Title: Ellis Island
Author: Kate Kerrigan
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition
Publication Date: June 28, 2011
Paperback: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0062071538
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

Sweethearts since childhood, Ellie Hogan and her husband, John, are content on their farm in Ireland—until John, a soldier for the Irish Republican Army, receives an injury that leaves him unable to work. Forced to take drastic measures in order to survive, Ellie does what so many Irish women in the 1920s have done and sails across a vast ocean to New York City to work as a maid for a wealthy socialite.

Once there, Ellie is introduced to a world of opulence and sophistication, tempted by the allure of grand parties and fine clothes, money and mansions . . . and by the attentions of a charming suitor who can give her everything. Yet her heart remains with her husband back home. And now she faces the most difficult choice she will ever have to make: a new life in a new country full of hope and promise, or return to a life of cruel poverty . . . and love.

My Review:

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan is a very touching story of Ellie Hogan who must leave her husband, John, at home in Ireland so that she may spend time working in New York to earn enough money to afford surgery for John’s war injuries. Set in the 1920s, Kerrigan captures the importance of relationships and their role in life decisions, particularly in a time when the United States offered a new life for immigrants, a life with promises of wealth and success. Through well-crafted descriptive prose, readers see how Ellie’s and John’s relationship grew out of a childhood friendship and Kerrigan strikes an interesting chord with the interplay of relationships from Ellie’s and John’s, to John’s relationship with his parents and with Ellie’s, to Ellie’s new friendship with Isobel, Ellie’s employer in New York. Readers will find some romance and suspense in Ellis Island as the story is ultimately about choices, particularly the choices Ellie must make amidst questions about the future of her marriage to John. There are plenty of contrasts in this superbly-written story, including the relatively impoverished lifestyle Ellie had in Ireland set against the allure of potential prosperity in the United States, the relationship challenges Ellie leaves behind and the exciting new relationships that develop on the other side of the Atlantic. I would recommend Ellis Island to all readers especially to book discussion groups as Kerrigan provides numerous issues from which to launch an engaging dialogue.

About the Author:

Kate Kerrigan is the author of two previous novels in the United Kingdom. She lives in Ireland with her husband and their two sons.

For more information about Kate Kerrigan please visit her website.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC book tour.

I received a copy of Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: 212
Author: Alafair Burke
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: June 7, 2011
Paperback: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0061561320
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

From the Publisher:

A celebrity mogul’s bodyguard is slain in his boss’s luxurious penthouse at an exclusive Manhattan address. At NYU, a sophomore is menaced on the Internet, stalked . . . and murdered.

The two cases, equally sordid and shocking, end up falling to NYPD homicide detective Ellie Hatcher and her partner—who soon find out that this is just the tip of a terrifying iceberg.

Because in the city that never sleeps, death doesn’t either.

My Review:

212 by Alafair Burke is the third book in her Ellie Hatcher series, her sixth published book and the first book of hers that I have read.  I do not make it a secret that I thoroughly enjoy a well-written suspenseful mystery and am rather surprised that Alafair Burke’s books had not made it onto my radar screen until now.  Readers do not need to have read the previous two Ellie Hatcher books, Angel’s Tip and Dead Connection, but I wager after finishing 212, readers will want to read the previous two books in the series.  The protagonist, Ellie Hatcher is a no-nonsense NYPD Detective who finds herself with two cases which at first glance appear to be unrelated and the further the investigation proceeds the more Ellie and her partner J.J. Rogan realize the Manhattan penthouse murder and the NYU student stalking are indeed related.  Burke creates a delightfully complex case, which begins as two separate cases.  Not only are her plots, twists, and dead ends well placed, her characters are thoroughly developed, multi-dimensional and exceedingly realistic.  While I do enjoy a mystery series with a strong female protagonist, and this one has it in the character of Ellie Hatcher, I much preferred her partner J.J. Rogan as he just came off as far more believable to me.  Bare in mind, I have not read the previous novels and it is possible this view of mine will change when I do read them.  All told, 212 is a well rounded, “ripped from the headlines” suspense mystery which will keep readers engaged until the end.  I look forward to reading more books by Alafair Burke and would recommend 212 to those who are looking for a good suspenseful mystery.

About the Author:

Alafair Burke is the bestselling author of six novels, including 212, Angel’s Tip, and Dead Connection in the Ellie Hatcher series. A former prosecutor, she now teaches criminal law and lives in Manhattan.

Learn more about Alafair at her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a copy of 212 by Alafair Burke from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: Jerusalem Maiden
Author: Talia Carner
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: May 31, 2011
Paperback: 464 Pages
ISBN: 978-0062004376
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a young Orthodox Jewish woman in the holy city of Jerusalem is expected to marry and produce many sons to help hasten the Messiah’s arrival. While the feisty Esther Kaminsky understands her obligations, her artistic talent inspires her to secretly explore worlds outside her religion, to dream of studying in Paris—and to believe that God has a special destiny for her. When tragedy strikes her family, Esther views it as a warning from an angry God and suppresses her desires in order to become an obedient “Jerusalem maiden.”

