Strangers in the Night: A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

Strangers in the Night: A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner by Heather Webb 432 pages

 

Fans of Francis Albert Sinatra know he was a complicated man. He could be as loyal as man’s best friend and generous to a fault. When he loved you, he loved you, but when he hated you, he hated you.

 

Frank was a man who loved hard, who worked hard and who played hard. And so was one of Old Hollywood’s sex goddess’ and movie star Ava Gardner. It was as if the two were cut from the same cloth.

 

And when they met, oh my God, did fireworks fly. Combine all the above with the fact that his career was virtually over and hers was on the rise, well, it was instantaneous combustion. They were doomed from the first flame.

 

Author Webb divides the book into five sections, by date and with Frank’s song and movie titles and traces their relationships from 1946-1990, the comings, the going and all the in-betweens. Somehow, they were there for each other, chasing each other around the world. And drink? Those two could almost drink each other under the table! This story is the story of that chemistry, the need for each other that only they could sate.

 

However, always in the background was Nancy, Frank’s first wife, and his kids. Oh, how he loved those kiddos!

 

Frank was a notorious womanizer and only wanted the best things in life. Ava wanted a career, but she also wanted a quiet cottage surrounded by a family.

 

There were times I wanted to stop reading. I didn’t like to see who they were so cruel to each other. Frank came off worse than Ava did, and she, could be a real bitch. That broke my heart. But one thing I found sweet. Ava always called him Francis, unless she was pissed at him, then it was Frank. Only his mother got away with calling him Francis.

 

Strangers in the Night A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Mitford Affair

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict 352 pages

I have not previously read a lot about the six Mitford sisters, but I’ve known who they are. Six girls/women who grew up and in the highest of the early part of the 20^th century English society.  While each sister had her distinct personality, they were a tight-knit clan. They thought and did exactly as they pleased; rules be damn! Sometimes, it was hard to tell them apart. Especially on the first few chapters where readers are introduced t their nicknames for each other; I had a terrible time keeping them straight!

Author Marie Benedict, one of my favorites by the way, takes on three of the sisters as life in England was rapidly changing. This novel focuses on the period from 1932 to 1941.  Benedict gives us the loves and the lives of three of those sisters (Nancy, Diana and Unity). But don’t worry, the other three (Pamela, Jessica and Deborah) so show up from time to time, especially in the first few chapters.

Fans of Benedict’s know that this will be another character-driven novel, so plot seekers don’t bother.

Diana and Unity are estranged from the rest of the family due to their ties and fascination with Fascism and Nazism.  Diana has an affair with the leaders of the British Union of Fascists and ultimately leaves her husband for the man. Unity has gone to Munich to supposedly study the German language, but becomes so enamored of Adolph Hitler that she stalks him until she becomes part of his inner circle. Historians are unsure of whether she was one of his mistresses, but Benedict gives enough evidence to support that she did.

Nancy has gained fame her own way by writing novels, some of which are still in print today. I did see a collection available online that contains all eight. Nancy has the role of peacekeeper and tires to ease the stress between Diana and Unity and the rest of the family.

Besides the crisp prose, there are two things that really stood out in this novel. First, each chapter is dated and readers get to know what each of the women was up to on each date. Second, Diana and Unity’s chapters were told from a third person point of view while Nancy’s was in first person. I found this jarring as I read. Still “The Mitford Affair,” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

A Noble Cunning : The Countess and the Tower

A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower by Patricia Bernstein 266 pages

“Based on a true story of Winifred Maxwell, a Catholic in Anti-Catholic England.”

As the novel opens, Bethan Glentaggart, Countess of Clarencefield, is pulled from her bed by loud banging on the front door.  A group of men barge in, accusing her of hiding a Catholic priest in her home. The men search high and low yet cannot find their quarry. I found myself holding my breath as the men tracked in mud and snow, peering into private places and generally making a mess of things. Luckily Bethan’s husband, Gavin, was not at home and unluckily her children and servants were home in their beds.  I really liked that Bernstein dropped the reader into the middle of the action.

In the following chapters, readers learn that is 1710 in Scotland. The Catholic religion has been banned, yet those who were practicing their religion continued to do so, hiding chapels in their homes and attending masses often held in unusual places.

