Blog Tour ~ When Winter Comes by V A Shannon

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to open the blog tour for When Winter Comes

Kensington
2018

My thanks to the author for my copy of her book
and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

In the voice of an unforgettable heroine, V.A. Shannon explores one of the most harrowing episodes in pioneer history—the ill-fated journey of the Donner Party—in a mesmerizing novel of resilience and survival.


Mrs. Jacob Klein has a husband, children, and a warm and comfortable home in California. No one—not even her family—knows how she came to be out West thirteen years ago. Jacob, a kind and patient man, has promised not to ask. But if she were to tell her story, she would recount a tale of tragedy, mishaps, and unthinkable choices—yet also sacrifice, courage, and a powerful, unexpected love . . .

My thoughts..

Fleeing her home in Cincinnati our narrator takes us on a journey across the plains of America with a group of pioneers who are heading to California to start a new life. To say that the journey is fraught with danger is perhaps an understatement as what emerges is story of a quite dreadful disaster and the most unbelievable misadventure.

The story is narrated in two strands by Mrs Jacob Klein of California who lives a comfortable life with her husband and children, we learn of her life with her family in 1859, but we also get to experience the epic pioneer trek through the eyes of our narrator who, some thirteen years earlier, joined the pioneers as a teenager . To say what happens on the journey would give away far too many spoilers but for most of the journey I was completely enthralled in the way in which the catastrophic events unfolded.

Cleverly combining fiction with the known facts about this ill-fated journey the author writes with huge conviction and has such a lovely turn of phrase that  I felt like I was sitting next to Mrs Klein as she recounted her rather sad story. In many ways When Winter Comes is a rather harsh coming of age story as our narrator, whose real name we never know, grows from a fifteen year old from the wrong side of the Cincinnati tracks, to a young woman with determination and that recognised pioneer 'grit'.  Beautifully written, with a wonderful authentic feel, and such strong imagery that I felt like I traveled the American plain in the company of this ill-fated nineteenth century wagon train.

In many ways When Winter Comes is a story of a disaster on an epic scale but it's also the story of bravery and resilience and doing what you have to do in order to survive. 

About the Author

I left school at sixteen but returned to full-time education in my twenties, training in fine art in the USA, and then completing my MA in medieval history and a postgraduate qualification in law in the UK. Although I’ve worked in the law for many years, my first love has always been writing. In 2011, I was lucky enough to be accepted on the prestigious Faber Academy novel-writing course where I embarked on the first draft of the novel that was ultimately to become ‘When Winter Comes’. I subsequently left the security of full-time paid employment to concentrate on my writing and supporting myself by taking on a variety of temporary and part-time roles, including working in the cloakroom at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, selling Titanic memorabilia at the O2, and cleaning houses!

I have two beautiful daughters and a gorgeous granddaughter, and I live just north of London.

Twitter @vashannon01 #WhenWinterComes

Purchase Link

Blog Tour ~ The Hanging Women by John Mead

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on the The Hanging Women

 Blog Tour

The Book Guild
February 2018

My thanks to the author for my copy of the book and to Rachel's Random Resources
for my invitation to take part in this blog tour

What's it all about..

Jack Stevens discovers the bodies of two women, Philomena Blackstaff and Mary Walsh, tied together and hung by their ankles in a position resembling the symbol for treachery as depicted on tarot cards. Though retired and now wealthy, Stevens is an ex-sheriff and involves himself in the subsequent investigation.

As a result of Jack `stealing' Philomena's diary and his association with the Pinkerton detective agency, it is discovered that Mary Walsh worked undercover for the Pinkertons, investigating the Knights of Labour (the fastest growing workers' rights movements in America of the late 1800's). The women had been working together, tracing the man who was selling guns and dynamite to the more extremest factions of the workers movement. This led them to Ruby's, a secret `nightclub for deviants', where Stevens and Inspector O'Leary believe the pair fell foul of the man they were looking for, gang leader Joseph Mannheim.

With the May 4th Haymarket riots and bombings looming, Stevens must uncover the truth about The Hanging Women before it's too late.

My thoughts about it...

What an interesting historical thriller this turned out to be. Set in Chicago in 1886 we are immediately thrown into the mystery surrounding the discovery of two females who have died in the most horrific of circumstances. That the finder of the two women is Jack Stevens, an enigmatic ex- sheriff, who has more than enough skeletons in his own closet, makes the story all the more fascinating.

From the start of the novel, it becomes obvious that Stevens is a force to be reckoned with, superbly flawed, of course, and a man who is more comfortable with a glass of whisky in his hand than he is with people, but before the investigation is finished, his association with the great and the good of the city will lead him into some very dangerous situations.

