Book Review: The Postcard from Italy by Angela Petch

 The Postcard from Italy

by

Angela Petch

 

Publisher: Bookouture

 

Publication date: 16th March 2022

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 375

 

Format read: eBook

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review

 

The Postcard from Italy is a dual timeline historical fiction.

 

1945 - Billy, a gunner with the RAF, is shot down over Puglia, Italy. He is found unconscious by Domenico and together with his grandson Anto they nurse him back to health. Billy has lost his memory and has no idea who he is or how he came to be on the beach. Domenico is becoming frail and Anto secretly wishes Billy, who they call Roberto, will stay. However, both Domenico and Anto are harbouring secrets.

Present day - Susannah's grandmother is in a nursing home and whilst Susannah is clearing out her home she finds a hidden postcard from Italy dated 1947 with professions of love but unsigned. Did her grandmother Elsie have an affair with an Italian soldier?

 

Billy's story in 1945 is narrated in first person and then later through his diary entries. He has forgotten his previous life and feels writing snippets of thoughts could bring back details of his past.

The descriptions of the scenery of Puglia are visceral and the day to day life of the simple country people was amazing to read about.

 

I also enjoyed Susannah's story and how she was eager to find out more about the writer of the postcard and her trip to Puglia held a small romance. We all know those Italian men are pretty hot!!

I was much more invested in Billy's story however I was still intrigued as to how Angela Petch was going to tie it all together. This was executed well and the events that led to Sussannah finding out the full story were quite believable. 

I loved everything about the small country town of Puglia, it's past and present day. The characters were real and heartwarming, the scenery was spectacular and the food was mouthwatering. I almost felt like I was experienced it all firsthand.

My Rating 4 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Published by Bookouture, Angela Petch is an award-winning writer of fiction – and the occasional poem. 

 

Every summer she moves to Tuscany for six months where she and her husband own a renovated watermill which they let out. When not exploring their unspoilt corner of the Apennines, she disappears to her writing desk at the top of a converted stable. In her Italian handbag or hiking rucksack she always makes sure to store a notebook and pen to jot down ideas.

The winter months are spent in Sussex where most of her family live. When Angela’s not helping out with grandchildren, she catches up with writer friends.

Angela’s gripping, WWII, Tuscan novels are published by Bookouture. While her novel, Mavis and Dot, was self-published and tells of the frolics and foibles of two best-friends who live by the seaside. Angela also writes short stories published in Prima and People’s Friend.

 

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Book Review: Dressed by Iris by Mary-Anne O'Connor

 Dressed by Iris

by

Mary-Anne O'Connor

From sheer poverty to high glamour, a story of courage and all-conquering love

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

Imprint: HQ Fiction

 

Publication date: 2nd February 2022

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 480

 

RRP: $ 29.99AUD

 

Format read: Paperback  

 

Source: courtesy of the publisher

 

My review

 

Dressed by Iris is a powerful novel with themes of hope, pride, optimism and rising above adversity. 

 

In a Great Southern Land is one of my all time favourite novels so I was expecting big things from Mary-Anne O'Connor and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed.

 

Iris lives with her family in the shanty towns of Newcastle. It's 1930 and Australia is on the verge of The Great Depression. The family get by on the mother Agnes' frugalness and the bit of money they get from the father Bob's panning.

The Catholics and the Protestants had a great divide and when Iris falls for local boy John, who is a Protestant, she knows their relationship can never be. However she lives on dreams and hope that one day they can be together.

 

When a job offer on the Sydney Harbour Bridge comes up for Iris's father and brother, the family of eight move to Sydney.

Through this one struggling family Mary-Anne O'Connor has delivered an emotional story highlighting the plight of renters, the high unemployment, anti-eviction riots and political unrest of the time.

 

Amidst a backdrop of poverty Iris discovers she has a flair for fashion design and with her family's help and encouragement she enters the fashion industry, although her path is beset with prejudice and setbacks.

 

I love stories where women push the boundaries for their time. These are the women that helped change attitudes and laws, giving women the right to choose how to live the life.