I was really confused as Bernstein explained who was king, who should have been king, and what was happening and who sided with who. It made my head spin, and I wanted to give up, but I trudged ahead. I’m glad I did.

Gavin gathered the men of the region to go a Crusade-like mission to restore the rightful king. Unfortunately, the king’s men were better equipped and outnumbered Gavin’s throng. If the rebels weren’t killed in battle, they were taken to the London Tower.

Jails weren’t like they are today. The men had to purchase their meals, water, blankets, and everything they needed. If a prisoner had no money, they often died of malnutrition or lack of sanitary conditions. An eye-opening experience for this reader.

The last third of the book was Bethan’s determination to get the monies Gavin needed to purchase fresh foods.

As I watched Bethan take charge, I admired her strength and determination. Many times, I found myself holding my breath, worried that Bethan would not be able to succeed in her mission.

My suggestion to anyone who plans (and you should) read this, study Appendix B first. It’s a Chart of Stuarts and Possible Heirs to the Throne of Great Britain. If I had found that sooner, I probably wouldn’t not have struggled so much early in the story.

I enjoyed reading “A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower,” even though this is not preferred time period or setting. I loved the history and the escapades that the characters found themselves embroiled in. “A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower,” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Lipstick Bureau

The Lipstick Bureau by Michelle Gable 464 pages

Normally, I’m a big fan of author Michelle Gable’s. I fell in love with her work with her debut novel, “A Paris Apartment;” then again with her fourth (“The Summer I Met Jack”) and fifth (The Bookseller’s Secret”) novels. This woman can write historical fiction!

In this, her sixth novel, we get a World War II saga that is based on the real life OSS operative Lauwers. It never fails to surprise me that with all the WWII-era books out there based on real figures that there is anyone left to influence a novel.

This one is a little different. Instead of resistance groups, concentration camps and those left behind on the home front, author Gable takes readers into the moral operations within the OSS (predecessor to the CIA).

Czech-born Niki Novotna has become an American, a newlywed with a failing marriage, and stationed in bomb-shattered, yet liberated Rome.  Her job is to write false propaganda that can dropped behind enemy lines. Looking as if the leaflets were produced in Germany, they disseminate such false information that Hitler is dead, the Allies are closer than then they think and the end of the war is very near.

Then Niki’s job is to get the prepared publications in the enemy’s hands.  That is the hard part! She comes up with a rather unorthodox way to get the information to the enemy, especially since the Air Force and the Army are more interested in dropping bombs than dropping propaganda. Her new idea borders on violating the Geneva Convention.

This book looks at the interactions of the Special Operations: Rome than how the enemy perceives the information.

Niki and her officemates are referred to as “The Lipstick Bureau,” but there were as many men in the office as women. Maybe it includes the “other” group of Italian women Niki paid to get the information out.

Y’all know how I love dual narratives. Most of the book takes place from 1943-45 and 1989. It doesn’t work. It wasn’t necessary and could have easily been deleted. However, it had to stay because this book is loosely based on the real-life operative, Barbara Lauwers, and their efforts to help win the war.

I found the office workings often tedious and lacking a forceful plot. Therefore, “The Lipstick Bureau” received 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

The Personal Librarian

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray 341 pages

 I love historical fiction. It teaches me things I never knew, and it sends me down rabbit holes, searching for more information. Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray’s new novel did those two things and more.

Belle Marion Greener is the daughter of Richard T. Greener, the first man to graduate from Harvard, and Genevieve Fleet Greener. The family left Washington, D. C. to escape the racial tensions that had been growing since the end of the Civil War for New York. There Genevieve decided that she and her children---Belle, her brother, and two sisters---would “pass.”  Mr. Greener, an activist, refused and left the family.

The family struggled, until Belle got a job as the personal librarian to financier J. P. Morgan. Belle knew that Morgan would never hire a Black woman, so she changed her name to Belle da Costa Greene, a woman of Portuguese decent, which explained her ‘dusty” complexion. Her job was to help Morgan build the most extensive library of rare books and manuscripts, antiquities and the finest art collection in the world.  

