reecaspieces

Overview

From the bestselling author of the “heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism” (People) The Book of Lost Namescomes a gripping historical novel about two mothers who must make unthinkable choices in the face of the Nazi occupation.

Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.

When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.

More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble—and Juliette nowhere to be found. What happened to her daughter in those last, terrible moments? Juliette has seemingly vanished without a trace, taking all the answers with her. Elise’s desperate search leads her to New York—and to Juliette—one final, fateful time.

An “exquisite and gut-wrenching novel” (Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author) you won’t soon forget, The Paris Daughter is also a sweeping celebration of resilience, motherhood, and love.

Review

Elise has become a target of the Germans. To keep her daughter safe, she leaves her with Juliette. Juliette and Elise have become very good friends over the years. So, Elise knows her daughter is safe. But, nothing prepares either of these ladies for a bomb which kills Juliette’s husband, 2 sons and Elise’s daughter.

With the war finally over, Elise heads straight to Juliette’s bookshop only to discover her worst fears. Her loss almost unhinges her. She eventually reclaims her apartment and tries to move on with life after the war. When she hears about Juliette living in NYC, Elise heads to find her. Elise wants to know about her daughter’s last days.

Talk about a lot of moving parts. This book is so well written and powerful in so many ways. I love how this author weaves all these tales together at the end to create an incredible story about love, loss and resilience.

I have been a fan of this author for years and this is by far, hands down, her best book yet! I love getting completely consumed by a book and this one did it! Talk about a WOW read!

Need an all around fantastic story…THIS IS IT!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

Three powerful men converge on the banks of the Red Cedar River in the early 1900s in southern Minnesota—George Albert Hormel, founder of what will become the $10 billion food conglomerate Hormel Foods; Alpha LaRue Eberhart, the author’s paternal grandfather and Hormel’s Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary; and Ransome Josiah Thomson, Hormel’s comptroller. Over ten years, Thomson will embezzle $1.2 million from the company’s coffers, nearly bringing the company to its knees.

The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy opens in 1922 as George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company he’d helped Hormel build—is Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement? Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth he’d rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying while their three children grieve alongside. Of course, his story doesn’t end there.

In scale both intimate and grand, Cherington deftly weaves the histories of Hormel, Eberhart, and Thomson within the sweeping landscape of our country’s early industries, along with keen observations about business leaders gleaned from her thirty-five-year career advising top company executives. The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy equally chronicles Cherington’s journey from blind faith in family lore to a nuanced consideration of the three men’s great strengths and flaws—and a multilayered, thoughtful exploration of the ways we all must contend with the mythology of powerful men, our reverence for heroes, and the legacy of a complicated past.

About the Author

I use stories to inspire women to claim their innate power as we collectively change the world. I grew up around a crowd of literary giants from Robert Frost to Allen Ginsberg to James Dickey, tugging at their pantlegs for a little attention. Listening to the cadence and rhythm of poets and novelists reading their latest verses I slowly found my voice. My stories start a central question: What does it mean to have a complicated family legacy? Why do we continue to mythologize powerful men? How do we take our seat at the table? What consequences arise when we speak our truth? These questions, grounded in personal experience, research and investigation translate into my essays and books. But that’s what I work on every morning. Every afternoon I’m outside–hiking, walking, biking, gardening, skiing in wild places as big as Patagonia and Penobscot Bay or as small as a neighborhood trail or park. Moving on my own or with friends seeds my writing. Writing on my own or with friends seeds my next quest. My first book, the award-winning memoir, Poetic License, was named 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award 1st Runner-Up in Memoir; 2021 Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Short List; 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Best Cover Design; 2020 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Finalist in Autobiography and Memoir. My second nonfiction/memoir will be out in April 2023 from She Writes Press. Subscribe to Gretchen’s newsletter to get free book chapter and more at http://www.gretchencherington.com

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Overview

From the author of The Restoration of Celia Fairchild, comes a novel about the meaning of family and the places we call home. If you love “southern summer” fiction authors like Mary Alice Monroe and Kristy Woodson Harvey you’ll love this delicious novel about family, friendship, and finding your true path in life. 

Esme Cahill thinks she has failed spectacularly: fired from her New York City publishing job, divorced from her husband, and possessing little more than a broken-down car and a pile of unfinished manuscripts, she drives home to Asheville at the request of her late grandmother, Adele, who had begged her, just before she died, to return to the place she grew up.

There she discovers the once-charming lakeside retreat run by her family is sliding toward financial ruin, so with the help of her grandfather, George; estranged mother, Robyn; and a travelling chef Dawes (maker of the world’s best grilled cheese sandwich) they set to work. In the attic, Esme unearths a trove of museum-worthy art quilts, sewn by Adele. Piecing together the inspiration behind them, Esme discovers a forgotten chapter in her family history and her grandmother’s untold story, that of a gifted artist who never received her due.

This is an always-emotional, sometimes humorous, very human novel of what it means to be family—the ties that bind us together and the unintentional hurts that can rend us apart. And, along the way, Esme learns that failure can be the first step toward the life you’re meant to find.

Review

Esme has lost her job and her husband. She moves back home after her grandmother’s death. She realizes her childhood home, a beautiful, charming lakeside retreat, is on the verge of financial ruin. On top of that, her estranged mother is there too. Esme is about to pull her hair out with all of the issues surrounding her, until she discovers a mystery…her grandmother’s untold story!

I really enjoyed Esme. She is a sweet girl but she has trouble accepting stuff that is right in front of her eyes (as most people do!). She is so set on things happening the way she expects them to, she has trouble accepting it when life does not go as planned.

This is such a cute tale with wonderful characters…I loved the chef! And the story surrounding her grandmother is marvelous.

Need a story about mending relationships with a great setting and a good bit of humor thrown in…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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