading errors that I found disappointing. However, the story of the two sisters is brilliant overall, and it’s a wonderful, enjoyable read.

TRIGGER WARNING (NOTE: CONTAINS SPOILER)

If you have an aversion to abortion, you may not want to read this book.


Please feel free to subscribe to my blog below. I review books on Wednesday and starting in May will have a second post during the week on other topics.

If you enjoyed this review, please consider purchasing one of my books. Details can be found here.

Filed Under: books, fiction, women Tagged With: book review, books, fiction, novels, women's fiction

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