Taking place in the early 1900s, this novel is about the guilt that Belle carried; terrified that someone would discover her secret. After goggling images of her, I could understand why she was so scared.  But the book is also about how a hard working young woman became one of the most powerful and influential women in the art world. She was able to travel alone in New York and in Europe.

I had a little trouble with the first third of the novel as rare works that I had never heard of made me feel rather stupid. But Belle’s story is one of the most interesting period pieces I have read.

Another interesting tidbit on this novel is the collaboration of the white Marie Benedict and the Black Victoria Christopher Murray. Personally, I could not tell which section of the novel each writer championed, but the two together created a deep, lush narrative that I found irresistible.

 “The Personal Librarian” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The Booksellers' Secret

The Bookseller’s Secret by Michelle Gable 400 pages

Out in my garage, there are a number of plastic tubs (about 30) brimming with books that I want to read. One of them is Mary S. Lovell’s “The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family.”  So naturally, when one of my favorite authors, Michelle Gable* decided to write a novel with one of the sisters, Nancy, as the historical protagonist in a duel-narrative timeline, I had to read it!

If you’ve never heard for the Mitford Sisters, they hail from an aristocratic English family and became particularly infamous in the 1930s. An eccentric group of ladies if there ever was one. The last sister died in 2014. (It’s well-worth jumping down the rabbit hole with both feet to learn more about them.)

However this novel is set in the 1940s and in contemporary times.

 In contemporary times, novelist Katie Cabot has hit a slump. For the last three years she has been searching for a subject for her next novel. One of her writer friends, Jojo, invites Katie to visit her in London, believing that a change of scenery will spark her creativity. On Jojo’s advice, Katie visits the Heywood Hill Bookshop and the place where one of her idols, Nancy Mitford worked during World War II.

While visiting the bookshop (which still exists today), Katie meets several characters, all who are searching for a missing manuscript autobiographical novel that Nancy supposedly penned while working there. (Fact: Nancy was a very successful author in her time). While there seems to be a lot of subterfuge, nothing seems to be truly at stake.

The historical timeline takes up most of the book---and is the most interesting, as readers get to know Nancy and her sisters. After Nancy began working at the bookshop, she, unintentionally, turned it into a literary salon, where her wealthy and writerly friends gathered on Sunday afternoons.

Sounds like a great read, doesn’t it?  For me it was slow…very, very slow. Even though Nancy’s section didn’t have any tension until the last third, it was my favorite. Katie’s contemporary section read more like a romantic drama than a search for an eighty-plus year missing item. And I never felt that Katie’s section had a real resolution. I felt like I was left hanging. Therefore, “The Bookseller’s Secret” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

*If you haven’t read Gable, her two best novels, in my opinion, are “A Paris Apartment” and “The Summer I Met Jack.”

 

The Bohemians

 The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik 352 pages

Dorothea Lange. I wonder how many young people recognize her name or recognize the most famous photograph, “Migrant Mother” taken in 1936 during the Great Depression. Probably not that many in the thirty and younger crowd. I have to admit, while I know the name and the photograph, I knew little about the woman behind the camera. Author Daznik has written a compelling biographical fiction novel that allows readers to get to know Dorothea during her coming-of age as an artist in the 1920s.

Dorothea left her native Hoboken, New Jersey, when she as twenty-three years old for San Francisco. She arrived in a town, only twelve years from the 1906 earthquake, that celebrated and misfits.

One of the first things I learned about Dorothea was that, when she was seven years old, she suffered from polio which left her with a stunted leg and a noticeable limp. She loved photography because she felt that she could hide behind a camera; that no one would notice her.

When she first arrived, she was pickpocketed of all the money, some two hundred dollars, she had in the world. In a city where she knew no one, she was terrified. She spent her first night there on the street. One of the first people she was met was, in the book, called Caroline Lee. In reality, Caroline is referred to as “Ah-yee” or the “Chinese Mission Girl” in the historical data.

The two became quite close. Carolina introduced her to the Monkey Block, where all the artists lived. It once occupied the site of the Transamerica Building. Its pyramid-shaped is one of the city’s most iconic buildings. Back then, Monkey Block was “a four-story artists’ colony that housed some eight hundred writers, performers, and artists…and it was the heart of San Francisco’s bohemian area.” According to the Author’s Notes, that only Chinatown still stands---and looks much like it did in the 1920s.