But when a surprising opportunity forces itself on to her preordained path, Esther finds her beliefs clashing dangerously with the passions she has staved off her entire life—forcing her to confront the most difficult and damning question of all: To whom must she be true, God or herself?

My Review:

When a book passes my way that makes me stop, think and utter “wow!”, I know it is a book I shall be sharing and Jerusalem Maiden by Talia Carner is just such a book. Carner takes the readers into early 20th Century Jerusalem, through the eyes of Esther Kaminsky. When the reader first becomes acquainted with Esther, she is a twelve year old growing up in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family, in the Haredi community of Jerusalem, and has dreams of studying art. It is through Esther the reader learns not only about the history of Haredi, the beliefs, practices of the Haredi, in particular the lives of the women, but also about the history of Jerusalem. Esther brings the reader into this strict and structured world of family, faith and community and Esther’s internal struggle to have her own identity as well as staying true to her family and her religion as her world rapidly changes, internally and externally. Jerusalem Maiden is a spectacular look at a strict ultra-Orthodox society, the roles women are expected to play and, from a historical perspective, the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the strife born out by those residing in Jerusalem. Carner creates an exceptional protagonist in Esther and through extremely vivid descriptions, the reader will easily be transported to another time and for this reader, to a religion very foreign to me, and experience through Esther, the life of a woman living in a Haredi community. Jerusalem Maiden is a realistic, beautiful, and at times sad, yet always realistic look at life’s difficulties; the struggle for personal identity intermingles with community, faith, and family. While it is a bittersweet story, I would recommend Jerusalem Maiden to all readers and especially to book discussion groups.

About the Author:

Talia Carner is the former publisher of Savvy Woman magazine and a lecturer at international women economic forums.

To learn more about author Talia Carner please visit her website.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received an copy of Jerusalem Maiden by Talia Carner from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: Don’t Breathe A Word
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: May 17, 2011
Paperback: 464 pages
ISBN: 978-0061689376
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn’t fear the dark and doesn’t have bad dreams—who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam’s hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed—a promise that could destroy them all.

My Review:

Don’t Breathe A Word by Jennifer McMahon is the third book I have reviewed of hers and unfortunately, this is the one I liked the least.  Let me try to explain.  The story is sound, the characters are relatable and as I have come to expect and appreciate from McMahon, the story is an intense psychological thriller.  So what went wrong for me in this book? I am usually game for deeply intense psychological thrillers bordering on creepy, but  McMahon lost me when she began adding in paranormal  (fantasy?) elements, granted they flowed with her story, unfortunately I do not care for anything paranormal and began skipping over the fairy sections.  McMahon is a talented author and simply because I did not enjoy the added paranormal element does not mean others will not.  I really enjoyed McMahon’s books Promise Not to Tell and Island of Lost Girls and had I been one who enjoyed any aspects of the paranormal I would be rating Don’t Breathe a Word a lot higher.  I am looking forward to McMahon’s next book, as I am curious to see where this talented writer will take the reader next.  Would I recommend Don’t Breathe a Word?  Yes, cautiously to fans of McMahon’s that are new to paranormal/fantasy and definitely to those who enjoy psychological thrillers intermixed with fantasy/paranormal.

About the Author:

Jennifer McMahon is the author of Dismantled, the New York Times bestseller Island of Lost Girls, and the breakout debut novel Promise Not to Tell. She grew up in suburban Connecticut, and graduated from Goddard College. Over the years, she has been a house painter, farm worker, paste-up artist, pizza delivery person, homeless shelter staff member, and has worked with mentally ill adults and children in a few different capacities. Currently, she lives in Vermont with her partner, Drea, and their daughter, Zella.

Further information about author Jennifer McMahon may be found on her website or Twitter.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received an copy of Don’t Breathe A Word by Jennifer McMahon from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: Faith
Author: Jennifer Haigh
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: May 10, 2011
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 978-0060755805
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

It is the spring of 2002 and a perfect storm has hit Boston. Across the city’s archdiocese, trusted priests have been accused of the worst possible betrayal of the souls in their care. In Faith, Jennifer Haigh explores the fallout for one devout family, the McGanns.

Estranged for years from her difficult and demanding relatives, Sheila McGann has remained close to her older brother Art, the popular, dynamic pastor of a large suburban parish. When Art finds himself at the center of the maelstrom, Sheila returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation. What she discovers is more complicated than she imagined. Her strict, lace-curtain-Irish mother is living in a state of angry denial. Sheila’s younger brother Mike, to her horror, has already convicted his brother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who persistently dodges Sheila’s questions and refuses to defend himself.

