Review: Forty Years In A Day by Mona Rodriquez and Dianne Vigorito

Posted on March 23, 2014 by layeredpages

A woman name Victoria who lives in Italy with her children and alcoholic husband decides one day to escape her marriage after years of abuse by him and immigrate to Hell’s Kitchen, New York. She didn’t know until years later that her husband had died on the day she and her children left. After finding out he was gone, she finally could move on with her life. This story captures their lives and takes you through the hardships they face.

It is not often I read books where the story takes place in the early 20^th century and I was truly captivated by the character’s lives. The scenes in this story explore family bond, loss, poverty, abuse, survival and new beginnings. You will be drawn to the character’s inner strengths within themselves and to their dealings with family and life situations.

The central character Victoria is a brilliant example of how woman of her time fought for survival and how she gave everything she worked and struggled for to her family. The authors, Mona and Dianne- give a realistic picture and wonderful insight into how Hell’s Kitchen was during this period.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Author Mona Rodriquez for Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour back in 2013 and I was kindly given a copy of the book. Before reading this story, I was not familiar with Hell’s Kitchen, New York City or have I ever visited the city before last year. Back in November 2013, I went to New York for the Self-Publishing Expo to represent indieBRAG. My sister who has worked in the city, knows her way around and came along with me. Our last day there we were sitting in a restaurant down the street on the corner where our hotel was, to my surprise and amazement she told me that this area we were in is known as, Hell’s Kitchen. So I began to tell her a little about Forty Years in a Day and how much the story impacted me.

You can learn more about this book by read my interview with Mona here

Review: Confessions of Marie Antoinette: A novel by Juliet Grey

Posted on October 7, 2013 by layeredpages

Publication Date: September 24, 2013
Ballantine Books
Paperback; 464p
ISBN: 0345523903

Review:

Versailles, 1789.

The Confessions of Marie Antoinette is a deeply moving and emotional story, which provides new insights into the period during which the French royal family was held hostage and into the last moments of Marie Antoinette’s life. Juliet Grey’s story emphasizes real historical events and provides perceptive and haunting descriptions of the king and Queen’s demise. The story is told in Marie Antoinette’s point of view and Grey creates a convincing portrait of Marie and her devotion as a wife, mother, queen and the lengths she goes to protect those roles as best as she can. There are vivid and heart wrenching descriptions of the revolution and Grey gives a clear picture of rage and determination of the people.

This novel is third of a brilliant trilogy and I say that because it has been a long time since I have enjoyed a trilogy so much. As the story goes we know that Marie was a spendthrift and her subjects saw a selfish women with lots of food and clothes while others starved. However, from what I came away with in this trilogy, was that if Marie never bought that stuff those businesses would have been even worse off. I believe she truly felt she was helping them.

Writing good historical fiction is an art. Writing a master piece takes undoubted skill and talent that reaches into the very depth of the reader’s soul. Grey has accomplished both and I believe, “Confessions”, has truly changed me and brought to surface an emotion inside of me that has been quiet for some time. I was beyond deeply moved. My perceptive of Marie and the French people of that period is forever changed. Grey writes with a deep feeling of loss, betrayal, love, and devotion. I cannot express enough how I much I enjoyed reading this story. Words cannot achieve that emotion. I HIGHLY recommend to all!

Stephanie M. Hopkins

My interview with Grey is coming up tomorrow on Layered Pages. So please be sure to return! You won’t want to miss what she has to say!

Juliet Grey is the author of Becoming Marie Antoinette and Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow. She has extensively researched European royalty and is a particular devotee of Marie Antoinette, as well as a classically trained professional actress with numerous portrayals of virgins, vixens, and villainesses to her credit. She and her husband divide their time between New York City and southern Vermont.

For more information please visit www.becomingmarie.com. You can also find Juliet Grey on Facebook.

Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/confessionsofmarieantoinettevirtualtour
Twitter Hashtag: #ConfessionsOfMATour

Review: The Luxe (Luxe, #1) by Anna Godsbersen

Posted on October 6, 2013 by layeredpages

When the Holland’s find out that their perfect 19th century New York high society, life is no longer secure. Everything depends on the eldest daughter, Elizabeth Holland to save what is left of their good name or will she follow her heart and choose true love instead.

There was so much scandal, romance and betrayal, I could not put the book down! This exiting period is filled with secrets and intrigue and is the perfect book for me. To the gorgeous gowns and stunning balls to the romance and mystery that surrounds them. The Luxe is well written and it appears to be historically accurate.