“’The Bohemians’ is about a lost time and hidden history.” It is a story that resonates in today’s world---anti-immigration sentiments, corrupt politics, war, a world pandemic and racism.

I almost put this novel on my DNF list, but I kept seeing it on all the book sites. Granted I didn’t really care for the first 80 pages, but if you decide to read this novel, hang in there until then. Something grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. “The Bohemians” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Rhapsody

Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan   352 pages

I was so excited to get my hands to read this novel. Set during the Jazz Age in New York, the story centred around George Gershwin and Kay Swift.  I admit that I had no idea who Kay Swift was in the annals of music history. But I am familiar with George, and especially his brother, Ira. The story, I thought, was supposed to be about George and Kay’s 10-year love affair. To me, that story seemed to live in the background most of the time.

Here’s a summery from Goodreads.com that made me want to read this novel:

“One evening in 1924, Katharine “Kay” Swift—the restless but loyal society wife of wealthy banker James Warburg and a serious pianist who longs for recognition—attends a concert. The piece: Rhapsody in Blue. The composer: a brilliant, elusive young musical genius named George Gershwin.

Kay is transfixed, helpless to resist the magnetic pull of George’s talent, charm, and swagger. Their ten-year love affair, complicated by her conflicted loyalty to her husband and the twists and turns of her own musical career, ends only with George’s death from a brain tumor at the age of thirty-eight.

Set in Jazz Age New York City, this stunning work of fiction, for fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank, explores the timeless bond between two brilliant, strong-willed artists. George Gershwin left behind not just a body of work unmatched in popular musical history, but a woman who loved him with all her heart, knowing all the while that he belonged not to her, but to the world.”

The novels opens with the focus on Kay. I admit that I had no idea who the author was talking about most of the time when “Jimmy” kept cropping up. Turns out, Jimmy is James Warburg, a wealthy banker and Kay’s husband.

I hate to feel lost and that is what I felt most of the time I was reading. I felt this way the same way I felt about “Loving Frank.”  I just couldn’t care about these people.  In my opinion, Rhapsody is a big ol’ flop and receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

Find Me in Havana

Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick 336 pages

I have to admit that I was not familiar with the name Estelita Rodriguez, “one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actresses.” However when I Googled her, I did, somewhat, recognize her, mostly from the John Wayne film, “Rio Bravo.” Estelita died in 1966, but author Bursick interviewed her daughter, Nina, to help gain insight into this interesting woman.

The story is told in letters or journal entries from Estelia and Nina, but I found them awkward; I it was hard for me to know what year each entry was in.

It starts out as a mystery. Nina discusses her mother’s death. It seems that she doesn’t know if Estelita died of natural causes or was murdered. I think that is supposed to central to the novel, but I found it mostly to be an afterthought.

One of the biggest problems I had with reading this novel is that I was never sure who was really talking because the voices sounded exactly alike. Each chapter had a title and either “Mother” or “Daughter” to delineate the difference, but after I turned the page, I would forget who was talking.  

The hardships they endured, however, could never cut the ties between the two women. In fact, the mother-child relationship takes center stage and that part fascinated me. But, for me, the plot never went anywhere. There was little tension, even in the most desperate of times. And I’,m still not sure exactly how Estelita’s life ended. Therefore, Find Me in Havana receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict  288 pages

One of the most highly reported disappearances of the 20^th century is from 1926 and has largely been forgotten. That is where author Marie Benedict excels—exploring the past. In this, Benedict’s fifth novel, up and coming mystery writer Agatha Christie has seemed to vanish from the face of the earth. Her abandoned car is found near Silent Pool---“a small spring-fed lake,” that Agatha found inspiring, but no sign of her. Suicide is quickly ruled out.

She turned up eleven days later in an elegant, nearby hotel. Where she had been, and why, has, still in 2021, not been explained. Even Agatha did not address the event in her autobiography.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is written in two of my favorite styles---dueling timelines and multiple viewpoints---are fictionalized diary entries. The first is a section called “The Manuscript”---which I didn’t understand why---is from Agatha’s point of view from 1912 to current day, which is 1926. It revolves around her courtship and subsequent marriage and life with Archie Christie, and her budding career.