As the scandal forces long-buried secrets to surface, Faith explores the corrosive consequences of one family’s history of silence—and the resilience its members ultimately find in forgiveness. Throughout, Haigh demonstrates how the truth can shatter our deepest beliefs—and restore them. A gripping, suspenseful tale of one woman’s quest for the truth, Faith is a haunting meditation on loyalty and family, doubt and belief. Elegantly crafted, sharply observed, this is Jennifer Haigh’s most ambitious novel to date.

My Review:

Faith by Jennifer Haigh is an exceptionally well-written story of Father Arthur Breen, a Catholic priest who is accused of abusing a boy with whom he has worked in his service with the church.  Haigh chooses to tell the story through the voice of Sheila, half-sister to Arthur, in what turns out to be an emotionally-charged, life-changing drama for Arthur who, amidst the allegations is asked to leave the church.  Touching on the very public issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic priesthood, Haigh masterfully captivates the reader with a fictional account of one priest’s struggles with the devastating condemnation accompanying abuse charges all the while learning more about himself through his own family and its responses to his predicament.  I personally found the various responses of Arthur’s family to be very realistic wherein his mother never doubted her son’s innocence yet some of his siblings saw their brother in a different light.  Haigh captures the reader’s attention and builds a level of suspense to this drama that will keep readers turning the pages through to the end.  Faith would make an excellent book discussion group choice and I recommend it to all fans of realistic fictional suspense dramas.

About the Author:

Jennifer Haigh is the author of the New York Times bestseller Baker Towers, winner of the 2006 PEN/L. L. Winship Award for outstanding book by a New England author; Mrs. Kimble, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction and was a finalist for the Book Sense Book of the Year; and The Condition.

Her fiction has appeared in Granta, Ploughshares, Good Housekeeping, and elsewhere. She lives in the Boston area.

To learn more about Jennifer Haigh please visit her website.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received an ARC of Faith by Jennifer Haigh from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: The Ninth Wife
Author: Amy Stolls
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: May 10, 2011
Paperback: 496 pages
ISBN: 978-0061851896
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

What sane woman would consider becoming any man’s ninth wife?

Bess Gray is a thirty-five-year-old folklorist and amateur martial artist living in Washington, DC. Just as she’s about to give up all hope of marriage, she meets Rory, a charming Irish musician, and they fall in love. But Rory is a man with a secret, which he confesses to Bess when he asks for her hand: He’s been married eight times before. Shocked, Bess embarks on a quest she feels she must undertake before she can give him an answer. With her bickering grandparents (married sixty-five years), her gay neighbor (himself a mystery), a shar-pei named Stella, and a mannequin named Peace, Bess sets out on a cross-country journey—unbeknownst to Rory—to seek out and question the wives who came before. What she discovers about her own past is far more than she bargained for.

The Ninth Wife is a smart, funny, eye-opening tale of love, marriage, and the power of stories to unlock the true meaning of home and family.

My Review:

The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls is a look at Bess Gray, a 35-year-old woman who falls in love with a 45-year-old man. The catch: He has been married eight times and to some people, a man looking for his ninth wife may put them off; certainly it is not entirely the fault of the previous eight Mrs. Rory McMillans.  Fortunately, Bess is clever enough to do some searching for answers before agreeing to become the ninth Mrs. Rory McMillan and her journey for answers yields more than even Bess bargained for.  Stolls tells the story in alternating narrative and the reader is introduced to a wide and diverse cast of characters.  I found myself enjoying Cricket and wishing I knew more about Millie and Irv Steinbloom and while I did not entirely relate well to the main characters, which is not necessarily a bad thing, I was hoping for more depth. With that said, Stolls has written an engaging book that will keep the reader interested and invested until the very end.  The Ninth Wife is a fairly long book, which I enjoy, but the page count is deceiving as the story moves at a very fast clip and I think The Ninth Wife would make for an excellent summer beach read.  I would recommend The Ninth Wife to anyone looking for a good book to escape into for a few hours.

About the Author:

Amy Stolls’s young adult novel Palms to the Ground was published in 2005 to critical acclaim and a Parents’ Choice Gold Award. She spent years as a journalist covering the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska before she received an MFA in creative writing from American University. Currently, she is the literature program officer for the National Endowment for the Arts, where she has worked since 1998, advising and collaborating with thousands of writers, translators, editors, booksellers, publishers, educators, and presenters nationwide to keep literature a vital part of American society. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two-year-old son.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a copy of The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: When Did I Get Like This?: The Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore I’d Never Be
Author: Amy Wilson
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 19, 2011
Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN: 978-0061963964
Genre: Memoir, Humor

From the Publisher:

What kind of mother feeds her kids dinosaur chicken nuggets . . . three times a week? What kind of mother lets hand washing slide after using the toilet, as long as it was just Number One?