 

Mary-Anne O'Connor uses real situations from her grandparents' tales which makes this story all the more endearing. Many of the scenes brought back memories of my own grandparents' stories.

 

Dressed by Iris is an inspiring and moving story rich in memorable characters who will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Mary-Anne O'Connor has a combined arts education degree with specialties in environment, music and literature. She worked in marketing and lecturing and co-wrote/edited A Brush With Light and Secrets of the Brush with artist Kevin Best, her late father.

Mary-Anne lives in a house overlooking her beloved bushland in northern Sydney with her husband Anthony, their two sons Jimmy and Jack, and their very spoilt dog Saxon. This is her seventh major novel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper

 The Fossil Hunter

by

Tea Cooper

 

A rare fossil, an unsolved mystery, a trail into the past....

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

 

Imprint: HQ Fiction

 

Publication date: 27th October 2021

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 384

 

RRP: $32.99 AUD

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Wollombi, The Hunter Valley 1847

The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is running through the bush as a monster chases her - but no one believes her story. In a bid to curb Mellie's overactive imagination, her benefactors send her to visit a family friend, Anthea Winstanley. Anthea is an amateur paleontologist with a dream. She is convinced she will one day find proof the great sea dragons - the ichthyosaur and the plesiosaur - swam in the vast inland sea that millions of years ago covered her property at Bow Wow Gorge, and soon Mellie shares that dream for she loves fossil hunting too...

1919
When Penelope Jane Martindale arrives home from the battlefields of World War 1 with the intention of making her peace with her father and commemorating the death of her two younger brothers in the trenches, her reception is not as she had hoped. Looking for distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London's Natural History museum and her brothers which leads her to Bow Wow Gorge. But the gorge has a sinister reputation - 70 years ago people disappeared. So when PJ uncovers some unexpected remains, it seems as if the past is reaching into the present and she becomes determined to discover what really happened all that time ago...

 

My review

 

It was such a lovely coincidence that I picked up The Fossil Hunter to read after I had just returned from a weekend in Wollombi. This made the setting so easy to picture even though i had seen it over 100 years after the book is set I feel nothing much has really changed in this small town.

 

The Fossil Hunter is a dual time-line narrative with both time-lines (1847 &  1919) set in the past.

Tea Cooper's main characters are women interested in paleontology which was regarded as a strange pastime and was even cause for many rumours to morph and grow as the years passed.

 

I enjoyed how Cooper made paleontology interesting and even a little exciting. It is something I had never really thought about before.

What starts as an intriguing story of paleontology and finding fossils and possibly dinosaur bones soon turns to a compelling mystery.

 

There are times when we find questions in the second timeline which are yet to be played out in the first. I found myself eagerly reading not willing to put the book down until the final twist as Cooper adds elements of mystery and intrigue to the story. 

 

The Fossil Hunter is another fabulous read from Tea Cooper. Compelling, interesting and wonderfully immersive.

 

My rating 4.5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

 
 

 

About the author

 

Tea Cooper writes Australian contemporary and historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling.

 

https://www.teacooperauthor.com/ 

 

 

 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

                                   

                                   Historical Fiction Challenge 

 

 

Book Review: The French Gift by Kirsty Manning

The French Gift

by

Kirsty Manning

 

A story of female friendship, longing and sacrifice.

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 30th March 2021

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 328

 

RRP: $32.99

 

Format read: Paperback (uncorrected proof)

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

A forgotten manuscript that threatens to unravel the past…

Fresne Prison, 1940: A former maid at a luxury villa on the Riviera, Margot Bisset finds herself in a prison cell with writer and French Resistance fighter Joséphine Murant. Together, they are transferred to a work camp in Germany for four years, where the secrets they share will bind them for generations to come.
 

Contemporary Paris: Evie Black lives in Paris with her teenage son, Hugo, above her botanical bookshop, La Maison Rustique. Life would be so sweet if only Evie were not mourning the great love of her life.

When a letter arrives regarding the legacy of her husband’s great-aunt, Joséphine Murant, Evie clutches at an opportunity to spend one last magical summer with her son. They travel together to Joséphine’s house, now theirs, on the Côte d’Azur. Here, Evie unravels the official story of this famous novelist, and the truth of a murder a lifetime ago.

