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By: Maryann Yin,
on 10/16/2015
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Publishing, People, Gallery Books, Add a tag
By: Julie,
on 5/24/2012
Blog: Manga Maniac Cafe (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books, review, Historical, Medical, Drama, Venice, Add a tag
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By: gaby317,
on 9/9/2010
Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gallery Books, The Home for Broken Hearts by Rowan Coleman, Add a tag
By: gaby317,
on 7/29/2010
Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gallery Books, And One Last Thing by Mollie Harper, Add a tag
And One Last Thing ...
by Mollie Harper
The blurb:
Lacey Terwilliger's shock and humiliation over her husband's philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike's company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of "administrative support" his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike's family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before once can say "instant urban legend," Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town, a media punch line, and the defendant in Mike's defamation lawsuit.
Her seemingly perfect life up in flames, Lacey retreats to her family's lakeside cabin, only to encounter an aggravating neighbor named Monroe. A hunky crime novelist with a low tolerance for drama, Monroe is not thrilled about a newly divorced woman moving in next door. But with time, beer, and a screen door to the nose, a cautious friendship develops into something infinitely more satisfying.
Lacey has to make a decision about her long-term living arrangement arrangements, though. Should she take a job writing caustic divorce newletters for paying clients, or move on with her own life, pursuing more literary aspirations? Can she find happiness with a man who tells her what he thinks and not what she wants to hear? And will she ever be able to resist saying one. .
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By: Maryann Yin,
on 10/16/2015
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Publishing, People, Gallery Books, Add a tag
By: Julie,
on 5/24/2012
Blog: Manga Maniac Cafe (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books, review, Historical, Medical, Drama, Venice, Add a tag
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Title: The Midwife of Venice Author: Roberta Rich Publisher: Gallery Books ISBN: 978-1451657470 |
May Contain Spoilers
From Amazon:
| Hannah Levi is renowned throughout Venice for her gift at coaxing reluctant babies from their mothers—a gift aided by the secret “birthing spoons” she designed. But when a count implores her to attend to his wife, who has been laboring for days to give birth to their firstborn son, Hannah is torn. A Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical treatment to Christians, but the payment he offers is enough to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac, who has been captured at sea. Can Hannah refuse her duty to a suffering woman? Hannah’s choice entangles her in a treacherous family rivalry that endangers the baby and threatens her voyage to Malta, where Isaac, believing her dead in the plague, is preparing to buy his passage to a new life. Not since The Red Tent or People of the Book has a novel transported readers so intimately into the complex lives of women centuries ago or so richly into a story of intrigue that transcends the boundaries of history., |
Review:
After reading this book, I wonder how anybody survived childbirth in the 16th century. Ugh! I found this historical drama about Hannah, a Jewish midwife, fascinating, and couldn’t put it down. I didn’t find the chapters chronicling Isaac’s captivity on Malta as compelling, but I did find that their alternating POV worked well for this novel.
Hannah is a Jewish midwife living in the Jewish ghetto of Venice. Her husband, Isaac, has been captured by at sea while trying to make a fortune trading, and is waiting in Malta to be ransomed. Desperate to free her beloved husband and have him returned to her, Hannah agrees to help a wealthy Christian deliver a baby, despite the Papal edict prohibiting Jews from rendering medical aid to Christians. Immediately at odds with the Rabbi, Hannah’s decision could bring disaster to the ghetto. The Christians don’t need much of an excuse to bring death to the Jews, but Hannah is determined to earn the money to free her husband.