The second section is from Archie’s viewpoint and takes place in December 1926.  It revolves around his coping with his wife’s disappearance, their child, their marriage, his mistress, and the fact that he is the police’s prime suspect.

A third, overarching section, only has one entry, but it dictates Archie’s every move during those eleven days. Agatha left Archie a letter in which she states that if he doesn’t do exactly as the letter says, he will never see her again. The police only learn of the letter near the end of the eleven days, which heightens their suspicions. However, Archie had burned it, so the police have no idea what Agatha could have written, which only fueled their suspensions.

 I’m a huge fan of Benedict’s work, but I was truly disappointed in this one. There was no real tension, no sense that Agatha was in any real danger. Even Archie didn’t seem to care much about Agatha and was more worried about his reputation. The “supposed” reason Agatha left was lame. The Mystery of Mrs. Christie receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Only Woman in the Room

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict   336 pages

Everyone has a cellphone these days.  I cannot of anyone I know who doesn’t have one.  And we can thank old Hollywood actress, Hedy Lamar, inventing the technology that led to its creation.

Today, however, Hedy is mostly remembered for her beauty, and there is no doubt about it, she was gorgeous. And she could act. But what has been forgotten is her intelligence and her inventions that helped end World War II and ultimately change the world.

The first half of the book takes place when she is Hedwig Kiestler, an Austrian Jew as the world marches toward war.  She is an actress in those early days but is still controlled by her parents. Fritz Mandl, Austria’s wealthiest man and munitions magnate, falls in love with her and asks for her hand in marriage. Her parents agree, as it seems the best way to protect her from the growing anti-Semitism and the impending Nazi invasion.

As soon as the ring is slipped on her finger, her marriage turns abusive. Although she has been reading as much as she could about her husband’s business, she is regulated to mere arm candy. She is not allowed to pick out her clothes or to talk while accompanying him to many business dinners. But Hedwig listens intently to their conversations, knowing that if she could just talk with them, she could contribute. As Fritz becomes increasingly violent, Hedwig begins to saves any money she can get her hands on and flees Austria. First she migrates to England, then onto the United States.

The second part of the novel concerns Hedwig’s transformation into Hedy Lamar, her success in the movies, and her relationship with MGM Studio Head Leo B. Meyer. On the periphery of that is her scientific work, which was more important to her than an acting career. This part of the novel seems to lack focus, jumping between her burgeoning movie career and her desire to create ways that she can help others and prevent the senseless murder of European Jews. Based on what she learned from Fritz and his business dinners, Hedy was able to patent an idea that laid the foundation for secure communications and ultimately cellphone technology.

The Only Woman in the Room receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The First Actress: A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt

The First Actress: A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt by C. W. Gortner   432 pages

You’ve heard me say it before: One of the reasons that I love historical fiction so much is that it introduces me to people and events I don’t know much about, or have no knowledge whatsoever.  The former is the category that this historical, biographical fiction work falls into for me. 

I knew that she was an infamous late 19^th and early 20^th centuries French stage actress whose talents glowed in plays by Alexandre Dumas (the father and the son), Victor Hugo and Victorien Sardou…to name only a few.  I knew that she had been dubbed the “Divine Sarah” for acting talents and made several tours of the United States. She was hit each and every time.

This book takes place before Sarah became a sensation in America.  She was the illegitimate daughter of one of Paris’ most sought after courtesans, Julie Bernhardt. While her father did not recognize her as his daughter, he did provide for her education---a rarity in those days.  She attended a boarding school and a convent school.

Although encouraged by her mother, Sarah had no desire to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She had a long string of lovers, but she was a woman who took care of herself.  Even when she, herself, became an unwed mother and the father didn’t help, she raised her son alone, with some help from family and friends.

Sarah also took control of her career. Sometimes she made mistakes in the parts she accepted. It was amazing to watch her encounter obstacles and overcame the majority of them,

Sarah had a few surprises in her that I found quite eccentric.  She had a full-sized dead bat that she wore as a lapel pin or as an adornment for her hat.  And she was rumored to sleep in a coffin, and traveled with it. 