When Did I Get Like This?

My Review:

When Did I Get Like This by Amy Wilson is a charmingly funny, witty and honest look at parenting, especially during the times when it is not going as smoothly as either parent or child wishes. I enjoyed Wilson’s candid stories, her sense of humor and the universality of parental problems and concerns. When Did I Get Like This is a quick read, which is perfect for any busy mum of young children, however I no longer have young children and while the book made me smile at some fond memories, I am no longer at this stage in my life. Although not having the lifestyle of the writer, I was never truly at the stages she writes about. I tried to think back to when I was mothering three children, my oldest being two, and struggling to make ends meet. I do not think this book would have cheered me up or made me feel better as a mum, considering my life, at that time, was one of intense frugality rather than one spent in high end boutiques. With that said, as a mum in a very different stage of life and parenting adult and near-adult children, I was able to find the book a light read which brought back some rather fond memories. At the time, I am certain I was frustrated, but looking back well over a decade later, all memories with my children are fond ones. I do not believe I was the targeted audience for this book. I read When Did I Get Like This as part of a tour and I have included a link further down in my post to other reviews, have a look at them, as I think this book will strike parents in different ways, especially depending where you fall in the age spectrum.

About the Author:

Amy Wilson is the author and performer of the one-woman show Mother Load, which started off-Broadway, and has been touring the country ever since. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony-Award-winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and has appeared in dozens of other plays in New York City. On television, she was a series regular on Norm and Daddio, and appeared on Felicity, Ed, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Deadline, Boston Common, and All My Children. Her film credits include Kinsey, Kissing Jessica Stein, Keeping the Faith, and Ira and Abby.

Her writing appears regularly in Babytalk magazine, on parenting.com, and on CNN.com’s “Living” page. Her favorite productions are her three young children, whom she raises with her husband in New York City.

Further information about author Summer Wood may be found on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a copy of When Did I Get Like This? by Amy Wilson from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: The Confessions of Katherine Howard
Author: Suzannah Dunn
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0062011473
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Historical

From the Publisher:

The tragic, moving, and gripping story of the ascendance and fall of Katherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, and the best friend she nearly dragged down with her

When twelve-year-old Katherine Howard comes to live in the Duchess of Norfolk’s household she could not be more different than her poor relation, Cat Tilney. Yet, of all their companions, it is Cat, watchful and ambitious, to whom the seemingly frivolous young girl confides. When Katherine is summoned to the royal court at seventeen—to become, months later, the wife of Henry VIII after he casts off his previous queen—she leaves behind an ex-lover, Francis, with whom Cat is soon passionately involved.

But a future that seems assured for the pampered new queen and her maid-in-waiting lasts a brief year and a half, only to be imperiled by improper acts and scandalous allegations of girlhood love affairs. Imprisoned in the Tower and hoping to escape a most terrible fate, a frightened, desperate Katherine relates a version of events that only Cat recognizes as a lie—as more than one life is threatened by what she alone knows to be the truth about Katherine Howard’s past.

My Review:

The Confessions of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn takes a rather interesting look at the short life of Katherine Howard.  Rather than Katherine or “Kate” speaking, it is her confidant, Cat Tilney who tells the story of Katherine Howard.  The book begins towards the end of Katherine’s life and through flashbacks, the reader learns about a much younger Katherine, how Cat and Katherine first became acquainted, Katherine’s affairs with Manox and Dereham, her appointment at court, becoming Queen and her affair with Thomas Culpeper.  The end leaves the reader wondering if Katherine Howard was truly a silly girl or a clever vixen. This book left me with very mixed feelings.  I do so enjoy reading about this time period and have read several books about Katherine, but this version read more like a historical romance, which may very well have been Dunn’s intent.   Dunn is a very gifted writer and brings Katherine Howard and her many acquaintances to life and as with all other fictionalised accounts, Dunn has created a version of Katherine.  The Confessions of Katherine Howard is a fairly quick read and in my opinion will give readers who do not know much about the life of Katherine Howard an insight into her life and I will wager readers will want to learn more about the fifth wife of King Henry VIII.  I would recommend The Confessions of Katherine Howard to readers who enjoy historical romances or to anyone who is looking for a good introduction to historical fiction.

About the Author:

Suzannah Dunn is the author of ten previous novels, all of which have been critically acclaimed. She has written three historical novels: The Queen of Subtleties, The Sixth Wife and The Queen’s Sorrow.

Further information can be found on Suzannah Dunn’s website.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a copy of The Confessions of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.