Scarlet Carnation by Laila Ibrahim

Published April 1, 2022

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

May and Naomi can trace their lineage back to a pre-Civil War Virginia plantation where their grandmothers’ lives and future generations were woven together. Author Laila Ibrahim’s previous novels, Yellow Crocus, Mustard Seed, and Golden Poppies are the prequels to Scarlet Carnation. The author’s research and character development of May, a young white woman and Naomi, the descendent of an enslaved family make this a stand-alone novel, but at the conclusion of the novel readers will be compelled to go back to the beginnings of these two families.

Scarlet Carnation, set in Oakland, California, 1915, covers important historical events. Feminist themes such as early contraception, struggles of unwed mothers, and children born with disabilities are explored through the life of May. Naomi’s activity with the NAACP, her husband’s “passing” and sons’ involvement in World War l shed an eye-opening light on racial injustice and attempts at segregation. Readers will connect with May and Naomi on many levels as they “support each other’s quest for liberation and dignity.” Laila Ibrahim deftly weaves the history of Mother’s Day and the wearing of carnations with the epidemic of 1918, presidential elections, and the eugenics movement. These historical events have great impact on the lives of May and Naomi and help maintain readers’ curiosity and add quick pace to the novel.

The choices made by May and Naomi will linger for quite a while as readers contemplate many similar social crises and situations in our world today. Scarlet Carnation, set over one hundred years ago but still very relevant today. Five “Carnations” from the Grateful Reader!

Tomboy by Shelley Blanton-Stroud

Publication: June 28, 2022

Book #2 in the Jane Benjamin Series , Book #3 coming Nov, 2023

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Jane Benjamin is on the brink of a new job as a gossip columnist, but the world is on the brink of war.

Tomboy, Shelley Blanton-Stroud’s second novel in the Jane Benjamin series, opens in San Francisco, June 1939. Readers are in for a bumpy train ride and a tension filled voyage across the Atlantic as Jane wrangles a way to cover the women’s finals at Wimbledon. The hometown tennis star and cover girl, Tommie O’Rourke takes “Centre Court” not only at Wimbledon but the center of attention on the RMS Queen Mary’s return to the U.S.

The author’s attention to the ship’s settings to start each chapter plants readers solidly aboard with a great view of the Sun Deck, the Cabin Class Dining Room, the Movie Theater, and Tommie’s Suite on the Main Deck. The days aboard the Queen Mary float tenuously between the posh set of passengers aboard the Queen Mary and Jane’s flashbacks to her Hooverville childhood. Both timelines are packed with mysteries inside of mysteries. How Jane handles the gossip from Wimbledon, the death of Tommie’s Coach, and war brewing in Europe will keep readers gripping the rails on the promenade deck until the Queen Mary docks in New York City. Be on the lookout for Book #3 in the Jane Benjamin Series coming in November 2023. (Plenty of time for Jane to change her mind…? )

“I grew up in California’s Central Valley, the daughter of Dust Bowl immigrants who made good on their ambition to get out of the field. I recently retired from teaching writing at Sacramento State University and still consult with writers in the energy industry. Copy Boy is my first Jane Benjamin Novel. Tomboy (She Writes Press 2022) will be my second. The third, Working Girl, will come out in November 2023.”

A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen

Publishes July 5, 2022

Tessa Arlen is the author of the Woman of World War II Mysteries and the novel In Royal Service to the Queen. Born in Singapore, the daughter of a British diplomat, she has lived in Egypt, Germany, the Persian Gulf, China, and India. She now lives with her husband in historic Santa Fe, where she gardens in summer and writes in winter.

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

This is an inspirational novel based on the true story of Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, and the design house she created, Lucille Ltd. In 1893, Lucy finds herself divorced from an alcoholic, spendthrift husband, needing to support herself and her five-year-old daughter. Lucy’s one skill is dress design and a natural vision for color and line.

Tessa Arlen’s characters are developed from deep research into Lucy’s background, the history of her designs, her sister Elinor’s support through her influential friend circle, and despite Lucy’s pretentious, overbearing mother. Arlen highlights Lucy’s business acumen in discovering, hiring, and depending on Celia and the ensuing staff required. From the beginning when Lucy designs her first dress of violet taffeta, named “A Dream of Endless Summer,” readers will be enthralled with the “fairy-tale dress” described by Celia as “all light and shadows and as ethereal as gossamer.” Overcoming the fact that only men were designers in haute couture, Lucy was driven to succeed as the first woman known for her original gowns and creative ideas for presenting the first fashion shows. In this “designer’s dream,” Tessa Arlen laces together strands of women’s independence, ingenuity, and trust with the real world of turn of the century couture, presentation to royalty, Warwick Castle, and even the sailing of the Titanic. Readers will want a gossamer ball gown and a glittering gala to attend when the last model dons A Dress of Violet Taffeta.