Told for Sarah’s point of view, this highly researched and well written novel is a must read for those who enjoy reading about strong women.  “The First Actress: A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

Code Name Helene

 Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon   464 pages

 Over the years, I have a read a lot of novels about the French Resistance during World War Two, but I feel I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever felt as if I was embedded in a group of fighters.

This biographical fictional piece centers on Nancy Grace Augusta Wake, an Australian freelance journalist living and working in Paris. The book covers the time period of 1936-1944. Right before the Germans march into the City of Lights, Nancy and Henri, a wealthy industrialist,  fall in love and marry. Then Nancy gets involved in helping fight the Nazis.

What truly amazed about this novel is the complexities of the timelines (I counted six!) that tell Nancy’s story that takes place from 1936 through 1944, and in some ways, it is written backwards. I cannot image how author Ariel Lawhon managed to keep it all straight.

I mentioned six timelines: Nancy and her four code names (Madame Andree, Lucienne Carlier, 

Helene and The White Mouse) plus Henri. There is so much detail and yet it seems like there is hardly any; each element enriches the story. I never felt lost or confused about who was who and what was happening. Like the war itself,  Nancy’s story is too grand to have only one aspect of it spoken about or recorded.  The research Lawhon must have done probably lasted years!

I could not put this book down.  “Code Name Helene” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

And They Called It Camelot

 

And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thorton   480 pages

 

For fans of Melanie Benjamin’s “The Aviator’s Wife,” Paula McLain’s “The Paris Wife,” and for those interested in President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.

 

It dawned on me while I was reading this that there are generations of Americans who may not know who the Kennedys were and the magic spell they had cast over the nation. They were our version of the royal family. They were a new generation, way back in the early 1960s, who were leading the United States. “A new generation of Americans, born in this century.”

 

Framed by deaths of her husband, JFK, her brother-in-law, RFK , and her second husband, Aristole Onassis, this novel focuses on Jackie, her losses (and there were many), her gains and the struggles she had to carve  a place of her own in the world.

 

Told for in first person, from Jackie’s point of view, the story opens in 1952. I felt a little cheated when Jackie referred to her fiancé, John. It turned out that it was John Husted. But this is also the time that she meets Congressman John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts. And this is the story of Jackie, the woman she was, the wife and mother she became, the woman grew to become.  Perhaps most importantly, this is the story of one of the greatest love stories of the 20^th century.

 

As I was reading, I felt like I was a fly who had perched on her shoulder and stayed there for more than 25 years. I felt her happiness and her sorrows.  I also learned a lot about the woman who was the 35^th First Lady and why the world fell in love with this shy and intelligent who would rather stay home than go to a State Dinner.

 

I grieved over her miscarriage, the stillborn birth of a daughter, the death of an infant son, and that bloody day in Dallas so many years ago that is seared into many American’s minds and defined a generation. (One of the things on my list to ask God, should I be granted a seat in heaven, is who “really” killed JFK?)

 

I felt the wind in her hair as she rode her beloved horses. I felt how she grew into a fierce lioness who did what she had to do to protect her children, even if it included marry a Greek jerk with more money than God.

 

I loved this novel. I loved how it went behind the scenes at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, the calamity of the Bay of Pigs, the urgency of the Cuban Missle Crisis and her devastation at the loss of her beloved Jack.

 

I would have like it to go on until her death, but the last two sentences sum it up best: “With Ari’s death, I was no longer Jackie Kennedy, or Jackie O. I was just Jackie.”

 

I HIGHLY recommend  “And They Called It Camelot.” It receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Girl in the White Gloves

The Girl in the White Gloves by Kerri Maher  384 pages

 

Most of us know Hollywood icon and Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco, from her movies. However, she was also known for Broadway roles and early, live  television roles. I’m not sure how I thought Grace landed the coveted roles in “Rear Window,”  “Dial M for Murder,” “To Catch a Thief “ and “High Society,” but she always had the allure of never having to struggle.

 

This novel, author Kerri Maher’s second, takes Kelly’s on-screen persona and smashes it to pieces. Maher takes readers on Grace’s a journey from an ordinary young woman trying to find her way in the world into what it must have been like to become one of the most admired, and sought after, women in the world. This is a human story; a real-life story.