The first few chapters of this book are INTENSE. Hannah is willing to put the lives of everyone in the ghetto on the line to deliver the Contessa’s baby, and she is going to need a miracle if both mother and baby are to survive. Lucia has been in labor for days, and is bleeding uncontrollably. The baby is turned and won’t survive for much longer. Hannah has a terrible choice to make; save the mother or save the infant? This entire scene had me on the edge of my seat, and I couldn’t stop reading until I learned the outcome. The thought of Hannah having to use the crochet was just horrifying! And the thought that her contemporaries believed
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By: gaby317,
on 9/9/2010
Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gallery Books, The Home for Broken Hearts by Rowan Coleman, Add a tag
The Home for Broken Hearts
The blurb:
For young widow Ellen Wood, her Victorian home is a refuge -- a place to feel safe with her eleven-year-old son, Charlie. But when money grows so tight that Ellen could lose the house, her sister, Hannah, makes a radical suggestion. . . rent out some of the rooms. Soon Ellen has three lodgers: Sabine, a German coworker of Hannah's recently separated from her husband; Allegra, an eccentric but wise novelist; and Matt, an up-and-coming young journalist in search of his voice, who has just landed a plum job in London.
Ellen thinks three strangers are the last complication she needs, but they make her realize just how isolated she has become. Their presence exposes a secret she's been keeping hidden, as well as a conflict with her sister that is both shocking and revealing. And while a love affair with a younger man seems like a fantasy powered by her imagination, Ellen can't deny her deep connection to Matt, or the changes he inspires in her and her relationship with Charlie. Outside her home's sheltering walls lies a world of opportunity as well as danger. Now that she's had the courage to open the door, does Ellen dare step through?
Review:
It's nearing a year since Nick was killed in a car crash. His young widow and their nearly twelve-year-old Charlie are still recovering from the loss. Emma has retreated into her home and her sanctuary but their depleted finances have led them to open their house to three special lodgers: Sabine, Allegra, and Matt. The lodgers bring much needed change for Charlie and Emma. The friendships that come about, the unexpected kindnesses and camaraderie push the book forward and make it a fun read.
Emma is in a difficult situation and it is was to understand how she retreated into her home and her books, but I did want to shake her at times. In contrast, Charlie is both charming and strong and quickly became my favorite character.
The Home for Broken Hearts
ISBN-10: 1439156859 - Trade Paperback $15.00
Publisher: Gallery; Original edition (September 7, 2010), 352 pages,
Review copy provided by the publisher.
About the Auth
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By: gaby317,
on 7/29/2010
Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gallery Books, And One Last Thing by Mollie Harper, Add a tag
If this were a Renee Zellweger movie, my girlfriends would rush over here, alcohol and chocolates in hand, to assure me that everything was Mike's fault, that I was perfect and that I would find a better-looking, richer, more sexually expressive man in no time. The problem was that I didn't have a lot of friends. Well, not any real friends. I knew some ladies from our Sunday school class. And I was friendly with the women in Junior League. We had couples we went to dinner with, clients that we entertained, but I didn't have any girlfriends of my own. When you're a couple, it's hard finding friends that you and your husband agree on. Generally, you try to hang out with couples so no one feels left out or weird. But maybe the husbands get along but the wives hate each other. Or the wives get along great, but the husbands have nothing to talk about. It was just so much easier to hang around with Mike's friends and their wives. It was the simplest way to get him to agree to socialize. -- And One Last Thing
And One Last Thing ...
by Mollie HarperThe blurb:
Lacey Terwilliger's shock and humiliation over her husband's philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike's company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of "administrative support" his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike's family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before once can say "instant urban legend," Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town, a media punch line, and the defendant in Mike's defamation lawsuit.
Her seemingly perfect life up in flames, Lacey retreats to her family's lakeside cabin, only to encounter an aggravating neighbor named Monroe. A hunky crime novelist with a low tolerance for drama, Monroe is not thrilled about a newly divorced woman moving in next door. But with time, beer, and a screen door to the nose, a cautious friendship develops into something infinitely more satisfying.
Lacey has to make a decision about her long-term living arrangement arrangements, though. Should she take a job writing caustic divorce newletters for paying clients, or move on with her own life, pursuing more literary aspirations? Can she find happiness with a man who tells her what he thinks and not what she wants to hear? And will she ever be able to resist saying one. .
0 Comments on Book Blog Tour of And One Last Thing by Mollie Harper as of 1/1/1900
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