 

My review

 

The French Gift is an interesting historical fiction narrated over multiple time lines.

1940's Paris: a friendship is formed when Margot Bisset, a maid, accused of murder and Josephine Murant, trialed as a Resistance fighter, share a cell in a French prison.

When Paris falls to the Germans the women are sent to a German work camp and are forced to work endless hours in a factory with horrific conditions. Josephine is charming, witty and defiant and she infuses Margot with her fire and determination.

 

Present day Paris: Evie Black and her teenaged son Hugo, mourning the death of their beloved husband and father, agree to assist in the collection of information and artifacts to go into an exhibition to honour the legacy of Josephine Murant, her husband's great aunt, who had become an accomplished crime writer. There are also rumours of an unpublished manuscript which has Evie searching the villa.

 

Kirsty Manning has written a compelling story of friendship, perseverance and acts of kindness. The chapters on the German rayon factory were heartbreaking and were written with great reverence for the women that endured these horrific conditions.

I enjoyed the added mysteries of the false murder charge, the search for the manuscript and the added information and secrets that were unearthed during the assembly of the exhibition.

 

The multiple time line format didn't quite work for me with the dates continually jumping around. I would have preferred two straight time lines.

I did like that Kirsty Manning has come up with a fresh idea for a novel set during WWII and I was completely engrossed in the narrative. The mention of French cuisine and wines helped to give an overarching sense of place.

 

The French Gift with its clever twists is sure to please historical fiction fans.

 

My rating   4 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Kirsty Manning grew up in northern New South Wales 

A country girl with wanderlust, her travels and studies have taken her through most of Europe, the east and west coasts of the United States and pockets of Asia. Kirsty's first novel was the enchanting Midsummer Garden, published in 2017. Her second book, The Jade Lily, was published in 2018, and her third The Lost Jewels, in 2020. Kirsty is a partner in the award winning Melbourne wine bar Bellota, and the Prince Wine Store in Sydney and Melbourne. She lives in Melbourne, Victoria.

 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

                                  

                                   Historical Fiction Challenge 

 

 

Book Review: The Last of the Apple Blossom by Mary-Lou Stephens

The Last of the Apple Blossom

by

Mary-Lou Stephens 

 

Deep in the Huon Valley - two orchards, two women and the secret that binds them.

 

 

Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Australia

 

Imprint: HQ Fiction

 

Publication date: 28th July 2021

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 464

 

Format read: Uncorrected Paperback 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

February, 1967. Walls of flame reduce much of Tasmania to ash.

 

Young schoolteacher Catherine Turner rushes to the Huon Valley to find her family's apple orchard destroyed, her childhood home in ruins  and her brother dead. Despite her father's declaration that a woman will never run the orchard, Catherine resolves to rebuild the family business.

 

After five sons, Catherine's friend and neighbour, Annie Pearson, is overjoyed by the birth of a much longed-for daughter. As Annie and her husband Dave work to repair the damage to their orchard, Dave's friend Mark pitches in, despite the fact that Annie wants him gone. Mark has moved his family to the valley to escape his life in Melbourne, but his wife has disappeared leaving chaos in her wake and their young son Charlie in Mark's care.

 

Catherine becomes fond of Charlie, whose strange upbringing has left him shy and withdrawn. However, the growing friendship between Mark and Catherine not only scanadlises the small community but threatens a secret Annie is desperate to keep hidden.

 

My review

 

The Last of the Apple Blossom opens with the devastating fires of 1967 in Tasmania's Houn Valley.

Mary-Lou Stephens immediately plunges her reader into the fear, heat and danger that surrounds a bush fire.

 

Catherine returns home to find the family apple orchard burnt to the ground and her brother dead. Catherine is a girl before her time. She has no interest in marriage and children, her big dream has always been to run the family orchard. But the sixties were still a time of subjugation for women and there was no way her father was going to let her run the orchard. Women worked in the packing shed.

I loved Catherine's  passion for the orchard and I could see that it caused a great rift between her and her father and bitter words were flung around. Catherine showed a real maturity and mostly let the hurtful comments bounce off her.