The author writes this type of historical thriller with great enthusiasm, always keeping an eye on the plot and never allowing the overall grittiness to get in the way of telling a good story. The Hanging Women certainly packs a real punch and with more than enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, the story is an entertaining read from start to finish.

About the Author

John was born in the mid-fifties in Dagenham, London, on part of the largest council estate ever built, and was the first pupil from his local secondary modern school to attend university. He has now taken early retirement to write, having spent the first part of his life working in education and the public sector. He was the director of a college, a senior school inspector for a local authority, and was head of a unit for young people with physical and mental health needs. When he is not travelling, going to the theatre or the pub, he writes. His inspiration for his debut novel came whilst attending a lecture in Denver about the history of the American midwest, describing a time and place that was very different from that espoused by popular culture, which started him thinking this would make a excellent period in which to set a crime story. His book describes how Chicago was a prototype of much that we consider both good and bad in the current age, it had a vibrancy and decadence that allowed a few enterprising individuals to prosper whilst violence and intolerance held back many others. The situation for some African Americans and women was improving but it was still a time when to be anything other than white and male made you a second class citizen. The city was the manufacturing and transport hub of America, the vast influx of immigrants swelling its already booming population brought great wealth but also corruption and criminality. The midwest and Chicago typified a way of life, the ‘gun culture’ which is a euphemism for individualism, from which much of modern American social values have grown.

John is currently working on a trilogy of novels set in modern day London. These police procedurals examine the darker side of modern life in the East End of the city: a Whitechapel noir.

Twitter @JohnMeadAuthor

Follow the tour on Twitter @rararesources

Amazon UK

Review ~ Destiny's Plan by Victoria Saccenti

Magick Publishing
2015

Destiny has the final word.....

Raquelita Muro and Matthew Buchanan meet by chance on a Greyhound bus ride between Texas and Tallahassee. For both of them the journey is difficult and fraught with emotion. Raquelita is travelling with her difficult and irascible mother, Isobel, and her sweet younger sister, Marité, ostensibly, to make a new start, after her parent’s separation, and to stay with family in Florida. Matthew is travelling a very different path, a journey which will take him to Fort Benning and to deployment in Vietnam. The attraction between the gentle Raquelita and idealistic Matthew is instantaneous and they acknowledge that on some primal level, they have found, in each other, their soul mate.  

But all is not going to be easy for the young lovers, as fate has a nasty habit of intervening, and Raquelita’s abusive mother is disinclined to let Raquelita pursue a relationship with a young man of whom she knows nothing, and, of course, Matthew’s deployment brings with it a whole heap of worrying complications. The complexities of life for Raquelita and Matthew is explained well, you feel their angst and suffer emotionally as they face countless setbacks and difficulties. Isobel, on the other hand is manipulative and cruel, with her own complex relationship issues, which dominate throughout the narrative.

Overall, I think that it this is a commendable debut novel and when viewed as a whole, the story works very well, although there were times when I thought that the writing was perhaps a little over complicated, but, I put that down to the exuberance of the debut novel and a new author’s enthusiasm for description. What does come across, however, is the fine attention to detail and the obvious love the writer has for both her story and her characters. Destiny’s Plan is unashamedly romantic, but to counteract the sweetness, there is also the anguish of survival, the darkness of people scarred by hurt, and the deeper passion which comes from overcoming adversity. I liked how the story developed, there was so much to consider, not just about the pain and anguish of young love, but also the irresistible notion that, eventually, love can conquer all.

I am confident that as the Destiny’s Plan series progresses, the author will continue to go from strength to strength, and I will watch, with great interest, to see how this exciting series plays out.

 Amazon UK

About the Author

Website

Twitter @VictoriaSAuthor

Interview with the author

My thanks to the author for sharing her book with me.

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Review ~ If I knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Would Never Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel

Tinder Press

30 October 2014

Caught between the past and the present, this book shows a community in turmoil and of lives irrevocably changed by circumstances.

Long Island 1972, and in the fictionalised town of Elephant Beach, the working class community face a time of great social and economic change. For Katie and her friends, newly graduated from high school, it is a time of discovery and of great personal development, but amongst the awakening of new found desire, lies the horror of lives irrevocably changed in the aftermath of the war in Vietnam.

What then follows is an evocative, and at times emotional, look at the dissatisfaction which dominated American social history during the early part of the nineteen seventies. The unhappy image of young men with lives permanently altered by dissatisfaction and of young women caught up in hopeless situations is captured in minute detail, and at times makes for uncomfortable reading. The carelessness of unprotected sexual encounters and the dark escape into drug abuse, sits uncomfortably with casual racism, and yet interestingly, there is a fundamental optimism along with the hope that life can only get better.

