Historical Thursday

Courting Morrow Little
by Laura Frantz

Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Summary found on Goodreads:
Morrow Mary Little has bad memories of the day her mother and baby sister are brutally murdered at the hands of the Shawnee warriors, and her brother, Jess, was taken captive. All that is left of her family is her pa and herself. And her pa won’t go into the side of the dogtrot cabin that the murder occurred. He leaves the door shut, the damage undisturbed. 

Now a grown woman, Morrow’s pa is ailing, and men are vying for her attention. Morrow is torn over who to wed. But even more troublesome are the Shawnee man and his son who keeps coming by the cabin. At first, Morrow tries to avoid them, but the son keeps seeking her out. 

Can Morrow betray the memory of her lost loved ones by even allowing a friendship with him? And which man should she marry? 


This one was just ok for me as far as historical romances go. I like that it was in a time period not particularly gone over-yes it's the American Revolution but it's in Kentucky...you don't hear much about Kentucky when you think American Revolution because it was just a territory at the time, not a potential state. 


However, the characters seemed flat, and somewhat one dimensional and the religious aspect seemed somewhat forced to me.


The hero of the story, the controversial Red-Shirt is everything a young woman drools for. Strong, sensitive to a fault, loving, tender and yet very, very masculine. Those are fun characters to come across when you want fluff and that's exactly what this is. Fluff.   


So if interested in some nice summer reading where you don't have to think too much and want the "warm-fuzzies" this would most definitely be the book to turn to.

Book to Movie: The Help

The Help

By Katheryn Stockett

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

I really have no idea where to begin on this one. It has been put on my "desert island list" and it's one that I have recommended to almost every one of my friends.

Summary found on Goodreads:

The Help details the lives of three women living in Jackson, Mississippi, right when the Civil Rights Movement began. There is Skeeter, a twenty-two-year-old aspiring writer who terribly misses her maid, Constantine. Aibileen is an experienced and knowledgeable black maid who is currently taking care of her seventeenth child, Mae Mobley, even though she realizes what's at stake for both of them. And Minny is a fierce, sassy cook who doesn't take nonsense from anyone, even when it risks her employment. This tumultuous trio takes the first step in sparking a movement that will ignite fire to the racism and hypocrisy of their small town.

There is a depth found in this novel that is hard to achieve. It still has the entertainment value that can occasionally have you laughing and yet is balanced by a parts that can break your heart. I fell in love with Abileen, Skeeter and Minny all in different ways. Abileen is the voice of reason -  the loving mentor who you can go to for anything. Skeeter is the plucky, slightly awkward young woman who comes into her own. And Minny? She takes the cake...or pie in this instance. Part of me thinks that she is the person we all want to be at some point in our lives, willing to tell everyone what we think of them be it good bad or ugly.

I have read about the 60's and segregation before but generally in a more inflammatory sense. Stockett though, while it's obvious where her sympathy lies, I felt that it wasn't told to rile readers up but rather to simply educate and entertain. It's a tricky balance to tell a story on this subject without sounding accusatory or didactic yet it was beautifully done. 

The writing style is something I fell in love with as well. Writing in accents, especially the ones required for this period can often be overdone and seem more like caricature rather than character. It was handled masterfully and contributed greatly to both the overall tone of the work and the plot as well. 

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An Unlikely Suitor

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Another historical romance from Nancy Moser. I have read several of hers and was excited when this one came in the mail. 

Goodreads summary: Lucy Scarpelli, an Italian dressmaker from New York, befriends socialite Rowena Langdon as she's making her summer wardrobe. It's an unlikely friendship, but one that Rowena encourages by inviting Lucy to the family mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. Grateful for Lucy's skill in creating clothes that hide her physical injury, Rowena encourages Lucy to dream of a better future. One day Lucy encounters an intriguing man on the Cliff Walk, and love begins to blossom. Yet Lucy resists, for what man will accept her family responsibilities? Rowena also deals with love as she faces a worrisome arranged marriage to a wealthy heir. And Lucy's teenage sister, Sofia, takes up with a man of dubious character. All three women struggle as their lives, and those of each unlikely suitor, become intertwined in a web of secrets and sacrifice.

I have always loved reading about the Gilded Age and the upper set of New York society and this novel didn't disappoint.  I also have always enjoyed reads where the main character is a seamstress of some kind and here I was satisfied again. I loved how Moser made a world where it was possible and plausible to see both sides of the the Gilded Age the wealth and the poverty co-mingling. Yet the Scarpellis kept their heads on straight, they weren't swept away in awe. That is a point which I genuinely love.

I enjoyed the reality of the characters I was reading. None were too perfect - all had just the right amount of flaws to make them believable and therefore likable. However I wasn't satisfied with some of the endings and the whole ***spoiler highlight to read***Bronwitter trying to rape Sophia part. He just came out of nowhere. I believe his plot line either should have been fleshed out more or eliminated. There is in my opinion enough drama in the story without him involved. ***spoiler done***

The writing was nothing to particularly swoon over though I did like her use of litotes, but it was a fun read and Moser has and will continue to be one of authors on my radar.

**The book was given to me by Bethany House Publishing**

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I love this book. I got the opportunity to read it when it first came out and have just recently come back to it for a book group read and I fell in love with it all over again as my patient roommate can tell you.


Goodreads Plot Summary: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

As I have said, I absolutely love this story. It has a depth of character and a charming wit that left me laughing through one passages and nearly in tears by the next. It feels so real that you can imagine that this was a pack of letters found together in an old trunk somewhere, probably in your favorite aunt's attic. Each of the characters has their own unique and quirky personality. 

This book actually had more meaning for me this last time I read it because it is a Literary novel. There are passages and quotes from Chaucer, Seneca, Ms. Marple and everything in between. Having now had the chance to study Chaucer and Austen and the Bronte sisters this book took up a lot more substance and became far more meaningful.

 I applaud Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows for their research and their flair for covering such a dark time in history the way they did. 

I really recommend this to almost anybody. I haven't yet come across a person who wouldn't be enchanted by the letters of the inhabitants of Guernsey Island.