 

Catherine's neighbours Annie and Dave are busy with their six young children and their orchard. Dave has good friend Mark helping out on the orchard. Mark is enjoying the quite country atmosphere in contrast to his usual busy life.

 

I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the apple orchards and the day to day lives of the owners. The hustle and bustle of the children and the hectic picking and packing season was well portrayed. It came across as grueling work but you could also see how satisfying it was to finish a good crop. A successful apple season is totally reliant on so many outside influences such as fire, drought, farmyard accidents, transportation and waterside strikes. The story spans a large time period and over time we see the need to diversify and evolve to keep up with changing markets

 

There are a couple of love interests introduced for Catherine. The fun loving Tim and the dark and broody Mark add a light romance element to the story.

 

The Last of the Apple Blossom is a story of passion for the land, heartbreak, perseverance, secrets, lies, family, love and longing. The characters travel a rocky road to forgiveness and healing. 

 

My rating  5 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Photo credit: Goodreads

Mary-Lou Stephens was born in Tasmania, studied acting at The Victorian College of the Arts and played in bands in Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney. Eventually she got a proper job - in radio, where she was a presenter and music director, first with commercial radio and then with the ABC.

She received rave reviews for her memoir Sex, Drugs and Meditation (2013), the true story of how meditation changed her life, saved her job and helped her find a husband.

Mary-Lou has worked and played all over Australia and now lives on the Sunshine Coast with her husband and a hive of native bees.  

 

 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

                                  

                                   Historical Fiction Challenge 

 

 

Book Review: The Eighth Wonder by Tania Farrelly

The Eighth Wonder 

by

Tania Farrelly

 

 

 

Publisher: Penguin Books Australia

 

Publication date: 2nd July 2021

 

Genre: Historical Fiction 

 

Pages: 416

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty & Lace Book Club 

 

 

About the book

 

New York, 1897. The richest city in the world.

Beautiful, young and privileged, Rose Kingsbury Smith is expected to play by the strict rules of social etiquette, to forfeit all career aspirations and to marry a man of good means. But she has a quietly rebellious streak and is determined to make her own mark on Manhattan’s growing skyline. When the theft of a precious heirloom plunges the Kingsbury Smiths into financial ruin, Rose becomes her family’s most tradeable asset. She finds herself fighting for her independence and championing the ideal of equality for women everywhere.

Enigmatic Ethan Salt’s inglorious circus days are behind him. He lives a quiet life on Coney Island with his beloved elephant Daisy and is devoted to saving animals who’ve been brutalised by show business. As he struggles to raise funds for his menagerie, he fears he will never build the sanctuary of his dreams … until a chance encounter with a promising young architect changes his life forever.

Just when Rose is on the verge of seeing her persistence pay off, the ghosts of her past threaten to destroy everything she holds dear. In the face of heartbreaking prejudice and betrayal, she must learn to harness her greatest wonder within.

 

My review

 

I really enjoyed this historical fiction set in the late 1880's. The Eighth Wonder is set during the emergence of the women's  suffragette movement with the main character, Rose, not prepared to settle as a rich man's wife, rather looking to a career in architecture as her future. We see great conflict here from her traditionalist mother who yearns for her spot in high society due to her daughter's marriage to the 'right man'. Her father is quietly supportive however I did wonder if he would have been as supportive of Rose if he had a son who could have taken over the architecture company.

 

A second story line is that of Ethan Salt, an orphan who runs away and joins a circus. Ethan becomes an advocate for abused animals, not only from the circus but those used in fighting rings for entertainment.

 

The Eighth Wonder is a captivating character driven novel. There are plenty of hurdles for the characters to navigate and one man's obsession with Rose will become highly dangerous.

 

There is an added mystery of stolen jewellery which gives rise to themes of classism. Rose joins the fight for better working conditions and rights for the workers in the manufacturing industry.

 

Tania Farrelly has brought 19th Century Manhattan, in all its glory and brutality, alive on the page. 