Initially, I found the book difficult to get into as there is much to take in, but by about a third of the way into the book, I began to appreciate more the true nature of the story and became more emotionally involved with the characters. There is no doubt that the author is writing with authority, and is entirely comfortable recounting a story which has a realistic historical feel to it and which works as a social commentary about a determined working class community during a time of great social change.

Thanks to Lovereading.co.uk for giving me the chance to read this book in advance of its publication as part of the Lovereading review panel.

If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Would Never Have Let You Go 

is published on the 30th October and will be available from a good book store near you.

For more reader reviews about this book please go to

Lovereading .co.uk

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An author interview with ....Michael Wills

I am delighted to welcome back to the blog

Michael Wills

Author of 

Silverwood Books
2014

Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for your novel, The Wessex Turncoat?

My main interest in history has always been the Viking period. I was considering writing a novel about Viking settlement in America. I had read that new discoveries of Viking artefacts had been made in USA and so while I was on a short visit to New York I took the chance to visit the Museum of the New York Historical Society to see if I could find out more about these. 

I was shown around by a charming elderly gentleman whose assumption was that I was interested in British history in America. As he showed me round I became more and more aware that my knowledge of the American War of Independence was sadly lacking, but I found the topic intensely interesting. Once I was home in Salisbury, I went to visit the Redcoats Museum in the City. There I learned the story of the Wiltshire Regiment and the calamity of the 62nd Regiment of Foot’s participation in the Battle of Saratoga. This was a story which had to be told!


Tell us more about the novel's background and why you chose to write about American history in this book.

What really intrigued me was the fact that such a rag tag and bobtail group of young men, many of them with very dubious backgrounds, some of them very young and inexperienced, could be melded into a formidable fighting force. Their training prepared them to face all manner of danger and to unflinchingly obey the orders, however cruel or insane, of their officers. I wondered how a typical recruit, a young lad of seventeen from a small village, would adapt to and survive the rigours of army life. Just such a person, Aaron Mew, became the centre of my story. His regiment was ordered to America in 1776 and thus most of the action of the book follows the grim tale of how he and his companions fought for a lost cause against a more numerous enemy, with a noble cause.


What was the most difficult aspect of the writing the story? How did you overcome it?

Undoubtedly, the most difficult thing for me was to learn about the intricacies of army life in the eighteenth century. I was very fortunate in having as my guides two of the foremost experts in this field, one British and one American.

Another difficulty was to understand the rigours and dangers of the journey the army made in American and to visualise the nature of the landscape. I travelled from Quebec to Saratoga to get a feel for this.


In your research for The Wessex Turncoat, did you discover anything which surprised you?
I was really surprised to discover the extent to which the British army, in the campaign I write about, was dependent on thousands of German mercenaries and Indian warriors. This really became clear to me when my American advisor invited me to watch a full scale re-enactment of the Battle of Saratoga.


What do you enjoy most about writing stories and do you write for yourself, or other people?
I have a huge interest in history, all history. But what fascinates me most is not kings, presidents and generals, but the people who lived during any particular period. I love to indulge my imagination and put together a plot which can develop into a story. Having made up a story, I have an instinct to share it.

So in one sense, I write for myself, I find it very satisfying, but such satisfaction would be hollow and short-lived if I were not able to share it with others.


What’s next?

Earlier in the year I had the opportunity to visit a school to do some creative writing classes. I tried out some ideas I had for a children’s book on the Vikings. The enthusiasm of the students gave me the impetuous to get writing. The first draft is ready!


More about Michael and his books can be found here www.michaelwills.eu

Michael ~ thank you so much for sharing the background to The Wessex Turncoat. 

It's always fascinating to see just how much time and effort is spent in making stories truly come alive.

Jaffa and I wish you continuing success.

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My thoughts on The Wessex Turncoat.

Aaron Mew is a naive seventeen year old when he is viciously uprooted from his simple life in a small Hampshire village. Forcibly conscripted in the ragamuffin army of King George III, Aaron is about to embark with the 62^nd Regiment of Foot, in an adventure which will take him into a conflict far away from the land he calls home and everything he considers safe.

Based on factual historical evidence, the complex history of America’s Revolutionary War is described well.  The author has a good way with words, and is able to describe army scenes with an authenticity which relies much on good research, and a keen eye for the finer details of historical accuracy. There is such a keen interest in the progress of characters as they flit into and out of the story that they very soon become real in the mind, and take on personalities of their own. Aaron is an interesting protagonist, and it is interesting to watch how he makes the transition from boy to man.

Overall, I thought this was an interesting book about a period in American history of which I knew very little. The sights, sounds and smells of eighteenth century army life are brought to life in a believable way, and as Aaron progresses on his journey, I felt like I had travelled every step of the way with him.

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