 

The plot is non-linear; the story jumping around in time. If readers pay close attention, they can spot the patterns the time-frame creates. The transitions from year to year happen seamlessly; a feat for any writer. Personally, I felt that the time shifts gave readers a break from the normalcy and the exotic. Readers get to know plain Grace Kelly and her rather humble beginnings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to her move to New York, to her adventures in Hollywood, and to abandoning stardom for a real-life role as Princess .

 

I was heartbroken to read of her unhappiness with her Prince and how she felt that she had abandoned herself to serve the citizens of Monaco. The fairy tale courtship doesn’t seem that magical now.

 

I was surprised to learn that Grace’s life has been well-documented; I always saw her cool, calm and collected. That is one of the reasons I found her sexual encounters uncomfortable. I didn’t see her as a human being—and all that goes with it---before. Therefore, “The Girl in the White Gloves” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Saving Washington

Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and The Battle of Brooklyn  by Chris Formant  320 pages

I was attracted to this fragment of forgotten history because of the first line on the dust jacket: “Somewhere deep beneath the bustling streets of Brooklyn, New York, lie the remains of perhaps the most important citizen soldiers in American history; the heroic men from Baltimore, Maryland, who held back superior British forces long enough to preserve the Continental Army and save the life of General George Washington.” After reading it, I expected a story about finding the graves, how they were exhumed and relocated to a place of honor. This is not that story.

The time is 1776. Baltimore teenager Joshua Bolton and his BFF, Ben Wright, watch as the British Army does its best to make the American Colonists’ lives so hard that they would give up that idiotic notion of independence and return to a civilized way of life. As the boys watched the tyranny, they knew that they had to do something. When the call went out for new recruits for the 1^st Maryland Regiment, they boys enlisted.

I know this is historical/biographical fiction, but I was surprised that a black man, even a freed man, was allowed to join the fight.  I need to brush up on this aspect of American history, obviously.

The story illustrates the hardships of the citizen-soldiers, and what they were up against. At first I was surprised that Josh and Ben were teenagers, but then again, I’m not sure we really know how many young adults fought alongside their adult counterparts. A lot I imagine.

The language of the book makes it obvious early on that it is written for young adults. On the downside, I didn’t feel the tension of the situations that the boys got themselves into until the Battle of Brooklyn was underway. I never felt that they were in any real danger.  But that’s the point of view of a middle-age female.

I think young adult readers will enjoy this book. I like that it tells a tale of forgotten heroes, that we all need to know more about.

“Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and The Battle of Brooklyn” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Meet Me in Monaco

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb   384 pages

Get ready to be swept away!

It’s May 1955. International beauty and movie star Grace Kelly is attending the 8^th Annual Cannes Film Festival.  The paparazzi are out in full force, trying to snap “the” picture.  Grace is stalked by a London photographer, James Henderson, who must get that picture, whatever it is, in order to keep his job.

To avoid Henderson, Grace ducks into a small boutique, Duvall’s perfumes. The owner, Sophie, recognizes the darling of the silver screen, and hides her in her office. But sparks ignite when Sophie and James meet. Although Sophie is already in a relationship, she is drawn to James.

With the perfurmery in financial difficulties, Sophie is facing some tough decisions. Should she close the boutique in Cannes and return to her labatory? Can she continue to make perfumes with the natural fragrances of the flowers that grow on the land that surrounds the lab?

James is single, but the love of his life, his small daughter, lives in London. He hates to be away from her, but he must make a living. He leaves the perfumery with one of Sophie’s sweet-smelling business cards.

James is selected to photograph Grace Kelly’s first meeting with Prince Rainier of Monaco. James accidentally gets to meet Grace, who catches a whiff Sophie’s business card that James has in his pocket. Could this chance be the catalyst that changes their lives?

The story is told in three alternating voices: Sophie’s, James’s  and news articles writte by Angeline West, a fashion editor. Readers get to intimately know Sophie and James, learning what makes them tick and watching them grow as individuals. Grace is always in the story, but is more of a secondary character to Sophie and James.

Authors Gaynor and Webb do an excellent job in re-creating the beauty of Cannes, Monacco and the French Riveria.  I felt as if I had been there.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and had difficutly in putting it down. Therefore, “Meet Me in Monaco” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka's Journey

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.