https://www.vogue.com/article/a-scandal-survives-the-story-of-fashion-designer-and-titanic-passenger-lucile

A Week of Warm Weather by Lee Bukowski

Published June 7, 2022

Born and raised in a large family in eastern Pennsylvania, Lee Bukowski has always had an interest in reading, writing, and storytelling. She holds a BA in English and Secondary Education from Millersville University and taught seventh grade English and writing for fifteen years. In 2017, she obtained an MFA in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. Currently, she teaches writing at the college level and freelances as a proofreader and editor. When she’s not teaching or writing, she loves reading and traveling, especially visiting her grown daughters in Boston and Fort Lauderdale. A Week of Warm Weather is her debut novel. Lee lives with her husband in Reading, PA.

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

An impactful, unforgettable account of one woman’s experience with an addict husband and the codependency that occurs: stemming from her own dealings with abandonment. For Tessa, “What you don’t know can and will hurt you,” is true. She finds that creating a fake life, covering lies with more lies, eventually breaks everyone involved. There’s so much to learn about abusive behaviors and addictions through Lee Bukowski’s thought provoking, inciteful novel; the pages practically turn themselves.

Lee Bukowski’s debut novel, A Week of Warm Weather, pulls back the unwanted, dirty film off the lens peering directly and openly into marriage through addiction. Read, understand, share.

Somewhere, Right Now by Kerry Docherty, Illustrated by Suzie Mason

**Imagining Beauty, Mindfulness for all ages!**

Kerry Docherty is a founder and Chief Impact Officer of Faherty Brand, a lifestyle clothing brand centered on sustainability, craft, and community. Prior to starting Faherty, her background was in law, human rights, and mindfulness. She’s passionate about using creativity and community as a tool to cultivate joy. She lives in Brooklyn with her two kids, husband, and an orange tree. This is her first book.

Suzie Mason is a New York Times bestselling illustrator living in Worcestershire, England, with her family and ball-of-fuzz kitty. Since switching from her scientific background to art in her mid-twenties, she has drawn over twenty picture books, including TODAY co-anchor Hoda Kotb’s two children’s books. From her little English cottage, she is constantly inspired by the beauty of the natural world around her and delights in creating happy, colorful artwork.

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

In Somewhere, Right Now, Kerry Docherty examines human emotions through the experiences of a young family. In a mindfulness teaching moment, the mother tells Alma that imagining a beautiful scene somewhere in the world will help her handle her emotions. Alma then shares the idea with her family as they explore feeling scared, mad, sad, and tired. Children and parents will appreciate the colorful palette used in the illustrations by Suzie Mason. Emotions are also easily read through the facial expressions of the family. Reading Somewhere, Right Now aloud while imagining will give readers an overall peaceful feeling, a mindfulness tip for all ages.

Oleander City by Matt Bondurant

Published June 14, 2022

“Matt Bondurant’s latest novel Oleander City will be in book stores nationwide June 14, 2022. His previous novels include The Night Swimmer, which was featured in the New York Times Book Review, Outside Magazine, and The Daily Beast, among others. His second novel The Wettest County in the World is an international bestseller, a New York Times Editor’s Pick, a San Francisco Chronicle Best 50 Books of the Year, and was made into a feature film (Lawless) by Director John Hillcoat, starring Shia Labeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Gary Oldman, and Guy Pearce.”

Readers will want to spend some time checking out Matt Bondurant’s wonderful website, full of research, photos, and facts about Galveston. Link provided below:

Jack & Joe being released from Galveston Jail, March 21, 1901. Sheriff Henry Thomas shakes Joe’s hand as Jack stands between them, surrounded by deputies and other city officials. The little girl (and dog) in the foreground are unknown. http://www.mattbondurant.com/what-is-oleander-city.html

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Great Storm of 1900 that struck Galveston, Texas on September 8, was the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. Matt Bondurant’s Oleander City recounts the days and weeks after the disaster from three points of view. Readers are immediately submerged in the devastating descriptions of human suffering and loss through the frantic, scared eyes of six-year-old Hester, the lone survivor from The Sisters of the Incarnate Word Orphanage. The second is the ringside view of bold, educated Jewish boxer Joe Choynski, who is hired to fight the “Galveston Giant” in a fund raiser for the recovery effort. The third view is from Diana, assistant to Clara Barton, American Red Cross Director, in Galveston to minister to survivors.