 

My rating   4/5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Photo credit: © Tania Farrelly

 
Tania is an award-winning advertising strategist who has spent over twenty-five years working in Australia’s leading advertising agencies, telling stories for the world’s biggest brands. She has more recently built her own successful, brand consultancy, and has now turned her hand from brand stories to human stories with the help of creative writing courses at RMIT and Fiona McIntosh’s Masterclass. 

Tania was raised in Adelaide and has lived the majority of her professional life in Melbourne. She now lives with her husband on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula.

 

 

 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

                                   Historical Fiction Challenge 

 

Book Review: The Riviera House by Natasha Lester

The Riviera House 

by

Natasha Lester

 

Inspired by a true story - From wartime Paris to the sun-soaked French Riviera.

 

Publisher: Hachette Australia 

 

Publication date: 1st September 2021

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages:467

 

RRP: $32.99AUD 

 

Format read: Uncorrected paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Better Reading Preview

 

 About the book

 

Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections. They have no idea she’s carefully decoding their notes and smuggling information to the Resistance. But Éliane is playing a dangerous game. Does she dare trust the man she once loved with her secrets, or will he only betray her once again? She has no way to know for certain . . . until a trip to a stunning home on the French Riviera brings a whole new level of peril.
 
Present Day: Wanting to forget the tragedy that has left her life in shambles, Remy Lang heads to a home she’s mysteriously inherited on the Riviera. While working on her vintage fashion business, she discovers a catalog of the artworks stolen during World War II and is shocked to see a painting that hung on her childhood bedroom wall. Who is her family, really? And does the Riviera house hold more secrets than Remy is ready to face?

 

My review

 

Narrated in dual time lines The Riviera House is an absorbing read that focuses on the enormous lengths Parisian citizens went to to protect the art works that were being stolen by the German army during WWII.
 

The tension is compelling and the conflict simmers on the page. The German army is unrelenting and many citizens had to comply seemingly collaborating with the enemy. Lester writes about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and quite often I was asking myself what I would do in their situation. I’m not nearly as brave!
 

I really enjoyed Eliane’s story as she put herself in grave danger time and time again to document the famous works of art ensuring that they would not be lost to the world forever. I was so engrossed in Lester’s imagined world that when it changes time lines I initially had a feeling of disappointment. However Remy’s story, set in 2015, is as equally engrossing as we delve into the mystery that surrounds Remy’s ancestors and the beautiful Riviera house she inherited.
 

Lester has written another riveting historical fiction filled with strong, resilient women and swoon worthy men.
 

The Riviera House is rich in sacrifice, loss, perseverance, tenacity and love all wrapped around the world of fine art.
 

I am again holding this book up against A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald which left big shoes to fill. 

 

My rating 4/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

 Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

                                   Historical Fiction Challenge 

 

 

 There was no better book to celebrate my 5 year blogiversary than a book by Natasha Lester. My first post on 22nd August 2016 was for A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald. It has remained one of my top reads.

 

Click on the cover to read my review

 

Book Review: The Paris Collaborator by A. W. Hammond

The Paris Collaborator

by

A. W. Hammond

He’ll do anything to save her … even work for the enemy.

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 4th May 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 309

Format read: Uncorrected proof copy

Source: courtesy of the publisher

About the book

August, 1944. In German-occupied Paris, former schoolteacher Auguste Duchene has stumbled upon an unusual way to survive: he finds missing people. When he’s approached by the French Resistance to locate a missing priest – and a cache of stolen weapons – Duchene initially refuses. But the Resistance offer him no choice. Within hours, he’s also blackmailed by a powerful Nazi into searching for a German soldier who’s suspected of deserting.

To fail at either task will have deadly consequences for Duchene – and for his daughter Marienne.

So begins a frantic race against time. As forces close in on Paris, Duchene has only 48 hours to locate the missing priest and soldier, or lose the only person he loves…

My review

A war torn Paris during the German occupation was deftly portrayed as Hammond includes the devastation of the area and also the divide the occupation caused between the Parisians themselves. Where every move was watched by all and you had to be careful not to be seen as a resistant or a sympathiser with accusations of collaboration being a precursor to ostracization.

