Nadine Feldman, Author

celebrating strong female characters and whatever else strikes my fancy

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Book Review: The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

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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!

Book Review: Great Circle

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In Great Circle:  A Novel, author Maggie Shipstead takes us into the epic life of a female aviator, Marian Graves. Rescued from a sinking ship as an infant with her twin brother, Jamie, Marian grows up in Montana, raised by an uncle who had little interest in the two children. While still a teenager, Marian discovers a passion for planes…and will do anything to learn to fly.

Several decades after Marian disappears on a “great circle” flight to both the north and south pole, actress Hadley Baxter is playing Marian in a movie. Hadley is a successful but disgraced actress who takes the role initially to try to redeem herself in Hollywood. The story weaves back and forth between Marian’s life and Hadley’s.

Two things really stood out to me when reading this novel. First, it’s too easy to misinterpret or minimize the complexity of someone’s life when observing it from the outside. After Marian’s disappearance, writers tried to fill in the blanks, creating myth and misinformation. Hadley has to deal with tabloid culture.

Second, I was struck by how a life can be altered by one small action or shift. If Marian hadn’t been rescued as a newborn, she would never have existed. It was as if every aspect of her life led her to flight, but one less twist or turn would have given her a very different experience.

Shipstead’s command of research and her ability to weave it into a story are astounding. Readers will learn a lot about the history of flight and the role of women that is often under-reported.

Initially I had some trouble getting into the story. There’s a fair amount of set-up that may come across as random. Hang in there. It will all make sense in the end. I also struggled a bit with Marian’s precociousness, but I consider this a minor criticism, as the era of The Great Depression forced people to grow up fast. 

I would highly recommend Great Circle to anyone who loves stories about tenacious women. There’s a lot here about families, friendships, and love here, too.

Great Circle‘s release date is May 4, 2021. NOTE: I received a free copy of this novel via NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you’ll subscribe using the button below. I do a book review on Wednesdays (no soliciting, please) and will soon add a second post on other topics. Also, if you like what you read, please consider purchasing one of my books. More information can be found here.