Based on the true story of a famous boxing match, Matt Bondurant ties Galveston’s gambling history, persecution by the Ku Klux Klan and the island’s recovery efforts into knots that are only untangled because of his in-depth historical research and superb weaving of the three narratives. This account goes beyond the architectural devastation and rebuilding to the colossal human effort that was required to restore families, businesses and hope for the future of the island.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan

Published May 31, 2022

Jennifer Ryan is the author of National Bestseller THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR, THE SPIES OF SHILLING LANE, and THE KITCHEN FRONT. Her writing has featured in Literary Hub, Moms Don’t Have Time to Write, The Daily Mail, The Irish Times, The Express, BBC Online, YOU Magazine, The Simple Things Magazine, and Good Reading Magazine. Previously a book editor with The Economist, DK, and the BBC, she moved from London to Washington, DC after marrying, and she now lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two children. Her novels are inspired by her grandmother’s tales of the war in Britain.

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

A heartwarming novel of three women brought together in Aldhurst, England, in 1942. Famous London couturier, Cressida Westcott is forced by the Blitz to the small village to stay with her niece Violet at the Westcott estate. Violet feels the urgent need to find an aristocratic husband but her schemes are interrupted when she receives her conscription letter. Third is subservient Grace Carlisle, the vicar’s daughter; engaged and feels duty bound to serve her community. Vicar, Ben Carlisle, has found his late wife’s wedding gown, ravaged by moths and time, for Grace to wear at her wedding. This is where Cressida finds her purpose, not only to help restore a dress for Grace, but to help Grace find herself.

Jennifer Ryan’s comforting words help readers rejoice as each character makes wise decisions and becomes involved in the community outside of individual desires. A competition in London to find well designed affordable clothing of good quality adds to the growth of Grace as a designer and Cressida as a businesswoman. The author weaves several budding relationships into the village sewing circle which evolves into the creation of a Wedding Dress Exchange. Some pairings readers will be rooting for, others not so much! Members of the Wedding Dress Sewing Circle learned more than “Make Do and Mend.” Jennifer Ryan’s strong character development leads to women finding their voice, a new calling, and discovering a path forward. A very different view of World War ll and the role of women and rationing.

#22in22Challenge: Rolling Hills Ministries Bookstore

Book Store Visit #12: Ruston, Louisiana

**Outside Rolling Hills Ministries BookStore**

My #12 visit was to this gem in the piney woods of Northeast Louisiana. I was in Ruston for my niece’s wedding and had some time on Saturday morning. This book store was such a surprise!! All the books are donated, along with gifts, CD’s, DVD’s, etc. It was a treasure trove of row upon row of shelves; all perfectly in order by genre and author. Hardbacks-$5, Paperbacks-$4-how did I come out with only 5 books and a set of bookends?? The coffee bar and newly added back porch were very inviting!

The Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner

Published May 17, 2022

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Bloomsbury Girls is the delectable telling of how three extremely different, but cunning young women and five miscalculating men interact in the Bloomsbury Bookshop in postwar London, 1950. Bloomsbury is home to the British Museum, the University of London, and the Bloomsbury Bookstore where general manager, Herbert Dutton and his 51 Rules have been in charge for 20 years. He now employs quiet but forthright Cambridge graduate, Evie Stone; Grace Perkins escaping from her unreal life with Gordon, a war survivor; and Vivien Lowry, “an orphan in a storm with no social connections.”

Jenner’s cast of characters includes politicians, aristocrats, American socialites, writers, and publishers, all intertwined with a gossipy thread. Jenner’s narrative creates endearing characters readers will care about; strong females who support and encourage each other and bookstore events with newsworthy surprises! There are also entanglements and budding romances which create great anticipation for readers and Evie’s secret mission leads readers on a wonderful “book chase.” With the fate of the bookstore, marriages, and mysteries waiting to be revealed, there are lots of reasons to celebrate and read The Bloomsbury Girls.

#22in22Challenge Bookstore Visit #11: Murder by the Book, Houston TX

I visited this wonderful treasure on the way to Galveston to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. It was a dreary, rainy day in Houston, but the wide selection and staff brightened our day! The top of the shelves was a museum of memorabilia, framed autographed photos, and treasures from around the world. I could’ve just moved in for a week, or more like a month!

Store History

“Murder By The Book is one of the nation’s oldest and largest mystery specialty bookstores, established in 1980 by Martha Farrington, and purchased by McKenna Jordan in 2009. The store stocks over 25,000 books — new & used, hardbacks & paperbacks, first editions, collectibles, gift items, mystery magazines, and more. We host over 200 of the hottest mystery, crime, and fantasy authors for book signing events every year. We’ve had everyone from Dick Francis to P.D. James, Sue Grafton to Robert Crais, Michael Connelly to Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke to Daniel Silva.”