Duchene was a finder of people. He was mainly called upon by parents who had lost a child. His special skill is brought to the attention of the Resistance and the Germans. Both parties give him a deadline to find their person of interest and a deadly price to pay if he doesn't succeed.

What I liked was that Duchene was an ordinary citizen caught up in the war. He wasn't particularly brave, he was ageing and tired, but he was smart. It was fear that motivated him.

Throughout the story we meet a few other citizens of Paris who are doing what they need to do to get by. Hammond explores the grey area of morals during wartime as Duchene and other  French citizens find themselves working with or for the Germans simply to survive. He also includes, through the character of Lucien, an opportunist who sees the war and people's suffering as a way to make money.

There are a couple of mysteries being played out throughout the story which made for some clever plotting and lots of action. I never knew what would happen next and I was eager to see how events would pan out.

The Paris Collaborator is a tension filled story that had me hooked from start to finish.

4 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

A.W. Hammond was born in South Africa and emigrated to Australia as a child. He currently works at RMIT University and lives in Melbourne with his wife and daughters.

Challenges entered: Aussie Author Challenge #AussieAuthor21

                                 Historical Fiction Challenge #HisFicReadingChallenge

Book Review: Gift of Diamonds by Roberta Seret

Gift of Diamonds

by

Roberta Seret Ph.D.

 

 

Publisher:  Wayzgoose Press 

Publication date: 23rd February 2021

Series: Transylvanian Trilogy #1

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 324

Format read: paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Smith Publicity 

 

About the book

 

Seventeen-year-old Mica is an aspiring actress living with her parents in Romania as Nicolae Ceausescu begins his reign of terror. Her parents are covertly political and influential, which makes them a perfect target for the Secret Police. When they're arrested, Mica flees the country with her father’s rare—and possibly cursed—diamonds. With her parents imprisoned, it’s up to Mica to investigate Ceausescu, his business partners, and their plot for nuclear terrorism.

Will revealing the truth to the world finally bring her the peace she seeks?

 

My review

 

Gift of Diamonds is set in Romania under the dictatorship of Ceausescu. Roberta Seret has fused fact and fiction to pen a story that is both devastating and hopeful.

 

The Transylvanian Trilogy has four main characters. Four teenaged girls, inseparable, dubbed the four musketeers. Book1, Gift of Diamonds, gives us Mica's story. Seventeen-year-old Mica is intelligent, a gifted actress. She has grown up listening to her father's stories of freedom and a better life. Her father and friends were plotting an anti-communist rebellion. These were dangerous times.

One night her parents disappear and Mica must put all she has learnt into action.

Gift of Diamonds is a wonderful read, both informative and entertaining. The main character, Mica, is well developed and likeable. I enjoyed her story and wanted her to succeed. She was strong willed and intelligent but also had a vulnerability about her.

I know nothing about Romanian history and I found the political infused chapters were not overly described or complicated which made my reading more enjoyable. (I'm sadly not a history buff)

Mica's motivation to move forward was the drive to free her parents from Romania and she never gave up. There were many pitfalls and the path to freedom wasn't easy. 

The bad times were moved over quickly and the concentration on happier events made the story easier to read. These were desperate times and the story could have been a lot more depressing. However, Roberta Seret used hope rather than despair to move the story along.

 

The information on the diamonds was fascinating, mixing history and tragedy through the story of the diamonds travels causing them to be labelled as cursed. 

Gift of Diamonds is a highly engaging Historical Fiction infused with political intrigue.

4 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Photo credit: Wayzgoose Press

Roberta Seret, Ph.D. is the founder and executive director of the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) at United Nations, International Cinema Education Organization and the Director of ESL and Film for the Hospitality Committee of the United Nations. She is an adjunct instructor at New York University in English and has published various articles in film review for the Journal of International Criminal Justice and Oxford University Press. Her work in the United Nations Global Classroom has been praised by various influential Americans, including Michelle Obama, Mike Bloomberg, and Caroline Kennedy. The Transylvanian Trilogy is her first fiction series. She resides in New York City with her husband, and has two sons.

Challenges entered: Historical Fiction Challenge #HistFicReadingChallenge