Reviewed by Savannah

Review: The Prodigal Son by Anna Belfrage

Posted on August 11, 2013 by layeredpages

He risks everything for his faith – but will he be able to pay the price? Safely returned from an involuntary stay on a plantation in Virginia, Matthew Graham finds the Scottish Lowlands torn asunder by religious strife. His Restored Majesty, Charles II, requires all his subjects to swear fealty to him and the Church of England, riding roughshod over any opposition. In Ayrshire, people close ranks around their evicted Presbyterian ministers. But disobedience comes at a heavy price and Alex becomes increasingly more nervous as to what her Matthew is risking by his support of the clandestine ministers – foremost amongst them the charismatic Sandy Peden. Privately, Alex considers Sandy an enervating fanatic and all this religious fervour is totally incomprehensible to her. So when Matthew repeatedly sets his faith and ministers before his own safety he puts their marriage under severe strain. The situation is further complicated by the presence of Ian, the son Matthew was cruelly duped into disowning several years ago. Now Matthew wants Ian back and Alex isn’t entirely sure this is a good thing. Things are brought to a head when Matthew places all their lives in the balance to save his dear preacher from the dragoons. How much is Matthew willing to risk? How much will he ultimately lose? The Prodigal Son is the third in Anna Belfrage’s historical time slip series, which includes the titles The Rip in the Veil and Like Chaff in the Wind.

My review:

I really admire Belfrage’s use of voice and language. She makes it so that the characters are well developed and thought provoking. And I admire how her characters interact with each other and does a good job expressing their emotions. Her dialog is also engaging and flows really well.

She gives wonderful details of the domestic life of the time the story is written in and details of what they had to endure in the regards to the government’s (Charles ll of England) unreasonable rule. There were laws or should I say-Charles ll required his subjects to conform to the Church of England- on how they were to worship which as you know made it extremely difficult on the people. And that is putting it mildly.

Mathew Graham has risked much to support and protect his minister, Sandy Peden. And his family has suffered for that. I did not always agree with him and was often times frustrated with the decisions he was making. But having said that, he is one of my favorite characters in this story. I believe Mathew truly loves his family and has adjusted quite well to the fact that his wife-Alex-is from the future. I’m sure he is more tolerate to her ideas and beliefs than what most men during that time would have been.

Sandy Peden is a pious and fanatical minister who I actually enjoyed reading about in this story. He is opinionated- thinks women have their place and feels Mathew should put his wife in that place and has no problem telling him so. It is obvious he does not approve of her one bit. But she certainly matched wit for wit with Sandy. I do admire how Sandy is a survivor and he stands by what he believes and does not give into being told how he is to worship and what organized faith he is lawfully suppose too follow. Very entertaining….he adds a lot to this story.

Alex is a strong woman who is from the future and I believe her knowledge has really helped her and yet sometimes it was a hindrance for her, I think. I do however think she adapted quite well in the 17th century for someone being so forward thinking and modern of course. She does have a stubborn streak to her but so does her husband. I really enjoyed seeing the way they interacted with each other. Their relationship is really dynamic. And I do admire their strong sense of family and values. Alex does something in this story that I truly respect her for. But I cannot tell you! You will just have to read the book to find out!

I really have enjoyed this series so far and I look forward to continuing to read them! The Graham family are definitely among my favorite families to read about! I am giving this story a four and a half star rating and I highly recommend this whole series to people who are looking for a quality written time slip.

Stephanie

Layered Pages

About the Author

I was raised abroad, on a pungent mix of Latin American culture, English history and Swedish traditions. As a result I’m multilingual and most of my reading is historical – both non-fiction and fiction.

I was always going to be a writer – or a historian, preferably both. Instead I ended up with a degree in Business and Finance, with very little time to spare for my most favorite pursuit. Still, one does as one must, and in between juggling a challenging career I raised my four children on a potent combination of invented stories, historical debates and masses of good food and homemade cakes. They seem to thrive … Nowadays I spend most of my spare time at my writing desk. The children are half grown, the house is at times eerily silent and I slip away into my imaginary world, with my imaginary characters. Every now and then the one and only man in my life pops his head in to ensure I’m still there. I like that – just as I like how he makes me laugh so often I’ll probably live to well over a hundred.

I was always going to be a writer. Now I am – I have achieved my dream.

For more information, please visit Anna Belfrage’s WEBSITE.

Layered Pages latest interview with Anna Befrage : https://layeredpages.com/2013/07/09/1350/

Links to where you can purchase her stories:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Prodigal-Son-Anna-Belfrage/dp/1780885741/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1376163215&sr=8-5&keywords=The+Prodigal+Son

http://www.amazon.com/Like-Chaff-Wind-Anna-Belfrage/dp/1780884702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376163168&sr=8-1&keywords=like+chaff+in+the+wind

http://www.amazon.com/A-Rip-Veil-Anna-Belfrage/dp/1780882424/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376163127&sr=8-1&keywords=A+rip+in+the+veil